Maurice Benard
(Sonny, GENERAL
HOSPITAL) made his
soap debut as ALL MY
CHILDREN’s Nico. The
show also hired Walt
Willey (Jackson) and
Ellen Wheeler (Cindy),
while Gillian Spencer
(Daisy) checked out....
Jorn Winther left as
executive producer,
replaced by Stephen
Schenkel. Co-Head
Writer Wisner Washam
exited, but Lorraine
Broderick remained
as sole head writer....
Phoebe and Langley
remarried; Tom wed
Skye.... Jesse shot
and killed Angie’s
rotten pop, Les, in
self-defense.... Stuart
and AIDS-afflicted
Cindy fell in love....
Mark’s cocaine addiction
spurred his loved
ones to stage an
intervention.... Erica’s
half sister, Silver, tried
to kill her.... Daytime
Emmys were awarded
to Kathleen Noone
(Ellen, Supporting
Actress) and Michael
E. Knight (Tad, Younger
Leading Man).
ANOTHER WORLD introduced
Anne Heche as
Vicky and Marley, Sandra
Ferguson as Amanda,
Robert Kelker-Kelly as
Sam and Joanna Going
as Lisa; David Forsyth
began playing John, and
Philece Sampler was the
new Donna.... Kathleen’s
presumed death left
Cass a widower.... Felicia hired her future husband, Mitch,
as the bartender at her new supper club, TOPS.... A serial
killer known as the “Sin Stalker” (Alan Glaser) offed Bay
City prostitutes.... Vince and Mary divorced.
AS THE WORLD
TURNS tapped its
13th and final Tom,
Scott Holmes, along
with Tamara Tunie
(Jessica) and William
Fichtner (Josh),
while Scott Bryce
left as Craig.... Lily’s
world was rocked
by the news that
Josh was her bio
father and Iva her
birth mom; when
she found out that
Holden had concealed
the truth
from her, she hopped in the sack with
Dusty.... John eloped with Lucinda; “I
dos” were also swapped by Sierra and
Craig (who became parents to baby
Bryant), Tonio and Meg, and Casey and
Lyla.... Frannie and look-alike Sabrina
were revealed to be half sisters (Sabrina
being the bio daughter of Bob and
Kim).... Hal (married to Barbara) and
Margo (married to Tom) slept together in
Greece, conceiving Adam.... The show
won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding
Drama, while Larry Bryggman (John)
picked up the Lead Actor trophy, Gregg
Marx (Tom) won Supporting Actor,
and Martha Byrne (Lily) was named
Outstanding Ingenue.
On March 23, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL (co-created by William J. Bell and Lee
Phillip Bell) debuted on CBS with an original cast that included daytime vets
Susan Flannery (Stephanie) and John McCook (Eric), along with newbies
Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), Ronn Moss (ex-Ridge), and Joanna Johnson
(ex-Caroline).... Ridge and Caroline got engaged, vexing her father, Bill, Sr., but
she dumped him for cheating, was raped by a stranger, and married Thorne.
Brooke crushed on Ridge.... Katie pined for Rocco, who had eyes for Donna....
Eric reconnected with high school sweetheart Beth.
CAPITOL signed off
for good on March 20.
Its finale featured
several cliffhangers,
with Sam asking
Myrna for a divorce
(at the behest of his
blackmailing mistress),
and Sloane facing
a firing squad in
Baracq.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES said good-bye to
fan faves Kristian Alfonso (Hope), Deidre
Hall (Marlena), Peter Reckell (ex-Bo) and
Josh Taylor (ex-Chris, now Roman), but
scored big with the additions of Wally Kurth
(Justin) and Matthew Ashford (ex-Jack),
along with Charlotte Ross (ex-Eve) and the
late Joy Garrett (ex-Jo) and Richard Biggs
(ex-Marcus). Two GH stars, Genie Francis
(Laura) and Jane Elliot (Tracy), also began
their Salem runs, as Diana and Anjelica,
respectively.... Justin and Adrienne, Shane
and Kimberly, and pups Martha and Reggie
tied the knot; Kayla wed Jack after Steve
pushed her away (having discovered that
Jack was his brother).... Orpheus seemingly
died after seemingly killing Marlena....
Bo and Hope sailed out of town after welcoming
son Shawn Douglas.... Maggie was
diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.
GENERAL HOSPITAL wrote out Todd Davis (Bryan), Bianca Ferguson
(Claudia), Steve Bond (Jimmy Lee), Sam Behrens (Jake)
and Hilary Edson (Tania), while Kin Shriner reprised
Scotty.... Gloria Monty ended her storied run as EP, and
she was succeeded by Y&R’s longtime show runner,
H. Wesley Kenney. Ann Marcus joined Norma Monty
as co-head writer.... Robert mourned when Holly was
presumed dead in a plane crash.... Duke and Anna
wed, while Tony (reeling from wife Tania’s death in a
hit-and-run) was lured to the altar by Lucy.
The Cooper family hit GUIDING LIGHT in the form
of Beth Ehlers (Harley) and Frank Dicopoulos
(Frank); Audrey Peters began playing Sarah.... Joe
Willmore was the show’s new EP, replacing Gail
Kobe; Pamela K. Long returned as head writer....
GL marked its 50th anniversary (it debuted on
radio on January 25, 1937).... Reva gave birth to
Marah, her daughter with Josh, but believed the
baby was sired by Kyle — and Alan kept the truth
under wraps.... Josh was floored by the arrival of
his presumed-dead wife, troubled Sonni.... Harley
gave up newborn daughter Daisy for adoption....
Billy and Vanessa split.... Kim Zimmer (Reva) won
her second Daytime Emmy as Lead Actress.
Randolph Mantooth joined LOVING as Clay (later
revealed to be Alex).... Steve and Trisha made it
to the altar at last.... Jack cheated on Stacey
with Lily.... Clay returned from the dead, divorced
Gwyn and took up with Ava.
James DePaiva (Max), Fiona Hutchison
(Gabrielle) and Patricia Elliott (Renee) made
their ONE LIFE TO LIVE debuts; Robin Strasser
ended her run as Dorian.... After being presumed
dead after plunging over Iguazu Falls,
Tina crashed Cord and Kate’s wedding, invalidating
their marriage; she claimed to be toting
Cord’s son but really, the baby was Max and
Gabrielle’s (Al). Tina found out that she had
actually given birth and she searched for her
baby.... Viki suffered a brain aneurysm and
her spirit visited heaven.... Cord’s mom, Maria,
died after ingesting the poison she’d planned
to kill Tina with.... The show went home with the
Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing, but got
a new head writer, S. Michael Schnessel (who
replaced Peggy O’Shea).
RYAN’S HOPE hired Tichina Arnold as Zena, while
Daniel Pilon (Max), Grant Show (Rick) and Walt Willey
(Joe) wrapped up; Angela Bassett briefly played
Leonie.... Creator Claire Labine returned as head writer,
with her daughter, Eleanor, working as co-head
writer; they replaced Tom King and Millee Taggart....
Joe returned from the dead with a new face and an
alias, Erik, and worked undercover to bust Max, also
known as the criminal mastermind Overlord; Joe
remarried Siobhan, and Max fell to his presumed
death.... Frank and Jillian welcomed daughter Mary;
Roger and
Maggie also
had a baby,
Olivia.
SANTA BARBARA hired Jill Farren
Phelps as EP after Creators Jerome
and Bridget Dobson were axed.... Julia
struck a business deal with Mason to
sire her baby. The relationship turned
to love before they welcomed daughter
Samantha, but Mason wed secretlypregnant-
by-Cruz Tori.... Eden was
paralyzed in a fall and nursed back to
health by mystery man Cain, who fell
for her and held her prisoner.... C.C.’s
secret daughter, Elena, wreaked havoc
before being murdered.... Sophia and
C.C. remarried, while Kelly wed Jeffrey.
YOUNG AND RESTLESS relieved Brenda
Dickson of her duties as Jill, who was
recast with Jess Walton; Quinn Redeker
(fresh from playing DAYS’s Alex) was
hired as Rex; and Barbara Crampton
debuted as Leanna. Edward J. Scott
started a 14-year tenure as EP.... Danny
and Phillip both proposed to Cricket, and
Phillip impregnated Nina.... Split from
Paul, Lauren pursued Brad.... Jill hired
bum Rex to woo Kay.... Nikki faked sick
to stop Victor from leaving her for Ashley,
but he caught on to her scheme and filed
for divorce; institutionalized following a
breakdown, Ashley became romantically
involved with her shrink, Steven.