The first televised soap opera was on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) back in 1949, “These Are My Children.” Created by Irna Phillips and directed by Norman Felton, the show was all about Mrs. Henehan, a struggling Irish widow who ran a boarding house while helping her three children.
Irna Phillips was the mother of the genre: her first serial, “Painted Dreams,” began airing on radio in 1930. She later created “Woman in White,” the first radio soap opera set in a hospital.
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