Decades and decades of seasons

What are DOOL, GH, or SNL? Exploring some emblems of American TV

Credit: cottonbro studio

DOOL, GH, SNL. Some shows have been running for so long that we know them by their initials. Some have been watched by multiple generations while retaining their legendary hosts or stars over the decades. From fictional daytime dramas to animated families and revolutionary reality shows, let’s explore the productions that have remained uninterruptedly in our living rooms and continue to make history!

Credit: Antoni Shkraba

General Hospital holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-running American soap opera in production. Very few fictional shows in the history of television have printed script after script for as many decades. GH premiered in April 1963, which means it has already been running for 61 years.

This daytime soap opera set in the imaginary Port Charles, New York, was created by the husband-and-wife duo Frank and Doris Hursley. The ABC show famously featured the actress Rachel Ames playing Audrey March Hardy for 43 years. The show reached its peak popularity in the 80s, and in 1981, it had 30 million viewers for super-couple Luke and Laura’s wedding, the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.

Credit: Aron Visuals

"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." The beloved melodrama was created by the married couple Ted and Betty Corday in 1965, which means it has been running for over 58 years. NBC broadcasted it until 2022, when it moved to its subsidiary platform, Peacock. Situated in the fictional Salem, Illinois, the show rotates around the Brady and Horton families.

Throughout the years, it has pushed boundaries by featuring a same-sex wedding or evil-possession storylines. It was also famously parodied and quoted on the NBC sitcom Friends, which welcomed many guest stars from the soap opera in several episodes.

Credit: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA

This CBS game show first aired in 1972, over 52 years ago. But even then, it was a revival of the old 1956–1965 show of the same name. It is officially the longest-running game show in the US, with over 9,000 episodes behind.

For 35 years, it was hosted by Bob Barker, who was replaced by Drew Carey in 2007. Many special guests appeared in the show, from Buzz Aldrin showcasing a replica spacesuit to Jack Black competing in the game, as well as Aaron Paul, who was a hyped contestant before he became famous for his role in Breaking Bad.

Credit: Johnny Briggs

Y&R was born thanks to the power couple William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who also created its sister show, The Bold and the Beautiful. Both shows featured crossovers of many characters. Some actors saw their careers jumpstarted by The Young and the Restless, like Eva Longoria, David Michael Hasselhoff, and Paul Walker.

The CBS show first aired in 1973, 51 years ago. Jeanne Cooper famously played the matriarch Katherine Chancellor, and her 40-year tenure on the show is one of the longest in the genre. The show’s iconic song, "Nadia’s Theme", has become an emblem of the soap opera. It was composed by Henry Mancini, also responsible for the brilliant "Pink Panther" theme.

Credit: Kai Pilger

NBC Saturday Night was the original name when the gem comedy show first aired in 1975. Created and run to this day by Lorne Michaels, the show’s comedy sketches have been parodying contemporary American culture and politics for almost 5 decades.

Each weekly episode features one celebrity guest star as well as a musician or band for the great musical number, who then participate alongside the stationed cast in the week’s sketches. Over its course, the show notably became a platform for introducing endless comedic talents, such as Bill Murray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Billy Crystal, and Eddie Murphy.

Credit: Annie Starichenko

After 34 years, Fox’s gem show holds several records, like the longest-running American animated series. Matt Groening created the characters of this dysfunctional family after his own, and what started as an odd pilot evolved into an internationally celebrated prime-time show.

It has achieved many strange accolades over the years, from welcoming over 900 stars as guests, including Paul McCartney and Stephen Hawking, to having the original word "D’Oh!" registered by the Oxford English Dictionary, and even gaining a reputation for predicting the future with its storylines.

Credit: Leonard Reese

Long before YouTube was even a concept, Bob Saget was already hosting America's Funniest Home Videos. Although the conductor has varied over its 700 episodes, it is one of the longest-running reality TV shows in the US, after 34 years.

The show was based on a popular Japanese program with the same concept: Viewers would send funny videos recorded at home, and the host would present them with family-friendly jokes. Since the 80s, this show has understood the hook in user-generated content that would one day flood social media, such as silly footage of pets, funny bloopers, and cute babies.

Credit: Andre Benz

Even though it was a spin-off of the 1990 Law & Order, the police drama with Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson eventually became the bigger and longer-running hit. The live-action series has received over 100 award nominations since its release in 1999.

Special Victims Unit is known for having featured impressive guest stars like Sarah Paulson, Robin Williams, and Sharon Stone. Fans were sad to see Christopher Meloni's departure in 2011, whose character, Elliot Stabler, was just as iconic as Detective Benson.

Credit: Annie Spratt

Another famous animated series on American TV, Family Guy has been running for over 25 years. Seth MacFarlane’s adult show about the quirky Griffins family was launched on January 31, 1999, right after that year’s Super Bowl. The show’s characteristic sense of humor is based on its rapid-fire cutaway gags.

Although the show was canceled once in 2000 and again in 2002, it was the viewers’ fanaticism and the surge of DVD purchases that convinced Fox to continue its production, and as of 2024, new seasons are still being released.

Credit: Ingo Joseph

There was a reality TV boom in the early 2000s, and Survivor is in large part to blame for that. Launched in the year 2000, the show derived from the Swedish version Expedition Robinson, which had been running since 1997.

Hosted by Jeff Probst, Survivor became famous for exploring not just the survival skills of its contestants, but also the group psychology of people challenged by the strain of decision-making under stress. During its first eleven seasons, Survivor was one of the most-watched shows in the country: 51 million people turned on their TVs to watch the first season’s finale.

PUT ON YOUR BLUE SUEDE SHOES!

Are You An Elvis Fan? Remember Ten Iconic Moments Of The King’s Life!

Credit: emrecan arık

What can be said about Elvis Presley that hasn’t been said already? Few lives have left a mark as indelible in modern world culture as his has. His musical talent and on-screen charisma will never be equaled, and still, hundreds of Elvis impersonators happily continue to try to imitate the King’s dulcet tones.

We have selected ten pivotal moments in Elvis’ life that both pay tribute to an iconic musician’s career and help us understand the human side of this Rock & Roll legend. Enjoy!

Credit: Laith Abuabdu

Let’s start from the very beginning, in the city of Tupelo, Mississippi. On January 8, 1946, an eleven-year-old Elvis received his very first guitar as a birthday gift. While some accounts say that he was expecting a different gift like a bicycle or a rifle, Elvis quickly took a liking to it. He started taking his guitar daily to school, and classmates and family described him as "crazy about music."

Elvis was an avid fan of a radio show hosted by local country singer Mississippi Slim and frequently visited him at the radio station. Slim took him under his wing and, by the time Elvis was 12, he scheduled two performances on his show. While his shyness got the better of him on the first try, Elvis’ voice was broadcast on Slim’s show for the first time.

Credit: israel palacio

We’ll skip forward a little bit, up to 1954. Fresh out of high school, Elvis recorded his very first demos at Sun Records. Although much didn’t come out of these recordings, they made Elvis appear on the radar of his first management agency, Hank Snow Attractions. In 1956, Elvis recorded his first album, titled Elvis Presley, which quickly reached number 1 on Billboard's pop album chart.

1956 would prove to be a pivotal year for Elvis since it would mark his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. This was a troublesome performance for many reasons: Sullivan was recovering from a car accident he suffered and Elvis had to be recorded in Los Angeles since he was working on filming Love Me Tender. Nevertheless, the show was a huge success, attracting the highest ratings for any television variety show.

Credit: Filip Andrejevic

If you ever happen to stop by the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, there’s a very peculiar attraction that you might want to visit if you are a true Elvis fan: On March 25, 1958, Elvis Presley received his first buzz cut in this city, the day after he enlisted on the U.S. Army. To this date, the good people of Fort Smith remember this moment on Elvis Haircut Day (yes, that’s the name of an actual holiday), held every year around March 25th at the Camp Chaffee Barbershop Museum.

Elvis served in the Army between 1958 and 1960, reaching the rank of sergeant. Though he was offered the chance to serve under the Special Services Unit (on which he would perform for the troops), Elvis decided to enlist as a regular soldier, where he was deployed to Germany. This move helped him earn the respect of hundreds of people who were previously horrified by his rock & roll music.

Credit: Glen Bowman

Since we’ve been mostly focusing on the King’s music career, let’s take a second to reminisce on Elvis’ many acting credits. Inspired by legendary actors like James Dean and Marlon Brando, Elvis made his film debut in 1956, playing the youngest of the Reno brothers in the western Love Me Tender. While the movie was named after Elvis’ iconic song, this was the first and only time in his career in which he didn’t receive top billing.

What followed that first role was a fruitful career that included over 30 films and numerous appearances on television shows. Some of his most unforgettable roles include inmate Vince Everett in Jailhouse Rock, private Tulsa McLean in G.I. Blues, and gambler Lucky Jackson in Viva Las Vegas, considered by fans and critics alike to be his best film.

Credit: Joseph Novak

It was during his time in Germany with the military that Elvis met his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu, who would soon be known by the world as Priscilla Presley. The couple stayed together until their divorce in 1973, and they had one daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.

In 1957, Elvis unveiled one of the other biggest loves in his life: "Graceland", his mansion in Memphis. While nowadays Graceland is nothing short of a cultural icon, becoming the first rock-related site to be declared a National Historic Landmark, at the time it symbolized Elvis’ jump into an international superstar.

Credit: David Vives

Elvis is mostly associated with Vegas due to the above-mentioned film Viva Las Vegas, remembered for the remarkable chemistry between the King and Swedish-American actress Ann-Margret. However, Elvis’ relationship with "Sin City" goes above and beyond that: Priscilla and Elvis got married in Las Vegas, he filmed two of his most successful films in this city, and, on two separate occasions thirteen years apart, the King was offered lucrative residencies to play on iconic hotels in the Las Vegas Strip.

Elvis' first residency was when he was 21 years old, in 1956. This series of shows is not remembered as a huge success: Elvis was particularly popular among younger audiences, and the more conservative guests of the New Frontier Hotel didn’t take too kindly to his energetic music. However, in 1969, the King returned to Las Vegas for a residency in the International Hotel. Although Elvis was initially nervous to perform again after his previous experience, these shows were a huge success, and the hotel signed him for an extremely lucrative five-year deal to perform every February and August.

Credit: Adam Nemeroff

We’ll take a little break to delve into Elvis’ goofier side and showcase a few of his quirkier anecdotes. Let’s start with the King’s contribution to the culinary world. Any self-respecting diner will know what to serve you if you order an "Elvis" sandwich: a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich. This odd delicacy is credited both as being invented by the King and as his favorite sandwich.

These hearty sandwiches must have been the perfect fuel for another of Elvis’ hobbies: karate. While stationed in Germany, he started training in this martial art, which he continued to do for decades. Elvis reached a seventh-degree black belt and even opened his very own training center, called the "Tennessee Karate Institute."

Let’s end this interlude with one of Elvis's most famous companions. He was known for his love of animals and cared for many animals during his life, including pet horses, birds, and dogs. Among these pets, one of these animals shines as the strangest of the King’s furry friends: Scatter, the pet chimpanzee, who could be usually found perched on Elvis’ shoulder, or dressed in various funny outfits.

Credit: Ganapathy Kumar

Just like with Las Vegas, Elvis’ love for Hawaii is very well documented. His first concerts at the old Honolulu Stadium, held in November 1957, mark the start of the love story between Elvis and "the Aloha State." He frequently traveled to Hawaii to perform or to film: three of his movies (Blue Hawaiʻi, Girls! Girls! Girls! and Paradise, Hawaiian Style) were all filmed on the islands.

However, Elvis and his family also visited Hawaii to vacation and relax on its otherworldly beaches. According to biographers, he took inspiration from the island to redecorate the den at Graceland, now known as "The Jungle Room." If you ever happen to stop by the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, a place where Elvis performed the iconic "Aloha from Hawaii" concert in 1973, you will come across a real-life bronze statue of the King in his legendary singing pose.

Credit: WikiImages

Let’s talk about a meeting that no one saw coming. In December 1970, while on a trip to Washington, D.C., Elvis visited the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. The totally impromptu meeting took place in the Oval Office itself and ended in an iconic photo of Elvis and Nixon shaking hands.

The story of this meeting is as bizarre as the encounter itself. Elvis traveled to our nation’s capital with his collection of guns and police badges, on which he felt that a badge from the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs would fit perfectly. Apparently, Elvis arranged the meeting through a Nixon aide (who was himself an avid Elvis fan), and he arrived at the White House wearing a purple velvet suit and gold belt buckle. He presented Nixon with an even flashier gift: a Colt .45 pistol, mounted in a display case.

Credit: Dominik Scythe

We’ll end this article on a bittersweet note. June 26 is a noteworthy date for all Elvis fans: it was both the date on which he was first called back to Sun Records in 1954 and the first night he spent at Graceland, in 1957. And, perhaps more significantly, June 26 1977 was the night of the King’s final performance, held at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

Hopefully, we were able to showcase the many highlights of the life of this timeless American artist, so telling the story behind Elvis’ last concert seems a fitting conclusion to this list. While reception to the concert itself was mixed, most fans were deeply moved by what they thought was a comeback from a terrible year. The King said his last words of goodbye ("We'll meet you again, God bless, adios") and, just like that, the final pages of the story of an artist who changed the world forever were written. Elvis had left the building.