ABC plans 'The Story of Soaps' special for May 19

April 24 (UPI) -- ABC and People magazine are teaming up to pay tribute to daytime dramas and the impact they have had on serialized storytelling with the 2-hour television event The Story of Soaps.

Scheduled to air on May 19, the program will feature appearances by celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Andy Cohen, Bryan Cranston, Vivica A. Fox, Jon Hamm, Susan Lucci, Denise Richards, John Stamos and Chandra Wilson.

"The Story of Soaps traces how female creators migrated from radio to television to become the dominant force in daytime for more than three decades," a network press release said.

"Today, that legacy is alive and well all over prime time and reality, and much of what propels modern television traces its roots back to those first sprawling, steamy storylines."

ABC has been the home of soap opera General Hospital since 1963. It is the longest running, U.S. daytime drama in production.

Filming has been temporarily halted -- like most other movie and TV projects -- amid social-distancing practices intended to slow the speard of the coronavirus pandemic.

Four new, previously recorded episodes are scheduled to air each week through May, with reruns broadcast on Fridays.

The Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony, which honors soaps and other daytime shows, has been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 crisis.