Today in Soap Opera History (July 20)

1966: Dark Shadows' David was angry with his father. 1984: Guiding Light's Josh and Reva got heated in the hot tub. 1988: Days of our Lives' Salemites through Kayla a surprise shower. 2010: One Life to Live's Viki plotted to reunite David and Dorian.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1965: On General Hospital, Angie Weeks (Jana Taylor) asked Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin) for advice.

1966: On Dark Shadows, David Collins (David Henesy) told Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) that he hated his father, Roger (Louis Edmonds).

Today in Soap Opera History (October 8)

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1968: On The Doctors, Congressman Jason Randall (M. Emmet Walsh) arrived at Hope Memorial for a hospital tour with a posse of reporters, flustering Nurse Simpson (Carolee Campbell).

1969: On Dark Shadows, Count Andreas Petofi (David Selby), in Quentin's body, informed Angelique she had to follow his orders in the future. Julia (Grayson Hall) realized that Petofi (Thayer David) was really Quentin but then disappeared back to 1969.

Sam Hall Eulogized in Son Matt Hall's Blog, Tells Interesting 'One Life to Live' Story

Former Dark Shadows and One Life to Live writer Sam Hall died on Friday, September 26. He was 93. On October 4, his son Matt Hall, took to his blog to eulogize his late father.

Matt shared an interesting story about his time at One Life to Live while Sam was the head writer.

"One quick story—after college, for a period of about a year, I worked at One Life to Live during my father's tenure as head writer," Sam explained. "The team had collaborated on a six-month arc of story, and submitted it to the network, as was standard. The head of daytime—still and yet, my favorite job title ever—had rejected it, as was also standard. Sam and I—just the two of us— came in on a Saturday to build a new story to submit that Monday. We sat across from each other at a desk, spent fifteen minutes discussing what the network hadn’t liked, and then stared at our yellow legal pads, trying to think up solutions."

"After about five minutes, Sam began to write. And once he started he did not stop—he filled up a legal pad page, flipped it over and kept on, pages and pages of finely wrought story that took the characters into utterly new situations and emotional places that simply hadn’t existed when we walked into the room. After about 15 minutes, I had a pokey little idea, and then another, and then I began to write as well. By the end of the afternoon he had solved the problem, and had even incorporated a couple of my ideas into the thread of story, suitably transmogrified, as necessary. Mostly, though, I had sat there and watched, in awe."

RELATED:
* Sam Hall Dead at 93

Sam Hall Dead at 93

Writer Sam Hall died on Friday at age 93.

Former Dark Shadows and One Life to Live writer Sam Hall died on Friday, September 26. He was 93.

Allison Samuel Hall was born on March 11, 1921, in Carrollton, Ohio, and graduated from Dartmouth and Yale. A veteran of the World War II Battle of the Bulge, "Sam" was married to actress Grayson Hall in 1952.

Sam was a playwright who had spent several years working on the CBS daytime drama The Brighter Day. He was not really interested in accepting another TV job but the family had been struggling for a while, and Sam was considering moving back to Ohio to work at his father’s rubber gloves factory. Then Grayson got a short-term acting role on ABC's afternoon soap opera Dark Shadows, which turned into a long-term gig, and that kept them in New York. So when creator Dan Curtis said he needed a new writer to replace Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam said he would give it a try. The series became a cult classic and won the devotion of a loyal fanbase that would continue to follow the characters in novels, comic books, movies, audio stories, a primetime television revival and more. Dark Shadows featured the traditional themes of love and family during its five-year run (1966-1971), but mixed in were werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and even a parallel universe.

'13 Nights of Halloween' Returns to ABC Family Starting October 19

ABC Family brings the thrills and chills with 13 Nights of Halloween, a celebration filled with scares as you countdown to Halloween. The popular programming event, now in its 16th year, starts Sunday, October 19th and concludes on Friday, October 31st. The fright fest features brand-new Halloween-themed episodes of Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy, an all-new Pretty Little Liars fan appreciation special, plus the hilariously scary prank specials Freak Out. The stunt will also include the network television premieres of Dark Shadows and ParaNorman, and a ghoulish mix of Halloween-themed programming.

Below is a listing of chill-tastic programming taking place October 19th-31st during ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween:

Night One – Sunday, October 19th

The 16th annual 13 Nights of Halloween launches an all-day scarefest, starting with the friendliest ghost, Casper (7:00 – 9:00 a.m. ET/PT). Then it's a double dose of the kookiest, ookiest family on the block in The Addams Family (9:00 – 11:00 a.m. ET/PT) and Addams Family Values (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET/PT). Next Harry prepares for his final epic battle with He Who Must Not Be Named in the two-part finale of the blockbuster series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1 (1:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET/PT) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2 (4:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET/PT). Buzz, Woody and all your favorite toys must work together to track down their missing friend in Disney's™ Pixar's Toy Story of Terror! (7:30 – 8:00 p.m. ET/PT; encore at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT). Then meet us down on the Scare Floor for Disney's™ Pixar's Monsters, Inc. (8:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT). We wrap up our night with Jack Skellington and Halloweentown in The Nightmare Before Christmas (10:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. ET/PT).

Producer Robert Costello Dead at 93

Robert E. Costello, a pioneering producer of classic '50s television shows who later won a Peabody Award for the PBS series The Adams Chronicles and two Emmys for ABC's daytime serial Ryan's Hope, died of a heart attack on May 30 at his summer house in Amagansett's Beach Hampton neighborhood. He was 93 and had been diagnosed many years before with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the '60s and '70s Costello introduced viewers to The Patty Duke Show and cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows. He was most proud, however, of his work on The Armstrong Circle Theatre, a series of true-life “docudramas” that ran from 1950 to 1963 and gave such movie stars as James Dean, Grace Kelly, and Jack Lemmon their first taste of the small screen.