Soap operas have been a staple of the entertainment world for longer than most of us have been alive.
Even back before the advent of the television, radio broadcasts would bring eager fans their daily doses of drama, and those brief serials – which were only about twenty minutes in length – were often the highlights of a listener’s afternoon.
Since then, the format for daytime drama has gone through a series of huge changes… but their legacy is still more than evident to those who know where to look.
For instance, the now-ubiquitous cliffhanger was first popularized by the show Dallas, when CBS rocked the nation with the infamous question, “Who shot JR?” While cliffhangers had been used before then, that pivotal moment prompted no end of emulation… and now, even primetime shows make frequent use of the device.
It’s only one small way that soap operas have affected the rest of the entertainment industry… and if you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll undoubtedly see many, many more!
What trends have you noticed that soap operas started? Let us know in the comments!
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