Throughout the month of December, Soap Opera Central posted WT? On the Spot opinion polls in each if our ten soap opera sections. In each section, voters were asked to cast their vote for the biggest story for that soap.
Following are the stories voted the biggest stories by Soap Central visitors. For the top ten stories from the soap world in 2002, be sure to read our exclusive year-end-report, accessible by clicking here.
June 2001 -- AMC viewers were heartbroken when Gillian Andrassy Lavery was shot down in a case of mistaken identity.
Ilene Pringle, a hired assassin, assumed that Gillian was actually Anna Devane.
Gillian's husband, Ryan, found her on the bed at the Wildwind turret and believed that she had drifted off to sleep. Her sleep was much more permanent.
Gillian's heart would live on, however, as Ryan agreed to have Gillian's heart donated to help save Laura English's life.
Read The StoryAMC's Gillian is shot and killed. [Jun 18, 2001]
March and May 2001 -- In the years leading up to the 2001 Daytime Emmys, As The World Turns was lucky to receive any nominations in the main categories. Those nominations were usually "reserved" for the fan popular General Hospital or top-ranked The Young and the Restless. So it came as a big surprise when the show raked in a whopping 25 nominations. All My Children placed second with 21 nominations.
As is sometimes the case, the most-nominated can turn out to be the least-victorious. That was not the case this year as ATWT amassed eight Daytime Emmy wins - the most ever by a soap in a single year.
Head writer Hogan Sheffer and executive producer Christopher Goutman were both credited with turning the show around in the previous year - and both were rewarded. Sheffer and the ATWT writing team earned honors for Outstanding Writing and Goutman took honors as ATWT was named Outstanding Drama Series.
Read The StoryATWT leads Emmy noms with 25. [Mar 14, 2001]
Read The StoryATWT named best show, set Emmy win record. [May 18, 2001]
October 2001 -- It started off with an exclusive story posted on Soap Opera Central -- Hunter Tylo (Taylor Forrester)
had not renewed her contract with The Bold and the Beautiful.
With days, fans were writing to the network to demand that they do whatever they could to get Tylo back on board. Internet rumors claimed that the actress was demanding an exorbitant amount of money to remain with the show. Tylo would later deny those claims.
Just a little over a week later, Tylo announced that she'd returned to the show -- and signed a new contract.
Read The StoryB&B's Tylo to exit. [Oct 10, 2001]
Read The StoryTylo battle echoes Y&R's Scott's. [Oct 22nd, 2001]
Read The StoryTylo re-signs with B&B. [Nov 5, 2001]
April 2001 -- The news of Joseph Mascolo's (Stefano DiMera) exit
from Days of our Lives started off with a bit of a mystery. A message on Mascolo's
official web site claimed that the actor had broken off talks with the show. Within hours
that message was replaced by a notice that the previous message had been a fraud.
Weeks past, however, and it looked more and more like the first message was accurate. In June, Mascolo exited the role that had made him a daytime legend. Three months later, Mascolo popped up on rival soap The Bold and the Beautiful.
Read The Story: Conflicting messages appear on Mascolo's web site. [Mar 12, 2001]
Read The Story: Mascolo rumored up for role on B&B. [Apr 23rd, 2001]
Read The Story: Mascolo tapes final DAYS episode. [Jun 11, 2001]
Read The StoryMascolo joins cast of B&B. [Aug 13, 2001]
March 2001 -- Multiple Emmy winner Sarah Brown (Carly Corinthos)
stunned General Hospital fans in the first quarter of the year by announcing that she'd leave
the show.
Brown stated a desire to enroll in film school and pursue other projects as the reason for her decision to leave.
GH fans were further shocked when the show announced that it would recast the role of Carly, a move that many had thought the show would avoid.
Read The StoryBrown decides to leave GH. [Mar 19, 2001]
