A soap opera is a radio or television serial dealing especially with domestic situations and frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers.
Passions is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and produced by NBC Studios, Passions follows the lives, loves and various romantic and paranormal adventures of the residents of Harmony. Storylines center on the interactions among members of its multi-racial core families: the African American Russells, the white Cranes and Bennetts, and half-Mexican half-Irish Lopez-Fitzgeralds. The series also features supernatural elements, which focus mainly on town witch Tabitha Lenox and her doll-come-to life, Timmy.
In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. When opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence.
Dimitri Marick is a fictional character from the American ABC soap opera All My Children. The role has been most notably portrayed by Michael Nader, previously famed for his role on Dynasty. Former head writers Agnes Nixon and Lorraine Broderick created the character in 1991, designing him as a brooding and mysterious character based on heroes from gothic literature, such as Maxim de Winter from Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca and Heathcliff from Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. The character's introduction raised All My Children in the Nielsen ratings and was credited as the "saving grace" of the unpopular Natalie and Janet storyline.
Roger Howarth is an American actor. He played character Todd Manning on the daytime drama One Life to Live (OLTL); the character earned Howarth a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994, and is cited as an icon in the soap opera genre. He left the series in 2003 and joined soap opera As the World Turns, where he played the character of Paul Ryan until the series' final episode in 2010. Howarth returned to OLTL in May 2011, eventually deciding to continue the role on General Hospital in March 2012. He now portrays Franco on General Hospital, the character formerly created and portrayed by James Franco. In addition to his soap opera work, Howarth has guest starred in television shows such as Prey and Dawson's Creek.
Soaps In Depth is a series of magazines created in 1997 by Bauer Publications with its headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to give American soap opera viewers more variety in their soap-related magazine purchases. Instead of buying a magazine like Soap Opera Digest, in which all soap operas are covered, Soaps In Depth gave the soap viewer and potential shopper individual choices from the "Big Three" networks: ABC Soaps In Depth, CBS Soaps In Depth, and NBC Soaps In Depth. Each magazine is devoted to only the shows on the network the edition covers and is published biweekly.
Arvid Laurence "Larry" Bryggman is an American actor.
A recurring character or supporting character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main focus. They may be contrasted with "regular" characters, who typically appear in every or almost every episode of a series. Recurring characters appear less frequently than regulars, but more frequently than guest star characters, who may appear in only one or two episodes without being expected to return.
Mark Derwin is an American film and television actor. Derwin began his career on Days of Our Lives in 1987 with a minor role as Jeremiah Brown. In 1988, Derwin appeared in the role of Adrian Hunter on The Young and the Restless. Derwin was featured in a high-profile storyline: the elaborate George Rawlins murder mystery as the scheming psychotic serial killer. Derwin is also known for numerous other soap opera roles. From 2008-2013 Derwin was a lead on the ABC Family teen drama the Secret Life of the American Teenager as George Juergens, a furniture store owner married to Molly Ringwald's character Ann, and the father of the main character Amy played by Shailene Woodley. The main plot of the show is Derwin's character's 15-year old daughter having a child after a one night stand at a summer band camp and the developments this event has on those around her.
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand-born actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. With work limited in New Zealand, Dale moved to Australia, where he played Dr. John Forrest in The Young Doctors from 1979 to 1982. He later appeared as Jim Robinson in Neighbours, a part he played from 1985 until 1993. He left the series when he fell out with the producers over the pay he and the rest of the cast received. In 2018 it was revealed that Dale would reprise his role as Jim for one episode on 25 December, 25 years after his last appearance.
A background actor or extra, is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking or nonsinging (silent) capacity, usually in the background. War films and epic films often employ background actors in large numbers: some films have featured hundreds or even thousands of paid background actors as cast members. Likewise, grand opera can involve many background actors appearing in spectacular productions.
Maggie Dence is an Australian actress. She is best known on television for her early comedy work and soap opera roles, including Rose Sullivan in The Sullivans (1976–78), Bev "The Beast" Baker in Prisoner (1984) and Dorothy Burke in Neighbours (1990–93)
John Henry Matthew Reilly was an American film and television actor who appeared on soap operas including General Hospital, Sunset Beach, and Passions.
Jack Peter Shepherd is an English actor. He has portrayed the character of David Platt in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street since April 2000. He won the award for Best Young Actor in 2001 at The Inside Soap Awards and Best Bad Boy at The Inside Soap Awards in 2007. He has won two British Soap Awards. Villain Of The Year in 2008 and Best Actor in 2018. He also won the award for Best Soap Actor at The TV Choice Awards in 2020.
Allison "Alley" Mills, also known as Alley Bean, is an American actress best known for her role as Norma Arnold, the mother in the coming-of-age series The Wonder Years, and her current role as Pamela Douglas, the sister of the late Forrester matriarch Stephanie Forrester, on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
Justin Kiriakis is a fictional character on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. Created by head writer Leah Laiman, he is portrayed by actor Wally Kurth from February 3, 1987 to February 5, 1991. From 2007 to 2008, Justin was mentioned but not seen on screen. Kurth reprised the role again August 10, 2009, remaining in the role for nearly five years before departing on April 3, 2014. However, he once again returned in February 2015. Justin is the nephew of Greek tycoon Victor Kiriakis. Justin married Adrienne Johnson Kiriakis, and together they have three sons while Justin has one by a past romance.
Ashleigh May Brewer (born 9 December 1990) is an Australian actress. She had a recurring role in The Sleepover Club, before she joined the cast of H2O: Just Add Water. Brewer played the role of Kate Ramsay in the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours from 2009 until 2014. She portrayed Ivy Forrester on the CBS Daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful from 2014 to 2018. Later that same year, she joined the cast of Home and Away as Chelsea Campbell
Days of Our Lives is an American daytime soap opera broadcast on NBC. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. A co-production of Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday. During Days of Our Lives' early years, Irna Phillips served as a story editor for the program and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell, who would depart the series in 1975 to focus full-time on The Young and the Restless, which he created for CBS in 1973. Following the 2007 cancellation of Passions, Days of Our Lives remains the only soap opera airing on NBC.
Leslie Michaelson is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by former head writer Maria Arena Bell, the role is portrayed by Angell Conwell, who made her first appearance on the episode that aired on December 2, 2010. Bell introduced Leslie as a high-powered attorney who would air on a recurring status. In December 2012, after two years on recurring, Conwell was placed on contract by executive producer Jill Farren Phelps however, was dropped back to recurring in August 2014, appearing until June 2017. Conwell made a guest appearance on April 25, 2019, to honour Kristoff St. John's character Neil Winters passing, as well as the actor's real life death.
Joey Johnson is a fictional character from Days of Our Lives, an American soap opera on the NBC network, currently portrayed by James Lastovic. Introduced in 2008, Joey was created by head writers Dena Higley and Victor Gialanella as the youngest child of supercouple, Steve "Patch" Johnson and Kayla Brady. The role was originated by siblings Brody and Jonas—who vacated the role in 2009 when the character was written out. Child actor, Jadon Wells appeared in the role of Joey on a recurring basis from 2012 to 2014. In 2015, the character was rapidly aged to 16 when Lastovic stepped into the role. Joey returns having skipped out on boarding school suffering from abandonment issues. It is later revealed that Joey has secretly been conspiring with Ava Vitali to orchestrate Patch and Kayla's reunion. Unbeknownst to Joey, Ava is his father's ex-lover and has caused quite a bit of trouble for Kayla and the rest of the Brady family.
