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These Are My Children premiered on NBC on 31st January, 1949; the world's first televised soap opera. It lasted only four weeks on air, was broadcast live, and had a tiny budget, but influenced the production of the genre for decades.\xa0\nAs dramas primarily created by and for women, soap operas typically attracted sniffy reviews from male critics, yet proved enormously popular with their initial audience of 1950s housewives. Creator Irna Phillips\u2019 own backstory mirrored the dramatic storylines she wrote, and many of the situations she introduced into her productions - illegitimate children, amnesiac medical patients - were TV firsts.\xa0\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the genre\u2019s clunky transition from radio to TV; explain the difficulties in obtaining quality soap actors; and reveal how Phillips not only pioneered soaps, but also pre-empted the Marvel Cinematic Universe\u2026\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018The Queen of Soaps Speaks\u2026for Herself\u2019 (Library of Congress, 2022): https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2022/03/the-queen-of-soaps-speaks-for-herself/\n\u2022 \u2018Women Pioneers in Television - Biographies of Fifteen Industry Leaders, By Cary O'Dell\u2019 (McFarland, 1997): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_Pioneers_in_Television/74fnsRmeeZcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=these+are+my+children+first+soap+opera&pg=PA191&printsec=frontcover\n\u2022 \u2018Eileen Fulton on Irna Phillips\u2019 (Television Academy, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGyhpn01e9I\nLove the show? Join \U0001f334CLUB RETROSPECTORS \U0001f334 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!\nPlus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.\n\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices