Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam.
2008: Passions' "Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.
2011: Hollyoaks' Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

1971: On Another World, Steve Frame (George Reinholt) cleared the air with Mary Matthews (Virginia Dwyer) by promising to spend his life making Alice happy.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam.
2008: Passions' "Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.
2011: Hollyoaks' Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

1971: On Another World, Steve Frame (George Reinholt) cleared the air with Mary Matthews (Virginia Dwyer) by promising to spend his life making Alice happy.

FLASHBACK: Live from New York...'Search for Tomorrow' (1983)

In the summer of 1983, somebody stole -- or misplaced -- the only two videotapes of the August 4th episode of NBC soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Some said the tapes were simply mislabeled, but lost forever among thousands of tapes at the West 81st Street studio. Others said a disgruntled employee stole them, or was it the scorned boyfriend of a cast member? Whatever happened, the show would have to go on at 12:30 p.m. ET, and would be played live for the first time in 14 years. There simply wasn't time to tape the episode again.

The soap opera's flamboyant, red-haired executive producer, Joanna Lee, vehemently denied any kind of publicity stunt.

"I have a reputation of 20 years, and that would be a tacky thing to do," she said. "Besides, this wouldn't be a show I would take ... I would take one totally terrific. There was one last week with a gorgeous moment between mother and daughter."

Privately, cast members didn't care what happened to the tapes -- they were thankful for the sudden attention by the mainstream press. "If it's a hoax, I think it's great," said one actor, who asked not to be quoted by name.

The dress rehearsal didn't go perfectly. The door in a motel room set stuck when an actor tried to enter. The show's youngest actor, 13-year-old Damion Scheller, held a magazine too high and obscured his face from the camera. Jennifer Gatti wasn't dramatic enough on her entrance line, said director Bob Schwarz as he spoke individually with actors after the rehearsal.

An hour before air time, reporters took places before TV sets away from the real scene of the action; actors got themselves together. Rod Arrants' wife phoned to say "I love you, and good luck." Director Schwarz's wife joined him in the control room.

At 12:30, the voice of veteran announcer Don Pardo rolled from the TV speaker: "Live from New York ... Search for Tomorrow."

There were some odd pauses as some lines were fluffed. A fly landed on an actor's cheek.

When it was over, cast members hugged each other, the crew and even some reporters.

The episode was recently uploaded to YouTube. Watch it below.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam.
2008: Passions' "Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.
2011: Hollyoaks' Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

1971: On Another World, Steve Frame (George Reinholt) cleared the air with Mary Matthews (Virginia Dwyer) by promising to spend his life making Alice happy.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam. 2008: Passions'
"Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.  2011: Hollyoaks'
Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."
― Michael Crichton

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

1971: On Another World, Steve (George Reinholt) cleared the air with Mary (Virginia Dwyer) by promising to spend his life making Alice happy.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam. 2008: Passions'
"Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.  2011: Hollyoaks'
Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"History never looks like history when you are living through it."
― John W. Gardner

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

1971: On Another World, Steve (George Reinholt) cleared the air with Mary (Virginia Dwyer) by promising to spend his life making Alice happy.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

1966: Days of our Lives' Susan was unhappy to be pregnant.
1994: All My Children's Brooke slapped Adam. 2008: Passions'
"Gertrude" was on Ethan's mind at his wedding.  2011: Hollyoaks'
Brendan confessed his love for Ste.

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."
- Alexis de Tocqueville

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Days of our Lives, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) confirmed to Susan (Denise Alexander) that she was pregnant. A distraught Susan told Tom she was going to give the baby up for adoption the day it was born.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 29)

On this date in...

1948: Writer James E. Reilly was born. He died on October 12, 2008, after an award-winning run writing for daytime soap operas GUIDING LIGHT, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, SUNSET BEACH, GENERAL HOSPITAL and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. He created PASSIONS in 1999 and served as head writer until the show went off the air in 2008.

1966: On DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Susan (Denise Alexander) told Julie (Charla Doherty) she was "scared stiff" about marrying David.

The Many Loves of... Cass Winthrop From ANOTHER WORLD

Some beloved characters just missed our 50 Greatest Soap Couples list.  Were critics and fans torn about who was really the love of someone's life, or the most interesting, or fun, or exciting, or relatable?  Whatever each person enjoyed most when watching a soap opera couple, there were years of memorable stories and couples that just missed our countdown. One of them was an ANOTHER WORLD favorite.  Below is a quick look at "The Many Loves of" Cass Winthrop, played for more than two decades by Stephen Schnetzer on three different soaps.

Who was the love of Cass's life?

THE CONTENDERS

Nelson's Soap Scrapbook #16 - SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 1985

Nelson Aspen dug into his scrapbooks for some memorabilia from his early showbiz career in Daytime TV and shares some of his personal photos exclusively with We Love Soaps. All photos are owned by Nelson. For more of his exploits, read "Hollywood Insider Exposed!"

We continue this series with a photo from SEARCH FOR TOMORROW circa 1985.


Lisa Peluso (Wendy), Michelle Joyner (Sarah), Mary Stuart (Jo), Terri Eoff (Suzi) and Marcia McCabe (Sunny).

Nelson's Soap Scrapbook #6 - SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 1986

Nelson Aspen dug into his scrapbooks for some memorabilia from his early showbiz career in Daytime TV and shares some of his personal photos exclusively with We Love Soaps. All photos are owned by Nelson. For more of his exploits, read "Hollywood Insider Exposed!"

We continue this series with a couple of photos from SEARCH FOR TOMORROW.

Nelson's Soap Scrapbook #3 - SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 1985

Nelson Aspen dug into his scrapbooks for some memorabilia from his early showbiz career in Daytime TV and shares some of his personal photos exclusively with We Love Soaps. All photos are owned by Nelson. For more of his exploits, read "Hollywood Insider Exposed!"

We continue this new series with a couple of fun photos from SEARCH FOR TOMORROW.


SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, 1985. Marcia McCabe and Lee Godart horsing around in between takes. "horsing"...stirrups...get it!?