Soap Opera Digest Best & Worst of 1995

[soapfan770]

From the 01-02-1996 issue of SOD, these were their picks for the best and worst of 1995. Hope you all enjoy:

 

Most Romantic Couple - Noah & Julia of All My Children
Most Boring Couple - Justus and Simone of General Hospital

Most Daring Plot Device - The Devil Does Salem (DAYS)
Best Wacko (Prime-Time) - Kimberly on Melrose Place

Most Conniving Character - Rachel on Central Park West
Best Triangle - Brooke/Ridge/Taylor, B&B

Worst Triangle - Tomas/Maggie/Nick - Another World
Most Tortured Love Story - Nick & Sharon, Y&R

Most Unlikely Couple - Steve & Clare, Beverly Hills 90210
Best Contemporary Story - Edmund & Maria’s Infertility, AMC

Worst Contemporary Story - Lost In Cyberspace - AMC
Best Location Shoot - Amish Country on Guiding Light

Worst Location Shoot - Malta on As The World Turns
Best Cat Fight (Daytime) - Mamie & Jill on Y&R

Best Bickering (Prime-Time) - Peter & Michael, Melrose Place
Best Wedding - Ned & Lois on General Hospital

Worst Wedding - Bo & Nora on One Life To Live
Most Tortured Heroine - Teddy on Sisters

Most Tragic Hero - John on Days Of Our Lives
Most Adjusted Kid - Claudia on Party Of Five

Least Adjusted Kid - Rick Forrester on The Bold & The Beautiful
Best Trend - Increased Ethnicity on Daytime

Worst Trend - Casting Models Who Can't Act
Best Mystery - The Loving Murders

Best Scam Gone Wrong - Kirk & Sam's Marriage on ATWT
Most Entertaining Couple - Dorian & David on One Life To Live

Best Wacko (Daytime) - Phyllis on Y&R
Most Realistic Couple - Holly & Fletcher on Guiding Light

Least Realistic Couple - Brenda & Miguel on General Hospital
Best Recast (Male) - Tom on General Hospital

Worst Recast (Male) -The Kevin’s OLTL
Best Recast (Female) - Dinah on Guiding Light

Worst Recast (Female) - Orlena on ATWT
Lynn
Best Plot Device - Stefano's Amnesia on Days Of Our Lives

Most Preposterous Plot - Justine Impersonates Rachel on AW
Most Ruined Character - Laura on General Hospital

Best Husband - Jack on The Young and The Restless
Worst Husband - Nathan on The Young and The Restless

Best Wife - Nancy on As The World Turns
Worst Wife - Paulina on Another World

Best Breakup - Alex and Hayley on AMC
Worst Breakup - Alex and Ava on Loving

Most Realistic Illness - Stone's AIDS on General Hospital
Most Unrealistic Illness - Amanda's Cancer on Melrose Place

Best New Character (Male) - Antonio on One Life To Live
Best New Character (Female) - Maggie on The Bold & The Beautiful

Most Shocking Comeback (Male) - Peter Reckell on Days Of Our Lives
Most Shocking Comeback (Female) - Marcy Walker on All My Children

Most Shocking Twist (Daytime) - Grant Shot Himself, Another World
Most Shocking Twist (Prime-Time) - Amanda's Past, Melrose Place

Best Relocation - Lauren's Move on Y&R and B&B
Biggest Industry Risk - The City

Best Confession - Annie's Past on Guiding Light
Worst Confession - Tony on Days Of Our Lives

Most Compelling Departure - Todd on One Life To Live
Least Compelling Departure - Duncan & Shannon on ATWT

Dumbest Male Character - Keemo on Y&R
Dumbest Female Character - Jessica on B&B

Most Rejuvenated Character - Felicia on General Hospital
Biggest Waste Of Talent - Peter Simon on Guiding Light

Best Tearjerker - Ryan's Death on Another World
Best Return - Sami on Days Of Our Lives

Best Daytime Story - John & Lisa's Feud on As The World Turns
Worst Daytime Story - Reva's Ghost on Guiding Light

Best Prime-Time Story - Dylan's Departure on Beverly Hills 90210
Most Improved Show - Another World

Best Prime-Time Show - Party Of Five
Best Daytime Show - All My Children

[BetterForgotten]

When did Mamie and Jill have an actual cat fight? I always remember their altercations being more verbal than physical, but still highly enjoyable.

[Faulkner]

A mixed bag of a year with O.J. raging on. Loved AMC in 1995, though, with Alec/Hayley/Arlene, Liza’s return, and Erica’s pill-popping story that led up to her infamous Woman of the Year speech in early ‘96. For me, that was my favorite year for AMC of the entire ‘90s.

[kalbir]

I don't remember Jill and Mamie getting in a physical fight, only verbal altercations. I remember Jill and Katherine having their courthouse catfight in 1995.

Edited May 20, 2020 by kalbir

[soapfave06]

Was surprised to see increases diversity because in everything I have seen the early 90s had increased diversity and that was all but gone by 1996. 

 

Very surprised to see Nora and Bo with worst wedding too. I thought it was popular. 

[soapfan770]

 

They didn’t, but the mag found Jill and Mamie’s feud over John and the whole firing and $1 million story far more worthy of actual physical fight that occurred that year. 

[AbcNbc247]

Funny how everyone talks about what a lousy year 1995 was for AW, but it was voted Most Improved Show. Did people at SOD actually like that the show was becoming more like DAYS?

Edited May 20, 2020 by AbcNbc247

[Dion]

I think 1995 was probably the last year of that 90's period when most of the soaps truly did try to make an effort to increase diversity.

 

B&B had introduced Michael and Jasmine.

GH had Justus and Simone (despite them being boring as a couple lol) involved in dramas with the Hardys, and Keesha was involved with Jason.

Y&R still had the Voliens (Jack's wife Luan, son Keemo and step-daughter Mai) while the Winters/Hastings/Barbers bubble had expanded slightly with the addition of Malcolm the year before.

Noah and Julia were a big couple on AMC and the rest of the Santos clan was involved in storylines.

Antonio Vega was becoming a lead on OLTL

 

But yes, during the course of 1996 many of these stories were dropped or permanently consigned to the backburner, characters written out or killed off etc.

[MichaelGL]

You also had GL introducing characters such as Marcus Williams, Dahlia Crede, and Griffin Williams around this time.

[titan1978]

It was an overall great year for AMC.  I only knew about Liza from soap mags and I think I had read that AMC hardcover book. I loved her instantly.

 

Lots of good stuff from this best/worst of list!

 

I also totally agree about Laura being most ruined that year.  I appreciate she was now a mother of two, and worried about her kids.  It just seemed silly that all of a sudden she had enough.  It would have made way more sense for her and Luke to be mad at Sonny for deciding to take over the local mob scene, not fight with each other.

Certainly most realistic illness was right- Stone’s death is still one of the most real portrayals of AIDS ever, because you got to see the daily decline of someone in that stage of the illness thanks to the nature of soaps airing daily.

 

Even though I enjoyed RKK as Bo, when Reckell came back I was so happy.  Especially for the climax of Gina learning she was Hope, it meant so much more having both of them play those scenes.

 

 

[Gray Bunny]

 

In 1995, DAYS had 5 regular black actors, I think 4 of them on contract - James Reynolds (Abe), Renee Jones (Lexie), Tanya Boyd (Celeste), Thyme Lewis (Jonah), and recurring Tammy Townsend (Wendy).  

 

Sadly, aside from Lexie discovering who her parents were and Celeste being Stefano's henchwoman, most of them had nothing to do. 

 

Side note: I don't know why they didn't at least try to make Jonah Carver DAYS' version of Shemar. He certainly had the looks, IMO. 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Gray Bunny

[kalbir]

 

Shemar had two clones as his mid-1990s time slot competitors, Keith Hamilton Cobb and Thyme Lewis. 1995 SOD Awards Best Male Newcomer went to Keith Hamilton Cobb and not Shemar. Seriously SOD readers, you picked a Shemar clone over the real thing? Oddly enough Y&R hired Keith Hamilton Cobb without his dreadlocks in their second attempt to replace Shemar (the first was that doctor Wesley).

Edited May 20, 2020 by kalbir

[Dion]

Yes and they also had Marie Alise Recasner as Nurse Lynn who, while not quite a regular, ended up playing a small but significant part in the Sami/Austin/Carrie/Lucas storyline (having previously dated Jonah and would later go on to drug Laura for Stefano). In fact, she probably had more to do than Jonah and Wendy did in their last two years.

[Faulkner]

Peter Parros was on ATWT around that time and was pretty hot himself. But man, they definitely sh!t on him over the years.

[DRW50]

 

Keith Hamilton Cobb was cast on AMC around the same time Shemar was cast on Y&R, wasn't he? I think he probably took off with viewers a little earlier as Y&R had that bizarre cold medicine sex story with Malcolm and Dru. 

 

ATWT never did market him for his looks, even though he was a very handsome man. That didn't really happen with ATWT until that awful Doc Reese character - a first and a last.