What is a Soap Opera?

A soap opera is an ongoing work of fiction, which is episodic and is portrayed in serial format on television or radio. The name ‘soap opera’ originates from the original serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Colgate-Palmolive as sponsors and producers. These early radio series were broadcast during the day at weekdays when housewives would be the most listeners; hence the series were aimed at and consumed mainly by a female audience.

Soap operas are stories proposed over a long extended period, where different characters are presented at different times. It is not likely for soaps to comprise a quick wrap-up of a storyline, and it is most likely a storyline consists of several characters with possible connections to other stories. The most common trait of a soap opera may be that each ending of an episode promises the audience for more drama in the next episode, rather than a clean tie-up at the end of the episode’s story, which is more of the case with sitcoms or other dramas.

Before creating a soap opera, we must first understand what a soap opera is. Therefore, I decided to have my first post as “What is a soap opera?” to explain exactly what it is. This is helpful towards developing my own soap opera as I now know exactly what I am going to be creating.