The First Hundred Years and fewer still watched during the afternoon. The series was replaced with the television version of "Guiding Light", which would prove to be much more successful, airing for 57 years (72 years total when its 15-year run on radio is taken into account). The First Hundred Years The First Hundred Years is the first ongoing TV soap opera in the United States that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952. A previous daytime drama on NBC, "These Are My Children", aired in 1949 but only lasted one month, and NBC's "Hawkins
Soap opera was cancelled after a steady decline in ratings following the departures of many of its original characters. The most successful soap opera in Italy is the evening series "Un posto al sole" ("A Place Under the Sun"), which had aired on Rai 3 since 1996 (whose format is based on the Australian soap opera "Neighbours"). Several other Italian soaps have been produced such as "Ricominciare" ("Starting Over"), "Cuori rubati" ("Stolen Hearts"), "Vivere" ("Living"), "Sottocasa" ("Downstairs"), "Agrodolce" ("Bittersweet") and "Centovetrine" ("Hundred Shop Windows"). The most popular Italian prime-time drama series, "Incantesimo" ("Enchantment"), which ran from 1998 to 2008, became a daytime