Television Genres

The period from 1925 to 1960 was the heyday of the American Radio Soap Opera. In addition to being part of popular culture, the soap opera had important commercial aspects as well that were not only related to their production, but also to the desperate need to sell products or perish. Both sides of this story are traced in this comprehensive compendium. The dictionary section, made up of more than 500 cross-referenced entries, provides brief vignettes of the more popular and also less well-known "soaps," among them Back Stage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family and The Guiding Light. Other entries evoke those who brought these programs to life: the actors, announcers, scriptwriters, networks, and even the sponsors. ...

The popularity of soap operas on radio made them a natural for the new medium of television, where soaps quickly became an audience favorite. As television soap operas developed, so did the level of sophistication in delivery, writing and production. This history of television's golden age soaps begins with an overview of earlier serialized entertainments. An analysis of early TV soap stars, personnel and production follows, taking 40 programs into account. ...

The soap opera, one of U.S. television's longest-running and most influential formats, is on the brink. Declining ratings have been attributed to an increasing number of women working outside the home and to an intensifying competition for viewers' attention from cable and the Internet. Yet, soaps' influence has expanded, with serial narratives becoming commonplace on most prime time TV programs. The Survival of Soap Opera investigates the causes of their dwindling popularity, describes their impact on TV and new media culture, and gleans lessons from their complex history for twenty-first-century media industries. ...

This work explores the way in which telenovelas (TV serial dramas) give voice to contemporary and historical Argentinian social and political issues.

Entertainment-Education and Social Change introduces readers to entertainment-education (E-E) literature from multiple perspectives. This distinctive collection covers the history of entertainment-education, its applications in the United States and throughout the world, the multiple communication theories that bear on E-E, and a range of research methods for studying the effects of E-E interventions. The editors include commentary and insights from prominent E-E theoreticians, practitioners, activists, and researchers, representing a wide range of nationalities and theoretical orientations. ...

For the past six years, Stefan Ruiz has gained special access to Mexico's Televisa studios, known as The Factory of Dreams, where nearly fifty thousand hours worth of telenovelas (soap operas) are produced and exported annually to more than one hundred countries. Stefan Ruiz's photographs of the factory and its people reveal a behind-the-scenes look at this special place with humor and affection.

Soap operas and telenovelas are watched by millions of people around the world every day. As cultural, social, and economic phenomena, examining them will further our understanding of the role of global media content in the digital age.

Often erroneously compared to soap operas of the United States, outside of the necessary and sometimes fantastical dramatic story arc, however, the telenovela differs greatly from U.S. soap operas and have regional and cultural distinctions throughout Latin America. In Telenovelas, Ilan Stavans has gathered over two-dozen essays covering the telenovela for readers to better understand the phenomenon and its myriad layers. Branching off from radionovelas, the telenovela was exported from pre-Castro Cuba during the 1950s. The essays found in Telenovelas covers a broad view of the genre, television's impact in Latino culture, as well as more in-depth discussions of specific telenovelas throughout the Spanish-speaking television audience in the North America. ...

Though wildly popular, daytime soaps are arguably the most denigrated and parodied of any contemporary entertainment form. For this reason, even the most devoted soap opera fans are often reticent or even secretive about the shows they love. Watching Daytime Soap Operas is a meditation on the pleasures--and displeasures--of watching and talking about daytime soap operas. In this multidisciplinary study, Louise Spence talks to 25 women about their mostly solitary viewing practices and observes many Internet chat rooms. ...

... The introduction outlines the seven articles in this issue, all of which revisit and expand on previous soap opera scholarship and its enduring appeal to audiences and fans. In asking questions about the aesthetics, audiences and industries of soap operas, the articles in this Special Issue highlight some of the key issues in soap storytelling and fandom such as community, pleasure and gender. ... [We do not have a subscription to this journal].

Use this index to find articles about this TV genre.

The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Annie Wilson and her brother Dixon move from Kansas to California and must adapt to the social drama on their first day at West Beverly Hills High School.
This is the reboot!

The first season of the primetime soap of the 80s. Relive the saga of a wealthy Denver family in the oil business.

A telenovela set in Coroado, a village in the interior of Brazil's state of Goiás. Explores the struggle of the Coragem brothers, João, Duda, and Jerônimo. Plot lines include the love between Jerônimo and his foster sister, Potira, and the affair between João and the psychologically troubled Maria de Lara, who has three personalities. Other characters include the brothers' father, the feared Colonel Pedro Barros, absolute master of Coroado, and his brother Ricardo.

Maria is released from prison after being accused of killing her best friend only to find that her children believe she is dead. She must find the true killer of her friend in order to prove her innocence and win her children's love before revealing her true identity to them.

In the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio, the heroine, housewife Mary Hartman, lives a life that is a quest for perfection as portrayed by the Reader's Digest and TV commercials. She is ravaged by a never-ending onslaught of mass murders, venereal disease, low-flying airplanes, and a waxy yellow buildup on her kitchen floor.

A nighttime soap opera about the lives, careers, ups and downs of a group of young people living in an apartment building in the trendy neighborhood of Melrose Place.

When Ryan Atwood, a tough, guarded, fiercely intelligent 16-year-old plunges headlong into the wealthy community of Newport Beach, he soon discovers that the ruling families of Orange County are every bit as territorial as the tough crowd with which he ran on the streets of Chino. For Sandy Cohen, the idealistic public defender who takes Ryan in; his wife Kirsten, the linchpin of O.C. society; their awkward adolescent son, Seth; and the beautiful troubled girl next door, Marissa - Ryan's presence will forever change their lives.

Set in a small New England town, Peyton Place deals with the secrets and scandals of two generations of the town's inhabitants. An unmarried woman, Constance, and her daughter Allison are at the dramatic center of the story.

Wealth, beauty, and power define the residents of New York's most exclusive community, but one woman will stop at nothing to exact revenge from those who ruined her father's life. Witness Emily Thorne's brilliantly vindictive plot against Victoria Grayson, the reigning queen of the Hamptons, and all who destroyed her family. However, even the best-laid plans can unravel in the wake of an unexpected love triangle between Emily, the son of her greatest nemesis, and a forgotten face from her past.

Murder and betrayal abound in this telenovela.

The controversial sitcom that defined the late 70s and became an instant classic. Soap took viewers into the homes of two of the most dysfunctional families ever-- and we couldn't help but embrace every eccentric one of them!

Features live kinescopes from early television soap operas, complete with commercials, which originally aired in the 1950's and 1960's. Includes Guiding Light, Love of Life, Search for Tomorrow and Secret Storm.

Betty Suarez isn't like any of her coworkers at Mode, a high-fashion magazine. She's smart, sweet, and hardworking, but she's not thin and beautiful. As the publisher's son's secretary, she earns his respect as she guides him through the world of fashion.