Soap operas are the foundation of American television storytelling.

From early radio days in the 1930s to the invention of TV to streaming, soaps have endured by telling intergenerational family stories.

Daytime dramas are an important part of American television history and popular culture. It’s been said that television is socially ahead of movies. Soap operas take that social consciousness a step further. Rape, abortion, AIDS, LGBTQ+ storylines – before primetime or even mainstream America was ready.

But soaps have been written off as low-brow drivel for women. For decades, soaps routinely pushed serious social issues the general public didn’t even know about because they weren’t paying attention to them.

Take this journey to learn the history of soaps, the innovative creators who pushed social impact and how the genre was the moneymaker for networks for decades.

This is television's unique immersive storytelling.