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Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera that premiered on September 3, 1951, on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast, it was the longest-running non-news program on television. This record was soon broken by Hallmark Hall of Fame, which premiered on Christmas Eve 1951 and still airs occasionally.
The show was created by Roy Winsor and was first written by Agnes Nixon (who was then known professionally as "Agnes Eckhardt") for thirteen weeks (although star Mary Stuart disputed this in her autobiography, Both Of Me, saying the cast made up the first few weeks of scripts because they were poorly written) and, later, by Irving Vendig. Search aired as a fifteen-minute serial from its debut in 1951 until 1968. The show's initial sponsor was Procter & Gamble, the makers of Joy dishwashing liquid and Spic and Span household cleaner. As the show's ratings increased, other sponsors began buying commercial time. Both "Joy" and "Spic and Span" continued to be the primary products Procter & Gamble advertised on the show, well into the 1960s.
The show switched from live broadcasts to recorded telecasts in March 1967, went to color on September 11, 1967, and expanded to a half-hour on September 9, 1968. At the time, Search and its sister show Guiding Light, which had shared the same half-hour for sixteen years, were the last two fifteen-minute soap operas airing on television. (As a result of the expansion, Search gained the entire 1230 pm ET timeslot, and an expanded Guiding Light moved to 230 pm.)
In 1983, both the master copy and the backup of a Search episode were lost, and on August 4, the cast was forced to do a live show for the first time since the transition sixteen years before. After the event, NBC was accused of lying about the tape being misplaced in hopes that the noise generated by the accident would create a ratings jump for the show. It was thought that this situation mirrored a similar one in the 1982 movie Tootsie.
Also Known As Search for Happiness
Production Co Procter & Gamble Productions (PGP)
Filming Locations CBS Broadcast Center, Manhattan, New York City
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The show was created by Roy Winsor and was first written by Agnes Nixon (who was then known professionally as "Agnes Eckhardt") for thirteen weeks (although star Mary Stuart disputed this in her autobiography, Both Of Me, saying the cast made up the first few weeks of scripts because they were poorly written) and, later, by Irving Vendig. Search aired as a fifteen-minute serial from its debut in 1951 until 1968. The show's initial sponsor was Procter & Gamble, the makers of Joy dishwashing liquid and Spic and Span household cleaner. As the show's ratings increased, other sponsors began buying commercial time. Both "Joy" and "Spic and Span" continued to be the primary products Procter & Gamble advertised on the show, well into the 1960s.
The show switched from live broadcasts to recorded telecasts in March 1967, went to color on September 11, 1967, and expanded to a half-hour on September 9, 1968. At the time, Search and its sister show Guiding Light, which had shared the same half-hour for sixteen years, were the last two fifteen-minute soap operas airing on television. (As a result of the expansion, Search gained the entire 1230 pm ET timeslot, and an expanded Guiding Light moved to 230 pm.)
In 1983, both the master copy and the backup of a Search episode were lost, and on August 4, the cast was forced to do a live show for the first time since the transition sixteen years before. After the event, NBC was accused of lying about the tape being misplaced in hopes that the noise generated by the accident would create a ratings jump for the show. It was thought that this situation mirrored a similar one in the 1982 movie Tootsie.
Also Known As Search for Happiness
Production Co Procter & Gamble Productions (PGP)
Filming Locations CBS Broadcast Center, Manhattan, New York City
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