50 Greatest Soap Couples: The Complete List

COUPLE: Luke Spencer & Laura Webber
SHOW: GENERAL HOSPITAL
RANK: 1
PLAYED BY:
Luke: Anthony Geary
Laura: Genie Francis
YEARS: 1978-1982, 1983, 1984, 1993–2002, 2006, 2008

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #1 Luke & Laura From GENERAL HOSPITAL

COUPLE: Luke Spencer & Laura Webber
SHOW: GENERAL HOSPITAL
RANK: 1
PLAYED BY:
Luke: Anthony Geary
Laura: Genie Francis
YEARS: 1978-1982, 1983, 1984, 1993–2002, 2006, 2008

STORY:
Nurse Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman) was determined to split up Laura and Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner).  Since everyone knew Bobbie hated Laura, she enlisted the help of her brother, Luke.  Luke and Laura had instant chemistry, and Bobbie continued her manipulations, but eventually Laura and Scotty were married anyway.  When Laura needed money to help pay for Scotty's law books, she borrowed it from Luke.  To pay the money back, she began working at the Campus Disco he managed.   The two had an attraction and grew closer, but one night Luke forced himself on Laura, raping her.   The aftermath was messy and complicated (obviously) but eventually the feelings shared between Luke and Laura turned into love.  As Laura moved away from Scotty, Luke and Laura's lives turned into a series of love on the run adventures.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #2 Doug & Julie From DAYS OF OUR LIVES

COUPLE: Doug Williams & Julie Olson
SHOW: DAYS OF OUR LIVES
RANK: 2
PLAYED BY:
Doug: Bill Hayes
Julie: Susan Seaforth Hayes
YEARS: 1970-present (with some years off starting in 1984)

STORY:
Doug was a con artist who met Bill Horton in prison in 1970.  When Doug was released, he came to Salem to find Susan Martin (Denise Alexander), a widow with money Bill had spoken about.  Susan ended up hiring Doug to come between Scott Banning and his girlfriend, Julie.  Doug and Julie had an instant rapport.  Doug took a job as a singer at Sergio's and fell for Julie.  Doug's real identity was orphan Brent Douglas and this helped him for a bond with Julie's mother, Addie Horton Olson (Patricia Barry).   After a fight with Julie over her son, David, Doug went to Addie's and she proposed to him.  He accepted and the two of them were married.   In 1974 they had a daughter together, Hope.   After surviving leukemia, Addie died after being struck by a car pushing Hope's carriage out of the way just in time to save her daughter.   Eventually Julie, who had married and divorced Bob Anderson, reunited and the two of them married in a beautiful ceremony in 1976.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #3 Victor & Nikki From THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

COUPLE: Victor Newman & Nikki Reed Foster
SHOW: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
RANK: 3
PLAYED BY:
Victor: Eric Braeden
Nikki: Melody Thomas Scott
YEARS: 1981–present

STORY:
Victor first saw Nikki when he went to a show at the Bayou club with his best friend, Colonel Douglas Austin (Michael Evans).   Victor became enamored with Nikki, wanting to instruct her on the "finer things in life," but the two of them eventually slept together.  Victor turned his attention to romancing Lorie Brooks (Jaime Lyn Bauer) while Nikki had a relationship with Kevin Bancroft.  When Nikki became pregnant, she was not sure who the father was, but married Kevin believing him to be the bio dad.  Then Lorie dumped Victor, revealing she was only using him to get her true love's (Lance Prentiss) company back.  Eventually the truth came out--baby Victoria was indeed Victor's child.  Nikki and Kevin divorced and Nikke ultimately married Victor (the first of many times the two would wed over the years).

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #4 Jesse & Angie From ALL MY CHILDREN

COUPLE: Jesse Hubbard & Angela Baxter
SHOW: ALL MY CHILDREN
RANK: 4
PLAYED BY:
Jesse: Darnell Williams
Angie: Debbi Morgan
YEARS: 1982–1988, 2008–2011

STORY:
Jesse was a street kid from the "wrong side of the tracks" and Angie was part of Pine Valley high society so when they met and fell in love, Angie's father, Leo, instantly disapproved.  When Angie's friend, Liza Colby, accused Jesse of rape, he fled town with his best pal, Jenny Gardner, spending the summer of 1982 in New York.  Angie thought his leaving was a sign of his guilt but eventually Liza admitted she lied about the rape.   Angie and Jesse reunited and eloped.  Angie soon found out she was pregnant but thinking Jesse didn't want to be a father, divorced him and decided to give the baby away.  When Angie finally revealed the truth to Jesse, they got back together and kidnapped their baby.  They eventually convinced a judge to give them custody of the baby, Frankie, and started a new life together.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #5 Steve & Alice From ANOTHER WORLD

COUPLE: Steve Frame & Alice Matthews
SHOW: ANOTHER WORLD
RANK: 5
PLAYED BY:
Steve: George Reinholt, David Canary
Alice: Jacqueline Courtney, Linda Borgeson
YEARS: 1968-1975; 1981-1982; 1989

STORY:
Alice was a young nurse when she met construction businessman Steve at Walter and Lenore Curtin's wedding reception on July 2, 1968.  Alice's sister-in-law, Rachel (Robin Strasser), was just as impressed as Alice with the handsome young Mr. Frame, who had bought into the Bay City Bengals football team and seemed to be going places.  Alice and Steve began spending time together and it wasn't long before they became engaged.    When the couple had a minor argument and called off their engagement, Rachel made her move.  She seduced the brooding Steve and became pregnant.  She tried to pass the baby (Jamie) off as Russ's child but when the truth came out, Alice fled to Paris and Russ dumped Rachel.  Rachel tried to convince Steve to get married but he was still in love with Alice eventually marrying her on September 24, 1971.  Rachel then married Ted Clark but he was sent to prison and she began to lean on Steve for assistance.   Alice felt insecure about Steve's growing bond with Jamie and those feelings only escalated when she miscarried their own child.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #6 Roger & Holly From GUIDING LIGHT

COUPLE: Roger Thorpe & Holly Norris
SHOW: GUIDING LIGHT
RANK: 6
PLAYED BY:
Roger: Michael Zaslow, Joel Fabiani, Dennis Parlato
Holly: Lynn Deerfield, Maureen Garrett
YEARS: 1971-1980; 1989-1998

STORY:
Much to her mother's chagrin, Holly went to work for her father, Stanley Norris.  Stanley wanted to keep Holly busy and out of his hair and asked his employee, Roger, to date her.  Roger saw this as an opportunity to move up the corporate ladder.   Holly began dating Peter Wexler, but couldn't fight her intense attraction to Roger and eventually lost her virginity to him.  Roger was smitten with Janet Mason and Holly was jealous.  Seeing Roger leaving Janet's apartment one night, Holly ran off and was hit by a car and became paralyzed.  At Cedar's Hospital, she met Dr. Ed Bauer who treated her and the two of them began a relationship.  During a trip to Las Vegas, Ed got drunk and married Holly.  Roger Thorpe returned to town and Holly was still fascinated by him.  The two began a torrid affair and Holly became pregnant.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #7 Cruz & Eden From SANTA BARBARA

COUPLE: Cruz Castillo & Eden Capwell
SHOW: SANTA BARBARA
RANK: 7
PLAYED BY:
Cruz: A Martinez
Eden: Marcy Walker
YEARS: 1984-1991

STORY:
Eden returned to Santa Barbara in 1984 after a trip to Europe.  She had a flirtation with Lionel Lockridge (Nicolas Coster) but it was revealed she had a passionate affair while away with Cruz.  Cruz and Eden soon became involved again, much to her father's (C.C. Capwell) chagrin.  The couple planned to marry but a fire interrupted their wedding.  As a member of the Santa Barbara Police Department, Cruz investigated the death of Eden's brother, Channing, which happened years earlier.  When Cruz arrested Eden's mother, Sophia, for the accidental murder, Eden broke off their engagement.  When C.C. went into a coma, Eden took over as head of Capwell Enterprises.  She worked closely with Kirk Cranston and eventually married him.  When Kirk realized how much Eden still loved Cruz he tried several times to murder her, including dumping her in a shark tank.  Cruz rescued his true love but by that time he was married to Santana Andrade.

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #8 Josh & Reva From GUIDING LIGHT

COUPLE: Joshua Lewis & Reva Shayne
SHOW: GUIDING LIGHT
RANK: 8
PLAYED BY:
Josh: Robert Newman
Reva: Kim Zimmer
YEARS: 1983-1984; 1986-1990; 1995-2009

STORY:
When Alan Spaulding wanted to cause trouble between Vanessa Chamberlain and Billy Lewis he tracked down Reva, Billy's ex-wife, and offered her money to come to Springfield to split them up.  Reva happily accepted the offer and came to town claiming her divorce from Billy wasn't valid.  Though she had married Billy years ago, his younger brother, Josh, was her true love.  Reva began having second thoughts and called off her deal with Alan. It wasn't long before Reva and Josh rekindled their relationship, but he found out she had been working for Alan and dumped her.  Josh and Billy's father, H.B., stepped in and married Reva.  When Josh found out, he was disgusted and recklessly crashed his car resulting in him becoming paralyzed.  Reva and H.B. took Josh in as he tried to recover.  One night at a country club party, Josh and Reva let their feelings boil over in a confrontation which ended with Reva declaring herself "The Slut of Springfield."