Days Of Our Lives
TV Guide Names Best Of Soaps 2014: B&B, GH, Anthony Geary & Alison Sweeney Take Top Honors!
Courtesy/ABC
The year end lists are starting to roll-in! Many of your favorite online and publication platforms have begun giving us their assessments in the best of television in 2014 with only a few weeks to go before we turn the page to 2015.
One of the most highly anticipated every year is the Best Of Soaps given by TV Guide Magazine’s Michael Logan. Today, TV Guide.com posted several of his picks and you can see the complete list in the December 19th issue of the magazine.
Top honors for the Best Soap was a tie! It went to CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful and ABC’s General Hospital for different reasons. As Logan explains in his choices, “Daytime’s most sumptuous serial, took us on location to Abu Dhabi, Paris, Monte Carlo, and Amsterdam for lots of awesome — and watery — action … but the home front was no less riveting, with family warfare and corporate chaos. This is classic soap, done exquisitely.” As for GH’s nod, Logan commented on the choice: “GH is soap on crack, an outlandish, unapologetic, feverishly paced experience that is packed with ballsy surprises, in-your-face performances, and superhip humor. And those payoffs!”
Courtesy/NBC
Now as for top acting honors … it went two veterans who turned in some powerhouse performances in the calendar year! Best Actor went to Anthony Geary for the amazing tour de force performance when a drooling Luke comes face to face for the first time with his evil “Lukealike”, Fluke while at Miscavige! And as for Best Actress, TVG gave it to DAYS departed Alison Sweeney for her best season in years, and in particular for Sami’s revenge plot against EJ, and then the shock of her becoming a widow at the end of her almost 22 year run!
In the Supporting categories, General Hospital’s Lisa LoCicero took Supporting Actress honors! Who can forget when she drunk-dialed the hotline for the adopt-a-shelter-dog? Supporting Actor was given to The Young and the Restless creepy Ian Ward played by veteran actor Ray Wise.
Eileen Davidson received recognition for Star of the Year for being on both DAYS and Y&R, winning a Daytime Emmy, and now starring in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
So, what do you think of TV Guide’s choices for Best Of Soaps in 2014? Agree? Disagree? And don’t forget, every year as per usual, On-Air On-Soaps will reveal our annual “Best and Worsts of The Year” between Christmas and New Years! Be on the lookout for that!
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Any “Best Of” list that doesn’t have Maura West’s name on it is absolutely worthless.
THANK YOU!
exactly! Maura West, at the very least, deserved the Supporting Actress given to…Lisa LoCicero?!?!
I agree with that statement.
lol
It is a mans opinion..
Michael Logan’s opinion..
It was not by fans poll..
Take it for what it is, Michael Logan’s opinion the way he sees it..
It is not an acclaimed award ceremony, it is not the emmy’s .. lol
You want Maura, wait for the emmy’s ..
@su0000 – definitely correct! Maura West for the EMMY! 🙂
Yeeees!!! MAURA WEST across the board !!!!
Love Tony Geary but he was barely there definitely think it shouldve gone to Maurice & Laura Wright was robbed as usual. Not an Olivia fan but even if i was they never give her anything worth noticing.
Agree. Logan himself must be on crack if he thinks Geary was the highpoint of male soap acting in 2014. Geary was completely MIA for nearly 4 months onscreen, and sporadically made appearances via videochat for 2 more months! Surely, there were other actors on more consistently who delivered riveting performances all 12 months of the year. I may not like their characters. But, IMO, Roger Howarth & Maurice Bernard ran the gamut of emotions all year long opposite a myriad of actors in all types of situations with hardly time to breath. As for Supporting Actress, Kathleen Gati was simply amazing this year IMO. Love or hate Dr. O – Gati plays her as a true survivor who can take care of herself & always has a trick up her sleeve. Olivia, OTOH, seems to only exist in relation to her next romantic hookup or babysitting date. Otherwise, she is never shown. I can’t believe that is the kind of depiction that got Logan’s attention as “best.” Lisa LoCicero is lovely & funny. But, Olivia’s scenes have been similar to those of Delia. While both actresses are fun to watch, they didn’t do anything like the funny/sad/heartbreaking-all-at-the-same-time stuff that Gati had to play.
Agreed. I find nothing extraordinary about Geary’s acting. Yuck !!!!
Great, unexpected choice with Lisa LoCicero for Supporting Actress! She turns in awesome performances – funny, heartfelt, dramatic, whatever is called for – every time she’s onscreen. Love the Olivia & Ned pairing – hope she gets her man!
This is why I love this site…we all have our opinions, and it’s fun… …but Oh I could not disagree more… Lisa is not even close to others such as Maura West…just to name a few….her performances are far from riveting. But I do like her with Ned… I hope Ned stays for good and they finally contract him.
Sorry but for me the love to hate her Kathleen Gahti was the best Supporting Actress this year.
Love Dr. O! Her crashing performance at the Nurse’s Ball was fantastic!
With only four soaps there wasnt much choice there…lol
I’m not sure I understand you there Jim. Not much choice? Just GH alone has too much choice-lol! They’re packed enough for 3 soaps.
I can think of great female performances for lead:
Maura West
Michelle Stafford
Finola Hughes
Nancy Lee Grahn
Not sure Kelly Monaco has had the scenes yet for this. She probably will when Jason gets his memory back.
Laura Wright has her moments. Some of them make me cry. Then she starts yelling again and loses me.
I’m no expert in other Y&R but:
Sharon Case was great
I’m not loving Gina Tognoni yet, but she’d be on here.
Alison Sweeney was absolutely magnificent. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if she won the Emmy.
I don’t watch B&B unfortunately. I do love Rena Sofer.
I love these Best of/Worst of opinion columns. More than the Emmys which are more about politics there.
Not understanding the Lisa LoCicero award. There were better supporting actresses.
I don’t watch B&B and am happy for its loyal fans..
Nobody needed to tell me that General hospital and an outstanding soap..
However; the description was right-on !
GH truly is-
“A soap on crack, an outlandish, unapologetic, feverishly paced experience that is packed with ballsy surprises, in-your-face performances, and superhip humor. And those payoffs!” !!
BRAVO!! To ALL the writers and the prestigious cast !! their performances have been emmy stelar !
No doubt– GH is a soap experience !!
THAT is why I love to watch GH – because they alone revel in their “soap” definition. It’s a take-no-prisoners and make-no-apologies approach that captures GH’s own unique history as the “action-based” soap & pushes it to the limit. I think RC & FV seriously considered that if the soaps were going down when they took over in 2011, they might as well go out with GH guns blazing instead of maudlin weeping & wailing.
Bull shit. From start to finish.
Word Jeffrey!
YEP!
aaaha you guys..
Michael Logan might say the same of your opinions..
It’s just an opinion not the emmy’s or any such thing..
heh
It is an opinion of the soap writer for TV Guide..
heh if I were the writer, you would have read a different opinion of the actors….
Then you guys would be throwing tomatoes at me me … LOL 🙂
or- If Harry was the TV guide soap writer we would probably be hissing his opinion..
and jeffery, would be bull shittin on us LOL ..
(I would have mentioned Maura, Michelle, Laura, Roger, but– they will be mentioned at the emmy’s If they are not, then the emmy”s have failed horribly..
May I call you Sue? SU000 seems rather impersonal and reminds me of a serial number.
Yes, it is Michael Logan’s opinion. And it is my opinion that I don’t care for this man’s opinions.
Have a wonderful holiday season, Sue.
LOL at GH Being best soap. GH has never been as bad as it is now. Tony Geary as best actor is a laugh since he is never on GH.Then Lisa loCicero as suppoating actress. No thanks making meatballs doesn’t count. What a joke this list is. Sounds more like TV Guide is trying to tell us who to like the way FV and RC try to do everyday on GH. I doesn’t work. NO THANKS TO ALL OF IT.
I don’t know if this will get posted but I will try–I detest Michael Logan as a daytime drama critic, and do not trust anything he says. He is biased to the point of almost being obsessional.
He has been Tweeting some really unfair criticism of Gina Tognoni saying,”I am not a fan of Nu Phyllis–she is biter, hysterical and angry.” Well, Phyllis was always those things but in my opinion, Gina does it better. It’s hard enough for the recasts to get their footing against the collectively rabid loyal fan backlash, so it doesn’t help when the TV Guide soap opera critic starts bashing a new actor who is doing the best she can to make it work. We all know that Logan is rabid fan of Michelle Stafford’s as he lavishes her with praise every day. Doesn’t he know what us smart people know? You can love the re cast without being disloyal to the person that actor replaced. One love doesn’t negate the other. I for one, love this Phyllis–she is compelling, multifaceted and doesn’t have to scream and wave her harms to be heard.
Give me the other Michael any day as he puts back the fair in Fairman.
hey Harry, glad your thoughts got posted. We’re all entitled to our opinions and feelings. I hear ya. Anyways, I don’t watch Y&R to make a proper comment and, what you wrote is courageous. I’m a GH and DAYS watcher, myself.
Harry, Michael Logan is totally biased if he likes you man he praises you to the moon if not he writes trash about you. Years ago he wrote an article about how Erika Slezak should quit submitting herself because she had won so many emmys, but he has no problem with Tony Geary if Geary gets it again then give him a lifetime achievement award and be done with it there are a lot of good actors out there that get snubbed because of the fascination with this man. Wishing you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Thank you for the validation, Jeremy and Kay. Kay, I remember when Logan suggested that Erika Slezak remove herself from the best actress category for a daytime series. I really resent it when someone suggests that they be ashamed of themselves for being so good. Erika just rose the bar of excellence and should have been commended for it.
As for those who assert that Logan has the right to his opinion, I would say of course he has that right. I have no problem with any soap columnist having favorite actors. But when that favoritism comes at the expense of another actor? Not cool, and certainly not professional. His childish bashing of Gina Tognoni is ridiculous. He doesn’t have to love her but perhaps he can remain silent while this very talented actress tackles a role formerly played by an actress who enjoys a huge and rabid fan base. Like it or not, Michael Logan is setting an example for some soap fans easily swayed by his opinion. For a good example of how you do it, follow Michael Fairman (forgive my obsequiousness, but I mean it).
In the great scheme of things and given the horrific tragedy which just occurred in Pakistan, my lament is rather petty. However, right now I am a bit sensitive to unkind sentiments being expressed. Happy Holidays!
I second what Jeremy wrote, Harry. But having scoured the internet enough, I’ve seen just about all these columnists have biases. I don’t have to read anything and I already know Michael fairman’s Best Show of 2014 will go to GH. It just will be. It’s clear to me that’s where he slants. His Best Actress too, will no doubt be a tie between Maura and Michelle from GH. No grudges, I’ve made peace with what to expect on this site and I continue to visit it. But I’d bet my next pay check on it. Nelson Branco has a love affair (not literally, guys) with Michael Muheny and also worships Crystal Chappel, Michelle and just about any other actor who will kiss his butt.
Having said this, you just take the good with the bad. I do like Logan, also despite his clear friendships with certain people (**NancyLeecoughcough**). Last year he gave Supporting Actress to Meredith Scott Lynn, which I thought was very ballsy of him as no one was really acknowledging her at all on any list. And he does own what he doesn’t like even if he is buddies with the person, which I appreciate. He calls out RC all the time, has also done so with Bob Guza, Michael Muhney, Cady McClain etc.
I do agree with your opinion on GT….personally I think she’s brought some humanity and empathy to MS’s very rabid and bully-ish take on the character. I did not interpret his tweet as a critic though, just an opinion like any other. I take it at face value and that’s it. Just like his Best and Worst List.
Logan-
”Nu Phyllis–she is biter, hysterical and angry”
I agree with Michael Logan on that ^^ one..
For me; Gina/Phyllis is pain to watch, no passion from her, no depth, no gripping personality of the Nu Phyllis character shines through, no charisma..
She is just a basket of over the top anger, hostile, spiteful, harsh, and an unpleasant character to watch .. way I see her 🙂
(angry whiner lol ..
I prefer GT’s version of Phyllis too. I liked MS, but she had clearly checked out of the role years ago and I was happy to see her go. GT does classic Phyllis IMO.
I totally disagree about Ray Wise as best supporting actor. He was not on Y&R long enough to merit this. Each show had many more deserving people to merit this and they are far too numerous to name!
100% agree. Ray Wise was great but barely on the show. Many, many other deserving actors for best supporting.
ian ward was such a breathe of fresh air and could actually stand up in scenes against eric braedan and melody thomas scott which is a rare feat!
plus he was on all of 2014, which is what the award is based on!
shame he was written out so hastily…
Well..
It is not how long one is on the soap it is how dang good they are as a supporting actor..
and there is no doubt.. Ray Wise/Ian was a great Supporting Actor..
(not length of time, but talent as a supporting actor.. Ray killed it)
Maybe his story arc was brief, but he was exceptional in the role. Quality not quantity.
Ray wasnt on everyday this year BUT when he was on he gave me the creeps and I’m a grown man! He was very much believable as a cult leader. I support his award.
And ray wise is a sexy older man, even in his 60/70s, and i’m 31!!!! He has always been sexy and charismatic, whatever role he plays!!!!
I’m all for Eileen Davidson receiving ‘Star of the Year’. I love her as Kristen DiMera, looking forward to her visit/return in February.
Absolutely agree!
I don’t understand how young boring actress/actors like Matthew Atkinson and Ashleigh Brewer get credit but Camila Banus never does..
I Am GLAD That General Hospital Is The Best Show Or W/e
Congrats To ABC’s General Hospital
GLAD THAT THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS DIDN’T WIN FOR BEST SHOW
Jill Farren SOAP OPERA KILLER PHELPS = YOUR SHIP HAS SAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And So Is The Young And The Restless GOOD NIGHT
ugh i do not get how BB gets top honors from Michael and SOD mag…so it goes on location? sure,it’s pretty..and beautiful but you have to have STORY and actual relationships to go along with these excursions. a trip to another country does not a soap make. those arcs did hardly anything for the show except for Abu Dahbi because Brooke found out about Bill and Quinn. the others just had Hope and Liam doing the same ol merry go round. the whole year of BB was who will Hope choose or who will she run into to stop her from getting to her man and him(or her) choosing another in those few min and then seeing Rick,Caroline,Eric,Aly every month or so for a quick hi. hardly anything progressed! ugh. I have watched BB for 17 years(the longest of all my soaps) but i liked it the least and am almost to the point of not watching now. it’s sad. GH is spot on though..i look forward to it,it moves along..there is many actors to watch and many stories with actual plots and real surprises. A+ to it.
I’m definitely on board with GH as best soap, the show has had a tremendous 2014 from top to bottom, both creatively and ratings wise. Can’t argue with Tony Geary as Best Actor. The way he transformed the Luke that we all knew into the smarmy, lecherous, devious Fluke character has been a thing of beauty to watch. What else would you expect from the man who, in my opinion, is the best actor in daytime history period. I have a feeling there will be some more Emmy gold in his future.
I like Lisa LoCicero, but I agree with the others that have questioned this pick. Can’t think of anything she did this year that I found particularly memorable. I would have gone with Maura West myself, although she’s really more of a leading actress than a supporting actress.
Really, you couldn’t have gone wrong with any number of women from the outstanding cast of GH this year. Along with Maura, you have Michelle Stafford, Laura Wright, Finola Hughes, Jane Elliot, Nancy Lee Grahn, Kelly Monaco, Kirsten Storms, right on down the line.
It’s been a real pleasure to watch all of them do their think on a weekly basis. I’ve been through a lot in my personal life this year, and GH is one of the few constant pleasures for me. A show I can dive into, and immerse myself in, and forget about my problems for an hour. That’s why, even though I may not always like every story or every character, I’ll rarely complain about the show, because it provides such an important piece of enjoyment for me in my life.
Luke who is on GH half the year did not deserve it. I think the only reason he gets it because he is a ICAN How about James Scott on DAYS who played the role of EJ just AWESOME acting
I just don’t understand how B&B wins anything. It is the worst soap in the world….yikes!
I loved Lisa LoCicero (sp) in the scene where she was drunk with Ned at the Metro Court babbling about “Brenda-bots,” and in Ned’s room-trying to adopt/rescue a dog. I watched those scenes twice and laughed so hard! I think Ned and Olivia would be a cute couple.
GH was by far the number one soap of the year. Y&R is just starting to find its groove again after recasting three major characters.
Anthony Geary should get TWO awards! One for Luke and one for Fluke! When the two of them were side by side he does such a good job you think you are watching TWO different actors! Remember this about Tony, yeah he was off the show for four months BUT the guy acted in pain before he left and is back on the show still recovering. I give the guy a lot of credit. Neck and back issues are not something to be taken lightly.
Lisa, a surprise nomination but why not? She is a different kind of soap character and she comes across as someone who would really exist in Queens or Bensonhurst!
Ray Wise was awesome. He was so creepy. The guy is one hell of an actor and it was a treat to see him on daytime. Every time he appeared on screen he gave me the creeps. I wish he would have hung around a little longer but I see him reappearing down the road.
Does TV Guide/Logan still publish the annual “Worst in Soaps” List?
GH is & has been the best soap since it began in 1956 !
GH should not take a backseat to anyone, it also has the
the best actors & actresses of
all soaps, of course Anthony
Geary should win !
Luke is getting old, get rid of him
Tony Geary is the best Actor around; and that includes GH, primetime, or movie Stars…
I have been a faithful GH watcher for 50 years now, and it IS the best game in town, without a doubt. Since Frank and Ron came aboard, the show has been on fire! The mixing of the old with the new, makes the show seem new again…
ONE thing needed back however is Our Angel aka Laura/Genie Francis!!! She has been the heart and soul of GH since Her first appearance! They could sign her to a long-term contract, give her a fresh s/l, and it would be ratings gold!
I agree Buddy. GH does not have a straight-up angel right now! Someone not corrupted from the mom. One person the whole town can come to for advice. She’s such a great actress. They have these on all shows. Especially Days. I miss it on GH.
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