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.

B&B — Lauren and Sheila duking it out near the jacuzzi. The confrontation had been brewing for months/years and it finally all came to a head. I may be mistaken but I think the episode ended with Sheila murdering Lauren by holding her head under the jacuzzi water. It felt with all certainty that the writers had killed off Lauren Fenmore in an epic battle. I remember I was so pumped and also somehow drained after the show ended, I snuck a cigarette in the upstairs bathroom. I was like 17 or 18 and not allowed to smoke in the house. But I NEEDED a smoke after that! Ultimately, Lauren’s death was only Sheila’s dream/fantasy, but to this day it is still my most vividly remembered soap moment.

Off the top of my head (and at a glance I love that other people said the same)...the reveal of Kristen to the whoooooooooole town of what she did at Susan's Graceland wedding on DAYS. I watched that story of Kristen turning into the villainess I grew to love to hate in real time between school (shoutout to her vs Marlena in the Secret Room...so late to class that day hehe) seasons. The 'I win' Carrie punch to Sami. Marlena's reveal of the green eyes as Satan.

ALSO...

Y&R Victor, Jack, and the Chair.

Y&R Veronica shooting Nikki.

Y&R Nikki vs Diane...BOTH fights.

OLTL...the reveal of Viki's alters...as a kid...frightening, but I couldn't look away either. Seeing acting in motion. And once Viki became Jean Randolph, I was spellbound. Always my favorite of her alters.

OLTL...Dorian getting out of jail due to David Vickers in time for the 4th of July and Viki's face...knowing their rivalry was far from over.

Y&R Katherine, Jill, and the attic.

GH...Luke and Laura's return. My mother was soooooo hyped. I didn't get it since I didn't know it. But once Laura jumped out of the plane chasing her luggage...I was sold.

On 5/6/2026 at 7:30 AM, CrazySexyQ said:

Y&R:

Sharon confronting Nick in the hotel about his affair with Phyllis. His face was so cracked. I also loved it when Sharon told Phyllis that she was like a dog in heat.

Also THIS. So well done.

2 hours ago, SheenaSoaper said:

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.

I started watching ATWT with the team just before Sheffer arrived. I also loved the early part of his run. I have a lot of fondness for Rose, thought she and Holden were more interesting than Lily/Holden at that point, fell in love with Carly and many other characters. I know Katie got annoying later on, but the Ednicott awards was a fantastic comeuppance!

5 hours ago, carolineg said:

. 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.

During my adult rewatch, what I came away with is that there was almost a line in the sand about halfway through Maison Blanche. Everybody had some kind of lobotomy around that time, couldn’t see stuff happening right in front of their faces. That was also when the talking to themselves starts to get really noticeable and more frequent, and it goes downhill from there.

I pretty much hate the Posession storyline, but I watched it back then and it is iconic for a reason. But the earlier part of the story was played more gothic horror than camp horror, which it becomes as it went on. That’s why the only part I still like is Marlena’s reveal as the Desecrator, because that wasn’t floating above the bed yet and we didn’t know she was the devil lol.

17 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

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.

This honestly sounds amazing. Before it got yanked from YouTube a few years ago, there were a couple of episodes up showing the climax of Vanessa’s plan against Lorie, including her death. I would love to see that whole story, because it was incredible.

On 5/6/2026 at 6:48 AM, carolineg said:

I was waiting all weekend to make sure Lily was for sure dead lol

The holler I just let out!

On 5/6/2026 at 7:06 PM, I Am A Swede said:

My favourite big soap moment will always be the moment on B&B when years of tension and growing animosity between Brooke and Stephanie finally exploded during the BeLief story. That whole story was excellent, with Stephanie's hatred for Brooke being the cause of her own undoing. She was the driving force behind the attempt by the Forresters to trick Brooke into signing over her rights to the patent without her ever knowing the whole story. But the manipulations and dirty tricks backfired not once but twice during the story, and that was finally one time too many. Brooke confronted the Forresters and got slapped by Stephanie, not for the first time. 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 this ultimately ended with Brooke seizing controlling interest in Forrester Creations, and Stephanie and Eric only had themselves to blame for that.

This was more than 30 years ago, and it's still the best story in B&B history, by far.

This is my number 1.

4 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

GH...Luke and Laura's return. My mother was soooooo hyped. I didn't get it since I didn't know it. But once Laura jumped out of the plane chasing her luggage...I was sold.

I had vague memories as a little kid seeing them when Laura returned in 1983, the blue scarf and Luke screaming at her from the balcony of the mayor’s mansion. So I knew who they were.

That return starts off pretty great with the explosion seen in the credits for years, and meeting Lucky, having a little mini adventure. But what really grabbed me and made me love them both was when Laura sees the original Ward house, and them hiding there. Something about the still very real chemistry between them, the way Genie played seeing it and running up the steps on the porch, her face when they went inside. I felt like I got why they were special, and I knew exactly who Laura was at that moment and what kind of couple they were. The larger than life was there but it was grounded in real human emotions. They took a lot of care and effort for a return that felt effortless watching it, like they just fit right away.

6 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I had vague memories as a little kid seeing them when Laura returned in 1983, the blue scarf and Luke screaming at her from the balcony of the mayor’s mansion. So I knew who they were.

That return starts off pretty great with the explosion seen in the credits for years, and meeting Lucky, having a little mini adventure. But what really grabbed me and made me love them both was when Laura sees the original Ward house, and them hiding there. Something about the still very real chemistry between them, the way Genie played seeing it and running up the steps on the porch, her face when they went inside. I felt like I got why they were special, and I knew exactly who Laura was at that moment and what kind of couple they were. The larger than life was there but it was grounded in real human emotions. They took a lot of care and effort for a return that felt effortless watching it, like they just fit right away.

You were a better kid than I. lol. I vaguely remember the Ward house, but that sounds like such a beautiful scene to watch, but you know how much I love Laura. :)

Before they came back, all I knew Anthony Geary from was the Fat Boys movie back in the day and he was the villain. So watching him as Luke with Genie as Laura...I didn't know who they were, but I do remember how it felt so effortless for them to return. Not jarring at all and I did find them fascinating as this kinda 'action family.' And yes...I always loved that explosion being the credits for years (and seeing Emma Samms...hehe...who my earliest memories of her WERE from her on GH with Robert before my mind associated her with DYNASTY. But I was reeeally young). God, I miss Faces of the Heart. I just loved the angle of a family that had adventures, but was still grounded enough to be a family. Luke with young Lucky. The Spencer dog. Such a nice house. How could you not be drawn to it? I liked and saw why my mother loved them.