soap opera
GENRE OF TELEVISION/RADIO DRAMA
Daytime drama; Soap operas; Daytime serial; British soap opera; Soap Opera; Soap-opera; Sinetron; List of soap opera actors; Soap star; Daytime soap; Decline of soap operas in the United States; Daytime soap opera; Drama serial; Soap Operas; British soap operas; Australian soap operas; Canadian soap operas; Irish soap operas; American soap operas; Parodies of soap operas
¦ noun a television or radio drama serial dealing with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters.
Origin
1930s: so named because such serials were orig. sponsored in the US by soap manufacturers.