General Hospital Polls: Franco, Valentin, Hayden, And More

Your General Hospital polls are here! Your opinion matters and we want to know how you feel about certain situations unfolding on the daytime sudser. So, take our polls and share your viewpoints on the happenings in Port Charles.

More on Soap Opera History

Soap opera began in the early 1900s, as radio broadcasts. Soap companies were behind the conception of the daytime dramas because they wanted to sell soaps to stay-at-home-moms. They did their job and also launched a lifelong programming format, the soap opera.

Spanning more than nine decades, American sudsers have seen the rise and fall of daytime soaps. In the heyday of soaps in the early 1980s, there were up to 13 different soap operas broadcast. However, over the years, the number has declined. Currently, there are only four American soap operas on the air. They include Days of our Lives (DAYS), General Hospital (GH), The Young and the Restless (YR), The Bold and the Beautiful (BB). For more facts about soap opera history, head over to our archives and relive the glory days of daytime!