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There are so many soaps that aired over the decades that it would become a rather large list. It would also be quite subjective, since everyone has favorites but not everyone has the same favorites.
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I’m going to throw in my two cents, from the perspective of an outsider looking in. As I mentioned on here before, US daytime soaps only aired sporadically in Ireland and the UK, so a lot of my knowledge of them came from what I’d read or heard elsewhere before they gradually became more accessible via the internet. So my opinions of who was a “big name” as such, often came from the star’s profiles and reputations or later fandom around their characters. There’s some that probably deserve a mention but have been forgotten in the mists of time (Mary Stuart for her run on Search for Tomorrow)
Soap queens: Erica Kane, Marlena Evans
Supercouples: Luke & Laura, Cruz & Eden
Families: The Forresters (for remaining at the centre of B&B since it’s inception), The Spauldings
Grande Dames: Katharine Chancellor, Beverlee McKinsey’s Alexandra Spaulding
Soap queens: Erica Kane, Marlena Evans
Supercouples: Luke & Laura, Cruz & Eden
Families: The Forresters (for remaining at the centre of B&B since it’s inception), The Spauldings
Grande Dames: Katharine Chancellor, Beverlee McKinsey’s Alexandra Spaulding
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First, I think we should settle on a list of the US daytime soaps worthy of note. I focus mainly on those that lasted at least five years, but a few with shorter runs that deserve mention. If I forgot someone, please remind me. Obviously not all of these were crazy-popular, so there will be greater attention paid to some than others, and the older shows likely will suffer since fewer of us have seen them.
All My Children
Another World
As The World Turns
The Bold and the Beautiful
Capitol
The City (about 1.5 yrs.)
Dark Shadows
Days of Our Lives
The Doctors
The Edge of Night
General Hospital
Guiding Light
Loving
Love of Life
One Life To Live
Passions
Port Charles
Ryan's Hope
Santa Barbara
Search for Tomorrow
The Secret Storm
Somerset
Sunset Beach
Texas (2 yrs.)
The Young and the Restless
All My Children
Another World
As The World Turns
The Bold and the Beautiful
Capitol
The City (about 1.5 yrs.)
Dark Shadows
Days of Our Lives
The Doctors
The Edge of Night
General Hospital
Guiding Light
Loving
Love of Life
One Life To Live
Passions
Port Charles
Ryan's Hope
Santa Barbara
Search for Tomorrow
The Secret Storm
Somerset
Sunset Beach
Texas (2 yrs.)
The Young and the Restless
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I'm pretty sure that Sally Spectra was the most entertaining character in US daytime soap. It's also a great name, isn't it?
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I had her on my grande dames list but took her off for some reason. She’s definitely one of the most colourful and is the only soap character to have a waxwork in Tussauds in Vegas & Amsterdam, so she definitely has icon status.
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AMC:
Obviously most regard it as "That show with Erica Kane". It was a lot more than that, obviously, but she falls into the Top Character category and was part of some of the Top Couples, what with her multiple marriages. Other notable characters include Adam Chandler, Tad Martin, Joe Martin, Kendall Hart, Phoebe Wallingford, Brooke English, Angie Hubbard and Dixie Cooney. Popular couples include Erica/Jackson, Erica/Travis, but also Jenny/Greg, Brooke/Adam, Jesse/Angie, Tad/Dixie, Leo/Greenlee, and Stuart/Marian. Some of their core families are the Martins (probably their "top" core family), the Cortlandts, the Montgomerys, and the Tylers.
(I didn't watch this show regularly, so I'm sure I missed some other popular names...feel free to add on.)
AW:
This was "my" soap, my all-time favorite so I might have to stop myself from writing a list thirty feet long.
Notable characters include Rachel Davis Cory, Iris Carrington, Felicia Gallant, Vicky Hudson, Donna Love, Liz Matthews, Alice Frame, Mackenzie "Mac" Cory, Russ Matthews, Jake McKinnon, Steve Frame, Jamie Frame, Carl Hutchins, and Cass Winthrop. Popular couples include Mac/Rachel, Alice/Steve, Jake/Paulina, Donna/Michael, Vicky/Ryan, Sally/Catlin, Cass/Kathleen, and Sam/Amanda. Their prominent core families include the Matthews family, the Corys, the Hudsons, the Loves, the Frames, and McKinnons.
ATWT:
Notable characters on this show include Bob Hughes, Tom Hughes, John Dixon, Holden Snyder, James Stenbeck, Kim Hughes, Barbara Ryan, Lisa Hughes Grimaldi, Lily Snyder, Lucinda Walsh, Carly Tenney, and Margo Hughes. Popular couples include Kim/Bob, Holden/Lily, Margo/Tom, Carly/Jack, Luke/Noah, and Steve/Betsy. The Hughes family reigned supreme on this show from Day One, though there were also the Snyders, the Montgomerys, the Stewarts, and Grimaldis.
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I guess there are really no wrong answers for these questions, as it all pretty much comes down to preference and which shows we were a fan of more than others.
For me, it all starts with the families. The Abbotts and Newmans (Y&R), the Forresters, Logans and Spencers (B&B), the Lewis’s and the Shaynes (GL) were all among my favorite daytime families.
My favorite characters would include Victor Newman, Jack Abbott, Caroline Spencer Forrester, Ridge Forrester, Roger Thorpe, Erica Kane and Reva Shayne.
For couples, and this is the toughest one, among my favorites back then were Lauren & Paul (Y&R), Taylor & Ridge (B&B), Reva & Kyle (GL), Mindy & Roger (GL), Eric & Stephanie (B&B), Tracy & Brad (Y&R), and Nikki & Victor (Y&R).
I feel like I’m leaving out so many more that I’d like to mention on all three topics but I’m sure as this thread moves on I’ll keep thinking of more.
For me, it all starts with the families. The Abbotts and Newmans (Y&R), the Forresters, Logans and Spencers (B&B), the Lewis’s and the Shaynes (GL) were all among my favorite daytime families.
My favorite characters would include Victor Newman, Jack Abbott, Caroline Spencer Forrester, Ridge Forrester, Roger Thorpe, Erica Kane and Reva Shayne.
For couples, and this is the toughest one, among my favorites back then were Lauren & Paul (Y&R), Taylor & Ridge (B&B), Reva & Kyle (GL), Mindy & Roger (GL), Eric & Stephanie (B&B), Tracy & Brad (Y&R), and Nikki & Victor (Y&R).
I feel like I’m leaving out so many more that I’d like to mention on all three topics but I’m sure as this thread moves on I’ll keep thinking of more.
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For me, the most underrated actress on daytime back then. She was quite the show stealer. There was no bigger event than a Sally Spectra-Stephanie Forrester scene. It always meant something when their paths intersected, and the show was very smart to keep them apart sometimes for months at a time without any interaction. It made their feud mean so much more.
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B&B:
Some of the major characters I recall are Eric Forrester, Thorne Forrester, Ridge Forrester, Bill Spencer, Jr., Stephanie Forrester, Brooke Logan, Taylor Hayes, Sally Spectra, and Macy Alexander. I'm sure @Emelee has other favorites, but I admit I haven't watched B&B closely over the years. Some of the most prominent couples are of course Brooke/Ridge and Ridge/Taylor, Thorne/Macy, Stephanie/Eric, and (heheh) Eric/Sheila. The Forresters and Logans have always been the central, core families.
Capitol:
The show only lasted ~5years, so the key characters mostly remained throughout its run: Sam Clegg, Trey Clegg, Tyler McCandless, Mark Denning, Sloane Denning, Myrna Clegg, Clarissa McCandless, and Julie Clegg. Their main couple initially was Julie/Tyler, but we also had Sam/Myrna, Brenda/Wally, Clarissa/Mark, and Sloane/Trey. The three core families were the Cleggs, McCandlesses, and Dennings.
The City:
It was a spin-off of Loving, so it was mix of characters that relocated from the old show, and some newly-created characters just for this show. Sydney Chase was the central character at first, but since it only lasted a year and a half, there were no real breakout characters and even Sydney left at one point. The characters were mostly unrelated to one another, so there were no "core families," and I cannot recall a single "popular couple" to come out of this series. They had borrowed characters and couples from other soaps---not just Loving, but from AMC (Angie Hubbard) and GH (Tracy Quartermaine).
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Oh yes, The City actually aired in Sweden as I'm sure @Emelee and @Karin Schill remembers. However, is Sydney Chase a memorable character or is just Morgan Fairchild a memorable actress?
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I watched some of The City. I remember Sydney, Roscoe Born's character, Laura Wright's character, Tony, Angie, Tess, Danny & Jocelyn.
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Well... this thread isn't about favourites. Just who each member here think are legendary soap characters, couples & families.
I don't have any "correct" answer. And I will not tally up who gets most votes. Nothing like that. It's just giving opinions and discussing the legends of US daytime soaps.
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I think Sydney left like a year in and then died in an off-screen elevator "accident" (which was murder) lol. What a horrible show beneath Morgan!
I am guessing Morgan Fairchild was on this. I have never watched this show so I wouldn't know.
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Yeah. I think when it was known that Morgan was leaving, they phased Tracy Quatermaine in to take over from Sydney, with the two characters sharing the screen briefly. It had such a short run, I don’t think The City generated any legendary characters (IMO). There were good actors on the show but no characters that would necessarily be regarded as legendary today (not including already established characters from GH or AMC)
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DS:
To say it was unique among the soaps listed is an understatement. Its lead character in the early years was Victoria Winters, though other notable characters included Barnabas Collins, Dr. Julia Hoffman, Quentin Collins and Angelique Bouchard. The series featured time travel plotlines where actors played the ancestors of their present-day characters, so one actor might have played five or more different characters over the course of the series. The Collins family was the only core family, as the mansion was called Collinwood and the town, Collinsport. Prominent couples across all time periods included Barnabas/Josette, Barnabas/Julia, Maggie/Joe, Quentin/Beth, and Carolyn/Chris, though romance was not as important to the series overall.
DOOL:
Prominent characters include Tom Horton, Roman Brady, Mickey Horton, Stefano DiMera, Steve "Patch" Johnson, John Black, Victor Kiriakis, Alice Horton, Maggie Horton, Marlena Evans, Kristen Blake, Kayla Brady, Kim Donovan, Jennifer Devereaux, and Laura Horton. Days specialized in 'supercouples' for decades, with such couples as Roman/Marlena, Kim/Shane, Bo/Hope, Patch/Kayla, Jack/Jennifer, and Justin/Adrienne. There were also the early favorites like Tom/Alice, Mickey/Maggie, and Marlena/Don. Core families included the Hortons, the Bradys, the DiMeras, the Kiriakis family, and the Johnsons.
The Doctors:
Prominent characters included Dr. Matt Powers, Dr. Nick Bellini, Dr. Steve Aldrich, Toni Ferra, Carolee Simpson, Nola Dancy, Penny Davis, and Dr. Althea Davis. Popular couples included Nick/Althea, Toni/Mike, Maggie/Matt, and Jason/Nola. Two other "prominent couples" worthy of mention were husband/wife teams who wrote the show at certain points: Richard and Esther Shapiro; and Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock. Both couples also later wrote for Dynasty. Since The Doctors was much more focused on the workplace than home life, it did not have any prominent families that I can recall other than the Aldriches.
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