ALL MY CHILDREN
shocked the daytime
world by axing Peter
Bergman as Cliff
after a 10-year run.
He did not remain
unemployed for long
(see YOUNG AND
RESTLESS). Also exiting
were Ellen Wheeler
as Cindy (and her twin,
Karen), Kathleen Noone
and Mark La Mura (Ellen
and Mark). Matthew
Cowles returned as
Billy Clyde Tuggle, and
Jill Larson (Opal) and
James Kiberd (Trevor)
debuted.... Margaret
DePriest replaced
Lorraine Broderick as
head writer until Agnes
Nixon returned to helm
the writing team. Felicia
Minei Behr was the new
executive producer,
succeeding Stephen
Schenkel.... Stuart was
left a widower when AIDS
claimed Cindy’s life....
Cliff and Nina married
for the final time, and
Tad and Dixie wed for
the first time after her
brief and disastrous marriage
to Adam (though
the couple did welcome
a son, Adam, Jr., later
known as JR). Nico and
Cecily, and Barbara and
Tom, also tied the knot.
Barbara gave birth to
Travis’s daughter, Molly....
Erica and Travis split
and she took up with his
brother, Jack; she tracked
down her father, Eric, who
was working as a circus
clown.... David Canary
(Adam/Stuart) took home
the Outstanding Lead
Actor Daytime Emmy, and
Debbi Morgan (Angie)
tied for the Supporting
Actress prize.
ANOTHER WORLD celebrated its 25th anniversary
and scripted the on-screen death of Mac Cory after
his portrayer, Douglass Watson, passed away....
Anna Stuart returned as Donna, while Alice Barrett
(Frankie), Hilary Edson (Stacey) and John Aprea
(Lucas) debuted.... John married Sharlene, while
Vicky and Jamie’s newlywed bliss was marred by the
reveal that she had slept with Jake. Jake and Marley
divorced; so did Vicky and Jamie, who proved to be
little Steven’s birth father.... Felicia stood trial for
evil Jason Frame’s murder, but was exonerated....
Anne Heche (Vicky/Marley) won Outstanding Female
Newcomer at the Soap Opera Digest Awards.
Martha Byrne (Lily), William Fichtner (Josh) and
Hillary B. Smith (Margo) checked out of AS THE
WORLD TURNS; Smith’s role was recast with Ellen
Dolan, while Heather Rattray took over as Lily. Jon
Hensley (Holden) came back; Susan Marie Snyder
(Julie) debuted.... Oakdale hosted weddings for
Holden and Angel, Lily and Derek, Duncan and
Shannon, and Josh and Meg.... Lyla and Casey
welcomed daughter Katie, and the new dad was
diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome; Margo
confessed to Hal that he, not Tom, sired Adam;
and John reunited with his long-lost son, Duke....
John and Lucinda divorced.... Susan developed a
pill addiction.... Paul lost his virginity to Emily and
seemingly shot dad James dead.
Photo credit: Shooting Star
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL
introduced the Spectra
crew, welcoming Darlene
Conley (Sally), Bobbie
Eakes (Macy), Schae
Harrison (Darla) and
Michael Fox (Saul),
while Jeff Trachta
replaced Clayton
Norcross as Thorne....
Ridge and Brooke
ended their engagement
and he popped
the question to
Caroline, freshly
split from Thorne....
Eric and Stephanie’s
daughter Angela
turned out to be an
impostor, Deveney....
Bill, Sr. tied the
knot with Margo....
Forrester and
Spectra teamed up
for a fashion show
on the Queen Mary.
Al Rabin briefly ceded the role of DAYS
OF OUR LIVES co-EP to Shelley Curtis,
while Leah Laiman exited as head writer
to make room for Anne Howard Bailey....
Staci Greason (Isabella) and Hunter Tylo
(Marina) debuted; Anjelica was recast
with Judith Chapman (now Gloria, Y&R)
when Jane Elliot exited; Melinda Clarke,
daughter of original cast member John
Clarke (ex-Mickey), debuted as Faith, a
love interest for Rick Hearst, making his
soap debut as Scott.... Jack and Jennifer
began to fall in love.... Tom and Alice
walked down the aisle after discovering
that their first union was invalid.... After
Steve did an undercover stint as “Daniel”
to bust a religious cult, Kayla reeled
from the arrival of Steve’s surprise first
wife, Marina, who was soon murdered....
Anjelica gave birth to Alexander, her
son with Justin.... At the Digest Awards,
DAYS won Outstanding Daytime Soap,
Outstanding Villain (Matthew Ashford,
Jack) and Outstanding Hero (Stephen
Nichols, Steve), among other categories.
Jane Elliot (Tracy) and Jack Wagner (Frisco) returned to GENERAL HOSPITAL,
which said good-bye to Ian Buchanan (Duke, who was recast with Greg Beecroft),
and David Lewis (Edward) and hello to Sharon Case (now Sharon, Y&R), who made
her soap debut as Monica’s surprise daughter, Dawn.... H. Wesley Kenney was
out as EP, replaced by Joseph Hardy, while Gene Palumbo became head writer....
Felicia tied the knot with Colton just in time for Frisco to return from the dead, while
Bobbie became Mrs. Tony Jones.... Edward was presumed dead in a plane crash,
while Victor Jerome (Ava and Julian’s pop) croaked after swallowing a necklace he’d
bought to woo Lucy.... Lucas, whose bio parents were Cheryl and Julian, was born;
Tom and Simone became mom and dad to baby Tommy.... Duke faked his death to
protect Anna from Julian.... Kimberly McCullough (Robin) won the Daytime Emmy
for Outstanding Ingenue, while Lynn Herring (Lucy) picked up the Digest Award for
Outstanding Villainess.... Mark Teschner joined as casting director.
GENERATIONS, created by current Y&R
Head Writer Sally Sussman (who also served
as EP), premiered on NBC on March 27. Set in
Chicago, the show featured soaps’ first core
black family, the Marshalls. Its original cast
included Kristoff St. John (Adam, now Y&R’s
Neil, in his soap debut), George DelHoyo
(Rob, recently DAYS’s Orpheus) and Kelly
Rutherford (Sam). Vivica A. Fox soon joined as
Maya.... Adam took up with married Doreen,
then began seeing secret-keeping Maya; Sam
seduced her professor, Rob, hoping he’d give
her a passing grade, then filed sexual harassment
charges against him.
It was a casting bonanza at GUIDING
LIGHT, which welcomed returning faves
Jordan Clarke (Billy), Maeve Kinkead
(Vanessa) and Michael Zaslow (Roger),
along with Beth Chamberlin (Beth),
Jean Carol (Nadine), Morgan Englund
(Dylan), Kimberley Simms (Mindy) and
Sherry Stringfield (Blake), while Daniel
PAUL DRINKWATER/NBC
Pilon was out as Alan
and Michelle Forbes
left as Sonni/Solita....
Supercouple Josh
and Reva finally got
hitched in a sumptuous
ceremony at
Cross Creek, and the
happy couple also
celebrated the discovery
that Josh was
Marah’s birth father.
Other newlyweds
were Alan-Michael
and Harley, Phillip
and Blake, Hawk and
Sarah, and Rusty and
Rose (who was subsequently murdered)....
Roger and Beth returned
from the dead.... Harley’s arriving ex,
Dylan, was the secret son of Reva
and Billy.... Supervillain Will fell to his
death.... Meredith had a miscarriage
and divorced Rick.... Robert Calhoun
began his run as EP, succeeding Joseph Manetta.
LOVING saw an EP change,
with Mary-Ellis Bunim replacing
Joseph Hardy.... Rena
Sofer (now Quinn, B&B)
made her daytime debut as
Rocky, while RYAN’S HOPE
patriarch Bernard Barrow
(ex-Johnny) joined the ranks
as Louie.... Despite her
love for Trucker, Trisha was
tricked into marrying Jeff....
The real Clay Alden returned;
Alex and Ava welcomed a
son, Sandy.... Curtis wooed
Trucker’s sister, Rocky.
Gerald Anthony reprised Marco for a short run on ONE LIFE TO
LIVE.... Viki, Tina, Gabrielle and assorted other Llanview citizens
were trapped in the underground city of Eterna.... Megan, who was
revealed to be Viki’s bio daughter, won a Daisy Award for her work
on FRATERNITY ROW.... Sarah’s rapist, Austin, met his maker....
Gabrielle was busted for switching Michael and Alicia’s dead baby
with Brenda’s live one.
RYAN’S HOPE went off
the air on January 13 after a
13-and-a-half-year run. In the
final episode, Kate Mulgrew
(the late Mary) provided a
voice-over, wishing Jack well
as he married Leigh. Maeve
led the revelers in an emotional
rendition of “Danny
Boy” and declared, “Have a
good life.”
SANTA BARBARA
cleaned up at the Emmys,
winning trophies for Lead
Actress Marcy Walker
(Eden), Supporting Actor
Justin Deas (Keith),
Supporting Actress
Nancy Lee Grahn (Julia,
now GH’s Alexis, who tied
for the prize), Outstanding
Drama and Outstanding
Writing. Robin Mattson
(Gina, now GH’s Heather)
was honored at the Digest
Awards for her comedic
performance.... Carrington Garland
(Kelly), Roscoe Born (Robert) and
Paul Johansson (Greg) debuted,
while Lane Davies (Mason),
Louise Sorel (Augusta), Vincent
Irizarry (Scott, now DAYS’s
Deimos), Signy Coleman (Celeste)
and Todd McKee (Ted) exited....
Mason and Julia said, “I do.”...
Eden’s rapist, Zack, took a fatal
fall.... Cruz and Eden welcomed a
baby girl, Adriana, who was kidnapped
(they got her back); Cruz’s
dad and brother, Rafael and Ric,
were introduced....C.C. met his
grown son, Greg.
Y&R found its new Jack Abbott in AMC alum Peter Bergman when it parted ways
with Terry Lester, while Jeanne Cooper (Katherine) took on a memorable dual role
as Marge, and Mark Derwin made his soap debut as Adrian.... Nikki and Victor cooed
over newborn son Nick.... Cricket and Scott’s engagement ended over the news that
they shared a bio dad, Jim, while Cricket’s mom, Rebecca, died from AIDS.... Lauren
and Scott tied the knot; so did Nina and Phillip, who soon “died” in a drunk-driving
accident.... Derek raped Cricket.... Paul was suspected of killing lover Cassandra’s
hubby, George, and he faked his death to clear his name.... Victor took ownership of
Jabot, besting Jack.... Clint found a Kay look-alike, waitress Marge, and trained her
to take over Ms. Chancellor’s life.... Eric Braeden (Victor) and Jeanne Cooper won
Digest Awards for Lead Actor and Actress.
Photo credit: Kimberly Butler