Sunday, November 3, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (November 3)

1967: Julia was certain Barnabas wanted her dead on DARK
SHADOWS. 1980: EON's Cliff survive the Clown Puppet.
1983: KNOT LANDING's Gary and Val slept together.
1992: 
"History is a vast early warning system."
― J. Norman Cousins

"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...

1967: On DARK SHADOWS, after a run-in with Carolyn, Julia (Grayson Hall) was more certain than ever that Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) was planning to kill her.

1970: On ANOTHER WORLD, Walter (Val Dufour) was thrilled when Lenore (Judith Barcroft) told him she was pregnant.

1977: On GUIDING LIGHT, a hateful Georgene Granger (Delphi Harrington) was in town swearing vengeance against Rita Stapleton (Lenore Kasdorf) for the death of her husband, Malcolm Granger.

Thanks to Scott for sending in the item above.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Cliff (Ernie Pysher) survived the Clown Puppet attack.



1983: On KNOTS LANDING, Lilimae (Julie Harris) is arrested after hitting Chip with her car. Val (Joan Van Ark) was upset about Lilimae so Gary (Ted Shackelford) comforted her and they ended up sleeping together. Val later learned she was pregnant from this post-divorce encounter (with twins Bobby and Betsy).



1988: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Olivia (Tonja Walker) survived through the night following her surgery. Victor Jerome was released from jail.



1992: On GUIDING LIGHT, Ross (Jerry verDorn) had a dream about the women in his life while awaiting election results.



1993: John Lupton, who played Tommy Horton in DAYS OF OUR LIVES and Everett Thornton in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, died at age 65.

1999: Australian soap BREAKERS aired for the final time after a 430 episode run. The series revolved around The Breakers building situated near Bondi Beach, and the lives of the people who work and live there.

2006: Donny Osmond appeared on ALL MY CHILDREN.



2008: Croatian soap ZABRANJENA LJUBAV aired its final episode after a three year run.

2009: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, after being kidnapped and held hostage by Claudia in a cabin, Carly went into premature labor and gave birth to Josslyn.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Peggy McCay (Caroline, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Iris, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Vanessa, LOVE OF LIFE) - 83
Lois Smith (Ruth, RUTH & ERICA; Adele, TRUE BLOOD; ex-Allison, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) - 83
Ron Leath (Henderson, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 76
JD Souther (Watty, NASHVILLE) - 67
Roseanne Barr (ex-Jennifer, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 61
Kate Capshaw (ex-Jinx, THE EDGE OF NIGHT) - 60
Philippe Brenninkmeyer (ex-Carter, AS THE WORLD TURNS; ex-Martin, GUIDING LIGHT) - 49
Sean Ringgold (ex-Shaun, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 36
Julie Marie Berman (ex-Lulu, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 30
Shayna Rose (ex-Stephanie, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 30

Timothy Patrick Murphy, who played Spencer Langley on SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, Mickey Trotter in DALLAS and Chip Craddock on GLITTER, would have turned 54 today.  He passed away in 1988 at age 29.

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].

7 comments:

  1. Ernie Townsend was Cliff Nelson

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    1. Yes! He goes by his given name now Ernie Pysher. I'm always debating with myself whether to use the name an actor used at the time of my history highlight, or the name they go by now (quite a few have changed). Married name examples include Kristina Wagner and Melissa Reeves.

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    2. Yeah I have had the same debate with my One Life to Live Youtube Audios from 1977. Go with David Reilly or Luke Reilly. I decided to go with what it was then. Like Jenny Siegel until she becomes Jenny Vernon. BTW I am updating the Timelines, they are about 4 day's off. I remembered that school got out early on Wednesdays so I could watch AMC. So the Promos that aired during AMC could only be 1- On a Wednesday or during the times of school vacation like Thanksgivng and Christmas. The new time line fits 3 Promos being on Wednesday until Monday December 19 (Christmas vacation) Then it is all week. Tracking it backwards it also fits with Cathy telling Jim it's been 2 years since Megan died airing on Tuesday October 4 (which would have aired on Monday the 3 except for President Carters New conference on Sept 29 at 2:30. A few sources say Megan died October 3, so it fit's in a number of ways.

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  2. The clown puppet murders on Edge of Night bring back so many memories.

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    1. Maybe I shouldn't but I smile every time I see the Clown Puppet, probably due to the nostalgia, and remembering watching that story at age 10.

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  3. Roger, Sean Ringgold is still Shawn Evans on OLTL even though he's on recurring status with the show now, and there hasn't been an announcement yet about if/when OLTL will return for a second season online, so it's not ex-Shawn for SR yet!

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    1. Chris, I had him listed as "ex" last year and forgot to update. Hope we see Shaun and OLTL again at some point.

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