The First Hundred Years was the first ongoing soap opera in the United States that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1951. A previous daytime drama on NBC, These Are My Children, aired in 1949 but only lasted one month, and NBC's Hawkins Falls began in June of 1950 as a primetime "soap" and didn't move to daytime until April of 1951.

The drama involved two couples who were next-door neighbors. The series did not succeed due to very low viewership, as few American households had television sets, and fewer still watched during the afternoon.

Soap operas | 1950s TV shows in the United States