Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

1980: Douglass Watson & Judith Light won Daytime Emmys.
1984: Elizabeth Taylor surprised Carol Burnett on All My Children.
1984: Days' Bo & Hope reunited after he kidnapped her.
1997: OLTL's Dorian was not pleased with Todd's parrot.

"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...

1940: On radio soap opera Young Widder Brown, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) began to experience the dream curse, but woke herself up to keep from having it. Later, Carolyn had the dream in which she saw a tombstone with her name ("Carolyn Collins Stoddard") and the following dates, Born: December 8, 1948, Died: July 15, 1968.

1973: On The Doctors, Dr. Matt Powers (James Pritchett) informed Mona Aldrich (Meg Mundy) that she needed to take more tests to find out what was wrong with her.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

1980: Douglass Watson & Judith Light won Daytime Emmys.
1984: Elizabeth Taylor surprised Carol Burnett on All My Children.
1984: Days' Bo & Hope reunited after he kidnapped her.
1997: OLTL's Dorian was not pleased with Todd's parrot.

"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...

1940: On radio soap opera Young Widder Brown, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) began to experience the dream curse, but woke herself up to keep from having it. Later, Carolyn had the dream in which she saw a tombstone with her name ("Carolyn Collins Stoddard") and the following dates, Born: December 8, 1948, Died: July 15, 1968.

1973: On The Doctors, Dr. Matt Powers (James Pritchett) informed Mona Aldrich (Meg Mundy) that she needed to take more tests to find out what was wrong with her.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

1980: Douglass Watson and Judith Light won at the Daytime
Emmys. 1984: Elizabeth Taylor surprised Carol Burnett on
All My Children.  1984: Days of our Lives' Bo and Hope
reunited after he kidnapped her from her wedding to Larry.
1997: One Life to Live's Dorian was not pleased with Todd's
parrot.

"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...

1940: On radio soap opera Young Widder Brown, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) began to experience the dream curse, but woke herself up to keep from having it. Later, Carolyn had the dream in which she saw a tombstone with her name ("Carolyn Collins Stoddard") and the following dates, Born: December 8, 1948, Died: July 15, 1968.

1971: On The Doctors, Dr. Karen Werner (Laryssa Lauret) and Dr Steve Aldrich (David O'Brien) stood watch waiting for news about their hospitalized baby.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

1980: Douglass Watson and Judith Light won at the Daytime
Emmys. 1984: Elizabeth Taylor surprised Carol Burnett on
All My Children.  1984: Days of our Lives' Bo and Hope
reunited after he kidnapped her from her wedding to Larry.
1997: One Life to Live's Dorian was not pleased with Todd's
parrot.

"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...

1940: On radio soap opera Young Widder Brown, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) began to experience the dream curse, but woke herself up to keep from having it. Later, Carolyn had the dream in which she saw a tombstone with her name ("Carolyn Collins Stoddard") and the following dates, Born: December 8, 1948, Died: July 15, 1968.

1979: On Another World, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) freaked out when Brooks told her Mac (Douglass Watson) took Amanda. Later, Rachel arrived at the Cory mansion with the police but Mac wouldn't let them in without a search warrant.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

1980: Douglass Watson and Judith Light won at the Daytime
Emmys. 1984: Elizabeth Taylor surprised Carol Burnett on
All My Children.  1984: Days of our Lives' Bo and Hope
reunited after he kidnapped her from her wedding to Larry.
1997: One Life to Live's Dorian was not pleased with Todd's
parrot.

"The whole past is the procession of the present."
- Thomas Carlyle

"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...

1940: On radio soap opera Young Widder Brown, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On Dark Shadows, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) began to experience the dream curse, but woke herself up to keep from having it. Later, Carolyn had the dream in which she saw a tombstone with her name ("Carolyn Collins Stoddard") and the following dates, Born: December 8, 1948, Died: July 15, 1968.

1979: On Another World, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) freaked out when Brooks told her Mac (Douglass Watson) took Amanda. Later, Rachel arrived at the Cory mansion with the police but Mac wouldn't let them in without a search warrant.

Elizabeth Taylor

1980: At the 8th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, winners included Guiding Light (Drama Series), Douglass Watson, Judith Light, Warren Burton and Francesca James. Hugh McPhillips won for "Cameo Appearance," a short-lived category.

1984: Carol Burnett and Elizabeth Taylor guest-starred on All My Children. Taylor surprised Burnett during a scene with Eileen Herlie (Myrtle). She spoke about it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno shortly after Taylor passed away. "All of a sudden out of the blue, which was not in the script, there is somebody in the charwoman scrub-woman outfit," Burnett said. It was Taylor dressed as one of her characters from The Carol Burnett Show.

Thom Racina Visits @NELSON'S

This week's episode of @NELSON'S finds Nelson Aspen interviewing author and soap opera writer Thom Racina.  Racina famously invented the Ice Princess story on GENERAL HOSPITAL and also wrote for DAYS OF OUR LIVES, ANOTHER WORLD, GENERATIONS, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. He mostly recently served as head writer for the new ONE LIFE TO LIVE (the interview was shot just prior to him leaving OLTL).

Watch the fascinating interview below which includes stories about Elizabeth Taylor, Brad Pitt and much more.

Today in Soap Opera History (June 4)

On this date in...

Elizabeth Taylor

1940: On radio soap opera YOUNG WIDDER BROWN, Ellen (Florence Freeman) was romanced by Dr. Anthony Loring (Ned Weaver).

1968: On DARK SHADOWS, Ben Stokes (Thayer David) managed to insert himself in Carolyn's dream. 

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Carol (Jeanne Lange) promised Willis (John Fitzpatrick) she would cover any losses incurred if he hired her.

1980: At the 8th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, winners included Guiding Light (Drama Series), Douglass Watson, Judith Light, Warren Burton and Francesca James. Hugh McPhillips won for "Cameo Appearance," a short-lived category.

1984: Carol Burnett and Elizabeth Taylor guest starred on ALL MY CHILDREN.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Robin Strasser, Corbin Bleu & Thom Racina Plus Alex McCord & Colleen Zenk On WE LOVE SOAPS TV

Our web series WE LOVE SOAPS TV was on the red carpet at The OnLine Network's premiere event for ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Check out our interviews below with ONE LIFE TO LIVE stars Corbin Bleu and Robin Strasser, head writer Thom Racina, former cast member Alex McCord (REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK) and AS THE WORLD TURNS star Colleen Zenk who came out to support her daytime colleagues.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE Co-Head Writer Thom Racina Makes Video Message For Fans

New ONE LIFE TO LIVE co-head writer Thom Racina posted a video message for fans on his Facebook page on Wednesday night.

"All shows say they want to tell new bold innovative exciting stories," Racina says. "Well, I promise you we're gonna do it. It's a whole new format. It's a whole new world. And I'm really grateful to be here."

Watch the full message below:

Thom Racina: Start Watching ONE LIFE TO LIVE Come April!

ONE LIFE TO LIVE co-head writer Thom Racina has posted an update on his new gig on his Facebook page.

Well, I've arrived in Llanview, which is now situated in our studios in Stamford, CT, and I couldn't be happier. Not only are we on groundbreaking territory here with Prospect Park reinventing soaps for the Internet, but I'm looking forward to putting the results of my creative passion into story and the voices of characters once again.

I'm working, as most of you know, with my writing partner, Susie Horgan, with whom I've written 3 pilots over the last few years, and this is our dream come true because we met after our daytime careers were pretty much over (the shows were dying)...and now, suddenly, we are the co-head writers and we couldn't be more thrilled. What a blessing!

Thom Racina To Co-Head Write ONE LIFE TO LIVE

Thom Racina has joined the writing team of ONE LIFE TO LIVE as co-head writer along with head writer Susan Bedsow Horgan.

In his career Racina authored over 150 books and written 4,000 broadcast hours of television.

Racina's TV credits include writing for SEARCH FOR TOMORROW (1980), GENERAL HOSPITAL (1981-1984), DAYS OF OUR LIVES (1984-1986), ANOTHER WORLD (1986-1988), GENERATIONS (1988-1991) and SANTA BARBARA (1991-1992), besides writing for the much-acclaimed nighttime series, FAMILY (1978-1979). As a writer for the soaps, he received five Emmy nominations (for DAYS OF OUR LIVES and GENERAL HOSPITAL), one specifically for "Luke & Laura's Wedding on" GH- the single highest-rated episode in daytime history (30 million people tuned in). He also worked in Hamburg and Toronto writing FAMILY PASSIONS (1993-1994), a Canadian/German production.

Of his years writing for TV, he says on his web site, "It was a treadmill, but so much fun to play God."

RELATED:
- Thom Racina Interview Archive
- WE LOVE SOAPS TV 2.63 Thom Racina & Greg Turner

Talkin' with Thom Racina: The WLS Interview, Part Three

In Parts One and Two of Nelson Aspen's interview with the legendary soap writer and author Thom Racina, they discussed the politics behind the scenes at GENERAL HOSPITAL in the early 80s, why the FBI was called to the set, how Elizabeth Taylor changed the course of soap history, and so much more.  In this final part, Thom shares how he helped Brad Pitt jump-start his career, and saved Anne Heche from being fired. Plus which show did he write in his underwear? Find out below!

Nelson Aspen: You have a Brad Pitt soap opera connection.  How does Brad Pitt fit into the world of soaps?
Thom Racina: I put him on ANOTHER WORLD. 

Nelson Aspen: How did you know Brad Pitt?
Thom Racina: I put up a little sign at Screen Actor’s Guild that said, “Needed: an actor to be a personal assistant. To walk the dog when he needed it.  Drive the scripts to the studio...” This kid shows up.  He’s cute, he’s full of energy and says, “I’m an actor,” which of course they all are in L.A.  So I hired him.  We became very close.  He moved in with me, in the maid’s room.  He had his own life, and yet we became good buddies.  My parents loved him, they became the new family he had away from Missouri.  Anyway, I came home from DAYS early one day, just in the last few months.  I saw him doing this scene with this girl in my living room...

Talkin' with Thom Racina: The WLS Interview, Part Two

In Part One of our interview with the legendary head writer Thom Racina, he discussed how he came up with The Ice Princess story on GENERAL HOSPITAL, and shared his insights into the past and present state of daytime.  In Part Two, he reveals more about the daily life of a headwriter on a daytime soap, how his creation of Helena Cassadine shaped Luke and Laura's destiny for decades, and why the FBI was called to GH set!

Nelson Aspen: We met on ANOTHER WORLD.  Go ahead, shamelessly rattle off your resume.
Thom Racina: It was GENERAL HOSPITAL (1981-1984), then DAYS (1984-1986), then ANOTHER WORLD (1986-1988).  GENERATIONS came next (1989-1991), then SANTA BARBARA (1991-1993).  I did this awful show in Toronto called FAMILY PASSIONS (1993) that was SO bad they aired it at 3 am.  They should have packaged it as how not to do a soap opera.  It would have made a lot of money.