News
OLTL delivers the goods with Best Christmas Episode of the holiday season!

Photo Credit: JPI Studios
On this Christmas Eve, On-Air On-Soaps salutes One Life to Live with a toast of eggnog for it’s brilliant Christmas episode that aired this past Wednesday on ABC Daytime. There were so many great one-liners, and so many great moments it is hard to know where to begin, but leave it to daytime legends, Erika Slezak (Viki), Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Kim Zimmer (Echo) to make this one holiday episode of the soaps we won’t soon forget.
From watching Viki and Dorian trying to rid Echo from completely ruining Viki’s Christmas, Todd’s son Jack, and the very cute new little Sam (even though his line delivery is not so good, we can forgive him!) fighting over the belief of Santa Claus, John giving Natalie his mother’s ring for their engagement and announcing the news to the family, Kelly and her pink goggles given to her by Joey, Starr and James poignant moment near the end of the episode, and the Angel Square Christmas tree lighting (And let us say, beautiful Christmas tree! Props to the set designers for that one), the show had it going on. And the piece de resistance, Echo coming down the chimney at La Boulaie dressed as Santa!
But oh those fantastic one-liners, some of the best. Here are just a few: Viki to Dorian about getting rid of Echo, “Please help me, I would say nice things about you in public.” Dorian to Echo (once she gets trapped in Dorian’s plot to help Viki detain Echo, about her faux Santa Claus outfit PR campaign), “Yes it will be great. The Mayor who delivers the goods with good cheer.” And our personal favorite, after Echo is stuck on the rooftop dressed in Santa suit to keep her warm while screaming for help, inside La Boulaie Kelly says to Dorian, “Did you hear something”? And Dorian responds, “The wind?” Kelly then has the zinger, “It sounds like an echo!” Also, kudos to OLTL for their juxtaposing of Jack and Sam’s reactions to seeing Santa “Echo” Claus.
Watch the episode below and Ho-ho-ho…Happy Holidays!
I only watch Florencia Lozano and Trevor St. John (and Kelley MIssal), so this was a no watch for me.
Wow, then you really missed out on a great episode !
This was very good but B&B with Thursday and Friday’s episodes were a tie or better. OLTL was very funny but B&B was very heartfelt and very much the true Christmas spirit!
I agree, Michael! OLTL had the best Christmas show this week. Although, I watched Y&R today and really loved it. Well-written and very much in the season. I am loving that show more and more. It’s so much better than the ABC soaps on most days.
I agree. It was so great seeing Viki and Dorian working together to get Echo out of the house. I hope Echo sticks around. Seeing Viki just about every day is joy. The show is on fire right now. Almost everything seems to be working well. Kelly is entertaining….I love that Blair loves Kelly’s line “I got Lemon in my eye”. LOL. I think I am going to use that one too.
I have to agree Michael… it was the HAMMER! I loved GH and YnR, but OLTL was so much fun, yep! It delivered big-time. The BnB Xmas Epis were disappointing, where was Eric and the Family around the piano singing Christmas Carols? Where was the Cast Christmas Greeting? While I did love Anthony’s singing, it would have made more sense for Brad to have done these episodes on New Year’s, giving hope to the homeless with the message that Hollywood Cares. But.. as usual, his timing was off and the Xmas feeling was far from on the mark!
Thanks for all your great work and I am looking forward to enjoying you and your words in 2011! Merry Christmas, Mike!
I loved the entire episode! Jack was a riot! He sure takes after his father. Love that Viki and Dorian teamed up to make Echo disappear. My absolute most favorite part of the show was John on his knee again giving Natalie the ring, and what a gorgeous ring that was. John is really opening up and he’s one surprise after another. Thanks Michael for a great write-up!
I hope the New Year brings all good things for the people who love soaps! And please Brad Bell make a story for the TRUE FORRESTER HEIR THORNE!
What a well written episode.It loks like there are more intriging schemes about to happen. Clint is up to a new scheme, obviously with Amber, Joe’s girlfriend. I don’t think the new Joe is so great, though. I always love Dorian and Viki and especially now to get rid of Echo. The chimney scene was hysterical. The turkey upside down by Echo was a hoot and funnier went it fell on the floor.I’m glad that Starr went to visit Cole with Hope and mentioning him so we don’t forget him. Amd finally John giving Natalie his mother’s ring. Now, they are officially engaged. I can’t wait to see the next episodes to see how all the lies by Clint and everyone he has used, play out in the end. Should be enough to keep all us fans watching. Once again, thanks Michael…
My favorites were seeing all of the kids included in this episode, the
way it should be for a Christmas episode. I love Carmen LoPorto and
Patrick Gibbons, Jr. (the new Sam) did great with him as Sam and
Jack brought their antics. It was great seeing Hope, Shane, and
Bree, too. Of course, I had to laugh out loud when Echo fell down that
chimney, but the prelude to that with Sam and Jack made that scene.
I wish we would see more of these kids on a more regular basis.
One Life to Live had the best Christmas episode. The scenes with Jack, Sam, Dorian, Blair, Kelly and Echo were the best! Y&R’s scrooge episode was good too, but will it really change Victor? Y&R lately is too crazy for me. Everyone is bed hopping and there are too many new characters who are just aren’t interesting (the Australian crew, Daisy, Heather & Ronan – He has more chemistry with Chloe). B&B reminds me of the old Y&R, since Ed Scott is the show’s new producer. Mr. Scott used to be Y&R’s executive producer.
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.

Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.

Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”

Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Breaking News
‘Days of our Lives’ Veteran James Reynolds Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis
Days of our Lives long-running cast member James Reynolds revealed on the November 10 edition of Entertainment Tonight that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and his character of Abe Carver will now be going through an on-screen Parkinson’s battle as well.
Speaking with ET’s Nischelle Turner, the 80-year-old actor and Daytime Emmy winner shared how he attempted to hide the warning signs dating back to 15-20 years ago when he would have, “What they call the hallucinations. My wife (Lissa) would say, ‘You were hitting me last night in bed,’ and I would say, ‘What?!’ I was having these really horrible dreams.” Reynolds also added that he realized falling out of bed was an early symptom of Parkinson’s too.
Discussing the on-going tremors that have become more noticeable over time especially in hands, James shared that when he finally told the Days of our Lives cast they were nothing but “extraordinarily helpful and supportive.”

Photo: ET
SCREEN LIFE TO MIRROR REAL LIFE
Now with DAYS about to launch into Abe’s Parkinson’s storyline, Reynolds hopes that he can turn his experience into something positive by encouraging others facing the disease to keep fighting. During the sit-down, Reynolds co-star Jackée Harry (Paulina Price) recalls her reaction to learning of Reynolds’ real-life diagnosis and how she has continued to search for new treatments to inform James about.
Although Parkinson’s disease currently has no cure, there are medications and treatments can help those manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The condition progresses at a different pace from individual to individual.
As discussed in his conversation with ET, Reynolds cited Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda as two high-profile celebrities who have brought awareness to the disease.

Photo: JPI
In story on DAYS, Abe in recent weeks had been experiencing tremors which led to seek help and a diagnosis Dr. Kayla Johnson (Mary Beth Evans). Soon Abe and others will find out of his battle with Parkinson’s. Although on the promo for this week’s DAYS, Abe is seen telling Kayla, that he will do something, “when the time is right.”
James Reynolds is one of the most prolific performers, being the longest-running Black Actor in a role on a television series, not to mention his aforementioned Lead Actor Daytime Emmy win in 2018, and being inducted in 2025 into the Daytime Emmy Gold and Silver Society of honorees.
You can check out James’ in-depth conversation on his Parkinson’s diagnosis below.
Share your thoughts for James after learning of his health battle, and what do you think of Days of our Lives incorporating the disease into Abe Carver’s Salem storyline? Let us know in the comment section.
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