Monday, December 31, 2012

Today in Soap Opera History (December 31)

On this date in...

1972: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Adam Drake (Don May) ran through the streets of Manhattan in an attempt to find and propose marriage to Nicole Travis (Maeve McGuire) by midnight.

1976: ANOTHER WORLD spin-off SOMERSET aired its last episode after a six year run. The show was canceled to make room for another P&G soap, LOVERS & FRIENDS.

1982: NBC daytime soap TEXAS aired its final episode after just over two years on the air. The show was a spin-off of ANOTHER WORLD with Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) moving to Houston. She would leave the show a year later when it became "TEXAS: The New Generation."



1982: THE DOCTORS aired its final episode, ending an 18 year (5,280 episodes) run on NBC.



1983: Dorrie Kavanaugh, who played Cathy Craig Lord on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, died at age 38 after a battle with breast cancer. She also had roles on GUIDING LIGHT, RYAN'S HOPE, THE EDGE OF NIGHT and DARK SHADOWS.

1986: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Lisa (Eileen Fulton) married again--this time to Earl Mitchell, the late Farley Granger. Did Shannon actually marry Brian as part of the double wedding? Watch below.



1990: The last day GUIDING LIGHT used the "My Guiding Light" theme. "Hold On To Love" debuted on the next episode.

1999: NBC's SUNSET BEACH aired its final episode just shy of its third anniversary.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Ben Kingsley (ex-Ron, CORONATION STREET) - 69
Barbara Carrera (ex-Angelica, DALLAS) - 67
Tim Matheson (Brick, HART OF DIXIE) - 65
Jane Badler (ex-Diana, NEIGHBOURS; ex-Meredith, FALCON CREST; ex-Melinda, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 59
David Pevsner (Ross, OLD DOGS & NEW TRICKS) - 54
Joanna Johnson (ex-Caroline/Karen, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) - 51
Don Diamont (Bill, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; ex-Brad, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; ex-Carlo, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 50
Julian Stone (ex-Jerry, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 50
Lance Reddick (Phillip, FRINGE; ex-John, OZ; ex-Matthew, LOST) - 43
Chandra West (ex-Devon, THE GATES; ex-Gail, 90210) - 42
Kamilla Bjorlin (ex-Evil Serpent, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 42

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].

5 comments:

  1. Wow! The final episode of Texas was 30 years ago?!

    Loved that show! I still miss it. Reena is one of my all time favorite soap characters. Loved her romance with Grant.

    Ruby and Lurlene, Mark Wheeler, Justin Marshall, Ashley, TJ Canfield, young Gregory, Grandma Kate. So many great characters.

    Thanks for the memories.

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  2. I still miss both Somerset & Texas. Regretfully, Chicagoans like me did not see the final Somerset broadcast because WMAQ-TV/Channel 5 (the NBC-TV owned station in Chicago) blacked out the episode to show a Chicago Public School high school basketball game. I never got to see how Somerset ended--DAMN!--pre-VCR/DVR days!

    Brian :-(

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  3. You forgot the KISH Love scene from 2009!

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  4. http://www.outviewonline.com/2012/12/time-warp-day-when-soaps-went-all-way.html

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  5. Jane Badler was also Natalie on The Doctors.

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