October 2, 1946…Network Television’s First Soap Debuts…Or Did It?
October 2, 1946…Network Television’s First Soap Debuts…Or Did It?
‘Faraway Hill’ debuted on The Dumont network on this date 68 years ago today and is considered by many to be the first soap opera on network television, in that the shows were produced and broadcast on more than one television station. In this case that would be Dumont’s New York and Washington stations.
BUT, there exists tales of another television soap opera, a program that may have aired for about 13 episodes in the summer of 1946, premiering just before ‘Faraway Hill’.
A television history book written by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, noted that prior to the broadcast of ‘Faraway Hill’, W2XB (which later became WRGB) in Schenectady may have aired a 13 episode drama called ‘War Bride’. The photo below is from the Schenectady Museum and is labeled “War Brides, June 7, 1946”.
NBC’s W2XBS and GE’s W2XB linked up to form the first network of television stations in 1943 and there are scattered reports of an early co broadcast of a show called ‘War Bride’ on that two city network.
Unfortunately, a lot of television’s early history is lost to the ages but often, bits and pieces of information like this help us form our conclusions and to me, it seems that ‘War Bride’ is actually the first network television soap opera. Most of the details of this article come from Chuck Miller who discovered the ‘War Bride’ photo and our thanks to him for his writings, effort and research. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
My college adviser was a former Affiliate Relations VP for Dumont, and then ABC. Wonderful man.
Strange timing. I received my alumni magazine from Southern Illinois University today and they had an article about a guy named Grover Morgan and among his accomplishments was working on “The First Hundred Years” which was the first daytime soap opera that started in 1950 and he started the use of organs as background music.
The wardrobe and set dressings suggest a Civil War bride?
Philco and W3XE were doing soaps (if sponsored by a soap company) or episodics if you will, in the early 40’s until the war shut them down. The Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers well documents one of them; http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/1942-lyn.html The gentleman with the slim mustache is a good friend of my to this day and 92 years old. He also gave me a title card from another 1941 W3XE production he was in called “Twenty Stars”