General Hospital (UK TV series) productions to fill in the extended schedules. Among the first of these shows, which were aimed at giving advertisers access to housewives, were the long-running rural soap "Emmerdale Farm" (YTV) and the twice-weekly medical drama "General Hospital". Set in a fictional Midlands town, the series followed the romantic and professional lives of its doctors and nurses. While the location and the characters names had been changed, in most other respects "General Hospital" was almost identical to its predecessor, "Emergency – Ward 10", a deliberate attempt to recreate its success. In 1975, after 270 twice-weekly episodes, "General Hospital" was given a
Tamil television soap opera the longest-running Tamil Language television series, ordered by number of episodes the show has aired. This list includes only programs aired five to ten years and above. Channels: Tamil television soap opera Tamil television soap opera or Tamil serials () are a popular genre of Tamil language television produced in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. All major TV networks in India produce a variety of drama series including family, comedy, romance, history stories, horror, devotional, fantasy stories and many others. Tamil serial started to broadcast television series in the 1990s. Today's format of 100–500 episodes started in the 2000s.