Almost simultaneously with television came the first soap operas: soap operas (from the names of the soap and detergent manufacturers who sponsored them). They were also born in the U.S. and were originally broadcast on radio, the first real soap opera is Betty and Bob, it was broadcast from October 10, 1932. In 1947, the first television soap opera called A Woman to Remember appeared. Success was so overwhelming that the “soap fever” quickly spread throughout the world, the series began to be filmed in all countries where there was television, and for millions of housewives heroes of these simple, but very long sagas have become family and friends. The actors starring in them quickly made a career in the mainstream film format as well. In terms of popularity, they could even compete with the hosts of major news programs and talk shows.
The famous TV novel “Santa Barbara” is only the tenth longest-running series in the world. It started on July 30, 1984. The last episode was shown on January 15, 1993.
“Breaking Bad.”
The series “Guiding Light” is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest. Its life began on radio on January 21, 1937, continued on television from 1952 and ended on September 18, 2009. Over the decades it managed to shoot 15762 episodes. The film was closed because of funding cuts, otherwise there would have been even more episodes. It would take 164 days, 4 hours and 30 minutes to watch all the episodes. The purely television series “As the World Turns” is in 2nd place. It was shown from 1956 to 2010. During that time, 13763 episodes have accumulated – that’s 573 days and 11 hours of viewing time. “One Life,” “All My Children,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Neighbors” (Australia), “On the Threshold of Night,” “Another World” – these popular television mastodons were then superseded by the gaining momentum of dynamic and more substantial miniseries. These were “soaps” of an entirely different quality. “Better Call Saul, Homeland, or Breaking Bad broke the record of classic soap operas and attracted a younger, more educated audience. Hispanic soap operas have repeated the success of American and Australian ones, while the likes of Clone or Fatal Inheritance have become world-famous. Indian Bollywood has its own series, but they are more specific to East Asian audiences and are a huge success there.