ALL MY CHILDREN heartthrobs Michael E. Knight (Tad) and Laurence
Lau (Greg) exited, while Taylor Miller returned as Nina; Rosa Nevin
(Cecily) debuted.... Jorn Winther returned as executive producer when
Jacqueline Babbin stepped down; Lorraine Broderick was named
Wisner Washam’s co-head writer.... Charles
died in his sleep following the real-life passing
of original cast member Hugh Franklin....
“I do’s” were swapped by Tad and Hillary, Cliff
and Nina, and Phoebe and con man Wade (who
subsequently tried to kill her).... Natalie gave
birth to Timmy.... At the Daytime Emmys, David
Canary (Adam/Stuart) picked up his first Lead
Actor trophy, while Knight won as Younger
Leading Man.
Tom Eplin (Jake), Ellen Wheeler (Vicky/
Marley), Julie Osburn (Kathleen) and
Anna Stuart (Donna; Philece Sampler
took over) said good-bye to ANOTHER
WORLD; William Grey Espy was back as
Mitch; Liberace guest-starred as himself;
and Kale Browne began playing Michael....
John Whitesell was in as EP, succeeding
Stephen Schenkel; the head-writing
team of Gillian Spencer and Sam Hall
was replaced by Margaret DePriest....
Bay City newlyweds included Zane and
Felicia, Cass and Kathleen, Catlin and
Sally, Donna and Michael (Vicky and
Marley’s bio dad), and Jake and Marley....
Sally (car crash) and Zane (gunshot
wound) expired.... Ellen Wheeler won the
Outstanding Ingenue Daytime Emmy.
AS THE WORLD TURNS bid adieu to one villain
(John Wesley Shipp’s Douglas) and introduced
another (Peter Boynton’s Tonio); Frank Runyeon
(Steve) left; Michael Swan (Duncan) debuted;
Marie Masters (Susan) and Anthony Herrera
(James) came back.... Original cast member Don
MacLaughlin (Chris) passed away at 79.... The
show marked its 30th anniversary with a 50th
anniversary celebration for Chris and Nancy;
he later died in his sleep.... Douglas Cummings
was exposed as Kim’s obsessed stalker, then
was offed by Marsha Talbot, who also shot Kevin
dead.... Iva learned that she was adopted, and the
audience learned that Lily was the bio daughter
of Iva and her adopted cousin Josh, who had
raped her.... Bob and Kim welcomed baby boy
Chris.... Frannie look-alike, Sabrina, debuted....
Earl became Lisa’s sixth husband, while Sierra
wed Tonio on the rebound from Craig.... Barbara was stunned by James’s return
from the dead.... Shipp nabbed the Daytime
Emmy for Supporting Actor.
Grant Aleksander
(DJ) and Teri
Hatcher (Angelica)
joined the cast of
CAPITOL, and country
great Tammy
Wynette gueststarred
as Darlene....
Sloane fell hard for
Prince Ali from the
war-torn country
of Baracq.... James
Lipton (future host
of INSIDE THE
ACTORS STUDIO)
was named head
writer, succeeding
Henry Slesar....
CBS announced the
show’s cancellation in
December (though it
would air into 1987).
Judi Evans (Adrienne), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla),
Drake Hogestyn (John, albeit as Roman) and Billy
Warlock (Frankie) joined the DAYS OF OUR LIVES
ranks.... Steve and Kayla’s courtship began, while
Jewish beauty Robin fell for Mike.... Bo reeled upon
learning that he was the result of Caroline’s long-ago
affair with Victor.... Shane and Kim breathed a sigh
of relief when he, not Victor, proved to be the bio dad
of her newborn, Andrew.... In a double ceremony
with Pete and Melissa, Mickey and Maggie remarried;
Roman and Marlena renewed their vows after
amnesiac “John” proved to be her presumed-dead
hubby.... Shane’s former wife, Emma, was murdered
on New Year’s Eve.... Neil and Liz divorced.... Sheri
Anderson, who served as head writer alongside
Thom Racina and Leah Laiman, departed.... Leann
Hunley (Anna)
was named
Outstanding
Supporting
Actress at the
Daytime Emmys,
while at the Soap
Opera Digest
Awards, winners
included
Lead Actor John
Aniston (Victor)
and Lead Actress
Patsy Pease
(
Kimberly).
GENERAL HOSPITAL introduced Ian
Buchanan’s Duke and Lynn Herring’s
Lucy; Tristan Rogers (Scorpio)
returned; Steve Bond (Jimmy Lee),
Judith Chapman (Ginny) and Chris
Robinson (Rick) departed.... Frisco
and Felicia tied the knot, as did Terry
and Kevin O’Connor — though she
was later forced to kill her murderous
spouse in self-defense.... Tony and
Tania welcomed baby girl B.J., named
after Bobbie.... Mobster Duke swept
Anna off her feet, while her co-chief
of police, Burt Ramsey, was outed as
crime lord Mr. Big.... Lila saved the flagging
Quartermaine fortune with her hit
condiment, Pickle-Lila.... Frisco became
a cop.... Kimberly McCullough (Robin)
won the Digest Award for Outstanding
Juvenile Actor/Actress.
GUIDING LIGHT
brought back
Grant Aleksander
(Phillip),
Christopher
Bernau (Alan),
Robert Newman
(Josh) and Peter
Simon (Ed); Ellen
Dolan left as
Maureen, who
was recast with
Ellen Parker; Judi
Evans (Beth) and
Larkin Malloy
(Kyle) exited; Kassie Wesley (now DePaiva)
made her soap debut as Chelsea; Terrell
Anthony (Rusty) and Ian Ziering (Cameron)
began.... Bauer matriarch Bert passed away,
and Mindy was widowed when Kurt was
killed in Venezuela.... New girl in town Dinah
turned out to be the bio daughter of Vanessa
and Ross; India adopted Dorie; and Maeve
gave birth to Ben, her son with Kyle.... Rick
received his medical degree.... After a mixup
at the ceremony (the award was wrongly
given to Y&R), GL took home the Daytime
Emmy for Outstanding Writing.
LOVING co-stars Linden Ashby
(Curtis) and Susan Walters (Lorna)
left the show — and got married
in real life.... Jack and Stacey wed
after he divorced Ava.... Steve
was falsely convicted of rape, but
escaped in time to save Trisha from
dastardly Spider; an on-the-run
Steve and Trisha then said, “I do”
aboard a freighter,
but after
the union was
proven invalid,
Trisha agreed
to dump him in
exchange for
Steve’s freedom
and he married
Cecilia, his
lying accuser....
Baddie Jonathan
fell to his death.
ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Robert S.
Woods (Bo) left (and joined
DAYS for a short stint as
Patrick); also out were Gerald
Anthony (Marco), Jack Betts
(Ivan), Roscoe Born (Mitch),
Mary Gordon Murray (Becky
Lee), Brynn Thayer (Jenny),
Blair Underwood (Bobby)
and Michael Zaslow (David);
newcomers included John
Loprieno (Cord), Barbara
Garrick (Allison), Marcia Cross
(Kate), and Holly Gagnier,
who replaced Ava Haddad
as Cassie; Lee Patterson
returned, but as Tom, the
brother of his late original
character, Joe Riley.... Clint
and Viki remarried and welcomed
daughter Jessica (who
was kidnapped by Allison);
Tina eloped with Cord (Clint’s
illegitimate son); and Bo married
Didi.... Dorian seemingly
killed Mitch.... Erika Slezak
(Viki) took home her second
Daytime Emmy for Lead
Actress.
Ilene Kristen returned to RYAN’S
HOPE as Delia; Walt Willey began a
run as Joe; and Tracey Ross (later
PASSIONS’s Eve)
joined as Diana;
Marg Helgenberger
ended her run as
Siobhan.... Roger
tied the knot with
Maggie, and
16-year-old Ryan
eloped with Rick....
Now a widow, Delia
moved back to
New York.
SANTA BARBARA tapped
Jed Allan to play a recast
C.C., and Justin Deas
as Keith; Louise Sorel
(Augusta), Harley Kozak
(Mary) and Jon Lindstrom
(Mark; now GH’s Kevin)
were out.... Mary married
Mark, despite her love for
Mason, then died in one of
soapdom’s more memorable
deaths when she was
crushed by the “C” on the
roof of the Capwell Hotel....
After Cruz and Eden’s wedding
was canceled due to
a fire, she married evil Kirk,
who tried to off her in a shark
tank, while he was briefly
married to Santana.... Mary-
Ellis Bunim, who had served
as Co-EP with Bridget and
Jerome Dobson, exited; the
Dobsons stepped down
as head writers, with Anne
Howard Bailey and Charles
Pratt, Jr. (now YOUNG AND
RESTLESS’s head writer/
Co-EP) taking over.
Struggling ratings prompted SEARCH FOR
TOMORROW to undergo a creative revamp
that saw doomed serial killer Rivera offing local
beauties, and the great Henderson flood wiping
out many of the show’s sets (along with Dan and
Ryder).... The took its final bow on December 26
after a 35-year run. In the closing scene, Larry
Haines’s Stu asked Mary Stuart’s Jo what she
was searching for. “Tomorrow,” she replied.
Y&
Photo credit: Andrea Wagner
Y&R hired Tricia Cast (Nina) and Thom Bierdz (Phillip);
Marla Adams (Dina) and Lauren Koslow (Lindsey, now
DAYS’s Kate) left.... Traci and Brad tied the knot....
Ashley had a nervous breakdown after aborting
Victor’s baby and was institutionalized, while Victor
nixed his divorce from Nikki when she was diagnosed
with a blood disease.... Nina’s newborn son (Phillip
Chancellor III) was kidnapped by a black market baby
dealer.... John finally caught wind of Jill’s affair with
his son, Jack.... Lauren was buried alive by psycho
fan Shawn, but rescued; Shawn was subsequently
killed.... Paul ended up as the nude centerfold of a
magazine, courtesy of Lauren.... Ed Scott temporarily
filled in as Co-EP when Wes Kenney left; ultimately,
William J. Bell took over the EP reigns alone.... Y&R
snared the Outstanding Daytime Drama prize at the
Daytime Emmys.