Five Things That Happened On December 2 In Soap History

In 1980, Tristan Rogers made his General Hospital debut as Robert Scorpio. Reflecting on his early days on the show, Rogers told Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "When I joined GH, I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea of the significance of Luke and Laura [characters Robert quickly became enmeshed with] and their part of what daytime was.... As I got more involved with the show and started doing personal appearances, it dawned on me that this wasn’t just a job, that this was a lot more than just a job. It was a wake-up call to realize that. Every day there was something different; it was like a tidal wave of new things happening all the time. It was like we were the center of the universe, and nobody was even close to us.”

In 1988, Eileen Davidson (Ashley Abbott) exited Young and Restless after a six-year run. The role of Ashley was recast with Brenda Epperson (an actress Davidson had recommended due to their physical resemblance), then with Shari Shattuck, before Davidson returned to Y&R in 1999. In the interim, Davidson had runs on Santa Barbara as Kelly Capwell and on Days of Our Lives, where she played a coterie of characters, most consistently Kristen DiMera and Susan Banks.

In 1994, Viki Buchanan (Erika Slezak) married Sloan Carpenter (Roy Thinnes) on One Life To Live. The duo had made plans to wed at St. James Church, but Sloan became extremely ill — he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. He was hospitalized and the couple decided not to wait to make their union official. They wound up exchanging emotional vows in a small ceremony in the intensive care unit. Sloan passed away the following year.

In 2004 on General Hospital, Emily Bowen-Quartermaine (Natalia Livingston) and Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) tied the knot. Elizabeth served as Emily's maid of honor, and Lulu, Nikolas's young half sister, was the flower girl. Father Coates conducted the ceremony. Emily told Nikolas, "I've dreamed of this day since the first moment I saw you. And this dream carried me through illness and through despair. This dream gave me the courage to hold on when all reason told me to let go. You're my first love. Nikolas, you're my only one. And I'll stay by your side, as close as I can, for the rest of my life. I promise to believe in you and to honor you, to be the constant in your life, as you'll be in mine. From this day forward, you'll always be with me, and I'll be with you, till death do us part."

In 2004, General Hospital supercouple Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and Samantha McCall (Kelly Monaco) shared their first kiss. The duo had returned to the penthouse after Nikolas and Emily's wedding, where Sam had tossed back more than a few alcoholic beverages. Sam tried to get Jason to dance with her, and he resisted. "Come on, nobody's around," Sam cajoled. She pulled him into her arms to dance, and when she lost her footing, he fell on top of her. Sam took advantage of the close proximity and initiated a steamy kiss.