Soap Opera Digest Best and Worst 1999

[DRW50]

Sorry if any of this was already posted. I'm just going to list the categories and if anyone wants any more information on the writeups, I'll type that out.

Best Triangle - AJ/Carly/Jason, GH

Worst Triangle - Becca/Scott/Greenlee, AMC

Best Fantasies - Annie, Sunset Beach

Worst Gimmick - Princess Diana, Passions

Best Murder Mystery - Who Shot Grant? AW

Worst Murder Mystery - Alec's Murder, ATWT

Most Confusing Plot - Princess Gina, DAYS

Most Shocking Plot Twist - Sonny Sleeps With Carly, GH

Best Reunion - The Abbotts, Y&R

Best Rescue - Another World Characters Find Life in Oakdale

Best Tearjerker - Lucky's "death", GH

Worst Tearjerker - Grace's death, OLTL

Most Entertaining Character - Asa, OLTL

Most Ruined Character - Lucy, PC

Best Recast - Roy, GH

Biggest Waste of Talent - Anyone Hired Before 1995, GL

Best Friends - Pacey and Dawson, Dawson's Creek

Most Rejuvenated Family - The Baldwins, PC

Best Partners in Crime - Tabitha and Timmy, Passions

Best Family Feud - The Forresters, B&B

Best New Male Character - Prince Richard, GL

Best New Female Character - Vanessa, AMC

Dumbest Male Axing - Michael Nader AMC

Dumbest Female Axing - Louise Sorel, DAYS

Best Teen - Billy, Y&R

Worst Teen - Kay, Passions

Best Psycho - Derek, SuBe

Worst Psycho - Brian, OLTL

Best Hero - Jake, AW/ATWT

Best Heroine - Vicky, ATWT

Best Revenge - Adam is Locked Away, AMC

Worst Revenge - Ricardo Goes After Antonio and Gabi, SuBe

Best Secret - Colby's Paternity - AMC

Best Comeuppance - Carly Loses Everything, ATWT

Best Quadrangle - Sami/Austin/Carrie/Mike, DAYS

Most Disappointing Quadrangle - Ned/Alexis/Jax/Chloe, GH

Best Vixen - Amber, B&B

Best Flashbacks - Old Roy, GH

Most Realistic Couple - Kevin and Eve, PC

Best Guest Appearances - Doug and Julie, DAYS

Best Trend - Bringing back old favorites

Worst Trend - Whitewashing

Best Social Issue - Abby's Cochlear Implant, GL

Worst Social Issue - Taylor's TB, B&B

Best Cliffhanger - Felicity's Decision, Felicity

Most Disappointing Exit - The Finale, AW

Most Daring Show - Passions

Best Teen Story - Jessica's baby, OLTL

Best Story - Switched at Birth, ATWT

Worst Story - Psychic Espionage, PC

Most Improved Show - B&B

Most Disappointing Show - GL

Best Primetime Show - Felicity

Best Daytime Show - Y&R

[Cheap21]

I especially agree with these. The psychic espionage plot on PC was the worst in the show's history. That mess was just plain bad

[DRW50]

I think Psychic Espionage was when I tuned out. Somewhere around the time that DV took advantage of Lucy when she had amnesia, which disgustingly enough the show sort of presented as a romance.

How nice that Hamner found another home for his misogyny.

[TeamEric]

Oh wow the best tearjerker surely was Lucky's death. I cried buckets and I still get choked up at memory of Luke's eulogy. THAT was one of GH's best weeks ever.

[DRW50]

Here you go:

[Darcy]

I thought the triangle was Becca/Leo/Greenlee?? The thing that ruined both triangles for me was Greenlee - UGH~

Who was Alec and who killed him and why?

And a decade later it became Least Shocking Plot Twist.

I assume that was a pre-drug arrest axing?

That was the worst AMC story. Hated it.

Should have won Most Annoying Secret

Sorry I missed that. I love Carly and MW but didn't start watching until 3 years later.

Or Craig and Janet, ATWT

I don't need a full summary but who was switched and why - and who were the parents?

[Cheap21]

Leo didnt join the show till later. The story began when Scott and Becca were dating and Greenlee came to town and fought for him. By the time Leo came, it was a quad

[DRW50]

Darcy we seem to agree on a lot -- not a Greenlee fan and I hated the entire Colby story too. Even SOD complained about the whole pie in the face nonsense so I'm surprised they praised the other stuff.

The initial triangle was Greenlee trying to seduce her old college flame Scott, who was pining for Becca. They quickly moved Scott to the side and put Leo and Ryan in.

Alec was one of the big mysterious uber-controlling figures Lorraine Broderick liked to put on her soaps. He was a business tycoon and he was the long lost father of Eddie Silva. He dated Margo Hughes when she had divorced Tom. He was involved in shady things and knew secrets and finally went off and tried to drown Tom. He was killed and Margo was arrested and tried for his murder. Alec, in a blood-stained shirt, continually appeared to her to try to give her clues about his real killer, which turned out to be Eddie's girlfriend, Georgia, in temporary insanity or something. Eddie and Georgia and Tom and Margo married in a double wedding and the former left town immediately afterwards.

You didn't miss a lot. The story was a confusing mess which rewrote history -- basically Carly needed to have a baby before January 1 1999 in order to get big money from her bitter sister Rosanna (the original story had none of this, the original story was that Rosanna only stipulated she not have a child with Mike Kasnoff). Carly went as far as getting artificially inseminated to try to make sure she was pregnant. She married and divorced Hal, was forced to marry John (who had inseminated her without her knowledge -- he told her it was anonymous sperm), and then was forced to marry Brad Snyder. When Brad realized she was back with Jack, he worked with Rosanna to expose her lies, about the baby's paternity, I don't really remember them. Carly was left destitute. She and Jack then got back together and she moved in with Emma and agreed to never lie, which she kept up until she was kidnapped for the awful Winston Lowe storyline.

Lily and Holden were expecting a child. David Stenbeck kidnapped Lily and she went into labor. He took the baby. Lily got the baby back but didn't bond with the baby for a while. Then David, now with plastic surgery and taking his place as yet another Lorraine Broderick uber-controlling psycho, came to town with "his" baby daughter. This was Lily and Holden's daughter. They were raising a child from Andy Dixon's one night stand with a stripper named Denise who sold her baby to Reid and now wanted the child back. At the end of the story Lily and Holden got their baby back and against Lily's wishes, Holden gave Denise's child back to her.

[Gray Bunny]

Always liked that Biggest Waste of Talent. So true. I remember one episode in particular where the longest-running actor featured was Laura Wright-- hired in 1997! Everyone else was a recast (Michelle) or brand newbie Santoses.

Louise Sorel... love her, but Vivian had run her course by then.

Prince Richard on GL was okay, but it's too bad they bought the actor back in 2003 as Jeffrey. But to Bradley Cole's credit I can say that I tolerated Prince Richard just fine but absolutely detested Jeffrey O'Neill!

Yes, the Mike/Carrie story was definitely the only interesting thing during the first half of 1999.

GL definitely went downhill in 1999. It improved somewhat during the first half of 2000, but then Claire Labine came on and totally killed my interest in the show.

[DRW50]

I liked Prince Richard, I thought he was a believable dashing hero type and Bradley Cole worked well with Laura Wright and DAM. I loathed Jeffrey and I loathe that whole "this guy is such a sleaze, doesn't that make you hot" type of thing which did such horrible damage to daytime.

When I look back at GL of the late 90s I can see where it got worse and worse and some stuff didn't work for me (anything with Phillip/Harley/Beth and shrieking Susan, or Pilar, and then I was annoyed at some of the horribly wasted characters like India), but I have to admit I still enjoyed the show, generally, until around mid-2000, when they did the awful stuff like the way Selena was written out, and so much dull stuff. I don't know how I'd feel if I watched it back again now.

[Gray Bunny]

I'm right there with ya... it was totally Claire Labine, surprisingly, that took the show in a boring misguided direction in the fall of 2000. We had the introduction to May ("cigars! cigarettes! cigarillos!"), Catalina, Reva suddenly caring for refugees and whatnot, Phillip/Harley falling apart after his romp with Beth was revealed, and just a whole sense of "where the hell is this story going? I don't even care..." feeling for all the storylines. Looking back, I wish I had hung in there and waited it out, since it got so much better in 2002. There were a few things I missed out on that I wish I could've seen, whether it be for good reasons or bad reasons (time-traveling Reva, blind Reva, the earthquake, Gus's introduction, Blake/Ross/Tory, Beth's alternate personality, etc.)

[DRW50]

You probably already know this but did you ever read ClassicGL's blog? They put up a lot of clips of Beth's MPD story. I don't know if any of the others are on there.

http://glmemories.blogspot.com/2007/04/happy-anniversary-glmp-beth-through.html

There are a few time travel and earthquake clips here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/aspbitten

Yeah at the time I was shocked at just how bizarre, bad, and dull a lot of Labine's GL was. I especially disliked Blake becoming Delia/Lucy Coe. I think she was probably sabotaged by Rauch, to a point, and perhaps needed a stronger producer. It also seemed like Labine sort of got lost in "wackiness" as her career went on.

[Mr. Vixen]

These are the ones tha really caught my interest. I have to agee with most of them...What were other people's thoughts on the AW finale?

[DRW50]

The AW finale was widely seen as a letdown. While I can understand why, I think there were some good moments, like Frankie's spirit saying goodbye to little Charlie (or was that the episode before the finale), the messages that various characters said to the video camera (which was a way to talk to viewers while not actually talking to them directly), and the last scene with Rachel was a killer.

[quartermainefan]

I don't know if this was so dumb. When you fall to the point you become fodder for the NY Post--and not even the gossip section--it might be time to go. I am confused though about the timeline. I thought his drug problems were more recent than 1999. Was he let go twice?