A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.
ER is an American medical drama television series created by Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994, to April 2, 2009, with a total of 331 episodes spanning 15 seasons. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. Television. ER follows the inner life of the emergency room (ER) of Cook County General Hospital, a fictionalized version of the real Cook County Hospital, in Chicago, and the various critical professional, ethical, and personal issues faced by the department's physicians, nurses, and staff.
Guiding Light is an American radio and television soap opera. Guiding Light aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio between January 25, 1937, and June 29, 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is the longest-running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and is the fifth-longest-running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry, the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924–2010) have been on the air longer.
Ian Edward Wright is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer.
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group. Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, it became Sky One and broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom and Ireland as British Sky Broadcasting's flagship channel. It existed until 1 September 2021, when it closed down as part of a restructuring with its EPG position taken by Sky Showcase and much of its content library moved to Sky Max.
Fox Soccer was an American television specialty channel specializing in soccer, owned by 21st Century Fox, which operated from 1997 to 2013. It formerly broadcast rugby and Australian rules football, but in its final years it was devoted strictly to soccer.
GamesMaster is a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games.
Ronald Frederick Atkinson is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Sunset Beach is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from January 6, 1997, to December 31, 1999. The show follows the loves and lives of the people living in the Orange County coastal area named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California. Although there is a real community named Sunset Beach, the show's beach scenes were shot in nearby Seal Beach, California. The show was co-produced by NBC and Spelling Television.
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera that aired on NBC from July 30, 1984, to January 15, 1993. The show revolves around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California. Other prominent families featured on the soap were the rival Lockridge family, and the more modest Andrade and Perkins families.
Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the everyday lives and relationships of the residents of Mount Thomas, a fictional small town in Victoria.
A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,088 episodes were produced.
Mile High is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of Fresh!, a budget airline based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the Mile High Club. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005 and then aired again on Sky Three. In 2012, CBS Drama obtained the rights to the series.
Dean Constantine Sturridge is an English former professional footballer and football commentator for beIN Sports.
John Salthouse is a British actor and producer. His best-known screen roles are those of Tony in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party and DI Roy Galloway in The Bill from 1984 to 1987. He has also appeared in "Coronation Street" (1977) I Didn't Know You Cared, EastEnders, Miracles Take Longer and in films such as A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) and Prick Up Your Ears (1987). Salthouse had previously been a professional footballer until injury had forced him to retire. He had played for Crystal Palace under the name of John Lewis in the 1960s, a fact which he drew on in playing the sullen Tony in Abigail's Party. He also appeared in the early series of the Sky One soap opera Dream Team as the club's academy coach, Frank Patcham. He appeared in Series 1 and Series 2, and later became one of the show's producers. For the penultimate episode, Salthouse made a cameo appearance offering a young Jason Porter a contract with Harchester United.
Terry Kiely is an English actor. He is best known for his role in the Sky One series Dream Team, where he played the popular character Karl Fletcher for eight years, despite initially only signing up for six episodes.
Wayne Burnett is an English football coach and former footballer who is manager of Tottenham Hotspur under-23's team.
Lamorna Watts is an English actress, who played Jenny Blackman in the British soap Hollyoaks: Let Loose. and Holly Jones in the Sky1 drama Dream Team.
The ninth series of Dream Team was broadcast on Sky1 from October 2005 to May 2006. It followed the story of the fictional Harchester United in their first season back in the Premiership after winning promotion at the end of the previous season.
Ted Lasso is an American sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly, based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series of promotional media for NBC Sports's coverage of England's Premier League. The show follows Ted Lasso, an American college football coach who is hired to coach an English soccer team whose owner secretly hopes his inexperience will lead it to failure, but whose folksy, optimistic leadership proves unexpectedly successful.
