Time Capsule 1997

ALL MY CHILDREN introduced Vincent Irizarry (now Deimos, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) as David and Esta TerBlanche as Gillian; Eva La Rue (Maria) quit; and Jim was recast with David Forsyth when Roscoe Born walked off the set.... Hayley and Mateo became Mr. and Mrs. ... After Maria gave birth to Maddie (who was proven to be Edmund’s bio daughter, not Dimitri’s), Erica kidnapped her and passed her off as a Russian newborn. (Ultimately, the Greys got her back.) Maria was then killed in a plane crash.... Liza and Adam split.... Amanda found out that Janet is her bio mom.... Bianca developed anorexia.... Megan McTavish returned as head writer, replacing Lorraine Broderick and Millee Taggart.... AMC tied for the Writing Daytime Emmy with YOUNG AND RESTLESS, while Marcy Walker (Liza) picked up the Soap Opera Digest Award for Supporting Actress. Robin Christopher (Lorna), Matt Crane (Matt), David Forsyth (John), Anna Holbrook (Sharlene), John Bolger (Gabe), Lindsay Lohan (Alli) and Robert Kelker-Kelly (Bobby) left ANOTHER WORLD, which cast Lisa Peluso (Lila) and welcomed back John Aprea (ex-Lucas) as a new character, Alexander.... Paul Michael Valley reprised Ryan for a short arc that saw Vicky and Ryan swapping vows in heaven; she then said, “I do,” to Jake back on earth.... Grant wed Cindy, and Gary and Josie made it official.... Carl and Rachel expanded their family with late-in-life twins Cory and Elizabeth.... Evil Commissioner Raines murdered Gabe before Joe killed him.... John and Sharlene divorced.... Tom Eplin (Jake) was named Male Showstopper at the Digest Awards.... The writing team underwent multiple shake-ups, with Elizabeth Page, Tom King and Craig Carlson taking over from Margaret DePriest; who were then axed to make way for Michael Malone, who was replaced eight months later by Richard Culliton. AS THE WORLD TURNS hosted the soap debuts of Lesli Kay (Molly) and Michael Park (Jack); Scott DeFreitas (Andy), Paolo Seganti (Damian) and Maura West (Carly, now GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Ava) returned; Shawn Christian left as Mike; Emmy Rossum debuted as Abigail; and fan protest over the recasting of Allyson Rice-Taylor’s Connor with Susan Batten led Batten to quit.... Jessica Klein was in as head writer, replacing Stephen Demorest, Mel Brez and Addie Walsh. The trio returned when Klein tendered her resignation.... Jack and Carly’s romance kicked off as she sought a hubby and a pregnancy to get her hands on a $50 million trust fund.... Damian returned from the dead.... Lily and Holden’s engagement ended when she caught him in bed with Molly (mom of his surprise teen daughter, Abigail). At his wedding to Lily, Diego was shot dead (by Kirk).... Barbara became Mrs. John Dixon and the couple mourned the passing of their prematurely born son, Johnny.

Jacob Young (Rick) and Adrienne Frantz (Amber) kicked off their BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL careers, while Sandra Ferguson pinch-hit for Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke and Tristan Rogers (now Colin, Y&R) popped in as Hunter.... Sally derailed the Eric/ Stephanie wedding by arranging for a salacious pic of the groom with Lauren to land in the minister’s Bible; Sheila and James successfully tied the knot (and they had a baby girl, Mary), while Grant and Brooke’s union was proved to be invalid.... After Macy divorced Thorne, he proposed to Taylor.... Supporting Actor Ian Buchanan (James) won the show’s first acting Daytime Emmy. Before THE CITY faded to black on March 28, Buck and Tess wed, Tracy was a merry widow when Gino kicked the bucket, and Molly murdered Sydney.

Jensen Ackles joined DAYS OUR LIVES as Eric, while John Aniston exited as Victor, Eileen Davidson (now Y&R’s Ashley) began playing Sister Mary Moira and Thomas (in addition to Kristen and Susan), Josh Taylor (who’d formerly played Chris) began his Roman run, Steve Wilder replaced Mark Valley as Jack, and Jason Brooks was back as Peter.... Carrie interrupted Sami and Austin’s nups and married him herself, and Will’s bio dad was revealed to be Lucas, not Austin.... Susan gave birth to Stefano’s son, John Black, Jr., later known as EJ.... Bo was forced to wed Billie.... Roman’s return from the dead spoiled John and Marlena’s wouldbe nups.... Kate’s past as a hooker was exposed.... DAYS’s John wed Susan, who he believed was Kristen, in Elvis-themed nups — but the true identity of the bride was exposed at the reception, replete with flying fake teeth.... Head Writer James E. Reilly stepped down to focus on creating a new sudser for NBC; Sally Sussman succeeded him.... Melissa Reeves (Jennifer) and Corday Productions settled the lawsuit resulting from her 1995 exit.... At the Digest Awards, DAYS nabbed Hottest Romance (Austin Peck and Christie Clark’s Austin and Carrie), Female Showstopper Louise Sorel (Vivian) and Villain Joseph Mascolo (Stefano).

Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) debuted on GH, which saw the exits of Maurice Benard (Sonny), Matthew Ashford (Tom) and Sean Kanan (A.J., who was recast with Billy Warlock); Kimberly McCullough was back in and back out as Robin.... Michael was the product of Carly and A.J.’s one-night stand, though she named Tony, then Jason, as the daddy; and Bobbie finally learned that she is Carly’s mom.... Sonny left Brenda at the altar.... Liz set her sights on Lucky, while Ned and Alexis hooked up, and Stefan courted Katherine.... Alan got hooked on pain pills.... Alexis and Stefan were revealed to be half siblings.... Janet Iacobuzio and Christopher Whitesell were in as head writers, replacing Richard Culliton and Karen Harris, but they were ultimately axed in favor of returning chief scribe Robert Guza, Jr. ... GH took home Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Drama and Younger Actress Sarah Brown (Carly), and Digest Awards for Favorite Show, Lead Actress Genie Francis (Laura), Hottest Male Star Ingo Rademacher (Jax), Hottest Female Star Vanessa Marcil (Brenda), Male Newcomer Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) and Younger Lead Actor Steve Burton (Jason)

GUIDING LIGHT brought back fan faves Beth Ehlers (Harley), Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa) and Beth Chamberlin (Beth), while beloved vet Michael Zaslow became ill (with ALS, which would claim his life in 1998), and the show recast his role, Roger, with Dennis Parlato. Meanwhile, Laura Wright (now GH’s Carly) debuted as Cassie, Reva’s surprise half sis; Taye Diggs briefly played “Sugar”; Robert Gentry reprised the role of Ed; Paulo Benedeti and Tammy Blanchard joined as Jesse and Drew; Hunt Block (Ben, Ross’s half brother) began; and Melissa Hayden (Bridget), Michael Dietz (Alan-Michael) and Sonia Satra (Lucy) exited.... H.B. passed away after portrayer Larry Gates’s death.... Annie made it look like Reva had caused her miscarriage.... Matt and Vanessa were reunited.... Phillip and Harley became an item.... Justin Deas (Buzz) and Kevin Mambo (Marcus) received Daytime Emmys for Lead Actor and Younger Actor, respectively.... Paul Rauch took over as executive producer, succeeding Michael Laibson; Head Writers Michael Conforti, Victor Miller and Nancy Williams Watt were replaced by James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten; and the show celebrated major milestones: the 60th anniversary of its radio debut and the 45th anniversary of its move to TV.

Nathan Fillion (Joey), Thorsten Kaye (Patrick, now B&B’s Ridge), Susan Haskell (Marty), Tonja Walker (Alex), John Loprieno (Cord), Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio) and Crystal Chappell (Maggie) all left ONE LIFE TO LIVE; newbies included Florencia Lozano (Téa), Stephen Markle (Mel) and Elisabeth Röhm (Dorothy); and Don Jeffcoat was cast as Joey No. 5.... Patrick and pregnant Marty wed and left town after faking his death.... Todd paid Téa five million bucks to marry him and improve his odds of winning custody of Starr, whose leukemia was cured by a bone marrow donation from Alex after Kelly accidentally mowed down Blair, causing her to lose Brendan, her unborn son by Patrick; Blair pushed the new Mrs. Manning out of a window.... Alex copped to killing Carlo, but the true victim proved to be his twin, Mortimer.... Cassie and Andrew divorced.... Claire Labine and her son, Matthew, became the new head writers, and Jill Farren Phelps replaced Maxine Levinson as EP.

GH spin-off PORT CHARLES, created by Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton and Wendy Riche, debuted on June 1 with a prime-time special, but Lynn Latham soon replaced the Cullitons as head writer. The original cast featured GH imports Lynn Herring (Lucy), Jon Lindstrom (Kevin) and Kin Shriner (Scott), soap vet Debbi Morgan (Ellen), Mitch Longley (Matt), Julie Pinson (Eve), Michael Dietz (Joe), Carly Schroeder (Serena), Jay Pickett (Frank), Nolan North (Chris), Rib Hillis (Jake) and Jennifer Hammon (Karen), with Wayne Northrop (Herring’s real-life spouse) soon joining as Rex.... Maniacal Greg Cooper

SUNSET BEACH, created by Josh Griffith, Robert Guza, Jr. and Charles Pratt, Jr., and executiveproduced by Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent and Gary Tomlin, with James E. Reilly serving as executive story consultant, debuted on NBC on January 6. Its original cast included Kathleen Noone (Bette), Clive Robertson (Ben), Susan Ward (Meg), Timothy Adams (Casey), Sam Behrens (Greg), Lesley- Anne Down (Olivia), Jason George (Michael), Sherri Saum (Vanessa), Sarah Buxton (Annie) and Randy Spelling (Sean); Eddie Cibrian (Cole) and Barbara Mandrell (Alexandra) soon joined.... Meg dumped cheating Tim and got engaged to widower Ben.... Married Olivia bedded jewel thief Cole, who fell in love with her daughter, Caitlin; both ladies became pregnant, but Caitlin miscarried.... Annie faked her death after being accused of offing her wealthy pop, Del.... Virginia schemed to thwart the Michael/Vanessa romance. Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, now GH’s Nina) and Heather Tom (Victoria, now B&B’s Katie) left Y&R; their roles were recast with Sandra Nelson and Sarah Aldrich, respectively, but Tom soon returned. Christian J. LeBlanc ( Michael) came back; Jennifer Gareis was in as Grace; and Signy Coleman (Hope) left.... Nikki wed Josh, Victor married Diane, and Olivia tied the knot with Malcolm.... Nick and Sharon became parents to little Noah. Grace arrived with Sharon’s secret daughter, Cassie, and bedded Nick.... Heartbroken over Ryan, Nina shot herself.... Neil caught Drucilla secretly taking birth control pills.... Phyllis and Michael hit the sheets, as did Cole and Ashley.... Kay Alden was named head writer, alongside William J. Bell.... Jess Walton (Jill) won the Daytime Emmy for Lead Actress, Supporting Actress went to Michelle Stafford, and Y&R tied with AMC for the Writing trophy.... At the Digest Awards, Eric Braeden (Victor) won Lead Actor, Doug Davidson (Paul) picked up Supporting Actor, Michelle Stafford was named Outstanding Villainess, and Heather Tom won Younger Lead Actress.