Melodrama has a long history going back to 18th and 19th century plays and through to movies, radio and television shows in the 20th and 21st centuries. In its basic form, melodrama is a way to show evil overcome by good through the process of fate. Characters never change their moral ground in a story as a clear distinction between benevolence and malevolence. The same dramatic conflict structure applies to modern-day entertainment.

As with many terms, the word "melodrama" has Greek origins. The word melos in Greek means "music," and drama refers to a deed, action or tragic play. Tragedy is the nearest cousin of a melodramatic work. The earliest uses of melodrama, however, go back to the stage in late-1700s and early 1800s Germany.

The German playwright August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue is considered the forefather of melodrama. His sensationalistic and emotional plots in his plays contained the first uses of what makes up this dramatic process. An example was in his play The Stranger, which used the device of a sympathetic woman committing adultery in a marriage.

It was in 19th century France where melodramatic elements were taken to new heights. Playwright Rene Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt lived a melodramatic life and funneled his experiences into his successful plays. Many of his plays added new elements, such as orchestras and pyrotechnic effects, to add more dramatic and emotional layers. He left behind a textbook called Derniéres réfexions sur le mélodrame about how similar melodramatic works could be created.

Other forms of entertainment eventually copied what Pixérécourt suggested with the basic structure of the melodrama. The first act became an antagonistic event, followed by a second act of increased conflict and a final, third act of complete moral resolution. Any tragedy in the story became reduced by the use of comedy, romance or an upbeat ending.

When movies became the popular form of entertainment in the 20th century, melodramatic elements were used considerably. This included Pixérécourt’s earlier use of music to enhance emotional plots in a story. The silent era of the late 1910s and 1920s had to rely on facial expressions from actors to reflect plots of the era.

D.W. Griffith was one of the first directors to use movie melodrama effectively in his 1919 Broken Blossoms and 1922s Orphans of the Storm. Actress Lillian Gish was his frequent star, and she mastered the art of emoting through plots of long-suffering women. More frank melodramas came along in the "talkie" era of the 1930s with what were called "weepies." These were also about strong female characters trying to fight through tribulations in their lives, but with happy outcomes.

Melodramatic elements have since been used in myriad movies that are considered classics. One of the most-seen examples is 1946s It’s a Wonderful Life. James Stewart’s George Bailey character suffers through various frustrating calamities at the hands of malevolent Mr. Potter before an overwhelmingly emotional and happy finale. The 1942 romantic tearjerker Casablanca also fits the melodramatic bill.

To compete with television, big-screen movie melodramas were produced during the 1950s. Producer Douglas Sirk enhanced this genre during the period with movies such as 1954s Magnificent Obsession and 1959s Imitation of Life. Many of these were cited as tear-jerking soap operas rather than the more sophisticated takes on the genre of earlier decades.

Radio and television used melodrama from their earliest days through the daytime soap opera. Many TV dramas during prime-time hours used these elements, with the epitome being the popular crime dramas of the 1970s and '80s. The concept of a hero overcoming an evil person or force remained a consistent and popular structure on TV into the early 21st century.

In the early 21st century, melodramas became less frequent in theatrical movies. Some infrequent movie examples of the 2000s include Moulin Rouge from 2001 and Brokeback Mountain in 2005. Television melodramas in the 21st century also were lessened, but only somewhat, and was indicated by the decline of the soap opera. Nevertheless, successful TV franchises such as Law & Order showed that the concept of the hero overcoming evil was still an important and cathartic genre, although more violence, frank dialogue and realistic situations became included to a greater extent.