ALL MY CHILDREN’s Kate
Collins began playing Janet,
Natalie’s frumpy and mentally
imbalanced sister, in
addition to Nat; Michael
Nader (Dimitri) debuted; and
Robin Christopher (Skye)
and Larkin Malloy (Travis)
left.... Janet gave herself a
Natalie-style makeover, tossed
her twin in a well and took over her
life, marrying an unsuspecting Trevor....
Adam blackmailed Erica into remarrying
him, and also learned that he’d
sired Hayley.... Brooke gave birth to
Jamie, her son by presumed-dead
Tad.... Bianca caught Erica cheating on
Travis with Jack.... Julia Barr (Brooke)
was named Outstanding Supporting
Actress and Cady McClain (Dixie)
won Outstanding Heroine at the
Soap Opera Digest Awards.
When Anne Heche
(Vicky/Marley) quit
ANOTHER WORLD, Jensen
Buchanan took over; Anna
Holbrook (Sharlene) and
Hilary Edson (Stacey)
also exited, while Charles
Keating returned as Carl.
Dack Rambo’s Grant was
recast with Mark Pinter, and
Judi Evans (now Adrienne,
DAYS OF OUR LIVES) took
over from Cali Timmins as
Paulina. Alicia Coppola
(Lorna) debuted.... Jake
blackmailed Paulina into
saying, “I do,” after realizing
she was his shooter;
Felicia tied the knot with
Lucas and adopted Jenna,
who dumped Matt for Dean;
and Sam and Amanda
remarried.... Cass was torn
between two wives when
Kathleen returned from
the dead, invalidating his
union with Frankie.... Heche
won the Daytime Emmy for
Younger Actress.
AS THE WORLD TURNS hired two newcomers who’ve had long careers outside
of daytime: songstress Lauryn Hill (Kira) and indie movie queen Parker Posey
(Tess). Lily and Holden finally made it to the altar; Kirk and Ellie, and Frannie
and Darryl, also wed.... David Stewart died of a heart attack, widowing Ellen....
Tom and Margo welcomed son Casey, and Julie birthed Holden’s son, Aaron....
Villainous Tonio died.... Oakdale’s divorce court was busy, as the marriages of
John and Lucinda, Barbara and Hal, Angel and Holden, and Julie and Caleb
ended.... Henry Lange committed suicide after raping his daughter, Angel.
Joanna Johnson returned to
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL as Karen,
the surprise twin of her deceased
character, Caroline; original cast
member Jim Storm was out as
Karen’s pop, Bill Spencer, Sr. ...
Much to Stephanie’s chagrin, Eric
took a new bride: Brooke. Steph
was an amnesiac after a stroke
and ended up on Skid Row. Brooke
and Ridge celebrated her Forrester
breakthrough (a wrinkle-proof
formula called BeLieF) by getting
busy in the lab, so Brooke and
Eric split.... Stephanie and Clarke
had a baby boy, Clarke, Jr. (a.k.a. C.J.).
Deidre Hall and Wayne Northrop returned to
DAYS as Marlena and Roman; Peter Reckell
(Bo), Charlotte Ross (Eve) and Billy Warlock
(Frankie) exited; James Reynolds returned
as Abe after GENERATIONS’s cancellation;
Michael Easton (now Finn, GH) made his daytime
debut as Tanner.... Head Writers Richard J.
Allen and Anne Schoettle were replaced with
Gene Palumbo.... DAYS nabbed Best Show
and Supercouple (Jack and Jennifer) at the
Digest Awards.... Jack and Jennifer said, “I
do,” (after his for-profit marriage to Eve ended
in divorce); and despite her love for Bo, Carly
married his pop, Victor (but she also symbolically
wed Bo atop a Mayan ruin).... The returns
from the dead of Roman and Marlena prompted
the discovery that “Roman” was John....
Shane learned that he was dad to Kimberly’s
daughter, Jeanne (later known as Theresa);
they divorced and he courted Kayla.... Justin
and Adrienne had a baby boy, Jackson (a.k.a.
Sonny).... Lawrence raped Jen.
GENERAL HOSPITAL — once again helmed by EP Gloria Monty — lured Anthony
Geary back to the show — but as Luke’s look-alike cousin, Bill, not Mr. Spencer —
and Emma Samms announced her imminent return as Holly, while David Lewis was
back as Edward. There were also significant exits: Jack Wagner as Frisco, Finola
Hughes as Anna (she was temporarily recast with Camilla More), with Tristan Rogers
reporting his 1992 departure. Key hires were Steve Burton (Dylan, YOUNG AND
RESTLESS), making his daytime debut as
Jason, Wally Kurth as Ned (succeeding Kurt
Robin McKinney) and John J. York as Mac....
The show mourned the real-life death of original
cast member Emily McLaughlin (whose alter
ego, Nurse Jessie, also passed away).... Robert
and Anna remarried (despite Faison’s attempts
to stop them), as did Alan and Monica, while
Paul and Tracy entered into a loveless union....
Julian, not Robert, was revealed to be baby
Lucas’s bio dad.... Lucy and Scott started
their perfume business, Deception.... Edward
returned from the dead.... Monica’s daughter,
Dawn, was murdered.... Finola Hughes won
Lead Actress at the Daytime Emmys and the
Digest Awards, where Lynn Herring (Lucy) and
Kin Shriner (Scott) were voted Outstanding
Villainess and Villain, respectively.
GENERATIONS ended its NBC
run on January 25 after 407
episodes. In the show’s waning
days, Adam caught his dad,
Henry, with Doreen (Adam’s
ex-lover); Chantal dumped
Eric; and a man claiming to be
Jordan’s son declared plans
to fight Sam for Jordan’s
inheritance.
GUIDING LIGHT introduced newbies
Melissa Hayden (Bridget), Nia
Long (Kat), Melina Kanakaredes
(Eleni) and Rachel Miner (Michelle)
and welcomed back Vincent
Irizarry (now Deimos, DAYS) as
Nick (eventually revealed to be the
twin of the late Lujack), but saw the
departures of Grant Aleksander
(Phillip), Beth Chamberlin (Beth),
Robert Newman (Josh), Michael
O’Leary (Rick) and Kassie Wesley
(now Kassie DePaiva, Chelsea)....
The show got a new EP, Jill Farren
Phelps, who succeeded Robert
Calhoun.... Beth and Phillip wed
and left town; Billy and Nadine
said, “I do.” ... Alexandra dumped
Roger, who learned he had an
adult son, Hart.... Josh went to
Italy in hopes of tracking down
Reva, breaking Harley’s heart....
Blake and Alan-Michael split, and
he competed with Frank for Eleni’s
affection.... Nick intrigued Mindy —
and Alex (who suspected she was
his birth mom).... Rick Hearst (Alan-
Michael) took home the Younger
Actor Daytime Emmy, while the
Digest Award for Supporting Actor
went to Jordan Clarke (Billy).
LOVING won its first Daytime Emmy for
acting for Supporting Actor Bernard Barrow
(Louie) and introduced soap audiences to
Laura Sisk as Ally (now Laura Wright, GH’s
Carly) and Jessica Collins as Dinah Lee, while
Rena Sofer (now Quinn, B&B) left as Rocky,
Christine Tudor was back as Gwyneth and
Isabelle was recast with Celeste Holm.... The
Aldens mourned the death of their patriarch,
Cabot.... Jack and Stacey’s new nanny, Dinah
Lee, tried to seduce him; she failed, but ultimately
bedded Trucker, leading to a Trisha/
Trucker separation.... Ava got engaged to
Paul.... Ally and Matt fell in love.
Fiona Hutchison (Gabrielle), Joe Lando (Jake), John Loprieno (Cord) and
Ken Meeker (Rafe) left ONE LIFE TO LIVE, which introduced Susan Batten as
Luna, Laura Bonarrigo (now Laura Koffman) as Cassie, Mia Korf as Blair and
Wortham Krimmer as Andrew and welcomed back James DePaiva as Max
(after the ouster of his recast, Nicholas Walker).... Cord and Tina remarried (and
had baby Sarah), but Bo’s wedding to Cassie was botched by the return of his
presumed-dead spouse, Sarah.... Megan was diagnosed with lupus.... Max and
Gabrielle split.... Linda Gottlieb was named EP when Paul Rauch resigned.
Paul Rauch was tapped as SANTA
BARBARA’s new EP, replacing John Conboy,
and Creators Bridget and Jerome Dobson
returned as head writers, succeeding
Samuel D. Ratcliffe and Maralyn Thoma....
Jack Wagner was in as Warren, and Eileen
Davidson (now Ashley, Y&R) assumed the
role of Kelly from Carrington Garland, while
heavy-hitters Marcy Walker (Eden, who fell to
her presumed death while battling multiple
personality disorder), Roscoe Born (Robert/
Quinn) and Louise Sorel (Augusta) checked
out.... SB won the Daytime Emmy for writing,
and A Martinez (Cruz, now DAYS’s Eduardo)
won the Digest Award for Lead Actor.
Y&R welcomed Kristoff St. John (Neil), Christian
J. LeBlanc (Michael) and newbie Heather Tom
(now B&B’s Katie) as Victoria, but Nathan Purdee
left as Nathan.... Neil and Drucilla hooked up....
Victoria lost her virginity to Ryan.... Scott split from
Lauren and wed Sheila; Brad and Traci married
again; and Olivia became Mrs. Nathan Hastings....
Lauren mourned the death of her son, Dylan,
unaware that Sheila had done a baby swap and
was passing Lauren’s real child off as her own....
Nina uncovered hubby David’s plot to kill her; he
was later crushed to death in a trash compactor....
Peter Bergman (Jack) won the Lead Actor Daytime
Emmy, while Jess Walton (Jill) was honored as
Supporting Actress; and at the Digest Awards,
Doug Davidson (Paul) was named Outstanding
Hero.... A backstage blowup between the nowreconciled
Bergman and Eric Braeden (Victor), in
which the actors filed criminal charges against one
another, had tongues wagging.