Today in Soap Opera History (October 4)

1990: Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered.  2001: Titans premiered.
2006: Bold and the Beautiful's Bridget wasn't sure who fathered her baby.
2007: A shoot out on the General Hospital: Night Shift season finale.

Every day, we dig into the archives to celebrate the moments, milestones, and memories that shaped the soaps we love—from daytime classics to digital dramas. Relive the weddings, scandals, premieres, finales, and unforgettable twists that made history.

ON THIS DAY IN...

1967: On Dark Shadows, Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) took Burke and Dr. Woodard down to the basement to show them the coffin, but it was not there.

1976: On Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Mary (Louise Lasser) recuperated at Fernwood Psychiatric Hospital after her nervous breakdown during her guest appearance on "The David Susskind Show." Mary received flowers from Susskind, and praise for pioneering new developments in nationally televised dementia. Meanwhile, Charlie recuperated from his operation after a recent shooting, and Loretta made an eerie discovery about one of his wounds. Later, Mary tried to pass herself off as a sane person by watching television, but she made an awesome, empowering discovery about the psychiatric ward's television set instead.

1979: On As the World Turns, despite Tom's (Tom Tammi) objections, Lisa (Eileen Fulton) left Oakdale with Bennett Hadley (Doug Higgins).



1985: On General Hospital, Anna (Finola Hughes) considered the options for taking Robin somewhere safe.



1985: On Days of our Lives, Melissa (Lisa Trusel) had conflicted feelings about Linda. Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope (Kristian Alfonso) returned home.

1990: On Guiding Light, Phillip (Grant Aleksander) arrived and surprised Rick (Michael O'Leary) and Beth (Beth Chamberlin).



1990: Primetime soap opera Beverly Hills, 90210 premiered on FOX. The series, created by Darren Star, Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent, ran for 10 seasons and 293 episodes.



1995: On Another World, friends and family mourned the loss of Ryan Harrison.



2000: Primetime soap opera Titans premiered on NBC. The show, created by Charles Pratt Jr. and produced by Aaron Spelling, was canceled after 11 episodes (13 were shot). The cast included Casper Van Dien, Yasmine Bleeth, John Barrowman, Elizabeth Bogush (now Dr. Anderson on The Young and the Restless), Kevin Zegers, Perry King, Victoria Principal, Jack Wagner, Lourdes Benedicto, Ingo Rademacher, Josie Davis and Jason Winston George.



2006: On The Bold and the Beautiful, Bridget (Ashley Jones) realized Dante may be the father of her baby.  Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) was devastated to learn Nick (Jack Wagner) may have fathered a child with her daughter.



2007: The first season finale of General Hospital: Night Shift aired on SOAPnet.



2010: Camila Banus debuted as Gabi Hernandez in Days of our Lives.

2011: Actress Doris Belack died at age 85. On One Life to Live, she played Anna Wolek Craig (1968-1977), her most famous daytime character. She was also seen as Madge Murray (1966-1968) and Nora Simpson (1978) on Another World, Claudia Howard on The Doctors (1980), and Beth Bryson on The Edge of Night (1981). She had appeared on Edge of Night more than once before 1981 the Mrs. Bryson character, opposite Christopher Goutman's Sharkey, was her most memorable on that show.

2011: Sarah Brown debuted as Madison James in Days of our Lives.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Clifton Davis (Vernon, Beyond the Gates; ex-Matt, A World Apart) - 80
Susan Sarandon (ex-Patrice, A World Apart; ex-Sarah, Search for Tomorrow) - 79
Meg Bennett (Soap writer for several soaps including General Hospital; ex-Julia, The Young and the Restless; ex-Megan, Santa Barbara; ex-Liza, Search for Tomorrow; ex-Allegra, General Hospital) - 77
Brynn Thayer (ex-Jenny, One Life to Live; ex-Kylie, General Hospital) - 76
Armand Assante (ex-Johnny, How to Survive a Marriage; ex-Mike, The Doctors) - 76
Mary Lynn Blanks (ex-Annie, As the World Turns; ex-Jenny, Loving; ex-Tara, All My Children; ex-Thelma, Another World) - 73
Wendy Makkena (ex-Katie, Santa Barbara) - 67
Mary Ellen Stuart (ex-Frannie, As the World Turns; ex-Jenny, Guiding Light; ex-Madison, One Life to Live) - 64
Marjolein Keuning (ex-Maxime, Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden) - 63
Liev Schreiber (ex-Ray, Ray Donovan) - 58
Jennifer Gatti (ex-Dinah, Guiding Light; ex-Angela, Search for Tomorrow; ex-Keesha, The Young and the Restless) - 57
Brandon Barash (ex-Stefan/Jake, Days of our Lives; ex-Johnny, General Hospital) - 46
Rachael Leigh Cook (ex-Devone, Dawson's Creek) - 46
Michael Charles Roman (ex-Al, One Life to Live) - 38