It's December 1967 in the season six premiere of Mad Men, and Megan Draper is a rising soap star on the fictional show To Have and to Hold. Considering soap opera popularity reached an all-time high in the late '60s, this could be a big break for Megan.

Beginning as radio programs produced by soap-company-owned studios like Procter & Gamble Productions, soap operas came packaged as episodic weekday broadcasts meant to appeal to housewives. They emphasized drama between families and lovers, as well as extended story arcs. After moving to TV, soaps were broadcasted daily in 15-minute segments until the late 1960s, when they all moved to a 30-minute format — meaning more airtime for a budding actress like Megan. In the 1980s and 1990s, the shows explored social issues like mental illness and AIDS, yet as more women took the Peggy Olson path, opting to work outside the home, viewership and budgets declined. Even so, Megan's choice of work is not completely irrelevant today. After being canceled in 2011, new episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live will begin streaming on Hulu and iTunes on April 29.

There was never a show called To Have and to Hold. But when a fan asks Megan for an autograph, the woman says, "I can't believe Victor won't acknowledge you," giving a nod to Victor Lord, the patriarch of real-life soap One Life to Live. So why did Mad Men apparently choose One Life to Live as its inspiration? Perhaps because it juxtaposes nicely with the Mad Men season five finale title, "You Only Live Twice," based on the James Bond song. Together they fit with the show's constant question: do you only have one life to live, or can you remake yourself? Don Draper/Dick Whitman has tried the latter by literally assuming someone else's life. And just like Don, Megan is now recognized as an alter ego: her character Corrine from the show. In the season six premiere, Betty is giving the whole "remake yourself" thing a try too, dying her hair black and trading her Grace Kelly look for Elizabeth Taylor. Will it work? I just hope no one gets pushed down the stairs.

Shocking news hit lovers of Pine Valley today — ABC announced it's canceling All My Children! Erica Kane and her many husbands, lovers, friends, and enemies will say goodbye in September, and they aren't the only casualties. One Life to Live will take its last breath in January. Considering the soaps have been on for a combined total of 83 years, many fans will be sad, including me. When I was little, my mom used to tape AMC faithfully, and we would watch it at night, sometimes catching up with multiple episodes in a row. I started watching the show so young (don't worry, she fast-forwarded all the bedroom scenes) that I think it took me a few years to realize Tad, Dixie, Adam, Brooke, Opal, and everyone else weren't real people living their unusually dramatic lives.

As of next year, only four network soap operas will be left: Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful. Do you have a sentimental favorite?

Photos copyright ABC, Inc.

Soap operas might be the low of American culture (don't tell James Franco), but in Afghanistan they serve lofty objectives. In a country where the Taliban forbade women to even go to school not too long ago, it's empowering for women to work and gain public recognition. And for viewers at home, the show tells the familiar story of life since the fall of the Taliban. In last weekend's New York Times Magazine, Elizabeth Rubin interviewed actresses on the country's first soap opera: The Secrets of This House. Here are six things I learned. You can check out part of the first episode (subtitled) in the video below.

1. The actresses risk their lives. One explains: "If the Taliban come back, they'd behead all of us."
2. "The Murdoch of Kabul" produces the show, and according to Rubin, he "darts around the world tending to kids and business and politics in Australia (where he spent his teenage years) and in Dubai, Kabul, Washington, Los Angeles."
3. The writers workshopped with the screenwriter of Pretty Woman.

See the rest after the jump.

Afghan actress Trena Amiri films a scene for the soap opera Love and Old Age in Kabul. Trena, who is divorced and rarely sees her three children according to Afghanistan's custody laws, tries to be discreet about her career because many people are critical of her lifestyle.