It's extremely kind of you to take the time to upload this fully. I've seen this in parts but not all together. This was the end of an era, in many ways - the collapse in ratings that was already starting before OJ was in freefall, and many of the soaps were being torn to pieces internally by bad decisions from up high. It was so nice to see reunions of those like George/Jacquie and Mary Stuart/Larry Haines. No one knew this would be the last of those reunions for them.
They did not show George and Jacquie unless it was later in the broadcast.. I was looking forward to seeing those two. A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Jamie Lyn Bauer. She was very down to earth, personable, and very respectful to her fans. Great actress and lady👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I was really surprised they didn't include Judith Light's courtroom testimony. That was touted as the second most watched moment in soap opera and to this day it's phenomenal, exceptional work by a performer in any genre.
I love Judith in anything she could read the phone book and I'd watch. But this was on CBS and they were a bit funny about featuring non-CBS soaps. They did the same thing at the first prime time Daytime Emmy broadcast. Proctor and Gamble was being honored and in the clip shown Another World (a Proctor and Gamble NBC soap) wasn't even mentioned -- it was all Guiding Light and As The World Turns, among other CBS soaps. I was appalled, AW was one of the best soaps for years.
Our dearly departed Mom would have absolutely LOVED-LOVED seeing the entirety of the "Historical Celebration of Soap Operas." Ever since our early Childhood (& well into our own Adulthood whenever we would visit with her in her older age at our childhood home as well), our Mom remained an avid fan & never-ending viewer of several of these favorite Soap Opera of hers. 😊🌹 So, & on behalf of our Beautiful Mother, Ella Mae Gilliam-Dennis........... Thank You Ever-So Much For This! 🥰 Particularly since each & every one of her grown Children most assuredly know within the deepest recesses of our hearts that if our Mom was STILL alive even unto this very day, she would forever treasure seeing ALL of these heart-wrenching & memorable moments which are now being portrayed by MANY of her absolute favorite actors in the world MOST of all. 🙏🥰🌹💕🙏 AND MAY "THE LORD THY ALMIGHTY & MOST HIGH GOD" CONTINUE TO MIGHTILY BLESS YOU ALL...........
These were the characters i grew up with. Dedicated CBS soap watcher since the 15 min edge of night episodes... the faces of my youth: Nancy, Chris, Penny (!) - great trip down memory lane
I actually saw this when it aired - i was a college student living with my parents - looking forward to having a grown up career & life. I loved AMC and Y&R. Now 38 years I have the grown up career & life with its’ losses and wins - i still faithfully watch Y&R (still 💟it) and miss ANC. Thank you for posting this!!!! 💟💟💟
Its sooo awesome to see Soap stars together celebrate many decades.Its been awesome.Now we got 4 soaps The Young and The Restless,The Bold and the Beautiful thanks for the Bells couple created Y&R 45 years ago,General Hosptial and Days of our Lives still here to stay.
There needs to be better writers like those from the olden days. Been a Y&R viewer since the premiere when I was a senior in college. I am an oldtimer👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Wow what a great celebration of the daytime soap opera. I don't remember watching this as a kid but glad did now. It breaks my heart seeing all these great performers and shows who are now out of work due to bad decisions from network heads, behind the scenes productions and of course OJ. Even the final four standing now, you can see the hit they have taken due to budgets being slashed and hiring the hacks who continue to ruin the daytime soap opera. It hurts that my future children will probably never see this genre because by then they'll be gone. Thanks for posting this.
Thank you for posting this I've been in Soap withdrawals from the day AMC and OLTL Went off the air. General Hospital is going down fast with the worst writers in history
It's hard to believe only 4 daytime soaps are still on the air. I too would have to agree that the downfall for the soaps started way before OJ drama... bad producers and writers, and maybe some meddling network executives. What could've been done differently, IMO, in regards to recently canceled soaps All My Children, As the World Turns, Guiding Light, and One Life to Live, would've been to shorten daily episodes back to half-hour in length, assuming that move could've saved money, and adopting that mentality of "less is more". Other soaps, like Capitol had potential to go on to be a long-running show. I'm sure other canceled soaps, including Another World, The Edge of Night, and Search for Tomorrow are missed. Dark Shadows had a huge cult following.
I like your thinking about shortening the cancelled serials to 30 minutes. What some fans wouldn't give to have an hour set aside on CBS for Irna Phillips or on ABC for Agnes Nixon created serials. I think you're right about Capitol. I think it would have hit it's popularity in a few more years with shows like "The West Wing" or "House of Cards" that compelled viewers. I even think "Edge of Night" and "Dark Shadows" could have stayed with their milieus of mystery and horror respectively. So many of the soaps, though beloved, are almost carbon copies of one another - The rich and the poor, in Smalltown, America. Series that focused on the supernatural, politics, religion, law & order, and medical... these to me stuck out more because of their genre within the genre. I wonder if there would be more soaps due to that kind of originality. Because "Guiding Light", "As the World Turns", "All My Children"... They were doing great when they were about the Bauers, the Hugheses, the Martins... but then like you say "bad writers"... that tried to turn them into the next "General Hospital" creative boom, they all seemed to outdo one another for the sake of good storytelling.
Since writing this... Days Of Our Lives moved to NBC's streaming service Peacock 2 years ago after ending its 57-year run on NBC. This move could potentially open the door to soaps moving from major TV networks to streaming services, like Peacock, Paramount+, Netflix, etc. CBS has announced plans to launch a new series called The Gates. The creation of The Gates, expected to be a predominantly minority focused show similar to Generations, comes some 35 years since the creation of that series, plus some 37 years since CBS debuted The Bold & The Beautiful, as well as 14 years since the cancellation of As The World Turns which The Gates is expected to fill the former ATWT slot with news of The Talk ending at the end of 2024, and 25 years since the most recent new series Passions. Additional thoughts that I've also had besides the thought of shows being shortened back to half-hour broadcasts. If Procter & Gamble had sold ownership or an ownership stake of ATWT to CBS and if that series would still be on, or lasted a few additional seasons, or made the leap to Paramount+ (former CBS All Access). With streaming services picking up shows that people want to watch, I could see canceled soaps living on via Peacock, and Paramount+, and Netflix in reruns for future generations to see. I could easily see ATWT, Capitol, and Santa Barbara possibly being candidates for revival (or reboot) on the streaming services.
Furthermore, looking at the 50 Years Of Soaps special, it's also quite sobering to see faces and names who have sadly passed away, but they left a great legacy and memories. Bill Hayes (Doug from Days Of Our Lives) Frances Reid (Alice from DOOL) Helen Wagner (Nancy from As The World Turns) Michael Zaslow (Roger from Guiding Light, and David from One Life To Live) Jonathan Frid (Barnabas from Dark Shadows) Jacqueline Courtney (Alice from Another World) Kristoff St. John (Neil from The Young & The Restless) Jaclyn Zeman (Bobbie from General Hospital) Larry Haines (Stu from Search For Tomorrow) Mary Stuart (Jo from SFT) James Mitchell (Palmer from All My Children) Charles Keating (Carl from AW) Plus a few more names including... Jeanne Cooper (Katherine & Marge from Y&R) Darlene Conley (Sally from The Bold & The Beautiful) Ruth Warrick (Edith from ATWT, and Phoebe from AMC) Lisa Brown (Iva from ATWT, and Nola from GL) Phil Carey (Asa from OLTL) Joseph Mascolo (Stefano on DOOL, and Massimo from B&B) Anna Lee (Lila from GH) Y&R and B&B creators William J. Bell & Lee Philip Bell AMC & OLTL creator Agnes Nixon Among other notable names from the soaps.
@@charlesswanson2207 the adventures of Luke and Laura dominated general hospital in the early eighties. That's when soap operas we're great back then. From Ms. Harper Stacey.
@@harperstacey9604 you're absolutely right. My best friend's sister used to watch General Hospital and when I used to go over the house to hang out with him I would say hello to her while she was watching it, and next thing you know I was hooked on Luke and Laura's Adventures
@@charlesswanson2207 do you remember how Luke and Laura actually got together? Luke raped Laura at the disco place that he owned!!! Somehow, general hospital turned them into a super couple. From Ms. Harper Stacey.
50 YEARS WOW, Those were the days when the TV went on at noon...to get ready for all the weekday soaps, CBS ABC NBC they were all Great!! finally in the 80's we were able to tape them. We are down to only 3 right now, but I still watch GH one if my favorites!! Sad a lot of the Veteran Soap Stars have passed. Its, another Great TV era Gone on its way.😥😥 The show today are too violent!!
I remember after graduated from High Scool and my Mom and I would finish the laundry just after lunch. We would be ironing and folding clothes. That was the time my Mother would call her soap time...
All of these soaps were good ,Luke &Laura ,Bo &Hope ,Mac&Rachel ,Vicki Bucanon & much others from all of these iconic soap operas !& of course Erica Cane!
It’s sad that “soap operas” have gone from television. It seems as if the only one I remember Days of our Lives is on Peacock and I resent having to pay to watch it, so I have stopped watching it.
I’m seeing this for the first time in February 2024. I forgot how many soaps used to be on the air. It’s sad that there are only a few now. I grew up seeing Days because my mom watched it. I remember also watching Another World. But when I started my adult life, I was all about Luke and Laura. I don’t remember how that came about because no one in my family watched GH. But I started watching it before the phenomenon of L & L. And then I couldn’t get enough of them. In fact I bought my first VCR so I wouldn’t miss an episode (while at work). It’s a good thing I didn’t have any kids yet. That VCR cost me a little over $400. And it was Top loading too. I got my moneys worth though. When they got married, I kept that VHS tape for years just so I could watch it again whenever I wanted to. But unlike DVDs, the tape wore out and got stuck in the VCR where it pulled the tape itself out of the case/box. I had 2 kids by then. I had pretty much stopped watching soaps by then because when Genie Francis left GH, I wasn’t interested in watching Luke without his Angel. I’ve watched it from time to time over the years. Until it broke my heart to see them get divorced. I don’t think any fan can be so invested in the L & L love story and not be affected by their divorce. However, I stopped watching it completely when Luke and Tracy became a couple. There’s no way the Luke I came “to know” could have ever fallen in love with Tracy. I love Jane Elliot, she’s one of the best actresses in daytime. Just not married to Luke. Yes I know…it’s not real. But I didn’t buy one of the first VCRs because they made a great couple 😂.
This is so odd but barely a mention of Susan Lucci and the iconic Erica Kane. This was poorly done Like her or hate her Erica Kane and Susan Lucci were the soaps biggest star. Really a big error not to include La Lucci.
Wow! This is so 180% from what Tony Warren (RIP) had to do to bring Coronation Street to TV on December 9th 1960. It is the Longest Running Soap in UK History. It was inspired by The Novel "Saturday Night & Sunday Morning" If you can check out the Very First Episode. It looks like something out of Playhouse90. Their Soaps are more Blue Collar than US. I think that's why Mal Young (The Young & The Restless) had such a hard time. He's a Legend with Eastenders (1985-Present) but tanked as did Daran Little who besides writing for Coronation Street wrote For All My Children and now works on Eastenders.
1:02:20 loved the blooper reel of Drake Hogestyn (John from Days Of Our Lives) taking a tumble. And like the leather jacket that Hogestyn's character John is wearing too.
Tracy Rademaker They really should have included “The Edge of Night” here was a soap that was much different than the other soaps. It’s sad that ABC didn’t even mention EON on their 50th anniversary in 2003. It did run almost 10 years on the network!
@@a.b.sproductionsllc ABC didn’t promote EON enough to sustain its tenure….and stood by and watched major city affiliates preempt or not even CARRY the show
Love Lisa's (Eileen Fulton) remark at about 39:00 that she wouldn't go to Joyce's (Barbara Rodell) and Grant's (James Douglas) wedding "even if you were giving away Robert Redford as a door prize".
If Erika Slezak could have she would have been brilliant on the UK Soap Opera Eastenders as Janine Butcher's American Cousin. Janine played brilliantly by Charli Brooks on and off beginning in the 1980's was so narcistic that if she dealt with "Viki" she would have scared the you know what out of her.
