Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Today in Soap Opera History (September 11)

1972: THE EDGE OF NIGHT moved to a new timeslot. 1984: GH's
Frisco found out more about Felicia.  1997: B&B's Lauren was
slapped during a confrontation with Stephanie. 2001: Former
GUIDING LIGHT actor T.J. Hargrave was killed in the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach."
― Aldous Huxley

"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...

1941: On radio soap opera LIFE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL, Chichi (Alice Reinheart) coped with heartbreaking news.

1967: CBS aired the first color broadcasts of SEARCH FOR TOMORROW and THE GUIDING LIGHT.

1972: THE EDGE OF NIGHT began airing at 2:30 p.m. ET, moving from its usual 3:30 p.m. timeslot where it had been performing well in the ratings. CBS and Procter & Gamble made the decision to move the show to create blocks of P&G soaps that would not compete against each other on CBS and NBC. EDGE's ratings took a nose dive, and was eventually moved to ABC on December 1, 1975, to make room for the AS THE WORLD TURNS expansion to one hour. We Love Soaps included this timeslot change on the 25 Biggest Blunders in Daytime Soap Opera History list back in 2011.

1984: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Frisco (Jack Wagner) figured out Felicia (Kristina Malandro, now Kristina Wagner) was not a boy.



1989: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, the investigation into the murder of James Stenbeck continued.



1990: Michael Sabatino debuted as Lawrence Alamain in DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

1996: On ANOTHER WORLD, Felicia and Morgan worried about the way Cass was dealing with Frankie’s death.

1997: On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Stephanie (Susan Flannery) angrily confronted a perplexed Lauren Fenmore (Tracey Bregman) over the scandalous photo that was found in the minister's Bible during Stephanie's now-aborted wedding to Eric. The photo, which showed Lauren and Eric naked in bed had actually been planted by Stephanie's nemesis, Sally Spectra. SLAP ALERT!



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in this item.

2001: Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon. Former GUIDING LIGHT child actor T.J. Hargrave, who played Tim (T.J.) Werner, was working as a vice president of Cantor Fitzgerald at the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and lost his life that day. He was only 38.

2003: On THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: John Abbott (Jerry Douglas) finally got to do what others have only dreamed about when he punched Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) smack, dab right in the kisser! "Raging Bull" John was out for blood that day, because he felt Victor's recent machinations were what led to John's grandson, Robert Carlton, being stillborn.



Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in this item.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Jenny Gago (ex-Connie, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Maria, KNOTS LANDING) - 60
Reed Birney (ex-Walter, ANOTHER WORLD) - 59
Roxann Dawson (ex-Adrienne, ANOTHER WORLD) - 55
John Hawkes (ex-Sol, DEADWOOD) - 54
Susan Gibney (ex-Grace, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) - 52
Virginia Madsen (ex-Catherine, THE EVENT) - 52
Laura Wright (Carly, GENERAL HOPSITAL; ex-Cassie, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Ally, LOVING/THE CITY) - 43
Tyler Hoechlin (ex-Martin, 7TH HEAVEN) - 26

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. A heartbreaking anniversary of P&G's poor decisions concerning The Edge of Night which, despite declining ratings caused by the time change, continued to be the best daytime serial.

    I must be clairvoyant, I realized Felicia was a girl before Frisco did! ROF ... She's still my favorite Aztec princess! LOL

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