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| Painted Dreams premiered October 20, 1930. |
By Rob Wargo
On October 20, 1930, the soap opera was born, with the debut of the first episode of Irna Phillips’ Painted Dreams. Although the series had a relatively brief network run, compared to Ms. Phillips’ other triumphs, it is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the first very soap opera.
One day in 1930, schoolteacher Irna Phillips visited Chicago’s WGN looking for work. Although initially hired as an actress, her interests soon turned to writing, and she created the series Sue and Irene in which she and Ireene Wicker (best known as radio’s “Singing Lady”) provided all of the voices, with Irna playing “Sue” and Ireene playing “Irene.” Scheduled during the daytime, Sue and Irene was sponsored by Lever Brothers’ detergent “Super Suds.” The dialogue was conversational in tone, rather than full-out acting, similar to another early serialized entry Clara, Lu and Em.