We simply couldn’t imagine a world without television shows. Some of them good, some of them really bad, some who’ve gone on for ages and others that have been cancelled much too early. Today we list ten shows that have been on our TV screens since they were huge, black and white, and came with only six channels.
1. The Young and the Restless
This show has been around for SO long that actors grew old and died in it. First broadcast in 1973, it’s still running and has reached over 9300 episodes.
2. Days of Our Lives
This famous daytime drama premiered in 1965, is still on our screens, and has run for more than a whopping 12 THOUSAND episodes. Now you know why they called it “Days of our lives”: it literally takes you through the daily lives of the cast, and has done so for the past 43 years.
3. General Hospital
ABC Daytime’s medical drama was first aired on April 1st 1963 and is still running today. Forget all the cheesy hospital shows; this is the grandfather of the genre! Of course, the cast changed over time, but that still doesn’t change the fact that this is the longest running medical drama in history.
4. Guiding Light
If this was a top 10, and not just a listing, Guiding Light would’ve been the first entry: it is the longest running show of all genres, of all times, EVER. It ran from 1952 to 2009. Think about it, some of the fans of the very first episodes might not even be alive today!
5. Doctor Who
Crossing the ocean and going over to the UK, we find BBC’s Doctor Who, a hugely popular sci-fi show that has been running (with a couple of years pause) from 1963 to the present. The clever time traveler celebrates 50 years of being on the screen this fall.
6. Star Trek
Staying in the world of Sci-Fi, number six on our list is Gene Roddenberry’s franchise, Star Trek. The first episode aired in 1966 on NBC and the Star Trek craze was born. The last show of the franchise ended in 2005.
7. Sesame Street
This is the longest running children’s show, having first aired 43 years ago on PBS. Since then, the fluffy puppets have invaded the TV screens and hearts of generations.
8. Saturday Night Live
We move into the world of sketch comedy with the longest running show of its kind on American television. Saturday Night Live came along in 1975 and is still around today.
9. The Oprah Winfrey Show
This particular show has made Oprah Winfrey rich and famous, and has changed the face of talk-shows forever. Oprah first hit screens in 1986 and only stopped in 2011.
10. The Simpsons
The only animated show on our list is here for a reason: it’s the longest running animated series, longest running sitcom, and longest running scripted primetime series. The adventures and misadventures of this middle-class American family have become a pop-culture landmark in the 24 years that the show has been running.
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