A comprehensive survey of the history, the means of production, the content and the impact on audiences of soap operas. A sociologist and a specialist in women's studies combine to review the content of soap operas, and the way in which they are produced. How have the themes of soap operas changed with social convention? How do these massively popular serials aimed at a female audience portray women at work and at home? The impact of soap opera on its audience, the different varieties of soap operas, and the differences in structure, content, and commercial purpose between soap operas and prime time television are also discussed. `Cantor and Pingree have performed an important service by bringing together and analyzing a va

The period from 1925 to 1960 was the heyday of the American Radio Soap Opera. In addition to being part of popular culture, the soap opera had important commercial aspects as well that were not only related to their production, but also to the desperate need to sell products or perish. Both sides of this story are traced in this comprehensive compendium. The dictionary section, made up of more than 500 cross-referenced entries, provides brief vignettes of the more popular and also less well-known 'soaps,' among them Back Stage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Pepper Young's Family and The Guiding Light. Other entries evoke those who brought these programs to life: the actors, announcers, scriptwriters, networks, and even the sponsors. Nor are the basic themes, the stock characters and the gimmick, forgotten. The book's introduction defines the soap opera, examines the span of the radio serial, reviews its origins and its demise, and focuses on the character types that made up its denizens. The chronology outlines the period and the bibliography offers further reading. Together, these elements make a comprehensive reference work that researchers will find invaluable long into the future.

On November 8, 1965, Days of Our Lives debuted on NBC. The show overcame a rocky beginning to become one of the best-loved and longest running soap operas on daytime television. For 30 years, the story of the show's Horton family has been closely followed by a dedicated audience. Through extensive research, including the first-ever examination of the show's archives, and interviews with cast members, writers, producers and production personnel, the show's history is told here. This reference work provides a complete cast list from the show's debut through 1994, as well as the most comprehensive storyline of the show ever available. Also included are family trees of the show's characters, tracing the often confusing relationships involved in thirty years of developing roles.

Aldous Huxley Annual is the official organ of the Aldous Huxley Society at the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies in Munster, Germany. It publishes essays on the life, times, and interests of Aldous Huxley and his circle. It aspires to be the sort of periodical that Huxley would have wanted to read and to which he might have contributed. This issue features Aldous Huxley's and Beth Wendel's dramatization of The Genius and the Goddess never before published. It also includes several rather unknown travel essays by Aldous Huxley as well as Peter E. Firchow's opening lecture at the Third International Aldous Huxley Symposium held in Riga in July 2004.