TV Line's Lists of Best of Daytime Soaps

TVLine did five recent lists about soaps as a follow-up to what they did with best couples back in 2016. Below are my thoughts.

Soap Stars in Other Places: Celebrity Bowling

MeTV, a digital broadcaster, posts videos on a weekly basis of some of their programs. Every Monday, they update the episodes. I looked at their site today and they have five episodes of Celebrity Bowling.

Scifi Soap Opera Crossover Chaos

On tumblr I saw a prompt regarding the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and what other fictional characters could be in that universe. I decided to play and answer that question on my blog.

Paul Rauch has Died

Yesterday (Monday, December 10, 2012) it came out that Paul Rauch, the former executive producer of many of our daytime soap operas passed away. To read Variety's take on his death, click here.

Soap Assignments Blog: July - October Questions

Finally going to be up to date with the soap assignments blog questions. Here are my answers for the questions from July through October 2012.

Soap Assignments Blog Questions: March & April

Months ago I had started answering the Soap Assignments blog questions. I stopped halfway through my entries, so I am starting again. This is for March and April's questions.

Dead Ex Book

Dead Ex is a novel that takes place in the world of daytime soap operas. The author Harley Jane Kozak is a soap opera alumni turned author. She appeared on Texas, Santa Barbara (as Sister Mary who was famously killed by the letter C check it out on Youtube) and Guiding Light (as Annabelle Simms a few of her episodes are on the GL collection) in the 1980s.

Swingin' in the Rain Book

This is my quick review of Eileen Davidson’s book “Diva Las Vegas”, which was written in 2011. It is her fourth soap opera mystery novel. Ms. Davidson currently plays Ashley Abbott McCall on the Young and the Restless, but she has also appeared as Ashley on The Bold and the Beautiful. She also appeared in roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives (Kristen, Susan and more), and Santa Barbara (Kelly Capwell). My summary/review does spoil some information, but does not give away the killer.

Soap Opera Music

I got a request earlier this week after blogging about the B&B anniversary episode about John McCook's (Eric) singing. The actor had a European music release in the 1990s. If anyone is interested in a track listing visit: http://www.discogs.com/John-McCook-Sings-Bold-And-Beautiful-Lovesongs/release/1063687 I had read about this CD in the 90s in a soap publication, but since it was done for Finland, I've never heard it myself. For more little bit more about soap opera music click read more.

Soap Assignments Blog: Feb 2012 Questions Part 2

Last month, a new blog called "Soap Assignments" was started that asks questions of viewers about soap operas. I decided for fun to answer them on here. There were nine questions in February, so I plan to answer four in this entry finishing out the month.

Diva Las Vegas Book

This is my quick review of Eileen Davidson’s book “Diva Las Vegas”, which was written in 2010. It is her third soap opera mystery novel, (one additional book came out in 2011.) Ms. Davidson currently plays Ashley Abbott McCall on the Young and the Restless, but she has also appeared as Ashley on The Bold and the Beautiful. She also appeared in roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives (Kristen, Susan and more), and Santa Barbara (Kelly Capwell). My summary/review does spoil some information, but does not give away the killer.

Dial Emmy for Murder Book

This is my quick review of Eileen Davidson’s book “Dial Emmy for Murder”, which was written in 2009. It is her second soap opera mystery novel, (two additional books came out in 2010 and 2011.) Ms. Davidson currently plays Ashley Abbott McCall on the Young and the Restless, but she has also appeared as Ashley on The Bold and the Beautiful. She also appeared in roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives (Kristen, Susan and more), and Santa Barbara (Kelly Capwell). My summary/review does spoil some information, but does not give away the killer.

GL: Kim Zimmer's Memoir Part Two

Here is part two of my write up on Kim Zimmer’s (Reva) memoir. The full title of the book is “I’m Just Sayin’! 3 Deaths, 7 Husbands, and a Clone! My Life as a Daytime Diva.” Laura Morton who co-wrote Susan Lucci’s book also did that job here. These are just my thoughts; spoilers about the book are included.

1992 Soap Opera Magazine

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.

Death in Daytime Book

This is my quick review of Eileen Davidson’s book “Death in Daytime”, which was written in 2008. It is her first soap opera mystery novel, (two additional books came out in 2009 and 2010.) Ms. Davidson currently plays Ashley Abbott on the Young and the Restless, but she has also appeared in that role on The Bold and the Beautiful. She also appeared in roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives (Kristen, Susan and more), and Santa Barbara (Kelly Capwell). My summary/review does spoil some information, but does not give away the killer.

SOD: Insider's Guide the Secret Life of Soaps from 1988

I was looking through my old soap opera magazines and came upon this particular issue from October 4, 1988 of Soap Opera Digest. While this issue is the regular size, it states it is a special issue as it features those things that make “soaps so unique and so much fun.” I wanted to explore these items and see if they are still prevalent in soaps today. At the end of this entry, I will summarize some of what else is in this particular issue.

Soap Opera Stars November 1984

While looking for something that had nothing to do with soaps, I came upon an issue of Soap Opera Stars from November 1984. Other than the reader’s poll, and a humor feature of soap opera bloopers, what is interesting is how many of the people in the magazine are still known to viewers of soap operas today.

Soaps in General: Down with Proximity Pairings

If you are reading this you may wonder what is a “proximity pairing” and why someone is railing against this kind of coupling. I define a “proximity pairing” as a couple that is put in proximity of one another and we are supposed to accept the duo is right for each other even if they barely are focused upon as a couple. Sometimes there is no bias and the only reason for the couple is they are both free and in the same story. Other times, it is based on factors such as age or race. In this entry, I am going to focus on stories where the pairings made sense, and overcame the label so they don't exist only in a bubble. I’m not saying all couples that are put together for this reason are poor or that soaps need not do this, just that I find they can be extremely frustrating. If there were terminology, for what I am describing, I’d love to hear it. Hopefully this post isn’t too preachy.

Soap Opera Stars November 1986

Just wanted to share some info from a nearly 25 year old soap magazine in my collection. This issue has stories about people who are still known by viewers today and a poll a reader's poll for the year 1985-1986. The poll results are slanted towards Days of Our Lives. I'll share the winners and runners-up, along with some other details written about in this issue.