Five Things That Happened On November 27 In Soap History

In 1989, Peter Bergman debuted as Jack Abbott on Young and Restless, assuming the role from its originator, Terry Lester. Bergman had just been let go from All My Children, where he had long been a fan fave as Cliff Warner. Bergman recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki], across the country, was flying to Canada with her husband, Edward, who was the executive producer of The Young and the Restless, and she saw my picture on the cover of one of the magazines saying, ‘All My Children lets Peter Bergman go,’ or something along those lines. And she turned to Ed and said, ‘That’s Jack Abbott.’ And they had tested a half-dozen people to replace Terry Lester, a very, very popular character, a very talented actor in a very pivotal role. And Ed said, ‘Well, okay, we’ll get him to come audition.’ "

In 1997, Vincent Irizarry debuted as All My Children's David Hayward, for which he would win a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2009. Prior to joining the cast of AMC, Irizarry had appeared on Guiding Light, first as Brandon "Lujack" Luvonaczek and later as Lujack's surprise twin, Nick McHenry, and on Santa Barbara as Dr. Scott Clark. The role of David was initially supposed to only last for three months, but Irizarry was ultimately persuaded to ink a long-term deal. In 2011, he told Soap Opera Digest, "About halfway through those first three months, they offered me a three-year contract."

In 2001, Frankie Stone was murdered on All My Children, marking the end of Elizabeth Hendrickson's short stint in the role — but AMC soon brought her back to play Frankie's twin, Maggie Stone, who would go on to be a significant love interest for Bianca Montgomery. Hendrickson recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2019 of her debut daytime role, “The information I had was that Frankie was kind of from the wrong side of the tracks and she had a rough life. I decided she needed to be really firm and grounded because she was kind of hard and scrappy. I would only wear sneakers or boots because I wanted her to be a little tomboyish.” She added, “I remember my first day very, very well. My first scene on my first day was with Susan Lucci [Erica]; Frankie was pretending to be hit by a car that Erica Kane was driving. So, my very first scene was me laying on the floor screaming at Susan Lucci saying, ‘Oh, I know who you are. You’re that woman that stabbed her husband with a letter opener!’ Literally my first day! Like, how scary is that?"

In 2017, Ingo Rademacher (r., pictured with John McCook as Eric Forrester and Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan) debuted as Bold and Beautiful's Thorne Forrester, a surprise casting move.  The actor mused to Soap Opera Digest in 2018, “It’s actually a lot of fun not playing a new character coming on to Bold and Beautiful. I mean, it is almost like playing a new character because of the fact that he’s coming on with a major attitude change and a new outlook on life. There are great points about him being Eric’s true firstborn son — and he is not letting anyone forget that." Rademacher left the show the following year and the role of Thorne was ultimately reprised by the actor Rademacher had succeeded, Winsor Harmon.

In 2023 on Young and Restless, sinsister Jordan (Colleen Zenk, l.) revealed to a stunned Victor, Nick and Victoria that she was Eve Howard's sister and had poisoned the water they had all just consumed, taunting them that it would be her pleasure to watch them die. Victor tried to escape, but Jordan made it clear that the doors and windows were all triple-locked. Claire (Hayley Erin) then dragged an injured Cole into the room, and Victoria gasped at the sight of her ex-husband. "He had to be here for the family reunion, didn't he, Mother?" snarked Claire, revealing for the first time that she was Cole and Victoria's daughter, who her parents believed had died shortly after birth. Cole and Victoria were both gobsmacked.