Sunset Beach was an American television soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

, first broadcast in the United States on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 on January 6, 1997, and last airing on December 31, 1999. The show followed the loves and lives of the people living in a fictional coastal city named Sunset Beach, on the coast of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Although there is a town in California called Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach, California

Sunset Beach is a beachfront community in Huntington Beach in Orange County, California. In 2011, it was annexed by Huntington Beach and is now part of that city. Prior to, it was a census-designated place, with a population of 971 at the 2010 census....

, the show's beach scenes were shot on nearby Seal Beach. The show was co-produced by NBC and Spelling Television

Spelling Television

Spelling Television Inc. was a television production company that produced popular shows such as Charmed, Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, Dynasty and Melrose Place. The company was founded by television producer Aaron Spelling in 1969...

.