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Top 10 Greatest Soap Supercouples of the 80s
Soap operas have given us several memorable couples in the 80s and is widely known as the Golden Age of supercouples. Soap operas are best known and most remembered for their romance. While fans do love an unexpected fling or two, a soap opera’s longevity depends upon supercouples going through their ups and downs such as breakups, affairs, divorces, deaths, paternity scandals and so on.
Days of Our Lives and General Hospital have the greatest number of supercouples out of all soap operas. While Guiding Light has the smallest number of supercouples, fans still got prominent pairings from the soap notably Quint and Nola and Josh and Reva. In 1982, Jesse and Angie from All My Children were titled the first black supercouple in American soap opera history.
Here are our picks for the Top 10 greatest soap supercouples of the 80s.
Luke Spencer and Laura Webber [GH]
Portrayed by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis, this General Hospital supercouple had the wedding of the decade when they wed on November 16, 1981. Their wedding episode was viewed by 30 million people across the nation, which was the highest ever ratings in American daytime television.
Elizabeth Taylor made a cameo appearance in the episode and Princess Diana sent champagne for the occasion. The unlikely couple became popular in spite of Luke’s past misdeed and their story focused on love and redemption later on. Luke and Laura’s romance enthralled viewers and they are regarded as daytime television’s quintessential and most iconic couple.
Victor Newman and Nikki Reed [YR]
Young and the Restless’ Victor Newman and Nikki Reed Newman are one of the most successful supercouples. Originally from the lower walks of life, Nikki falls in love with Victor who teaches her about society.
Recognized as one of daytime’s most prominent couples, Victor and Nikki have received positive reviews from critics throughout the years. Melody Thomas Scott, who has played Nikki since 1979, believes that the pair will always be a huge dynamic on the show and no matter how many times they separate the couple always has to get back together, but not without a challenge.
READ MORE: 9 Iconic Y&R Stars Then and Now – How they’ve changed
Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter [AMC]
All My Children’s Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter are arguably the two most popular black characters in soap opera history as they are daytime’s first black supercouple.
Although Jesse died on camera in 1998 and appeared as a spirit a few times in the following years, the character was brought back in 2007 with Darnell Williams resuming the role. It was confirmed later that he did not die after all.
Bo Brady and Hope Williams [DOOL]
Bo and Hope were no conventional couple. Their royal wedding on location in England was one of the most spectacular weddings on daytime television. In 2005, they were nominated for Most Irresistible combination at the 32nd Daytime Emmy Awards and won the America’s Favorite Supercouple award at the 2002 Emmy Awards.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Days of Our Lives, Bo returned after a brief absence and saved Hope from her new husband. But he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and in 2015, he died in Hope’s arms.
Steve Patch Johnson and Kayla Brady [DOOL]
Like Jessie and Angie from All My Children, not even death could keep Steve and Kayla apart. This supercouple from Days of Our Lives was initially popular from 1986 through 1990 until Steve’s death.
Their wedding in 1988 spiked ratings for the show and it became the number one in ratings, which had not happened for 14 years. In 2006, Steve returned to the canvas after being presumed dead for 16 years and they reunited passionately. The couple were dropped in February 2009 but reunited again in 2015.
Cliff Warner and Nina Cortlandt [AMC]
Newer fans of the Young and the Restless may not know this but Peter Bergman had another popular soap role before Jack Abbott. He played Cliff Warner on All My Children for a decade and was a part of supercouple with Taylor Miller, who portrayed Nina Cortlandt.
Cliff and Nina held the record for the most marriages for over twenty years. They married one another four times, with one of their weddings being titled as “the most sumptuous wedding seen on daytime television till date”. Some columnists also considered them the pinnacle of the image of the wholesome television couple.
John Black and Marlena Evans [DOOL]
When Days of Our Lives announced in December 2008 that Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn were departing from the series, the news rocked the daytime world and also made headlines in the mainstream press.
Drake Hogestyn had joined the NBC show as John Black in 1986 and his chemistry with Hall was undeniable from the get go. Although their romance in the 80s was shortened because Marlena was presumed dead in a plane crash, their popularity on the show brought the character back in 1991.
Frisco Jones and Felicia Cummings [GH]
Along with Luke and Laura, General Hospital also had Frisco Jones and Felicia Cummings. Frisco and Felicia were portrayed by real life husband and wife, Jack and Kristina Wagner. Frisco returned to Port Charles in 2013 to repair his relationship with Felicia but after she rejected him, he left town once again.
Holden Snyder and Lily Walsh [ATWT]
Holden and Lily were paired after actress Martha Byrne joined the cast of As the World Turns in 1985. After Heather Rattray played the character for a few years, Byrne returned to the role in 1993.
Holden and Lily split in 2010 after her high profile exit from the series, after which the ratings for the show suffered, ultimately leading to its untimely cancellation in 2009.
Douglas Williams and Julie Olson [DOOL]
Doug Williams and Julie Olson from Days of Our Lives are sometimes considered the first supercouple. They had a love-hate relationship for most of the 70s and their chemistry was off the charts as the portrayers Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth were a couple in real life as well.
Bill and Susan married in 1974, which set off a commotion among Days fans, who petitioned for their onscreen characters to be married as well. The show did write a wedding for Doug and Julie after working the tension for a long time. Doug and Julie are the first soap opera characters to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.
Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments if your favorite couple made the cut. And if you’re bummed that we didn’t mention any supercouple from the Bold and the Beautiful, check out our previous video where we talked about the Top 10 couples on the Bold and the Beautiful of all time.
We also did a video on the top real life couples of the Bold and the Beautiful where we talked about the real life spouses of some of your favorite B&B stars. So be sure to check that out on our official YouTube channel.
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