Friday, February 14, 2014

Today in Soap Opera History (February 14)

1986: AW's Felicia married Zane. 1991: GL's Beth and Phillip
were finally married. 2002: ATWT's Nancy felt her late
husband's presence in a special Valentine's Day episode.
2008: Singer Pat Benatar visited Y&R.
"Maybe if people started to listen, history would stop repeating itself."
- Lily Tomlin

"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...

1966: On PEYTON PLACE, Leslie (Paul Langton) could not forget about catching Betty (Barbara Parkins) and Rodney (Ryan O'Neal). Rodney was surprised with a party arranged by his family.

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Mackenzie Cory (Douglass Watson) married Rachel Davis Matthews Clark Frame (Victoria Wyndham) at Mac's New York City townhouse.

1977: Eric Roberts originated the role of Ted Bancroft on ANOTHER WORLD. Ted was Brian's son and his first scene was with Brian and Mackenzie Cory. "You haven't changed a bit, sir," Ted said to Mac in his first line on the soap.

1978: ONE LIFE TO LIVE competed against GENERAL HOSPITAL on FAMILY FEUD, hosted by Richard Dawson.



1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Miles continued to struggle.



1980: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Ian (Peter Simon) had a heart attack and died while making love with Dee.

1985: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Alice (Frances Reid) went undercover with Howie to help prove Tom's innocence.



1986: On ANOTHER WORLD, Zane Lindquist and Felicia Gallant (Linda Dano) were married.



1991: On GUIDING LIGHT, Phillip Spaulding (Grant Aleksander) and Beth Raines were married.



2002: AS THE WORLD TURNS aired Valentine's Day special. Reminiscent of an old film, the program was divided into acts with silent-movie-style intertitles. The featured couples were each presented with a brief clip of video and a caption: Katie and Simon; Margo and Tom; Holden and Lily; Bonnie and Isaac; Bob and Kim; Carly and Craig; Paul and Rose; Abigail and Adam; Jake and Molly; and Lisa and "her men." Nancy went through an old box of Valentine's Day cards and had warm memories of her husband, Chris. Katie and Simon had a fantasy about the future, where Katie was a glamorous star and Simon was a lowly musician. Both Craig and Jack fantasized about Carly. Abigail and Adam gazed out at the night sky and wished on shooting stars. Lucy wrote in her diary and daydreamed about the meaning of love. Lily and Holden read Valentine's Day cards in bed. In a fantasy vignette, Bonnie was a Cinderella character who fit Prince Isaac's glass slipper. Lisa danced on a stage with hunky representations of her numerous husbands. Paul had a dream that Rose was home with him again. Tom gave Margo a surprise at work, and the couple daydreamed that they were dancing at a disco club. Jake met Molly at the restaurant where they first kissed. Bob and Kim talked about their loving relationship.





2006: SHORTLAND STREET was the first soap opera to feature a Civil Union between lesbian couple, Maia Jeffries and Jay Copeland.

2007: GUIDING LIGHT aired a special episode detailing the cast and crew's volunteer efforts in the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.



2007:  Actor Lee Patterson died at age 77.  He played Brad Kiernan on THE NURSES, Joe Reilly and Tom Dennison in ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Kevin Cook on ANOTHER WORLD and TEXAS, in addition to many other TV shows and films.

2008: Singer Pat Benatar appeared on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Allan Miller (ex-Dave, ONE LIFE TO LIVE; ex-Harland, SANTA BARBARA; ex-Scooter, KNOTS LANDING; ex-Quentin, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Frank, THE EDGE OF NIGHT; ex-David, HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE) - 85
Florence Henderson (ex-Carol, THE BRADYS) - 80
Lee Chamberlin (ex-Pat, ALL MY CHILDREN) - 76
James Eckhouse (ex-Jim, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210; ex-ANOTHER WORLD) - 59
Meg Tilly (ex-George, WINNETKA ROAD) - 54
Michael Higgs (ex-Andy, EASTENDERS) - 53
Kim Brockington (ex-Felicia, GUIDING LIGHT)
Kimberly Atkinson (ex-Lexi, SOLO) - 40
Erin Torpey (ex-Jessica, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 33
Matt Barr (ex-Derek, ONE TREE HILL) - 30
Jake Weary (ex-Luke, AS THE WORLD TURNS) - 24
Freddie Highmore (Norman, BATES MOTEL) - 22

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. Roger that DAYS clip happened back in 1985 on this date, not 1984!

    ReplyDelete