Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

>1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin was shocked to see Laura.
1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope on Days of our Lives.
2009: Guiding Light's Olivia poured her heart out at Gus's grave.
2011: ABC canceled All My Children and One Life to Live.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent 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...

1939: On Backstage Wife, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

>1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin was shocked to see Laura.
1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope on Days of our Lives.
2009: Guiding Light's Olivia poured her heart out at Gus's grave.
2011: ABC canceled All My Children and One Life to Live.

"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"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...

1939: On Backstage Wife, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin was shocked to see Laura.
1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope on Days of our Lives.
2009: Guiding Light's Olivia poured her heart out at Gus's grave.
2011: ABC canceled All My Children and One Life to Live.

"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"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...

1939: On Backstage Wife, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin was shocked to see Laura.
1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope on Days of our Lives.
2009: Guiding Light's Olivia poured her heart out at Gus's grave.
2011: ABC canceled All My Children and One Life to Live.

"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause."
― Henri Louis Bergson

"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...

1939: On Backstage Wife, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin was shocked to see Laura.
1983: Kristian Alfonso debuted as Hope on Days of our Lives.
2009: Guiding Light's Olivia poured her heart out at Gus's grave.
2011: ABC canceled All My Children and One Life to Live.

"Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature."
― David Hume

"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...

1939: On Backstage Wife, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

1969: DS' Quentin was shocked to see Laura. 1983: Kristian
Alfonso debuted as Hope. 2009: GL's Olivia poured her heart
out at Gus's grave. 2011: ABC canceled AMC & OLTL.

"There is no present or future, only the past happening over and over again - now."
- Eugene O'Neill

"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...

1939: On BACKSTAGE WIFE, Mary went to a portrait sitting at Ken Page's studio. Ken's sister Sandra arrived while Mary was in the dressing room very upset with Ken because he did not want her to see Mary's friend, Peter Dillon. At the theater, Larry talked with Katharine Monroe and told her that Mary had made many sacrifices for his career. An explosion was heard from one of Page's tenements.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

On this date in...

1955: On HAWKINS FALLS, Millie visited Gary in the hospital and returned his wallet. Although Gary wanted to get to know Millie better, Millie was reluctant to begin a relationship with him. Meanwhile, Lona suspected that something was wrong with her husband's health and attempted to get him to go to bed early. Mr. Kratz talked to Dr. Corey (Maurice Copeland) about making adjustments in life.

1958: CBS daytime soap opera LOVE OF LIFE expanded from 15 to 30 minutes after seven years on the air.

RESULTS: Primetime Soap of the Week Poll (April 15-21, 2012); REVENGE No. 1

The results are in from the We Love Soaps Primetime Soap of the Week poll for April 15-21, 2012. REVENGE returned and finished in the top spot followed by RINGER.  See the complete list below.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jason Dohring Talks 'Searching For Sonny'

Actor Jason Dohring has built a passionate fanbase with roles on VERONICA MARS, MOONLIGHT and RINGER. Dohring now leads an all-star cast in the new indie film, Searching for Sonny, which has been playing on the festival circuit the past several months. On Friday night, Sonny was a smash success when it was shown at The 12th Annual FirstGlance Film Festival, an event that has become the darling of the independent film movement, at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. We Love Soaps spoke with Dohring this weekend about his comedic role in the film, working with a cast that includes FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS' Minka Kelly and HEROES' Masi Oki, and what he would like to do in the future.

Tuesday Night Ratings: RINGER Up, New Lows For GLEE, PRIVATE PRACTICE

The Tuesday night Nielsen ratings are in. Below is a roundup of April 17 ratings reports we have so far.

From ABC:
In the 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC's PRIVATE PRACTICE opened at No. 1 on its new day among Adults 18-49 (1.7/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.3/6). In fact, ABC led the hour for the 3rd week in a row with key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54) and won for the 4th consecutive week with key Women (W18-49/W25-54).

PREVIEW: RINGER Season Finale Tuesday on The CW

The season finale of RINGER may be the series final epsiode unless The CW picks up the show. In "I’m the Good Twin," as the vow renewal nears, Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) realizes she first needs to tell Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) the truth about who she really is.

Meanwhile, just as Bodaway Macawi (guest star Zahn McClarnon) starts to close in on Bridget, Agent Machado (Nestor Carbonell) is forced off the case and Henry (Kristoffer Polaha) decides whether he should tell Bridget the truth about Siobhan.

RINGER airs Tuesday, April 17 at 9 p.m. ET. Watch a couple of sneak peek videos below:

Today in Soap Opera History (April 14)

On this date in...

1958: LOVE OF LIFE expanded to 30 minutes having previous been 15 minutes in length since it debuted on CBS in 1951.

1970: On ANOTHER WORLD, Steve (George Reinholt) woke up after brain surgery and asked Alice why she wasn't wearing her engagement ring. It would be revealed that Steve didn't remember anything that happened after the summer of 1969.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Dr. Wellman's suggested Draper (Kirk) undergo narcosynthesis (drug therapy + hypnosis) to help recall his past.

Tuesday Night Ratings: GLEE Hits Season Low, RINGER Up, BODY OF PROOF Wins Time Slot

The Tuesday night Nielsen ratings are coming in. Below is a roundup of April 9 ratings reports we have so far.

From Media Life:
At 8 p.m. CBS was first among broadcast networks with a 3.1 adults 18-49 ratings for NCIS, followed by Fox with a 2.7 for GLEE. Univision was fifth with a 1.5 for UNA FAMILIA CON SUERTE, Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN and CW seventh with a 0.3 for a repeat of 90210.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soaps 90210 & RINGER

The Year of the soap continues with an all-new episode of 90210, "The Heart Will Go On," on Tuesday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Dixon (Tristan Wilds) collapses while arguing in the recording studio with Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes). In the hospital, they run into Liam (Matt Lanter) who is with Silver (Jessica Stroup) to support her during a test to detect if she has the breast cancer gene.

Ivy (Gillian Zinser) finds out Raj (guest star Manish Dayal) still has cancer and is in the hospital, while Annie meets a new guy Caleb (guest star Robert Hoffman) and discovers he is a priest.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soaps 90210 & RINGER

The Year of the soap continues with an all-new episode of 90210, "Blood Is Thicker Than Mud," on Tuesday, March 13 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) is convinced that Annie's (Shenae Grimes) new business partner P.J. (guest star Nick Zano) is the perfect man for her, but discovers her sister Jen (guest star Sara Foster) is also interested in him.

Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) and Dixon (Tristan Wilds) land a spot in a music festival, where Train performs and a record executive (guest star La Toya Jackson) offers Dixon a recording contract.

Adrianna tells Liam (Matt Lanter) her suspicions that Vanessa (guest star Arielle Kebbel) staged the near drowning incident.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soaps 90210 & RINGER

The Year of the soap continues with an all-new episode of 90210, "Babes in Toyland," on Tuesday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Naomi's (AnnaLynne McCord) sister Jen (guest star Sara Foster) arrives with her son for a surprise visit.

Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes) and Dixon (Tristan Wilds) land a meeting with a major movie producer to discuss music on his next film, but are sabotaged by Vanessa (guest star Arielle Kebbel).

Meanwhile, Silver (Jessica Stroup) gets accepted into New York University and Ivy (Gillian Zinser) attracts attention in the underground scene when she switches to a less conventional style of art.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soap RINGER ("It's Easy To Cry, When This Much Cash Is Involved")

The Year of the soap continues on Tuesday, February 14 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW with a repeat of HART OF DIXIE ("Sweetie Pies & Sweaty Palms") followed by an all new episode of RINGER at 9 p.m.

In "It's Easy To Cry, When This Much Cash Is Involved," Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) visits some of the last locations Siobhan went before she disappeared and discovers that Siobhan kept a secret office. Olivia (guest star Jamie Murray) finds out some information about Henry (Kristoffer Polaha) and blackmails him into introducing her to Gemma's (Tara Summers) wealthy father Tim Arbogast (guest star Gregory Harrison).

Meanwhile, in Paris, Tyler (guest star Justin Bruening) struggles with a moral decision that could affect Siobhan and Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd).

Tuesday Night Ratings: THE RIVER Has Solid Premiere

Below is a look at the Tuesday primetime television ratings:

From ABC:
In viewers (7.5 million) and young adults (2.4/6), ABC's debut of THE RIVER opened to 11-week highs in the 2-hour time period (9:00-11:00 p.m.), producing the Net's best results since the season finale of DANCING WITH THE STARS (on 11/22/11). In addition, the program scored the Net's 2nd-highest numbers in the time period this season across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

* Holding 100% of its audience share from start to finish, the new ABC drama ranked No. 1 during its final hour from 10:00-11:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49, beating out NBC's PARENTHOOD by 38% (2.2/6 vs. 1.6/4).

* THE RIVER generated enormous year-to-year time period improvement for ABC over original drama programming on the year-ago night ("V"/DETROIT 1-8-7 = 5.5 million and 1.5/4), jumping by 36% in Total Viewers and by 60% in Adults 18-49.

Other Soap Ratings:
PARENTHOOD attracted 4.64 million viewers, with a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating.

The CW's 90210 was watched by 1.36 million viewers, with a 0.7 adults 18-49 rating, 1.1 women 18-34 rating.

RINGER had 1.15 million viewers, with a 0.5 adults 18-49 rating, 0.7 women 18-34 rating.

GLEE was down over 25% compared to last year. The show had 7.72 million viewers, with an adults 18-49 rating of 3.2.

The 200th episode of NCIS delivered a season-high 20.98 million viewers and ranked as Tuesday's #1 program in both viewers and key demographics, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soaps 90210 & RINGER

The Year of the soap continues with an all-new episode of 90210, "No Good Deed," on Tuesday, February 7 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

In an effort to put her inheritance to good use, Annie volunteers to organize a big charity fundraiser. When Naomi takes drastic measures to land her first event-planning client, her big plan back-fires.

Meanwhile, Silver realizes she still has feelings for Navid, and Vanessa (guest star Arielle Kebbel) vows to make Liam a huge star after his agent drops him.

PREVIEW: CW Tuesday Night Soaps 90210 & RINGER

The Year of the soap continues with an all-new episode of 90210, "Truth, Trust and Traffic," on Tuesday, January 31 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Annie has to make a decision that could expose her work as an escort when Dixon gets arrested in connection with a fire at a sorority house.

Adrianna and Silver attempt to put their past behind them, which results in disaster for Silver’s relationship with Greg (guest star Niall Matter).

Vanessa (guest star Arielle Kebbel) helps throw a party to re-launch Liam’s bar, where the All-American Rejects perform.