In a year that brought the heartbreaking loss of beloved talents in front of the camera, beautifully crafted and portrayed tributes, a brand-new soap opera for the first time in 25 years to add to our year-end accolades, and plenty of intrigue, drama and romance to speak of, plus the stories and characters that were just clunkers, we got you covered here.

Now, as 2026 begins, Michael Fairman TV takes a look back with our annual list of the Best and Worst in Soaps. As it does every year, we want to take this opportunity to give kudos to the hard work and tremendous talent of the actors, writers, producers, creatives, and crews whose tireless efforts in of itself is a feat, given the demand to churn out episodes and performances in light speed. As the years go by, budgets become tighter and the demands on the soaps themselves becomes more challenging.

While we know many of you have your own views and picks, and you may disagree with ours, but we do encourage you to read the reasoning for our choices, and then to let us know your thoughts as well. Most of all, respect everyone’s opinions as you would wish them to respect yours.

Photo: ABC

Finally, we want to wish our enduring community here at Michael Fairman TV, a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. It is all of you with your passion for the genre itself, which makes this such a unique form of entertainment with a special connection between the audience, the performers, and the storylines themselves. So, here we go … the Best and Worst in Soaps 2025. Check it out below.

BEST SOAP

GENERAL HOSPITAL

It was not only some of the major performances and storylines that made GH be the standout in 2026, it was also sometimes that small effective moments where the writing, directing, camerawork and acting all came together. Day in and day out, General Hospital’s 62nd year on the air, was the most consistently watchable of all the four other soaps. Whether it be how it was able to balance Monica’s funeral and its aftermath, and the story that followed by, a recast Michael Corinthos making a statement at the Nurses’ Ball and Gio’s revelatory moment in story and for its portrayer, Giovanni Mazza, or Congressman Cain making so many enemies he eventually got shot, there was more to like than to hate, which is good for a long-running soap opera of over six decades which felt more balanced than it has in a very long time.

Honorable Mention:

BEYOND THE GATES

When the promotion for Beyond the Gates kicked-off on CBS ahead of its premiere last February, they hailed the show as “soapier” which was playing up the obvious longtime trope of the genre. However, what we didn’t know was how “soapy” and “deliciously” entertaining it would be; complete with heart-stopping reveals, and juicy relationship drama and more. On top of which, kudos to creator/EP/head Writer Michele Val Jean, EP Sheila Ducksworth, and the BTG team for getting a soap opera on the air for the first time in 25 years, and an hour-long Black-led soap at that; featuring progressive relationship dynamics and the best fashion this side of Sunday. However, nothing topped, Leslie/Dana or whoever she called herself, running a wrecking ball through Ted and Nicole’s longstanding marriage by revealing (at their anniversary party) no less, and dropping the bombshell that Eva is Ted’s child – a product of their affair. Along the way during its first season, BTG dropped twists that kept us checking back in for more. Well-played!

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS

Jane Elliot – Tracy Quartermaine – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

As we said directly to Jane Elliot during our conversation with the legendary Gold Circle Daytime Emmy honoree at this year’s Daytime Emmys, 2025 was the year that GH wrote for Tracy properly with all her complexities, and in turn, Elliot’s performances were as they always are, beyond compare. No one can go from caustic and stubborn, with an often mean streak to boot, to caring and loving like Jane. There were many scenes throughout the year with the Quartermaine family drama that were highlights, but none more so than her tour de force as Tracy grieves Monica’s death, then finally says a eulogy at her funeral, then goes for weeks on end with a battle with Ronnie Bard (Erika Slezak) to who is the true “sister” of Monica’s heart and Martin’s forgery (Michael E. Knight) to only end up with a shock of her life! Monica left the house to her. 2025 was Jane at her all-tine best and now, “It’s Tracy’s house. Monica gave it to her!”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED-RUN

Erika Slezak – Ronnie Bard – General Hospital

How wonderful was it to see Erika Slezak back on television after her 41-years as the iconic Victoria Lord on One Life to Live. This time, General Hospital brought her in for a short-term run as the late Monica Quartermaine’s sister, Veronica “Ronnie” Bard, and as the adversary to Tracy. Slezak was extraordinary playing the waitress from North Carolina, who had a falling out with Monica in their earlier years. Now, wanting to pay her respects to her dead sister, Ronnie gets caught up in a revenge plot to make the Quartermaine mansion hers, not Tracy’s. But ONLY Erika Slezak could play a story arc with such a profound middle and end that we see her character go from suspect and questionable to becoming a loving extended member of the Q clan. We can only hope for a return visit from Ronnie Bard in the near future and Slezak. 2025 will go down as the year soap fans got Jane Elliot and Erika Slezak in scenes and story together! Thank you, GH!

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN AN STORYLINE

Genie Francis – Laura Collins – Laura Finds Dalton dead in the trunk of her Car

Photo: ABC

These scenes were a great reminder, in case anyone needed one, that Genie Francis is still the MVP of General Hospital and she should be written for as such. In this story, which had the emotional trauma for Laura of how as a teenager she accidentally killed David Hamilton, the newly reelected mayor finds Professor Henry Dalton (Daniel Goddard) shot and killed in the trunk of her car. Coming to the realization, she had been framed, she smartly (or wrongly) calls Sonny (Maurice Benard) who shows up at the scene of the crime to wipe away any evidence that would tie her to it. In a follow-up scene in her office, she really falls apart when speaking with Sonny over the horror of the situation and now she is under the thumb of Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) as we head into 2026.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Trisha Mann-Grant – Leslie Thomas – Beyond the Gates

Photo: CBS

When Beyond the Gates introduced Leslie, she pretty instantly became one of the top villains and psychopaths on the soaps. Letting nothing or no one (including her own daughter), get in her way of destroying her “Teddy Weddy’s” life and turning the Dupree family upside down. Mann-Grant’s performance when Leslie blew the lid off her past with Ted left us all with our mouths-dropped. Trisha is a fearless performer who goes there. And when you got something good, you keep it, so the writers of BTG had another trick up their sleeve. What if they made Leslie rich and wealthy! In the stunner, it turns out that Leslie is the daughter of original ‘Articulette’ member, Barbara Mitchell, who committed suicide, and now she’s rolling in money and making Anita Dupree’s life miserable too.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN A STORYLINE

Jane Elliot and Erika Slezak – Monica’s Will – General Hospital

MASTERCLASS! As we noted above in their respective honors, there was nothing like seeing these two titans of soap opera, going at it in scenes over Monica’s will and the Q mansion. Their scenes lived up to the hype, and we all could just sit back and enjoy and watch these legendary actresses go at it!

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR

Scott Clifton – Liam Spencer – The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo: JPI

One of the finest actors in the genre received the storyline of a lifetime where the audience and even Scott Clifton, didn’t know at the time, if Brad Bell (EP and head writer, BB) made the decision to “kill off” the character of Liam Spencer. In a riveting story arc, after a blowout fight with his father, Bill (Don Diamont), Liam seemingly falls and faints, smashes his head, not once but twice. Once hospitalized, suddenly we were dealing with the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, a mass on Liam’s brain, and we watched him struggle to deal with his fate, while letting others in along the way such as Hope (Annika Noelle), Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and eventually Bill, only to find out he was being duped as part of get rich quick scheme by his neurologist and surgeon, Dr. Grace Buckingham (Cassandra Creech). Can we also not forget the moment that Hope and Liam laid the smackdown on Grace for what she perpetrated on him and to his loved ones? Or, the moment Liam went to battle with Luna to save Steffy and got shot? “I’m a dead man, anyway!” Even in Liam’s wedding 4.0 to Hope, it’s Clifton’s sincerity and depth that even when he doesn’t speak a word, we can be moved by his performances.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A STORYLINE

Steve Burton – Jason grieves the loss of his mother, Monica Quartermaine – General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

Even Jane Elliot was blown away by Steve’s performance as it was apropos that it was Jason that found his mother, Monica upstairs passed away. He later mourns the loss alone with Tracy, which bring them closer. In even more tender scenes, he says a final farewell to his mother at the memorial, but that isn’t the last one. The one that got us bawling our eyes out was when after the memorial, a very alone Jason, walks half-way up the Quartermaine staircase and toasts his mother, saying he loves her. While Burton’s other storyline, in where Jason stands in his relationship with Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) has been kind of all over the place, these scenes were surefire, and beautifully portrayed where the lines of reality and acting blurred. Steve was very close to the late Leslie Charleson and her mentorship meant so much to him as a young actor, too.

Honorable Mention

John McCook – Eric is told to stay retired (Ageism) – The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo: JPI

In what was exceptionally played performance by 81-year-old soap veteran, John McCook, Eric wanted to come back to work at Forrester Creations invigorated by his own designs, but his son, Ridge (Thorsten Kaye), who now runs the company he founded shut him down. The dialog was at its underpinning about ageism in our society and the devastation that Eric felt that his family was putting him out to pasture. Was there a dry eye in the house when Eric stood on the Forrester runaway for what may have been his last time, and packed up his designs he never showed Ridge and company and left? Bravo to Mr. McCook for bringing us all the feels.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED RUN

Christopher Sean – Paul Narita – John Black’s Funeral Part Two – Days of our Lives

Photo: JPI

The memorial service for John Black in tribute to the late, great Drake Hogestyn was a 10-hankie affair. It was so well-written and paid such homage to John and to Drake, that when Christopher Sean as John’s son, Paul Narita, took to the lectern to speak about his relationship with his father, their love of baseball, and being accepted as an out gay man by his dad, it was truly one of the most beautiful, touching moments we have ever seen during a memorial episode. Paul concluded his speech with “I love you, Dad. I can’t wait to play another game of baseball with you again.” Thank you Christopher for loving Drake! Just a few weeks later, Paul tied the knot with the love of his life Andrew Donovan in a heart-tugging ceremony which was joyous and yet filled with sorrow for Paul’s dad count not witness him marrying the man he loves.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR

Michael E. Knight – Martin Grey – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

The character of Martin Grey got a badly needed reset, when he came back to Port Charles without his “Colonel Sanders” accent and now as played by soap vet Michael E. Knight, he was right in the thick of things in 2025, and in at least two major stories. How delicious was it to see Knight’s contentious scenes between Martin and Tracy when Martin tried to scam Tracy out of her inheritance of Monica’s house (with Erika Slezak no less) for payback of getting him thrown in jail over alimony payments to his three ex-wives? Then, Martin is constantly roped in to do his client, Drew Cain’s bidding, all the while hating the guy. But then there is the flip side, the love of his sister, Laura. Knight can go from the comedy to the drama, to the greedy lawyer to brother, in his own inevitable style that we first fell in love with when he was “Tad the Cad” on All My Children.

BEST NEWCOMER

Ambyr Michelle – Eva Thomas – Beyond the Gates

Courtesy/CBS

Give all the props to Ambyr! When she comes on screens, she takes over the scene, and you can’t take your eyes off of her. Her entry point on to the canvas was working to stab her bio-dad, Ted Richardson (Maurice Johnson, then Keith D. Robinson) in the back as her mother Leslie’s accomplice, but the humanity of it all got to her and she struggled to go through with her mom’s plan to out Ted’s affair and her birthright. Nothing was more devastating that in the aftermath of Ted and Nicole’s anniversary party, where it all came to light, leaving Eva’s life trashed. But, as played by this actress, she is a fighter. Michelle plays the often tough-as-nails veneer with the lovable edge that makes us root for Eva. BTG! You’ve have got a star on your hands, and we say it’s only a matter of time before she’s lighting up the silver screen.

BEST TEARJERKER (TIE) and BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

John’s Death and Memorial Service – Days of our Lives

Photo: JPI

DAYS head writers Paula Cwikly and Jeanne Marie Ford were tasked with a near-to-impossible set of circumstances in which to work with. Yet, they turned it into one of the all-time most moving tributes in the history of the soaps, which honored an icon of the show, a beloved co-star and friend, and the amazing gifts Drake Hogestyn brought to the role of legendary superhero, John Black.

How could they honor the core of the character of John, give him a final mission, and have him die on-screen when Drake Hogestyn was dying at home from pancreatic cancer at just 70-years-old? It was so appropriate that John’s last act of heroics was to save Bo (Peter Reckell). Sadly, that mission would ultimately cost him his life. As John (an actor who was bandaged from the face down), struggled to stay alive, one by one his family members came to share their remembrances and goodbyes. Even the flashbacks were so perfectly chosen showing John’s journey from The Pawn to his other incarnations that respected the character. When Marlena knew it was time for John to let go, she crawled into his hospital bed with him, and moments of their lives flashed on-screen.

Later, John’s memorial service was extremely difficult for the cast to play out, but also served as a bit of a cathartic experience as the writers put into the script key moments from Drake’s history including his life as a pro baseball player with the New York Yankees, and how he had a way with words and storytelling. As Paul (more on that below), Eric (Greg Vaughan), Roman (Josh Taylor), Kayla (Mary Beth Evans), Belle (Christie Clark), Carrie (Christie Clark), Bo, who made it back now alive for the memorial, and of course, Marlena all shared their remembrances of John. However, it was Steve, John’s best friend who said it best: “To John Black, the finest man I ever knew.” Drake would be so proud of what was put together in his honor, “And that’s a fact!”

Monica’s Death – General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

Leslie Charleson was the longest-running tenured actress on General Hospital. She played the spirited and complex Dr. Monica Quartermaine since 1977. For quite a long time, the character of Monica was upstairs and unwell, and not seen on the canvas as Charleson was unable to make any further on-camera appearances.  When Leslie died in real life in the beginning of January 2025, the show took its time to develop and to honor what the character of Monica and Leslie meant to the show. In just pitch-perfect writing, Jason finds his mother dead and breaks the news to Tracy. As noted, both Jane Elliot and Steve Burton were exquisite in the story. Flashbacks were shown throughout, but ones that mattered, including her fights with Alan and Tracy and of course, Monica’s battle with breast cancer.

GH also did justice to Leslie and to Monica in a memorial service that lasted over several episodes where Ned (Wally Kurth), Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), Laura (Genie Francis), Jason, Michael (Rory Gibson) and Tracy all spoke and shared touching stories from different faces of Monica’s life as a doctor, a friend, a sister, and more. We also reached for the hankies when Laura and others, placed Monica’s picture on the GH memorial wall, which made longtime viewers look at the legendary actors and characters we have lost many within the last few years, as General Hospital has been hit the hardest of all the other soaps.

But what was brilliant, is that the writers kept Monica relevant even in her death and gave us a juicy Quartermaine battle over the rights to the house and Monica’s last will and testament. Enter Erika Slezak as Monica’s never before heard of sister, Ronnie Bard and let the fireworks began. In the end, Tracy inherited the house as she should in what was a very touching and satisfying moment which we believe in our hearts, Leslie Charleson would have loved.

BEST VILLAIN FEMALE

Lisa Yamada – Luna Nozawa – The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo: JPI

You can’t keep a good bad girl down! And that was the case with B&B’s Luna. After a showdown with Steffy, Liam and Sheila (Kimberlin Brown), she is shot, and apparently dies in surgery. ONLY to have her Aunt Li (Naomi Matsuda) secretly stow her away at her place (as she did years prior to Luna’s bio-dad Finn). Now back to life, Luna picked right back up with her most heinous plot yet,  raping Will Spencer and becoming pregnant. Later, she winds up back in prison, only to escape, tells Will she lost their baby, and then supposedly gets run down by a car to her death (but we never see a lifeless body), leaving the door open for what’s next. Yamada broke Emmy history this fall with her well-deserved victory for her performances from 2024 becoming the first Asian-American performer to take daytime gold. Yamada is gold to B&B.

BEST VILLAIN MALE

Cameron Mathison – Drew Cain – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

We have all spent over a year wanting to throw something at the TV at this smug, vindictive, evil, smarmy congressman, who is nothing like the OG version of Drew Cain. We didn’t know whether to place Drew as “Most Hated,” or just the “Best Villain”, because we are all so sick of his machinations that we want the guy to PAY dearly for his crimes, and how he has been blackmailing and manipulating everybody in town. But, isn’t it that Cameron Mathison, the once charming good guy of All My Children, is playing bad, so good, that we can’t stand Drew anymore? Therein lies he rub we find ourselves in. Drew’s a resentful a-hole, and as the writers give him more despicable material to play (i.e. leaving Ned to have a heart attack) if Mathison didn’t make our blood boil, would the scenes fall flat in the hands of someone else? Think about that.

BEST MOTHER/DAUGHTER MOMENT

Leslie kicks Eva out of her Apartment – Beyond the Gates

This was a horrific! And so brilliantly played by Trisha Mann-Grant and Ambyr Michelle. After screwing up her mother’s plans for revenge, Leslie locks her daughter out of their apartment and kicks her out on the street – her box of things and all. Michelle was gut-wrenching.

Honorable Mention:

Lois says goodbye to Brook Lynn – General Hospital

In what would turn out to be Rena Sofer’s last episode (for now), Lois leaves Port Charles after all of her lies and deceptions came to light regarding keeping her daughter, Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) from knowing Gio was her biological-son, and the two have a heart-to-heart talk where Lois hopes Brook Lynn can forgive her one day and they share a tender hug.

BEST FATHER/SON MOMENT

Johnny confronts EJ over raping his mother, Sami – Days of our Lives

Photo: JPI

In riveting performances by Carson Boatman and Dan Feuerriegel, Johnny armed with the knowledge that EJ raped Sami, lays the smackdown on his father, while EJ tries to explain but Johnny says, he only exists because a monster violated an innocent woman. EJ begs his son to believe the true story of ow Stefano was dying and needed a baby’s stem cells to live, Johnny can’t listen to this. EJ says without his own deplorable actions, Johnny would not exist and that it is now heartbreaking for him to see his son hate him. Great use of history.

BEST BOMBSHELL REVEAL

Leslie exposes Ted’s affair and their daughter Eva at Nicole and Ted’s anniversary party – Beyond the Gates

Photo: CBS

The psychotic Dana/Leslie or Sherry (Trisha Mann-Grant), whatever her name was, came to Fairmont Crest to do damage and position herself to blow the roof of longtime married doctors, Ted (then Maurice Johnson) and Nicole (Daphnee Duplaix) and the Dupree family. As Leslie was circling her prey at the party, and getting ready to bounce, and reveal her long-ago affair with Ted, her daughter Eva (Ambyr Michelle), who had been her co-conspirator, was trying to head her off at the pass.

However, Leslie announced it all to a stunned room and a gutted Eva. The intensity was fraught with so many layers. It has been a very longtime in soap viewing that something like this was so cold, unforgiving, and left Leslie’s own daughter questioning her entire relationship with her own mother, who used her to get back at Ted. The entire reveal was executed to pretty much perfection and its aftermath still reverberates, which makes for great long-term story.

HONARABLE MENTION:

Gio learns his bio-parents are Brook Lynn and Dante before he takes to the stage at the Nurses’ Ball – General Hospital

In a star-turn for 20-year-old, Giovanni Mazza (Gio), backstage at the Nurses’ Ball, Gio overhears the Lulu and Lois confrontation and learns the truth. Next, Gio takes to the Nurses’ Ball stage with his violin in tow and angrily dedicates his performance to Brook Lynn and Dante, “They gave me away and have been lying to me my entire life!” He then smashed his violin on the floor and stormed off, leaving Dante staring at Brook Lynn in a state of confusion. It was riveting TV at its best.

BEST LOYAL COMPANION

Outback

Courtesy/ABC

Enough said! The smart and adorable dog saves the day for Ronnie and Tracy and sticks it to Drew, and is there for Cody as man’s best friend, and we love him! Great find GH, and thanks for telling the story of animals trapped in labs for experiments too. Very important issue.

BEST TRIPLE THREAT

Heather Tom –The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo: JPI

In 2025, the mighty Tom (Katie Logan) celebrated her 35th anniversary in soaps with an impressive episode about mothers and daughters in which she not only acted in it, but directed and wrote it. Trifecta! Is a 7th Emmy coming her way?

CASTING SHOCKER

Billy Flynn to Y&R and Conner Floyd to DAYS

Photo: JPI

Billy Flynn departs Days of our Lives to join The Young and the Restless as the recast Cane Ashby and is currently still streaming on DAYS as Chad, too. However, come April 2026, Chad will be played by Conner Floyd, the former Chance Chancellor of Y&R, who in his final scenes is shot and dies in Billy Flynn’s arms on Y&R.  Got that!?

BEST TWIST

Hayley isn’t just a Homewrecker, she’s a Lifewrecker – Beyond the Gates

Thank goodness, the writers of Beyond the Gates found a way to rejuvenate the character of Hayley Lawson Hamilton (Marquita Goings). After stealing Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) from Dani (before the show debuted), she just had been a little trouble-making vixen, who went between good and bad. However, we found out that she is actually a grifter who steals fortunes. Her MO is to “Kill Bill” and get all of the money that would be coming her way. Good twist.

MOST DISAPPOINTING SECRET

Audra and Holden in Los Angeles – The Young and the Restless

Photo: JPI

While many viewers thought the connection between Audra (Zuleyka Silver) and Holden (Nathan Owens) and their secret past had to do with a baby or some kind of theft, it was actually revealed that some rando man was harassing Audra at The Shadow Room, where Holden was bartending. Apparently, she stole the guy’s wallet previously, when he came back to the scene of the crime he confronted her, and Holden punched the guy. Said rich guy hit his head on the floor and died, and then they covered it up.

BEST SCENE STEALER

Karla Mosley – Dani Dupree – Beyond the Gates

When Beyond the Gates debuted, right out of the “gate’, we met the character of Dani Dupree who compared to now being the Black Erica Kane of the soaps. In the initial episode with guns a-blazing (that little pistol in her purse), Dani wanted revenge on Hayley and Bill (her ex-husband) at their wedding. And since that time, soap vet, Karla Mosley has been tearing it up, although we would like to see a little more of Dani’s fire come back from the first few months of the show. Whatever scene she is in, Mosley demands your attention on just how Dani will react.

BEST MUSICAL EVENT

The Articulettes –  One Night Only Reunion Concert

Photo: CBS

BTG delivered one-fine looking concert for daytime television, which featured Tamara Tunie (Anita), Bonita Brisker (Sharon) and Marcia Howell (Tracy), putting aside their differences to sing together one last time. It featured inspired music for the sound of the all-girl R&B group, and the staging was incredible, lights, camera, action, this had it all and the dedication to the original “Articulette “Barbara Mitchell who took her own life.

BEST YOUNGER ACTOR (TIE)

Finn Carr (Rocco) Giovanni Mazza (Gio) Asher Antonyzyn (Danny), and Gary James Fuller (James) – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

General Hospital has an embarrassment of riches in the younger actor category, (and we are talking guys under 21). All four of the actors mentioned above, all deserve praise for touching performances, going toe-to-toe with the veterans and holding their own in heavy emotional scenes.

We want to also give a special mention here to Giovanni Mazza for the hankie-inducing moment where Gio is gifted a violin on Christmas and struggles with the moment, and is finally reunited with the instrument that he loves to play and is his passion. With so much emotion, he then plays for the Quartermaines and the whole performance was just brilliant from the acting to the music.

BEST YOUNGER ACTRESS

Alice Halsey – Rachel Black – Days of our Lives

Photo: JPI

DAYS Alice Halsey is such a terrific actress that she has been cast as the leading role in The Little House of Prairie revival in the role of heroine Laura Ingalls which is coming to Netflix this year. Meanwhile in Salem, Rachel shot EJ DiMera, is a scheming twisted little girl, which is what one would expect as the daughter of Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) and Brady Black. She had the rough material and made it work and we love that they actually put the girl in Bayview.

BEST RETURN

Alison Sweeney – Sami Brady – Days of our Lives

Courtesy/Peacock

While we know Alison came and went two times in 2025 on-screen, her returns carried high-emotion and gave her some of the best material in her daytime career. In April, Sami has a scene with her son, Johnny when he confronts her about how she could go on loving EJ when he raped her and how he was conceived. Sami launched into how she was sexually assaulted as a teenager and how her behavior was shaped from there. She showed her pain and shame for her actions, and also spoke on the actions of others perpetrated on her. When Sami finally addressed the night that EJ forced himself on her, she also admitted that her relationship with Johnny’s father always had fire and was very complicated. But in the end, she loves his dad, probably more than any other man. Later, even though Sweeney’s schedule could not get her back on time to tape John Black’s memorial episode, she showed up to grieve and mourn the man she had a very complicated past with also, but who in the end she grew to love. This was an example of when you return, make it count.

WORST RETURN (So Far)

Ryan Paevey – Nathan West – General Hospital

This has been such a huge disappointment thus far. It seems like we were being teased with this transformative alternate version of Nathan who would be revealed as a very bad man. However, so far (and this just could be the biggest slow burn ever), the material Paevey has been given seems like he is fine, upstanding cop Nathan, with a seven-year gap in his memory, who just showed up back in town and is falling for his comatose wife Maxie’s (Kirsten Storms) best friend, Lulu (Alexa Havins Bruening). Please tie this all together and have it that “Nathan” is not Nathan” and is the one pulling all the strings involving Anna’s (Finola Hughes) kidnapping and working with Sidwell! Otherwise let us know clearly that he is the real Nathan and fill in the back-story of the missing 7 years.

MOST DISAPPOINTING RETURN

Matthew Atkinson – Thomas Forrester – The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo: JPI

Fans get so worked up or excited, when the news breaks that Matthew Atkinson is headed back to The Bold and the Beautiful as Thomas Forrester. However, so far, his visits have been short and head-scratching. Thomas is a lightning-rod for viewers who either love or hate the character. However, when Thomas returned to Los Angeles for a series of episodes after his bust up with Paris, he spent his entire visit railing on Brooke over his parents, Ridge and Taylor’s (Rebecca Budig) failure to remarry, only for Ridge to go back to Brooke for the umpteenth time, and he suddenly regressed into this bully, psychologically troubled, threatening Thomas of old, and then after all his shouting, just vanished.

As 2025 came to a close, Thomas is supposedly back once again and working with his obsession, Hope as the lead designer of “Hope for the Future.” Atkinson could fill the void of a needed stir-the-pot guy on the canvas, if the show could have Thomas stay put and make sense of his mental state.

FIZZLED RETURN

Rafe’s doppelgänger Arnold Feniger – Days of our Lives

While we know Galen Gering has enjoyed, and it is entertaining, watching him playing the flip of good guy cop Rafe Hernandez, this story involving the return of his scumball lookalike was not so pleasing. 13 years ago, the DiMeras paid the guy to have surgery to ruin Rafe’s marriage to Sami. In the early part of the year 2025, he returned from the dead wanting cash. Suddenly, real Rafe was drugged, Arnold took over his life and Rafe’s nuptials to Jada went bust, Then, in short order everything was flipped back when Rafe got his memory back, and we don’t know what purpose this all served??

BEST RECAST

Rory Gibson – Michael Corinthos – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

From the very first moment, Rory burst onto the scene as the new Michael Corinthos, replacing Chad Duell (who stepped away from the show), Gibson owned the part of Michael. A man who strutted into the Nurses Ball’ and picked up his son Wiley and told him “let’s get out of here,” leaving everyone in Port Charles dumbstruck. In addition, Gibson’s Michael got rave reviews from the fans right out of the gate, which is seldom seen in soapland. Rory has breathed new fire, life and attitude into the character making him every bit of a Quaertermaine alongside Tracy and company.  Bravo!

MOST SHOCKING RECAST 

Roger Howarth as Matt Clark – The Young and the Restless

Photo: JPI

We all know that Roger Howarth can play a complex bad guy. We were also excited to learn he was coming to Y&R in a “mystery role.” But when Howarth was now supposed to be the back-from-the-dead Matt Clark, the nemesis of Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon (Sharon Case), it was a stretch. And even on this week’s episode, Matt never explained to Nick how he survived framing him for pulling the plug on him. Also in this storyline, everyone knew it was Matt (no explanation of plastic surgery as he looks nothing like the character’s last portrayer, Rick Hearst) when they came face-to-face with him. The shock of the recast noted above is that Y&R chose to make Howarth, the evil Clark, and not take the opportunity to create some new “delicious” villain or character for him.

WORST EXIT

Jonathan Jackson – Lucky Spencer – General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

This was the biggest letdown in soap in 2025! After returning to GH for the first time in 10 years, and having only been back for nine months, and as the story was just getting around to reuniting Lucky and Elizabeth, Jackson announces he is departing the soap and ending his return earlier than expected. Jonathan has noted that flying back and forth to LA from Tennessee and the importance of being with his family at this time needed to take priority. JJ came away with his 6th Daytime Emmy for his work this fall, and we wish he could have stayed longer, but if he was exiting, we also wish a more sensical goodbye could have been crafted.

BEST KEPT SECRET GOING ON TOO LONG

Joss shot and killed Cyrus Renault – General Hospital

This secret is taking wayyy too long to come out. Since no one even questions of the whereabouts of the body of Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), what will happen when Laura (Genie Francis) finds out her brother was shot by Joss (Eden McCoy), although he totally deserved it!? Will Joss finally have a breakdown over what she had done and Dex’s (Evan Hofer) death? Or is this all over with and she’s just a WSB agent?

MOST TORTURED HEROINE

Sharon Collins – The Young and the Restless

Photo: JPI

Haven’t we given Y&R’s Sharon this recognition before? But after last year where we loved the situations the show had written for her (thinking she had killed Heather Stevens and the delusion, and paranoia and more), in 2025, the show went back to handcuffing and kidnapping Sharon to an underground sewer, or throwing her in a panic room or abandoned psych ward to work out her issues with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) by another loony tune, Martin (Christopher Cousins). If that wasn’t enough, later in the year, Sharon learned that her son, Noah (Lucas Adams) was in a mysterious car crash in LA. So, she heads to his hospital room, where for good reason she freaks out with memories of losing her daughter, Cassie. But there’s more! Her rapist from decades ago is back and alive as she comes face to face with Matt Clark (Roger Howarth), and that kind of leads us into 2026. PLEASE stop torturing Sharon!

BEST COUPLE

Anita and Vernon Dupree – Beyond the Gates

Photo: CBS

There’s a new “Best Couple” in town and they are played by veteran actors, Tamara Tunie (Anita) and Clifton Davis (Vernon) Together, they are the glue that holds the Dupree family and Beyond the Gates together. Look no further than the recent holiday episodes where Clifton Davis finally sings his hit song, “Never Can Say Goodbye” just after learning Anita has breast cancer, or how he steps up for his wife in her moments of need, or how they always come together for their family. Thumbs up for Anita and Vernon, and it makes you wish you had an everlasting love like that in your life through thick and though thin.

WORST COUPLE

Derek and Ashley – Beyond the Gates

Photo: CBS

It’s been a bit of a head-scratcher as to the story and relationship of Beyond the Gates, Derek (Ben Gavin) and Ashley (Jen Jacob). Are they still a couple, not together, do we care? Do they want to be with each other, or both secretly wanting to be with other people? At their core, it seemed like they wee two good people, who have become more shades of gray and unlikeable. I thought Derek would become a psycho obsessed killer and Ashley would go with Andre (Sean Freeman). Tell me that is still in the cards? If not, what’s the point of these characters?

WORST CHARACTER FLIP

Cat Greene – Days of our Lives

Bringing 90210’s AnnaLynne McCord to Day of our Lives has been a writing conundrum. First, we are supposed to believe she is playing Abigail Deveraux who died, then she was a woman posing as Abigail Deveraux for the sake of saving her mother, now she is supposed to be an ISA operative. Then, they have Cat fall for Chad as played by Billy Flynn, but in a few months he will be off the air and Conner Floyd will take over. It’s hard to invest in this character when different writing regimes have set her on various courses and none of them make us want to invest or care about her.

CHARACTERS WHO DESERVE THE BIGGEST BITCH-SLAP

Drew Cain – General Hospital

Line em’ up! Starting with Stella Henry who snapped at Drew, “You are just as despicable as ever. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else took a shot at your ass. You deserve it!”

Willow Tait – General Hospital

Line em up! How can all of these men fall at this woman’s feet? Think, Chase, Michael, Drew! What is it about her? And what happened about her gaslighting Sasha over little Daisy? Her blackouts? She has often been written insufferable. Let’s hope by the end of the “Who Shot Drew” story, we feel differently.

MOST DISSAPOINTING CHARACTER

Doug Williams III – Peyton Meyer – Days of our Lives

As played by Peyton Meyer and written, this character had the promise of being a young version of Doug Williams, who started out on the wrong path as a con man but became a beloved leading man. This was supposed to be Julie’s (Susan Seaforth Hayes) in the present connection to her late husband Doug, but it all just fizzled amid stealing necklaces and a start of romance with Holly, while he was more involved with loan sharks and kidnapping plots. We weren’t crying in our hankies, when Doug III left Salem and neither was Julie!

MOST HATED and MOST VILIFIED CHARACTER

Natalia Rogers-Ramirez – General Hospital

Photo: ABC

How do you take the beloved Eva LaRue and make her the worst character on daytime TV? Here’s how: make her a homophobe and she has two gay children to boot! After literally saying horrific and prejudicial things about her daughter, Blaze’s relationship with Kristina, later, we learn she has a son Marco (Adrian Anchondo) with none other than her ex-husband, Jenz Sidwell. We later learn, she wasn’t much there for Marco either while he was growing up, and he was accepted for who he is by his criminal father, more than her! Still later, after getting Sonny in major trouble with the law, he sends Natalia on a one-way ticket out of the country, and when she finds out he’s not coming with her, she drinks and pops pills till she accidentally kills herself, and then we find out still later from her own son, she had a penchant for popping pills and drinking. I mean, enough said!

BEST STORYLINE

John’s Death – Days of our Lives

The care and the love shown to honor Drake Hogestyn and his iconic character of John Black was perfectly crafted as mentioned previously. A final mission, saving his best friend’s life while losing his, and a set of memorial episodes incorporating facets of John and facets of Drake, and watching the cast struggle through their real-life grief and sadness while delivering touching eulogies. Thus it made it to the top of her list.

HONORABLE MENTION

Who Shot Drew?  –  General Hospital

So here is the thing: while this story has gotten extremely frustrating by the end of 2025, as we wait for the reveal of whodunit, it’s been a very intriguing, topsy-turvy journey where so many characters could have done the deed! And while many wish Drew would have been shot dead, he survived the two bullets and look what’s come out of it? Jacinda (Paige Herschell) and Michael’s relationship, Portia’s (Brook Kerr) marriage bust-up and affair with Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) and now she’s pregnant and doesn’t know who the baby-daddy is, and Willow being on trial for shooting her husband, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) being blackmailed by Drew to do a good job or he will continue to forbid her to see her granddaughter and on and on. Twists are coming though! Stay tuned.

WORST STORYLINE (TIE)

Aristotle Dumas – The Young and the Restless

Photo: JPI

For months, we heard the name “Aristotle Dumas” ad nauseam. We later learned that the guy invited all the major players to his train cars outside a chateau in Nice, France. Once there, the mystery man was revealed as Cane Ashby, now in the form of Billy Flynn without an Aussie accent and rich to the gills! In fact, Aristotle/Cane had a creepy assistant, Carter (Vincent Stalba), who was a loose cannon and shot and killed Chance (Conner Floyd), Damian (Jermaine Rivers) died too, and we learn that Cane has some kind of AI program to take over and buy up all the big corporations in Genoa City. Couldn’t we have brought the amazingly talented Billy Flynn on to the Y&R canvas in another way?

Mariah and Tessa’s marriage gone bust – The Young and the Restless

In what feels like a way to concoct a story because their characters don’t have one, when Ian Ward (Ray Wise) was “alive” and back in Genoa City, he charmed Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) into conversations which alarmed Mariah (Camryn Grimes). When Mariah takes a work trip, she returns unable to admit whatever happened to her while she was away, and tells Tessa they need to separate. Tessa wants to work it out. Mariah won’t tell her and decided to sign herself into a clinic in Boston to figure what’s going on with her. Meanwhile, Tessa has become close to Daniel (Michael Graziadei) and recently kissed him. So, is this the end of the same-sex love story of Mariah and Tessa? Now, we still have Ian showing up and taunting Mariah, but is he alive or a vision? Very frustrating.

BEST COSTUME AND WARDROBE

Beyond the Gates – Jeresa Featherstone

Photo: CBS

We usually don’t have this category in our year-in-review. However, what costume designer, Jeresa Featherstone has done with the wardrobe for the characters on Beyond the Gates is next level!

BIGGEST HEADLINE

Beyond the Gates Premieres

Photo: CBS

Beyond the Gates bowed on February 24, 2025 making daytime history in many ways. First, it’s the first hour-long, Black-led soap opera of all-time. It was also the first soap opera to launch on network broadcast television in over 25 years, in a medium that everyone was shouting was “dying.” With its contemporary relationships, the show has been refreshing and inclusive moving soaps a bit more in step with the times in which we live.

MOST OVERUSED TERM and PLOT DEVICE

AI Software – The Young and the Restless

Watching legendary characters Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) fighting over AI software that decimates businesses, is not what we call must-see daytime TV. It’s hard for the viewers to get excited with something that is not a visible threat, but a more abstract one. Is there an end game with this … or will we be hearing the mustache, Phyllis, Cane and more just going back and forth for ownership or stealing it from out under each other for months to come? We don’t want to hear anymore, “Unleash the AI!”

BEST WEDDING

Danny and Christine – The Young and the Restless

Photo: JPI

This was so highly-publicized and there was so much press around the second wedding decades in the making between Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and Christine “Cricket” Blair (Lauralee Bell) that the pressure was on to make it memorable. And that they did! It was definitely a throwback for all the OG viewers of Y&R. Often times it brought a tear to our eyes, especially in the scenes involving the returns of Tricia Cast as Cricket’s BFF Nina Webster and Patty Weaver as Danny’s sister, Gina Roma. There were heartfelt speeches none more so than from Danny’s son, Daniel played by Michael Graziadei, a Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) interruptus moment, and a song later from Danny and Tessa (although their relationship is a whole other issue). The sincerity played by Damian and Bell here for their long-awaited nuptials, was a nice gift to fans of the show from the 80s and 90s and on.

WORST WEDDING

Brooke and Ridge – The Bold and the Beautiful

After saving her life in Italy, dumping Taylor once again, and deciding to remarry for the ninth time, it was very underwhelming to see the two tie the knot in the CEO office of Forrester Creations, around a conference table officiated on the spot by Carter. There was no family present even though they mostly work right there at the company! I guess we can assume, they just wanted to get this over with?

Photos: JPI

IN-MEMORIAM

It was a very somber year for soap opera fans with the loss of such as iconic performers from Leslie Charleson (ex-Monica, GH) to Denise Alexander (ex-Lesley, GH, Susan, DAYS, Mary, AW), Chris Robinson (ex-Rick, GH, ex-Jason, AW) Eileen Fulton (ex-Lisa ATWT), Tristan Rogers (ex-Robert, GH, Colin Y&R) and Anthony Geary (ex-Luke, GH). 2025 was a year of devastating loss for the soap opera community and television fans.

Other soap alum who passed included: James Houghton, Mark Robies, Wings Hauser, Pam Peters Solow, Jack Betts, Julia McMahon, Patricia Crowley, Andre Landzaat, Franciso Saint Martin, Michelle Trachtenberg, Gil Gerard and more. We will always remember their performances and contributions.

Now, let us know what you thought of our picks for the Best and Worst in Soaps 2025. Did your favorites make our list? Which picks did you enjoy? If not, also let us know via the comment section below your choices as well in the major categories and more.