Clara, Lu, 'n Em is a radio soap opera, which first aired on June 16, 1930, over WGN-AM Chicago, Illinois.[1] The show was picked up by the NBC Blue radio network and premiered at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on January 27, 1931. Thus, it became the first nationally broadcast radio soap opera.[1] When Clara, Lu 'n Em was moved to a regular daytime time slot on February 15, 1932, it became the first networked daytime soap opera.[1]
The first daytime serial drama-by-installment program, network or otherwise, is widely considered by scholars of the genre to be Painted Dreams, when it premiered in October 1930.[2][3]
Clara, Lu, 'n Em continued in various forms through the 1930s and early 1940s on the NBC Blue Network and CBS, finally airing as a syndicated series in 1945.[4]