We all know that soaps have been dying a slow, painful, agonizing death for a long time now. But I was recently forced to face the fact that the golden era of soaps is truly over and will never return.
It has been announced that The Young and the Restless is resurrecting one of its most dastardly villains 20 years after he died onscreen by being crushed to death in a trash compactor: David Kimble.
Apparently, they want us to believe that David only suffered an amputation of his genitalia in that trash compactor, and that he was forced to undergo "gender reassignment surgery" as the soap magazines are putting it (read: a sex change operation). David will be returning to Genoa City (where Y&R is set) for May sweeps...as a chick! Played by a woman! And Victor Newman is sending Mary Jane (is that what the writers were smoking when they came up with this story?) Harper, as David Kimble, is now known, after Jack Abbott. Professionally at first, but as sick and twisted as soaps are nowadays, Jack will probably sleep with Mary Jane and THEN find out she used to be David Kimble.
Learning this saddened me, because the one soap I thought would never stoop to Passions and modern-day Days of Our Lives-type storytelling (and I use that term in the loosest possible sense) was Y&R. But that's all out the window now, or will be as soon Mary Jane Harper/David Kimble hits the scene in May.
I, or someone in my family, have followed all of the long-running, remaining daytime soaps on the air at one time or another. I've mentioned before the effect that growing up on As the World Turns had on me, and my admiration of the late, still-lamented brilliant headwriter of ATWT Douglas Marland. But I watched Guiding Light for a while before it became, depending on which rumors you believe, a cocaine-induced train wreck or, at the very least, an insult to fans everywhere because they abandoned all their sets and have been filming year-round outside in Peapack, New Jersey. Once upon a time, it was great too. And so was All My Children. And Y&R. And Days, which managed to make every couple a supercouple in the '80s. And General Hospital, before it became an incredibly awful ripoff of The Sopranos that my brother Adam refuses to watch anymore, because not even Kelly Monaco's beauty and boobage are worth sitting through the hideous dreck that passes for stories on there. And One Life to Live, admittedly the only show that no one in my family has ever followed.
So I got an idea last week, but it involved me reaching out to people I literally don't know: people who, like me, post soap clips at YouTube, but that post clips of ATWT and GL and AMC and GH and Y&R and Days and One Life to Live. So I sent messages to about 20 people who are, or I should say were, strangers to me at YouTube, explaining my idea and asking if I could use some of their clips.
Until all of you, I never would have had the guts to do that.
Of the 20 people I sent messages to, 12 of them got back to me within 48 hours, and every single one of them said yes, I could use anything from their channel that I wanted. I was floored that no one turned me down!
But I was also grateful, because it gave me the chance to make a video about the last great golden era of daytime drama: the '80s and '90s (and okay, if we're being technical, the clip of Days' Tom and Alice Horton is from the '70s).
With all of the turmoil surrounding my on-again/off-again employment, it's been several weeks since I made a video. And while making AW videos is my favorite thing to do, I'm still gathering scenes for all the videos I have planned, so I have titles, and a few intros, on storyboards, but I'm nowhere near ready to finish anything I have in the works regarding AW.
I hadn't realized how much I missed videomaking until I started working on this one. The creative high I got from it, that feeling that things are coming together, the fun of editing it together, matching scenes to lyrics as closely as possible, just the entire process...I was bouncing around like Tigger, and it felt great.
I was nervous and anxious and excited, and hopeful that my tribute to daytime dramas in the '80s and '90s, while far from comprehensive, would still evoke the spirit of those times. And since the comments and ratings I've received so far have all been favorable (one person wrote through YouTube and said that my video made them teary and brought back a ton of good memories!), that makes me even happier than I already was.
AW is not included in this video. It's just the long-running true classics that are still on the air (for however long they have left). So I'm sharing this with all of you now, and I hope that you enjoy it if you watch. There are a few familiar faces in here from before they came to Bay City, although for two of them you'll have to look very closely. I wanted to use scenes that haven't appeared in a thousand other videos at YouTube, but that still contained memorable moments and iconic characters, and I only indulged myself twice, really, once in the GL section (by including a clip of the wedding of my favorite couple on GL), and once in the ATWT section (by including one of the couples from there that I liked the most, although both characters are/were fan favorites and definite icons not only at ATWT but also in daytime). A listing of the who's in the clips and which shows they're from in order appears in the spoiler space if you're wondering who's who (and actors who have appeared on AW, or have a connection to AW somehow are listed by both their character's name and their real name).
This video was a team effort and could not have been made without the generosity of all the clipmakers and posters at YouTube who were enthusiastic about the idea when I presented it to them. As always, if you watch, I hope you enjoy.
Amy
A Tribute to Daytime Drama in the 1980s and 1990s
The last great golden era of daytime drama was in the 1980s and 1990s. It was a time when the soaps were populated with compelling stories brought to life by a multitude of talented writers, actors, producers, and directors. It was a time that most fans today would give anything to go back to.
Another World will always be my greatest and truest daytime love. But with the help of MonicaQuartermaine, MmeHazel, lovegymnasts, alanmonicaforever, donna515, hamiltonbernique, kriskross21, Jenniferkate on behalf of Forever Young, a site which is devoted to Guiding Light's Four Musketeers and Lujack, ivyfishbone on behalf of the late, much beloved gatekeeper of Guiding Light classicGL, absolutfushia, SimplyLumi, soaper410, and yrbbfanatic, I put together this video as a tribute to that time when "tune in tomorrow" were the three most highly anticipated words; when classes and lives were scheduled around these shows; when the payoffs were worth the angst our favorite characters, and we on behalf of our favorite characters, suffered. It is by no means comprehensive, but I hope that you all enjoy this small sampling of the best of daytime drama in the 1980s and 1990s.
Who's who and what's what in the video:
Spoiler:
AS THE WORLD TURNS:
--Barbara Ryan (Colleen Zenk Pinter) is greeted by her back-from-the-dead ex-husband James Stenbeck the first time he returns from the dead, circa 1986
--Lucinda Walsh and John Dixon celebrate their first anniversary in the hot tub, 1988
--Bob and Kim Hughes renew their wedding vows as Bob's mother Nancy Hughes, and his son and daughter-in-law Tom and wife Margo Hughes, look on; the camera then pans over to Bob and Kim's children, clockwise from left, Sabrina Hughes, son-in-law Daryl Crawford, daughter Frannie Hughes Crawford, and youngest son Christopher Hughes, who cracks up his big sisters and brother-in-law when he looks up at Frannie to ask, "Are Mommy and Daddy married now?", 1991
ALL MY CHILDREN:
--Jenny Gardner Nelson and her husband Greg Nelson (Laurence Lau) discuss starting a family, 1984
--Erica Kane punches Adam Chandler (David Canary) in the nose with her closed fist after he sabotages her romantic evening with Jackson Montgomery (not shown because he already left angry), 1991
--Joe and Ruth Martin talking with Phoebe Tyler Wallingford in the 20th anniversary episode of AMC, 1990
--Tad Martin and Dixie Cooney at the altar at their first wedding, 1989
GENERAL HOSPITAL:
--Edward and Lila Quartermaine talk to Ruby Kelly at her restuarant, late 1980s
--Anna Devane and Duke Lavery's first dance together on the night they met at the Port Charles' Policemen's Ball, 1986
--Dr. Monica Quartermaine faces off with her boss Dr. Steve Hardy, 1988
--Groomsman Duke Lavery (left) and best man Robert Scorpio (right) can't control their laughter at the wedding of Sean Donely and Tiffany Hill, and neither can the groom Sean, after the minister announces that Tiffany's real name is Elsie Mae Crumholtz, making Tiffany one angry bride, 1988
--Alan and Monica Quartermaine whale on each other with red rubber bats during a marriage counseling session, mid 1980s
GUIDING LIGHT:
--The Four Musketeers, Beth Raines (Judi Evans, holding the puppy), Phillip Spaulding (blond hair), Rick Bauer (dark hair), and Mindy Lewis (fur coat) reunite in New York City after Rick and Mindy tracked down the on-the-run Beth and Phillip, 1983
--Lujack (nickname for Brandon Luvanaczek) tries to reassure his mother Alexandra Spaulding (Beverlee McKinsey) after telling her he wants to go after the men who kidnapped his girlfriend Beth Raines, and Alex pleads with him to let the police handle it, 1985
--Lucy Cooper and Alan-Michael Spaulding are pronounced husband and wife and share their first married kiss to the accompaniment of a fireworks display, 1995
--Roger Thorpe threatens to kill his ex-wife Holly Lindsey after taking her hostage in Santo Domingo, 1980
ONE LIFE TO LIVE:
--Clint Buchanan breaks the news to his father Asa that Asa's going to be a grandfather because Clint and his wife Viki are having a baby, 1986
--Dorian Lord and Viki Buchanan square off at Viki's mansion, late 1980s
DAYS OF OUR LIVES:
--Jack Deveraux kidnaps Jennifer Horton from her never-should-have-gotten-that-far-in-the-first-place wedding to Emilio Ramirez and whisks her away on a fire truck, 1989
--Steve "Patch" and Kayla Johnson in the delivery room moments after the birth of their baby daughter Stephanie Kay, 1989
--Tom and Alice Horton at home, circa 1970s
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS:
--Jack Abbott learns that his father John has reconciled with Jill Foster, which does not please Jack, who thinks Jill is bad news, 1992
--Jill Foster and Katherine Chancellor attack each other first verbally and then physically in the vestibule of the church before the wedding of Jill's son, Katherine's grandson, Phillip Chancellor, III, to Nina Webster, 1989
--Traci Abbott Carleton breaks the news to her father John that he is about to become a first time grandfather because she and her husband Brad Carleton are expecting a baby, 1988
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