Passions
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Template:Infobox Television Soap Opera
Passions is an American television soap opera. Veteran soap opera writer James E. Reilly created the program, which debuted on NBC on July 5, 1999. It is in its 7th season on NBC, running on weekdays at 2:00 PM; the series is being re-run starting from the first season at 9:00 AM (Eastern) on the SciFi Channel. Passions follows the various romantic and supernatural adventures of the residents of Harmony, a fictional New England hamlet.
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Ratings
Passions has never been a strong performer in the ratings since its premiere, resting comfortably in last place amongst all soaps currently on the air nearly every week since its inception. However, unlike Another World, the soap it replaced, Passions does a much better job attracting younger viewers in the coveted 18-49 demographic. In the said demographic, Passions stands at a 1.4 for the season (ahead of CBS's As The World Turns and Guiding Light) The latest Nielsen ratings for the week of April 3, 2006 put the program at a 1.6, meaning 2.03 million households in the United States tune in each day. For the 2005-2006 season, Passions is the #1 rated soap among Female Teens age 12-17. The show is also the #2 rated soap in Women 18-34, as well as the #2 rated soap in Women 18-24, beating every other soap in Daytime except it's lead-in Days of Our Lives.
Storylines
Template:Spoiler-about Major storylines throughout the soap's run have included Eve's (played by Tracey Ross) affair with former Crane heir Julian (Ben Masters), Whitney's (Brook Kerr) romantic relationship with her half-brother Chad (Charles Divins), Theresa (Lindsay Hartley) and Ethan (Eric Martsolf) falling in love and his decision to marry instead the pregnant Gwen (Liza Huber), resulting in Theresa's constant efforts to win him back, Kay's (Heidi Mueller) prior desire to be with her cousin's boyfriend Miguel (Jesse Metcalfe, Adrian Bellani) and her current desire to be with Fox Crane, despite magic, Ivy's (Kim Johnston Ulrich) plots to win back first love Sam (James Hyde) from his wife, Grace (Dana Sparks), Noah (Dylan Fergus) and Fancy's (Emily Harper) tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship, Sheridan (McKenzie Westmore) and Luis's (Galen Gering) continued separation from each other, Alistair's (John Reilly)'s reign of terror over his own family members, Tabitha's (Juliet Mills) destruction of the citizens of Harmony, and the mysterious Monk's desire to "steal the souls" of sixteen of Harmony's citizens.
History
Passions debuted with major fanfare (Reilly had been credited for a large surge in the ratings for Days of Our Lives) but also some controversy (lead heroine Sheridan's best friend was the late Princess Diana, and in flashbacks, Sheridan spoke to Diana on the phone right before she was killed). Originally, the viewers of Another World (which Passions replaced) largely held a vendetta against the new show as the stories told were markedly different from the ones they were used to. Many viewers did decide to stay with the new soap, however.
The show is known for supernatural hijinks and protracted storylines. Much of the criticism derived from the show's delusional view of women. These women perform outrageous and immoral acts, often in the name of "love". There is Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald (Lindsay Hartley), who has been presented as a heroine despite the questionable things she's done in her lifelong pursuit of Ethan Winthrop. Her latest scheme involved becoming Ethan and his wife Gwen's surrogate in order to trade their baby for her son, Little Ethan, whom they adopted. When she thought she had lost Gwen's baby, she drugged Ethan and slept with him to ensure that she would still have a baby to trade. Unfortunately, she hadn't miscarried and was unable to carry both Gwen's and her baby to term. On doctor's advice, Theresa agreed to have the weaker baby aborted. A DNA test on the surviving child proved Ethan and Theresa to be her biological parents. There is also Beth Wallace, who in her scheme to win Luis, imprisoned Sheridan in her basement pit for months (though only three days seem to have passed)and stole the woman's child to pass him off as her own.
For much of the first three to four years of the series, supernatural elements such as witches, warlocks, and closet doors leading to Hell were major plot points. One central character was Charity (Molly Stanton), a saccharine young woman who would regularly become possessed by the "forces of evil" and turn into "Evil Charity", "Zombie Charity", etc. NBC even made a deal with the owners of Bewitched to allow "Dr. Bombay" to appear in scenes with witch Tabitha Lenox (not to be confused with Bewitched's Tabitha Stevens). "Dr. Bombay" appeared on three occasions, but Bewitched nixed any future visits; however, when Tabitha had a child in 2003, she named the baby Endora.
Over time, Passions moved away from supernatural elements and began to concentrate on the usual array of love triangles and returns from the dead. One of their most popular storylines was the interracial romance between filthy rich letch Julian Crane (Ben Masters) and icy doctor Eve Russell (Tracey Ross). Their '70s love affair produced a child, but Julian's father Alistair demanded they break up so Julian could marry a more "suitable" woman. Eve married former tennis star TC (Rodney Van Johnson) and had two daughters, Whitney (Brook Kerr) and Simone (Lena Cardwell, Chrystee Pharris-Larkins, then Cathy Jenéen Doe). Years later, the revelations of Julian and Eve's love as well as the news that Eve had caused the car accident which ended TC's tennis career led TC to dump Eve and take up with her half-sister, Liz. Julian, who had never stopped loving Eve, reunited with her after giving up his boozing and adulterous ways.
Fox and Theresa met on the day Ethan Winthrop married Gwen Hotchkiss, much to Theresa's dismay. Fox was caught crawling into Theresa's bed that night, dressed in boxers. From there, the two became instant friends and shared several heart-to-heart conversations over nightcaps in the mansion. When Theresa was discovered not to be Mrs. Julian Crane, she was kicked out of the mansion. Fox soon became her ally in her quest to get Ethan back. The two of them even pretended to date out in Los Angeles in order to make Ethan jealous. Theresa and Fox began to date seriously after Theresa lost Little Ethan. After Theresa raped Ethan, she could no longer continue to lie to Fox, and the two of them broke up.
As of the end of 2004, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald finally had a dream fulfilled; she became the mother of Ethan Winthrop's first living biological child, a daughter named Jane, thanks to drugging him as part of an elaborate scheme to get her firstborn son Little Ethan back from him and Gwen, who had adopted him. (Ethan also has two deceased children, a daughter baptised Sarah and a son who he and Gwen planned to name Nathan.) This storyline kept viewers on the edge of their seats, becoming the first major 'Who's the Mommy?' storyline in daytime, as Theresa was pregnant with Jane at the same time that she was Ethan and Gwen's surrogate. When Jane turned out to be Theresa's biological daughter with Ethan, Gwen lost her mind and kidnapped the baby, fleeing the country with Alistair Crane's estranged wife Katherine. Ethan, Theresa, and Fox rescued them from Alistair's island, thus reunited Theresa and Jane. Ethan planned to sue for custody of Jane, but offered to let Theresa keep their daughter if she would end the war with Gwen. Theresa pressed charges against Gwen hoping that Ethan would turn to her with Gwen in prison, and Ethan sued for custody as he had originally intended. Gwen was acquitted once it was revealed that a drug interaction had caused her behavior, and the judge gave custody to Ethan and Gwen, in part because of the method Theresa used to conceive the child.
Trademarks
Over its run, Passions has become widely known for its numerous parodies of pop culture. One fan favorite was the 2003 spoof of the 2002 film Chicago, in which character Edna Wallace fantasized that she, her demented daughter, Beth, Charlie, and her orangutan caretaker, Precious, had been incarcerated for the kidnapping of Sheridan Lopez-Fitzgerald and her unborn son, Marty. In this fantasy, the three women sang "I Ain't Sorry", a parody of "Cell Block Tango". The song was performed in the style of musical theatre, and was simultaneously mocked and adored by fans. Another spoof popular with the fans was the 2006 Bollywood spoof, in which Gwen dreamt of a life in India with her husband, Ethan, far away from his obsessive ex-fiancée, Theresa. The original song accompanying this spoof, "Love is Ecstasy", was a hit with fans, and NBC even put both a video clip and a downloadable mp3 version of the song on their website.
Another less-popular trademark of the soap is its preoccupation with the concepts of fate and soulmates. Since the show's first episode in 1999, the show's writers have pushed several couples as being "fated", with little to no change in the pairings since then. Some of the early "fated" couples were considered to be those of Luis and Sheridan, Ethan and Theresa, Miguel and Charity, and Chad and Whitney. In recent years, couples such as Noah and Fancy, Julian and Eve, and Martin and Katherine have also been introduced as being "fated". Common indications of a couple's status as "fated" include (but are not necessarily limited to) Tabitha's desire to split said couple up, an unshakeable love that survives numerous break-ups and relationships with third parties, and/or an ability of one character, or perhaps both characters, to "sense" when his/her "soulmate" is in danger.
One unfortunate trademark for Passions has been eerie deaths. In 2002, Josh Ryan Evans, who played Tabitha's extremely popular doll sidekick Timmy, died while on medical leave, just as scenes were airing where Timmy died in the hospital and went to Heaven. Passions had planned to revive the character in a few months once Evans returned from his own surgery, but instead had to write Timmy out. After five years of evil Crane patriarch Alistair only being heard by phone (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer), Passions finally cast the role with longtime soap vet David Bailey. Bailey was a hit with the cast as well as the fans, but on Thanksgiving Day 2004, he drowned in his pool, just as scenes were airing where various characters tried to kill Alistair, who actually suffered clinical death before being magically revived by Tabitha. Again, the viewers and the producers were stunned, but the show had no choice but to recast the pivotal role (with John Reilly).
Theme song and opening sequence
The theme song for Passions is titled "Breathe," performed by Jane French and written by French and John Henry. A long version of this theme was also released but was never used on the show.
The opening sequence used since the show's premiere in 1999, features shots of the city of Harmony and its landmarks. The sequence opens and closes with the show's logo in a cursive typeface and in a Arial Black typeface in generic caps posted in front of the cursive form of the title. Since January 2006, the opening theme was shortened to the last two verses to fit in extra scene time.
The sequence is similar to One Life to Live 's 1995 "Tour of Llanville" opening, in that the sequence features shots of landmarks and city scenes. However, the main difference is that there are no headshots of the show's cast.
What's unsual about Days and NBC's other soap Passions 's (whose opening has been used since it premiered in 1999) opening sequences have yet to change their opening sequences.
Introduction
The Introdution for "Passions" has never been changed since its premiere. It shows shots of different areas in the fictional town of Harmony (where the show takes place). While showing the area of the town, the theme song "Breathe" is sung by Jane French.
Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox
In January 2001, HarperEntertainment released Hidden Passions, an inside look into the history of Passions involving all the major characters, written from the viewpoint of Tabitha Lenox. A storyline involving the character of Tabitha and Timmy and the promotion of this book was aired on the soap. During this time when the show enjoyed its peak popularity, the book even reached #4 on the New York Times Bestseller list. The novel was billed as being canonical, but the televised canon has diverged significantly from the novel since that time. For example, Rachel Barrett presumably did die in a boating accident decades earlier, and the death scene of her sister, Katherine, who was recently revealed to be alive, is included in the novel. In addition, the book portrayed Eve Johnson Russell as the daughter of a wealthy society couple in Boston, but the show has more recently revealed an upbringing in the rural South.
Reruns on Sci Fi
According to variety.com, cable channel Sci Fi (which is owned by NBC) has begun airing Passions from the beginning since February 13. This was changed from an originally stated start date of February 6.[1]
Cast
Current cast members
| U.S. daytime soap operas currently on the air: |
| All My Children |
| As the World Turns |
| The Bold and the Beautiful |
| Days of our Lives |
| General Hospital |
| Guiding Light |
| One Life to Live |
| Passions |
| The Young and the Restless |
| Edit this box |
- Silvana Arias — Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald (2004-present)
- Adrian Bellani — Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald (2006-present)
- Brandi Burkhardt — Siren (2006-present)
- Charles Divins — Chad Harris (2002-present)
- Cathy Jeneen Doe — Simone Russell (2004-present)
- Dylan Fergus — Noah Bennett (2005-present)
- Galen Gering — Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
- Emily Harper — Fancy Crane (2005-present)
- Lindsay Hartley — Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald Crane
- Liza Huber — Gwen Winthrop (1999-2000; 2002-present)
- James Hyde — Sam Bennett
- Brook Kerr — Whitney Russell
- Kyrie Maezumi — Maya Chinn (2006-present)
- Amelia Marshall — Liz Sanbourne (2001-present)
- Eric Martsolf — Ethan Winthrop (2002-present)
- Ben Masters — Julian Crane
- Juliet Mills — Tabitha Lenox
- Heidi Mueller — Kay Bennett (2003-present)
- John Reilly — Alistair Crane (2005-present)
- Tracey Ross — Eve Johnson
- Daphnee Duplaix Samuel — Valerie Davis (2004-present)
- Richard Steinmetz — Martin Fitzgerald (2004-present)
- Danica Stewart — Jessica Bennett (2003-present)
- Eva Tamargo — Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald
- Leigh Taylor-Young — Katherine Barrett (2004-present)
- Kim Johnston Ulrich — Ivy Winthrop
- Rodney Van Johnson — TC Russell
- McKenzie Westmore — Sheridan Crane Boothe
- Adrian Wilson — Christopher Boothe (2005-present)
- Sharon Wyatt — Rachel Barrett (2005-present)
- Mark Cameron Wystrach — Nicholas Foxworth "Fox" Crane (2006-present)
Recurring cast members
- Victor Alfieri — Gianni Valentino (2006-present)
- Erin Cardillo — Esme (2005-present)
- Nicole Cox — Endora Lenox (2003-present)
- Andrea Evans — Rebecca Hotchkiss Crane (2000-present)
- Bruce French — Father Lonigan (1999-present)
- Meredyth Hunt — Lena (2006-present)
- Jossara Jinaro — Rae (2005-present)
- Jackson and Ryan Keane — James Boothe (2005-present)
- Christopher Maleki — Spike (2005-present)
- Kacey Malmsten — Jane Winthrop (2005-present)
- Julard Roddy — Miles Harris (2005-present)
- Colton Shires — Little Ethan Crane (2004-present)
- Layla and Logan Wheeler — Maria Lopez-Fitzgerald (2005-present)
Coming & Going cast members
- Marianne Muellerliele — Norma Bates (returns May 2006; 12 eps.)
- Kathleen Noone — Edna Wallace (returns May 2006; 12 eps.)
- Michael Sabatino — JT Cornell (debuts May 18th; 10 eps.)
- Kelli McCarty — Beth Wallace (returns May 24th; recurring)
- Rib Hillis — Ethan Winthrop (starts May 25th; temporary recast; 4 eps.)
Deceased cast members
- David Bailey — Alistair Crane (2004–2005) (d. 2004)
- Josh Ryan Evans — Timmy Lenox (1999–2002) (d. 2002)
- Owen Bush — Orville Perkins (1999–2000) (d. 2002)
Famous Stars Who Have Appeared On Passions
- Ruth Buzzi — Nurse Kravitz (2003)
- Robert Horry — Himself (1999)
- Bernard Fox — Dr. Bombay (1999; 2000)
- Alice Ghostley— Matilda Matthews (2000)
- Kim Fields— Tom's Coach (2003)
- Tom Joyner— Himself (2003)
- Marla Gibbs — Aunt Irma Johnson (2004-2005)
- Maureen McCormick — Rebecca Hotchkiss (2000)
- Maria Celeste Arraras — Herself (2002)
- Nikki Cox — Mary Connell (2005)
- Mýa (singer) — Herself (2004)
Before They Were Stars
- Ryan McPartlin — Hank Bennett (2001-2004)
- Jesse Metcalfe — Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald (1999-2004)
- Molly Stanton — Charity Standish (1999-2004)
Trivia
- Eva Tamargo (Pilar) is only ten years older than Galen Gering, who plays her son Luis. She is also only eight years older than Christopher Douglas, who played her eldest son, Antonio.
- Leigh Taylor-Young (Katherine) is only three years older than Ben Masters, who plays her son Julian. She is also actually nine years older than Sharon Wyatt, who plays her older sister on the show, Rachel.
- Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fan of Passions.