Twin Peaks is an American mystery horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that premiered on April 8, 1990, on ABC until its cancellation after its second season in 1991. The show gained a devoted cult following and has been referenced in a wide variety of media. In subsequent years, Twin Peaks is often listed among the greatest television series of all time, and is considered a landmark turning point in television drama.
Coronation Street is a British soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on Coronation Street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based in inner-city Salford, its terraced houses, café, corner shop, newsagents, builder's yard, taxicab office, salon, restaurant, textile factory and the Rovers Return pub. In the show's fictional history, the street was built in 1902 and named in honour of the coronation of King Edward VII.
EastEnders is a British soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since 1985. Set in Albert Square in the East End of London in the fictional Borough of Walford, the programme follows the stories of local residents and their families as they go about their daily lives. Initially there were two 30-minute episodes per week but since 2001 episodes have been broadcast every weekday apart from Wednesdays.
Empire is an American musical drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong which debuted on January 7, 2015 on Fox. Although it is filmed in Chicago, the show is set in New York. It centers on a fictional hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control of it. A hip-hop mogul must choose a successor among his three sons who are battling for control over his multimillion-dollar company, while his wife schemes to reclaim what is hers. The pilot was shown to be a success, garnering praise for Taraji P. Henson's portrayal of Cookie Lyon and the premiere receiving nearly 10 million viewers and the season finale with 17 million viewers.
One Tree Hill is an American television drama series created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB. After the series' third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW, and from September 27, 2006, the series was broadcast by The CW in the United States until the end of its run in 2012. The show is set in the fictional town of Tree Hill in North Carolina and initially follows the lives of two half-brothers, Lucas Scott and Nathan Scott, who compete for positions on their school's basketball team, and the drama that ensues from the brothers' romances.
Desperate Housewives is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004 until May 13, 2012. Executive producer Cherry served as showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily, George W. Perkins, John Pardee, Joey Murphy, David Grossman, and Larry Shaw.
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera reboot based on the 1980s series of the same name. Developed by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Sallie Patrick, the first season stars Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon Carrington, Grant Show as her father Blake Carrington, Nathalie Kelley as Blake's new wife Cristal, and James Mackay as his son Steven, with Robert Christopher Riley as chauffeur Michael Culhane, Sam Adegoke as tech billionaire Jeff Colby, Rafael de la Fuente as Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones, Cristal's nephew and Steven's love interest, and Alan Dale as Joseph Anders, the Carrington majordomo. The series later introduced Alexis Carrington, Blake's ex-wife and the estranged mother of Steven and Fallon; Anders' daughter Kirby ; Blake's third wife Cristal Jennings ; Blake and Alexis's long-missing son, Adam Carrington ; Blake's half-sister and Jeff and Monica's mother Dominique Deveraux ; and Fallon's former husband Liam Ridley.
Days of Our Lives is an American daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around the world. Until the network's closure in 2013, Soapnet rebroadcast episodes of Days on a same-day basis each weeknight at 8:00 and 10:00. The series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday. Irna Phillips was a story editor for Days of Our Lives and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell.
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems together. Seven decided to commission the show following the success of Watson's Sons and Daughters, which aired on the network. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and struggled for months before Seven cancelled it. The show was immediately bought by rival network Ten. After taking over production of the show, the new network had to build replica sets because Seven destroyed the originals to prevent its rival from obtaining them. Ten began screening Neighbours on 20 January 1986, beginning where the previous series left off and commencing with episode 171. Neighbours has since become the longest running drama series in Australian television and in 2005, it was inducted collectively into the Logie Hall of Fame.
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictionalized version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. First broadcast on March 26, 1973, The Young and the Restless was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week. The show expanded to one-hour episodes on February 4, 1980. In 2006, the series began airing previous episodes weeknights on SOAPnet until 2013, when it moved to TVGN. As of July 1, 2013, Pop still airs previous episodes on weeknights. The series is also syndicated internationally.
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ten seasons on Fox from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, and is the longest-running show produced by Spelling. It is the first of six television series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise and follows the lives of a group of friends living in the upscale and star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California, as they transition from high school to college and into the adult world. "90210" refers to one of the city's five ZIP codes.
General Hospital is an American daytime television medical drama. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production and the second longest-running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light. Concurrently, it is the world's third longest-running scripted drama series in production after British serials The Archers and Coronation Street, as well as the world's second-longest-running televised soap opera still in production. General Hospital premiered on the ABC television network on April 1, 1963. Same-day broadcasts as well as classic episodes were aired on SOAPnet from January 20, 2000, to December 31, 2013, following Disney-ABC's decision to discontinue the network. General Hospital is the longest-running serial produced in Hollywood, and the longest-running entertainment program in ABC television history. It holds the record for most Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, with 13 wins.
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series about the fictional lives of a close-knit group of friends beginning in high school and continuing in college that ran from 1998 to 2003. The series stars James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery, Katie Holmes as his best friend and love interest Joey Potter, Joshua Jackson as their fellow best friend Pacey Witter, and Michelle Williams as Jen Lindley, a New York City transplant to the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, where the series was set. The show was created by Kevin Williamson and debuted on The WB on January 20, 1998. It was produced by Columbia TriStar Television and was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987 as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera The Young and the Restless; several characters from each of the two shows have crossed over to the other since the early 1990s. Set in Los Angeles, California, the show centers upon the Forrester family and their fashion house business Forrester Creations.