Since we have threads for favorite couple, worst couple, best scenes, I thought it would be fun to have a place to discuss the all-time best and worst soap opera characters. TWoP doesn't do lists, so let's also explain why we think a character is great or terrible.

Post-Brenda and Pre-Kate I'd have chosen Sonny (GH) as worst character ever on a soap. To have a (laughable) mob boss as the star of your soap, one who verbally abuses women, shot his wife in the head, and a bjillion other things as your hero is just an insult on so many levels. But then, you also have Jason from the same show touted as a hero. The man who KILLS people for a living. But they love their friends and family so it's ok...

As for best soap character, my first instinct is to pick (pre-JERk) Matt Ashford's Jack on DOOL. This was a snarky, complicated, conflicted character who started out as a villain then became 1/2 of a supercouple through a wonderfully written and acted redemption arc; an arc that took years, not months to take place. I'm ignoring what JERk did to the character.

Worst: Courtney Matthews wins out for me (only narrowly) over both Sonny and Carly because at least S&C had some moments of greatness before they began chewing scenery and sucking up 99.9% of the airtime of the entire show with their endless ball of stupid. Courtney just sucked, period. Beginning, middle, and end.

Also bad: John and Marlena. Together, separately, whatever. They finally drove me away from DOOL after over a decade.

Best: Luke (GH). Tony Geary may be the best soap actor ever.

Agreed. About both character and actor. Although I'd leave out the word "soap". One of the best actors ever, in any medium, for me.

(Not to negate Genie Francis or Laura, without whom the phenomenon that was Luke and Laura would not have succeeded. I love her and I wish GH would give Laura/Genie the same deal as Luke/TG.)

Worst: Man, too many to count. I'm gonna go with someone that managed to be bad pretty much the whole time: Katherine Bell from GH.

Jack from DOOL was my favorite so I love that choice. I also loved Jake from Another World. Tom Eplin was fantastic on that show.

I dislike most of the people on GH. I guess I don't hate Lulu and I don't hate Scotty or Logan. They're not enough to make me tune in on a regular basis though.

Fun thread!

Worst Characters:

Maggie the Clown -- One Life to Life. Enuff said.

Margaret Cochran and Spencer Truman --- One Life to Life. For obvious reasons.

Amber --- Bold & the Beautiful / Young and the Restless. Who is she related to that she stays employed?

Lily #1 -- Y&R. I'm sorry but she doesn't look a thing like Neil or Drucilla. Lily #2 was more believeable, Lily #1 looks like a byproduct of Drucilla and Jack or Neil and Nikki.

The entire Snyder family --- As the World Turns. I don't like none of them.

Angela Forrester -- Bold & Beautiful. There was no point to bringing her on since the real Angela was DEAD before she was brought on the show. I did enjoy when she was trying to bring down Stephanie, though.

Cassie -- Guiding Light. Reva had a perfectly good sister named ROXIE, why couldn't they have unleashed her from the loony bin instead of creating Cassie?

McDrain -- One Life to Life. Dude, lighten up. Runner up: Marty. Thank goodness they're canning her ass.

Sheila -- Y&R / B&B. Please don't bring her back no more. Runner up: Cricket/Christeeeeeen. Please don't being HER back no mo'.

The Night Shift Crew on GH. No explanation needed.

First, I apologize for the NBC slant...that's just all I have consistently watched. My favorite character by far was Jack on Days before Matt Ashford left the first time. I also really liked Jake on AW. As for villains (which I prefer), I loved Carl on AW before he got together with Rachel and Lawrence Alamain on Days. Michael Sabatino will always give me the heebie jeebies after that. As for women, I really liked Vicki on AW, both the Anne Heche and Jensen Buchanan versions. For bit parts, Ivan and Bart have been my favorites.

Worst character: possessed Marlena on Days (although I will watch the Soapnet special this weekend to see if it is half as campy 10 years later), Austin on Days. Jaime Frame bored me to tears on AW for a long time.

Great post idea.

Also, the Night Shift crew deserves some boos. I honestly <i>tried</i> to watch, but could not get into it.

Best:
John Dixon and Roger Thorpe. Two villians who, through time and the talent of respective portrayers Larry Bryggman and Michael Zaslow, became very compelling characters. Who could forget the malpractice trial which split Oakdale or John saying good-bye to the son who came into the world too soon? The Roger reveal at Blake's wedding to Phillip or the beach house scene where he saved Ed Bauer?
Luke Spencer. Tony Geary broke rules with Luke. A mob flunky who raped a young heroine should have been gone in less than a year, not turned into an icon, but TG pulled it off. Lynn Herring's Lucy Coe went from mousy librarian to sexpot to golddigger to mother to faithful friend and lover and kept her quirky sense of humor (she even pulled off scenes with a duck).
Worst: Todd Manning. I've never seen the appeal and the diva behavior of both portrayers hasn't made him more appealing. Jason Morgan and Carly Corinthios, two characters who have devastated GH and several veterans (SD,BM and BW, anyone?). Dinah Marler (Wendy Moniz version). Just a poison pill of a character.

My all-time favorite male character is AW's Jake McKinnon, without a doubt. Despite the travesty of his rape SL, which was done to prop the awful character of Jamie Frame was so disgusting in my opinion. I so hated the writers at the time for doing that and believe it done for that reason because the SL was so out of character and non-sensical.

Second favorite male character is GH's Lorenzo Alcazar, played fabulously by Ted King, who should have had better SL's than half the crap he was given. Both characters were always underdogs, which made me root for them much more and made me hate anyone else that "attacked" them in any way, despite their mistakes and imperfections. It was mainly due to the phenomenol talents of both actors to make that happen.

Edited due to a second post.

Best:

Lucille March on GH way back in the day

Jack and Mary on Ryan's Hope; also Delia

Nina on Y&R


Worst:

Gloria on Y&R

Best Soap Characters

GL - Roger Thorpe, best and most complicated character ever and Michael Zaslow was amazing
Alan Spaulding, the original version played by Chris Bernau
Rita - one of the most complicated and interesting female soap characters

Y&R - Although I love Peter Bergman and he really has made Jack Abbot his own, Terry Lester's JA was snarky and heartbreaking and his own worst enemy

SB - Mason Capwell, the original Lane Davies version, poor sad brilliant misunderstood Mason

DOL - MA's Jack Devereaux fits the same pattern of the most compelling soap characters (I understand they ruined the character but I had stopped watching before that happened)

OLTL - Judith Light's Karen Wolleck

ATWT - John Dixon, Lucinda Walsh

Worst Characters

There are so many to choose from...

GL - Nadine Cooper used to irritate me something fierce, now fully half the characters do
Y&R - Make Amber go away now, please
Cricket/Christine and her paramour Danny Romalati, that was just so embarrassing to watch

And any character on any soap who sings. Please just stop.

Fun thread!

Best characters -- I'm going by characters in their prime, regardless of later decline.

I would third (fourth?) Jack on Days as one of the best characters ever. In his prime, he was such a unique character, so much smarter and snarkier than your average soap character. Tortured but not in the melodramatic kind of way.
Most unpopular on this board, but Sonny Corinthos, from 1993-1997. I still mostly liked him till about 2001 (and am liking him now), but I think he was definitely one of the most complex, interesting characters on GH in his first GH run (mostly as written by Claire Labine).
Brenda Barrett -- I wouldn't have put her on this list before, but thinking about it, she was a perfect soap heroine (again, for me, only really through 1997. Not a fan of her return). Charismatic, fun, selfish, loyal, tenacious...
Robert Scorpio - my first soap love, sexy, great accent, loyal, smart, upright...throw in Anna there as well. I loved them from the moment I saw those flashbacks, I still vaguely remember loving them as like a 6 year old kid.
Robin Scorpio -- for longevity and for involvement in more timeless storylines than maybe anyone else on GH, for me she is the heart of GH (also maybe because we're the same age, and grew up together).
Luke, Laura and Lucky (only as played by Jonathan Jackson) Spencer -- legends, and a really awesome family dynamic. Lulu need not apply.
Lucy Coe -- totally wacky, but also heartbreaking. Scheming, funny, with unexpected depth. I miss her.
Lois Cerrullo (only as played by Rena Sofer) - she was totally unique, and should never have been recast.
Ned Ashton -- I love Ned. I think he's a great character, totally ruthless when he wants/has to be, but again, unexpected depths.
Vicky on Another World -- especially as played by Anne Heche, who was also great as Marley.
Jake on Another World
Todd Manning/One Life to Live -- as played by Roger Howarth, I think he was always interesting. A little too broad toward the end of his last run, but on the whole a brilliant characterization. He is the only thing that ever made me watch OLTL.
I totally agree with Mason, as played by Lane Davies on Santa Barbara. He walked a pretty fine line between self-absorbed, pompous ass and awesomeness, and generally winded up on the awesomeness side.

Worst Characters. I'm trying to focus on just characters, and not actresses, although sometimes the two intersect. For instance, Hannah on GH was horrible, but I think it was due to the actress and not the character, because the FBI agent thing had promise, it was just the actress that was mind-blowingly heinous.

So, worst character, maybe ever -- WORD on the Courtney thing. She was just a total waste of space. She didn't even have a character. I couldn't even give you a single defining characteristic about Courtney, except that she was buff. And the idea that she was related to either Sonny or Mike was just sad. I still can't believe they gave Sonny her as a sister. You could tell even he couldn't believe it. She was truly awful. And even more awful in that usually, by six months to a year, someone will figure out when a character is not working, and with her, they just kept the focus on (although I wised up and eventually stopped watching, until Robin's return).

Roy on GH. I can't even bring myself to describe why. He was just a total loser. What was that even about? Clearly not A Martinez's fault, the character was just bad.

Sam on GH. Again, someone I don't even think has a character. If you asked me to describe Sam, I couldn't. I know nothing about who she is, and I don't care. Slightly better than Courtney, because Courtney was THAT awful, but Sam has been on GH for years now and I find her as pointless as the first moment I saw her.

Miguel on GH. OMG. The singing. The hair. The relationship with Leelee. The singing. The hair.

There are some characters I hate, such as Carly on GH, that I can't put because I do see that (as played by Sarah Brown only) she was involved in some interesting storylines and did bring something to the table. Also, other characters, like Lily, who were pivotal to an ultimately good story, but otherwise sucked, I can't consider one of the worst characters.

ETA:

I would totally agree with this, but I love Ned!! Although I was never a huge fan of when he would sing. I prefer Ned Ashton to Eddie Maine. Also, I think Bo on Days sang once (more than once?), and I still love Bo. He would definitely make my second tier of best soap characters. As a general rule though, I completely agree. Oh -- this just reminded me of one of the worst soap characters EVER -- Juan on GH. Progeny of Miguel, so not surprising.

Oooh fun. So many to choose from. I think I may remember soaps from when I was a kid through rose-colored glasses, but it seems like everyone else does too, so maybe they were just better back then.

Best:

SB: I loved me Kelly Capwell (Robin Wright version) something fierce. But I'd have to say LD's Mason would win out as an all time great character there. Mason in his prime was one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen.

GH: Toss up between Luke and Lucky when JJ played him. Luke is revolutionary, for sure, but the Luke and Lucky relationship is probably my favorite "pairing" of all time, and I think it's owed just as much to Lucky as Luke. He was a really interesting kid, vindictive, possessive, angry, and with a questionable moral code, but also good hearted and genuine and brilliant.

Guiding Light: People might not even remember this character, but Bridget Reardon was like nothing else on soaps when she first came to GL. What a real character, totally flaw-filled, not drop-dead gorgeous, fighting her inner demons while still being totally real. And Melissa Hayden was so genuine and raw. Great character that went flat too quickly.

Days: Patch (version 1, I haven't watched his return). Talk about a complex character. And hot. Whew.

Worst:

GH: Sonny, almost goes without saying. Jason is a very very close second. With nearly everyone else on GH currently on this list.

AMC: Babe.

I'd vote GH's Stefan as the most wasted potential character. Could have easily been the most interesting character in all of daytime if it'd been done right.

Best
I will choose one woman and one man for the shows I watched:

AMC
Tad Martin
Erica Kane

OLTL
Karen Wolek
Todd Manning

Honorable mention, Dorian Lord, Max, Luna, Marco Dane

GH
Luke Spencer --close runners up, Robert Scorpio, Lucky Spencer
(tie) Laura Spencer/Lucy Coe/Brenda Barrett

Honorable mention: Holly Scorpio, Robin Scorpio in her younger years, Sonny up until the first car bomb, Lois the first time, Tracy Quartermaine

PC
Livvie and Caleb

Y&R
Victor Newman
Nikki Newman

There are just too many worsts...so I will just pick one.
The current Sonny on GH

Best:
Luke Spencer (GH)
Laura Weber Spencer (GH)
Lucky Spencer as played by Jonathan Jackson (GH)
Brenda Barrett (GH)
Sonny before 1997 (GH)
Robin Scorpio (GH)
Lucy Coe (GH)
Stefan Cassadine (GH)
Dorian Lord (OLTL)
Viki Lord Buchanan (OLTL)
Blair Cramer (OLTL)
Nora Buchanan (OLTL)
Carlo Hesser (OLTL)
Max Holden (OLTL)
Gabrielle Madina (OLTL)
Joey Buchanan as played by Nathan Fillion (OLTL)
Todd Manning as played by Roger Howarth, not including GT's reign (OLTL)
Jack Deveraux as played by Matthew Ashford, not including JR's reign (Days)
Stephen Johnson aka Patch (Days)
Hope Williams Brady (Days)
Victor Kiriakis (Days)
RoJohn (Days) the overacting got increasingly bad but the character was fun in the 80's and 90's
Alan-Michael as played by Rick Hearst (GL)
Roger Thorpe (GL)
Jack Abbott (Y&R)
Drucilla Winters (Y&R)
Carly Tenney, especially from '97-'02 (ATWT)
Leo DuPres (AMC)
Greenlee as played by Rebecca Budig prior to Leo's death (AMC)
Bianca Montgomery (AMC)

Worst:
Carly (GH) - anything post Sarah Brown's version has been a nightmare
Sonny (GH) - anything beyond 1997, roughly when he began eating the show whole and I tuned out
Jason Morgan (GH)
Lulu Spencer (GH) - it pains me to dislike her, but there isn't much to like
Liz Weber (GH)
Migel (GH)
Lily (GH)
Spencer Truman (OLTL)
Jenn Rappaport (OLTL)
Sam Rappaport (OLTL)
Tea (OLTL)
Patrick Thornheart (OLTL)
John McBain (OLTL)
Babe! (AMC)
Ava (AMC)
Jonathan Lavery! (AMC)
RYAN LAVERY! (AMC)
Skye Chandler (all ABC soaps)
Austin Reed (Days)
Shawn Brady (Days)
Belle Black (Days)
Kate Roberts (Days)
Cassie Winslow (GL)
Richard Winslow (GL
Olivia (GL)
Reva Shane (GL)
Lily Snyder (ATWT)

As a soap viewer of only seven years, my choices are more limited.

Best:

Carly Tenney (ATWT) -- I'm probably one of the few who likes her regardless of what she's doing in her current storyline. Sure, she's coming off greatly unlikable, yet I still . . . do. She's probably one of the few manipulators who can do so without making my blood boil (Sami in her scheming days on DAYS is one of the others).

Nicholas "Nick" Fallon (DAYS) -- He's only been here a year, yes, but I think he's one of the freshest characters to ever be introduced to the show. He's just a total geek, the kind of character I love to death. He's also quite funny at times, and the fact that he's played by a wonderful, lovely actor is a plus.

Kate Howard (GH) -- With all the other characters being ruined or en route to ruination, she's pretty much my choice by default. But that's okay, because she is actually my favorite, anyway. I love Megan Ward and admire how she makes Kate seem fairly grounded. Plus, she's the first woman in a long time Sonny's looked even remotely tolerable with, so that's a plus.

Fancy Crane (PASSIONS) -- Yeah, I'll go ahead and be the first to venture a Passions character on this thread. I didn't like her much at first as the cliche of the stuck-up rich girl, but she's grown on me famously over the past two years. I love Emily Harper, and the fact that she's one of the few people on that almost-entirely-ruined show who can actually act and make a character believable makes her all sorts of awesome in my book. I love Fancy's interactions with a good number of characters on that show, but her scenes with Luis are actually my favorite ones.

Worst:

Holden Snyder (ATWT) -- Nothing against Jon Hensley at all, because he's a fine actor, but Holden's a self-righteous asshat of the highest degree.

Jett Carver (DAYS) -- Boring, brings nothing to the table, and is played by a horrible, horrible actor. The only character currently on that show who can make my blood boil.

Carly Benson Corinthos Jacks (GH) -- Please get rid of this shrill, entitled, hypocritical bitch who the writers are constantly propping every single time they pen a storyline revolving around her.

Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald (PASSIONS) -- Totally ruined a good character when they recast Jesse Metcalf's version of him with the wooden Adrian Bellani and forced the viewers to buy that he was in love with Kay Bennett, and then forced the viewers to root for them to make it as a couple despite the fact that he essentially stole her from her fiance. They just destroyed the character irreparably.

Lisa Miller, et. al. played by Eilleen Fulton. Like Tony Geary, Fulton basically created an iconic character, one which has been copied by every other daytime drama. I remember when Maura West came along as Carly, people said the actress and character reminded them of a young EF/Lisa. Without Lisa, there wouldn't have been Erica Kane or Sami Brady.

Stephanie Forrester played by Susan Flannery. Give Brad Bell credit in keeping the matriarch character pretty much as the center of the show and SF squared has created in the words of Berke Breathed "a woman you wouldn't want to cross dental braces with." It's hard to believe that this is the same actress who played Laura Horton (v. 2) on DOOL.

BEST

General Hospital

To me, Brenda Barrett , was the most perfect female heroine since Laura. Brenda was intelligent, witty, a lot of fun and she truly was 'the most beautiful girl in the world'. It wasn't hard to like her or understand why the men of GH fought over her. Brenda went from a bratty teen to a complex women and whatever pairing she was in, stole the show (Brenson & Jax/Brenda). There hasn't been a women in Port Charles as interesting and compelling since she left and I don't think there will ever be one.

Ned Ashton is another one of my favourite characters ever. He's also a complex character with many sides (ruthless, Eddie Maine & fun) and I loved his pairing with Lois. Those two also sizzled on screen and I hate what GH has done to my Neddy now. Die GUZA Diediediediedie

Days Of Our Lives

Hope Brady in her 1980's incarnation was a perfect female soap character. Headstrong, stunningly beautiful (Kristian is still stunning thought, althought I wish she ate more than one sandwich a week) and likeable. Her pairing with Bo was one of the smartest things Days has ever done, because to me, Bope is THE Days supercouple.

Jack Deveraux, played by Matt Ashford only, was my favourite male character ever on Days. He was ruthless at times and a teddy bear at times and you could not help falling in love with him


WORST


General Hospital

Sonny Corinthos, after dumping Brenda at the altar. With Brenda you could actually like him ( lets face it, Vanessa Marcil could read names of the phone book and still be more interesting than most GH storylines), but after that, he became the scenery chewing, mumbling asshat he is today. His pairing with Carly stole 99 % of the show and made a lot of viewers (like me) to stop watching. He is an unlikeable character and I don't know why is he written as a brooding, romantic hero. Would a hero shoot his wife in the head while she is giving birth to their son????

Carly Corinthos Jacks has got to be the most overhyped female ever on GH. Every woman on that show had to lose to Carly, to a vapid, self-centered bitch who nevers shuts that big mouth of hers. I admit that with SB she was tolerable, but the other actresses have only managed to suck all kinds of ass and make Carly a truly wretched little shrew and a shrieking unlikeable banshee.

Courtney Matthews was boring, dull, tedious, yawn inducing slut who's legs were open 24/7. Her pairing with Jason was a good cure to insomnia and I can confess to ff most of their scenes.

Days Of Our Lives

Marlena Evans, Salem's hypocritical, self centered queen. She is so self-rightouos and full of herself that I wanna throw something at her whenever she is on screen. I hate her with the force of the thousand suns.

Lucas Roberts is a heinous little Napoleon. Pucas is a whining, snivelling momma's boy who should grow a spine. Plus when he kisses someone, he uses vomit inducing slurping sounds. Yuck

I've only watched OLTL and GH ( and hardly at all anymore ) so my list is limited

All time male character ( and for me, surprisly not mentioned yet )- David Vickers OLTL. The conman so likeable, you couldn't help but root for him.

All time female character- Brenda Barrett GH. Vanessa Marcil's chemistry with her castmates is unrivaled.

I've always enjoyed the supporting players most.The ones who come to mind right now

OLTL
Cain Rogan
Wanda Wolek
Julia Medina ( Gabrielle's mother )
Renee Buchanan ( best Asa wife)

GH
Tiffany Hill
Victor Jerome ( back when GH gangsters were actually entertaining )
Faith Roscoe
Alexis Davis
Tracy Quartermaine
Julia Barrett
Lucy Coe

A few others depended on the actor
OLTL
Joey Buchanan ( Nathan Fillion)
Blair Manning ( Kassie DiPaiva)
Tina Lord ( Karen Witter )

GH
Lucky Spencer ( Jonathan Jackson )
Carly Benson ( Sarah Brown )

Least favorite male character- Spencer Truman OLTL. I tried to start watching the show again, but couldn't get past him

Least favorite female character- Tina Lord OLTL as played by Andrea Evans. So whiny. Couldn't stand her. Thought recasts Trista Tesreau and Karen Witter brought much needed humor to the part. AE was just annoying.

Best

Days:

Steve Johnson -- One of the most original, interesting, high-energy characters ever on any of my soaps, without him just being "quirky" like most characters who are high-energy (Calliope, anyone?). He brings the funny and the intense. Stephen Nichols knows how to make him move; he doesn't just say the lines with gusto, his whole body moves. I love Steve

Kayla Johnson -- She's strong, feisty, smart and at heart, a good girl. She's my favorite heroine on Days ever, and yes, it helps that she's part of a great supercouple. The scene where she's over Steve's shoulder and starts smacking him on the butt? Hilarious. Girl's got moxie and charm.

GH:

Robin Scorpio -- Watching her grow up has been great, especially because she hasn't had 8 billion love affairs laden with infidelity and bizarre craziness. She's had 3 major loves in her life, and each relationship has pushed the character to progress in normal -- but interesting -- ways. She's smart, she's strong, and while I know she annoys some people, I just love her.

Worst

GH:

I would love to put Sonny here, but I remember liking him at one point. For a while, he was interesting and great. So I guess I can't call him the all time worst.

Courtney Hulkamania Baby, Copkilla, Whortney She Who Shall Not Be Named Matthews has to take the cake. She was terrible, both as a character and in how she was acted. She had the emotional resonance of a box of mud. She wasn't technically a slut, but she was a whore for love -- she gave it out without any discretion, any true caring or thought. She cheated on her husband for the worst reason ever, or at least with the stupidest depiction of emotional response. Damn, I'm glad she's dead.

What an awesome thread! In my opinion the greatest soap character ever was GL's Roger Thorpe. As for the other shows I watched...

AMC- old&nuskoolKendall. SMG's Kendall was just the epitome of the character you love to hate, but for me I just plain loved her. She could pull some deliciously dirty stunts but at her core she just wanted to feel like she belonged to something. I think back to one of my fave SMG scenes, the aftermath of the tornadoe, when she was begging Janet to save her even though she had been blackmailing her about her secret. The talk they had about Amanda, about how she(Kendall) wouldn't rat her out because then Amanda would lose her mommy was so heartbreaking. Sure she wanted Janet to help her, but she genuinely couldn't take away a mother who wanted to be with her daughter especially when her own mother didn't want her. On the flipside AM is just so great as a hell on heels, grown up Kendall that my whole AMC obsession revolves around her.

ATWT- CarlyTinney and John Dixon. Carly was just deliciously manipulative goodness back in the day. The thing I love(d) about her was whenever one of her schemes blew up in her face she fully deserved it, yet I couldn't help but cheer for her to dust herself off and try again. When I think of John Dixon I think of how he OWNED Lisa when she thought he was going to marry her. I was barely a teen but I thought he was the craftiest, sexiest thing ever! But as much as folks would talk about how evil he was he was such a great dad to Margo and Andy. I used to live for Andy and John scenes.

AW- Jake McKinnon. I missed the rape years so all I knew of him was that he was hilarious and Jake and Paulina ruled. I was a mess when those ATWT bastards killed him off. Jake and Molly are permanently lodged in my top 10 couples list.

B&B- Stephanie Forrester. Even when I know I should hate Stephanie, I still love her. You say she got Brooke raped? Ok. I still love that pantsuit wearing beeyotch!.

Days- oldskoolSami Brady(honorable mention to EJ Dimera, he's just too new). Sami is once again a "love to hate" that I always just adored, plain and simple. Even when she's being bad she's got so much root factor that I don't care how evil she's supposed to be. My fave Sami moment is her taunting a newly awakened Lucas after his coma. All I thought is "bitch crazy and I love her".

Gen- Doreen Jackson. The first black vixen I had ever seen on a soap. Before her I thought all black female characters only came in bestfriend or dayplayer. She was awesome! Black Erica Kane yo!

GH-oldskoolCarly Roberts. The best daytime bitch hands down. But she also broke my heart over and over again, once upon a time. Her finally telling Bobbi that she was Caroline and the rejection was one of the best payoffs I've ever seen. I also was a bawling mess when she woke up to find that her baby was gone. Her begging Sonny over and over again to give her her baby nearly killed me. It felt like I was watching a real person become broken right before my eyes and I almost felt as though I were intruding.

GL- Roger Thorpe(honorable mention to Bridget Reardon). Roger is not only the best daytime character, but the best villian as well. Yet that man loved his kids something fierce! From reading the mags I knew about the rape even though it was well before my time, but him and Holly were just made of twisted WIN!

Y&R- Drucilla Winters. She was my sole reason for watching Y&R. She was the perfect combination of sass and sophistication. She reminded me of the girls from around my way; that earthiness with just the right dash of bougie. Plus girlfriend could wear a hat. LOL! I haven't watched a full ep of Y&R since she left and I won't until she's back.


As far as worse ever I have to give the prize to Belle Black. She's the princess of glittered vaginas. I can't remember a time when she wasn't a useless twat, although if anyone else can be my guest.

Not an extensive list or anything....

Favorite Female Character: AW's Donna Love Hudson, as played by Anna Stuart. Stuart managed to make her sympathetic even when Donna was being a snobby busybody. She really did convey the idea that all these "poor life choices" were done for the right reasons. And she always was dressed perfectly.

Honorable Mention: Laura Avery Sumner, KL--so much snark, so little time.

Favorite Male Character: Though I'm really tempted to rubber-stamp "ATWT's John Dixon" (awed by him since...forever) I'll have to submit Sky Whitney from EON. A character ahead of his time, who was adventurous, occasionally over-done, and romantic--in the period when action-adventure had not quite caught on in soapland. If EON had survived to the late 1980's, he would have fit right in with the Days/GH type of romantic lead.

Least Favorite Female Character: Christine/Cricket/TheBug, Y&R. Bill Bell should have just called the character Mary Sue and been done with it. Nepotism isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there's this thing called moderation.

Least Favorite Male Character: Jack Snyder, ATWT, because he takes "--whipped" to record heights. I used to feel badly for how he kept going back to Carly for another round of abuse, but there comes a time when you have to let the addict make his own foolish choices and turn your back on him. Sure, she deserves some of the blame for the sado-masochistic relationship they have, but I tend to blame him more than her.

So, the only show that I've really regularly watched is Passions. Well, I watch Days, too, but I don't have as strong feelings about them as I do about the charactes on Passions.

I second the nomination for Fancy Crane (Passions), aka the only character on this God-forsaken soap with a brain. Over the past two years, she's transformed from a shallow party girl to a mature, caring, but still fun heroine. Emily Harper is a fabulous actress, and she does a wonderful job of giving Fancy layers and emotional depth.

I also adored Fox Crane (of the Justin Hartley variety). He just was so wonderfully snarky, and called Ethan out on his shit, and I loved him to pieces before Mark Cameron Wystrach came in and killed Fox's charisma and JERk turned Fox into a pathetic shell of his former self.

Worst character goes to Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Crane Crane Casey Winthrop, the delusional, Ethan-obsessed "heroine" of the show. She's raped Ethan, she's blackballed him, she's played roles in the deaths of two of his children, she's lied to him for an entire year about the paternity of his firstborn simply because she was afraid he'd hate her, yet she gets a free pass because it's "true love". She disgusts me, and I hate her with a passion (no pun intended).

The only person who could quite possibly match my hatred for Theresa would have to be Sheridan Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald Boothe (Lopez-Fitzgerald). She was always a weak, needy, pathetic excuse for a human being, but then she drugged Luis so that he couldn't go find her missing, dying niece (whom he was dating) and hid the only evidence that said niece's rapist had come back for her, convincing everyone else that Fancy was suffering from PTSD/hallucinating/making it all up and thus allowing Fancy to be raped a second time, and I realized that she's the most vile, disgusting thing on the face of this planet. Now she keeps trying to steal Luis back from Fancy and starts verbally (and physically) abusing him when she doesn't do EXACTLY as she says, and OH MY GOD she's repulsive.

I second that Charity McKay. Theresa is a heinous, manipulative little witch that I hate seeing on my TV. Because of her I stopped watching Passions. Also another reason why I hate Theresa so is because Gwen used to be my favourite Passions character and I despised all the things Theresa did to Gwen and she never got punished for it. That girl is evil, evil I tell you.

This is REALLY hard.

Are we only going with US soaps? I just have to put a few non-US characters.

Hollyoaks - John Paul McQueen. To not only be a new character, but one of the show's first openly gay characters, and even more tricky, to be responsible for bringing a long-term heterofore straight character into a gay affair? And to become one of the most popular characters on the show in the process? It's an incredible feat. John Paul is everything a soap character should be. Funny, complex, full of subtext, and most of all, he has a trace of realism. He is very brave, but never afraid to let his emotions out. The scene I remember most is when he finally told his best friend Craig how much he loved him. Tears going down his cheeks as he told Craig when he wasn't with him, he thought about him constantly, and when he was with him, his heart felt like it was going to burst.

Eastenders - Dot Cotton. Dot is an icon, and for good reason. She is an unbelievably consistent and fascinating personality. Her story at the beginning of Eastenders was that of a devout, judgmental woman who constantly tried to get her vile son Nick to clean up his life, yet constantly enabled him so he would never have to clean up his life. One day, a young female character on the show who had recently had an abortion sat down, exhausted and scorned by many of the people around her. Dot told her that many, many years before, Nick's father had convinced her to have an abortion (Dot had always regretted the decision and felt God had punished her with Nick). Dot could have used this moment to make Michelle feel terrible. Instead, Dot comforted her and told her she understood. Dot may fuss and give people a hard time, but in the end she has a kind heart. And over and over, Nick has turned up in some way, once again testing her patience and ruining her life. The most heartbreaking sequence was when Nick's son, a truly kind young man, was killed because he impulsively decided to ride a motorcycle Nick had cut the brake line on (the motorcycle was for one of Nick's enemies). He was the last hope Dot had that her bad parenting would have a good end, and she never forgave Nick.

US soaps:

ATWT - Luke Snyder. Perfect mating of actor and character.

ATWT - Rose D'Angelo.

GL - Nadine Cooper. She was one of those characters who could make you laugh and then a few seconds later make you cry. She had great chemistry with everyone she came into contact with. She was the heart and soul of the Cooper family. I will never forgive GL for her senseless murder.

GL - Maureen Bauer. That show truly did die with her.

Another World - Rachel Cory. She was one of those rare soap characters who grow and change but never betray their original roots. She went from being a one-note bitch to being a loving wife, mother, and businesswoman, but she never became the stereotypical "good" soap character. She continued to have a hard edge, she continued to have a very cold side to everyone but her dearest loved ones. She was at once heroine and anti-heroine.

Ryan's Hope - Maeve Ryan

Worst:

GL - Lucy Cooper, Jeffrey

GH: Liz Webber. How can I ever forget her years of working for .5 seconds at Kelly's Diner, only to be told to go home because she had had such a hard day. Or her years of sitting at the docks "painting with the wind". Or her callously telling off her grandmother because her grandmother had the nerve to voice concern about her mooning over a mobster. I wish someone had told Becky Herbst that sneering is NOT acting.

RH - Faith Coleridge. From start to finish she was a selfish, delusional, catty shrew, and the writers consistently tried to tell us how wonderful she was, how all men had every reason to fall in love with her. She was part of some of the dumbest stories RH ever had (Kenneth Castle the stalker, Tom Desmond's blindness, Tom's long-dead Irish lover and her out of nowhere twin sister Poppy Lincoln). She was also the most asexual creature in the history of mankind.

AMC - Greenlee Smythe. I never got this character. I never got what was so endearing about a homophobic, self-centered, cruel, spiteful brat. At best we were supposed to feel sorry for her because a) she was cursed with being rich and b) Daddy didn't love her. Boo hoo. Year after year of WHINING and BITCHING about Ryan, about Leo, about Ryan again. This character has been rewarded time after time for the nastiest behavior.

Some of my favorites:

ATWT: Lucinda Walsh- she's awesome, there's nothing else to say.
ATWT: John Dixo- same as Lucinda
ATWT: Rosanna Cabot- she's a snobbish, ice cold, calculating bitch when she wants to be, but I always always root for her
GH: Luke Spencer- best soap character. ever.
GH: Sonny Corinthos- back in the pre-Jason/Carly era, he was amazing and complex
GH: Lucy Coe- the ultimate scheming bad girl with a heart
GH: Carly Roberts- only Sarah Brown's version; she was badass yet so vulnerable
GH: Tiffany Hill- just because there's never been anybody that was as much damn fun
GH: Brenda Barrett- the most charming person to ever hit PC
GH: Tracy Quartermaine- there's never been someone so evil and calculating yet so utterly fabulous at the same time
GL: Reva Shayne Lewis- hello? it's Reva
GL: Alan Spaulding
GL: Dinah Marler- I just love her..but only Gina's version
OLTL: Nora Hanen- minus the Sam Rappaport deal, she's awesome
OLTL: Dorian Lord
OLTL: Alex Olanov- she ran on all cylinders and was crazy but she always got what she wanted whether it was hers or not
Y&R: Jack Abbott- maybe the most complex character on any soap
Y&R: Victor & Nikki Newman- the ultimate soap couple (other than L&L)
Y&R: Phyllis Summers- she's a true survivor
Y&R: Drucilla Winters- nobody could dish it out like Drucilla

Worst
AMC: anybody who's last name is Lavery
ATWT: Meg Snyder
GH: Carly once Tamara Braun took over and turned her into a ghettofabulous mob moll and then once Laura Wright turned her into a shrieking banshee
GH: Jason Morgan- the borg that ate Port Charles
GH: Liz Webber- the most fertile person on soaps. ever.
GL: Cassie Winslow- Reva already had Roxy, was Cassie really necessary??
OLTL: Tea Delgado- i just couldn't stand her (although I like the actress)
OLTL: Jen Rappaport- one of the most pointless character to ever hit Llanview (yet we still talk about her ad nauseum today)

DiamondDoll:



Yay, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I was surfing YouTube earlier today and came across the scenes in which Gwen and Theresa get the DNA test results back and find out that Jane is Theresa's. Gwen is utterly and completely devastated, and Ethan is trying to comfort her, and Theresa's just jumping around and loudly proclaiming to Ethan that she's so amazing because she's just given him a daughter and coldly telling Gwen that she can always adopt and that fate or karma or some bullshit is punishing her. The only thing that kept me from smashing my laptop against my wall was the knowledge that karma came back to bite Theresa in the ass a few episodes later when Gwen snapped and stabbed her.

I also forgot that Chad Harris-Crane most definitely deserves to be on this list. I mean, the guy kept trying to sleep with his half-sister and use their incest baby to get in her pants. Plus, he slept with Vincent (I take offense not to the fact that they're both men, but to the fact that there are so many more gorgeous, gay/bi men in the world than Vincent), and the way he was taunting Alistair at the end there, saying he wouldn't shoot him? Bitch deserved to get shot.

Oooh, I wanna play!

Best Characters:

AMC

Tad Martin - I know he's apparently been ruined in recent years but since I don't actively watch anymore, I can still pretend he's the funny, charming guy who will always be my favorite soap character ever (from when I was five years old, watching with my mom after kindergarten each afternoon haha). And MEK is just a good actor, period- so versatile, I'm shocked he never made it outside of soaps.

Leo DuPres - Sigh. I loved Leo. So charming, witty, and adorable...and in the time he was on the show, he evolved so naturally from a scammer into such a wonderful friend, brother, and husband. His death was probably the last time I was really devastated and moved by a soap character's (maybe even a television character's) death.

Greenlee Smythe DuPres, 1999-2002 - Greenlee was such a complex character when Leo was around. Selfish and bratty but also capable of really being there for the people she loved...and she was fun!

AW

Jake McKinnon - I also didn't see the rape so I pretty much pretend it didn't happen - and what I know of Jake was a funny, awesome guy who adored Paulina and was a great friend, and later husband, to Vicky. He absolutely broke my heart following Vicky's death.

Vicky Hudson - I only ever saw the Jensen Buchanan version, but I basically got wrapped up in AW solely because of Vicky's baby switch scheme. Vicky just jumped out at me as such a fun, spunky heroine, and it was very easy to feel for her and to root for her to get both her baby and Ryan back.

Ryan Harrison - Ryan was the other reason I got wrapped up in AW. It's so rare to find a good guy on soaps who's not boring or self-righteous, but Ryan was a true soap hero and I loved his dedication to Vicky. I'd only been watching the show for a year when he died, but I always felt like that was the beginning of the show's downfall.

GH

Brenda Barrett - Like others have said - such a great heroine- she could be selfish at times but she was always good-hearted and tried to be a good friend, and she had chemistry with absolutely everyone, be it male or female (with the unfortunate exception of Miguel, but really, everything about him was unfortunate). Plus, it helped that you could always understand why she was so torn between Jax and Sonny; best triangle ever on soaps.

Jasper "Jax" Jacks, pre-Chloe - Another genuinely good guy who was still interesting and compelling; he was so romantic and fun and such a good friend never mind boyfriend. I'll never buy that the Jax who we knew ten years ago would take so much crap from Carly, let alone scheme to get back fucking Courtney, who had cheated on him and was beyond boring - he wouldn't have done that for Brenda, the love of his life! I still like Jax because he's mostly kind and a good friend, he's the one character allowed to hate Sonny and the mob and not be destroyed as a result, and Ingo is still all kinds of charming and cute, but he's not the wonderful character he once was.

Robin Scorpio - Another great heroine; I'm so relieved that for the most part, Robin is still allowed to be intelligent, kind, and thoughtful. And as split ends said, I love that she has had three major relationships over the course of about 13 years that have all been significant in their own right but that she has never needed a guy to define herself.

Lucky Spencer, JJ version - Such a compelling, heroic, smart, multi-faceted character. He could be an absolute brat one moment and break your heart the next, but you never stopped feeling for him. I despise the way the character has been ruined since he left the show.

Ned Ashton - I didn't even realize how much I valued Ned until he basically became nonexistent, but he truly acted as the lynchpin of not only the Q family, but the show as well. He's another truly multi-faceted character and has such a rich history. I hope ATWT realizes what they've gotten in Wally Kurth because GH clearly did not.

Scott Baldwin, pre-2002 - Prior to Scotty becoming a complete charicature, he was such a complex character. Probably the best dad on soaps (it kills me that he apparently never mentions Serena, the daughter he absolutely doted on) and could be so adorably romantic, but wasn't above getting dragged into a petty rivalry or being an ass even to those he cared about.

Zander Smith - Before GH completely wasted the character's potential and threw away one of the most talented young actors they've ever had (can you tell I'm still bitter?), it was shocking how compelling and charming the writers (and Chad Brannon) were able to make a drug-dealing kidnapper who really should have been irredeemable.

OLTL

David Vickers - So. Much. Fun.

Dorian Lord - So fierce and complex - loyal to a fault to those she loves and also a complete bitch to those she can't stand. And so freaking funny.

Rex Balsom - From what I hear, he's not as awesome lately, but Malone-era Rex was a ball of fun and snark, but still obviously adored his mom and sister.


Passions

Fox Crane, Justin Hartley version - Absolutely the best character Passions ever created, he was fun, charismatic, caring, and allowed to call other people on their bullshit (namely Ethan). Plus, I loved that he saw both Theresa and Kay for who they really were but loved and supported them anyway.


Worst Characters


AMC

Babe Chandler - Ugh, just a mess. She could have been an actual good character had she been portrayed as the baby-stealing bitch she is, but instead she's supposedly the angel of everything good and holy.

Jonathan Lavery - Here's an idea - let's make a psychopath into a brain-damaged mess and shove him at an autistic teenager, then when that doesn't work, restore his brain function and pair him with her identical half-sister! Not at all creepy or pedophilic.

GH

Sam McCall - Her entire character has been retconned so many times, she basically has no point.

Courtney Matthews - Dear God, she sucked in so many ways, but most of all, she sucked the life out of everyone who shared screentime with her (aside from AJ who she was actually adorable with). She was stupid, annoying, and supposed to be such an angel, all the while killing cops and letting other people take the blame for it.

Juan Santiago - I was going to stick with characters who were on long enough and often enough to truly despise, but I couldn't help sticking Juan's self-righteous, boring, snotty butt in here. My apologies to Michael Saucedo, who seems like a nice guy, but even if he had been able to act, Juan still would have sucked.

OLTL

John McBain - As somene else said, Good Lord he is dour and boring. I didn't hate him when he first came on, but he's just so one-note for the past few years.

Jessica Buchanan, BW style - I loved Erin Torpey's Jess, but this is selfish, stupid girl is not her. ET's Jess wouldn't have completely revolved her life around a man like BW's Jess did with Antonio, nor would she have traumatized a little girl for her own selfish reasons.

Not to mention she practically had to drag Ethan in to see Jane after that reveal when he just wanted to give Gwen the comfort he needed. I really wanted to punch her then almost as much as I did at the time I stopped watching.

I'm in decisive, but off the top of my head...

Best:
GH's Ric and OriginalRecipe Carly. Love to hate you, baby. There were so many grey layers and I found myself repelled and attracted. and Lorenzo Alcazar, who actually made that whole mob bs believable, made TB's Carly tolerable, acted spades around MB's Sonny, and basically being a bucket of hot.

DAYS Kristen Blake. Even though all the different characters got a tad ridiculous towards the end, for some reason I really dug her.

Y&R's Phyllis. Big Red had me pretty much up until she fell on Nick Newman with her babymaker. If I pretend that never happened and she's still married to Jack, it's all good though.

Y&R/B&B's Sheila. The original BSC! bitch was totally dimensionless but at least she kept me entertained.

OLTL's Langston. One of the few teenscener's I could actually stand to see grow up. I prefer her over legacy kids such as Cole and Starr, even though she's not as tied to the canvas, probably because of her holding her own with vets like Dorian.

Worst:
PC's Alison and Rafe. I could light a fire with that hatred of goody-two-shoeness. The sugary-sweetness hurts my teeth every time I see it on Soapnet.
GH's Lulu and current Carly for generally being show-consuming harpies. Emily's voice and hair. Dillon Quartermaine for being Dawson Leery.
DAYS John Black. Please die, stay dead, and stop coming back as other people.
OLTL's St. McDrain just makes me want to throw things at the television. He is just so pompous that even when he's right, he's wrong.
AMC's Ava/Lily. Originally I was going to say RageMonkey but as much as I loathe Ryan, at least I can live to hate him because of the other people around him. Whereas no matter who or what is going on with Ava or Lily, I don't care.
Y&Rs Original Lily and nuColleen. I started to like Lily when DS was playing her and really liked her vibe with AL's Colleen... and they destroyed this with two actors who can't even muster an eyeroll from me because I fell asleep watching them suck the chemistry out of the room.
B&B's everyone. I cannot abide this show. I seem to remember a time when I liked it, though.
Passions' Gwen and Teresa. For god's sake, move on.

Edge of Night had a slew of great female characters like April Scott, Nancy Karr, Nicole Drake and Geraldine Saxon, but the all time best character out of Edge of Night had to be

Raven Alexander Jamison Swift Whitney Devereaux Whitney

Mind you that I have not watched soaps consistently for years.

BEST:

AMC: Kendall Hart Lang Cambias Slater (both portrayers), Zach Slater, JR Chandler (JY), Skye Chandler (RC). It is sad that I can no longer find any other characters I like other then loving to hate them, such as: Greenlee Smythe DuPres and Liza Colby. I miss oldschool!AMC.

GH: Brenda Barret, Lois Cerullo Ashton, Jasper Jacks, Lucky Spencer (JJ), Nikolas Cassidine (in the 90's), Alexis Davis, Stefan Cassidine... I still weep for this show!

WORST:

AMC: Greenlee Smythe Dupres LAVERY, Ryan LAVERY, Jonathan LAVERY (notice a pattern?), Arabella BABE Carey Cramer Chandler (!!!) and Krystal Carey Chandler

GH: Sonny Corinthos, Carly Corinthos, Jason Morgan and Katherine Bell

PSNS: Ethan "PunkAssBitch" Winthrop (worst asshole since Ridge Forrester!), Gwen Winthrop (the bitch NEVER gets called on her shit- EVER!)and Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald (I hate that they made me hate her).

Word. And seeing as Eastenders is the only soap Ive ever watched religiously...

Best
Frank Butcher (my all time favourite.)
Janine Butcher (I absolutely loved (to hate) that crazy bitch.)
Pat
Sonia Jackson
Ian Beale

Worst
Grant Mitchel
Andy Hunter
Garry Hobbs
Carly Wicks

ICAM! Roger Thorpe was my favorite character on GL. He was epitome of what a good soap villian is! God I miss the days when soaps actually had decent morally grey characters.

I've watched ALL Daytime Soaps at one time since I was 14, I'm now 29. That gives me 15 years of cred. So these are my picks for BEST daytime characters.

AW:
Jake. Bad-ass, coolest, toughest, funniest dude on the show.
Cass: Smart, witty, and charming
Carl: Sexiest, white-haired male ever on daytime.
Mac: Sweetest patriarch on daytime
Vicky: Funny, smart, sexy and tough. Loved JB's version of her until the end because she played her the longest.

AMC:
Erica. No one beats La Lucci.
Kendall: Best played by current actress.
Dixie: Before her second return, she was a fun and sympathetic character.
Adam: Mean billionnaire mode is better, than wimpy billionaire.


ATWT:
Molly: Much better woman because of Jake's love.
Jake: Became a sweet and loving man because of Vicky's love.
Lucinda: Smartest, savviest woman on the show, and could kick Lisa's ass anyday of the week.

OLTL:
Asa: Bad-ass cowboy over 50, and make me watch when everyone else sucked wind.
Max: Funny, smart and wise-cracking
Dorian: Witch has tons of charisma and wit. It almost looks like she holds back on Vicky Lord.

GH:
Ned: When he was in corporate-killer mode, he was good.
Alan: Funny, clever and caring doc for years.
Brenda: Loved her every scene and believed her to be a good person, who struggled to do the right thing.
Lucy: Loved her antics and humor, even when she got to be annoying at times.
Robert: Sexiest international-Aussie spy who could solve crimes in Port Charles.
Jax: Only with Brenda, and pre-Carly. He was a cool international corporate titan at one time.
Anna: Coolest, bad-ass woman ever on the show.
Skye: I like her despite her whiny and inexplicable actions, mostly because I like RC.
Lorenzo/Luis: Baddie who made you watch and rooted for to kill Sonny. I loved him just for that reason.
Zander: Cutie, hard-luck bad-boy who just wanted to be loved.

GL:
Roger: He was a baddie years before I watched, but I watched his cruel antics in later years that still made me watch.
Alexandra: She was relentless and power-hungry.
H.B: Sweet patriarch who was kind to all Springfielders.



B&B:
I don't have favorites.

Y&R:
I don't have favorites.

Favorite of the daytime soaps is easily OLTL's Judith Light as Karen Wolek.

Favorite of the night soaps would be Dynasty's original Fallon Colby (Pamela Sue Martin).

Favorites lost in the mists of time:

ATWT: Julie Wendell Snyder, the Seattle Slut. Absolutely LOVED her. And Emily Stewart as played by Melanie Smith. The person called Emily on the show now is NOT Emily as far as I am concerned.

Have to add some more characters to my previous list:

BEST

Alexis Davis [GH] - Alexis is a smart, witty woman who has been written beautifully if not including her slumming with skeezy, mumbling mobster Sonny. Her relationship with Ned stands as one of my top 5 favourite pairings ever on GH and it was fun, flirty and romantic all at the same time. Nancy had the best chemistry with Wally and I can't think of any two actors aside from Genie and Anthony and Maurice and Vanessa who looked more confortable with each other while doing romantic stuff on-screen. The only time I ever disliked her when she was in luuuuurve with Sonny, but besides that ugly memory Alexis has always been a breath of fresh air.

Jasper 'Jax' Jacks [GH] - Before he was neutered by everyone's favourite ghettofabulous mob moll Carly, Jax was an ideal soap hero. He was bright, rich, goodlooking and totally likeable. Too bad GH has killed any spark Jax had in recent years by horrible pairings with Chloe, Courtney and Carly.

WORST

Chloe Morgan Ashton [GH] - The braindead blonde who was brought into town to be Jax's new ladylove managed to both bore me into tears and annoy me to death with her wishy-washiness and bland personality. The only time she was tolerable was when she was on screen with Ned, but that was mostly due to Wally Kurth's talent and sparkling personality. With Jax, she was a quick cure to imsomnia.

My Y&R Best:
Mrs. Chancellor
Sheila Carter

My Y&R Worst:
Farren
Isabella

Why do you hate Farren?

Farren just rubbed me the wrong way. As I remember her she was very self-righteous and a self-proclaimed victim. When she did something wrong, to her it was okay. And she had characters around her that supported her bad behavior. I think Sharon Newman has those same hateful qualities and set-up. And even though Sharon Case has only one style of acting, deer-caught-in-the-headlights, and the actress playing Farren was better, Farren just annoyed me more. Maybe because I was younger then and now I'm more jaded? Or maybe it was her squinty eyes?

When was Farren a self proclaimed victim and what characters supported her bad behavior?

Love this thread...only soaps I've watched religiously are Days, GH and AW, so that's all I'll use to comment on.

Best:
Days-Steve "Patch" Johnson. There's not a time that he's not fascinating to watch. I also love Hope Brady and OR Sami, and have lots of EJ love but the writing hasn't done him any favors lately.

AW-Jake & Vicky (I didn't watch Anne Heche, just saw JB and she was awesome). Also loved Ryan but he died quickly into my starting to view the show.

GH-Ummmm...hmmm...this is hard, I don't have Luke attachment because he's hardly ever on the show, so I'll go with Robin tho the writing is doing her no favors these days either.

Worst:
Days: JETT CARVER. The character could have been alright but pointless but the actor is such crap that I can't tolerate a single scene in which he appears.

AW: I don't remember anyone that bothered me at this time, I'm sure there were some.

GH: Sam McCall. Skanky ho with no redeeming qualities. I didn't like her when she was a golden girl with Jason and I don't like the harpy shrew she is now.

Best:

OLTL'S Roger's Todd Manning 1993-2001.
PC's Caleb Morley.
GL's Jonathan Randell.
ATWT Paul Ryan July 2003-Jan 2006.


Worse:

ATWT MEg Snyder.
ATWT Paul Snyder Jan 2006- present.
OLTL TSJ's "Todd Manning"

I second the nomination for Sheila Carter as best character.

GH:
Best: Amber Tamblyn as Emily Quartermaine - (best young female character EVER on a soap)

Worst: Natalia Livingston as Emily Quatermaine - ( I knew this was going to be a disaster two days after she walked into the Quartermaine mansion.)

Hmm. Let's see.

In my forever number one top spot is Roger Thorpe, from GL. He could act up a storm, was believable as both a scary bastard and a guy who needed Holly's love to fix him and he was just plain amazing. My favorite moments with him were when he returned to Springfield and it was revealed that he'd been in hiding all those years as an undercover CIA op which seems cheesy but it really worked (for me anyhow) because I never thought of the CIA as being bland 'good guys', and Roger was certainly not a bland good guy; anything that showcased his awesomely platonic friendship with Maureen Bauer, because that was such a great, off the wall friendship that totally and one hundred percent worked; and the whole Cliff House storyline, where he was a father figure to Michelle when Ed was sucking bigtime and then the very UST and romantic buildup to him and Holly making love again for the first time in years after he'd raped her--a totally believable moment, and an amazing coup for the GL writers at the time, because um, he'd raped her--followed by Holly basically telling him that it wouldn't happen again and no, they weren't going to get married, despite his pleas. Wow. I could have watched Roger make toast all day long and been enthralled, he was that good. There is a special place in hell for what the execs at GL did to Michael Zaslow, but that's another story.

Add Maureen Bauer to the list of tops. Mo was a class act, and when she died, so did GL.

On a much more shallow note, I have to go with both Caleb and Livvie on Port Charles. They were both gorgeous, both evil, and both very cute when they had their fangs out. I give them both props for not lipsing too much when they did, because fangs? Make it really hard for you to talk, as I learned last night at work in my Halloween costume. When they split Caleb off to be with golden girl Alison I almost cried, and the end of that show was verrrry unsatisfying for me. C&L were my PC couple to beat in terms of totally sexy, evil fun.

Schuyler 'Sky' Whitney from EON was a romantic superhero-y kind of leading man when that kind of leading man wasn't at all popular yet, and he deserves a spot up there as one of the best.

On Days, there is only one character that I think ranks as best of all time, and that's Steve Johnson. He rocked the mullet, he could cry at the drop of a hat, and he went from being this snotty tough guy to the sweetheart we all knew he would be. SN has always made Steve believable, even lately when the writing hasn't been there to back him up but in his original run, Steve Johnson was king of the Days hill.

Over at Another World, Iris as played by Beverlee McKinsey was such a great Daddy's girl and such a mega-bitch to anyone who got in her way. Hell, I even liked her on Texas! Later on, I also think Carl Hutchins kicked a lot of ass in his own way, and I was not unhappy to see him finally married to Rachel. You can put Frankie Frame in there too. She was a lot of fun and I was appalled at the way they took her off canvas. It still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.

So who sucked the most?

Austin Reed from Days comes to mind. He was always bland, boring and awful to me, and I could never for the life of me figure out why in the hell these two sisters would spend their every waking moment fighting over him. Jett Carver is another character that I hate and think deserves to be on the all-time worst list, even though he was only on for a few short months. It's amazing how much a newly invented, totally boring and totally propped character can suck the life out of a B-storyline, and our boy Jett managed to do it.

You know, I could probably add about half of the characters on Days to the WORST list, but I won't belabor the point, except to say that Belle Black Kiriakis certainly belongs in here as well. Because she is a black hole of suck.

Rafe, on PC. He's a perky (yet souful) and very blond angel/vampire slayer! Blech. He and Ali were the perfect couple in terms of how much they could cause me to projectile vomit. I think Brian Gaskill is loathsome to this day.

I honestly can't think of anyone else right now. I need coffee I haven't had yet.

Paddy, I can't believe that I forgot Austin Reed from my worst list. I can only claim that I've wiped him from my memory in order to forget the atrocity.

Am I the only one who remembers Kathleen Turner as Nola on the Doctors? She was fab! Sheila Carter - also a long-time favorite

Best character:

Todd Manning (OLTL)
Viki Davidson (OLTL)
Kendall Hart Slater (AMC)
Erica Kane (AMC)
Adam Chandler (AMC)
Blair Cramer Manning (OLTL)

Worst:

Babe Carey (AMC)
Jonathan Lavery (AMC)