I thought this would be a fun,

The best soap opera scene I ever saw was Clink Boom on GH. The lead-up was written so well, and that montage before it was damn near perfect. I didnt know about spoilers back then, so when the car exploded, I was in absolute shock. Best payoff to a storyline period. Plus I loved Brenda and HATED Lily, so I was happy.lol

An honorable mention would have to be Stone's death scene. I cried during that entire storyline but when he said "I can see you" to Robin, you could have stuck a fork in me, I was a mess.

More recently I would have to say Tony Geary's scenes when Lucky were dying were amazing. He is still the only actor that can consistenly have me in tears.

GH is as far as my expertise goes, I only started watching other soaps a few months ago. Twelve years down the drain I guess!

Oh, the list is long. And I'm sure many GH fans will cite Luke and Laura's wedding, but for my money, Laura's first "I love you" in the barn, or the first time they (consensually) made love in Beecher's Corners outrank the wedding. I'd also cite the culmination of the Ice Princess SL, with Mikkos dying in the freezing chamber, Robert and Laura holding everyone at bay with machine guns, and Luke frantically trying to figure out the code to shut the system down and save PC from freezing to death. Cheesetastic good times.

Also on GH, I'd say the Sonny/Brenda alley kiss was my favorite S&B moment.

On Y&R, I have never forgotten the scene where Jill learned that Philip had died and collapsed sobbing onto his empty hospital bed.

On DOOL, Bo crashing Hope's wedding to Larry and taking her away on his motorcycle.

On OLTL, Vicki discovering Joey and Dorian as lovers; more recently, the 30-second exchange between Joey and Dorian during Asa's funeral was hotter than 90% of what's been on daytime in years.

And of course - GH's Felica: "Not Barbara Jean! Not Barbara Jean's heart!" Damn, I tear up just typing those words.

ETA, Mason and Julia's cave sex on SB. Best cave sex ever.

I would say Stone's death on GH, the days preceding and the days after. When he told Robin, "I can see you," I hugging a pillow, half-huddled on the floor. And when Robin stood, a day later, in the sunlight, with ghost Stone hugging her, I was just a mess. Having her parents make ghostly appearances, too. And of course, when Janis Ian sang, "When Angels Cry" at the memorial, I sobbed my lights out.

Honorable mentions: Days of Our Lives: Steve and Kayla marry each other in the snow, and later Kayla tells Steve Jack raped her; the birth of Stephanie; Steve signs "The Rose" to Kayla; the "courage" stuff; and of course, the wedding on the boat.

Memorable Soap Moments:

DOOL

• John Black's delivery of the line to Kristen: "That was my child! My baby! My child!". I'll just never forget that for some reason.
• Susan's fake teeth fly out of her mouth and land in Vivian's champagne flute.
• After several vandalisms around town including burning the town Christmas tree, Marlena is revealed as the Salem Desecrator. And she has those yellow devil eyes! I remember being absolutely bowled over by that revelation.
• Carrie punches Sami in the face at her aborted wedding.
• Carly wakes up in her own coffin and realizes that she's been buried alive.
• Laura Horton sees Kristen adjusting her "pregnancy pad".
• Jack Devereaux rapes his wife, Kayla. The inevitability of that scene was the hardest part about it.
• Kate finds out that Austin and Billie are her missing children. With Deborah Adair in the role, there was something really heartfelt and genuine about this moment.
• Sami lures a drugged Austin to bed.
• Stefano's "Army of Marlenas"
• Jack convinces Jennifer that he is his own ghost. This provides us with the apex of Jennifer's total retardation. I include this scene for its complete and utter ridiculousness.
• That wonderful scene between EJ and Billie in the apartment hallway. I don't remember what they were talking about but their repartee was so believable and enjoyable, I always go back to it.
• Nicole expresses her fears of having contracted HIV to Victor by the Kiriakis pool.
• Lexie discovers that Stefano and Celeste are her real parents.
• Lexie's "Mother of the Year" party thrown for Hope.
• Marlena and Stefano's "Queen of the Night" forays.
• Sub!Sex -- Hope and John fuck to Whitney Houston on a submarine (cheestastic!)

OLTL

• Marty's gang rape at the frat house. Still shocking after all these years.

AMC

• Natalie's death.
• Rosie O'Donnell comes on the show in a cameo as Erica's maid.

B&B

• Donna's Spider Baby dance around Thorne's bed

Y&R

• "Pfft…lint." Victoria Rowell is superb at the ad-lib. This clip is on the Site-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named-Or-Linked-To.
• Adrian and Colleen make love for the first time during the ice storm.
• "Pheila" is revealed in her cage.
• Dru puts Carmen in a chokehold in the Newman breakroom.
• Katherine reveals to Jill that she switched Phillip with another baby when he was born.
• The attic brawl between Katherine and Jill when Jill sees that huge rat!
• "Katherine Chancellor is an evil spirit who was put on this Earth to punish me!"

Another World

• Vicky (posing as her twin sister, Marley, at Marley's attempted murder trial) learns from Cass Winthrop (who believes he's talking to Marley) that Marley was raped by Jake McKinnon. Anne Heche's breakdown in the court bathroom afterwards was utterly phenomenal.
• Jake and Donna make love in Jake's loft.
• Jake confronts Paulina about remembering that she shot him.
• Frankie follows Iris to the salon to get information. There was this hilarious exchange between Iris and her hairdresser that I'll never forget.
• Felicia comes to terms with her abusive past as "Fannie".
• "Sharly" reemerges.
• Sharlene discovers Taylor Benson at the Frame farmhouse holding her son, then proceeds to tell her that she's onto her and to never come back to the house.
• The Mac Cory memorial episode. Devastating, as it seemed like the cast was truly mourning the actor just as the characters were.
• Dr. Taylor Benson visits Sharlene in jail after she'd set her up to look like her alter had emerged and started picking up "johns" again. The scene that proceeded Benson's entrance had Sharlene piecing everything together about what Taylor had been up to. Anna Holbrook, in general, always gave 100% in her scenes. I loved the Sharly/Sharlene storyline and how the psychiatrist who was helping her through her multiple personality disorder eventually started taking over her life. So soapy and fun.
• Paulina gets hooked on crystal meth.
• Vicky and Ryan's first kiss under the train tracks.
• Frankie sees a presumed dead Kathleen on the hospital surveillance tape.
• Jake's rape of Marley and his subsequent shooting.
• Vicky takes the stand for the first time pretending to be Marley.
• Dean shows up at Jenna's prom to rescue her from being embarrassed in front of all those horribly-dressed early 90's bitches that were making fun of her. It was so sweet! Then Matt showed up and Dean was relegated to the third wheel.

Santa Barbara

• Cassie's alive!
• Eden begins masquerading as her own brother, Eric.

Oh, how could I forget - on OLTL, Karen's breakdown on the stand revealing that she is a prostitute, and that Marco Dane is her pimp. That was extraordinary.


I'd also give an honorable mention to GL's blackout episode, when Bridget had the air conditioning, radio and hair dryer going and caused a massive power outage.


I missed that - what was that about?

Passions for all it's millions of faults, when it delivers good moments, it does so in a big way. Their musicals moments are always hilarious. One of my favorite scenes and one of the best scenes ever on that insane show, was the Cell Block Music Spoof from Chicago. It was just can't miss television. Singing, dancing, old lady with a walker, lesbian tones and an orangutan? Yeah overall Passions might suck, but when it comes to standout scenes? I think Passions is like #1 for me.

GL, the episode where Roger saves Ed Bauer, his arch-enemy, at the lighthouse (I think) only because Holly was present. Also, the memorial episodes for William Roerick and Larry Gates and their respective characters of Henry Chamberlain and H.B. Lewis.

How strange! I was just thinking of this last night, and just posted in the GH thread. I am moving the entire post here instead.

I was bored last night, and started thinking about why I ever watched soaps, and why I don't watch now. Anyway, my mind wandered a bit, and I started thinking about moments in soaps that I will never forget, and much to my surprise, all but two happened on GH.

Why I used to watch, or at least the moments that are still with me after all these years?

• Felicia collapsing to the hospital floor, "Not Barbara Jean, not Barbara Jean..."
  
• The building attraction of Luke and Laura, culminating in RISE, and Laura's haunting, desperate, "No Luke, NO, LUKE, NOOOOOO!"
  
• Brenda in the shower as bullets pounded all around her, Brenda wearing that backless dress at her 21st birthday party when she expected Sonny to give her an engagement ring, Brenda wearing the wire, Sonny pulling Brenda down when her T Shirt was wet and she was dancing while the Q boys watched her boobs, but the most lasting memory is Brenda screaming and crying and holding on to Sonny's leg begging him not to leave her, as he left her. The people on the set that day said that Vanessa had to be carried from the set by Maurice after that scene...and I can believe it. That was as uncomfortable, but as real as it gets.
  
• Stone's death and the aftermath, especially Robin being wrapped in the quilt and carried from the stage...oh my. Does it get better?
  
• Lucy and her red wedding dress with giant hat.
  
• Tracy withholding Edwards heart medicine and watching him die. Edward faking it!
  
• Lucky's death, both Luke and Laura broke my heart.
  
• Lucky and Elizabeth when she was raped...oh my goodness, and the scenes it lead to with Luke. Just stellar.

I don't watch anymore, but I really did enjoy some damn good moments over the years, and I have barely touched on some of the Q, Luke, Laura, Robin, or Scorpio stuff. There were some good SOAP times there, and most came from GH.

(OK that was the end of the GH post, but now I will add a couple more favorite moments from other soaps.)

• Marty's rape. I will never forget that, it was raw and real and portrayed a group rape better than any movie or television show ever has.
  
• Karen confessing to prostitution on the witness stand.
  
• The original Viki/Niki transformations.
  
• (this one is dorky, but I still won't forget it) Cliff and Nina's first wedding with the horse drawn carriage.
  
• Erica's abortion.
  
• Tad's beatings and being abandoned by Ray Gardner, and introduction into the Martin family.
  
• Dixie dancing that slow cowboy seduction dance for Tad, when she was trying to get him back and had heart issues.

That it was! Definitely one of the best moment ever!

From Y&R, some of my faves are the David Kimble "Killer" reveal and Jill running at top speed to stop Billy and Mac from, well, ya know! Also, Jack stepping over Victor's inert body as he had a heart attack, and Victor's desk chair flying out the window.

What all these scenes had in common was character-driven suspense. Most of the scenes were pre-Internet, and the impact of the unexpected added to the scenes' greatness. (Thinkin' of going cold turkey....)

Pre-getting together...

Any time Jack and Jennifer kissed on DOOL. It usually ended on a Friday with a kiss then Monday he was pushing her away. I lived for these moments. Those were the days I couldn't wait for Monday's shows. They were my first real favorite couple and I was a teen so I loved it all.

I so miss the build-up to couples that we had back then. Waiting anxiously for the first kiss, then the second. Waiting for the first time they "make love."

Now it's wham, bam, thankyouma'am and I'm off again to someone new.

Right, some of these scenes are just so powerful and memorable. Now? I don't really care about any of these people. Discussing why these scenes are so memorable can help make sense of just how many ways the soaps are failing today.

Watching Stone die, and watching Robin be diagnosed HIV positive? Would it have mattered as much if Robin hadn't grown up on the soap? I don't think so.

Vanessa Marcil, when given the material, could just break your heart. But she wasn't brought on to the show as the next hot thing. She was the foil for the big story with who ever the teenage Sonny/girlfriend/new stripper was. Now? I can't even remember that "star" because the writers knew gold when they saw it (in Brenda) and let her role grow.

Tony Geary couldn't get hired these days. He doesn't have the "look" and I like pretty people as much as anyone, but, imagine all we would have missed if today's standards were used when they hired him?

Everyone talks about Tony's scene listening to BJ's heart, but it's Bobbie and Felicia in the hallway that can still make me cry. The stories had built for so long, and, even though I never liked BJ (thought she was a bratty actress) I cried when Felicia, exhausted from watching her baby die, no makeup, ratty hair, finally fell to her knees in that hallway.

As you guys said, Marty's rape? I think they could have handled the fallout in a more memorable way, but the rape itself was terrifying and real...Marty being the "bad girl" before hand, and Todd's whole back story made me care.

Good topic. From Days of our Lives, one of the most memorable scenes for me, and I think it was really well done, was Isabella's death - I just remember sobbing. Embarrassingly, in front of my good friend that never watched soaps. Sometimes she annoyed me, but I liked the character, and her death was just really sad. I think the power of soap is to make you cry at something like that, even though the dude playing Roman is like the worst actor ever.

My favorite Days couple ever was Jack and Jennifer, and I think their whole storyline was really well done (leading to their falling in love), and the scene where they first make love was beautifully done. One of the swooniest Days moments for me is when they are at Alamain's house when Jen was pretending to be Carly and everyone is in the ballroom, and Jack asks Jen to tell the room who she loves, and finally she admits she loves him and that she's Jen, not Carly.

My main show is GH, so most of my favorite scenes comes from that. My all-time favorite couple is Sonny and Brenda, and I realize as I write this that most of my favorite scenes (and what I consider some of the best scenes on the show) involve their love story. I think their love story was very well done, very well written, particularly up to a couple months after the clink boom moment (the writing dropped off some after that, though it was still miles better than anything now). And I think they had a lot of iconic moments (Puerto Rico, alley kiss, clink boom, wire scenes, etc.). I could choose almost anything, but a few I love that maybe won't be mentioned: In their early relationship, they fly to D.C. for Eddie Maine's show, and there's all these cute little subtitles, ala Annie Hall, on what they are really thinking as they talk. I love the first time they say I love you, because it's so normal - just the two of them, in his apartment, discussing their relationship, and finally he says it. I love the scene after Brenda's 21st birthday party where he realizes she thought he was going to ask her to marry him because they have the cutest kiss ever where they're kind of like flying on the sofa. All of the fantasies - but my all time favorite is one shortly before click boom where he walks by her on the docks and imagines walking over to her and twirling her and kissing her - it's so beautifully filmed, and the music is so sweet and sad. I'm sure I'll be back to post a million more.

Also all of the Stone's death stuff. That was so well done. One of my all time favorite scenes from that storyline is when Sonny visits Stone in the hospital and gives him his "Rocky" speech, telling him to keep on fighting. The story makes me sad, but also happy, because it showcases everyone in PC at their best. I think I love all of the characters involved in that storyline more than anyone else on the show before or since, because it was so moving and everyone had a chance to show the best of themselves.

I totally agree, Lady V, on the Lucky/Luke/Liz stuff during the rape storyline. Jonathan Jackson was just phenomenal during that storyline, as was Tony Geary, and Rebecca Herbst was at her best, and so many of its scenes were so memorable.

One of my all time favorite GH scenes is totally silly, but there is a scene after Robin and Jason have dinner with Sonny and Lily, where they dance next to his motorcycle (because Lily just taught Jason to dance) - it's so sweet and they look so happy.

I also love the ELQ Board meeting scenes near that time, when Tracy comes back to town, and strolls into the meeting just as they are preparing to vote Ned out as CEO. I think she thinks Lois is a secretary. And she gets some great one liners to everyone, but particularly Monica. Ooh, and Tracy totally points out to Jax that Brenda keeps starting at Sonny. And then Alan goes off on Sonny about Lily, and Jason informs him that he's a criminal too, and they have the "disarm" smashing pumpkins montage -- those scenes are just incredible. I think I need to find them and watch them right now.

This one is more a personal thing than a greatest moment ever, but I'm about GH Robin's age, and we grew up together and left for college the same time, and when Jason dropped her at Yale and drove away crying, I was going through the college-separation break-up of my own first boyfriend, and I cried like a baby. It was the first moment of my life I felt like a "grown-up." Happy and excited and hopeful and scared and alone. It helped a lot that this was back in the days when SBu could still act.

A moment that sticks in my mind is during a Nurse's Ball, when Lucy strips, and Tony and Alan are bidding on her cape, and she lets them share it and they catch it and do this blissfully silly little dance.

So sad to think that Lucy is long gone, and Tony and Alan are dead. Better to remember than to think about that, I think.

Oh man, I forgot about the nurses balls! I looked forward to those every year. For pure fun, those, and Q holidays were my very favorite shows...

Speaking of GH weddings, Elsie Mae Krumholtz, anyone? To see Tiffany Hill so embarrassed that her greatest secret was her real name, while her bridegroom, international spy Sean Donnelly, is dying laughing, is hysterical (BTW, John Reilly said Sharon Wyatt really put her heel through his foot when Tiffany stomped Sean's foot in that scene). That was a great twist on wedding day secrets.

Sentry, I am in complete agreement with you, if you are referring to the Jack/Lawrence fencing scene. That scene was fantastic and without the cheesiness that sometimes invaded Jack & Jen scenes. And, Isabella's death was so well done that I remember bawling even though I did not really like her all that much.

My bests:

DOOL:

Steve and Kayla on the run -- in the rain after the plane crash, in the hot springs, in the sprinklers at the bungalow, and especially on her roof. So much passion and so many interruptions until they finally made love on the roof.

Steve pushes Kayla away -- the "shore leave" scenes still kill me 20 years later.

Jack rapes Kayla -- the only truly well done rape storyline I've seen on daytime (not saying their weren't others, I just haven't seen them).

Jack is Billy -- Matt Ashford, Stephen Nichols, Joy Garrett, and Mary Beth Evans did a great job with all of the stuff leading up to Jack finding out and the fallout from that reveal.

Steve's death -- heartbreakingly awful. I cried and cried and was depressed for days.

GH:

BJ's heart -- shocking twist, unbelievably sad, and wonderfully acted by everybody.

Lucky's death -- all of the above again.

Clink!Boom -- not a big Sonny fan these days, but that was an unbelievable moment.

Nurse's Ball -- pretty much any of them. They were all pretty fun.

Yup, oval, I was talking about the Jack/Jen stuff right after Jack and Lawrence fence. The whole thing is great. Especially when Jack says he learned to fence at "Renaissance Summer Camp." Hee!

Y&R - Cassie dying. I wasn't a Y&R fan but happened upon it one day and got completely wrapped up in that story.

GH - Brenda at the church waiting for Sonny at their almost wedding, it was heartbreaking watching her walk down the aisle with the belief that he would show up.

Clink-Boom, Stone's death, Amazing Grace Montage are all memorable parts of GH too, but I had to add one I hadn't seen already mentioned.

For me these stand out:

On GH:
Stone's death - Of course, the "I see you" gets me everytime. But the thing that has ALWAYS reduced me to a blubbering mess is that scene when all of them gather in the room with his body. Robin walks over to Sonny and says "It'll be okay." Sonny says: "How" and Robin says: "I don't know. But we have to make it like that." And then she walks over and puts her hand on Stone's mouth and then puts her fingers on her own mouth. She says not one word, but you know exactly what she's thinking and it's so. frickin.powerful. Kills me.

Also the Amazing Grace montage when Brenda opens those church doors and Sonny sees her. Pretty amazing stuff.

On GL:
Okay, I never saw this scene when it originally aired. But I bought a "Best of GL" type and you can now see it on youtube. The Reva Shane fountain scene is absolutely unbelievable.

I was only watching GH sporadically at the time but I managed to catch clink boom and I still have a very clear memory of watching it and loving it. I also saw the Brenda/Sonny wire tape scenes and Oh. Em. Gee. They was crazy. And awesome. They were crazy awesome.



The blackout episode was freaking epic for me because Blake and Ross finally hooked up. I'd spent that entire summer waiting for them to get it on and then they finally did! I'm pretty sure I did a couple hundred celebratory laps around my living room. Unfortunately it was also Sherry Springfield's last episode and the chemistry between Ross and the new Blake was never as hot to me so I wasn't that into them afterwards. I can still remember that the week after the black out Soap Opera Weekly had a Blake/Ross/Blake's Mom/Roger cover but it was the new!Blake instead of Sherry S. My little Blake fangirl heart was so disappointed and bitter over that.

I'm pretty sure Stringfield stuck around for a while after that. I have memories of Ross and Stringfield's Blake having sex in a limo, plus it was Stringfield playing Blake when Holly found out, wasn't it? Then Blake split town and two weeks later came back as Liz Keifer. A recast that just never worked for me, though I know she's been in the role for years and has a big following.

My mind has it as happening right after the blackout but it's been so long. But that feeling of indignation I had over Sherry not being the Blake on the cover of SOW is still crystal clear. Good times.

Ed:

Okay, I remember now! Holly caught them, Blake ran out or something, and the next episode Liz Kiefer was Blake.

Absolutely one of the most memorable story lines ever and it happened at least 25 years ago. I still love Judith Light because of her wonderful portrayal of Karen. (I forgive her for Who's the Boss.) What ever happened to the actor who played Marco?

The actor that played Marco died in 2004, according to IMDB. I never saw him on OLTL, but he was an awesome character from what I've seen of him on GH.

Sadly, he died a few years ago.

Since it's a rare event for a viewer to be able to do this, I gotta toot Passions horn for Favorite/Best scenes again.

Like my other post stated, Passions excels when it becomes it's most spoofiest. And again like in my other post, it's a musical spoof that became one of my favorite scenes. Everything about the Passions Wicked Musical spoof on Passions was utterly fantastic. The music was wonderful, the scenes were fantastic. If only Passions were like this all the time rather than the usual crap.

On Knots Landing, Joshua Rush (Alec Baldwin) had come to town to get to know his mother Lilimae (Julie Harris), who had abandoned him when he was a child. Initally a sweet innocent, he eventually revealed some serious mental problems, culminating in his physical abuse of his new wife, Cathy. When Cathy left him, he stalked and kidnapped her, taking her to a rooftop. Lilimae had been living with her head in the sand out of guilt for how she had abandoned him; she kept explaining away his abusive behavior to that point. Well, that night she tracked them to that rooftop where she.let.loose on Joshua. She unleashed a ten-minute monlogue, telling him he was "a spoiled, willful little boy" who "destroys everything he touches". He'd gotten away with manipulating everyone around him, but she was having no more of it. Cathy managed to get away from him (he was going to kill them both) and Lilimae kept screeching at him about how his own sister was afraid of him, etc. and he stepped backward and fell off the building. Lilimae hadn't meant to "shout her son off the roof," but they showed Joshua on the ground below as Cathy and Lilimae screamed and sobbed into each other's arms.

I love the Passions spoofs - namely "I Ain't Sorry" and Bollywood. Oh my God, my best friend and I will sit around and watch Bollywood when we're bored or just in a mood and laugh hysterically at it.

On a more serious note, Liza Huber completely broke my heart during the first coma!Ethan storyline. She just did such an amazing job portraying Gwen's heartbreak at having to follow through and follow Ethan's wishes in the living will, knowing very well that she'd become a widow and lose custody of Jane. Also, in September, Ivy finding out that Fox had died and opening the bodybag - holy crap, I was sobbing like a baby.

Luis's execution scenes in August killed me, too. Galen was pretty amazing, but it's Eva and Emily who completely ripped my heart out and stomped on it.

Oh, and the episodes after Fancy was raped and Luis was trying to take her mind off of it and bring some Christmas cheer to her were so amazingly sweet and I will forever love Luis as a result.

As for non-Passions scenes, the scene in 2005 on General Hospital when Sonny told Carly that Michael was dead absolutely destroyed me. Tamara Braun was amazing in those scenes.

As the World Turns:
-Rosanna telling Emma about her hysterectomy
-Barbara jumping out of the window at the courthouse

General Hospital:
-Elsie Mae Krumholtz (and Sean, Robert, and Anna barely being able to contain themselves)
-Scott telling Lucy bye before he had to take Serena away so she wouldn't get kidnapped and he finally told Lucy that he loved her and that he would him and Serena would come back to her
-Luke and Laura dancing at the Triple L Diner then it goes up in flames
-Lucky confronting Luke about the rape
-Lucy marrying Alan in that red dress and huuuuuuuuuuuuge hat while Tracy was dressed up for a funeral
-after Liz was raped and she just wanted to put her shoe back on
-Tracy waking up and realizing that she's married to Luke
-Tiffany telling Robin goodbye before her and Sean left for Boston
-Carly telling Bobbie she's her daughter
-Felicia falling on the ground after learning that Maxie was getting BJ's heart
-Lucy's striptease at the Nurse's Ball
-Laura learning Lucky had died
-Robert seeing Holly again after all of those years
-Anna coming out of the plane on the Markaam Islands

One Life to Live:
-Alex marrying Asa in that Cleopatra costumes (this is one of my first OLTL memories ever..and probably my most vivid)
-Nora at the rape trail after she realized that Todd and co were guilty
-all of Asa's ex wives showing up for his fake funeral

The Young and the Restless:
-Jack stepping over Victor after Victor had had a heart attack and Jack left him laying there
-Jack throwing Victor's chair out of the window
-Phyllis finding out she couldn't have kids (this was back when she was married to Jack)
-JT rescuing Colleen form the fire at Gina's
-Kevin being revealed to be Michael's brother

Loving - After serial killer Gwyn Alden (wearing a long black wig since she thinks she is her own daughter, Trisha) tries to kill Tess, Tess smashes Gwyn's hands with a stapler and flees the room. Steffi comes into the room and finds Gwyn crumpled on the ground. Gwyn has an anguished monologue, completely coming apart as she realizes that under the guise of a split personality, she killed her son Curtis, her dear friend Stacey, the love of her life Clay, her boyfriend Jeremy, and the former in-laws she cherished (Cabot and Isabelle), all under the guise of "ending their pain". Holding the syringe of poison in her hands, she begs Steffi to kill her. Steffi holds Gwyn's broken hands and Gwyn manages to inject herself. She thanks Steffi as she dies. This scene is just horrifying, harrowing, and by far the best acting of Amelia Heinle's (Steffi) career, even more stressful since Amelia was about 7 months pregnant at the time. Christine Tudor (Gwyn) gave a performance to tell your grandkids about. Another scene I will never forget is when the police brought her in to tell her Cabot and Isabelle are dead. We don't see her. We only hear her WAIL as she is told the news.

One Life to Live - Pure-hearted heroine and former nun Jenny Wolek (Brynn Thayer) learned that her precious daughter Mary was actually switched at birth, and Mary belongs to Katrina Karr, while Jenny's child died soon after birth. Jenny raised Mary for nearly 4 years before she found out the truth. Jenny loved Mary so much she initially kept the truth to herself, but soon she prayed to God and decided she could not let her daughter live a lie. Jenny called Katrina over to her home, told her the entire story, and told Mary that she would be going on a long trip with good friend Katrina. These scenes really are devastating.

Guiding Light - Town pariah Roger Thorpe shows up at Maureen Bauer's grave. He thanks her for being the only person in town who had ever given him a chance or been his friend.

As the World Turns - Janice wanted Holden Snyder and she wanted Kim's talk show. She got the latter, but lost the former. Her path of craziness included poisoning Kim, seducing Kim's son Andy, and poisoning Holden's "true love" Lily while Lily was pregnant. Finally, Kim and Andy confronted Janice about all her insanity. She maced Kim and Andy, punched Andy (or maybe it was Cal too), and ran like hell. Kim tackled her (!) until the authorities arrived.

Ryan's Hope - Nell Beaulac suffered from aneurysms in her brain. One was fixed after surgery, but the other could not be repaired, and could go off at any time. Nell had resisted facing how fragile her life had become, but as her husband and nephew talked to her in the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, she told them a story about her old dog. She had had him most of her life, and then when she came back from college for a break, she knew this was the last time she'd see him. He had gone completely blind, but he still liked to chase squirrels. He heard a squirrel and raced off after it. He didn't realize where he was going and smashed headlong into a tree. Nell's father went to the dog and told him to get up, but he just laid there, helpless, confused. As Nell finished her story, her husband and nephew realized she had finally faced her own mortality. A few months later, Nell's other aneurysm burst, and in spite of her wish to not be operated on, her husband (Seneca) did so anyway. She was left brain dead. Seneca's Indian mother arrived to perform the death chant that was a tradition of her tribe. Meanwhile, Seneca summoned up the courage to take Nell off life support, even though doing so meant he would jeopardize his career.

Knots Landing - Eric Fairgate bitch-slaps his sister Diana. Yes, this WAS one of the best soap scenes ever. You would have to see Diana to understand why.

Greg tries to spy on his new bride Abby early in the morning so he can finally see her without her trademark garish eye makeup. Early one morning, she's in the bathroom showering. He throws open the door, strolls inside, and Abby, wearing only a towel, turns around...with a full face of makeup!

Perennial loser Richard Avery realizes that Laura will never leave him, even though she no longer feels any love or affection of any kind for him, because they have children and because he is mentally unstable. Richard tells his kids how much he loves them, watches Laura playing with them, and then leaves, never coming back.

Greg watches the goodbye tape Laura made before she died. He begins to weep and says he loves her so much, and to please not ever let him start hating her.

Abby to Paige (paraphrasing): "You're good. I'll give you a six out of a ten on the Abby scale. I'm a ten out of ten. I win every time."

When Valene was a teenager, she gave birth to a daughter, Lucy. She was pursued by JR Ewing's goons (the father was JR's brother Gary). She knocked and knocked on her mother Lillimae's door, begging Lillimae to let her hide. Lillimae only cared about her showbiz dreams, and she refused to help Valene, and immediately afterwards, JR's people found her and took Lucy. 15 years later, Val was living in Knots Landing with Gary, and Lillimae decided to visit. At a party welcoming her, she was playing her damn autoharp and using her cornpone charm on everyone, and Valene WENT OFF on her for her selfishness and her being such a worthless mother. I hated Lillimae, so this was a very, very satisfying scene.


Hollyoaks - An explosion ripped through the local pub Dog in the Pond. Several people were killed. One of them, Joe, died trying to save someone else. Earlier that day, his ex-girlfriend Zoe had made fun of him for his silly cell phone ring. After she got out of the explosion safely, she called him to see if she could track him down. She heard his phone, and followed the ring...straight to a body bag.


Another World - Cass sees Kathleen again after believing she's been dead for 4 years.

Wallingford dies (Brent Collins had died in real life). At the end of his funeral episode, Linda Dano and Stephen Schnetzer (Felicia and Cass) break the fourth wall to talk to the fans about what a dear friend Brent Collins was, how many viewers had come up to them over the years to tell them how much they loved Brent. They talked about how lucky they were to have worked with him, how much they would miss him.

This is the big moment for me...Iris tells her father Mac that she was behind the hostile takeover which nearly destroyed his company and ruined his life. She did this anonymously so she could come to town and save the day. He's in disbelief, then he tells her that everyone had been right about her, all the bad things they had said over the years. He told her the Iris he knew was gone, and he no longer had a daughter. She begged and pleaded with him to forgive her, but he escorted her out of the house. While "Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry" played, the weight of what Iris had done made stalwart Mac crumple against the front door, overcome with tears. This heartbreaking scene is made even more painful because Douglass Watson (Mac) died soon afterwards.

On "Days"

After Hope married Larry to protect Bo, her grandmother helped her fake a pregnancy so Larry would leave her alone. Bo was devastated when he found out she was pregnant with Larry's baby since B/H hadn't had sex yet. Mrs. H arranges for Bo to meet her so she can tell him the truth. I loved the look on his face when he realizes Hope isn't pregnant and that Larry thinks she is pregnant with Bo's baby.

I also loved Jack/Jennifer and I loved the Cruise of Deception storyline where they ended up in the cave and made love - finally.

Hope "dying" in the cage - her goodbye speech to Bo made me sob.

ATWT -

Julia firing six shots into the casket to make sure he was really dead. I loved that reference to characters faking their death.

The scenes with Simon and Katie in the Malta opera house basement. Those were some of the steamiest scenes ever.

Simon (trying to find something to pick the lock on their handcuffs) "I need a bobby pin or something."
Katie "Oh, would a long thin piece of metal work?"
Simon (exasperated) "Katie, if you have a long thin piece of metal, you can name your price."
Katie "You. Me. 3 days in the honeymoon suite at the plaza hotel. And, room service."
Simon (wry smile) "3 days?"
Katie "And room service!"
Simon "We're going to need oxygen aren't we?"

General Hospital - an early Kevin/Lucy scene, from 1994. Lucy tells Kevin a fairy tale/bedtime story. It was, without a doubt, the hottest thing I've ever seen on a soap (or, any TV show anywhere, period).

RyanCrowell


First off, thank you for bringing up this storyline. Holly Cate should have had a more lengthy soap career, since she not only had the psycho down, but she really did care for the young Chris Hughes when he was struggling with his parents' reputations and she had her good moments with both Andy and Holden. Just one nit-pick, Cal wasn't involved in any way with the confrontation.

I thought about playing around with this topic a little bit more and picking the best scene in the following categories...and the Emmy goes to....

1. Sexiest Scene
2. Most Heartwarming Scene
3. Biggest Tearjerker Scene
4. Funniest Scene
5. Best Cheating
6. Scene I Identified With Most
7. Most Dramatic Family Scene
8. Best Courtroom
9. Best Montage
10. Best Wedding
11. Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway
12. Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene
13. Saddest Death
14. Most Shocking Death
15. Best Revenge
16. Most Shocking Scene Ever
17. Best Crime
18. Best Come Uppance

Feel free to add some if anyone wants to play, or add links to the scenes, or explain why it worked for you.

Okay, I'll bite. But I can't answer them all! I don't have that good of a memory.

1. Sexiest Scene -- Days, Steve and Kayla in the hot tub, Steve sings "Barnacle Bill." Steamy! Feet touching! Sexy looks across the water! I was also a big sucker for OLTL's Patrick wooing Marty with "Brown Penny." Not a popular opinion, but I was a sentimental teenager who approved of all things Irish.
2. Most Heartwarming Scene -- GH: Foster and Annabelle fall in love. Foster dreams of her running to him. So cute!
3. Biggest Tearjerker Scene -- GH: Stone's death. Stone saying, "I see you," with Robin against the light; Sonny's nodding. Robin lying next to Stone's body on the bed, her whole body wrapped in sorrow. It just cut right through me.
4. Funniest Scene -- GH: Lucy vs. Katherine at the Nurse's Ball. Lucy always had great gams, but she showed a lot more than that!
5. Best Cheating Scene -- I hate cheating. Ain't nuthin' good 'bout it.
6. Scene I Identified With Most -- GH: When Robin and Stone started sleeping together. I was the same age, had a serious boyfriend (whom I'm now married to), and was pretty much going through the same thing. Except for the HIV part.
7. Most Dramatic Family Scene -- GH: Lila's death, when the whole Q family comes together, including Jason, who sits at his grandfather's feet. It was the best acting out of Steve Burton I'd seen in a long time (and since), and when Tracy cried out, "I want my mommy!" it actually felt like the matriarch was the last string tying these people together, and with that string severed, the Qs wouldn't last much longer.
8. Best Courtroom Scene -- Days: Billie goes on trial for killing Curtis. The look on her face, and Bo's, when she explained what happened to her as a kid.
9. Best Montage --
10. Best Wedding -- GH: Ned and Lois on the streets of Bensonhurst, also, AMC: Julia and Noah's fairytale wedding. Running through the streets. Wally Kurth and Rena Sofer both had these expressions of pure joy together.
11. Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway --
12. Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene -- GH: Sonny shoots Carly in the head while she delivers. Made even more over-the-top by the fact that Carly and Sonny reunited.
13. Saddest Death -- GH: Stone.
14. Most Shocking Death --
15. Best Revenge Scene -- GH: Lois pops out of the cake "Happy birthday, Mrs. Ned Ashton, from the other Mrs. Ned Ashton." Lois was so amazing, I wish Rena Sofer would come back to daytime. Since she's a primetime show killer, maybe someday.....
16. Most Shocking Scene Ever -- GH: Clink-boom. I wasn't expecting it at all.
17. Best Crime Scene --
18. Best Come Uppance Scene --

I'm really looking forward to reading other responses to this, because I'm sure I forgot plenty.

Advance warning that mine are going to be almost all GH with a little DOOL thrown in. Those are the only two soaps I've ever watched.

1. Sexiest Scene -- Liason ONS. I'm not even a fan of this couple. But holy shit.
2. Most Heartwarming Scene -- Not sure if this counts as heartwarming, but when Alan tells Monica that he still finds her attractive after the mastectomy and that he didn't lie awake at night worrying about her missing breast but rather lay awake in terror at the thought of losing her.
3. Biggest Tearjerker Scene -- Tie between when Alan tells Robin she has HIV and when Robin tells Stone.
4. Funniest Scene -- Jack and Jennifer on the Cruise of Deception, when he's trying to keep her from going out and investigating, and she tells him that if he wants to keep her in the room, he's going to have to entertain her with romance. I was maybe... 10? When this scene happened. And I still remember it. Jack was a great comedic character before they decided to go over-the-top and make him a buffoon.
5. Best Cheating Scene -- Depends on whether Liason ONS is cheating. If not, then I go with Carly/Sonny hatesex. Yes, there was a time I enjoyed this pairing...
6. Scene I Identified With Most -- Jason drops Robin off at Yale.
7. Most Dramatic Family Scene -- Luke telling Lucky about raping Laura.
8. Best Courtroom Scene -- ??
9. Best Montage -- Amazing Grace (Sonny sees Brenda alive)
10. Best Wedding -- Luke & Laura
11. Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway -- Brenda/Jason if we can go with couples who weren't really "together." I loved their interactions. Didn't want them to hook up, but loved them together anyway. If Brazen doesn't count, then I'd go with Luke/Tracy. That relationship really should not work. But it does.
12. Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene -- Sonny shoots Carly in the head while she's giving birth. For now and always. May it never be topped. PLEASE.
13. Saddest Death -- BJ
14. Most Shocking Death -- Lily (ClickBoom)
15. Best Revenge Scene -- Jax says "I don't" and dumps Brenda at the altar.
16. Most Shocking Scene Ever -- ClickBoom
17. Best Crime Scene -- ??
18. Best Come Uppance Scene -- The day a SORASed Michael Corinthos III returns to town with not-dead AJ and spits in the face of his adoptive father and tells him he how disgusted he is to have been raised by such a man. A girl can dream, right?

I'll take a stab at these new ones. Great idea.

1. Sexiest Scene -- sexy, but in a kinda sad way, was the Jack & Jennifer shower scene when they were on one of their breaks
4. Funniest Scene -- OLTL's Prom: the Musical
7. Most Dramatic Family Scene -- The Days episode last summer with the parallel Dimera and Brady family meetings
9. Best Montage -- Days' 40th anniversary commercial montages that ran for a week....there was a new one each day with a "theme" such as romance, adventure, etc.
11. Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway -- Carl & Rachel on AW
13. Saddest Death -- Days: Isabella Toscano Black
14. Most Shocking Death -- Mac Cory on AW
16. Most Shocking Scene Ever -- Jack returning during Jenn & Frankie's wedding
17. Best Crime Scene -- Hope "dying" by being dropped in a cage into a vat of acid.
18. Best Come Uppance Scene -- On Days, Axe-weilding Kate busting down a hotel door only to find Sami & Lucas inside

One more....

5. Best Cheating Scene --I'm probably the only one who liked this twist, but Billie sleeping with virginal Nick, who wasn't going out with Chelsea yet, but it still counts.

Sexiest Scene - Sonny and Brenda in the alley. That kiss was the definition of S&B passion.

Biggest Tearjerker Scene - Stone's death.

Funniest Scene - Any Nurse's Ball performance involving Lucy, it always ended up being hilarious.

Best Cheating - Sonny/Brenda when he was married to Lily.

Most Dramatic Family Scene - I'd say just about any scene with AJ and the Quartermaines, because no matter how much he wanted their approval and love, he couldn't help but be self-destructive.

Best Montage - Clink-Boom or Amazing Grace.

Best Wedding - Jason/Brenda, Vegas style wedding...the best thing ever!

Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway - Luke/Tracy

Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene - Carly giving birth to Morgan, the bullet to the head was just over the top.

Saddest Death Lila. The scenes where everyone found out she was gone was heartbreaking, especially Tracy's reaction.

Most Shocking Death - Lucky, even though he wasn't really dead I was absolutely shocked when the fire happened and they thought he was gone.

sunshine, thank you for filling in my missing #11! I still pause whenever Luke says, "my wife," meaning Tracy, but these two make the screen sparkle.

1. Sexiest Scene: My word there are a lot of these. I tend to have one or two for each of my favorite couples but I'll narrow it down some. Kevin/Lucy at the very beginning of their trying to get it on phase (they went through quite a period of almost getting there) when she told him about a dream she was having about riding a horse and suggested that he could be the horse in her dream (!!) and they wound up in a big chair that had fallen backwards onto the floor. Yowza. On OLTL, Todd washing Blair's hands after she shot Max was unexpectedly hot... also, their Vegas love scene was ridiculously sexy.

3. Biggest Tearjerker Scene - "Oh no, not Barbara Jean..." that scene killed.

4. Funniest Scene - Dorian and Blair as twin Marilyn Monroes gaslight David "I'm your hotcake on the griddle of love!" Vickers

8. Best Courtroom - Karen Wolek on the stand admitting she's a hooker wins this hands down. No other scene need apply.

9. Best Montage - Clink-BOOM! There are others that are quite good but this one defines soap opera montage awesome.

10. Best Wedding - Asa and Alex have a cowboy/Cleopatra wedding.

12. Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene - Well, Carly getting shot in the head is definitely up there. I also include Blair gives birth to Jack in Mexico because they had Howarth as Todd hamming it up with his 'I don't know nothing 'bout birthin' no babies!' crap as he danced around. It was over the top in a bad way. Too bad because the birth of Todd and Blair's first son should have been better handled.

13. Saddest Death - Either Stone on GH or Megan on OLTL

14. Most Shocking Death - Steve Holden's death by wedding cake. Was NOT expecting that one at all.

15. Best Revenge - Starr Manning puts piranhas in Max Holden's bathtub, cuts up his suits and steals his credit card to buy herself limited edition Barbies.

Can I still remember my favorites? Most happened over ten years ago. I'm sure I've forgotten some good ones.

Sexiest Scene Someone mentioned GH's Kevin and Lucy bedtime story scene. That's a good choice. Luke and Laura on the sailboat is also incredibly hot, and though I can't remember watching it the first time (too young), I've seen it on tape.

Most Heartwarming Scene

Biggest Tearjerker Scene When Scott took newborn Serena out of town and away from Lucy, I was reduced to a puddle. Lucy had become my very favorite character (as she will always be) and I was just devastated for her.

Funniest Scene I'm not sure, but I'm sure it involved GH's Lucy. Thanksgiving 1994 or 1995, maybe? Or one of the early Nurses Balls? Hard choice, as soaps used to be funny in the early and mid nineties.

Best Cheating When Bobbie found Carly and Tony in bed together. Devastating stuff. And then Luke lied about "Caroline" being dead because he couldn't bear to let Bobbie know her own daughter did that to her.
The scene when AMC's Liza reveals that she knows Tad was sleeping with both her and her mother is just classic soap.

Scene I Identified With Most

Most Dramatic Family Scene I guess this would be a "family" scene: When Clare tried to kill husband Max on Christmas on Hollyoaks. She is my very favorite villain ever, and I've seen some great ones over the years.

Best Courtroom Marty's rape trial on OLTL had a lot of dramatic moments, but I think the most dramatic was when Nora threw the case during her summation. I believe I cheered.

Best Montage

Best Wedding Lois and Ned's was beautiful. Luke and Laura's of course. Lucy and Kevin's on PC was lovely, and as far as I'm concerned, the show ended after that episode, with them living happily ever after.

Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway Todd and Blair (the first time). Although, "worked" may be over-stating it.

Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene

Saddest Death GH's Dominique or Stone. OLTL's Megan. AW's Ryan.

Most Shocking Death GH's Lily or B.J.

Best Revenge It may not be the best revenge, but I found Erica letting Kendall get carted off to jail for perjury very satisfying. "But you said you would help me!" "Gosh, Kendall, I guess I lied."

Most Shocking Scene Ever Clink/Boom is a good, if obvious choice.
On OLTL, when Dorian confronted Viki with the truth about her father, one of Viki's alter threw Dorian down the stairs, and afterwards held Dorian captive for what seemed like months.

Best Crime Back when Carlo Hesser died the first time, if was finally revealed that his niece Stephanie was the killer. Back then I was completely unspoiled and very surprised by the reveal.
Who shot AW's Jake was a great story. Who killed Will Courtland on AMC was another goody.
Best Comeuppance

Who is this?

I think I will try now...

1. Sexiest Scene For some reason, when Sonny saw Brenda in that wet T-shirt with the Q boys clapping, and dragged her into the shed, I found that very sexy. Perhaps because it was the first time he let his desire/feelings show? I also thought Tad watching Dixie do the cowboy dance was very sexy--all in the eyes, but steam everywhere. Caleb/Lizzie, seduction, vampire style.and Jason/Carly's first sex are close. Robert Scorpio trying not to have sex with Holly was damn sexy too.

2. Most Heartwarming Scene Lucy and Dominque make a video for the baby.

3. Biggest Tearjerker Scene Felicia, "not BJ!" I blubber just remembering it, so I stick with Felicia collapsing to the hospital floor with "Not Barbara Jean..." OMG. more...

4. Funniest Scene Lucy in the red wedding dress is close, Love the hat! but I will go with Elsi May (Tiffany) getting married. The actors were dying laughing, and so was I. Here you go!

5. Best Cheating Tad's doing a mom and daughter at the same time. (stolen from Emmett! since I drew a blank.)

6. Scene I Identified With Most Laura and Scotty trying to be grown up and married. My boyfriend looked a lot like Scotty.

7. Most Dramatic Family Scene Lucky dies.
Luke tells Laura.


8. Best Courtroom Karen confesses to prostitution. Karen is still on the stand, with her young doctor husband watching... but this was damn good too...2nd place, Nora turns on her client, Todd, during the rape trial.

9. Best Montage Click / Boom.


10. Best Wedding Luke and Laura...


11. Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway Todd and Blair, years of soap stories in this union.


12. Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene Tina Lord goes over the Iguazu waterfall.

13. Saddest Death Stone, Jason carries Robin off the stage. Stone dies.

14. Most Shocking Death Tom tells Brooke that their daughter Laura is brain dead.

15. Best Revenge The first "revenge" kiss. Dorian seduces Viki's son to get even.

16. Most Shocking Scene Ever Luke rapes Laura.

17. Best Crime Spring Fling gang rape. Marty is raped. This was so well done, and the fallout played out for years. The morning after.

18. Best Come Uppance Sonny leaves Brenda because of the wire...

I am adding one...
19. Bonus pick
Lucy strips for Charity.

Wow. Those were just . . . just . . . brutal.

18. Best Come Uppance Hands down, David Kimball and the trash compactor.

Was he the one with "Killer" written on his forehead? A friend of mine watched that and called me to tell me all about it when it happened. She was giddy about it.

Yes, Dale, they were as brutal as it gets. Laura's was the most shocking to me, because we were about the same age, and the story leading up to that night was already so scary and wrong. I could not believe it. She did a fine job with the aftermath of the rape too.

Marty's rape was horrifying. I don't know if gang rape had ever been shown on soaps before, but that frat party brought back drunken memories, and probably touched a cord with many.

Both stories generated more stories, and both had consequences that played out over decades. Luke & Laura's took a couple of decades to come back and be dealt with, but at least it was finally played out.

She wasn't the only one. It was great storytelling.

Sexiest Scene: I'm going to give pride of place to GH's Luke and Laura's sailboat seduction, in all its politically incorrect glory.
Most Heartwarming Scene: this is actually really tough, as soaps used to specialize in heart-warming. I find myself remembering the DOOL Christmas tree scenes. Also, AMC's Bianca getting Miranda back and waking from her coma, surrounded by everyone who loved her. We all saw it coming a mile away, but it still worked.
Biggest Tearjerker Scene: Tony leaning down to listen to BJ's heart beating in Maxie's chest.
Funniest Scene: GH's Lucy stripping for charity ties with Passions' Bollywood. It doesn't matter how often I watch either of those scenes, they still make me laugh out loud. Actually, I'd make it a three-way tie, with Sean and Tiffany's wedding on GH.
Best Cheating: I think GH's Alan and Monica win this, for continually cheating on each other for decades and still making me believe in their marriage.
Scene I Identified With Most: probably Brenda realizing that no matter how much she loved Sonny, he'd never make her happy, and even more importantly, he'd never let her make him happy; and choosing the guy who not only loved her but could accept her and everything she had to give.
Most Dramatic Family Scene: another hard one, so much competition - but yes, probably the Spencer family finally dealing with the rape.
Best Courtroom : OLTL's Karen Wolek courtroom reveal, hands down.
Best Montage: I think probably GH's lullaby montage, with Laura rocking the baby, Brenda taking a shower, and gunfire erupting as a result of the crime war that Sonny and Luke were involved in.
Best Wedding: This is an intensely personal bias, but I loved Robert and Holly's marriage of convenience, because I'd seen the chemistry between them months earlier and had been so hoping the show would go there. For pageantry, it's a tie between Luke and Laura on GH and Bo and Hope on DOOL. (The first time in both cases.)
Most Unlikely Marriage That Worked Anyway: I'll go with GH's Tracy and Luke; though prior to that, I'd have said GL's Blake and Ross, before TIIC mucked it up.
Most Over-the-top Childbirth Scene: I give honorable mention to GH's Carly getting shot in the head and AMC's double birthin' of Miranda and Adam III. But for sheer over the topness, I'm not sure anything beats Amber giving birth on B&B - the actress is just so annoying, and the damn scene went on forever, and resulted in a dead baby, so that lead to Amber's hysterics after her caterwauling throughout labor. AF was screaming and screeching for days. For birth scene in the most poor taste, I'd nominate Brooke giving birth to Hope, who was fathered by Brooke's son-in-law, while her doubly betrayed daughter Bridget was in the room. I loved Stephanie screeching, "you can't do this to Bridget" as though Brooke could control her labor.
Saddest Death: BJ's heart.
Most Shocking Death: Actually, BJ's death was pretty shocking. So was Lily's. But the time I remember being the most surprised wasn't even a death - when Luke was presumed killed in the avalanche. I was more gullible then, plus I'd missed the episode where the guy stole Luke's wallet, so for a couple of days I honestly thought that Luke had been killed off.
Best Revenge : I'll go with GL's Blake seducing Ross to get even with her mother, Holly; Blake blamed her mother Holly for Alan-Michael firing her and ruining what Blake (mistakenly) thought were her chances of getting him back, so she set out to seduce Ross, whom Holly had told her was Holly's "one who'd gotten away." Sherry Stringfield was still playing Blake, she and Jerry verDorn had great chemistry, and Maureen Garrett's Holly was so clueless, and then so outraged. It was awesome. Added bonus: Blake's father Roger hated Ross.
Most Shocking Scene Ever: for long-term impact, Luke's rape of Laura. For sheer brutality, the gang rape of Marty. But I think the hardest soap rape scene I've ever watched was on GL, when Roger raped Holly.
Best Crime : Sheila's original babyswitch on Y&R. That managed to be riveting for months.
Best Come Uppance: B&B actually excels at these, but then there's never any follow-through. But the first thing that came to my mind was Bianca slapping Babe after finding out the truth about Miranda. Too bad the PFM destroyed all that vengeful Kane goodness to keep propping one of the worst characters in soap opera history.
ETA, I knew I was forgetting a good one. On GL, when Alexandra led pretty much the whole town in humiliating Roger at the country club. That was probably the best comeuppance scene in my memory.

Want to do a brief recap for those of us who didn't watch it play out? Are there particular scenes that someone might have youtubed?

(I actually put that one in the list because, after all this time, I remember her phone call. She was a nurse and a young mom, and we almost never talked about soaps--but this day? She called and was almost incoherent with the giddies. It was very cute.)