Five Things That Happened On December 17 In Soap History

In 1993, Kassie DePaiva made her One Life To Live debut as Blair Daimler, later known as Blair Cramer. The role had originally been played by Mia Korf from 1991 until earlier in 1993. DePaiva told Soap Opera Digest in 2012 about her first day on the job, saying, "I remember it like it was yesterday. It was around Thanksgiving. I was working with Erika [Slezak, Viki] and Roy Thinnes [Sloan]. I had to wear a bathing suit and we were taping three shows because they had written Blair into the show, but were having a hard time recasting the part! The rest is history!" She remained with the show through to its cancellation in 2012, reprised the role on General Hospital in 2012 and 2023, and also played Blair on the short-lived Internet reboot of OLTL in 2013.

in 1996, Réal Andrews debuted as Detective Marcus Taggert on General Hospital. “If we go back to day one, Detective Taggert was an under- five," Andrews recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023. "I grew up watching General Hospital so I was honored to get the chance to be on the show, but literally all my words were, ‘I’m Detective Taggert with the PCPD.’ That’s it! As an actor, those smaller parts are some of the hardest parts to do because you don’t want to screw up, you’re practicing these stupid five words a million different ways... Apparently the story is that there had been several people they’d put across from Maurice [Benard, Sonny], but there never was the fire and the chemistry [that they were looking for]. And in those five words, there was such chemistry between the two of us that they immediately called my agent and offered us a contract. And that was the beginning of Taggert."

In 2003, Heather Tom (pictured on the set with her on-screen father, Eric Braeden, Victor Newman) aired for the final time as Victoria Newman on Young and Restless. The Daytime Emmy-winning actress had joined the show in 1990. In a statement confirming her exit, Tom said, "I want to thank my fans for making these 13 years such a joy. I also want to thank my Y&R family, especially Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki] and Eric Braeden, for being so very supportive. And a big thank you to [Y&R co-creator] Bill Bell for creating such a rich, complex character.” Tom soon joined the cast of One Life To Live in the role of Kelly Cramer; following that assignment, she signed on to play Katie Logan on Bold and Beautiful. In 2005, the role of Victoria was recast with Amelia Heinle.

In 2007, General Hospital’s Georgie Jones (Lindze Letherman) was murdered by Diego Alcazar, the serial-killing menace known as the Text Message Killer, who strangled Georgie to death not long after he offed Emily Quartermaine. Her body was discovered by a horrified Spinelli. (It was in the wake of Georgie's demise that Spinelli and Maxie, her sister, grew close, and their daughter is named after Georgie.) Georgie's death was a huge blow to Maxie, Mac (who raised her), her mother, Felicia, her absentee pop, Frisco, and Spinelli.

In 2012, Lynn Herring returned to General Hospital as Lucy Coe. She had exited the show in 1997 to headline the GH spinoff Port Charles, which went off the air in 2003. Reflecting what it felt like to return to Soap Opera Digest in 2021, Herring said, "I felt so special, having been gone so long and taking time off to raise my boys [Hank and Grady], that they would even ask me. I just remember going hiking and I had that script from the first show back and I thought, ‘I’m home!’ I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I can picture it so clearly, looking out over the hills, thinking, ‘This is the best day ever! I get to go back and do something I love so much, but I’ve lived such a great life in the meantime.’ ”