Due to the holiday weekend, and the lack of new soaps on Labor Day, I decided to go through my magazine collection. I went through a box of Soap Opera Magazine (about 50 of them) and chose the oldest in the stack dated December 29, 1992 (Volume 2, Issue 52). The over 18-year old issue like many in this box is not complete, so I apologize in advance.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, Soap Opera Magazine ran for most of the decade of the 1990s. It is the same size as Soap Opera Weekly and came out just as often. The particular issue I am highlighting is the holiday special. For the sake of clarity I will group things together and not do it completely in order.
The cover picture took up the majority of it and was from a photo shoot with Christie Clark, Patrick Muldoon, Lisa Rinna, and Robert Kelker-Kelly. It says Days Exclusive: Romance Blooms for Bradys and Reeds. It also says Season’s Greetings from Carrie. Brady, Austin Reed, Billie Reed, Bo Brady (which is the order they appear on the cover.) I find it strange that they aren’t referenced by real names as well. There are other headlines on the over like GL: Sparks Fly for Nick and Eve, Billy and Holly caught on GH, (these do not have pictures). The ones saying Taylor makes a move on Derek on ABC (has one of Derek) and Y&R: Nina schemes to win Ryan Back (has one of Nina).
The first two inside pages has something called Out and About with your favorite Soap Stars. This is a pictorial section with pictures of performers in real life and on set as themselves. Since this is the holiday issue they have photos that tend to be wintered themed from soap opera holiday parties to people in fancy clothes near decoration like Jess Walton from Y&R (Jill) wearing a dress with a green top with holiday flowers, and ATWT’s Larry Bryggman and Tamara Tunie at the holiday party at the Starlight Room at NYC’s Puck building. After an ad for a 1-900 phone service to listen to soap recaps and previews, comes the table of contents. Unfortunately that page is cut, so I don’t have the contents for AMC’s Taylor/Derek story or GL’s Nick and Eve Story. I do have the Y&R Nina story that talks about how Victoria and Ryan’s marriage was illegal and how she knows that. She goes to Cricket for help, but only Victoria or Ryan could end it for that reason, but she gets one on Ryan as he can’t find a job and he loans her some money.
The Days article shares its page with a cartoon called Happy Holly-Days, which pictured a man and a woman on a couch. The caption says “You romantic! You taped ‘Days of Our Lives’ every day for the last year.” The headline for the Days article is “Will Brokenhearted Bo fall for Billie?” and includes another shot of the foursome on the cover. It talks about the rebound relationship for Bo as his relationship with Carly has ended. This was after Bo and Carly’s wedding was ended thanks to Carly after Lwarence came in and took her away to find their missing son Nicholas. Bo being a good guy tries to find the kid, who was taken by Vivian, but it is evident that she still loves Lawrence. Meanwhile, Austin and Carrie save Billie after she took drugs that were laced with poison. After that, Billie tries to convince Austin to break up with Carrie after his boxing match. It basically says Billie and Bo though have been crossing paths and seem to be poised to be a new couple. Then there are quotes from all of the actors involved in the story showing their characters’ points of view.
Then there is another page of story highlights. ATWT’s Lily (Heather Rattray at this point in time) finds out Aaron is Holden’s son. GH’s Bill and Holly caught snooping, which is about the story with Halifax, an art collector played by Randy Mantooth. The last article is bittersweet as it is a summary of Santa Barbara’s last Christmas episode, in which Jed Allan’s CC Capwell had a nightmare about his life.
Last minute news has information on casting and other things (like the pregnancy of Wortham Krimmer aka Andrew on OLTL wife), the soon departing Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) talks about being let go along with other casting issues (Louise Sorel being out for health reasons and naming Patsy Pease’s replacement.) Under comings and goings they mention Lacey Chabert being AMC’s new Bianca, and Sean Moynihan starting on January 6 as Powell (who ends up being a cousin to the Lords and one of Marty’s rapists.) They also have something called set your VCR for FINE TUNING, which lists the episodes that shouldn’t be missed.
The next two pages have pictures of a holiday shopping spree on Fifth Avenue with Jensen Buchanan (Vicky on Another World) and Melina Kanakaredes (Eleni on Guiding Light), who were both newlyweds. There are other pictorials throughout the magazine. One page has a photo of Bobbie Eakes (who was playing Macy on B&B at the time) in front of a Christmas tree with a quote about her holiday plans. Another pictorial was in California with Paul Walker (Brandon) and Heather Tom (Victoria) from The Young and the Restless. Another page had actors commenting on movies they like to watch over the holiday season. Another feature was real life versus reel life Christmas in Soapland, which shows how things are different from reality and fiction. There is a one-page entry of The Bold and the Beautiful’s John McCook and his wife Laurette at LA’s FAO Schwarz with their children who were 10, 8 and 2 at the time. There is another pictorial page this time with Melody Anderson from AMC (who was Natalie at the time) at A&S Plaza and Macy’s. There is another page called ringing in the holidays for charities, which focuses on things actors are doing to help others that December. I am missing a full page towards the end of the magazine, so I have no idea what I am not seeing. I see picture of Lisa Peluso (who was Ava on Loving) in a pictorial with the Rockettes, so perhaps that was two pages, but one page I have nothing.
There is a feature on John Beradino (Steve) called GH’s Father Christmas. He talks about how in recent years the Christmas story that he told to children on screen at General Hospital went from being the actual story to five lines lasting under a minute (in 1991). The article then talks about the 1974 Christmas episode. (I wonder is that episode online.) They summarize the episode. Basically the hospital is under stress as Dr. Phil Brewer (Martin West) was found murdered by his former wife Jessie (Emily McLaughlin), who is also the prime suspect. Jessie goes into Steve’s office and tells him it is Christmas and he must do the story regardless of Phil’s death. Steve shares the full story, with the kids, from Joseph and Mary looking for shelter to the angry King Herod. John recently had watched that tape, and was moved, while his very religious wife cried. Then the article goes into examples on the length of the Christmas story over the years in 1987, it was done in 1 minute and 55 seconds. In 1989, it ran 55 seconds, though there was also a singing of Jingle Bells. Wendy Riche (the executive producer in 1992) said that they were going to go back to the more traditional version, but I have no idea if they lived up to it.
The next section of the magazine has a page for each of the daytime soap operas. In this particular issue it went by show title in alphabetical order. The common items on these pages are photos of actors, remember when info, and what to watch for with a vague spoiler. For the holiday issue, they have parody songs based on carols. A lot of the pictures and stories are humorous. For the sake of time, I am only going to share some of what is in the magazine. I am putting them all together also.
On the All My Children page, Kelly Ripa talks about her father’s holiday light displays and presents for example, Jill Larson (Opal) is dressed up as Santa Claus etc. The holiday song they have for AMC is based on Jingle Bells. The chorus is listed as:
Erica Kane! Erica Kane!
Erica all the way!
Oh what fun it is to watch
Her antics night and day!
The Another World page had a photo of Tom Eplin (Jake) wearing a Santa hat and boots. There is a story about an AW hairstylist named John Qualglia, who was traveling to Australia to bring some gifts for her. She wrapped the presents and explained in a letter what was going on with them. At customs, they stop him and want to unwrap them once they were told who they were from he got right though. In Australia, Carmen was extremely famous for her movie acting, and that’s how he got away with it. The song in this section was based on “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as sung by Rachel Cory.
The As the World Turns section has a story shared by Kelley Menighan (Emily) about when she saw Santa Claus at the age of seven. She had an ear infection and a fever of 104. She saw Santa flying over the house, and still has the teddy bear she got that year. The song in this section is based on What Child is This? And is about Aaron. The remember when was about Lily’s Christmas. Dusty came home and brought her a porcelain version of her cat Ma’am meanwhile Holden planned to give her a carving of the kitten. Holden didn’t give it to her, but she started to feel closer to him.
The Bold and the Beautiful page had a shot of Joanna Johnson (Karen) dressed as a holiday helper and John McCook (Eric) holding a gift and acting like he wants to figure out what is inside. The song was based on the Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire).
The Days of Our Lives page has stories about childhood Christmas memories. Michael Sabatino (Lawrence) shares his favorite holiday gift was when he was 8 years old and it was a toboggan even though he grew up in southern California. The song was based on Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer called “Victor the red-faced villain”.
The General Hospital page has a story about what happened when Rachel Ames (Audrey) decided to not have a big Christmas event at home. Rachel, her husband and child went to a hotel; it went downhill from there. Eventually they went home called up some friends the next day and had a late holiday dinner. The song was base on Twas the Night Before Christmas ala Monica Quartermaine about everyone in Port Charles and how Casey the alien stopped by for a visit.
The Guiding Light page had stories with Amelia Marshall (Gilly) and Rick Hearst (Alan-Michael about traveling for the holiday along with a picture and story of Fiona Hutchison (Jenna) about holiday stockings. The song for this one is based on Deck the Halls, and Holly wants to Deck Blake, Nadine sings about padded clothing (as she was faking a pregnancy) among other things.
Pages 33 and 34 are missing from this magazine, my guess is that included the Loving page. I'm sorry about that.
The One Life to Live page has childhood stories of Susan Batten (Luna), Tonja Walker (Alex and David Ledingham (Suede). The song that is shared is based on Frosty the snowman. It has verses about Asa, Viki and Luna as well as other residents.
The Santa Barbara page has stories with Krista Tesreau (Andie though best known to GL fans as Mindy), and Forry Smith (Reese). They also share what people plan to do that holiday season. The song shared is Let is snow, and is about the hope of the magazine that while SB has been cancelled it will continue on in syndication. I so wish that was the case.
The Young and the Restless page has a story about Christian LeBlanc (Michael) talking about New Orleans and a tradition of having a bonfire that could no longer be done as an oil company bought the land. The song shared was Santa Claus is coming to town which mentions various characters.
Five pages had show summaries (most shows got half a page). These pages were completely in black and white. In those days, only Soap Opera Update was in full color. The Q&A page is also black and white as it also has classified ads. The next section is a regular feature called star quest?, but in this issue it is about stars wish lists. Some of the answers are silly and others are serious. There is a puzzle page that has trivia questions and a word search along with request for favorite holiday traditions on your favorite soap. There horosoaps (horoscope) section is in black and white. The magazine ends with a picture saying AMC’s James (Santa Claus) in their star stats. This has silly questions about the holidays instead of a normal Q&A.
Soap Opera Magazine seemed to have a pretty relaxed point of view. While there were some more serious topics, it focused more about the stories of the actors’ lives instead of their careers. I appreciated it for the unique stories it would share about performers that one wouldn’t see anywhere else.
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