Soap Opera News (Page 4)

Here's a look at the list of top-rated soap operas from last week, ranked in order of total viewers:

1. The Young and the Restless: 6,012,000
2. The Bold and the Beautiful: 4,092,000
3. General Hospital: 3,122,000
4. As the World Turns: 3,115,000
5. Days of Our Lives: 2,859,000
6. All My Children: 2,784,000
7. One Life to Live: 2,664,000
8. Guiding Light: 2,583,000

In honor of Angle and Jesee (Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams) returning to All My Children, Entertainment Weekly has listed its top soap opera couples of all-time.

Here's a look at two. Review the others now:

BO AND HOPE (Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso): Days of Our Lives

LOVE'S FIRST BLUSH Salem's foremost couple met when Hope was just a teenager babysitting for Bo's family. After a few years of adventures and intrigue, they got hitched in a lavish English wedding. (But that wouldn't be their last trip to the altar...)

HAPPILY EVER AFTER? Hope has since returned from the dead, dispatched Bo's new fiancée, overcome amnesia, and coped with brainwashing that had her thinking she was a long-dead princess. And after a grueling separation a few years back (Hope wrongly thought Bo had helped their toddler son's killer cover up the crime — hey, it happens), they found their way back together and gave birth to a new baby girl.

LUKE AND NOAH (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann): As the World Turns

LOVE'S FIRST BLUSH Luke thought for sure that he'd fallen for a straight guy when he found himself drawn to Noah. But one pretend kiss (followed by much agonizing and one really spectacular kiss) made Noah come to terms with the fact that he was also gay. Then all they had to do was keep Noah's dad from killing Luke.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER? After surviving two murder attempts, the guys went on a New Year's Eve date, and soon Noah moved in with Luke and his family.

Here's a preview of the Soap Opera Digest issue dated February 5. A series of soap stars open up about their characters and story lines...

Days of Our Lives Revolving Door
"I was just shocked, but I dealt with it," Renee Jones (Lexie) tells the publication about being "fired and hired twice in a two-year period." You get a preview of how Lexie eases back into the scene on tomorrow's episode, along with details on how Days of Our Lives got the actress back in the issue.

Will Sonny Stay in General Hospital?
Maurice Benard's General Hospital contract is up this summer and the actor tells Digest that his future as Sonny is uncertain.

"I don't know what I need to do. I can’t tell you right now," says the actor, who admits that playing a dark character like Sonny "takes its toll."

Victoria Wakes Up!
At long last, Victoria wakes up from her long coma on The Young and the Restless - and Soap Opera Weekly was to greet her. Check out its interview with new mom Amelia Heinle, who dishes about her character's new state of mind: "It's great to get to talk again!" she says.

As the World Turns Proposal
Brad shocked Katie when he pops the question to her: "In Brad's way of thinking it’s just the next logical step," explains Austin Peck (Brad) to Soap Opera Weekly. But will this end up being a big step forward, or a giant misstep for the unlikely couple?

The status of soap operas and, specifically, their writers during the strike are featured in a New York Daily News article.

Read the in-depth feature now, but we've summarized the states of a few daytime dramas below:

• Longtime Genergal Hospital writer Garin Wolf has gone "FiCore" (Financial Core, which allows WGA union members to return to work without censure) and is now the only name credited.

• James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten have also gone FiCore and are co-head writers of All My Children.

• One Life to Live brought in its former executive producer, Gary Tomlin, as head writer; he previously wrote for Another World.

• Days of Our Lives is using former One Life to Live head writer Dena Higley.

• The Bold and the Beautiful is being written by former The Young and the Restless head writer Kay Alden.

• Guiding Light was the most ahead when the strike hit; the current staff is unconfirmed.

As the writers’ strike approaches the three-month mark, it has conveyed new cachet, such as it is, on soap operas.

Shows like General Hospital and As the World Turns have become virtually the only reliable option for viewers interested in watching rerun-free, serialized drama on broadcast television.

None of the eight daytime dramas on network television have gone into reruns, and none have plans to do so. But in a genre that thrives on drawn-out cliffhangers, the most sensational mystery in daytime may be how these shows are being written at all, considering that nearly all of their writers are guild members on strike.

A handful of writers, for All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital on ABC and The Young and the Restless on CBS, have officially crossed picket lines to return to work in recent weeks, invoking a guild designation known as “financial core,” or financial need. But they are the exception.

Read the full article in The New York Times now.

We apologize for the lack of episodes guides last week. A key member of our staff was on vacation.

He's been rightfully reprimanded for the transgression - and we now present a recap of your favorite soap operas from last week:

All My Children: Kendall tried to convince Zach that he wasn't responsible after Hannah jumped off a cliff into the river below. Colby was crushed when Sean told her that he had slept with Hannah. When Greenlee wanted to make love, Aidan was consumed by guilt over the fact that he had slept with Kendall, and Kendall feels guilty about having slept with Aidan.

Aidan knocked out an ailing Quentin, the homeless vet who helped rescue Greenlee, then took him to the hospital. At Joe's request, Dr. Angie Hubbard arrived to help with Quentin's case. Tad was surprised to see Angie. Annie worried about Ryan's sudden strange behavior.

Ryan decided to sell his Cambias assets, offered to help Richie find a bone-marrow donor (but warned him to stay away from Annie) and kissed a surprised Kendall. Adam was furious when Krystal renewed her wedding vows with Tad. Erica met a mysterious man named Marshall.

As the World Turns: Meg refused to press charges against Craig after Paul told Margo that Craig attempted to drug Meg (to kill her unborn baby). Rosanna had a dizzy spell when Craig walked out on her. To settle the score with Dusty, Lily wrote Chris a note telling him that Emily was once a hooker.

Chris also learned that Emily slept with Craig on New Year's Eve. After Dusty had an encounter with a mystery person, Lucinda found an unconscious Emily on the hospital floor beside Dusty, who had been murdered. A puncture wound was found on Dusty's body. In the hospital, Holden wiped Lily's (she accidentally overdosed) prints from a syringe that she used to inject herself with the drugs that she stole.

Dr. Hearn advised Barbara to tell her family that she has oral cancer. Carly realized Parker tried to frame Sam for stealing money that she found in Parker's possession. Gwen and Will rightly worried that Sofie is getting too attached to baby Hallie.

The Bold and the Beautiful: Donna told Katie that she doesn't want to break up with Eric, even though Stephanie cleared Stephen and Storm of her shooting. Donna arranged for Eric to catch her making out with Jake to ''prove'' that she's addicted to sex. After seeing Brooke with Nick, Taylor accused Brooke of getting Bridget to implant Taylor with Brooke's eggs during Taylor's in-vitro process.

After smelling alcohol in Taylor's coffee cup, Brooke snatched baby Jack, took him to Nick's office and told him that Jack's in danger because Taylor is drinking again. Taylor warned Brooke to stay away from Nick and baby Jack.

Days of Our Lives: Bo and Roman burst into Stefano's mansion with a search warrant after E.J. told them about the secret laboratory ''hospital room.'' While Stefano said he had nothing to hide, Hope and Marlena sneaked into the laboratory and found John lying in a bed. Marlena realized that something was wrong with John, who has been programmed by Stefano's doctor.

Lucas was in shock when the police brought in his new cellmate -- none other than Stefano. E.J. panicked when Stefano called and said he was sending a chauffeur to bring E.J. to the jail for a chat. E.J. worried that Stefano is plotting to take baby Johnny away from him and Sami. Crystal and Rob kidnapped Belle and Claire.

Belle was hospitalized after Rob knocked her off a dock into the water. Belle was devastated when Philip said Crystal and Rob have Claire. Chelsea panicked when Ford's father, Crawford, said the sorority girls would pay if they harmed Ford (he's dead).

Continue Reading...

Here are a few burning soap opera questions - and answers, of course - from some curious fans:

Q: Why did General Hospital let Emily die? She and Nikolas were a good match, and weren't they a couple in real life?
A: Natalia Livingston wanted out, so General Hospital made Emily a victim of the Text Message Killer rather than recast the role again. Livingston and Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) did indeed date for a while, but they are no longer together.

Q: How could One Life to Live make Asa's loyal servant, Nigel, so disloyal?
A: If you're talking about Asa's will, One Life to Live established that David Vickers would make a less desirable Buchanan than Jared Banks, so Nigel let Jared claim the title - for now. Look for the soap to revisit that decision when David returns.

Q: Why is The Young and the Restless taking Jack down, but not Gloria? When is she going to pay?
A: Jeffrey is blackmailing Gloria into marriage, but Michael,Lauren and Kevin know the truth about the tainted face cream, so don't think this story is over!

The NAACP Image Awards honor projects and individuals that promote diversity in the arts in television, recording, literature, and motion pictures. FOX will air the live awards presentation on February 14.

Here are the soap opera nominees, just announced by the organization:

Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
• Nazanin Boniadi – “General Hospital” (ABC)
• Christel Khalil – “The Young And The Restless” (CBS)
• Brook Kerr – “Passions” (NBC)
• Tracey Ross – “Passions” (NBC)
• Tika Sumpter (pictured)– “One Life to Live” (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
• Kamar de los Reyes – “One Life to Live” (ABC)
• Kristoff St. John – “The Young And The Restless” (CBS)
• Bryton McClure – “The Young And The Restless” (CBS)
• Mykel Shannon Jenkins – “The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS)
• Tobias Truvillion – “One Life to Live” (ABC)

We've already published news on the following actors returning to various soap operas, but here are the confirmed dates for various comebacks:

January 16: Rebecca Budig returns as Greenlee on All My Children. ABC is promoting her as "the real" Greenlee (versus Sabine Singh, as the "fake Greelee," we guess).

January 18: Angie (Debbi Morgan) returns to All My Children. Angie will come back to Pine Valley to tend to an ailing patient... who turns out to be her son!

January 25: Jesse (Darnell Williams), who is Angie's husband who died on screen 20 years ago, returns. Oops! Even death is a minor inconvenience on most daytime dramas.

January 31: Emmy winner Sarah Brown returns to General Hospital as a new character - not as Carly Benson, the role that won her the Emmy. She'll play the sister of one of the show's gangsters.

A few comings and goings on your favorite soap operas...

• Drake Hogestyn (pictured below) returns to Days of Our Lives tomorrow as the not-so-dead John Black.

• Tari Signor is back on One Life to Live as the unstable Margaret Cochran January 17.

• Patrick Duffy leaves The Bold and the Beautiful next week.

Supposedly off the show, Drake Hogestyn is about to prove that death is no match for John Black on Days of Our Lives!