Soap opera Soap opera A soap opera is an ongoing drama serial on television or radio, featuring the lives of many characters and their emotional relationships. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas being sponsored by soap manufacturers. BBC Radio's "The Archers", first broadcast in 1950, is the world’s longest-running radio soap opera; the world's longest-running television soap opera is "Coronation Street", first broadcast on ITV in 1960. The first serial considered to be a "soap opera" was "Painted Dreams", which debuted on October 20, 1930 on Chicago radio station WGN. Early radio series such as "Painted Dreams" were broadcast in
Soap opera outlines. These are "Verbotene Liebe" (Germany, 1995–2015); "Skilda världar" (Sweden, 1996–2002); "Apagorevmeni agapi" (Greece, 1998); "Cuori Rubati" (Italy, 2002–2003) and "Zabranjena ljubav" (Croatia, 2004–2008). Both "The Restless Years" and "Sons and Daughters" were created and produced in Australia by the Reg Grundy Organisation. The Norwegian soap opera "Hotel Cæsar" aired on TV 2 from 1998 to 2017, and is the longest-running television drama in Scandinavia. Popular foreign soaps in the country include "Days of Our Lives" (broadcast on TV6 (Norway), "The Bold and the Beautiful" (TNT (Norway) and "Home and Away" (TV 2), all of which are subtitled. Serials have