Dramatic Half Hour

A format which has not been widely used for some time. See Dramatic Hour Long, except shorter.

This format was fairly common in the fifties and sixties, particularly for Soap Operas, but has fallen out of use in favor for the Dramatic Hour Long. In the seventies most soaps in the United States switched to an hour-long format. The format was more common in the United Kingdom, and still is to a degree.

Among the only live-action half hour dramatic shows remaining on air in North America today are the Soap Opera The Bold and the Beautiful, Discovery Kids' Flight 29 Down, and Degrassi: The Next Generation (which is increasingly shying away from this).


 * Adam-12
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents
 * All My Children (until 1977)
 * As the World Turns (until 1975)
 * The Bill (the final season switched to Dramatic Hour Long)
 * The Bold and the Beautiful
 * Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
 * Coronation Street
 * Danger Man (season one only)
 * Degrassi Junior High
 * Degrassi High
 * Degrassi: The Next Generation
 * Days of Our Lives (until 1975)
 * Dixon of Dock Green
 * Doctor Who (the classic series, with the exception of Season 22 in 1985 where the format was briefly changed to 45 minutes)
 * Dragnet
 * Eastenders
 * Emmerdale
 * Flight 29 Down
 * General Hospital (until 1976)
 * Guiding Light (between 1968 and 1977, when it was extended to 60 minutes. Before 1968 each episode was only 15 minutes long)
 * The Green Hornet
 * One Life to Live (until 1976)
 * The Rat Patrol
 * The Twilight Zone (seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5. Season 3 of The Revival)
 * Wanted: Dead Or Alive
 * Z-Cars