"Soap Opera" is a phrase that was first used in the 1930's in the USA. It was used to describe Radio series that were sponsored by the manufacturers of soap powder hence 'Soap'. The 'Opera' part came from the fact that operas were about dilemmas and other dramatic or melodramatic situations. By the 1950's the serials had made the transition to TV. They spread across the world and grew in popualrity.
Coronation Street is the longest running TV soap in the world, however it is predated by a Radio Soap "The Archers" which was a rural soap broadcasted on BBC Radio 4. After the success of several American soaps on the 1980's they began to gain more popularity again. This encouraged British soaps such as Brookside and Eastenders and also Australian soaps such as Neighbours and Home and Away. Australian soaps caused British soaps to reconsider their audiences and therefore their characters. Australian soaps tended to be aimed at teenagers and so Britain followed suit, which proved to be a very good move and now soaps are more popular than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment