Five Things That Happened On February 4 In Soap History

In 1985, Tom Eplin debuted as Jake McKinnon on Another World. He would go on to win two Soap Opera Digest Awards for his work on the show, as well as earn a Daytime Emmy nomination as Outstanding Lead Actor for portraying Jake on As the World Turns after AW's cancellation. The actor's first AW run ended in 1986; he returned in 1988 and remained with the series until it went off the air in 1999.

In 2008, General Hospital's Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) was struck by a car after fighting off the Text Message Killer, who would ultimately be unmasked as Diego Alcazar. The driver of the vehicle turned out to be Sam's future mother-in-law, Monica Quartermaine, who had descended into alcoholism after the deaths of her husband, Alan, and daughter Emily (who was one of Diego's victims). Monica was driving while under the influence at the time of the accident. 

In 2009 on Days of Our Lives, EJ DiMera (James Scott) and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) went home with "their" baby and Nicole settled on a name for the little girl: Sydney. In truth, Nicole had stolen Sami's newborn, who was sired by EJ, with help from shady Dr. Baker, and an unsuspecting Sami went home with a little girl she named Grace, whose biological parents were Mia McCormick and Chad DiMera.

In 2013, Jack Wagner returned to General Hospital as Andrew "Frisco" Jones, a role he had originated in 1984. The actor had last appeared as Frisco in 1995 and came back for a limited run in conjunction with the show's 50th anniversary. In the episode, Felicia (Kristina Wagner) was at the Floating Rib with Mac and was stunned when Frisco entered. Wagner was vocal in his displeasure about how Frisco was scripted during his short-term comeback, telling Soap Opera Digest in 2014, "I was more disappointed for the character and the fans. I don't think there was anything personal about the way the storyline ended [with Felicia choosing Mac over Frisco]. I think that most of the people who came to honor the 50th anniversary did it for the fans, out of respect for what General Hospital gave to us in our careers."

In 2022 on Young and Restless, Abby (Melissa Ordway), Chance and Devon (Bryton James) signed paperwork to finalize their arrangement for shared custody of Dominic (Devon had served as the sperm donor for the tot, who Mariah carried as a surrogate for fertility-challenged Chance and Abby). Regarding the relationship between Devon and Abby, who would later go on to marry, Melissa Ordway (Abby) noted to Soap Opera Digest, "They do have a special bond that’s different than before. I think that at this point, they’re more like family than just close friends. They had their ups and downs with the custody agreement, but they’ve proven that you can go through a hard time and still love each other. The fact that they have put Dominic as their first priority shows maturity and that Abby and Devon have grown as people — together.”