Haven't done one of these in a loooong time, but with
soap operas an endangered species right now, it made
me think that the first television soap to hit pay dirt
debuted 60 years ago today: "Search For Tomorrow,"
which ran until 1982 on CBS and from 1982-86 on NBC.
There had been a few false starts, including one then
airing on CBS called "The First Hundred Years," which would
be replaced by the television version of "Guiding Light" on
June 30, 1952. ("SFT" and "GL" were the last soaps to expand
from 15 minutes to 30, on September 9, 1968.)
I still remember the last episode of "Search": Jo (Mary Stuart)
is staring up into the evening sky, and buddy Stu (Larry Haines)
asks her what she's searching for. "Tomorrow!" she says enthusiastically,
"And I can't wait!"
Three weeks later "Love Of Life" became the second television soap to
catch on, lasting until February 1, 1980. BTW, both soaps, and "The
Secret Storm," were created by Roy Winsor, who got an assist on "Search"
from a young Agnes Nixon, who's about to lose (unless they go online or to
cable) her two great ABC creations, "All My Children" (Sept. 23) and "One
Life To Live" (Jan. 20, 2012).
soap operas an endangered species right now, it made
me think that the first television soap to hit pay dirt
debuted 60 years ago today: "Search For Tomorrow,"
which ran until 1982 on CBS and from 1982-86 on NBC.
There had been a few false starts, including one then
airing on CBS called "The First Hundred Years," which would
be replaced by the television version of "Guiding Light" on
June 30, 1952. ("SFT" and "GL" were the last soaps to expand
from 15 minutes to 30, on September 9, 1968.)
I still remember the last episode of "Search": Jo (Mary Stuart)
is staring up into the evening sky, and buddy Stu (Larry Haines)
asks her what she's searching for. "Tomorrow!" she says enthusiastically,
"And I can't wait!"
Three weeks later "Love Of Life" became the second television soap to
catch on, lasting until February 1, 1980. BTW, both soaps, and "The
Secret Storm," were created by Roy Winsor, who got an assist on "Search"
from a young Agnes Nixon, who's about to lose (unless they go online or to
cable) her two great ABC creations, "All My Children" (Sept. 23) and "One
Life To Live" (Jan. 20, 2012).