In my seven decades of soap watching, one refrain has remained constant among newer viewers: they wish they had been around to see legendary storylines that their friends and family have raved about; storylines that had aired before these newer audience members became acquainted with daytime dramas.

I was lucky to have witnessed, first-hand, some of the best material the genre has offered throughout my lifetime.

--Meta Bauer's murder trial, THE GUIDING LIGHT

--The Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle, ANOTHER WORLD

--The Mickey/Laura/Bill/Mike's paternity saga, DAYS OF OUR LIVES

--The Jonah Lockwood/Keith Whitney reign of terror, THE EDGE OF NIGHT

--Victoria Lord's murder trial/Karen Wolek's breakdown on the witness stand, ONE LIFE TO LIVE

--Chris Brooks' rape, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

--The Leslie/Brad/Lorie saga, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

--The Liz/Dan/Susan/later Kim story, AS THE WORLD TURNS

--The Julie/Doug/Addie tragedy, DAYS OF OUR LIVES

--BJ's Heart, GENERAL HOSPITAL (IMHO, the last time daytime gave us a real masterpiece)

I am curious, however, for people who are "newer" viewers, who began watching in the 1980s, 1900s, 2000s, what do you consider the best of the best; the most riveting material soaps have offered?

What are the masterpiece moments you have personally seen?

21 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

That was such a smart move by PP to have Alison just disappear. It drove story for years after.

Surprisingly, daytime never used that twist when a popular actor decided to leave-they either recast, killed them off or gave them a lame excuse to depart.

I love it because it was incredibly true to life in a way - sometimes people disappear.

 

With that said, it wouldn't work today. You'd have people arguing about needing to know what happened!

2 hours ago, Maxim said:

Peyton Place is a show I have been meaning to watch for a very long time. It's on the top in my list of things I have to do. I've heard that it's a MASTERPIECE in it's entirety. 

I'd say it started to peter out at the very end, and certain cast changes damaged the tone, but particularly in its early years, it was lushly done (great direction and camera work) and very absorbing.

16 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

That was such a smart move by PP to have Alison just disappear. It drove story for years after.

It certainly had fans talking for a long time, and there was a lot of interest in finding out what had happened to her. I think it was a mistake to drop Connie and Elliot from the show without any resolution to their daughter's story, however. 

16 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Surprisingly, daytime never used that twist when a popular actor decided to leave-they either recast, killed them off or gave them a lame excuse to depart.

Or they had popular characters just cease to appear or even exist all of a sudden, often for years on end (Tommy Horton, Carl Williams, Ellen Stewart...). The lack of explanation or closure always vexes me.

6 minutes ago, te. said:

I mean, they kept trying to kill Allison with those movies but she's more resilient than we know, just like the real life actress. I do want to see the daytime soap. TBH, I wonder if Peyton Place would've been better off just recasting her... but then I did enjoy the consequences of her leaving.

I have a gut feeling that the audience of the primetime version would have rebelled at seeing a recast Allison, since Mia Farrow owned that role so well. Still, the daytime soap had two different actresses portray the part, and I was okay with them both. Maybe because most of the cast was made up of replacement actors. I don't know how I would have reacted to a "fake" Allison playing opposite Dorothy Malone.

10 minutes ago, te. said:

With that said, it wouldn't work today. You'd have people arguing about needing to know what happened!

Believe me, people were vehement about getting answers way back then, too.🙃

6 hours ago, te. said:

Yep. That was earnt. The lily pond catfight was actually kind of random.

Not to mention the ridiculous catfight between them in the reunion miniseries..... 

20 minutes ago, I Am A Swede said:

Not to mention the ridiculous catfight between them in the reunion miniseries..... 

That "reunion" catfight was contrived, forced, unrealistic and STOOPID.

Fantastic topic, vetsoapfan! Thanks for starting this thread. It's been fascinating reading everyone's memories.

I have some memories of watching Return to Peyton Place. I recall Allison and the Tate brothers. Wasn't there a cabin fire where Benny Tate supposedly perished? I recall Monica Bell, the brunette waitress who became a major character toward the end. And Constance's affair with Mike Rossi. For some reason, I recall the scene where they consummate their affair being shot through the window of someone's house. And Constance's slip falling to the floor as she and Mike gave into their passion for each other. I think they replayed that scene over and over. I remember Pamela Susan Shoop's first scene as Allison. I think it was in Eli Carson's store. The voiceover came on announcing the recast, and I think we saw a framed photo of Allison on the wall. I recall being surprised and disappointed as I really liked Kathy Glass in the role.

22 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

I would say that the first catfight between Krystle and Alexis (in the lily pond) was earned. The endless follow-ups, not so much.

23 hours ago, DeeVee said:

22 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

I would say that the first catfight between Krystle and Alexis (in the lily pond) was earned. The endless follow-ups, not so much

ignore my previous post. what i wanted to say was also earned, though more light-hearted, was the fight between nola and vanessa on gl when both showed up to nola’s engagement part wearing the same dress. 

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

Fantastic topic, vetsoapfan! Thanks for starting this thread. It's been fascinating reading everyone's memories.

I'm glad you are enjoying this thread as much as I am.

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

I have some memories of watching Return to Peyton Place. I recall Allison and the Tate brothers.

Ben Andrews, who played the Tate twins was sexy as hell.

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

Wasn't there a cabin fire where Benny Tate supposedly perished?

Benny Tate (the "good" twin) had a terminal illness and died tragically after marrying Allison McKenzie, and then Jason (the "bad" one) hooked poor Allison on drugs.

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

I recall Monica Bell, the brunette waitress who became a major character toward the end. And Constance's affair with Mike Rossi. For some reason, I recall the scene where they consummate their affair being shot through the window of someone's house. And Constance's slip falling to the floor as she and Mike gave into their passion for each other. I think they replayed that scene over and over.

The show's writing was tepid during the first several months, but then it picked up dramatically and the ratings began to rise with it. I had wanted Mike and Constance to get together in the original primetime series (they had great chemistry), and I was interested to see them finally consummate their feelings on daytime. The actor who played Elliot on RTPP was too stodgy for me.

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

I remember Pamela Susan Shoop's first scene as Allison. I think it was in Eli Carson's store. The voiceover came on announcing the recast, and I think we saw a framed photo of Allison on the wall. I recall being surprised and disappointed as I really liked Kathy Glass in the role.

Kathy Glass sued the network because her dyed-blonde hair began falling out in clumps. Susan Brown had similar agony because of the dying process on her hair. I preferred Glass in the role of Allison, but Susan Shoop ended up being fine.

1 hour ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

ignore my previous post. what i wanted to say was also earned, though more light-hearted, was the fight between nola and vanessa on gl when both showed up to nola’s engagement part wearing the same dress. 

Yes, the Nola/Vanessa catfight was played for laughs on purpose and therefore did not come across as contrived and forced as many of the more "serious" soap battles of the day.

Edited September 9Sep 9 by vetsoapfan

6 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

e Nola/Vanessa catfight was played for laughs on purpose and therefore did not come across as contrived and forced as many of the more "serious" soap battles of the day.

I know she had earned that comeuppance, but Vanessa screeching "you...YOU VIXEN!" like it was the worst thing she could call the person she hated most in the world will never not be funny to me.

24 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I know she had earned that comeuppance, but Vanessa screeching "you...YOU VIXEN!" like it was the worst thing she could call the person she hated most in the world will never not be funny to me.

When even TPTB were in on the joke, winking at the audience (no one in the world would use such a line, ever, LOL), it was hard to be mad at the show for a moment of harmless silliness.

16 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

When even TPTB were in on the joke, winking at the audience (no one in the world would use such a line, ever, LOL), it was hard to be mad at the show for a moment of harmless silliness.

It was a line more suited to one of Nola's fanstasies, that's for sure. lol.

Re Allison's return on Peyton Place.

A recast Allison just would not have happened in the original show. Recasts were used twice and only as temps due to illness.

In RTPP a recast was acceptable because the cast was pretty much all new and recasts were part of the daytime genre.

41 minutes ago, P.J. said:

It was a line more suited to one of Nola's fanstasies, that's for sure. lol.

Right. We were used to Nola's skewered version of events.

11 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

A recast Allison just would not have happened in the original show. Recasts were used twice and only as temps due to illness.

Speaking of that, while I adored Dorothy Malone, I thought Lola Albright did a fine job as a temporary recast.

11 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

In RTPP a recast was acceptable because the cast was pretty much all new and recasts were part of the daytime genre.

I agree. We expected a bunch of new faces before the show even premiered. Viewers who didn't want to accept that, just wouldn't even watch in the first place.