Today on DAYS, Isabel Durant makes her on-screen debut as Claire Brady and fans are intrigued to see what she brings to the role, previously played by this year’s Daytime Emmy winner for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series, Olivia Rose Keegan.

Days of our Lives head writer, Ron Carlivati took to Twitter to wish Olivia well and thank her for her dynamic portrayal of Claire, sharing,  “Huge thank you to @oliviakeegann. who brought Claire Brady to life and made us care about her even when she was at her most dastardly. Wishing Olivia all the best as she writes her next chapter…”

Then, Carlivati officially welcomed Isabel to the role expressing: “But as one chapter ends, another begins. Please help me welcome Isabel Durant to Salem as she steps into the role of Claire.”

Make sure to check out Durant’s debut today and then let us know your thoughts on Olivia’s exit and Isabel taking over the role via the comment section below.

It’s so rare, but so welcome, to find the hardest working people and the hardest working genre getting some love from the mainstream press.  Now, next week’s upcoming double issue of TV Guide Magazine will feature all four daytime dramas and some of their current iconic couples on the cover!

The covers are a special edition and four different versions went to print.  Inside the magazine details some previews from the head writers and EP’s of the series as well of what’s to come in Genoa City, Port Charles, Los Angeles, and Salem.  Look for the edition to hit newsstands tomorrow on Thursday, August 12th.

The Bold and the Beautiful cover features Thorsten Kaye and Denise Richards as Ridge and Shauna.  Days of our Lives is represented by John and Marlena, played by Drake Hogesytn and Deidre Hall.

Meanwhile, The Young and the Restless has Victor and Nikki, played by Eric Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott, and General Hospital has Maurice Benard and Laura Wright as Sonny and Carly,

The TV Guide Magazine double issue dates are August 17th-30th.

As fans of the soaps know, Y&R returned with new-episodes this Monday, B&B starred airing new ones a few backs, GH was back last week, and DAYS had new episodes in the bank till mid-October and is set to return to taping September 1.

In addition, it should be noted that The Bold and the Beautiful was the first American broadcast television show that went back into production during the coronavirus pandemic.

So, glad to see the soaps getting these collectible covers? Comment below.

Two daytime vets in two very opposing types of storylines delivered emotional and riveting work during their scenes.  First on General Hospital, Maurice Benard (Sonny) in yet another stellar knockout performance in the Alzheimer’s storyline; showed the anguish and pain of a son trying to come to terms with his father’s ultimate fate.

This week saw Sonny originally deciding to try to prolong Mike’s (Max Gail) life by having him placed on a feeding tube, but soon after seeing the fate of Yvonne, another Alzheimer’s patient, and a talk with Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), Sonny changed course, and did what’s best for Mike, not for himself, and decided to let his father die with dignity and with as least suffering as possible.

We don’t think there could have been a dry eye in the house when Sonny visited Mike’s hospital bedside, and told him that it’s OK for his dad to let go, and not have to stick around for him.  Max Gail, as per usual, was also so touching in these scenes.

Benard did not overplay a beat, and for anyone who has had a parent die of this dreadful disease, you could relate to what Sonny went through in the more than capable hands of this two-time Daytime Emmy winner.

Over on Days of our Lives, what a return for Kassie DePaiva in her role as Eve Donovan! This time, she has come back unhinged and at an emotional rock bottom, so much so that she had abducted Ben Weston (Rob Scott Wilson), had him taken to an abandoned warehouse, strapped him up, tortured him with an assist from Dr. Rolf’s protege, Vincent (Michael Teh), and came up with this twisted plot to have Ben turn back into the “necktie serial killer” and kill his bride, Ciara (Victoria Konefal).

Why, you say? Well, because Eve’s daughter, Paige was one of Ben’s victims and it has been eating Eve alive this whole time. She is a mama grieving for her daughter so deeply that she can’t understand why Paige is dead and he is left on earth to roam around free and find love and happiness… and we find out she was gutted when Ben got a last-minute reprieve when he was recently sentenced to death by lethal injection.

DePaiva played this arc of Eve’s story as a soapalicious villain, but when you really deconstruct it, Eve is just in so much pain… and all of that came through even in the darkest of scenes.  And … there is yet more to come!

Kudos to Maurice and Kassie for being named Michael Fairman TV’s “Power Performances of the Week”.

So, do you agree with our picks for Maurice and Kassie? What did you think of their work? Comment below.