We all know the feeling of being heartbroken when a favorite TV show gets cancelled. But what if you’re not just a casual viewer, but a fan who has been devoted for years? Now that’s heartbreak of legendary proportion, and it’s just the sort of malaise that befell the diehard followers of these cancelled soap operas when their favorite shows bit the dust.
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night, which aired from 1956 to 1984, starred David Thorne and Georgia Ellis as the King family. It was cancelled because the show had been losing viewers since 1967 and General Foods wanted daytime programming that appealed more to a wider audience.
Guiding Light
The Guiding Light was the longest-airing soap opera of all time, with a run that spanned from 1952 through 2009. Before it ever even came to TV, though, the Guiding Light was well-known to serial fans, having debuted on the radio back in 1937 as the Great Depression raged on. When it was cancelled,, the show’s producers said they were proud of what it had “achieved in television history.”
All My Children
All My Children was the first daytime soap opera to be broadcast in color, and it ran for four decades (making it one of ABC’s longest running shows ever). The show focused on a large cast of characters living in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania – including some notable passages that were set outside America.
All My Children was home to one of the most famous characters in soap opera history, Erica Kane, played by Susan Lucci. Lucci famously lobbied to win a Daytime Emmy for several years before she finally nailed down the award in 1999.
Ryan’s Hope
Ryan’s Hope was a soap opera focusing on the people of Ryan’s Hope, Pennsylvania. The show ran for 30 years and aired its final episode in 1989. It chronicled events such as World War II, assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Vietnam war, Watergate scandal, disco era to the AIDS epidemic.
One Live to Live
On One Life to Live, a woman named Victoria Lord is imprisoned for the murder of her husband. She escapes prison and assumes another identity as she tries to get revenge on those who framed her – while also dealing with problems in her new life. The show ran from 1968 until ABC cancelled it in 2011 after 43 years and over 18,000 episodes.
Search for Tomorrow
The Search For Tomorrow was a soap opera that aired on NBC from 1951 to 1986, and focused primarily on the lives of two women. The show’s premise has been described as “a mix between Days of Our Lives and As the World Turns with some General Hospital.”
As the World Turns
As the World Turns was on air from 1956 to 2010. The show focused primarily on four families and their lives in a fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois. It’s cancellation was part of the quick downfall of soaps as the 2010s dawned.
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows aired from 1966 to 1971, and is a gothic soap opera that revolves around the supernatural. The show centers around Barnabas Collins, a vampire.
(Like Cancelled Soap Operas? Then you might like our article on Popular TV Shows of the 1980s, click here.)
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