Five Things That Happened On January 1 In Soap History

In 1978, Gloria Monty officially assumed her duties as General Hospital's executive producer. At the time, the show was on the verge of cancellation. Monty's impact was felt immediately. At considerable expense, she scrapped a week’s worth of shows that had already been taped and overhauled the show’s production module, shooting the show in segments instead of live-on-tape, and upgrading the sets and lighting. She also oversaw the addition of the moneyed Quartermaine family, adding Stuart Damon (ex-Alan), Anna Lee (ex-Lila), David Lewis (ex-Edward) and Jane Elliot (Tracy) to the cast, and an increased storyline focus on younger characters (e.g., the sizzling Bobbie/Scott/Laura triangle, adding Anthony Geary’s Luke to the mix). GH ended the 1979 season in first place in the ratings.

In 1986, General Hospital's Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) sneaked out of the mansion for an amorous rendezvous with Sean Donely (John Reilly). Her marriage to Alan was on the rocks, and Monica and Sean teamed up to bankrupt the Quartermaines; Lila infamously reversed the family's financial woes by marketing her pickle relish, Pickle-Lila. As the year wore on, Monica filed for divorce, but Alan and Edward faked Alan's murder and framed Sean and Monica for the supposed crime. Meanwhile, Edward hired Tiffany to woo Sean away from Monica. Sean and Tiffany ended up falling in love for real and marrying in 1989; once Alan revealed that he was still very much alive, he and Monica reconciled.

In 2007, a lonely Nick Fallon (Blake Berris) and Billie Reed (Julie Pinson) hit the sheets on Days of Our Lives. Their hook-up was a one-time thing, but was certainly significant to Nick, as he had been a virgin prior to the encounter.

In 2007, Passions's Theresa (Lindsay Hartley) tried to dissuade Whitney (Brook Kerr) of the belief that Chad was cheating on her.

In 2020 on Young and Restless, Chelsea Newman (Melissa Claire Egan) was still upset with her ex, Adam Newman (Mark Grossman), for meddling in her relationship with his half brother, Nick, by asking Nick's ex-wife, Phyllis Summers, to seduce him. They got into another spat over Adam's trickery, and Adam challenged her to look him in the eyes and say she didn’t love him, then planted a kiss on her. A rattled Chelsea stammered, "How many times do you have to hear it, Adam? I can't do this." She then ran out of the penthouse.