Five Things That Happened On January 27 In Soap History

In 1984, Jack Wagner debuted as General Hospital's Andrew "Frisco" Jones. The role made him a soap superstar, helped to catapult him to the top of the charts as a recording artist, and begat his marriage to co-star Kristina Wagner (Felicia), his on-screen leading lady. (The couple later divorced). Wagner noted to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "I look at it in complete gratitude that I got the part.... I was able to work in a period we’ll never see again, where soap operas had huge ratings and you knew that the performance you were giving was going to be watched by many people and you’d touch so many people and entertain them. For me, I owe General Hospital my career because it launched me. It was my big break and I’ll always have a loyalty and a place in my heart with gratitude and appreciation to [then-Executive Producer] Gloria Monty and General Hospital."

In 2004, General Hospital's Carly Corinthos (Tamara Braun) slept with Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King) after spying her husband, Sonny Corinthos, in bed with Sam McCall. Sonny had landed in the sack with Sam after walking in on Carly giving Lorenzo what she intended to be a good-bye kiss after struggling to shake her sexual attraction to him.

In 2006, Passions aired a special Bollywood-themed episode featuring (from l.) Liza Huber's Gwen, Eric Martsolf's Ethan, Andrea Evans's Rebecca and Lindsay Hartley's Theresa. Martsolf recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, “This was Theresa’s nightmare. We spent so much money on this dream sequence. Phideaux Xavier directed it. We spent a week in dance rehearsals. There was a cast of about 30 dancers on top of live horses, and we recorded songs in the studio. It was brilliant. I’ll never forget the money [spent]. Even that particular garment that I’m wearing. I was told it cost close to $10,000 or $15,000. Those were back in the days when soaps didn’t have any limits. The whole thing was pretty ornate.”

In 2014, Camryn Grimes debuted as Mariah Copeland on Young and Restless. Mariah turned out to be the twin of the late Cassie Newman, who Grimes had played from 1997-2005. Reflecting on her return to the show in a new role, Grimes told Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "It was completely unexpected and nowhere on my radar. The struggle for me was when I found out that it was just an entirely new character. I was terrified. So finding Mariah, I really felt like I had no choice but to just infuse myself into that character. The writers were trying to figure me out, I was trying to figure Mariah out and it just came to this beautiful amalgamation of what she is now."

In 2017, Steve Burton (pictured with Sharon Case as Sharon) aired for the final time as Dylan McAvoy on Young and Restless. He began playing the role in 2013. The actor shared with Soap Opera Digest regarding his exit, which paved the way for him to return to General Hospital as Jason Morgan, "With Y&R, they were very generous with the schedule when I first started. They were awesome to work around my schedule, which doesn’t happen often, so I was super-grateful, but production needs to tell story and when you’re working around a guy, or you can’t work him a certain day, it becomes a thorn in the side of people. That’s just the bottom line. It never got contentious or anything, and I flew back and forth [from Nashville, where he was living at the time] pretty much every week for four years. I was just like, 'Maybe it’s time. It’s time to be home for a little while.' It was a great run, a great four years for me, but it was time."