What if episodes change a lot of people's lives.
The Young and the Restless broadcast an episode on Wednesday, March 20, speculating what might have happened if Jordan never stole ClairEve from Victoria and Cole. From what we could tell, it would have saved Cassie’s life (split screen twins!), made Adam even more unpopular with his family (is there a reason he can’t leave Genoa City and live somewhere else?), erased Christian entirely (more than he currently is now), and kept Sharon and Nick together (though where did Summer come from then, or even Faith?). That’s a big ask, but it’s not the first time soaps have speculated how one life lived differently would have affected dozens more. Below are some of our favorites.
In 2018, to celebrate Maurice Benard’s 25th anniversary, General Hospital offered an episode where everyone’s favorite mobster never embarked on a life of crime. Instead of running an, ahem, coffee empire, Sonny would have become a cop, instead (so he still would enjoy shooting people), married teen-age flame, Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) — guess Connie/Kate really was just a fling — and raised Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) from the start.
Dante would have been the criminal. And Anna (Finola Hughes) would have been a dirty cop. Why? Well, because her daughter, Robin (Kimberly McCullough), died of AIDS at age only 19. (Who would she have caught it from? Stone Cates, who was some other mobster’s errand boy?) You see, without Sonny the benevolent philanthropist, money wouldn’t have been donated to critical research that saved Robin. Because Sonny is the only person on the planet who cares about HIV care. And the only one who cared about Robin. The Quartermaines wouldn’t have stepped up. The entire town of Port Charles would have turned their back on her. Thanks goodness Sonny killed that first victim of his!
It’s not exactly a What If, but Days of our Lives is famous for their April Fool’s episodes. Among the possibilities explored were back from the dead Daniel and Leo (Greg Rikaart) — when the latter was believed dead — and John (Drake Hogestyn) on Death Row — before he found out that being a mercenary meant he used to kill people. And, of course, the nightmare scenario of Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) giving birth to a Stefano clone and deciding to raise him as a good person, this time. That actually might have been worth watching!
In 2008, As the World Turns observed Valentine’s Day with Holden (Jon Hensley) wondering what life would have been like if he were forced to raise their kids without Lily (Martha Byrne), if Luke (Van Hansis) met Noah (Jake Silberman) after the latter had joined the navy, and Tom (Scott Holmes) and Margo (Ellen Dolan) faced off as lawyers in court, while Katie (Terri Conn) and Brad (Austin Peck) were fast-talking reporters. Viewers wanted more but, alas, it was just a dream.
ABC, however, really leaned into the concept in 2010, with an entire web-series dedicated to all sorts of cross-show meetings. There was Sonny and Erica (Susan Lucci, All My Children), AMC’s Tad (Michael E. Knight) with One Life to Live‘s Blair (Kassie DePaiva), GH’s Luke (Anthony Geary) and OLTL’s Viki (Erika Slezak), GH’s Carly (Laura Wright) and AMC’s Ryan (Cameron Mathison) — look familiar? — and many more.
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