The world's first television stations first started broadcasting in America in the late 1920s and early 1930s, but TV really gained mass popularity after World War 2. Across nearly 100 years of broadcasting, many 1000s of shows have aired. Along with gaming, which people play to win real money, television is the favorite pastime for many American citizens. We've all had a series we like cut short and cancelled after just a few episodes or a single season. A series may get a run of three, four or five seasons, and when a television show airs for more than 10 years it's a huge achievment, but occasionally viewers become incredibly invested in the lives of their favorite TV characters, meaning the ratings stay high and the show remains on air for decades.
Current popular shows like "The Bachelor", which has been on air for 18 years, "Survivor", for 20, and "The Simpsons", approaching its 31st season, aren't even close to the ten shows we will look at today that have lasted for the best part or more than half a century.
Here are 10 of America's longest-running TV shows.
Guiding Light
This popular TV show, based on a fictional Midwestern town of Springfield and centered around the middle class Bauer family, aired for 57 years (overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio from 1937 to 1956). The first television episode was broadcast on 30 June 1952 while the final episode date was 18 September 2009. The Guinness World Records lists Guiding Light as the longest-running TV soap in American history.
General Hospital
The medical drama General Hospital was first broadcasted in 1963 by American Broadcasting Company. It gained huge popularity and is still going strong. With 14000 episodes to date this show has been listed as the second longest-running drama in American television history by Guinness World Records, after Guiding Light. It's still in production so it may well take the crown in years to come.
As The World Turns
As the World Turns (popularly known as ATWT) is a television soap opera that was regularly broadcasted on CBS for 54 years from 1956 to 2010. This show was created by Irna Phillips as sister show to Guiding Light. With 13,858 episodes and 54 seasons As the World Turns is the third-longest day time soap opera on American television. The show was produced in Manhattan for the first 43 years and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010.
Days Of Our Lives
Another American daytime soap opera broadcast on NBC, Days Of Our Lives is one of the longest-running television programs in the world and has been airing almost every weekday since 1965. The show primarily centres on its core families, the Hortons and the Bradys, living in a town called Salem, and has already broadcasted over 13,000 episodes.
Sesame Street
Sesame Street is an educational children's television series that brings live action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry together in a funny style to entertain as well as educate preschooler children. The show was produced by The Children's Television Workshop, now known as Sesame Workshop, and created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett are the creators. Sesame Street is mostly known for its use of Jim Henson's Muppets, and offers short films combined with humor and cultural references. With 4514 episodes, the show celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2019 and it seems it will go on forever.
The Price Is Right
The American television game show The Price Is Right has aired since 1972. The show was created by Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and centers on contestants who are competing by guessing the accurate price of items to win cash and prizes. Contestants are picked from the studio audience when the show's famous catchphrase is announced, "Come on down!"
Bob Barker, who was the executive producer of the show, hosted it for 35 years. Later Drew Carey replaced Barker as the show host in 2007. The Price Is Right has aired 9,000 episodes in 48 seasons for 47 years.
The Young And The Restless
The Young and the Restless (often referred to as Y&R) is another popular American television soap opera which has been broadcast since 1973 which revolves around a fictionalized version of Genoa City. Still on the air, the show has produced over 11000 episodes for CBS.
One Life To Live
Another American soap opera which ran for over 43 years, the first episode of One Life to Live was broadcast on July 15, 1968. First aired on the ABC television network and then available on Hulu and iTunes as a web series via The Online Network from April 29 to August 19, 2013. One Life TO Live was created by American television writer and producer Agnes Nixon, and primarily brought an array of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse characters to the screen, consistently putting emphasis on social issues.
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live (popularly known as SNL) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy show that began in 1975. The show was created by Lorne Michaels and is broadcast on NBC. This landmark comedy series is designed to attract viewers between 18 to 34 years of age, and has been able to appeal to new viewers consistently who have entered that age group while many others who have moved out of it still liked the show. SNL offers parody on contemporary politics and culture, and has been performed by a wide variety of comedic actors. Each episode brings a new celebrity guest, who performs the opening monologue, along with a musical guest. The show has aired 889 episodes across 45 seasons.
All My Children
All My Children is another very popular American television soap opera which aired on ABC from 1970 to 2011, and later on The Online Network (TOLN) via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes from April to September 2013. This show was created by Agnes Nixon and set in a fictional suburb called Pine Valley in Pennsylvania. It broadcast a total of 10,755 episodes in its 41 years, and closes out our list of ten of the longest running TV shows on American television.
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