Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sunday Surgery: Valentine's Day and Soap Couples...

Through out the years, they have been our compass for "Love"...at least for a kid in her teens during the '70's. We didn't have MTV, racy novels (unless we stole them), movies over PG--or Victoria's Secret. We had our soaps. Ergo...we did expect our relationships to be full of drama and angst..."together against all odds" and all the rest. ON THE RUN stories became our summer fun, will they get caught? Be together? The only "Spoilers" I ever saw were the show's own promos.



We'd wait for the magazines to have a small photo or article on our couple and cut the photos out. Dream about what the outcome would be. No fanbase arguements because we had no "boards" or websites. No Smush names. (can you imagine?!) Only a pen and paper to write a fan letter to the stars. I'm not saying those were the "good Ol Days" because now, I do enjoy dishing with others about the show --but there is an innocence lost on it all. Plus the fact most stories were brand new.  Not much was repeated. When Jenny and Jessie ran to NYC it was the first time I'd seen anything like that--plus they were 'interracial'! (which is why I don't think they ever 'went there' but remained stead-fast friends instead). Couples usually hadn't gone through years and years of other partners, they were new and shiny!


The first Internet couple I remember is S&B-- that's when the whole hooplah began. The Jax/Brenda/Sonny triangle pitted the fans against each other and the NuAge of Soaps were born...the SoapNET age--TechnoSuds...I could really go on and on. DigitalDaytime??! Is it better? In some ways yes, but I do long for the days when I could love a couple and not have to defend them to a host of others.

SO! On this Valentine's Day, remember your fave couple moments: Anna/Robert's tie up-- Lucy and Alan's mad wedding, Laura and Luke and the blanket, Karen and Larry after the trial, Tom finding Erica's pills, Tara and Phil in the church saying their vows... and know that romance is alive and well in Daytime. Only now, with way more bullets to dodge and breakups to endure.



18 comments:

  1. Thanks for the flashbacks Karen! Liz & Lucky's scenes from the past the other day gave me goose bumps. Same with old liz & Jason, Brenda/Sonny (or brender/Jax), Lucy & Kevin, Lucy & Scott, Dominique & Scott, Felicia & frisco, Felicia & mac, and Stephan & Katherine (mainly cause they were a fan fav on days).

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  2. Great commentary, Karen. I couldn't agree more!

    So hard to pick a fav, my top couples were Jenny & Greg from AMC, Cord & Tina from OLTL, and Robert & Anna/Frisco & Felicia from GH. Although Sean and Tiff were a hoot to watch, too!

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  3. Happy Valentine's Day to all!!

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  4. You were right Karen and my couple was Luke and Laura too.Also on Days was John and Marlena and poof they are gone.It was a simpler time and I truly miss it.My dad loved GH his mother would watch it and on cliffhanger Friday when Monica fell down the stairs on Monday my grandmother would say poor thing she laid at the bottom of the stairs all weekend.:)
    Happy Valentines Yall

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  5. The Alan-Monica-Rick triangle was fun; esp. when Alan tried to kill Monica and Rick.

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  6. Love today's blog!!! And the old school photos had me very nostalgic!

    Thanks for all the soapy wub through out the year xoxoxox

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  7. This Liason fan holds onto those memories the most. They never even slept together but had this connection and bond. Love it!

    I agree that Lucky & Liz have more, but when the newlucky came in (jacob Young) I hated it. So that made me stick to Liason. I too loved Frisco & Felicia. Loved the colton triangle when Frisco was following her in the woods and she professed her love.

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  8. While I agree about Liason, no couple had the magic like Luke and Laura. I liked Jason with Robin too way back when. It made it fun to hate Carly (good vs pure evil, lol). I too enjoyed Tina & Cord on OLTL sicne he could never resist her (and I loved it when he called her girl!) I still like Bo & Nora. Vicki & Ben had something special. I used to love seeing Brenda/Brender jump into Jax's arms and wrap those legs around his waste. I liked Tamara Braun's Carly with Sonny as well as good old Sarah Brown.

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  9. Oops I meant to spell Waist!

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  10. Don't forget Bo and Hope and Marlena and John from Days too! But of course there will never be another romance like Luke and Laura's...pure LOVE, not lust, not convenience, not rebound...just love...simple huh? Thanks for the memories, Karen, great column today! Wubs to all!

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  11. All this nostalgia threw me over to youtube to watch Robert's 80's Reunion that aired on Night Shift. That was so well done and really brought back some incredible memories.

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  12. I first watched Y&R with my grandma before kindergarten. I remember Nikki drinking and crying by a christmas tree the most. But I didn't really start watching until the late 90's and early 00's. So my favs are/were Bo and Billie on Days, Nick and Sharon on Y&R and Liz and Jason on GH.

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  13. My favorite couples were Lucy and Kevin, Ned and Alexis (loved them getting stuck up on the roof after the Nurse's Ball and being found by Jax and Chloe), Mac and Felicia (i think they were the first couple I found myself imagining about...i was 12), Hayley and Matteo, Ryan and Jillian, Greenlee and Leo, Erica and David, Joe and Karen (PC), Ian and Eve (PC), Allison and Jamal (PC), and Bo and Nora, John and Natalie, and Christian and Evangeline.

    One of the first romantic soap moments that i remember was Julia and Noah's Cinderella wedding. It was just so beautiful! I hated it when they had to leave the show.

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  14. The earliest soap couples I remember watching were Steve and Kayla and Bo and Hope. I also remember Vicky and Ryan on Another World. For GH, there was Lucy and Kevin, Alexis and Ned, Ned and Lois, Sonny and Brenda, Brenda and Jax (I will never forget their wedding, interspersed with scenes of Lilly being blown up)and Robin and Stone. I have to agree with another wubber though that the early Liason, when Jason helped Liz get through it after Lucky "died" was so innocent yet so powerful. And I will never forget when SB was leaving the show and Jason asked Liz to go with him, but at that point (Jacob Young's) Lucky was back and she said no. Reminds me of what a great actor SB truly is.

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  15. OMG! Thank you for all these memories ladies! Love almost everyone you mentioned. I forgot about port charles the show. I guess Todd & Blair would be on the same page as carly & Sonny. I did love early carly and sonny but sonny was brenda's IMO. Anyone playful like Luke & laura frisco & Felicia would make my day. Bobbie and Tony were sweet real love but god I never wanted to see their love scenes. Tony was so not sexy and paired with bobbie's lips he could get lost! But Tony was someone you would want to marry (until he met carly of course). Tony and Tonya (BJ's mother) were solid. I adored lucy with anyone (even w/ Alan she was hysterical). She was such a scene stealer (ala Maxie) I agree about Robin and Stone. Wonderful storytelling and it made me finally like Sonny. I also liked Karen & Jaguar. HE WAS SO SEXY WITH THOSE DIMPLES!

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  16. Most of my favorites were on GH. Luke and Laura, Robert and Holly, Robert and Anna, Anna and Duke, Alan and Monica, Felicia and Frisco, and Lucy and Kevin. I miss all those couples and the fun they had. There was always soapy drama, some mysteries to solve, lots of lovins, and comedy tossed in. Now it seems like so much angst and bloodshed.

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  17. I have been a soaps person since birth. Loved Jennifer and Frankie, Bo and Hope, (old) Bo and Carly, and Carrie and Austin on Days. Vicki and Ryan on Another World were probably my favorite and the ending was just so sad! Brenda and Sonny got me to watching GH (and skipping Geometry class) and I fell in love with (the old) Liz/Jason pairing. (the new one just depressed me because of the ending).
    Soap couples are the rock of Soaps. I just wish there were more of them!!

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  18. Andrea, I had forgotten about Jennifer and Frankie, but you are right, they were great!

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