News
B&B's Touching Christmas Episode With John McCook's Hankie-Worthy Performance!

Courtesy/CBS
Of all the Christmas episodes that aired over the last few days on your favorite soaps, this year to On-Air On-Soaps, one stood out among the rest.
The Bold and the Beautiful continued its throughline with the Forrester family moving on with life after the passing of the matriarch of the clan, Stephanie Forrester. And in addition, for the actors on the series, this was to be the first Christmas episode without Susan Flannery … well sort of.
The set-up of the episode had an MIA Eric (John McCook) who takes himself to a concert of Celtic Woman and sits in a very special box section above the concert hall. Alone, he fills Martini glasses for two, as if he is spending Christmas with his beloved Stephanie. All the awhile, the Forrester family and friends have no idea where he is and our very concerned. After they get Pam to spill the beans, by throwing her infamous Lemon Bars she made for Christmas at her … and the wall … Pam reveals where Eric is and the group heads out to find him.
As Eric in tears watches Celtic Woman singing some of the most known Christmas tunes, he realizes he is not alone as the Forrester clan and friends meet up with him in his private box at the concert hall. And from there, the touching moments with little dialogue said so much! In addition, it was soap veteran John McCook, who was the one who brought the gravity of the situation and heartfelt emotions to all the viewers at home.
But B&B had one more little surprise! Susan Flannery was next seen with a bluebird on her shoulder,(Pam referred to a bluebird earlier in the episode, that meant that Stephanie would be watching over her) wishing everyone at home a “Merry Christmas” followed by a wink!
B&B’s Executive Producer and head writer, Brad Bell struck the right balance of a touching story and the Christmas spirit, while the understated and often under utilized John McCook made us reach for the Kleenex. If you missed the episode, you can check it out on CBS.com here!
So soapers, what show had your favorite Christmas episode this year? Do you agree with our choice for B&B? Let us know! And for more on how it is for John McCook moving on in-story on and off the screen, without Stephanie and Susan Flannery, read our recent interview with him here!
Days had a Great christmas episode and Bold was great with all of the stephanie clips. (But I couldn’t help to wonder if this was merely an Informercial for Celtic Woman, in Leu of paying them to appear). BB has had too much product placement of Italy and aspen clips.
B&B was beautiful yesterday!!!!
Thumbs up for that episode 🙂
I think B&B nailed it with McCook showing his amazing skill…without having to say a word! Love him! And kudos Bell 🙂
It was touching, but B&B always overplays their hand. It seems Brad Bell and his team stumble across these moments, and they think “Wow that worked great, lets do it again, and again, and again. But of all the soap Christmas shows, this one was the most sentimental. I missed Y&R doing a show based on a Christmas movie, maybe that was one thing I like that MAB did. The show we got this year was okay- I would have rather seen a repeat of classic Christmas show- I often enjoy those.
I enjoyed the episode because I knew it would be the last I taped in a long time we are now headed back to Liam/Steffy/Hope and Caroline/Rick. It is sad for me Brad Bell has given the boot to some great actors for this silly bunch and it for me is like saying goodbye to an old friend.
we all watch to see our favorites as well as good storylines…i’m looking forward to Crystal Chappell returning to my screen on B&B…what a great way to ring in the New Year! ☮♡☺xo▽♀♀✩ツ♫
It has been said here in several ways but Brad Bell is just not adept at knowing when enough is enough. He beats dead horses. The Celtic Women, okay fine, have them on once, even though no one ever knew about stephanies heritage. At Christmas, why pay to have them on again…instead of bringing back missed characters or showing flashbacks? I get that Flannery was a beloved actress, but Stephanie was certainly not so as a character. She spent 25 years being a vindictive, spiteful. Jealous, violent, bordering on sociopathic character. Elevating her to some kind of sainthood in the end just seemed odd. The character was a hostile control freak who rarely showed any kindness or tenderness. Her and Eric spent more time bitter and battling than they ever did lovey and dovey. Compare this to the sendoff Jason got on GH…UNCEREMONIOUSLY shot and kicked into a harbour…very indicative of how the character was written and portrayed for 16 years. Burton was beloved…but the character as written was an unrepentant murderer for hire…if they had given him months long tributes with characters singing his praises, it would have rang false.
I can’t believe they allowed the characters of Ridge and Stephanie to leave so they can focus on that ridiculous triangle between boring Limey, Stuffi and Hopeless. What a waste.
I agree that Bold and the Beautiful had the most meaningful Christmas episode. I watched it and cried through most of it. I lost my husband to cancer two years ago around Christmas so I could really relate to how Eric was feeling.
Days Of Our Lives
Brytni Sarpy Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’

More casting news from Days of Our Lives, and for now, the soap opera seems to be breaking their new additions to Salem via their Instagram account. Now comes word and picture on August 24, that General Hospital and The Young and the Restless alum Brytni Sarpy has joined DAYS!
The Peacock soap opera’s Instagram account, showed a photo of Sarpy standing in front of her dressing room in the hallways of Days of Our Lives’ studios. The caption read, “Someone new is checking into Salem… Welcome Brytni Sarpy to the Days of our Lives family! Stay tuned.”
The casting of Sarpy comes on the heels of the announcement of Sydney Malakeh coming to the show in September, and earlier this year General Hospital favorite, Sofia Mattsson (ex-Sasha Gilmore, GH) joining the show in a mystery role when she began taping back around the end of March of this year. Now Sarpy is the “mystery role” category too!

Photo: JPI
SOAP HOPPING
Soap fans first met Sarpy when she played Valerie Spencer, the niece of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) on General Hospital back in 2015. She made her final appearance on the series back in 2019 to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the role of Elena Dawson.
Elena was introduced as a love interest for Devon Winters (Bryton James). She later cheated on him with his cousin Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). Elena began to be back-burned by 2023 with Sarpy’s last on-screen appearance in Genoa City in November of 2024.
Due to Days of Our Lives nearly year in advance tape schedule, viewers will have to wait till sometime in the early summer of 2027 to see Brytni’s arrival in Salem.
So, happy to see Brytni Sarpy has landed another soap role? Now that she is at DAYS, who you think she might be playing and paired with? Put on your casting director hats and let us know via the comment section.
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News
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Jacqueline MacInnes Wood Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’

Last week, The Bold and the Beautiful gave three-time Lead Actress Daytime Emmy winner, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, the material to go for a fourth in 2027. In an emotional scenes, Wood showcased her sadness, feeling of betrayal and abandoned by her husband, Finn, to her good friend and co-worker, Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor).
But here’s the catch; Wood, as well as Saint-Victor, played the scenes completely drunk. First, Steffy drinks herself silly on the plane home from Monaco after finding out Finn’s (Tanner Novlan) mother, Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) who she has PTSD about with good reason, boarded the plane with him to Europe and kept it a secret. Steffy had already thrown her ring at her husband and storm trooped to the airport after seeing momma Carter in Monaco.
Later, Steffy somehow stumbles into the Forrester Creations CEO office, and suddenly Carter also shows up. He is also schnokereed from knocking back one after the other over Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) walking out on him.

Photo: JPI
Suddenly, Steffy opens up her heart to Carter, “I need to be safe, so it’s over. We’re over,” speaking about her marriage to Finn. She says, “I keep replaying this moment. There was this shift. I saw it. I asked him if he was OK. Then, I realized what he was looking at ….Sheila. She was right there. And my husband wasn’t going to protect me… he wasn’t going to be there for me.”
Steffy is full on in upset-mode, that in that moment she put her faith in Finn’s commitment to her, he didn’t come through with “actions”, and that his word meant nothing. Carter winds up sitting next to Steffy on the desk of the office, blindsided by each of their partners.
Suddenly, Steffy becomes hysterical, and lets out all of her rage and Carter takes her in his arms and says “I got you.” Then, in the pick-up of the next morning, it appeared as if Carter and Steffy had sex together and passed out.
When Steffy came to she freaked out. Realizing, there wer texts from Finn trying to reach her, she wasn’t home for her kids, and she panicked and had to get out of there. When Carter tried to talk to her, she couldn’t in that moment, feeling so guilt-ridden and ashamed for her betraying her marriage like this, when she truly loves Finn.

Photo: JPI
Once she gets back home as a disheveled mess, she runs into her mother, Taylor (Rebecca Budig), before Finn arrives and lays it on thick and begs for forgiveness. Trying to recover from her hangover, her night with Carter and what all went down, as Finn talks, everything is confusing for Steffy, as she cries. She wants to tell her husband what she did and confess. But will she?
By the end of last week, Carter is begging Steffy to keep her mouth shut about their booze-filled night together, but she cries that lying to her husband and it is eating her up. Carter tells Steffy the truth of their night together can never come out for so many reasons; least of all his relationship with her father, Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) and Daphne. Will Steffy eventually crumble and spill the beans or stay quiet? Stay tuned!
Throughout all the very soapy scenarios, we have to say, we enjoyed Wood’s performances as it showed a more vulnerable, letting her guard down from the often holier-than- thou Steffy Forrester. We also think its material taking out of context that would be just right for many Emmy voters next year. So with all that said, Michael Fairman TV gives the Power Performance of the Week to B&B’s Jacqueline MacInnes Wood.
So, do you agree with our pick as Jacqueline MacInnes Wood as the Power Performance of the Week? Did you think she delivered in the scenes from the time Steffy left her husband in Monaco, through the drunken binge with Carter, to back home and being confronted with Finn wanting her to take him back? Let us know in the comment section below.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).
On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.
Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC
HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT
Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”
Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”
Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Photo: ABC
DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES
In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”
Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”
You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.
Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.
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