Soap Opera Update
July 16, 2002
Just Between Us

”Why I Love Soaps”
Who says actors aren’t fans, too! OLTL’s Catherine Hickland is!

“I am a long time soap opera watching – I love soaps,” says ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Catherine Hickland (Lindsay), “and I still watch. Not as much as I did before, but I stopped watching shows when my favorite characters went off. Before I was in the business, I grew up on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, THE DOCTORS, THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS. Those were my three top favorite shows. I can tell you the actors who disappeared off the radar scene that made me stop watching that show.”

Who Are They?
“Well, on Y&R, it happened really early. I know this is going to make you laugh, but the first time was when they killed off Philip Chancellor because he was having an affair with Jill, the manicurist, and Kay Chancellor, his wife, found out and toyed with the brakes on his car and he died. I stopped watching for a long time. Then I came back – I don’t know why – but then William Grey Espy was playing Snapper and he quit and David Hasselhoff took over the role and I thought he was dreadful, so I stopped watching it. Only to marry him years later! Okay, that makes no sense, but those are the facts. I married the very reason I quit watching Y&R. How about that! (laughs). It’s true.”

Who Did You Watch On Days?
“I loved DAYS because Peter Brown was on, and I was a kid when I watched, but I did not care about the kids. I loved Chris Kositchek (Josh Taylor). I remember the actress I loved: Her name was Adrienne LaRussa (Brooke). If I saw her on the street today, I would know her. Mary Frann was on the show then, so was Susan Flannery. On THE DOCTORS, I watched Alec Baldwin, Kim Zimmer and Kathleen Turner.

Along Came Michael
“You know, I never saw a single episode of an ABC soap opera until I met Michael (E. Knight, Tad, her real-life husband), and then I got so hooked on ABC soaps. I wasn’t working when I met Michael. I knew who he was—obviously the Michael Knight (Hasselhoff’s KNIGHT RIDER character) connection (laughs), but I started watching ALL MY CHILDREN when he was going to go back to the show in 1992. I started watching and I got hooked on the lineup ever since. I tune in to see what other shows are doing, about once a week or once in two weeks, but I pretty much watch the ABC shows. I’m hooked on PORT CHARLES!”