Monday, December 5, 2016

Today in Soap Opera History (December 5)

1966: Dark Shadows' Matthew took Victoria hostage.
1985: OLTL's Tina tried to sell Viki's story to a tabloid.
1988: Brenda Epperson debuted as Ashley on Y&R.
2006: Hayden Panettiere debuted as Lizzie on Guiding Light.
"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"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...

1957: On The Edge of Night, Ellie Fitzgibbons reluctantly agreed to see Willy Bryan (Edward Holmes).

1966: On Dark Shadows, Matthew Morgan (Thayer David) took Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) hostage at the Old House, and hid her in a secret room behind the drawing room bookcase.



1972: James Douglas debuted as Eliot Carrington in Another World. Anne Meacham made her first appearance in the same episode as Louise Goddard.

1979: On As the World Turns, Carol Stallings (Rita Walter) begged her husband, Jay (Dennis Cooney), to tell Ralph Mitchell (Keith Charles) the truth about the pricing scheme with suppliers but Jay tried to blame Don Hughes instead of admitting what he did.



1980: On Another World, Mackenzie Cory (Douglass Watson) told his wife, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham), that no matter what the jury concluded, he knew she didn't intend to kill Mitch and he intended to do all he could to prove it.



1985: On One Life to Live, Tina (Andrea Evans) offered the National Intruder a story if they paid her $200,000: "Victoria Buchanan is really Niki Smith."



1988: On The Young and the Restless, Brenda Epperson debuted as Ashley Abbott. Eileen Davidson had just exited the role on Friday, December 2, after her character's onscreen husband, Dr. Steven Lassiter (Rod Arrants) died from his gunshot wounds. Epperson took over the role the following Monday and is seen here mourning Steven as sister, Traci (Beth Maitland), and father, John (Jerrry Douglas) try to console her. During Epperson's initial scenes, dim lighting and a black funeral veil were used to purposely obscure her face as part of the transition. Would you know it's not Davidson?

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

1990: Actor Steve Shaw died at age 25 in a car accident. He played Karen and Sid's son, Eric Fairgate, on Knots Landing.

1991: On The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) promised to help his ex-wife, Nikki Abbott (Melody Thomas Scott), with her drinking problem.

1994: Canadian soap opera Family Passions premiered.  The series starred Gordon Thomson, Roscoe Born, Dietmar Schönherr and a young Hayden Christiansen. The daytime drama, written by Bruce Neckels and Thom Racina, lasted 130 episodes.

1995: On Days of our Lives, Lexie Carver (Renee Jones) wanted answers from Parrot Man and Celeste in Aremid.

1996: Hayden Panettiere debuted as Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light. Panettiere was also appearing as Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live during this time.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2006: On All My Children, the women of Fusion were distraught when Simone is pronounced dead. Kendall (Alicia Minshew) denounced the thought that Simone committed suicide over Ethan's death. Zach's (Thorsten Kaye) questions over the circumstances of her death whether or not she was killed raised Derek's suspicions.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2006: On General Hospital, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) rescued Lulu Spencer (Julie Marie Berman) from Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King). Later, Skye Quatermaine (Robin Christopher) offered to move in with Alcazar if he promised to never hurt or kill Lulu.



2008: On The Bold and the Beautiful, Rick Forrester (Kyle Lowder) came to following his car crash, and found Phoebe (Mackenzie Mauzy) unconscious and unresponsive. Rick ran to the Forrester mansion for help, and returned to the site of the accident with his brother, Ridge (Ronn Moss). Phoebe woke up and Ridge assured her everything would be okay. Phoebe told Ridge he needed to hear her song, and Ridge said he wanted to hear it. Phoebe started to sing the song very softly but faded out after a few lines, dying in Ridge's arms.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Peter Hansen (ex-Lee, General Hospital; ex-Lee, Port Charles) - 95
Harris Yulin (ex-Michael, As the World Turns) - 79
Patricia Harty (ex-Patti, Search for Tomorrow) - 75
Pamela Blair (ex-Elizabeth, Ryan's Hope; ex-Rita Mae, Loving; ex-Ronda, All My Children) - 67
Lewis Arlt (ex-David, Search for Tomorrow; ex-David/Ken, Another World; ex-Richard, Ryan's Hope) - 67
J. Cynthia Brooks (ex-Taylor, Days of our Lives) - 65
Morgan Brittany (ex-Katherine, Dallas) - 65
Kelley Miles (ex-Dana, Days of our Lives) - 64
Howard McGillin (ex-Roy, One Life to Live) - 63
Philip Moon (ex-Keemo, The Young and the Restless) - 55
Andrea McArdle (ex-Wendy, Search for Tomorrow) - 53
Famke Janssen (ex-Ava, Nip/Tuck) - 52
Keith Coulouris (ex-Reid/David, As the World Turns; ex-Keith, One Life to Live) - 49
Joseph Barbara (ex-Joe, Another World; ex-Paolo, All My Children) - 49
Judy Reyes (ex-Zoila, Devious Maids) - 49
Sam Page (ex-Craig, Switched at Birth; ex-Greg, Mad Men; ex-Sam, Desperate Housewives; ex-Colin, Gossip Girl; ex-Trey, All My Children) - 40
Amy Acker (ex-Claudia, Husbands; ex-Claire, Dollhouse) - 40
Jessica Paré (ex-Megan, Mad Men; ex-Courtney, Jack & Bobby) - 34

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email [email protected].

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