Friday, August 30, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (August 30)

1968: Barnabas fought with Jennings on DARK SHADOWS.
1989: The Snyder brother battled on ATWT. 1991: Wayne Northrop
returned to DAYS as Roman. 2004: GH rolled out a new opening.
"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."
― Michael Crichton

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1968: On DARK SHADOWS, Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) and Willie (John Karlen) went to the crypt where Tom Jennings (Donald Briscoe) kept his coffin, but when Barnabas opened the coffin, it was empty. Jennings arrived and tried to bite him.



1979: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Steve (Denny Albee) and Paige (Margaret Colin) faced gunshots.



1984: On GUIDING LIGHT, Lydia Bruce subbed for Beverlee McKinsey as Alexandra in GUIDING LIGHT.



1989: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Craig (Scott Bryce) broke up a fight between Caleb and Holden (Jon Hensley).



1989: On ANOTHER WORLD, Michael (Kale Browne) warned Iris (Carmen Duncan) about dealing with Lucas (John Aprea) and she accused him of being jealous.



1991: Wayne Northrop returned as Roman Brady on DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

2004: GENERAL HOSPITAL debuted its new "Sirens" opening sequence which famously featured Anthony Geary (Luke) walking out of the shot at the end.



2010: ATWT's Bob revealed Nancy had died.
2009: The 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were held in Los Angeles, televised on The CW. Acting winners were Susan Haskell, Christian LeBlanc, Jeff Branson, Vincent Irizarry, Tamara Braun, Darin Brooks and Julie Marie Berman. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL was named Outstanding Drama Series, GENERAL HOSPITAL won for Writing and ONE LIFE TO LIVE was honored for Directing.

2010: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Bob (Don Hastings) told the Hughes family that Nancy had died. Helen Wagner played Nancy Hughes since the very first episode of ATWT and spoke the show's first line in 1956 ("Good morning, dear."). She passed away on May 1, 2010, less than two months before the show wrapped production. When the series ended its run on September 17, 2010, Hastings fittingly spoke the last line as her son, Bob ("Goodnight."), a role he had played since 1960.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Warren Buffett (ALL MY CHILDREN guest star) - 83
Elizabeth Ashley (ex-Emma, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Madge, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 74
Charles Taylor (ex-Bud, THE BRIGHTER DAY; ex-George, THE EDGE OF NIGHT) - 73
Ben Jones (ex-Judge Manning, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 72
Peggy Lipton (ex-Norma, TWIN PEAKS) - 67
Debbie McLeod (ex-Rene, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Jane, ANOTHER WORLD; ex-Lori, ANOTHER LIFE; ex-Connie, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Marlena, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW) - 55
Michael Michele (ex-Jane, GOSSIP GIRL; ex-Nikki, CENTRAL PARK WEST) - 47
Anne Sayre (Tina, GOTHAM; ex-Mitzi, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Pam, ANOTHER WORLD)
Kimberley Joseph (ex-Joanne, HOME AND AWAY; ex-Cindy, LOST) - 39
Sarah-Jane Potts (ex-Leanne, EMMERDALE; ex-Jo, WATERLOO ROAD; ex-Eddi, HOLBY CITY) - 37
Elden Henson (ex-Paul, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 36
Colleen Broomall (ex-Dani, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 30
Emily Montague (ex-Abby, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 29
Johanna Braddy (ex-Jordan, GREEK) - 26
Nathaniel Gleed (ex-Liam, EASTENDERS) - 16

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. Great Dark Shadows and ATWT (from 1989) clips! Ah, the glorious Helen Wagner and her beautiful character of Nancy Hughes. It still makes me very sad that, like the rest of the final months of the show, the tribute to her was underwhelming and disappointing. Of course, Goutman and Passanante only had one thing, er...character, on their mind during those final months....such a shame!!

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