The 40 Best Soap Operas Ever – Ranked

Published on February 4, 2020 By Leah Goldberg

27. Love Of Life

CBS’s Love Of Life ran from the 24th of September , 1951, until the 1st of February , 1980. The soapie began as 15 minutes and expanded to 30 minutes. It originally covered the theme of good vs. evil, through sisters Vanessa Dale and Meg Dale. Vanessa was the “good” girl and sister Meg was a scheming “bad girl.”

Getty Images/Art Zelin

It started out in the fictional town of Barrowsville and moved to Rosehill. The cast included Christopher Reeve, Peggy McCay, Audrey Peters, John Aniston, Marsha Manson, Roy Schneider, and Dana Delany, among others. There was a strong theme of love and marriage, divorce and time in prison due to bigamy. Unlike many soap operas of its time, it was not split up into segments. All the advertising occurred before and after the show due to the fact that American Home Products was licensed to CBS.