The 30 Best Daytime Soaps of All Time

Beginning on radio in 1937, the show chronicled the many lives and loves of the Bauers, the Lewis, the Spauldings, the Coopers and their friends and neighbors in Springfield.

This soap ran from 1956 to 2010 and centered on the Hughes, Stewarts, Snyders, and other residents of Oakdale.

The long-running series about the trials and tribulations of the Matthews, Frame and Cory families in Bay City.

Following the everyday problems of Erica Kane and other residents in the fictional city of Pine Valley, Pennsylvania.

Initially, the action centered on the doctors and nurses at a fictional hospital in Port Charles, New York. Nowadays, it's all about the mob.

This soap, set in Salem, begins with this famous introduction: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives."

This number-one-rated soap focused on the ups and downs in Genoa City, Wisconsin.

The many loves and lives of the always fashionable Forresters and their friends in L.A.

Before Edward Cullen, there was Barnabas Collins.

The first socially-relevant soap on television, it centers around the lives of the Lords, Buchanans, Cramers, and other residents of Llanview, Pennsylvania.

Following the many struggles and triumphs of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family as they run a bar in Manhattan.

Set in a fictional town called Henderson, it starred the late Mary Stuart as Joanne "Jo" Gardner.

The original crime soap set in fictitious Monticello.

Following the trials and tribulations of a group of doctors at the fictional Hope Memorial Hospital in Madison.

The late-90's cult soap featured a then-unknown Eddie Cibrian as Cole Deschanel.

The story of two rich families, one black, and the other white, in Chicago.

The long-running soap centered on sisters Vanessa and Meg Dale as they deal with their never-ending troubles in Rosehill, New York.

The craziest of all the soaps, this series focused on the supernatural lives of the many residents of a small New England town called Harmony.

The ever-popular GH spin-off.

This show lasted 12 years and chronicled the everyday trials and tribulations of the citizens of Corinth, Pennsylvania, a small, fictitious college town.

The six-year story of two rival political families in Washington, D.C.

Aired on CBS from 1954 to 1974, it focused on the many lives, loves, and heartbreaks of the Ames family of Woodbridge, New York.

The first of two AW spin-offs.

The second AW spin-off.

This short-lived soap followed many of the characters from "Loving" as they moved to NYC.

The story of Reverend Dennis and his family.

The not-so-private lives of the wealthy Hathaway family of Northcross, Connecticut.

This controversial late 60's/early 70's soap takes place in San Francisco.

The story of Liz Fraser, her family, and her friends, who all live in a small New England town called Strathfield.

Following the lives of the students and faculty at the fictional Bancroft College.