Saturday, September 7, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (September 7)

1981: ANOTHER WORLD debuted a new opening sequence.
1989: Y&R's Nina wanted Esther's help. 2007: PASSIONS ended
its run on NBC. 2010: ATWT's Reid died.
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach."
― Aldous Huxley

"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...

1978: Eileen Barnett debuted on DAYS OF OUR LIVES as Stephanie Woodruff. It turned out Stephanie was really a post-plastic surgery Brooke Hamilton who had not died in a car accident as previously thought. Adrienne LaRussa had played Brooke.

1979: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, the Madisons discussed "Mansion of the Damned" at dinner.

1981: ANOTHER WORLD debuted its block letter opening, replacing the interlocking rings that had been used since 1966. Watch below.



1983: On RYAN'S HOPE, Siobhan (Marg Helgenberger) and Bill grew closer.



1989: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, Nina (Tricia Cast) tried to convince Esther (Kate Linder) to testify on her behalf.



2001: Actor Billie Lou Watt died at age 77.  Her soap roles included Maggie Barker Weaver on FROM THESE ROOTS, Ellie Harper Bergman in SEARCH FOR TOMORROW and Florence Hatcher on THE EDGE OF NIGHT.

2004: On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Eric (John McCook) was shocked to learn from Stephanie (Susan Flannery) that Felicia had been living with cancer.

2007: PASSIONS aired its final episode on NBC. The show moved to DirecTV's The 101 Network on September 17 and ran until the series finale on August 7, 2008.



2010: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Dr. Reid Oliver (Eric Sheffer Stevens) died in the hospital after his car was struck by a train.



2011: On ALL MY CHILDREN, Verla (Carol Burnett) and Opal (Jill Larson) competed for Sam.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Bruce Gray (ex-Owen, THE EDGE OF NIGHT; ex-Wyatt, ALL MY CHILDREN; ex-Warren, SOMERSET; ex-Tim, STRANGE PARADISE; ex-Mark, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-George, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Dr. Glass, SANTA BARBARA) - 77
William Utay (ex-Dr. Rolf, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 66
Susan Blakely (ex-Anne, FALCON CREST) - 65
Georganne LaPiere (ex-Heather, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 62
Corbin Bernsen (Todd, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-John, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Ken, RYAN'S HOPE) - 59
Michael Emerson (ex-Ben, LOST) - 59
Michele Val Jean (Writer, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; GENERAL HOSPITAL; SANTA BARBARA)
Les Brandt (ex-Rafael, ANOTHER WORLD) - 45
Tom Everett Scott (ex-Andrew, GCB) - 43
Alyssa Diaz (Gloria, ARMY WIVES; ex-Celia, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 28
Evan Rachel Wood (Sophie-Anne, TRUE BLOOD) - 26

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. The ending was so funny. Thank you very much for uploading.

    ReplyDelete