Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Today in Soap Opera History (April 18)

1961: As the World Turns Lisa clashed with Ellen.
1967: Jonathan Frid debuted as Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows.
1990: General Hospital's Robin tried to save Casey.
1991: Another World's Jake wanted another chance with Marley.
"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"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...

1961: On As the World Turns, Lisa Hughes (Eileen Fulton) told her in-laws, Chris (Don MacLaughlin) and Nancy (Helen Wagner), she was convinced they were having a boy. Lisa told Chris she would love to name the baby after him. Later, Lisa complained to Penny (Rosemary Prinz) that they weren't close enough but upset Penny when she complained about Ellen.



1967: Jonathan Frid made his first appearance on Dark Shadows as Barnabas Collins. The character of Barnabas was introduced at the end of the previous episode when his hand reached out from his coffin to grab Willie, but Barnabas' hand was that of regular series double Timothy Gordon, not Frid.



1975: On Another World, Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) asked Russ Matthews (David Bailey) to marry her.

1975: NBC aired the finale of Anne Howard Bailey's daytime soap opera How to Survive a Marriage. The show premiered on January 7, 1974, with a 90-minute special, and aired 335 episodes in total. NBC wanted to expand Days of our Lives from 30 minutes a day to an hour in 1975, and spent months deciding whether to canceled How to Survive a Marriage or Somerset to make room. The network eventually chose How to Survive a Marriage.

Watch a rare clip from How to Survive a Marriage below.



1978: On Ryan's Hope, Rae (Louise Shaffer) got Seneca (John Gabriel) alone and promised him if he just gave it time she would make sure that he had a future with Jill and Edmund.



1980: On The Edge of Night, Raven (Sharon Gabet) tried to seduce Derek (Dennis Parker).



1990: On General Hospital, Robin (Kimberly McCullough) got the crystal back and brought it to Casey's (Bradley Lockerman) room in order to save him.

1991: On Another World, Jake (Tom Eplin) tried to convince Marley (Anne Heche) to drop the charges against him.



1998: Liam Sullivan, who played roles in The Secret Storm, The Young and the Restless, and several primetime soaps, died at age 74.

1994: On The Young and the Restless, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) reminisced on the anniversary of her wedding to Victor.

1998: Days of our Lives star Peter Reckell (Bo) married Kelly Moneymaker.

2012: Former Daytime Emmy Awards producer Dick Clark died at age 82.

2013: Prospect Park filed a $25 million lawsuit against ABC for breach of contract.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Melody Thomas Scott
Richard A. Colla (ex-Tom, Days of our Lives) - 82
Cindy Pickett (ex-Jackie, Guiding Light) -71
Dorothy Lyman (ex-Opal, All My Children; ex-Gwen, Another World; ex-Naomi, As the World Turns; ex-Margaret, One Life to Live; ex-Elly Jo, The Edge of Night; ex-Julie, A World Apart) -71
Eric Roberts (ex-Vance, The Young and the Restless; ex-Ted, Another World; ex-How to Survive a Marriage) - 63
Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki, The Young and the Restless) - 62
John James (ex-Jeff, Dynasty; ex-Jeff, The Colbys; ex-Tom, Search for Tomorrow; ex-Jeff, All My Children; ex-Rick, As the World Turns) - 62
Anna Kathryn Holbrook (ex-Sharlene, Another World) - 61
Robert Kelker-Kelly (ex-Stavros, General Hospital; ex-Sam/Bobby, Another World; ex-Bo, Days of our Lives) - 54
Sonia Blangiardo (Director, Winterthorne; Creator, Tainted Dreams; Former Supervising Producer, All My Children)
Lisa LoCicero (Olivia, General Hospital; ex-Jocelyn, The City) - 48
Tamara Braun (ex-Reese, All My Children; ex-Ava/Taylor, Days of our Lives; ex-Carly, General Hospital) - 47
David Tennant (ex-The Doctor, Doctor Who) - 47
Derek Phillips (ex-Billy, Friday Night Lights) - 42
Sean Maguire (ex-Aidan, EastEnders) - 42
Kevin Rankin (ex-Herc, Friday Night Lights) - 42
Bryce Johnson (Darren, Pretty Little Liars; ex-Cliff, Undressed) - 41
Kourtney Kardashian (ex-Kassandra, One Life to Live) - 39
Ethan Cohn (ex-Glenn, Gilmore Girls) - 39
Kristina Sisco (ex-Abigail, As the World Turns; ex-Charity, Passions) - 36
America Ferrera (ex-Betty, Ugly Betty) - 35
Britt Robertson (ex-Cassie, The Secret Circle; ex-Lux, Life Unexpected) - 28

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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