Thursday, July 26, 2012

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #24 Tad & Dixie From ALL MY CHILDREN

COUPLE: Tad Martin & Dixie Cooney
SHOW: ALL MY CHILDREN
RANK: 24
PLAYED BY:
Tad: Michael E. Knight
Dixie: Kari Gibson, Cady McClain
YEARS: 1988-1990, 1992-1996, 1998-2002, 2005-2007, 2010, 2011

STORY:
Dixie and her brother, Will, were Palmer Cortland's (James Mitchell) niece and nephew.  Dixie took a job as the nanny for Brooke English's daughter, Laura.  Brooke was married to Adam Chandler at the time and Adam seduced Dixie who became pregnant.  Brooke hired Tad to find out who fathered Dixe's baby.  Tad and Dixie became friends and the two of them fell in love and were eventually married (after Dixie married Adam, was committed to Laurel Hill, and divorced Adam).  Palmer was determined to break up Tad and Dixie and his schemes eventually led to Tad having an affair with Brooke.  Tad and Dixie were reunited but he was presumed dead after falling from a bridge after a fight with Billy Clyde Tuggle.

Tad would return two years later (along with lookalike Ted) but married Brooke instead of Dixie.  Eventually Tad dumped Brooke and reunited with Dixie but after his affair with Liza they split up again.  Over the next 15 years Tad and Dixie were on-again and off-again but eventually Dixie "died" after eating poisonous pancakes.  In ALL MY CHILDREN's final months, Dixie turned up alive and reunited with Tad once again.

IMPACT:
Tad and Dixie were a supercouple that perfectly blended angst and drama with humor and chicken fingers.   One or both of them or their children (Dixie's J.R. and Tad's Jamie) were at the center of ALL MY CHILDREN until the very end of the series.

Fans continued to want the couple to reunite despite Dixie's "death" by pancakes.  The passionate following Tad and Dixie had was a testament to the chemistry and the talent of the actors, and the foundation created by the original stories.

Tad and Dixie were nominated as Outstanding Super Couple: Daytime at the 1991 Soap Opera Digest Awards.  McClain was named Outstanding Heroine: Daytime that year.   Knight won three Daytime Emmy Awards over the years (one during the Tad and Dixie years) while McClain won two (one for ALL MY CHILDREN).

From Patrick Erwin (A THOUSAND OTHER WORLDS): Tad and Dixie had a very imperfect pairing, and one with big gaps of time where they were apart. But what I appreciate about these two is that they both changed a great deal – especially Dixie, who took a long personal journey from doormat to force to be reckoned with – and yet their love didn’t change. There may have been friction, but they gave each other room to be themselves – true love. 

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Tad rescues Junior and brings him back to Dixie (1989)
Tad begs Dixie to take him back after his affair with Brooke (1990)
Tad convinces Dixie he is alive (1993)
Tad and Dixie reunite (2010)

Share your thoughts on Tad and Dixie in our Comments section below or on our message board.

RELATED:
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors: The Complete List
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actresses: The Complete List
- THE COMPLETE LIST: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History

10 comments:

  1. One of the best.

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  2. Yay TND!!!!!!! Thrilled they made the list, definitely deserved. Would have ranked them a touch higher than 24 however. :(

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  3. I found the story of Tad and Dixie very compelling. There were dozens of times that I found myself crying for them. I thought they would rank higher as well, but I do think that their story was derailed in the last few years of AMC.

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  4. Fantastic couple one of the few AMC couples I really liked. Stupid poisonous pancakes, I still shake my head on that one.

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  5. Tad and Dixie should have been number 1.
    They will alway's be number 1 in my heart.

    I miss All My Children so much!!!

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  6. Higher than 24 for me...miss AMC!!!!

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  7. Should have been in the top 15 (Anna and Duke GH, Erica and her 8 husbands, Lilly and Holden ATWT, Cruz and Eden SB being others in that list)

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  8. For me they're #1, but I think for a general audience they should be in the Top 5 at least.

    My all time favorite couple.

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  9. For me they're #1, but I think for a general audience they should be in the Top 5 at least.

    My all time favorite couple.

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  10. Love Tad and Dixie! They are easily my favorite AMC couple and in my top 10 soap couple ever!

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