Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.
On April 2, 1951, the series was moved to a fifteen-minute daytime slot, where it was retitled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, and developed into a soap opera format. Hawkins Falls ran until July 1, 1955, making it NBC's longest running soap opera until The Doctors exceeded it in 1967.
The town of Hawkins Falls was patterned after the real-life town of Woodstock, Illinois.
| Created By | Doug Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Ended | |
| Original Name | Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 | |
| First Air Date | June 17, 1950 | |
| Last Air Date | June 17, 1950 | |
| Seasons | 1 | |
| Episodes | 1 | |
| Episode Runtime | 15min | |
| Language | English | |
| Original Language | English | |
| Production Countries | — | |
| Production Companies | NBC | |
| Networks | NBC | |