The First Hundred Years

The First Hundred Years is the first ongoing TV soap opera in the United States that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952.[1] A previous daytime drama on NBC, These Are My Children, aired in 1949 but only lasted one month, and NBC's Hawkins Falls began in June 1950 as a primetime "soap" and didn't move to daytime until April 1951.

For the 1938 film starring Robert Montgomery and directed by Richard Thorpe, see The First Hundred Years (film).
Jimmy Lydon and Olive Stacey as newlyweds Chris and Connie, 1951

The show began with the wedding of Chris Thayer and Connie Martin, which lasted for the first week of episodes. The couple settled down in a huge, unkept white elephant mansion, a present from Connie's father.[2]

The series did not succeed due to very low viewership, as few American households had television sets, and fewer still watched during the afternoon.

The series was replaced with the television version of Guiding Light, which would prove to be much more successful, airing for 57 years (72 years total when its 15-year run on radio is taken into account).

See also

References
  1. Copeland, Mary Ann (1991). Soap Opera History. Publications International. p. 266. ISBN 0-88176-933-9.
  2. Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 106–107. ISBN 0-345-35344-7.
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