For the 1938 film starring Robert Montgomery and directed by Richard Thorpe, see The First Hundred Years (film).

The First Hundred Years is the first ongoing TV soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952. A previous daytime drama on NBC, These Are My Children

These Are My Children

These Are My Children is a short-lived American television soap opera which ran on NBC from January 21, 1949 to February 25, 1949. The show was broadcast live from Chicago, Illinois, airing fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, at 5:00 p.m. EST....

, aired in 1949 but only lasted one month, and NBC's Hawkins Falls

Hawkins Falls

Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.On April 2, 1951, the series was moved...

 began in June 1950 as a primetime "soap" and didn't move to daytime until April 1951.

The drama involved two couples who were next-door neighbors. The series did not succeed due to very low viewership, as few American households had television sets, and fewer still watched during the afternoon.

The series was replaced with the television version of Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

, which would prove to be much more successful, airing for 57 years (72 years total when its 15-year run on radio is taken into account).