12 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

The reveal of Jake as The Salem Strangler on Days. Mary Anderson struggled as he strangled her, and she pulled off his mask to reveal it was Jake.

That episode used to be up on YouTube a long time ago. I saw it a couple of times and it was riveting! I believe they cut between the attack/reveal with scenes of Patty Weaver’s character performing. I only saw her as Gina on Y&R, and judging by what I saw on DAYS she was very underutilized by Y&R!

12 hours ago, Vee said:

OLTL 1995: The abuse reveal, with Viki splitting into her alters, calling Dorian a "stupid, ugly bitch" and hurling her down the stairs. I've talked about this a lot. I was home watching live as a young teenager, had no idea Viki had ever been mentally ill and was terrified

I knew about Niki Smith, my grandma’s favorite show was OLTL. But this was something else entirely. Gothic. Sinister. There was no camp there.

17 hours ago, Franko said:

I keep holding out hope for Alan & Monica's wedding in 1978.

Agreed! It’s one of those missing episodes I hope someday just finally appears. We got to see that very early Monty GH episode this year, and vintage stuff still trickles out every once in awhile!

5 hours ago, carolineg said:

John/Susan's wedding in 1997

He had lost me by then tbh. But I will never forget seeing Hope alive at Maison Blanche, or Marlena revealed as the Desecrator!

4 hours ago, AmandainNC28655 said:

The Cruise of Deception on Days

That story really grabbed me as a kid!

4 hours ago, CrazySexyQ said:

AMC:

Erica's meltdown at the Woman of the Year Award

OMG yes that was so good!

2 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

But this time she didn't take it lying down and slapped Stephanie right back and had to be dragged out by Connor to stop things from escalating even more. All

I am not a B&B person, but of course I had seen this story mentioned in at least one soap mags best soap stories of all time list. I recently saw this scene and it was possibly the best acting I have ever seen from KKL. Visceral. Bill Bell was still writing then IIRC.

I agree with everyone that has mentioned Karen Wolek on the stand. When I finally saw the infamous scene on A Daytime To Remember, in isolation, it was powerful but kind of underwhelming. Later on I saw more of Judith Light as Karen after that story, because that’s what was available, and she was still so clouded in shame and self loathing that going back and watching that again it was more heartbreaking. Another story I would love to see from the start, even if I believe Judith wasn’t playing her when the prostitution began.

15 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

That story really grabbed me as a kid!

I've always looked upon "Cruise of Deception" as being the last gasp of classic, '80's DAYS, even though it happened in '90. I loved it, but the show was never the same.

Y&R: Scenes I never thought I would see. In reading old synopsis/summaries of Lorie finding about Leslie's pregnancy, you kind of picture Lorie seeing Leslie step from the shower and Lorie coldly/smugly saying "Just how pregnant are you Leslie". while being somewhat composed. When I finally got to see the scenes OMG WOW ! Those summaries does not do them justice. Lorie goes ape crap and has a screaming meltdown at a cowering Leslie. I kept waiting for Lorie to start physically assaulting her. Good thing Lucas comes in and pretty much nearly puts her in a headlock while she's still raging.

18 hours ago, titan1978 said:

He had lost me by then tbh. But I will never forget seeing Hope alive at Maison Blanche, or Marlena revealed as the Desecrator!

I get it. Probably every story arc went on for 2 years too long. John/Marlena should have reunited post-Aremid. There really was no reason for John to go back to Kristen after that. In a rewatch as an adult you find every Days character dumb and missing a lot of social cues lol. I loved it all as a kid though!

I have such mixed feelings about the Devil Possession in general. Not my favorite story, but the reveal was pretty great.

If you wander into to the Days thread you will know my feelings about Hope. So I could've cared less she was alive.

19 hours ago, Khan said:

I've always looked upon "Cruise of Deception" as being the last gasp of classic, '80's DAYS, even though it happened in '90. I loved it, but the show was never the same.

@Khan I agree with your statement here. It wasn't the same after the Cruise of Deception.

I started watching ATWT in the mid 1990s. I didn’t see Marland-era ATWT other than when CBS would air classics. So, like others, my choices will be from when I was viewing in real time.

I loved the beginning of Hogan Sheffer. For me, he totally revived the show. In the first few years, many big moments had me at the edge of my seat, but #1 is always:

Barbara and the boathouse explosion. I was utterly riveted and could not miss a single day that summer in 2001. I was barely online and basically spoiler-free, so I had no idea who the culprit would be or that Barbara would be the victim in the first place. When I did venture online once in a blue moon, I did see rumors that CZ was in contract negotiations, so there was a question for me if Barbara would survive. CZ later revealed in an interview that there was never a question if Babs would live. I loved every minute of this and how it touched virtually every character on the show and had an impact that would carry for years.

There were other moments that had me on the edge of my seat during that era like David Stenbeck’s funeral, the Endicott Awards and Katie’s comeuppnace, Vicky’s ghost, the Malta adventure, and Julia’s descent into madness, and later, the saga surrounding Rose’s murder.

I realize these may not be for other ATWT fans, but I look back on this period of the show (and my life) so fondly.