Lifetime

Launched in 1984, Lifetime carved out its niche as the go-to network for melodrama and mayhem, where every other movie seemed to feature a wronged woman, a deadly secret or both. The network, a brainchild of Hearst and ABC, turned domestic despair into must-see TV, offering up a steady diet of kidnapped daughters, cheating husbands, and the occasional Christmas miracle. Critics might scoff at the formulaic plots, but Lifetime's knack for tapping into suburban anxieties proved lucrative, turning what could have been a forgettable cable channel into a cultural touchstone. The network’s “women in peril” genre became so iconic that it’s hard to tell if the formula has evolved or if viewers just have a soft spot for predictability. While it never went public, Lifetime remains a reliable profit machine for its parent companies. The legacy? A masterclass in turning low-budget thrills into high ratings, one overwrought script at a time.