As 2016 comes to a close, we took a look back with our annual list of the Best and Worst in Soaps!  

As it does every year, On-Air On-Soaps take this opportunity to pay tribute to the tremendous work of the talented men and women in front of the camera and behind the scenes, whose tireless efforts in the grind of producing and acting in this genre’s quickly-shot format is always astounding.  It is also something to be admired for the sheer volume of material that is churned out in such shorter order.  But of course, in addition to naming the best moments and performances of the year, there were several not so stellar moments, characters, storylines, and more that get the dubious honor of some of our “Worst’s”.

So with that said; we give you our Best and Worst in Soaps 2016!  As you will read, we tried to dissect the calendar year on your favorite daytime drama through our various categories.  While we know many of you have your own picks and choices, and may disagree or agree with our picks, we encourage you to let us know your thoughts as well.  And most of all, respect everyone’s opinions, as you wish them to respect yours.

Finally, we want to wish our wonderful community of site visitors and fans, a healthy, prosperous, and exciting New Year!  It is all of you with your unbridled passion and devotion to the soap genre itself, that root for the characters and performers you love or love to hate, which make this such a special and unique medium that we share.

So here we go … the Best and Worst in Soaps 2016! And with that… we’re outta here 2016!

BEST SOAP

General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

In a year that was lackluster on all four daytime dramas, it was ABC’s General Hospital’s last six months of the year that for us were the most watchable of 2016.  With its All-Stars given emotional material to shine, and some five-hankie arcs, ala the death of Morgan Corinthos, GH brought the drama, and also had some fun in May with their annual Nurses’ Ball production.

SOAPMAKERS OF THE YEAR 

Frank Valentini, Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante – General Hospital

The trio behind GH took our annual top honors for executive producer and head writers by mixing emotional stories, working in beloved veterans, and getting parts of the show on track after a not-so-great 2015.   Read the interview with the honorees here.

BEST SOAP PRODUCTION VALUES

The Bold and the Beautiful

Courtesy/CBSDaytime

Class act all the way is how best to describe this formidable CBS Daytime treasure.  The attention to detail, those montages, remotes, the set designs, the fashion shows, the music, and even their holiday episodes, once again illustrates that everyone associated from: behind the scenes personnel, to the crew, to the cast, knows how to do things right.

MOST INCONSISTENT SOAP

Days of our Lives

Last year, DAYS tied with B&B for our Best Soap.  However, in 2016, DAYS would on one hand have fans on the edge of your seats, and in the next, it would hit the doldrums. Often it was hard to get through an episode, because you wanted to see the “A”, story, but so much filler seemed to be in the way to get back to the most intriguing material and story.

MOST HOPEFUL SOAP FOR 2017

The Young and the Restless

It wasn’t a banner year for the juggernaut that is Y&R as their EP and head writer left the building amidst a Genoa City crying for someone to return it to its glory days.  Within the year though, there were some glorious performances delivered by the A-list cast.  Enter new head writer Sally Sussman during December’s air shows.   Now, the future looks promising for Y&R in 2017.

BEST PRIMETIME SOAP 

Empire

Courtesy/FOX

While Empire was losing some of its audience in its third season, it’s hard to beat: the fierce Cookie Lyon, her mentally ill son, Andre, and her singing sensations son, Jamal, who was hooked on painkillers!  Dysfunctional family soap at its best!

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR

Billy Flynn – Days of our Lives

Whether it be “renovating” the DiMera Mansion by having a meltdown upon the news of his beloved Abigail’s “death”, or talking to his “dead” father Stefano DiMera, or being reunited with Abigail now that she revealed herself to be alive, and everything in between, Flynn is the breakout star of the soaps, a bad boy leading man, and a bright future awaits!

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A STORYLINE

Jason Thompson –Billy’s out-of-body-experience – The Young and the Restless

How would Jason Thompson do taking over the central role of Billy Abbott, after Y&R’s several attempts to replace Billy Miller went awry?  The answer came in an acting tour de force in Thompson’s first talking appearance in an episode, when Billy while laying in a coma and has an out-of-body experience, and sees what it would be like if he wasn’t around.  It was quite an accomplishment to come in out of the gate, and deliver one of the most memorable performances of the year amongst the fierce Emmy-Award winning cast.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS

Laura Wright – General Hospital

Courtesy/CBS

If there was any question that Wright is one of the premiere actresses ever in daytime, one needs to look no further than her body of work throughout 2016.  However, the utimate performances came when Carly tried to process the tragedy that took her son Morgan from her life.  Scene after scene, episode after episode, no one played grief-stricken mom like Wright.  Laura pours 110% into everything she tackles, and it shows, and we, the audience, experienced raw emotion at its finest.

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A STORYLINE

Kate Mansi – Days of our Lives – Abigail sets fire to Ben

Kate Mansi turned in a tour de force performance as Abigail’s grip on reality is shattered:  She ties up Killer Ben, pours lighter fluid over him, makes him bleed and suffer as she exacts revenge for kidnapping her in the first place!  But, wait!  We learn she hallucinated the entire thing, and has gone crazy.  Standing ovation for the powerhouse that is Ms. Mansi!

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A STORYLINE BY AN ACTESS

Nancy Lee Grahn – General Hospital – Alexis downward spiral

Courtesy/ABC

Starting from being drugged before taking the witness stand at Julian’s trial, and stammering her way through her testimony, to her dependence on booze, to having her entire world crumble around her, Nancy Lee Grahn has not had this type of material to shine for years, and she is hitting it out of the park throughout this on-screen journey.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR

Wiliam deVry – General Hospital

Will brought back Julian’s dark side, and we have always said since he played All My Children’s Michael Cambias, no one plays steely, contained, treachery better than deVry.  Not to mention juxtaposing this bad boy’s emotional heart.  Just look at deVry’s recent scenes at Christmastime with Nancy Lee Grahn, and you can see his undeniable range.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Rena Sofer – The Bold and the Beautiful

Cray-Cray Quinn had a memorable year on B&B!  First, she kidnaps Liam and makes him believe she is his wife. Next, she somehow manages to escape being sent to prison for what she did, and then ends up having an affair with Eric Forrester and then marrying him. This girl gets around!  But isn’t it delicious fun watching Rena Sofer strut her stuff?

BEST PERFORMANCE IN PRIMETIME SOAP — FEMALE

Taraji P. Henson – Empire

Courtesy/IMDB

As Cookie Lyon, any mother that knows how to clean out plumbing pipes to extract painkillers to give to her son so he can perform on stage, and then after he gets off stage delivers to him a shocking intervention that sends him to rehab, gets our nod.  Henson is 100% fearless in this role.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN PRIMETIME SOAP — MALE

Jonathan Jackson –Nashville

Was there anything more heartbreaking than the final moments of the season four Nashville cliffhanger on ABC, when Avery and baby Cadence are waiting to be reunited with Juliette, and learn her flight disappeared?  Jackson played that beat, and all other beats of a solo dad, while the woman he loves battles postpartum depression to perfection throughout the season.  Oh, and he sang along the way, too!

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SOAP ICON – MALE

Eric Braeden – Y&R and Maurice Benard – GH

It was a banner year for both the current long-running icons of The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital. Both Eric Braeden, and Maurice Benard delivered some of their best performances in 2016 in their entire soap careers.  Interestingly enough, both Victor and Sonny lost their sons, Adam and Morgan respectively, and these two stalwarts played it all to the hilt.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SOAP ICON – FEMALE

Courtesy/ABC

Jane Elliot – General Hospital

The queen! How great was it to see Elliot have major story when Tracy suffered seizures, almost died, had a come-to-Jesus moment with Monica, and became extremely fond of Hayden and Finn?  Jane Elliot is divine.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A GUEST ARC FEMALE

Ximena Duque – Blanca- Days of our Lives

We love sexy and sassy Ximena Duque, who was quite the scene-stealer during her short time on DAYS.  It’s just too bad Blanca’s story wasn’t written as well as it could have been.  It is no wonder why Duque is a Telenovela star.  She has ‘’star quality’.

BEST PERFORMANCE INA GUEST ARC MALE

Ingo Rademacher – Jasper Jacks- General Hospital.

Beloved Ingo popped back into Port Charles twice in 2016, but it was his last visit comforting Carly, and his concern for his friend Alexis, that showed that if he ever was back on the GH full-time, any leading lady would be lucky to work with this guy.

BEST WEDDING and MONTAGE

Courtesy/CBS

Robin and Patrick’s Wedding- General Hospital

It aired right after the first of the year – but even though it was a shotgun wedding – and even though it was rushed in order to get Jason Thompson over to Y&R to begin his life in Genoa City – nothing brought out the hankies more than watching Patrick, Robin, Anna, and Emma all together one last time.  And then … that Scrubs montage.  Hankie-time!

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTOR

Bryan Craig – General Hospital and James Lastovic – Days of our Lives

Bryan Craig’s performance as a bipolar Morgan Corinthos wanting to end his life by jumping off the roof of a hospital, could not have been more riveting, and is one of the must-see moments of the soaps in 2016.  It was punch-to-the gut, not to mention his final weeks of scenes that led up to his death as he spiraled out of control thanks to Ava Jerome.  On the converse, James Lastovic showed he can play a young man’s growing pains, put in the most horrific of circumstances such as: snuffing out Ava Vitali with a pillow, going on the run, and then getting his girlfriend pregnant, all the while wanting his mother and father to reunite so they can all be a family again. Nicely played.  Interesting that both Bryan and James had storylines with women named “Ava”!

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTRESS

Hayley Erin – General Hospital

Courtesy/NBC

At first, it seemed that Kiki would be just be a bore, but now with Erin being given some material to showcase her chops, she has hit some home runs, especially in scenes following the death of Morgan, and her budding romance with Dillon, and that nasty confrontation with Carly.

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE CHILD PERFORMER

Alyvia Alyn Lind – The Young and the Restless

Is Alyvia really 20-year- old?  Her acting chops are well beyond her years!  And whether you are one of those that are annoyed by Faith Newman, or love her, Lind certainly has had some airtime to showcase her talents.

CUTEST PERFORMANCES BY CHILD PERFORMERS

Brooklyn Rae Silzer – The Nurses Ball – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Wally Kurth

Hudson West – The Nurses Ball – ““This Changes Everything” with Roger Howarth

If you didn’t enjoy the cuteness in these performances from Brooklyn and Hudson, you missed out!  And, their scene partners Kurth and Howarth were fantastic, too.

BEST NEWCOMER MALE

Anthony Turpel as R. J. Forrester – The Bold and the Beautiful

Courtesy/ABC

When Anthony Turpel came on to the canvas as the SORAS’d son of Brooke and Ridge, the show needed to have a young actor who could hold his own with heavy hitters Thorsten Kaye, and Katherine Kelly Lang.  They found him and it worked.

BEST NEWCOMER FEMALE

Marci Miller – Days of our Lives

Taking over the role of Abigail from dynamo Kate Mansi was no easy feat.  But Miller has brought her own take to the role, very different than Mansi’s, and is soaring with it, and the fans have been taken with her, too!

BEST RECAST

Jason Thompson as Billy Abbott – The Young and the Restless

Courtesy/ABC

The mighty Thompson taking on the role of Billy Abbott has been a delight to watch.  Jason made Billy unapologetic, smart, flawed, sexy, and a guy who lives life on the edge.  Y&R is utilizing Thompson to its fullest, and the audience is has bought in.

BEST TEMPORARY RECAST

Nick Stabile as Nikolas Cassasdine – General Hospital

When Tyler Christopher suddenly left GH, the shows creative’s were left having to figure out what to do at the last minute!  Enter soap vet Nick Stabile, but what we didn’t know is how good he would be in the role, and that chemistry with Maura West … was off the charts, too!

BEST VILLAIN

George DelHoyo – Orpheus – Days of our Lives

The super-villains taking Salem hostage was one of the more fun stories to watch on DAYS in 2016.  Because of it, we got to see one of the classic all-time villains re-emerge in Orpheus, played once again to the hilt by glorious George D.

BEST VILLAINESS

Elizabeth Bogush – The Young and the Restless

Courtesy/NBC

Bogush played creepy Dr. Anderson so well that you were almost afraid to watch what she would do next.   Elizabeth played every steely beat of this revenge-filled horrific plot by stealing Sage’s baby, then, handing it over to Sharon and making her believe she was pregnant. She then drives Patty Williams further insane, until she got stabbed in the back and died!  All of this because of “Sandy’s” unresolved feelings for good ole’ Nick Newman.

BEST DROP-THE-MIC MOMENT

Genie Francis – Laura rails at Valentin for killing Nikolas – General Hospital

When Laura unleashed her anger and spewed venom and horror at Valentin for murdering her son Nikolas while on Cassadine Island, GH fans collective mouths were agape!  Genie Francis delivered the most guttural performance of the year as a grieving mother who lashes out at the man who murdered her son. Francis showed us why she is the icon in just a few sentences of work.  Amazing!

BEST GOODBYE

Adam and Victor in the cabin say goodbye to one another for the last time – The Young and the Restless

Two titans at their finest:  When Victor decided to help prisoner-on-the-run Adam get away and start a new life, and leave everyone and everything behind, and get rid of the Newman name forever after he caused his son so much pain, it was a pivotal moment between the two characters.  But when Eric Braeden welled up with tears, and later as Victor puts his hand on his son’s shoulder and Adam touches it, it was just a major hankie-inducing moment.  Kudos to Braeden and Hartley.

MOST TOUCHING USE OF A FLASHBACK

Courtesy/IMDB

Jill recalls her final moments with Katherine – The Young and the Restless

Any time we can see the one and only Jess Walton as Y&R’s Jill is a good day for us.  In this small but tender and touching moment, Jill recalls Katherine the last time she saw her at the Chancellor Mansion and thus we all took a moment to recall Jeanne Cooper.  Jill has been pissed at Billy for turning Katherine’s house blue, so he finally gets it right with the paint color, “Forget me not, yellow”

BEST EPISODE:

Y&R’s 11,000th episode

Of any episode of 2016, it was the highly-anticipated, and highly promoted Y&R11K that delivered and lived up to the hype.  From Chloe’s return with a dart gun to paralyze and finish off Adam once and for all, to the final moments where Adam is blown to smithereens as Nick and Chelsea go back to get him, to Neil seeing his alcoholic dying mother for the first time in years, to Lee Phillp Bell (the co-creator of the series) appearing in the episode and more – it was an emotional, and shocking rollercoaster ride for viewers, and you could not ask for more than that.

BEST STORYLINE:

The Death of Morgan Corinthos – General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

As we have previously stated, this story had all the hallmarks of great soap storytelling, using a tragic accident that took the life of a core family member to the show, and illustrating the different stages and complexities of how each member deals with grief, anger, sorrow, and more.  All of the actors from: Bryan Craig, Laura Wright, Maurice Benard, Chad Duell, Dominic Zamprogna, Lexi Ainsworth gave us moments as the family remembers their son or their brother, and let’s not forget about the incredible work of Maura West, whose selfish act started the ball rolling for Morgan’s eventual demise.

WORST STORYLINE

Paul and the Hospital Serial Killer – General Hospital

Random patients were being killed at “General Hospital”.  No one knew who the culprit was.  The audience couldn’t get invested because no main character perished, and killing Sabrina didn’t do the trick.  In the end, it was revealed that DA Paul Hornsby was the serial killer and he did it all because of his catatonic daughter, Susan.  Ill-conceived plot.

MOST CONVOLUTED STORYLINE

John Black is Yo Ling’s son, and a Robicheaux – Days of our Lives

Photo: NBC

What was the point of this story turn for the convoluted history of John Black’s parentage? Enter Maude Robicheaux and Tim (a.k.a. Yo Ling).  John is held captive by Yo Ling, who is spouting on about the 38th parallel and is very, very sick with … Topits disease.  This was an unsatisfying and unnecessary twist in the long history for soaps version of Jason Bourne.

MOST UNCESSARY STORYLINE

Ciara is raped by Chase – Days of our Lives

Was it really necessary to have Ciara raped by troubled Chase?  There was little buildup to this moment, and it was being portrayed by two young actors, who the audience barely had gotten to know, and didn’t really care about in the first place.  The shock value of this was a major turn-off to DAYS viewers.

BEST TEARJERKER

The Death of Morgan Corinthos

From Carly finding out her son perished, to Sonny’s admission at the funeral, to Sonny on the bridge with Robin about to end his life, to grieving brothers: Dante and Michael, it all was hankie-inducing!  Not to mention Bryan Craig’s performance before his tragedy happens as Morgan is having a horrific manic episode … thanks Ava!

BEST WRITING

General Hospital

Courtesy/ABC

In a year that was uneven for all four soaps in the scripting department, GH stood out via stories surrounding Morgan Corinthos and his struggle with bipolar disorder, and the tragedies surrounding it.

MOST RIVETING PERFORMANCE BY ON-SCREEN BROTHERS

Justin Hartley and Joshua Morrow (Adam and Nick) – The Young and the Restless

As Adam realizes he is not getting out of the slammer, he tells his half-brother Nick to look after his son Connor, and his wife Chelsea for him, especially if something happens to him. Both Justin Hartley and Joshua Morrow played this beat with the emotional weight between two brothers who never have seen eye-to-eye, but when the chips are down, they bond.

MOST RIVETING PERFORMANCE BY ON-SCREEN SISTERS

Heather Tom and Katherine Kelly Lang (Katie and Brooke) – The Bold and the Beautiful

Katie gave Brooke the royal kiss-off, ala ‘The Godfather’, after she realizes that Brooke and Bill are in love with each other again.  It was a bravura performance from Tom and Lang.

MOST PREPOSTEROUS PLOT TWIST

The introduction of the character of Summer – Days of our Lives

Courtesy/NBC

Summer is a vision on a beach that Brady is conjuring post-receiving Daniel’s heart via a transplant.  Somehow this leads Brady to a beach in California where he finds “said” woman about to drown herself in the ocean.  Heroic Brady saves her. And if that is not bad enough, it turns out that good girl Maggie had sex on the farm where she grew up, and got pregnant and gave her daughter away many, many years ago.  In four decades, the character never mentioned it.  And you got it!  Maggie is Summer’s mom.  Enough said.

BIGGEST TREND

Liquored Up Leading Ladies

From GH’s Alexis, to B&B’s Katie, to Y&R’s Nikki, it was a booze fest for the divas of daytime, as these characters couldn’t resist staring at a bottle of vodka, or wine, and guzzling it down.

MOST SHOCKING TWIST

Eric is revealed to be in bed with Quinn – The Bold and the Beautiful

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming!  We didn’t.  A great shocker in the tradition of B&B: villainess Quinn bedding the patriarch of the Forrester clan.  When we first saw it, we thought, “Oh, no.  Not an Eric doppelganger.”  But we happily found out, this was Eric indeed, and he was having the time of his life with naughty Quinn!

BEST RETURN

Judith Chapman – The Young and the Restless

Photo Credit: Gilles Toucas

Glorious Gloria!  That entrance on the Christmas Eve episode of Y&R delighted so many longtime viewers that we are just so thankful to see her.  And, Chapman is in top form as ever spewing bards and driving the Fisher/Baldwin boys to drink!

WORST RETURN

Jeffrey Vincent Parise as Joe – General Hospital

What was the point of bringing fan favorite Parise back as Joe Rivera, the twin of hit man Carlos?  Guess it was to get Sabrina’s baby off the canvas since Teddy had no ties to Port Charles any more since Sabrina was murdered, and Carlos finally flat lined and was dead … make that really dead this time.

BIGGEST WASTE OF TALENT

Michael E. Knight as Simon Neville, and Eileen Davidson as Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless

Knight as a quirky doc with a romance with Ashley, following the whole Hilary cure, was ushered off the canvas.  And with that, fans never got to see Knight shine in the role that was ill conceived.   As for Davidson, why can’t someone write a leading storyline for this Daytime Emmy winning star?  Dumb-founded.

MOST REVITALIZED CHARACTER:

Eric Forrester – The Bold and the Beautiful

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

When the bombshell aired that none other than Eric Forrester was having an affair with Quinn Fuller, it was jaw dropping.  But with that, soap treasure John McCook is back with a front-burner storyline that even included Eric feeling betrayed by his family over their non-acceptance of Quinn, which in turn caused him to have a stroke.  So nice to see this beloved veteran and legacy star with a solid story!

MOST OVERUSED CHARACTER:

Deimos Kiriakis – Days of our Lives

While we always love the work of soap vet Vincent Irizarry, since Deimos came on to the canvas, the guy is everywhere, has slept with quite a number of the ladies along the way, and gets so much airtime at the expense of other long-running characters. Not to mention one of the most upsetting plot points of the year: Having Deimos slipping Maggie a drug that caused her to become crippled again!  No one wanted to see poor Maggie go through that ordeal again.

CHARACTER WE COULDN’T WAIT TO SEE LEAVE THE CANVAS

Summer – Days of our Lives

See “Most Preposterous plot twist” and you know why we couldn’t wait for the character to leave.  No fault of soap vet Marie Wilson (Ex-Summer).

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE BY A CAST

Daniel Dies, and Brady Gets His Heart – Days of our Lives

Courtesy/NBC

DAYS was on fire at the beginning of 2016, when the car crash involving: Brady, Daniel and Jennifer caused such dramatic moments and performances that it was must-watch TV.  Standouts included: Suzanne Rogers, Eric Martsolf, Greg Vaughan, and Melissa Reeves, and more.

The Death of Morgan Corinthos – General Hospital

Once again, the members of the Corinthos clan, and the rest of the cast delivered moment after moment in this heavy-dramatic turn that should be remembered come Emmy time.

BEST DECISION

Michael Easton is hired back at General Hospital in new role

Bringing back fan favorite Michael Easton to General Hospital following his unceremoniously being killed-off the year before as not fully-realized character Silas Clay was a clever idea and nice surprise.  It also undid some collateral damage to the show.  Now back on the canvas as Dr. Hamilton Finn, Easton’s quirky take is fresh to watch.

MOST MISSED

Justin Hartley as Adam Newman – The Young and the Restless

Courtesy/ABC

Justin Hartley left daytime to go star on primetime’s hit series, This Is Us.  He is killing it as Kevin Pearson on the dramedy, and he killed at as Adam on Y&R.   Bravo!

MOST CONTINUALLY RUINED CHARACTER

Sharon Newman – The Young and the Restless

For the last several years, we have unfortunately had to enter the name Sharon Newman here.  The role is brilliantly played by Emmy winner Sharon Case, and how she continually delivers great work out of the storylines she is handed; she deserves another Emmy just for that.  But this year, Sharon was saddled with another baby secret, and kept it from her longtime love, Nick Newman.  Sadly, didn’t Sharon do that to Nick once before with another one of his children?  We are all for portraying someone with bipolar disorder, but can Sharon somehow become a bit of the heroine of old, instead of a town pariah?

BEST COUPLE

Eric and Quinn – The Bold and the Beautiful & Chad and Abby – Days of our Lives

When B&B paired Eric and Quinn we thought it would be a quick manipulation of the head of the Forrester clan, and be one and done.  But lo and behold!  This couple has legs, and it’s been fun to watch, and completely unexpected.   As for DAYS Chad and Abby, for the first half of the year, these two star-crossed lovers were torn apart by Abby’s mental illness, but in the process it gave Billy Flynn and Kate Mansi great material to work with, and showcased how well the two clicked on-screen.

MOST BORING COUPLE

Abby and Stitch – The Young and the Restless

Courtesy/CBS

Thankfully, the writers decided to break these two up!  It just didn’t work for us.  Putting in Stitch’s troubled young son, Abby’s miscarriage, and mom Ashley lurking around, nothing made us care.

BEST LOVE TRIANGLE

Brooke/Bill/Katie – The Bold and the Beautiful

As much as we all complained a redo was on the way, this love triangle being re-ignited for the time it did, provided series all-stars: Heather Tom and Katherine Kelly Lang material to sink their teeth into.  In the end, no one ended up with Bill!  Ha!

WORST LOVE TRIANGLE

Shawn/Belle/Phillip – Days of our Lives

The set up of these characters returns were hard to take:  Belle was much more hardened and less the good girl, Phillip, who was then played by John-Paul Lavoisier, was not given great story and at times didn’t fit the bill for this role, and Shawn was first played again by original Shawn, Jason Cook, and then his original replacement, Brandon Beemer.  The one bright note: we thought Beemer did a good job throughout, and it was nice to see Martha Madison on our screens.  A retooling of this trio should be the order of the day since they have so much history with Salem.

MOST TORRID AFFAIR

Billy and Phyllis – The Young and the Restless

Courtesy/CBS

Put Gina Tognoni and Jason Thompson together and what do you have?  FIREWORKS!  Watching these two actors play the undeniable chemistry between Phyllis and Billy was one of the best executed steamy affairs on daytime TV in quite some time.

BEST GUEST-STAR GIMMICK

Celebrity Priests – The Bold and the Beautiful

From Wink Martindale, to Perez Hilton, to Chaz Bono, B&B kept enlisting pop culture figures to suddenly pop up as priests, ministers, etc to wed some of their staple couples.  Who could be next on the list?  Enter in your choice here _________

MOST HEARTBREAKING

The death of daytime icons and performers

2016 will go down as the year so many beloved favorites in the entertainment industry passed away.  Daytime mourned the loss of legendary scribes” Agnes Nixon and Claire Labine, and stars such as: Larkin Malloy, Joseph Mascolo, and so many more.

BIGGEST SOCIAL MEDIA FIRESTORM

Donald Trump’s lewd comments when visiting Days of our Lives during a segment for Access Hollywood

Photo: Twitter/RNC

Unfortunately, Arianne Zucker and DAYS were featured in Donald Trump’s “locker room talk” that caused a massive public outcry prior to him becoming president-elect.

Antonio Sabato Jr. and Kimberlin Brown speak at the Republic National Convention

When former soap stars, Sabato Jr., and Brown spoke at the RNC, fans were not holding back their feelings on their decision to speak on behalf of then Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

So, after reviewing our picks, which do you agree with?  Which do you disagree with? What are your thoughts on the Best and Worst in Soaps of 2016?  Were you happy to see some of your favorites receiving our year-end honors?  Share your thoughts in the comment below!