With Days being renewed for two more years, that means on Monday January 30, 2023, Days will have had a longer run than Guiding Light on US network television.

As of today, the 10 longest running daytime dramas on US network television are General Hospital, Guiding Light, Days, As the World Turns, Y&R, One Life to Live, All My Children, Search for Tomorrow (both CBS years and NBC years), Another World, B&B.

Darlene Conley earned B&B's first Daytime Emmy nominations in the acting categories. Darlene was nominated for Supporting Actress 1991 and 1992 but the Supporting Actress races those years were tough competition.

@FrenchBug82 Angela and Stephanie both attempted to control the love lives of their children (and in Angela's case also that of her grandson), so that was a similarity. Bill Bell had wealthy matriarchs before Angela (Jennifer, Katherine, Vanessa; also Vanessa attempted to control the love lives of her sons) but none of them were as business-minded as Angela. 

@AlexGrimaldiI never thought of Victor and Nikki as being inspired by Charles and Diana. Then again Y&R did attempt to cash in on the Charles and Diana wedding hype with the London concert and ball in July 1981.

@FrenchBug82 Dina was clearly Alexis. Mother that abandons her husband and children to live a jet set life, remarries a wealthy man, becomes widowed, inherits late husband's business that rivals ex-husbands business. Even Dina's introduction as Madame Mergeron where she's dressed in a black suit with a matching hat and veil and then revealed to be Dina Abbott was a copy of Alexis introduction.

As for 1980s Jill, she was more Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing, single mother from a working class background that married up and became a businesswoman. The closest to Angela Channing that Bill Bell might have created was Stephanie, but by 1987 primetime soaps were past their peak. 

On 5/8/2021 at 6:58 AM, AbcNbc247 said:

Making my way through the 1991 episodes and for the most part I'm really enjoying them. 

 

Can't stand Blake though. He's the new Mick Savage. Hopefully he'll be gone soon. I don't really understand the Taylor/Blake relationship either. Why exactly did this stunningly beautiful young woman marry this creepy old guy? 

On 5/8/2021 at 7:04 AM, Marquise said:

i never liked Blake either! She was lonely i suppose, her mother died, her brother was gone. He sponsered her to staudy. At least that was what was revealed. I suppose she needed love and he was romancing her. But why did she dated him when he came back in 1991 - this is my question lol. At least he had some story at late 1991-1992. 

On 5/8/2021 at 7:10 AM, AbcNbc247 said:

I can see that. She felt that she owed him or something, but damn he was cringeworthy lol I laughed so hard when he threatened Ridge with the "Hayes consortium"

Blake Hayes the Texas Oil Millionaire, that's so 1981. Can't believe Bill Bell was a decade late to the party 

On 5/7/2021 at 11:36 AM, BigMAnOnDeck said:

Jacky was more in the Vein of a Yuppie JR Ewing at that time Terry played him. 

4 hours ago, AlexGrimaldi said:

I managed to watch TL's Jack (thanks YT and the vault). He was fantastic: restless, bold, magnetic, seductive and strongly sensual, edgy, raw, sarcastic and playful . He was somewhat guided by his instinct, a softer version of JR Ewing. A younger and less mature Jack, with less nuances and more impudence. 

Bill Bell introduced Victor, John, Jack in 1980 and their introductions overlapped with Dallas at the height of its popularity. I figured Victor (billionaire businessman that owns and lives on a horse ranch and has a long suffering younger wife) was modelled after JR, John (cosmetics company owner) was modelled after Jock, and Jack (playboy son of cosmetics company owner) was modelled as a Gary/Bobby hybrid.  

A big part of Jack's character when TL was in the role was the lost little boy with abandonment issues (from his mother leaving the family) that was always looking for his father's love and approval. That element of Jack seemed to be lessened when PB took over.

@FrenchFan Please continue to 1977. Thanks for all your the work you do for these recaps

@FrenchBug82 We hold Y&R to a higher standard, but yes Bill Bell did have some missteps and he wasn't immune to following trends (Dallas/Dynasty and action/adventure), although one has to wonder how much of following trends was a CBS mandate. 

Also thinking about the time Y&R reached #1 (the height of Cricket eating the show) I think was more due to maintaining the audience it had during the writer's strike, whereas other shows lost viewers during the writer's strike. I don't think Y&R was drawing new viewers of the middle school and high school demographic back then. Nobody I knew of that age group at that time was checking for Cricket.

@Soapsuds Mark Grossman as Nick would be UnSORASing the character. MG is 34, in real time Nick would be 33 this year.

24 minutes ago, Bill Bauer said:

 

For my five favourite soaps, I can pinpoint the quality decline mark for each (give or take a year or two):

 

GL: 1983

ATWT: 1994

DOOL: 1983

AW: 1975

Y&R: 1986

I think I can guess why some of those years were selected.

GL: 1983 - Reva arrives.

ATWT: 1994 - Douglas Marland passed the year before so all his story outlines are over by then.

DOOL: 1983 - Supercouple era starts.

Y&R: 1986 - Cricket becomes a full-time character and proceeds to eat the show for the remainder of the decade.

The Weeknd is the 11th male solo artist and Ariana Grande is the 11th female solo artist to reach 6 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100. The Weeknd is also the 11th artist not from the United States and 3rd Canadian artist to reach 6 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Weeknd has moved past Lionel Richie, Prince, Diddy, Ludacris, Eminem, Justin Timberlake in the male solo artist list. The next male solo artists to catch are Elvis Presley (if we do not count the 11 pre-Billboard Hot 100 #1s), Phil Collins, fellow Canadian Justin Bieber.

Ariana Grande has moved past Barbra Streisand, Olivia Newton-John, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Cardi B in the female solo artist list, and is tied with Diana Ross and Paula Abdul. The next female solo artists to catch are Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. 

Also of note is that Victoria Rowell praised KB on Twitter years ago (I think it was during VR's 2012 Twitter rants about her former Y&R co-stars but there were a few she praised) and KB had a part on VR's series "The Rich and the Ruthless" in 2018.  

20 hours ago, SoapDope said:

Kind of like Victor on Y&R......LOL

Well JR did pave the way for Victor. Bill Bell introduced Victor as a billionaire businessman that owned and lived on a horse ranch and had a long-suffering younger wife.

Trying to figure out the Spectra relationships here. B&B's OG Sally has a sister Shirley. Sally 2 is Shirley's granddaughter. So Shirley's child(ren) are first cousin(s) to Macy and CJ.

4 hours ago, BoldRestless said:

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but this Brooks sister triangle sounds so tedious!

Are you referring to the Leslie/Lorie/Lance triangle?

If we do not count Elvis Presley's 11 Pre-Billboard Hot 100 #1s, Bruno Mars is the 7th male solo artist to reach 8 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100. The male solo artists with 8 or more #1s on the Billboard Hot 100 are Michael Jackson (13), Stevie Wonder (10), Elton John (9), Usher (9), George Michael (8), Drake (8), Bruno Mars (8).

If we do not count Elvis Presley's 11 Pre-Billboard Hot 100 #1s, Bruno Mars is the 17th artist to reach 8 #1s. 

Of the artists with 7-9 Billboard Hot 100 #1s that had #1s from 2010-now (Usher, Katy Perry, Drake, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber), I'd say Drake will be the first artist from this group to reach 10 Billboard Hot 100 #1s.

I thought Lil Nas X was going to be a one hit wonder after Old Town Road. His Billboard Hot 100 history is 2 #1s, 1 Top 5 (Panini), and 2 Top 40 (Rodeo, Holiday). 

20 hours ago, watson71 said:

Felicia was such a different character when she first arrived in Bay City in January 1983.  In the few episodes that exist around her arrival, it's almost as if the writers were trying to make her into a daytime version of Dynasty's Alexis.  

19 hours ago, denzo30 said:

AW really wanted to use the Alexis factor some years later when they bought Iris back.  In fact, they made sure the name "Carrington" was used in the ending credits with Iris's name.  Carrington was Iris's first husbands name.  That was 4 husbands ago and Beverlee McKinsey's version of Iris was no Alexis or Joan Collins but Carmen Duncan was British with the accent and even the same wardrobe like.  The producers and creators of Dynasty were actually fans of AW and they even used the characters of Crystle & Blake like Mac & Rachel with the age difference relationship and a resentful daughter and also used the name Carrington.  In 1988, AW needed some hype and I believe reinveting Iris like Alexis was there narrative.  I think Dynasty was probably already on its way out on primetime..

How many Alexis clones were on daytime dramas in the 1980s? To me an Alexis clone would have the following elements:

- Mother that abandoned their family to live a jet set life.

- Wealthy widow that runs their late husband's business.

- Foreign diva.

- Lives in a luxury penthouse.

I can understand Alexis clones coming on around 1983, 1984 when Dynasty was at the height of its popularity, but by 1987, 1988 Dynasty was way past its prime.

On 3/25/2021 at 5:09 AM, victoria foxton said:

Search For Tomorrow Moves From CBS To NBC 1982 Promo | "Follow The Search"

This was the yacht explosion that Y&R copied in 2005. They probably thought the audience wouldn't notice 23 years later.

Today (April 3) is Eric Braeden's 80th birthday. I love how he keeps it real on Twitter.  Plus he can still wipe the floor with guys half his age.

Y&R should just hire Justin Gaston as Chance. He did good work during the wedding and honeymoon episodes.

On 3/31/2021 at 8:19 AM, ajsp35801 said:

Newmans are involved with Amanda's father's "accidental" death.

Oh great, another rewrite.

21 hours ago, sheilaforever said:

The Dennisons weren’t exactly introduced in one of the shows most golden periods. They totally fit the bill of the likes of Kurt Costner. They were not exactly great characters; I’m nearly always Team Jill, so gutting her with Keith was not exactly my dream pairing. Ironical, I loved Megan with Tony and fell in love with Tricia eventually as well - when she went off the deep end. 

The Dennisons came on during the lull (Fall 1996 through first half of 1997). I wonder if the original intention for Tricia was to be a Victoria replacement. Tricia's first episode was the same week as Victoria leaving town, and Tricia was given storylines similar to Victoria's early storylines w/ Ryan.

Alyvia Alyn Lind is moving on to bigger and better things.

Justin Bieber is the 10th male solo artist to reach 7 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100. He is the 22nd artist to reach 7 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100.

Among artists not from the United States, Justin Bieber is the 9th artist to reach 7 #1s. He is also the second Canadian artist to reach 7 #1s.

I still cannot believe that Justin Bieber has more #1s than Prince.