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10 December 31st, 2009 2009 Critics Choices Picks Announced! OLTL wins big!

As we say goodbye to the decade and usher in a new year, On-Air On-Soaps wants to pay tribute to the men and women who daily and weekly have brought to soap fans and the daytime industry a place to gather their news, views, interviews, column, and blogs on the genre. Each has a unique voice and stamp that they bring to you, the online community. If we truly look at 2009, it was this online community of passionate and dedicated journalists and reporters who hoped for the best in daytime and called out it’s worst. So with that said, we asked the best of the best -TV Guide Canada’s, Nelson Branco, Daytime Confidential’s, Jamey Giddens and Luke Kerr, We Love Soaps, Roger Newcomb and Damon Jacobs, Fancast’s, Sara Bibel, AfterElton.com’s, Anthony Langford, On-Air On-Soaps, Michael Fairman and Soap Central’s, Dan Kroll, who were their picks for 2009 for Best Soap, Worst Soap, Best Performance Male and Female. Then we asked the pundits their thoughts on the Worst Mistake in Soaps, Most Disappointing, Most Shocking , and finally their Soap Wish for 2010.

In almost a sweep, One Life to Live was the choice for 2009′s Best Soap, while All My Children was almost a uninamous choice for Worst Soap. And in the Best Performance, Female- Crystal Chappell continued her amazing year end accolades by picking up the most votes from the panel. View the entire picks and year end comments, after the jump!

2009 ON-AIR ON-SOAPS CRITICS CHOICES CATEGORIES


			Best Male	Best Female
	Best Soap	Worst Soap	Performance	Performance

Dan Kroll	One Life	All My	Drew Garrett	Crystal Chappell
*Soap Central*	to Live	Children	GH	GL & DAYS

Sara Bibel	One Life	All My	David Canary	Robin Strasser
*Fancast*	To Live	Children	AMC	OLTL

Nelson Branco	One Life	All My	James Scott	Crystal Chappell
*TV Guide Canada*	to Live	Children	DAYS	GL

Jamey Giddens	One Life	All My	Billy Miller	Crystal Chappell
*Daytime*	to Live	Children	Y&R
*Confidential*

Luke Kerr	One Life	All My	Billy Miller	Stacy Haiduk
*Daytime*	to Live	Children	Y&R	Y&R
*Confidential*

Damon Jacobs	Days of	All My	Don Hastings	Crystal Chappell
*We Love Soaps*	our Lives	Children	ATWT	(for all her roles)

Roger Newcomb	One Life	All My	Grant Aleksander	Crystal Chappell
*We Love Soaps*	to Live	Children	GL	GL

Anthony Langford	One Life	The Young &	Brett Claywell	Arianne Zuker
*AfterElton.com*	To Live	The Restless	OLTL	DAYS

MIchael Fairman	One Life	All My	Justin Deas	Crystal Chappell
*On-Air On-Soaps*	to Live	Children	GL	GL

Worst Mistakes in Soaps of 2009

Dan Kroll – Soap Central
Phillip Chancellor III was believed to have been dead for 20 years, but he returned to town to announce that he’d only faked his death because he didn’t want anyone to know that he was gay. Speaking of gay, Adam Newman pretended to be gay in order to keep his dirty deeds a secret, dirty deeds that included injecting Botox into his eyes so that he could feign blindness.

Sara Bibel – Fancast
Cancelling As The World Turns.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Nelson Branco – TV Guide Canada
Canceling World Turns too early.

Jamey Giddens – Daytime Confidential
Not firing Chuck Pratt much earlier.

Luke Kerr – Daytime Confidential
Not firing Chuck Pratt much earlier.

Damon Jacobs – We Love Soaps
Phillip’s return on Y&R/Thom Biertz’s acting/the horrible writing for this story. Everything to do with this fiasco on and off screen was WRONG.

Roger Newcomb – We Love Soaps
P&G not cashing in on the Otalia phenomenon by spinning them off into a P&G produced web series.

Anthony Langford – AfterElton.com
Young and The Restless’ offensive, insulting and homophobic handling of their ‘gay’ storylines.

Michael Fairman – On-Air On-Soaps
CBS canceling ATWT just as it was getting its groove back.

Most Disappointing in Soaps of 2009

Dan Kroll – Soap Central
CBS didn’t just cancel one soap in 2009 – it pulled the plug on two shows- ATWT & GL!

Sara Bibel – Fancast
(tie) the ultimate lack of consequences for so many characters that committed vile acts — from Todd’s kidnapping and raping Marty to Victor unleashing Patty on Jack and OLTL’s ratings woes.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Nelson Branco – TV Guide Canada
GL’s sloppy series finale!

Jamey Giddens – Daytime Confidential
Cancellation of Procter and Gamble soap operas.

Luke Kerr – Daytime Confidential
As the World Turns’ Cancellation

Damon Jacobs – We Love Soaps
Canceling GL and ATWT

Roger Newcomb – We Love Soaps
ATWT’s GH actor fixation instead of using a history (including veteran actors) deeper than any other soap. I love Lynn Herring and Stuart Damon but Audrey and Ralph instead of Lisa and Tom? If there is a soap God, ATWT will fix this problem before going off the air.

Anthony Langford - AfterElton.com
that As The World Turns was canceled just as it was improving creatively.

MIchael Fairman – On-Air On-Soaps
Guiding Light’s boring finale!

Soap Moment that shocked you the most in 2009

Dan Kroll – Soap Central
ABC’s decision to move production of All My Children from New York to Los Angeles.

Sara Bibel – Fancast
(tie) Adam in drag on Y&R and Nash’s decomposing corpse’s reappearance on One Life To Live.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Nelson Branco – TV Guide Canada
Phillip Chancellor is alive and Adam and Rafe have sex on Y&R.

Jamey Giddens – Daytime Confidential
Finding out it was true that James Franco was doing General Hospital.

Luke Kerr – Daytime Confidential
James Franco guesting on General Hospital.

Damon Jacobs – We Love Soaps
Crystal Chappell and Louise Sorel returning to DAYS.

Roger Newcomb – We Love Soaps
Phillip III’s return from the dead on Y&R.

Anthony Langford – AfterElton.com
That OLTL showed two men being intimate in bed as if it happened on every soap opera every day.

MIchael Fairman – On-Air On-Soaps
Adam and Rafe have sex.

Your Soap Wish for 2010

Dan Kroll – Soap Central
Quite simply, my wish is that no more fans have to endure the pain of losing their favorite soap. For so many viewers, the soaps have become part of their daily routine. I’d like to see the networks strive to ramp up storylines and get viewers back to their stories. Maybe then more advertisers will pour money into these shows and allow them to continue.

Sara Bibel – Fancast
That the genre will stop being so dark and mean spirited and rediscover love stories and family sagas focusing on flawed but rootable characters resulting in an improbable ratings resurgence insuring that soaps will still be on the air in 2050.

Nelson Branco – TV Guide Canada
One Life to Live escapes cancellation and increases in the ratings.

Jamey Giddens – Daytime Confidential
I wish the showrunners, head writers, network executives, etc. that work with each of the remaining soaps would take a long, hard look at the history of their respective soaps, and the genre as whole, to get a proper understanding of when soaps were on fire (ratings-wise and creatively) and why. Then, I wish they would take this information with them into their writing rooms as they attempt to create television that, first and foremost, rewards the diehard fans who have stuck with the soaps for generations, as well as aggressively attempts to bring back lapsed viewers.

Luke Kerr – Daytime Confidential
No soaps get cancelled in 2010.

Damon Jacobs – We Love Soaps
NO CANCELLATIONS. That all current shows look at DAYS as an example of how to make a product that is consistent, respectful of viewer’s intelligence, written to their actor’s strengths.

Roger Newcomb – We Love Soaps
One or more web soaps find huge sponsorships leading to a golden new era for the genre -online.

Anthony Langford – AfterElton.com
Besides OLTL not getting the axe, I wish that ATWT begin to write Luke and Noah as adult, sexually realized gay men and give their long suffering fans what they want and deserve before the show ends.

Michael Fairman – On-Air On-Soaps
One Life soars in the ratings and captivates new viewers, and does not get cancelled!

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Betsy Knapp says:

December 31, 2009 at 3:47 pm

James Franco was a surprise and not a particularly well-received one on General Hospital. But, at least, GH was given a nod because of Franco. I love General Hospital but I must be the only person. I can’t believe there was no recognition of actors such as Maurice Benard, Nancy Lee Grahn, Steve Burton, Tony Geary, Laura Wright, Jane Elliot, LisaLoCicero, Brandon Barash, Bradford Anderson, Rebecca Herbst and many of the recurring actors. I’ll continue to watch GH in 2010…even if I’m all alone.

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Joseph says:

December 31, 2009 at 7:12 pm

I’d agree with all these selections and comments, though my choice for Best Female Performance would be Florencia Lozano, who has been hypnotic as Téa Delgado, even if she’s still involved with the dreaded Todd.

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iampecola says:

December 31, 2009 at 7:30 pm

I’m a little disappointed that there weren’t more women among the critics–Melodie or Jillian from DC or Soap Opera Weekly’s Mala Bhattacharjee– or Dawn or Allison from Soap Central. Not sure it would’ve changed the overall results, but it would’ve been nice to have a more diverse set of voices.

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conspiracy says:

January 1, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Where is the diversity in the panel? The last time I checked most soap fans are women. Some of these men haven’t been watching soaps for very long either.

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Lauren says:

January 2, 2010 at 8:28 am

I’m very disappointed that AfterElton was selected as a legitimate representation. Last time I checked, most of the soap audience would not follow this publication for soap news. It’s a niche publication and not one that serves the general population. I’d much rather hear from Mala, Gabrielle Winkel from one of the main soap magazines.

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Valerie Pasdtore says:

January 2, 2010 at 3:06 pm

There is only one actress to vote for, she is exceptional, brilliant, georgeous and her acting talent and range have no boundries…She makes everyone around her look better…CRYSTAL CHAPPELL!!!

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Denise says:

January 3, 2010 at 6:07 am

I agree that Crystal Chappell’s performance of Olivia Spencer in love with Natalia Rivera was mesmerizing this year. CC was able to completely transform her character from a seemingly selfish woman to a wonderful, compassionate, and giving person. Her scenes at the grave yard in April where breathe taking and for that she deserves not one Emmy but several. Kudo’s to you Crystal Chappell you really stepped up your game this year and DOOL must be over the moon to have you!!!!!

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mas says:

January 3, 2010 at 9:13 am

The panel is correct, when the writers realize that soaps are “HISTORY” and quit re-writing it, GH learned this lesson the hard way “BUT” do they listen “NO”, they continue this travesty that will wind up with GH going down the tubes of cancellation. I began listening to soaps as a third grader with my aunt as the radio played Guilding Light, to this day I remember Dick & Kathy, a love story that still rings true, everytime I watch James Lipton on the Actors Studio he is still Dr Dick Grant. Mr Guza of GH has “NO” respect for history the backbone of soaps, first he destroys the Luke & Laura story, Now he is changing the Sonny & Kate story with the lude and non chemistry of Olivia & Sonny, the ratings since they broke them up has gone so far down, then he turns on the very people that kept GH up there by ignoring the Jason & Elizabeth s/l to bring back the Jasam story, I ‘am sorry to say that I as many others have left GH only checking in to see when Megan Ward is on a really good actress who brought out the best in Maurice Benard, daily GH get’s darker and darker, daily Anthony Geary becomes so sad to watch he needs to take Luke away to save the show, he need’s to bring back what made GH “FAMILY” and not “THE MOB”, James Franco has proved one thing you cannot bring in an actor that no one cares about, as for Marcell her time is over to, Mr Guza needs to front burner a woman that can “IGNORE” Sonny, instead of the “FOOLS” that go limp when he speaks the mob s/l needs to show redemtion instead of being made the hero’s, Give the viewers what made soaps indure, Strong, Intelligent, Sensative women, Kate, Aleis, Monica, Diane, Robin, and also give us the women we “LOVE” to hate, Carly, Tracy, Sam, when Mr Guza “FINALLY” admits he has been wrong, then there is “HOPE” for GH, if not the handwriting is on the wall for GH, also, OLTL has gone back to family, the return of Kevin, the “Intelligent Gay S/L”, the only thing missing is kill Mitch and “NEVER” let him come back, Tood & Blair great coupling and acting, John I could do without the actor is boring, Brody & Jessica a real soap couple, Gigi & Rex gettting boring, Scott Clifton getting loveable, OLTL knew what was wrong kudos to the wrinting staff for giving the viewrs what they want.

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J graves says:

January 3, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Why didnt any one put Tea Delgado as best of 2009. Tea had powerful performances in 2009 when she and Todd were in jail when and many other things. Maybe Victor Newman just alone when he made that video for hope it was good.

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Kenyon says:

January 3, 2010 at 7:28 pm

I noticed all the critics seem to be on a Gay fixation, while most of these shows don’t show minorities at all and the ones that do, show them every other Tuesday. OLTL has a bunch of African Americans but we see Layla and Cris every other week. Rachel is seen to prop up Bo and Nora, Destiny is there to prop up Matthew and Danielle. On Y & R (which is still the best because they have the higher ratings and apparently that is all that really matters, not a bunch of critics) the Winters family is hardly seen unless it is Lily and her Caucasian Husband. AMC probably has the strongest Black cast acting wise with Debbie Morgan and Co but you were right AMC is just tired. GH, you can’t find a minority if you wanted to especially a Black person. Days has Lexie and Abe yet they don’t do anything but support the White characters unless Lexie is cheating on Abe again (like Blacks folks don’t have other problems.) Are there any people of color on ATWT? I don’t know because you never see any. TBTB has one or two that we hardly ever see. So I am glad the see the critic are happy that Gay people are getting props on daytime. Minority groups especially Asians are not represented and while it is nice to see that White Gays are getting the respect that they deserve, how about you critics focus on the other minority groups not being represented. I am sure this will be deleted or not make it because I am speaking on things that I know mainstream wants to ignore.

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