Sunday, September 23, 2012

Today in Soap Opera History (September 23)

On this date in...

1978: DALLAS aired its first episode as a regular series following a successful five-part mini-series in the spring. In "Reunion, Part 1," Jock and Miss Ellie's middle son, Gary (David Ackroyd), a recovering alcoholic, returned to Southfork after a long absence. Meanwhile, Lucy discovered her mother, Valene (Joan Van Ark), working at a diner outside of town. This was the first appearance of Gary and Val, who were first married in 1961, then reunited and remarried in 1979 (with Gary played by Ted Shackelford). Miss Ellie gave them a house in Knots Landing as a wedding gift.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Miles (Joel Carruthers) was stunned when Nicole revealed she knew she had aplastic anemia. "Which category do I fall under? Am I one of those that recovers without any difficulty? Or am I one of those that dies?"

You'll also notice future AS THE WORLD TURNS executive producer Christopher Goutman as Matt Sharkey in the episode you can below:



1983: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Bo and Becky Lee's son, Drew, was born.  Like most soap kids, Drew grew up fast and was killed in the line of duty while working for the Llanview Police Department in 1998.

1986: Jessica Buchanan was born on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. By the time the series ended in 2012 it was revealed Jessica had a twin sister, Natalie, born the same day.



1987: On ANOTHER WORLD, Peter (Marcus Smythe) continued to manipulate Vicky (Anne Heche) into thinking Donna was having an affair with John.

1992: Shannon Sturges and Michael Easton aired for the final time as Molly and Tanner in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1998: Actress Mary Frann died in her sleep at age 55. She played D. B. Bentley in RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE from 1973 to 1974, Amanda Howard on DAYS OF OUR LIVES from 1974 to 1979, and Nan in KING'S CROSSING in 1982. Frann was best known for her role as Joanna in NEWHART.

1999: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, ANOTHER WORLD's Vicky decided to accompany Donna to New York for cancer treatment

2002: AS THE WORLD TURNS went on location to Virginia Commonwealth University as part of its "Catch Us If You Can" Tour. In the story, Aaron (Agim Kaba), his girlfriend Lucy (Peyton List), and their friend Alison (Jessica Dunphy) hit the road after Aaron is falsely accused of setting a fire. Determined to hide out until they can prove Aaron’s innocence, the three characters travel to ten college campuses hoping to elude both their parents and the law.

2003: ONE TREE HILL premiered on The WB. In 2006, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW which aired the show until the final episode on April 4, 2012.

2007: Lea Michele, Van Hansis and dozens of other stars greeted fans at the Broadway Cares Flea Market and Grand Auction. This year's event takes place today!

2011: The final episode of ALL MY CHILDREN aired on ABC. At the time, the show was expected to move to the web so the episode ended with a cliffhanger, "Who did JR shoot?" The Prospect Park plan to air AMC as a web series fell through in November. Watch THE VIEWS' tribute episode and the AMC finale below:





Celebrating a birthday today are:
Caroline Lagerfelt (CeCe, GOSSIP GIRL; ex-Patricia, THE EDGE OF NIGHT; ex-Elaine, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Carrie, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Sheila, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210; ex-Dr. Massey, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 65
Mary Kay Place (ex-Loretta, MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN) - 65
Patty Weaver (Gina, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Bernadette, SPYDER GAMES; ex-Trish, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 57
Rosalind Allen (ex-Silver, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Annie, DALLAS) - 55
LisaRaye (Keisha, SINGLE LADIES) - 46
Keri Lynn Pratt (ex-Amy, BROTHERS & SISTERS) - 33
Aubrey Dollar (ex-Marina, GUIDING LIGHT) - 32

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to [email protected].

1 comment:

  1. A bit of KNOTS LANDING/DALLAS trivia: Larry Hagman asked his Malibu neighbor and friend Carol Lynley (THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE) to play "Val," but Lynley wasn't available. Joan Van Ark won the role instead and the rest is history. Larry also assembled his friends and neighbors (including Lynley) for the horror spoof BEWARE THE BLOB, a sequel to the original Steve McQueen classic.

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