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1982: Guiding Light's Justin deal with the Jackie's death.

1991: Days of our Lives' Frankie and Eve left Salem.

2007: One Life to Live's Jessica and Nash were married.

2010: On ABC.com's What If, Erica Kane met Sonny Corinthos."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On The Guiding Light, Ed (Robert Gentry) found Bill (Ed Bryce) drunk at a bar.

1966: On Dark Shadows, Roger (Louis Edmonds) encountered Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) on Widows' Hill and told her the story of its legend and history. Meanwhile,...

1940: Portia Faces Life premiered on CBS Radio.

1980: Edge of Night's Clown Puppet killer claimed its first victim.

1991: Y&R's David died in a trash compactor.

1997: One Life to Live's Tea fell out a window."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: Radio soap opera Portia Faces Life debuted on CBS, sponsored by General Foods during its entire run on radio. The series had premiered early in 1940 on radio station Wnac in Boston, then moved to Wls in Chicago, Krld in Dallas, Kgw in Portland and Kfi in Los Angeles before moving to the CBS network.

1982: Guiding Light's Justin deal with the Jackie's death.

1991: Days of our Lives' Frankie and Eve left Salem.

2007: One Life to Live's Jessica and Nash were married.

2010: On ABC.com's What If, Erica Kane met Sonny Corinthos."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On The Guiding Light, Ed (Robert Gentry) found Bill (Ed Bryce) drunk at a bar.

1966: On Dark Shadows, Roger...

On this date in...

1966: On The Guiding Light, Ed found Bill drunk at a bar.

2007: General Hospital: Night Shift, a spin-off of the daytime soap, premiered on SOAPnet.

2009: Indie Soap Award-winning Empire premiered its first episode. The show, which now stars former daytime favorites Tina Sloan, Orlagh Cassidy, Yvonne Perry and Ellen Dolan, is currently shooting the upcoming fourth season. Read our interview with creators Greg Turner and Brian Hewson conducted a month before the show premiered here. Fyi: Talking to these two men inspired us to coin the term "indie soap" and we have used it ever since.

2010: ABC.com premiered the first "What If..." episode. The web series, directed by Frank Valentini, won a Daytime Emmy for ABC this year. Watch our interview with Valentina after the win below.

Celebrating a birthday today are:

Richard Simmons (ex-Richard, General Hospital) - 63

Tonya Lee Williams (Olivia,...

We Love Soaps TV asked Indie Soap Award-winning producers Greg Turner and Brian Hewson to host a Jabot Cosmetics Daytime Emmy viewing party on Sunday night. Here's a recap from Turner about the party which was attended by Libby Fox, Andrew Jernigan, Rebecca Wolf, Ali Bill (pictured above), and Indie Soap Award nominee Afton Boggiano:

When I was asked to host a Jabot Cosmetics party on the evening of the Daytime Emmys for We Love Soaps TV, I jumped at the opportunity! Together with my partner in crime, Brian Hewson, we assembled a crew of friends who love daytime and would appreciate some giveaways from Jabot! The gifts arrived wrapped, and though we wanted to peek, Brian and I restrained ourselves to let our guests enjoy them fully! I don't know much about make-up, but the ladies at the party were beyond thrilled at the products Jabot had given them.

We Love Soaps kicked off our inaguaral Daytime Drama event at Pieces bar in New York City on Thursday afternoon. Daytime Drama is a monthly happy hour event where we watch soaps (daytime, primetime, web series), have cheap drinks and share thoughts on the genre and our favorite storylines.

The first event was well-received and some of our favorite folks from the world of web series stopped by including Greg Turner and Brian Hewson from Empire, Jason Vitteri-Lewis from Trailer Made, and Julie Ann Emery and Kevin Earley from Then We Got Help! Emery brought along Help's fabulous guest star Sam McMurray (Freaks & Geeks, Friends, Raising Arizona).

Clips included classic soap weddings, startling courtroom revelations, famous guest stars and much more. We also played a few web series -- Then We Got Help!, Trailer Made and Imaginary Bitches. A great time was had by all!

See below for more photos from Daytime Drama.

Here's a rundown of some of the latest web series news:

We Love Soaps TV attended the second season premiere party for Downsized on Tuesday night at Copia in New York City. The crowd, which included All's Faire creator Thom Woodley, and Then We Got Help's Julie Ann Emery and Kevin Earley, loved it. Look for additional coverage of this event later today.

Southside, the new movie from The Bay creator Gregori J. Martin starring Kristos Andrews, begins shooting today in New York. Emmy winner and Indie Soap Award nominee Martha Byrne will be playing an NYPD cop in the film.

Speaking of Byrne, the actress has revealed she will be appearing in the web series Pretty (another successful Indie Soap Awards connection!) and is working with Empire writers Greg Turner and Brian Hewson on a new comedy web series. Stay tuned!

Photos by Kevin Mulcahy Jr.

Trailer Made, Ragged...

Photos by Gustavo Monroy

Follow Monday night's inspirational 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards ceremony, the casts and crew of numerous web series mingled at The Ailey Studios before moving on to the after party. What was so fulfilling about putting on this event was seeing the networking happening before and after the show. You will see in many of the photos below actors from different indie soaps posed together, exchanged business cards and offered their support. "Is there anything I can do to help your show?" was a phrase heard multiple times. There were also a number of crossovers being plotted so stay tuned.

Check out some of the post-show photos below.

We Love Soaps TV's Roger Newcomb and Damon L. Jacobs are joined by cast members from In Between Men, Anacostia and The Bay.

When presenting the Supporting Actress award, Anacostia's Anthony Anderson threatened to pass out if Kim Zimmer won.

Photos by Gustavo Monroy 

Best Storyline

Presented by: Cwennen Corral, The Cavanaughs & Pat Rulon, Trailer Made

Nominees: Anacostia: Mia copes with the aftermath of Michael's death; Anyone But Me: Sophie's sexual questioning; Diary Of A Single Mom: Bo tries to go back to work; Empire: Theodora takes over Empire; Miss Behave: Tori's blackout; Pretty: Ribina's pregnancy; The Bay: Igor's revenge; Venice: Gina helps The Colonel after his stroke

Winner: Empire: Theodora takes over Empire (accepted by Greg Turner, Brian Hewson & Tina Sloan)

Outstanding Ensemble

Presented by: Al Thompson & Ryan Vigilant, Lenox Avenue

Nominees: Anacostia; Anyone But Me; In Between Men; Orange Juice In Bishop's Garden; Pretty; Steamboat; The Bay; Venice

Winner: Pretty (accepted by Terri Simmons)

Outstanding Lead Actor

Presented by: Tina Sloan, Empire

Nominees: Anthony Anderson, Anacostia; Danny Cameron, Cell; Michael Park, Gotham; Nick Mathews, In Between Men; Trevor Nelson, Miss Behave; Will Conlon, Out With Dad; Sam Pancake,...

In Part 1 of our exclusive five part photo spread from the 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards, we covered Breakthrough Performance, Supporting Actress, Guest Appearance and Editing. Some very "Pretty" people continued the show. The ceremony pictorial continues below.

Photos by Gustavo Monroy

Fan's Choice Award

Presented by: Steve Silverman & Terri Simmons, Pretty

Nominees: Anacostia; Anyone But Me; As The Corn Grows; Desire & Deceit; Diary Of A Single Mom; Empire; Gotham; Luck And The Virgin; Miss Behave; Montreal Hearts; The Bay; The Cavanaughs; The Like Us Show; Venice; Venus Spa

Winner: The Bay

Outstanding Writing

Presented by: Hillary B. Smith, Venice/Fumbling Thru The Pieces

Nominees: Susan Miller & Tina Cesa Ward, Anyone But Me; Anthony Anderson, Anacostia; Sonya Steele, Celeste Bright; Mark Gardner, Cell; Cheryl L. West, Diary Of A Single Mom; Greg Turner & Brian Hewson, Empire; Susan Bernhardt, Miss Behave; Jason Leaver, Out With Dad; Steve Silverman, Pretty

Winner: Susan Miller & Tina Cesa Ward,...

The 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards will be held on Monday, February 21, at The Ailey Studios in New York City. Seating is limited so be sure to purchase your tickets here. The show is honoring the best in indie soaps in 2010 and is sure to be a lot of fun. The indie web series community is an incredible group of talented, hard working, creative geniuses who know how to party!

If you haven't seen the list of nominees, you can read them below.

Indie Soap Of The YEAR8.13

Anyone But Meceleste Bright

Celldiary Of A Single Mommiss Behave

Prettythe Best Friend

Oustanding Lead ACTORAnthony Anderson, ANACOSTIADanny Cameron, CELLMichael Park, GOTHAMNick Mathews, In Between MENWill Conlon, Out With DADTrevor Nelson, Miss BEHAVESam Pancake, PRETTYCamden Toy, The Bay

Outstanding Lead Actress

Tamieka Chavis, ANACOSTIARachael Hip-Flores, Anyone But Me Monica Calhoun, Diary Of A Single Mom

Tina Sloan, EMPIREMartha Byrne, GOTHAMJillian Clare, Miss BEHAVECrystal Chappell,...

We Love Soaps TV announced on Monday the nominees for the 2nd Annual Indie Soap Awards, honoring the best in continuing story format web series in 2010.   Last year's winner for Indie Soap of the Year, Diary Of A Single Mom, received 13 nominations to lead the pack.  In total, 29 web series were nominated for awards, including 15 shows receiving "Fan's Choice" nominations for being one of the Top 15 vote-getters in 2010 in the weekly Wls TV Indie Soap of the Week Poll.

This year's awards show will be a live event in New York City on February 21, hosted by Gotham creator and star, Martha Byrne.   Stay tuned for information about the show and tickets in the coming days.

The Indie Soap Awards were founded by We Love Soaps TV in 2009 to celebrate the creative talents of the indie web series world, who are blazing a trail into the future for the continuing story format.

The men of Empire, creators Greg Turner and Brian Hewson, are currently running a six day mini-series featuring two of the women from the show - sexy and fun characters Lucy Lively and von Hottie. See what these two girls are up to as you count down to the Season 3 premiere next Tuesday. Watch here. And stay tuned, you may even see some other familiar faces in the coming days.