With a new year on the horizon it’s inevitable that you’ll be seeing a multitude of best and worst lists covering every facet of the entertainment world, and soaps are no exception. In his Best and Worst of 2015 report, TV Guide‘s Michael Logan has named CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful” daytime’s best soap, praises “General Hospital” and “The Young and the Restless” for having the best actors and actresses, and calls out some of daytime’s current and former writers for insulting viewers with tawdry storylines lacking direction.
With breakout star Karla Mosley (Maya Avant Forrester) taking center stage, “B&B” made history with its telling of one of the first fully transitioned transgender females who married into the wealthy Forrester clan. While Mosley lost to “GH’s” Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) for Best Actress of 2015, we’re sure she’ll continue to surprise audiences in 2016. Meanwhile, “Y&R’s” Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) was named Best Actor of 2015 with co-star Lauralee Bell (Christine Blair) taking home Best Supporting Actress honors. “GH’s” Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin) was named Best Supporting Actor of 2015.
Outside of highlighting some of the best talents on screen, Logan points out some of the worst things happening in daytime during calendar year 2015 including material written by “Y&R” head writer Charles “Chuck” Pratt, Jr. (who is also credited as a co-executive producer on the soap alongside EP Jill Farren Phelps) and former “GH” head writer Ron Carlivati. Even “Days of our Lives” gets called out for killing off Will Horton (last played by Guy Wilson).
Some of Logan’s zingers include:
- Double Trouble: Why has Y&R become a show for the undemanding? We’re all for soapy theatrics, but head writer Chuck Pratt seems to think his stories—like Jack having an evil Peruvian doppelganger (easily the worst plot of the year), Hilary’s kidnapping and that lameass towering inferno—require no logic or intelligence at all. He plays us for chumps. Not cool.
- Critical Condition: Thankfully, ABC saw fit to oust genius-gone-haywire Ron Carlivati as head writer of GH, but not before he trashed several beloved characters, rewrote key historical events, sabotaged some of his biggest stars (Michelle Stafford, Roger Howarth, and especially Maura West), and sent the show to its lowest ratings ever. Now things are wonderfully on the upswing, but it got pretty damn scary there.
- Dead Wrong: The murder of Days of Our Lives’ landmark gay character Will Horton via brutal strangulation meant the loss of an insanely fascinating firestarter who had kept the show spinning for years. Worse yet, Will’s death was pretty much forgotten by the people of Salem within days, even by his own mother. Many are calling the move homophobic. We’ll settle for idiotic.