In a year that brought the heartbreaking loss of beloved talents in front of the camera, shocking exits and more, it was an emotional rollercoaster for soap opera viewers. Now, as 2025 begins, Michael Fairman TV takes a look back at the previous year with our annual list of the Best and Worst in Soaps. 

As it does every year, we want take this opportunity to pay tribute to the hard work and tremendous talent of actors, writers, producers, creatives, and crews whose tireless efforts in of itself, is a feat, given the demands to churn out episodes and performances in breakneck speed.

However, in addition to naming the best moments and performances of 2024, there were several not-so-stellar moments featuring characters, storylines, and more, that get the dubious honor of some of our “Worsts”.

While we know many of you have your own views and picks, and you may disagree with ours, we encourage you to let us know your thoughts as well. Most of all, respect everyone’s opinions, as you wish them to respect yours.

Finally, we want to wish our enduring community here at Michael Fairman TV, a very Happy 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 2024. Take a look below.

Photo: ABC

BEST SOAP

General Hospital

Every show had its issues in 2024. B&B had two great shockers with Sugar/Sheila and Luna gone wild, but then also came the very repetitive stories, Brooke/Ridge/Taylor etc. Y&R had the most riveting drama of the year with Sharon and the death of Heather Stevens, while at other times was marred down by business storylines. DAYS brought its entertainment value and showed its heart many times throughout the year, but at other times was incredibly hard to watch episode to episode.

So, in an imperfect year for all the soaps, for us, the one we were able to get through the most was General Hospital. It brought us so many emotional moments big and small with Bobbie, Sam and Dex’s death, the angst of Kristina and Molly over the loss of the baby, Lulu coming back to life, the Quartermaines front and center (and loving Jane Elliot), and Steve Burton back as Jason who in the smallest of moments showed that this version of Jason is less stoic and is more likely to shed a tear. Don’t get us wrong. The show had its problems with its bloated cast, unfinished stories that seem dropped out of nowhere, and fan favorites being let-go, but in the end, it’s GH that gave us the most overall ability to tune-in.

Photo: JPI

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS

Sharon Case – Sharon Collins – The Young and the Restless

Hands-down, the remarkable performance of the year occurred in the episode where it appears that Sharon Collins caused the death of Heather Stevens after a catastrophic showdown between the two and its aftermath. That aftermath included: Sharon disposing Heather’s body over a bridge, wailing and wailing for what she had done in a mind-bending stupor in her car. Couple and triple that with episode after episode of Sharon’s guilt, the cover-up, talking to her alter-ego (the late Cameron Kirsten), her admission of guilt to Nick, and it was all a marathon masterclass where Case had to bring that kind of emotional instability, vulnerability, criminal culpability and the tears for months on end. If Sharon Case does not receive a Emmy nod for this body of work, then we may have some serious issues.

Honorable Mention:

Nancy Lee Grahn – Alexis Davis – General Hospital

This was definitely Nancy’s year on General Hospital. From the loss of Gregory Chase to the loss of her beloved daughter, Sam McCall, and a heartbreaking look at a mother’s grief, Nancy played it all with great depth. In story, Alexis also tries to hold up her two other bickering daughters (Molly and Kristina) among their battle over the loss of the baby that Kristina was carrying, Nancy showed why she is a powerhouse every day of the season. PLUS, how we loved the Christmas episode where Alexis enlisted Ric to help her decorate the tree to cheer up their daughter, Molly, which was comedic genius from both actors.

Photo: JPI

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A STORYLINE

Melody Thomas Scott – Nikki’s drinking hits rock bottom – The Young and the Restless

Who doesn’t love a boozin’ Nikki? Jordan did such a number on her that earlier in the year she hit rock bottom only to sober up following Jack’s risky intervention in a stunning two-person episode. How long will Miss Bougie stay off the bottle this time, now that Jordan is back? We have said it before, and will say it again, nobody plays drunk on TV like MTS. But it’s always the comeback and how Nikki pulls herself back together that we always root for.

Courtesy/ABC

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A STORYLINE

Kate Mansi – Kristina in the pouring rain visits “Adela’s” grave – General Hospital

In complete anguish, Kristina visits the gravesite of the baby she lost when she crashed through the window at the Metro Court during an argument with Ava. Grieving, she goes to the grave in the pouring rain and is torn up inside over the baby’s death and lays herself across the grave missing her daughter. It’s the kind of Emmy scene voters love.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Susan Seaforth Hayes – Julie Williams – Days of our Lives

How Susan Seaforth Hayes was able to play the same grief and loss she was experiencing in real-life provided the most astounding and gut-wrenching moments in soaps in 2024. After the loss of her beloved husband, Bill Hayes back in January, viewers witnessed: Julie learning that Doug had died on Thanksgiving, her heartbreaking final moments before they took Doug’s body, the memorial service where Susan used the same eulogy with some tweaks she delivered at Bill’s real-life memorial. Then, on Christmas Day, for the first time in 50 years, Doug is not present for the annual Horton Christmas tree ornament hanging and Julie presides over it by herself.  This was an important story to tell for people who have been in long-term relationships and survive the loss of their loved one. We should all put our arms around Susan and thank her for letting us in through Julie.

Photo: JPI

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR

Paul Telfer – Xander Kiriakis – Days of our Lives

This year, Xander was put through an emotional journey as he learned he was duped by his own mother, Fiona and was Victor Kiriakis biological son. Telfer’s explosion after the fallout from the double wedding where he learned the truth about Xander’s parentage was impressive. Later, when his wife, Sarah is run down by a car and he thinks its Brady who’s done the deed, he wants to “Tonya Harding” him with a baseball bat, and still later in the story, Xander says his goodbyes to Fiona, who winds up having to pay for her web of lies, including driving drunk, and leaving the scene of a hit and run resulting in Sarah landing in a wheelchair. In addition, Xander’s fight scenes with his half-brother, Philip is always fun to watch. Telfer can bring the drama, the comedy, the villainy, and yes, at times, the over-the-top essence of Xander (Kilt at all).

Photo: JPI

Honorable Mention:

Steve Burton – Jason Morgan – General Hospital

Burton’s re-entry story as Jason working for Pikeman/FBI Cates and the blackmail that ensued was a bust. While to some this may be a controversial choice, later in the year GH brought more of an emotional Jason, who was interacting with his children, who would give solid advice to those in need, and was dependable as they come. We felt for Jason’s heartfelt goodbye to his longtime love, Sam, the moments as he tried to comfort his son, Danny, and even being dissed by his now MIA son, Jake. Recently, Jason moved into the Quartermaines and we’ve enjoyed his scenes with Tracy, and doing what all of us wanted to do, punch the lights out of his brother, Drew!

Courtesy/Peacock

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR

Dan Feuerriegel – EJ DiMera – Days of our Lives

Dan is always good, and he continued bringing all sides of EJ DiMera throughout 2024, but he really showcased his acting chops in the moment EJ fessed up to Nicole about pretending to be Jude’s father to keep her, and instead of showing massive histrionics, he showed a restraint and sadness of a man caught up in web of lies to try to keep the woman he loves. When she leaves the baby and him for good, of course, he explodes!

Photo: JPI

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A STORYLINE

Peter Bergman – Jack’s intervention of Nikki’s bender – The Young and the Restless

If Peter Bergman chooses to use the scenes from this episode, he could easily walk away with his fourth Daytime Emmy. In what was a remarkable two-person episode with Bergman and Melody Thomas Scott, Jack comes to a room at the GCAC to try to get Nikki to stop drinking. She is on full stupor-mode and will not stop no matter how hard Jack tries to get through to her. So, in desperation, Jack turns the tables on her. He starts drinking with her and orders some pills from his old dealer and precedes to get high and drunk, but in the process winds up almost dead in his efforts to shock Nikki out of her stupor. Remarkable work from one of the all-time greats!

Courtesy/ABC

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN A STORYLINE

Michael Easton – Gregory’s Death and its aftermath – General Hospital

This was a case of when a soap opera decides to write-off a character or an actor, that they give them meaty material at the end of their run, hence the case with the exit of Michael Easton. The heartbreak began when his dying father, Gregory (who has ALS) and Finn have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment and put their past animosity aside and reveal that they love each other. Gregory also tells Finn how proud of him he is and vice-versa. The next morning, Finn finds his dad passed away in his bed, and that propels the real downward spiral of Finn’s drinking problem which eventually lands him off the canvas and in rehab. If we had to lose Easton, he went out with heavy duty memorable scenes.

Courtesy/ABC

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

Cast of General Hospital – Bobbie’s Memorial and its aftermath

General Hospital gave the perfect send-off to the beloved Jackie Zeman, and her legendary character of nurse Bobbie Spencer. In a fully-developed story, not only did we get the heartbreaking memorial service, but the second leg of it where we learned that Bobbie was working to save women who had a fallen into a life of prostitution, just like she had in her younger years while in Europe. We learn all this through Angela, the reporter, who shows up in Port Charles, who turns out to be Bobbie’s daughter, (the angel) BJ, played by the returning Brighton Hertford. Who will ever forget the moment she calls Lucas (then played by Ryan Carnes), “champ” and he takes a moment to realize that BJ must be with him in spirit. Hankies!

Cast of Days of our Lives – Doug’s Death and memorial

From Susan Seaforth Hayes to Kristian Alfonso to Matthew Ashford and Melissa Reeves, to Suzanne Rogers and everyone in between. DAYS gave an extraordinary proper send-off to Doug Williams while honoring the legendary Bill Hayes. With Julie at the absolute emotional epicenter, family members, and all of Salem learned of Doug’s passing and then came together for a tearjerker of a memorial service all tied in a bow for Days of our Lives 15,000th episode milestone.

Courtesy/ABC

BEST TEARJERKER

Sam’s Death – General Hospital

It is hard to beat the tour de force performances of Dominic Zamprogna, Steve Burton, and Nancy Lee Grahn, as each came to Sam’s hospital bedside and said their goodbyes to her after her sudden heart attack following her liver donor transplant surgery. Burton was incredibly moving as Jason says farewell to his ex and the mother of their son, Danny. As the grieving fiancé, Zamprogna’s Dante broke our hearts, and when Alexis climbs into bed to be with her daughter, Nancy Lee Grahn took the whole thing to another level. We not only brought out the hankies for the story, but that we had to endure the loss of 21-year vet, Kelly Monaco who was written off the show.

Photo: JPI

BEST VILLAIN

Lisa Yamada – Luna Nozawa – The Bold and the Beautiful

In the year’s most shocking twist, B&B turned nice girl Luna Nozawa into a murderous and cagey criminal. Luna killed both Tom Starr (Clint Howard) and Hollis for fear they would reveal that the Tom was her biological father. Later, she went from being Bill’s “possible” bio-daughter to trying to make out with him! And still later, she outsmarted Steffy and locked her in a cage. One of the best performances of the year and smartest moves by the CBS soap.

WORST VILLAIN

John Kapelos – Konstantin Meleounis – Days of our Lives

In story, Konstantin went after Victor Kiriakis’ grieving widow Maggie, turned John back into the “Pawn,” and just landed like a moustache-twirling villain plopped into Salem nobody wanted to see. When Konstantin’s reign of terror ended and John Kapelos was killed-off we were dancing on …the character’s grave.

Photo: ABC

BEST YOUNGER ACTOR

Finn Carr – Rocco Falconeri – General Hospital

Finn Carr gave us all the feels and the emotions as a son hoping and praying his mother, Lulu, would wake up after a four-year coma, juxtaposed with being wracked with guilt that his other “mom” Sam lost her life in the middle of it. The scenes with Genie Francis as Laura in the hospital chapel, illustrated Carr’s depth as an actor, plus who didn’t love the moment when Rocco saw a very much alive Lulu at the Q’s for the first time.

Courtesy/ABC

BEST RETURN

John J. York – Mac Scorpio – General Hospital

When John J. York finally returned to GH after his battle and treatment from two blood cancers, he stepped right back into the drama. Mac learned Cody is his biological son and that he lied about it, which sent good-natured Mac reeling. As the story beats were played out, it was York’s lovable Mac that we never want to see hurt. John played this father/son drama and its resolution to perfection, Welcome back Mac!

WORST RETURN

Jonathan Jackson – Lucky Spencer – General Hospital

We have always said, and stand by, that one of the all-time greats is five-time Daytime Emmy winner, Jonathan Jackson. How excited were we and longtime GH fans, when we learned Jackson would be returning to the show on contract. However, the writers could not have set up his return worse. Jackson’s Lucky was put into the Sidwell/diamond saga and trapped in Africa, which seemed interminable. He then finally made it back to Port Charles where he learned he could not be a donor match for Lulu. Then, he spent weeks lamenting whether he should just go back to Africa, and it all came off as wishy-washy, deadbeat dad syndrome. Finally, it looks as if GH is putting Elizabeth and Lucky back together, and let’s hope there is a major story utilizing Jackson’s incredible emotional capabilities as an actor in 2025.

Courtesy/ABC

SAD GOODBYE

Violet says goodbye to Chase, Brook Lynn and Tracy – General Hospital

Jophielle Love as Violet cried her eyes out before she left Port Charles to join her dad, Finn in Seattle post-rehab. She actually is the biggest winner of the year, because she got to take with her some of Lila Quartermaine’s real china! But how great was Jophielle Love when Violet says her goodbyes to Brook Lynn, Chase and Tracy Q? Hankies!

Photo: ABC

BEST RECAST FEMALE

Alexa Havins – Lulu Spencer – General Hospital

While so many were ready to criticize GH for their choice for not bringing back Julie Berman (they did try, but she did not want to come back) or going in a different direction than bringing Emme Rylan back, the choice of Alexa Havins is a pretty inspiring one, and she fits the role like a glove. In short order, the former All My Children actress, who stepped away mostly from acting to be a stay-at-home mom, has returned to daytime without missing a beat.

Photo: JPI

BEST RECAST MALE

Leo Howard – Tate Black- Days of our Lives

Admittedly, Leo is much older in real life than the late teen angst he portrays with the young women in Tate Black’s life, but Howard brings a fresh perspective and more dynamic version of the son of Brady Black and Theresa Donovan.

MOST SHOCKING RECAST 

Rebecca Budig – Taylor Hayes – The Bold and the Beautiful

When the All My Children and General Hospital favorite came to The Bold and the Beautiful as Taylor Hayes, viewers at first where a bit perplexed; especially because didn’t look old enough to be the mother to Jacqueline MacInnes Wood’s Steffy Forrester. However, Budig, as she always has done, is doing her best with the material given to her as she works to establish the on-screen relationships with Taylor’s romantic and familial ties and past.

Photo: JPI

WORST EXIT

Trevor St. John – Tucker McCall – The Young and the Restless

Another one of the best actors to ever grace the daytime screen is Trevor St. John. From his days as Todd/Victor Lord Jr. on One Life to Live till now, Trevor is as dynamic as they come. When he came to Y&R as the recast Tucker McCall, we had such high hopes for the character, but somehow they wrote him into this convoluted relationship with Ashley, and then all of a sudden, he left the canvas. Does anyone remember where Tucker supposedly went? For whatever reason, Trevor left Y&R, and the show could have given him a better exit story.

Photo: JPI

BEST COUPLE

Finn and Steffy – The Bold and the Beautiful

Who doesn’t love the man of your dreams rescuing you from a deranged young woman who locked you up in a cage! Team Sinn!

Photo: ABC

WORST COUPLE IN THE MAKING

Willow and Drew – General Hospital

Let’s not forget, Drew was having sex all over the office with Willow’s mother, Nina before hitting the floor with her daughter. Then, putting a wrecking ball through Willow’s marriage to Michael. Maybe the two truly, truly deserve each other? From the looks of it, we are going to get ‘Drillow’ in 2025, especially with the looming exit of Chad Duell’s Michael.

Photo: JPI

MOST MISSED CHARACTER

Thomas Forrester – The Bold and the Beautiful

After all of Hope’s “headaches” when she thought about Finn, her ogling over him, then her sudden relationship with Carter, it makes us miss Thomas, a man who had a Hope mannequin stowed away in his apartment, and kept her child from her. But I guess, we can forgive all that. Bring Thomas back STAT!

Photo: JPI

BEST FIRST IMPRESSION

Crew Morrow – Will Spencer – The Bold and the Beautiful

Soap newbie, Crew Morrow (son of Y&R’s Joshua Morrow) eased in to the role of the SORAS’d Will Spencer reminding us of his dad when he was starting Y&R as Nick Newman. Crew’s essence in front of the camera made a very strong first impression on any naysayer viewers.

MOST SHOCKING KISS

Anna and Jason – General Hospital

GH seemed to be building to this for months – that Anna and Jason seemed to be getting closer – and there’s nothing like being held prisoner – thinking you’re going to die – than bringing two people together for one last kiss, only to survive, and then have awkward moments for months while agreeing to never speak of it again.

WORST AVALANCHE OF NEWCOMERS

Days of our Lives

Talia, Javi, Felicity, Mark, Aaron, Joy, Doug III and more- it’s hard to get invested in such a litany of newbies to Salem, having nothing to do their portrayers and the actors capabilities.

CHARACTER WHO DESERVED THE BIGGEST BITCH-SLAP (TIE)

Steffy Forrester – The Bold and the Beautiful

How long can one listen to this sanctimonious Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) throwing her weight around as the boss at Forrester Creations and repeating the same dialog about Hope Logan? She also seemed to want to believe the worst from her husband, Finn, who opened up to her about Hope kissing him. We say, everyone should line-up and give her a bitch-slap.

Sloan Petersen – Days of our Lives

Two-years running, Sloan (Jessica Serfaty) deserves a slap and she certainly got one from Nicole earlier in 2024 when her full duplicity came to light of passing Nicole and Eric’s baby off as EJ’s and more.

Courtesy/ABC

BEST STANDALONE EPISODE (Tie)

Bobbie’s Memorial Service – General Hospital

The hankies were needed as the cast including; Kin Shriner (Jackie Zeman’s dear friend) broke our hearts eulogy after eulogy. While there were some key people missing at the service, the moment when the casket was brought in, to Lucas coming home for his mother’s service, to Angela the reporter showing up (with the reveal she is BJ on the follow-up episode), made it gut-wrenching to say goodbye to nurse Bobbie, and we felt that Jackie Zeman was looking down at her former cast members and friends, and proud of what they accomplished in her honor.

Doug’s Memorial Service – Days of our Lives

The use of clips alone broke our hearts, as the characters flashed back into the life Doug Williams, plus we had Liz Chandler leading everyone in “I’ll Be Loving You, Always,” Julie’s eulogy, and all the beautiful touches by the DAYS writing team to salute the incredible legacy of Bill Hayes. The only thing we could have gone without was the childish bickering of Marie Horton and Liz during the episode.

Photo: JPI

BEST STANDALONE EPISODE PERFORMANCE

Michelle Stafford – Phyllis reflects on her life – The Young and the Restless

Y&R gave us three wonderful standalone episodes this year, featuring Sharon Case Joshua Morrow and Michelle Stafford, all of whom were celebrating major milestones of 30 years with the top-rated soap. However, scene to scene, moment to moment the most affecting was Stafford’s, who showed us the ups and downs, the regrets and the revenge plots of why we love to love or love to hate, Phyllis. By the conclusion of the episode, you found yourself in tears as this mamma bear will do anything to protect her children, even if it’s through questionable means.

Photo: ABC

BEST FATHER/SON MOMENT

Aiden tells Lucky he’s gay – General Hospital

Colin Cassidy really delivered in this poignant scene where Lucky learns from Aiden that he is gay. Lucky took the information and instead of shunning his son, accepted him with love and compassion. This was a simple and effective coming out scene, and one of the best we have seen between a child and a parent on the soaps. Brilliantly played by both actors. Applause!

BEST STORYLINE

Sharon thinks she ‘killed’ Heather Stevens and tries to cover it up – The Young and the Restless

This had been the big umbrella story of the year, and has been riveting with all of its twists and turns. It all is tied back to the death of Sharon’s daughter, Cassie back in 2005 and her vendetta to even the score with Daniel Romalotti and his family. We learn Sharon’s med are all screwed up and she is getting directions from the ghost of Cameron Kirsten to kill Daniel, but that goes south and she ends up in a showdown with Heather which leads to dire consequences. Here we are months later and this story has even more legs! It’s one of the best layered mysteries involving many characters and of course, Ian and Jordan, and we are just getting started there.

Photo: JPI

MOST BORING STORYLINE

Corporate takeovers and intrigue – The Young and the Restless

Does anyone know who works for Hamilton/Winters, Glissade, Chancellor, Newman Enterprises, Marchetti, or whatever the amalgamation of these companies are anymore? Do the Y&R writers think we care who is working where and with whom over …. and over and over again? Daytime shouldn’t be about business talk ad nauseum. You even need a scorecard to keep track of where each employee went and who is siding with who! Confusion reigns.

MOST WRECKED CHARACTER

Hope Logan – The Bold and the Beautiful

As we start 2025, even Ridge Forrester is calling Hope a “bitch” and a “slut,” after entering into a relationship with Carter, following her attraction to Finn, following being unable to commit to Thomas who left town with Paris and Douglas to move to wait for it, Paris! Can we restore some dignity to this character? Annika Noelle can play anything given to her and is one of the series biggest assets. How about giving Hope a story other than about her lusting after a man? Maybe she should lose it, and just put Steffy back in a cage!

MOST POMPOUS CHARACTER

Drew Quartermaine – General Hospital

Need we say more? In short order Drew Quartermaine became the most arrogant, backstabbing, wife-stealer in soap history. Not only did GH make Drew a savvy politician, but he had sex with his nephew’s wife, and took away his ‘best friend’ Curtis’ position at CEO of Aurora, all in underhanded maneuvers. However, payback is a bitch!

BEST USE OF HISTORY

Sugar – The Bold and the Beautiful

We all knew that Sheila Carter wasn’t dead, and lo and behold they delved into Sheila’s past and the plastic surgery makeover in South America of her former cellmate, Sugar.  Looks like Sugar was making some moves that Sheila was aware of and when Steffy plunged a knife into her mother-in-law, it was actually Sugar who bit the dust.

Photo: JPI

OVERUSED PLOT DEVICE

DID or Multiple Personalities

Bobby Stein/Everett Lynch – Days of our Lives

We were so excited to see Blake Berris back on DAYS, and even better that he got to show how well he plays a bad guy, but the Everett/Bobby story ended with no payoff. He became another ultimate victim of Li Shin-deranged killer, Connie Vinski.

Ashley’s alters – The Young and the Restless

It’s always great to see two-time Daytime Emmy winner, Eileen Davidson given material to sink her teeth into. However, Y&R gave us a confusing story as to what caused Ashley to split into her alters. We thought it was Tucker gaslighting her, but it turned out to be her therapist Alan’s twin brother Martin who did the damage??

Photo: JPI

WORST STORYLINE (TIE)

Body and Soul – Days of our Lives

What started out as a very clever ‘soap within a soap’ idea when Nurse Whitley kidnapped Abe Carver and made him watch endless hours of “Body and Soul” in 2023, became a reality, when in 2024 ‘Body and Soul” got its own storyline complete with the residents of Salem becoming the performers in the soap opera (none of them having acting experience before, of course) and the story overtook a large portion of episode time on Days of our Lives, itself.

Broken Heart Syndrome – The Bold and the Beautiful

When Taylor Hayes returned to B&B in the form of Rebecca Budig, it appeared she had a fatal heart condition that she learned of while in Europe. HOWEVER, after getting a second opinion in the U.S. from Dr. Grace Buckingham, we learn that Taylor is going to live and she is actually suffering from “Broken Heart Syndrome” – a condition that causes a weakening of the heart muscle made worse, by emotional stressors like grief, fear, anger, or surprise – seems Taylor was pining for Ridge too much, and hadn’t dealt with the grief of losing her daughter, Phoebe years ago. The worst part was when she straddled Ridge during the guru session to help her come to terms with the loss of their daughter, only for Brooke to see them in that position.

Photo: JPI

MOST CONVOLUTED PLOT

Who is Abigail? – Days of our Lives 

This storyline seemed to suffer from different writers take on where this was going – from the writers’ strike regime to the original writing team being put back in place. Somehow in the middle of it, we were left not believing that the woman claiming she was Chad’s late wife, Abigail was nothing but an imposter. The payoff of this story that “Abigail” is Cat Greene didn’t have the punch either, because no one cared for the Greene family, previously. The final nail in the coffin was Clyde about to reveal to Chad where the real Abigail supposedly is, only to get shot by Catharina and land in a coma for the unforeseeable future.

Honorable mention:

Pikeman Arms Dealers – General Hospital

So, Jack (formerly John) Brennan ran this? Valentin ran this? Jason was blackmailed by FBI agent John “Jagger? Cates or Carly would face RICO charges, and on and on and on and on. Confusing, right?

Courtesy/ABC

MURDER EVERYONE FORGOT ABOUT

Sonny kills Cates – General Hospital

Did we watch another soap? Didn’t Sonny Corinthos shoot in cold-blood FBI agent John Cates? Now, whether Cates deserved it or not, is not the question. The question is, are we going to revisit that Sonny murdered a man showing his true mobster mentality and ways, or is Sonny going to get away with this and not pay for his crime someday? A head-scratcher.

Photo: CBS

BIGGEST HEADLINES

‘Beyond the Gates’ to become first new daytime drama in 25 years

‘Beyond the Gates’ began production in November and is set to become daytime’s newest soap opera in 25 years. With notable soap scribes and EP’s doing the creative, led by Michele Val Jean, and supported by Bob Guza Jr., Julie Hanan Carruthers, Ron Carlivati and more, anticipation is high to meet the wealthy Dupree family and all their friends and enemies, starting on February 24, 2025 on CBS. 

Photo: JPI

A tragic death and the loss of beloved Favorites

2024 was just an incredibly sad year due to the passings of so many beloved favorites. Days of our Lives was hit the hardest with the devastating losses of Bill Hayes, Drake Hogestyn, and Wayne Northrup. The Young and the Restless felt the loss of Marla Adams and Meg Bennett, while the General Hospital family mourned the passings of Ron Hale, Robyn Bernard, Doug Sheehan and Richard Simmons. Add to that, Another World’s John Aprea, AMC’s Esta Terblanche, Ryan’s Hope, Helen Gallagher, OLTL’s Thom Christopher, Port Charles stars Nicholas Pryor and David Gail, and more.

Photo: AP

However, it was the murder of GH alum Johnny Wactor (ex-Brando Corbin) that was the most heartbreaking story of 2024. The 37-year-old was shot and killed in downtown LA after his bartending job in the wee hours of the morning, when he came upon three men attempting to steal the catalytic converter of his vehicle. For months, the police tried to find the suspects until finally they were apprehended. #JusticeforJohnny became one of the most used hashtags on soap social media in 2024.

Photo: JPI

Honorable mention:

Arianne Zucker sues Days of our Lives

Arianne Zucker made the stunning move to sue Days of our Lives’ Corday Productions, its executive producer, Ken Corday, and former executive producer, Albert Alarr. Zucker sued for sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, negligent hiring and supervision, and wrongful termination among other claims stemming from the 2023 ouster of Alarr as the series co-executive producer.

BEST OVERUSED PROPS OR TERMS

Magic Mints – The Bold and the Beautiful

Poppy’s mints caused so much trouble, especially when in the original story, Luna took the mints with some booze and thought she was having sex with R.J. only it was Zende in a hallucinogenic mind-bender. As time moved on, we found out Luna’s story was bogus.  But those mints!

Bad Hip Replacement – General Hospital

Who knew hips could cause cobalt poisoning and turn you into a serial killer! When GH needed to free Heather Webber (Alley Mills) from prison, they came up with a bad hip replacement as the cause of all her actions. Really?

RICO Violations – General Hospital

Take your pick! Aren’t Carly, Sonny and Jason, all at one time or another, involved in RICO violations?

Ten Toes – The Bold and the Beautiful

Super sleuth, Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) figures out that his beloved Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) is really alive somewhere when he visits the morgue, and as her body is about to be turned to ash, he sees that the person lying there about to be fried has ten toes, when Sheila only has nine toes. For weeks, we heard “ten toes,” “ten toes!”

So, what do you think of the list of the Best and Worst in Soaps of 2024? Do you agree or disagree … and if you have different choices in the categories, let us know who you think deserved 2024’s ‘Best and Worst’ honors via the comment section below.