What are your favorite canceled soaps?

I've only seen two daytime soaps that have been cancelled and I love them both. They are Dark Shadows and Ryan's Hope. I think they have great writing and acting and they never bore me.

EDITED: Oops...I meant to post a poll. *sighs* Oh well.

my favorite canceled soap is Sunset Beach and The City and Dark Shadows.

I liked Another World (woo hoo to Soapnet!) and Santa Barbara.

I used to watch "Capitol" after coming home from school. I loved the glitziness of the show. I also watched "Search for Tomorrow" for about three years until it was cancelled. My mom watched it for about 20 years, and she cried so much as she was watching the last episode.

Another World

SFT, Texas & Santa Barbara

Definitely Sunset Beach, this soap opera never should have been cancelled, I loved every minute of it!!!

dark shadows
texas
the edge of night
from here to eternity

The Edge of Night

Ryan's Hope

Dark Shadows

Texas

Santa Barbara

Another World

Santa Barbara

The City

Loving was the best they ruined it by making The City which was awful

My favorite cancelled soaps are:

Generations I taped that everyday and I remember I called this hotline we had in the newspaper to check the episodes. I called everyday for about 2 months until I realized it wasn't coming back on.

I was also into Sunset Beach I would watch the replay at 2am doing night feedings at the time for my newborn.

I also liked the night time soap Pacific Palisades (Phyliss form Young and the Restless was on their).

I loved Sunset Beach!

Dark Shadows

SUNSET BEACH:talk:

Ryan's Hope
Loving
The Edge Of Night

I agree, they ruined Loving by making "The City"!

Another World

Santa Barbara... it was my mom's favorite soap when I was a little kid and I used to watch it with her when the weather was bad! :lol:

My old ABC Affiliate WVUE TV Cancelled Loveing even befor ABC Cancelled Loving

Ryan's Hope
Another World
Sunset Beach

Would love to have DVD's of both soaps.

Santa Barbara

I started watching soap operas at a young age,so there are quite a few cancelled soaps that were my favorites. Ryan's Hope and Loving are two of my favorites(The View is produced in both soaps former studio).I was a huge fan of Lisa Peluso's Ava and hated The City which didn't bring her over and hated the fake film look,which is the same thing that has destroyed the look of All My Children since late July 2006(along with the bad writing)and one of the reasons I no longer watch it.
I also watched the final year of Texas and The Doctors and I am enjoying seeing Texas and Another World on the AOL Video site. Santa Barbara,the CBN soap Another Life,Generations,Search For Tomorrow(the last year on CBS and all the NBC years),Edge of Night,the syndicated soap Rituals,and Sunset Beach(which taped in Santa Barbara's former studio at NBC studio 11 in Burbank,where Ellen Degeneres now tapes her show)

another world

did anyone say Enge of The Night

I was the biggest fan of "Sunset Beach!"

Another World and Santa Barbara

The only cancelled soap I've watched on a regular basis is "Dark Shadows," which is one of my all-time faves. I've also seen several episodes of "Ryan's Hope," a couple of "Another World," two of "The Doctors," one of "Love of Life," and two of "Search for Tomorrow." I enjoyed them all a hell of a lot.

Oh, and then there's "Port Charles." Which I didn't like all that much.

Oh, and then there's "Port Charles." Which I didn't like all that much.
I tried to get into some of that, but so far that's really not a favorite of mine. I'd like to see the early years out of curiosity since SOAPnet seems to only air the story arcs (and now only 2 episodes per week, so it'd take forever to get through a storyline). The two arcs I saw were Surrender and Fate. I wonder if the others were really any better.

I think Ryan's Hope is my favorite cancelled soap so far. I watch the reruns of that regularly.

I tried to get into some of that, but so far that's really not a favorite of mine. I'd like to see the early years out of curiosity since SOAPnet seems to only air the story arcs (and now only 2 episodes per week, so it'd take forever to get through a storyline). The two arcs I saw were Surrender and Fate. I wonder if the others were really any better.

I think Ryan's Hope is my favorite cancelled soap so far. I watch the reruns of that regularly.
Yeah, I agree about PC. The first three or so years really seem great, it had more emphasis on the hospital than what GH had at the time, and the backburnered vets from GH were shown more on PC too.

I never watched it when it was on the first time, but I've seen bits and pieces of Ryan's Hope on youtube. Plus I've learned a lot more about it on the web. What a one of a kind, unique program! No glitz, just wonderful writing and terrific actors breathing life into memorable characters! What a concept!!! :D

I never watched it when it was on the first time, but I've seen bits and pieces of Ryan's Hope on youtube. Plus I've learned a lot more about it on the web. What a one of a kind, unique program! No glitz, just wonderful writing and terrific actors breathing life into memorable characters! What a concept!!! :D
This show has some of the best writing and acting I have ever seen on a soap opera. The early years seem to be some of the best. Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer are awesome.

This show has some of the best writing and acting I have ever seen on a soap opera. The early years seem to be some of the best. Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer are awesome.
Agreed - plus they had some breakout actors such as Kate Mulgrew and Marg Helgenberger. It sure would be interesting to see what Ryan's Hope would be like if it was still on the air today!!!

Who were your favorite characters? I have to say mine would be Jill, Seneca and Delia.

Through YouTube and a couple of other sites, I've seen several full episodes and many clips of Search For Tomorrow and throroughly enjoyed it. My favorite couple was Travis and Liza Sentell (Rod Arrants and the late Sherry Mathis). I would LOVE to find more episodes that feature them. They were one married soap couple that stayed interesting (they dealt with issues of infertility and adoption as well as soap conventions like the mob, etc.) - and despite everything that was thrown their way, they remained happy and in love. But both actors chose to leave the show (Rod Arrants' Travis was killed off in 1984, and Sherry Mathis left the next year, so Liza was just recast) and that was that. But Rod Arrants did return to the show in its final days as Sam, who was the spitting image of the late Travis Sentell. Sam met Liza (now played by Louan Gideon) and they fell in love on sight. Then the show faded to black.

Here are some pics of Travis and Liza from SFT's heyday:

Here are some more great Liza & Travis pics I came across:

Another World (hardly watched while still on air, but loved what I saw on Soapnet and now Hulu and Youtube)
As The World Turns
Guiding Light (the loss of both still sting :( )
Search For Tomorrow
The Edge Of Night (Loved what I saw of both on AOL)

I really don't think any of you would remember the soap opera "GENERATIONS" this soap aired on NBC from 1989-1991. The show was groundbreaking in that it was the first soap opera to feature an African American family on the show from its inception. After it's run on NBC...The series was aired syndication on the BET network, an American cable channel that specializes in black programming. The show ran on that channel until 1993.

I'm now watching some old Santa Barbara eps on YouTube, from its beginnings in 1984. It was a very cleverly written, perfectly acted show!!

The Edge of Night - Used to watch it after I got home from school
Secret Storm - Watched it at home during the summer. It was so melodramatic that even as a kid I thought that it was ridiculous.

Another World
Guiding Light
As the World Turns
Loving

loved Sunset beach. Anyone know how to get the entire run on vhs or dvd. I have a few shows that i taped to watch after gettin home from work or where ever.you know before dvrs. so i have some shows layin around. But would LOVE to ge the whole 3yrs

Oh i miss Guiding Light too. Started watching when i would get home from school and continued til it went off the air. Think maybe started 78-79 , so depending on what yr i started watching if it was 78 i was 9 if it was 79 i was 10. So i watched it nearly 30yrs. Miss that one greatly. Still watch day,started watching that in 1987.. And recently i don't know why, but i been watching one life to live..So hopefully Days is here to stay

Pretty soon, it will be ALL of them!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :mad: :mad: :mad:

"Santa Barbara" was the best soap ever. I would rush home from school to watch this show. After it went over the air, soap operas were never the same for me.

I barely remember "Texas" but from what I see on youtube it looks great especially the last year. Too bad it was on against GH during the Luke and Laura years and GL. I also love "Generations" but I think I was the only person who watched. it.

Santa Barbara? Excellent choice. They had the best songs for Eden & Cruz - "The Change in Me is You", "Shelter From the Storm", "All My Life", etc. Not sure what A Martinez is up to these days (though he did have a short-term role on OLTL a couple of years ago), but Marcy Walker has since retired from show biz. She now goes by her married name of Marcy Smith and is director of children's ministries at a church in Charlotte, NC. :cool: :D

Plus, she and Robin Wright really looked and acted like sisters. Eden and Kelly Capwell were probably the most convincing sisters I've seen on soaps. :cool: :D

Those pictures sure bring back memories. Santa Barbara seemed different from the other soap operas and that is why I liked it so much. I really think they did the fans a big disgrace by not bringing Eden and Cruz back for the final episode.

I remember when NBC daytime started with Sale of The Century and ended with Santa Barbara. Now that was one hell of a daytime lineup even though they were usually third in the ratings.

Speaking of Robin Wright, this show was her big break (and made The Princess Bride during her run as Kelly). Surprisingly (at least to me, I never saw SB when it was originally on), Eden and Cruz weren't on right at the beginning (A Martinez came on a couple of weeks after the premiere, and Marcy Walker didn't show up for about 2 months into the show's run - probably because she'd jumped ship from her first go-around on AMC and was waiting for her contract there to be up). The star-crossed couple at the outset was Kelly and Joe Perkins (originally played by Dane Witherspoon).

The Wright/Witherspoon chemistry was off the charts, and carried over into real life for a time (they fell in love when the show began in 1984, moved in together a few weeks later, wed in 1986 and divorced in 1988). Then Witherspoon was fired in a dispute with the producers about 3 months after the show debuted. His replacement, Mark Arnold (who had been Lori Loughlin's love interest on The Edge of Night), had none of the charisma in the role or chemistry with Wright that Witherspoon had. Arnold had a short-term contract (only 3 months) and it was his choice not to renew it; he wanted to pursue film work.

It's a shame things turned sour - both on- AND off-screen. None of Wright's subsequent pairings on the show even came close to what she had with Witherspoon's Joe. (Though I might have gone for a Kelly/Pearl romance. Pearl was one funny guy - he always cracked me up. :lol:)

Robin Wright, of course, went from SB to movie stardom and Sean Penn. They of course recently divorced, as have Dane Witherspoon and his second wife, Tracy Shaffer. Each of those pairings spawned two children (Wright/Penn have a daughter and son, Witherspoon/Shaffer share two sons). Dane Witherspoon left acting long ago to become an independent businessman/entrepeneur.

P.S. I LOVE the wedding gown Kelly wore for her and Joe's wedding in early 1985 (which was SB's first wedding, by the way). It totally cracks me up - so vintage 80s!!! :eek: :crazy: :lol:

Here's another interesting tidbit - one of the major obstacles in the Kelly/Joe romance was the shady Peter Flint, who after losing Kelly for good went completely off the deep end. He was played by Stephen Meadows, who was once married to Leeza Gibbons (!!). Now remarried, he and his second wife live with their combined family in Hawaii. Here he is as Peter Flint, posing with Robin Wright as Kelly Capwell:

Definitely Sunset Beach, this soap opera never should have been cancelled, I loved every minute of it!!!


I'm another one with a soft spot for my Sunset Beach!!! Love it as well. Even was fighting for it to stay on the air longer, but it never happened. It was also one of the shows where I got to meet the entire cast. I just loved the show for its campiness.

Sunset Beach, much like Santa Barbara, is still huge overseas. I read that some country (Croatia? Ukraine? I can't remember which one) shows reruns of Sunset Beach in primetime.

I still miss Guiding Light. :(

There are two soaps that I miss, As the World Turns and Santa Barbara. Those were the first 2 soaps I ever watched. My folks used to tape them and watch them at night and after I went to bed I would lay on the floor in my room since it was above the kitchen with the tv and wait to hear my folks turn on the VCR to watch there soaps. I would sneak down the stairs and I could see the tv from the bottom step and since the seats my folks sat in faced the other direction they couldn't see me so I could sit there and watch the soaps. I remember a couple years ago when I still lived with my folks I was going through my moms old VHS taps and I found one with a bunch of ATWT eps and it brought back alot of memories. I think ATWT was best in the 80's when Lily was young and she first met Holden those were some good eps.

At least you can still find clips of both shows (as well as other soaps) on YouTube. Great stuff. :D

Santa Barbara.

My girlfriend at the time was watching the show.
It had a lot interesting elements. Mason was a great character.

I remember one episide Mason got it on with Gina in the back of ambulance after a fire. I was in awe of Lane Davies after that.

I guess we can now add Guiding Light and As The World Turns to this list now.:(

Santa Barbara.

My girlfriend at the time was watching the show.
It had a lot interesting elements. Mason was a great character.

I remember one episide Mason got it on with Gina in the back of ambulance after a fire. I was in awe of Lane Davies after that.

That was when the first Gina, Linda Gibboney, was playing the role. Mason also had that wonderful love story with Mary Duvall (Harley Kozak) - until the poor girl was crushed by the neon "C" from the Capwell Hotel sign. SB sure had some terrific male characters that any female would love: Cruz, Mason, and Joe (well, when he was played by Dane Witherspoon, IMO). :cool: :D

I miss the classic episodes of All My Children, One Life To Live and General Hospital. Wish they'd come out on dvd I'd buy them all.

That was when the first Gina, Linda Gibboney, was playing the role. Mason also had that wonderful love story with Mary Duvall (Harley Kozak) - until the poor girl was crushed by the neon "C" from the Capwell Hotel sign. SB sure had some terrific male characters that any female would love: Cruz, Mason, and Joe (well, when he was played by Dane Witherspoon, IMO). :cool: :D

I remember Nick the photographer who was with Kelly (they married, I think).
I liked him. They made a good couple.

He had an evil brother, Dylan or something? Hated that bastard.

And don't get me started on Kirk Cranston.

Ok, I'm almost a woman right now.

No, Kelly never married Nick (though they were engaged at one point). When Robin Wright was in the role, Kelly married Joe Perkins (who was killed by her crazy ex, Peter Flint) and then Jeffrey Conrad. In real life, Robin Wright married (and divorced) Joe #1, Dane Witherspoon. She was only 18 when she started on SB but just had that old soul thing going on.

SB also had great music - they would use pop hits of the day but also had stellar original songs. My favorites of the originals are "Shelter From the Storm" and "The Change in Me" (both Cruz and Eden themes) and "Sweet & Simple", which was used as a song for Kelly and Nick when they were in the ghost town.

I guess I will miss Another World and As The World Turns til the day I die. AW was my maternal grandmother's favorite and ATWT my paternal grandmother's. I have so many precious memories of watching these shows with them. I learned to love these shows because they did. Mammaw let me watch AW with her, but I heard her talk many times with my Granddaddy in hushed tones about being worried it was too "mature" for me. I remember her horror when Rachel got pregnant by Steven Frame! God love her, she would be rolling over in her grave if she knew what goes on today. My Mama B was the hardest working housewife you could ever know, but at 12:30 everything stopped for ATWT (Daddy B knew to be in the kitchen for lunch at 12 sharp or go without!). She acted like Kim and Bob were real people, she loved them, but she hated Lisa! I would've hated for her to meet Eileen Fulton on the street, Mama B would've pulled her bald headed! I miss Mama B and Lisa so much. Oh for the simple, good old days. :rolleyes:

My all-time favorite soap, cancelled or not, will always be my beloved All My Children. :(

It makes me SICK to have to type this, but as of this week, my favorite canceled soap opera is "One Life To Live".

I am just beside myself that "OLTL" is no more. I spent more than 20 years of my life watching, loving and growing because of the characters of that fantastic series.

I really liked Hotel as well and I used to watch Dallas during the "Who Shot JR" Thing. Oh and Beverly Hills 90210 (the GOOD version) although I never really thought of it as a soap.

The final episodes of Texas and The Doctors are now on Youtube. Wow!!! Dec 31 1982 must have really been a sad day. The Texas finale was probably the best finale I have ever seen. The Doctors finale was good too. I heard The Doctors was really bad at the end but it looked interesting to me. Especially the old woman storyline.

Now we are down to 4 soaps. With all of these soaps being canceled, Jill Farren Phelps (the woman who ruined daytime, in my opinion) still has a job. Life is not fair.

Now we are down to 4 soaps. With all of these soaps being canceled, Jill Farren Phelps (the woman who ruined daytime, in my opinion) still has a job. Life is not fair.

Actually, no she doesn't. Jill Farren Phelps was fired about a month ago and has been replaced with Frank Valentini, the former Executive Producer of "One Life To Live".

Ron Carvalati, the Head Writer from "OLTL" has also replaced GH's current HW Garrin Wolf.

I can't believe OLTL is gone, I've been catching up with old episodes on Youtube. Hopefully we'll see a dvd release soon. I kinda suspect General Hospital's time is dwindling down as well.

Actually, no she doesn't. Jill Farren Phelps was fired about a month ago and has been replaced with Frank Valentini, the former Executive Producer of "One Life To Live".

Ron Carvalati, the Head Writer from "OLTL" has also replaced GH's current HW Garrin Wolf.


Oh I didn't realize she had been fired. I missed that somehow. Thanks for the update.

I don't know which is more surprising - that she lasted a decade on GH or that she actually did GOOD soap work once upon a time (see Santa Barbara).

Im going to say One Life to Live. The very fact that there are tons of cancelled soaps shows you that the daytime soap opera genre is dying.

I don't know which is more surprising - that she lasted a decade on GH or that she actually did GOOD soap work once upon a time (see Santa Barbara).

And I actually liked her stint at OLTL too. Though it was controversial to say the least.


I couldn't believe that they kept her for 10 years. She clearly destroyed "GH". Between her and Frons the show never stood a chance. To think that when Wendy Riche was on the series it was so well written, full of heart and had a dignity to it.

As The World Turns is my favorite, followed closely by One Life To Live.

My favorite cancelled soap operas are The Edge of Night, The Secret Storm, A World Apart, and Dark Shadows.

To think that when Wendy Riche was on the series it was so well written, full of heart and had a dignity to it.

When Wendy Riche left (I think due to clashes with Guza), GH jumped the shark. When Angela Shapiro left as president of ABC Daytime, ABC Daytime as a whole jumped the shark. Sad...and, as always, the real losers are the loyal fans. :( :mad:

my favorite canceled soap is Sunset Beach.

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The Edge of Night. The emphasis on mystery and suspense story arcs was unique at the time and could definitely work today with some modern tweaking. Raven and Sky Whitney were an interesting supercouple in that neither of them were upstanding citizens but you rooted for them to be together nonetheless. The show also had a porn star (Dennis Parker) who could actually act. :D

Not to mention that EON is where Lori Loughlin got her big break. :cool:

I miss One Life To Live. It ended this January. I watched that show since I was a kid. I don't understand why they cancelled it. Then it was supposed to go on the internet but that got cancelled. Some of the OLTL stars are going to be on General Hospital.

My favorite cancelled soaps are ACM, and OLTL once soapnet goes I won't be able to see them anymore. Sucks

Let's hope they bring OLTL and GH to dvd.

Santa Barbara will always be my number one soap love.

The Edge of Night. The emphasis on mystery and suspense story arcs was unique at the time and could definitely work today with some modern tweaking. Raven and Sky Whitney were an interesting supercouple in that neither of them were upstanding citizens but you rooted for them to be together nonetheless. The show also had a porn star (Dennis Parker) who could actually act. :D
Shows like Revenge make me think "Edge" would work very well today as a prime time weekly show since soaps are dying off in daytime. They had great characters and compelling mysteries with plenty of plot twists.

Santa Barbara will always be my number one soap love.
I love watching SB clips on YT...Eden & Cruz, Kelly & Joe, Amy & Brick, Mason...gotta love 'em.

All My Children and OLTL. I loved them both.

Shows like Revenge make me think "Edge" would work very well today as a prime time weekly show since soaps are dying off in daytime. They had great characters and compelling mysteries with plenty of plot twists.
:yeahthat

All My Children is my favorite on and off the screen! There won't ever be another Erica Kane. I honestly believe if they brought back everyone connected to their awesome teen-set from the 80's (Jenny, Greg, Angie, Jesse, Liza, Hilary, Amanda, Alfred Vanderpool ) after Leo and Vanessa's death and made them the focus along with Tad, Adam, Brooke, Jack and Erica. The show would still be on the air.

Sunset Beach on NBC in the late 1990's.

With the success thus far of the "Dallas" re-boot, they should have made "Dark Shadows" a night-time re-boot rather than a feature film. I know WB tried but the pilot was awful. Fortunately Larry Hagman is still with us to lend "Dallas" gravitas in a lead character. Sadly Jonathan Frid is no longer with us. Without the right person in that role it would not work for "Shadows".

With the success thus far of the "Dallas" re-boot, they should have made "Dark Shadows" a night-time re-boot rather than a feature film. I know WB tried but the pilot was awful. Fortunately Larry Hagman is still with us to lend "Dallas" gravitas in a lead character. Sadly Jonathan Frid is no longer with us. Without the right person in that role it would not work for "Shadows".
Have you ever watched the 1990 NBC revival of the show? It was constantly bumped and pre-empted for the (albeit very important) news coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

All My Children is my favorite on and off the screen! There won't ever be another Erica Kane. I honestly believe if they brought back everyone connected to their awesome teen-set from the 80's (Jenny, Greg, Angie, Jesse, Liza, Hilary, Amanda, Alfred Vanderpool ) after Leo and Vanessa's death and made them the focus along with Tad, Adam, Brooke, Jack and Erica. The show would still be on the air.
You bring up valid points, but no matter what they would've tried, it wouldn't have counted in the end with someone like Brian Frons (:mad:) at the helm.

Have you ever watched the 1990 NBC revival of the show? It was constantly bumped and pre-empted for the (albeit very important) news coverage of the Persian Gulf War.
I have the DVD's and watched it when it aired. It was good, though a bit too much of a re-hash of the 1960's storylines of Barnabas released in current day then jumping back to 1795. I don't think Ben Cross (though he was OK in the role) ever approached Frid's original interpretation. There was something about Frid in that role that even Johnny Depp could not capture. I never saw the WB pilot but have read it was a bomb. There was a certain vibe to DS that worked that would be magic if it could be recaptured.

All My Children
One Life To Live

You bring up valid points, but no matter what they would've tried, it wouldn't have counted in the end with someone like Brian Frons (:mad:) at the helm.

Yeah, I agree.

One Life To Live

Via YouTube, I became addicted to Ryan's Hope and Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara

All My Children and Guiding Light

(answer: "Dark Shadows" (1966-1971) and "Passions")

Dark Shadows
All My Children
One Life To Live

Dark Shadows

And I was hooked on AW for years. (If that's already in this thread somewhere, apologies.)