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Tyra Banks Responds to Julianne Hough Replacing Her as the New Dancing With the Stars Host After Reports the Model Was a ‘Nightmare’
Wednesday, March 29th, 2023
Passing the baton. Tyra Banks responded to Julianne Hough replacing her as the new Dancing With the Stars host after the model’s sudden exit following season 31.
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Banks, who hosted and executive produced Dancing With the Stars from season 29 to 31, announced she was leaving the series in March 2023. Days later, news broke that Julianne — who was a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars from 2007 to 2009 and a judge from 2014 to 2017 — would be replacing Banks as the new co-host of for season 32 alongside Alfonso Ribeiro, who was Banks’ former co-host.
“It is such an honor to be rejoining Dancing with the Stars as co-host. The show holds such a special place in my heart from the many years and different roles I have had the privilege of being a part of,” Julianne said in a statement to Variety. “The incredible team that brings the ballroom to life every night has been my family for the past 17 years. I am so excited to reunite with Alfonso, Carrie Ann, Bruno, Derek, the unbelievably talented pros, and the amazing cast on the dance floor. The energy is magnetic every time you step foot in to the ballroom and I can’t wait to feel it again — and of course to share it all with the absolute best and most loyal fans — for another exciting season.”
But what does Tyra think? Read on for Tyra Banks’ response to Julianne Hough replacing her as the new Dancing With the Stars host.
What was Tyra Banks’ response to Julianne Hough replacing her as the new Dancing With the Stars host?
Tyra Banks responded to Julianne Hough replacing her as the new Dancing With the Stars host in an interview with Us Weekly in March 29, 2023, in which she called Julianne the “perfect choice” to succeed her. “The businesswoman in me sees how Julianne is great on multiple levels. She’s a professional dancer. She is the sister of Derek [Hough], a DWTS multi-champion, who is now a stellar judge,” Banks said. “It’s going to be a family affair in that ballroom which people will love to watch. And she has so much personality and strong opinions backed by expertise. She’s a perfect choice! She’s gonna crush it!”
When asked what she will miss the most about her experience on Dancing With the Stars, Banks named judges Derek Hough and Carrie Ann Inaba, and her former co-host Alfonso Ribeiro (who will remain as Julianne’s co-host) as some of her favorite co-workers on the series. “I loved walking out every week in over-the-top outfits to such a hyped ballroom. Seeing Derek Hough dance in person was such a treat,” Banks said, referencing Derek’s “mind-boggling amazingness.” She continued, “I’m going to miss Carrie Ann’s kindness and warm heart and of course reminiscing with Alfonso about the good ole Fresh Prince days.”
Banks announced she was leaving as the host of Dancing With the Stars after three seasons in an interview with TMZ on March 17, 2023. “I feel it’s really time for me to focus on my business and my entrepreneurship, and also producing more TV — but behind the scenes,” Banks said. “I think it’s time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor. … from the ballroom to the boardroom!” When asked if she was, in fact, leaving Dancing With the Stars, Banks — who was also an executive producer on the series — told TMZ, “Don’t you think it’s time? Yeah, I think it’s time. I’m an entrepreneur at heart. … I think my heart, my soul, is into my business, it’s also into producing new TV. … But, I really, really want to focus on my business, and you can’t do that hosting a show.”
A source told Us Weekly at the time that Banks was leaving Dancing With the Stars to focus on her ice cream brand, SMiZE Cream, which she launched in 2021 and named after her signature phrase: smize (smiling with one’s eyes.) “Tyra is constantly evolving and looking for new ways to amplify her platform, expand her brand and she always knows the right time to do it — it’s part of her decades-long success,” the insider said. “Remember, she walked away from the runway to pursue hosting and executive producing. And today, her ice cream business is doing extremely well and she’s excited to focus on being an even stronger entrepreneur and launching new entertainment ventures.” The source continued, “Tyra is an innovator and a visionary so creating things from scratch is her super power. She craves spaces and places that have room for expansion and big, new ideas.”
The source also maintained that Banks still has positive relationships with Ribeiro and ABC, which aired Dancing With the Stars before its move to Disney Plus in 2022. “Tyra so enjoyed her time doing DWTS and working with everyone involved, from production to network execs, to the cast, fans and of course, Alfonso,” the insider said. “Tyra has a really strong working relationship with ABC and has upcoming projects in the works with the network.”
Banks joined Dancing with the Stars for season 29 in 2020. She replaced former host Tom Bergeron, who hosted the series from season 1 to 28. During her first season, Banks was met with mixed reviews after she accidentally announced the wrong bottom two couples on live television, which she claimed was a mistake by production. “The world is angry at the talent, but there’s a whole control room and things happening and craziness going on,” Banks said of the moment during an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour in August 2021. “And I’m fed certain things, say certain things that I’m told. But it is what it is.” Banks added that she felt like she had to “take darts for the team” as a result of the mistake. “I was blamed for it, and it wasn’t me,” she said. “And I think that’s very important to say.”
A source also told The Sun in October 2021 that the producers on Dancing With the Stars at the time were “on edge” due to the backlash over Banks’ casting. “Tyra is a nightmare. She is disrespectful to everyone. She gives orders and makes wild demands,” the insider said. “The viewers hate Tyra, but ABC is locked with her so they are trying.” The source continued, “Last week she wore the Britney Spears pigtails, but all the producers said she looked like the horror movie doll Annabelle. They couldn’t get her to change.”
The insider also claimed to The Sun that Banks’ alleged “energy, attitude and demands” turned Dancing With the Stars into a “toxic” work environment. “Tensions are high in the ballroom. Between low ratings, COVID outbreaks and constant managing of the Tyra backlash, the producers are on edge about everything,” the source said. “I wouldn’t be shocked if this is the last season.” The insider also noted Dancing With the Stars‘ decreasing ratings after Banks was hired as its host. “The ratings matter is of concern for executives,” the source said. “Sure headline makers are in there, but it just hasn’t as yet captured the public. Sometimes these things take time and other times the contestants do not resonate or connect to audiences.”
Dancing With the Stars is available to stream on Disney Plus.
For more on primetime shows, check out our photo gallery on the best nighttime soaps ranked.
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Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved it:</strong> Frankly, the show itself wasn’t that good… but we were all about vixenish Peyton Richards, brought to glorious, badly-accented life by Jamie Luner (who would later have the unenviable task of playing a recast Liza Colby on <em>All My Children</em>). <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Mourning the death of studly Travis Peterson… only to have portrayer George Eads return in Season 2 as his twin, Nick. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Executive producer Aaron Spelling said the serial was “a little touch of <em>Gone With the Wind</em> if it were done in 1996.” </p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Late in the game, primetime’s answer to <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> brought in Emma Samms as a glam scheme queen who, given the chance, could have made the Season 2 we never got must-watch TV. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The never-to-be-resolved 1995 cliffhanger involving kidnapping, attempted murder and a wedding. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Farrah Fawcett was originally considered for the part which eventually went to <em>Dallas</em>’ Linda Gray. </p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> The 1984 series about the fashion industry was every bit as superficial and glossy as the Joan Collins TV movie that inspired it. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The first pairing of Morgan Fairchild, who replaced Collins, and daytime legend Roscoe Born; they’d be re-teamed years later on ABC’s <em>Loving</em> spinoff, <em>The City.</em> <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The song that accompanied the series’ opening credits was composed by Mark Snow, who’d go on to write the <em>X-Files</em> theme.</p>
Image: CW Network/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Existing in the same universe as the original series, the Beverly Hills teens of 2008 skipped those innocent years we saw Brandon and Brenda go through in favor of diving headfirst into drug addiction, pregnancy and mental-health issues. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Raj Kher, newly diagnosed with terminal cancer, reacting to the prom theme being “The Future Is Ours.” <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Tori Spelling refused to do the show after finding out fellow OGs Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty were receiving far bigger paychecks. </p>
Image: Warner Bros./Courtesy of the Everett Collection
9/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> A whiff of intrigue never failed to surround <em>General Hospital</em> star Genie Francis’ 1983 NBC series based on her 1982 CBS miniseries about a young widow making “scents” among a fragrance dynasty’s stinkers. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The reveal that mousy Muffin Marshall was the most ruthless conniver of them all. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 1988, Francis married castmate Jonathan Frakes, who played shifty Marcus Marshall (and with whom she’d appeared in ABC’s <em>North and South</em>).</p>
Image: Bob Rija Jr./Getty Images
10/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> To be honest, because we really, really wanted to go back to the small screen’s most complicated apartment complex. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The way Laura Leighton’s Sydney Andrews, killed off on the mothership way back when, was resurrected, only to be rubbed out yet again. Rude! <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Eh, maybe not fun. But even adding Heather Locklear to the mix as Amanda Woodward didn’t save the reboot from cancellation after a single season.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
11/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> ABC poured buckets of money into its doomed 1985-87 <em>Dynasty</em> spinoff to hire movie stars and fill closets with designer clothes, but all it really needed to hold our attention was Stephanie Beacham as slinky Sable Colby. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 cliffhanger that found Fallon Carrington being abducted by aliens. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Legend has it that Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn turned down the roles that went to Charlton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
12/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Based on a Joan Crawford movie that was based on a Robert Wilder novel, the 1980-82 serial was as steamy as a summer night in Truro, the deceptively sleepy Florida town where the scandals ran as deep as the wealthy Weldon family’s pockets. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Morgan Fairchild vamping it up as supervixen Constance Weldon, No. 16 on E!’s 2016 list of primetime’s wickedest women. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> A daytime version of the show was planned for 1982 but never came to pass.</p>
Image: CW Network/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
13/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> <em>The O.C.</em> vet Rachel Bilson played the fish-out-of-water story of would-be cardiologist Zoe Hart’s relocation from New York to Podunk, Ala., altogether enchantingly in The CW’s 2011-15 romantic dramedy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> How torn we wound up being between the doc’s destiny, Wade Kinsella, and his antithesis, George Tucker. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Nancy Travis would’ve kept playing secretary Mrs. H beyond her first two episodes, had she not been contracted to star in the Fox sitcom <em>Last Man Standing.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> If there’s one thing Tyler Perry’s primetime soaps know how to do, it’s shock and scandalize. Wait, that’s two things. But both were true when it came to this show, a more-diverse, less-comedic <em>Desperate Housewives</em>. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The stunning finale in which bad guys Randall Holmes and Eddie Willis each were murdered by their former wives. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The show’s 2014 premiere was the highest-rated in OWN’s history, beating previous record holder <em>The Haves and the Have Nots</em>, another of Perry’s productions.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Is there anything more relatable than a group of friends who lean on one another during hard times? With the upcoming fifth season set to be its last, we’re already bracing for the tough task of saying farewell to the gang. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The opening-episode shocker which set everything in motion as Jon Dixon, whose life seemed perfect from the outside, died by suicide. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Grace Park, who plays Katherine Saville, was reportedly once a member of the infamous NXIVM cult but left before the arrests which would later rock the group.</p>
Image: CW Network/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> A drug called Jingle Jangle? A group of shirtless teenage vigilantes? A <em>Chilling Adventures of Sabrina</em> crossover? A monstrous Gargoyle King? Nope, nothing was too nuts or nonsensical for The CW’s sexed-up 2017-23 adaptation of the <em>Archie</em> Comics. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The series’ real star, KJ Apa’s abs. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Down Under, <em>Riverdale</em> came out on top. In 2018, it was the No. 1 show in Australia (where it streams as a Netflix Original Series).</p>
Image: Hulu/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Hulu/Disney+’s high-school dramedy, inspired by the movie <em>Love, Simon</em>, lettered in teen angst and palpitation-inducing reminders that love is love. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The “aww”-inducing Season 1 scene in which Benji Campbell sang Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” to <span style="text-decoration: line-through">us</span> a lovestruck Victor Salazar. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Nick Robinson — the Simon of <em>Love, Simon</em> fame — narrated the series, which was set in the same world as the 2018 flick.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Mindy Kaling’s Netflix dramedy gives us the kind of intense feels that we haven’t experienced since… well… since we were as young as Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s Devi Vishwakumar and her friends. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Our realization in Season 1 that we were rooting equally for both of Devi’s love interests, high-school hottie Paxton Hall-Yoshida and academic rival Ben Gross. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Yes, that’s really testy tennis great John McEnroe narrating most episodes.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Over the course of its 52 episodes, the Masterpiece Classic exponentially classed up the screen with its saga of early-20th-century aristocrats and their servants. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 1 shocker that found viperish Miss O’Brien weaponizing a bar of soap to ensure that Lady Grantham would miscarry. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2013, <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> called Julian Fellowes’ period piece “the biggest PBS phenomenon since Sesame Street.”</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> There’s nothing subtle about Netflix’s wildly over-the-top Spanish drama. The antics of the gorgeous, oversexed teens of Las Encinas would make the wildest West Beverly Hills High student blush. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Season 1’s jaw-dropping reveal of who really killed Marina Osuna. Fun Fact: Original cast member Danna Paola (Lucrecia) nearly missed out on the chance to audition when the e-mailed info went to her spam folder! </p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Two years after her final appearance as <em>All My Children</em>’s iconic Erica Kane, Susan Lucci showed primetime audiences what she could do as the much-married, emotionally unstable Genevieve Delatour. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The acidic, borderline perverse marriage of Evelyn and Adrian Powell, which was at turns heartbreaking, hilarious and somewhat tragic. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Despite ABC’s success with creator Mark Cherry’s <em>Desperate Housewives</em>, the network passed on <em>Devious Maids</em>, which ultimately wound up airing on Lifetime. </p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Much like the great daytime soaps of yore, the Louisiana-set, Oprah Winfrey-backed drama dealt with issues others dared not, including racial profiling and transgender rights. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The series-capping twist which allowed the Bordelons to reign victorious over Sam Landry. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Bianca Lawson, who played Darla, is the stepsister of Beyoncé thanks to her dad’s marriage to the singer’s mom. </p>
Image: CW Network/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
23/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved it:</strong> What started as a simple misconception story in which our heroine accidentally became artificially inseminated (hey, it happens!) soon blossomed into a comedic telenovela willing to go anywhere and do anything to keep us entertained. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 3 death of Jane Villanueva’s true love, good guy Michael Cordero. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In the final episode, it was revealed that the omniscient narrator was, in fact, Jane and babydaddy Rafael Solano’s son, Mateo. </p>
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24/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Decades before NBC gave us <em>This Is Us</em>’ Big Three, it introduced the four Reeds siblings. Well, five if you count the eventual introduction of Sheila Kelley’s Charlotte. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> A shotgun-toting Frankie bursting in to try and stop her ex-husband from marrying her sis, Frankie. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> During the first two seasons, each episode began with the women chatting in a sauna. </p>
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25/56
<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Alice Oseman’s Netflix dramedy about English schoolkids figuring their, and one another’s, sexuality is sweet, swoon-worthy and a heaping helping of lovely in a world that too often is anything but. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Future boyfriends Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring’s first kiss in Season 1. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The series marks the first-ever television role, never mind the first-ever television <em>lead</em> role, for Charlie’s portrayer, newcomer Joe Locke, who was 17 during Season 1’s filming. </p>
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26/56
<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> By Season 3, the <em>Grey’s Anatomy</em> offshoot had, ahem, caught fire and begun serving up twists and turns that were as hot as those on the mothership. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 5 episode that killed off Dean Miller as well as his unrequited crush on fellow first-responder Vic Hughes. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> To date, two <em>Grey’s Anatomy</em> actors — Jason George (aka Ben Warren) and Stefania Spampinato (aka Carina DeLuca) — have been made <em>Station 19</em> series regulars.</p>
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27/56
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28/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> TNT’s 2012-14 revival not only got J.R. and Bobby Ewing 100-percent right, it nailed the casting of J.R.’s son John Ross (with Josh Henderson) and Cliff Barnes’ daughter Pamela (with Julie Gonzalo). <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Judith Light’s deliciously wicked Judith Ryland sampling a line of coke in Season 3 and exclaiming, “Hot damn! Mama like.” <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Following Larry Hagman’s 2012 passing, J.R.’s “master plan” to frame Cliff for his murder was brought to fruition.</p>
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29/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> From illicit affairs to demonic possessions, the ABC sitcom lovingly mocked our favorite genre while creating such an uproar that its 1977 launch was protested by religious organizations, sight unseen. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The hilarious introduction of Robert Urich’s Peter to his extended family… several members of which he’d already seduced! <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> ABC wanted the writers to change the last name of Burt Campbell to avoid any negative association with potential sponsor Campbell’s Soup.</p>
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30/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> When Showtime’s take on the British original hit in 2005, it was the first time many American LGBTQ+ viewers saw their lives — warts and all — presented in a big, dramatic, serialized way. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The final image of BFFs Brian Kinney and Michael Novotny dancing in the bombed-out remains of the club in which much of the action took place. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Although set in Pittsburgh, the show was largely filmed in Toronto. </p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Yeah, yeah, the vampires and fairies, werewolves and witches were cool and all. But what made Alan Ball’s 2008-14 supernatural serial hot was the sex. So. Much. Sex. (And so many <em>kinds</em>, too. Damn!) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 4 episode in which the Bill/Sookie/Eric triangle was “resolved” by throwing them together in a lusty threesome. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Series leads Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, who played Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton, wed in 2010.</p>
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32/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> It’s somehow appropriate that the WB series lasted only four seasons, given that it so perfectly captured the college experience. We all wanted Keri Russell’s alter ego to be our best friend… if only so we could talk some sense into her. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The haircut. Enough said. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Thanks to copyright issues, the music you’ll hear on DVDs or when watching syndicated reruns is largely different from the original tracks. </p>
Image: OWN/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
33/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> From 2016-20, the OWN drama kept us singing its praises by revealing the sinful side of its high-and-mighty titular family and the Memphis megachurch from which its fortune was made. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The thrilling sermon that installed Lady Mae as her late husband’s successor. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Well, maybe less fun than factual. When the show wrapped in 2020, plans were underway for a spinoff… for which we’re still praying. (<a href="https://tvline.com/2020/08/11/greenleaf-last-episode-spinoff-spoilers-craig-wright-interview/" target="_blank">Read all about it here.</a>)</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> <em>Scream</em> writer Kevin Williamson’s 1998-2003 WB drama treated teenagers not only as living, breathing and lusting but as thinking, struggling and persevering. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Soap vet Kerr Smith’s coming-out as Jack McPhee, who went on to have TV’s first gay-male kiss on screen. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> James Van Der Beek won the role of Dawson over competition that included <em>Sons of Anarchy</em>’s Charlie Hunnam and <em>Felicity</em>’s Scott Speedman.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
35/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> We fell in love with Kate Walsh’s Dr. Addison Montgomery pretty much the moment she strutted onto <em>Grey’s Anatomy</em>, so how could we not be obsessed with a spinoff built around the character? <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The time a patient tired to steal a baby out of the womb of Addison’s co-worker. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Only a few months before joining <em>Grey’s</em> as Dr. April Kepner, Sarah Drew guested on <em>Private Practice</em> as a pregnant law student looking to give her baby up for adoption.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> What started as a pretty typical CW show about basketball-playing half siblings eventually morphed into something much bigger, especially after a Season 5 time jump saw the gang dealing with post-college life. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Lucas Scott going into full cardiac arrest only moments after wife Haley was run down by a car left us breathless. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The title was explained via a Season 1 line of dialogue in which Lucas’ mom told him, “There is only one Tree Hill, and it’s your home.” </p>
Image: CW Network/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
37/56
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> The younger, hipper sibling of Brit sudsers <em>EastEnders</em> and <em>Coronation Street</em> routinely tackles issues those shows — never mind American soaps — wouldn’t go near. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Bitch goddess Mercedes McQueen being shot by not one but two of her enemies while dancing in an empty nightclub. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Nick Pickard has played Tony Hutchinson since the first episode back in 1995! </p>
Image: Warner Bros./Courtesy of the Everett Collection
39/56
<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Set in Orange County, Calif., Josh Schwartz’s teen drama made us with that, like Ben McKenzie’s Ryan Atwood, we, too, could be adopted by the Cohens, a family with even more love than money. And they had a <em>lot</em> of money. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Five words — “Welcome to the O.C., bitch.” <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Chrismukkah, the holiday invented by Adam Brody’s Seth Cohen to merge both of his parents’ religions, became so popular, it even got a mention on <em>Grey’s Anatomy.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Two words: Jane Wyman. The sour grapes that she served as viperish vintner Angela Channing kept us coming back for refills of the CBS soap from 1981-90 no matter <em>how</em> (hic) intoxicated she left us. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Who’s Who of silver-screen stars that passed through the series, among them Lana Turner, Cliff Robertson and Kim Novak. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Robert Foxworth, who played halo-clad Chase Gioberti, turned down the role of devilish J.R. Ewing on <em>Dallas</em>.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> The foul-mouthed Roy family proves that the only way in which the rich are truly different is that their dysfunctions play out in mansions and exotic locales. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Beaten-down hubby Tom Wamsbgans telling wife Shiv, “I wonder if the sad I’d be without you would be less than the sad I get from being with you.” Ouch. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The HBO hit’s bombastic patriarch, Logan Roy (played by the inimitable Brian Cox) originally was set to die in the pilot episode, setting in motion a battle for control of Waystar Royco.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> In 1990, the supernova that was ABC’s short-lived David Lynch series was something altogether new, a traditional soap on an alternately dreamy and nightmarish acid trip. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 episode that revealed that Laura Palmer had been killed by her possessed father. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2017’s Showtime revival, Lynch muse Laura Dern finally gave a face to Diane Evans, the FBI secretary to whom Special Agent Dale Cooper was always dictating messages.</p>
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount Network Western pulls no punches, and neither do any of the members of the rough-and-tumble Dutton family. Well, maybe Jamie. (But he’s adopted.) <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The outta-control Season 4 finale that gunned down John, took aim at Kayce and blew up Beth. Or <em>tried</em> to, anyway. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> As of Season 5, Sheridan has written or co-written every episode of the series, which has thus far spawned two prequels, <em>1883</em> and <em>1932</em>.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy Everett of the Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> As much as we may hate actually going to see the doctor, we can’t get enough of medical dramas set in hospitals. Plus, this long-running NBC series featured George Clooney, whose Dr. Doug Ross was the original McDreamy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 episode in which Ross saved a child trapped in a storm drain left us breathless and helped propel Clooney to superstardom. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> The series was created by Michael Crichton. Yes, the same man who gave us <em>Jurassic Park. </em></p>
Image: OWN/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> There was no “there” to which Tyler Perry’s OWN soap wouldn’t go. Yet neither Jeffrey Harrington stabbing his homophobic Mommie Dearest in the breast implant nor Veronica Harrington setting her estranged husband on fire is <strong>What We’ll Never Forget:</strong> That would be Crystal R. Fox’s fierce portrayal of long-suffering Hanna Young. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> In 2022, Tika Sumpter, who played Candace Young, tied the knot with co-star Nicholas James, aka off-kilter Officer Justin Lewis.</p>
Image: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> Over the course of its 2016-22 run, the creators of the NBC series proved master manipulators where our emotional well-being was concerned. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The unbreakable bond between the Big Three — the Pearson siblings. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> So upset were fans upon learning that a slow cooker was the cause of Jack Pearson’s death that the makers of the responsible appliance posted a Facebook message addressing the incident. “We love [Jack], and we love you, too. Don’t further add to our heartbreak by no longer using Crock-Pot Slow Cookers.” </p>
Image: Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Unlike its American brethren, the British sudser makes a big deal of the “little people.” In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a “have” amongst the “have-nots” who populate Albert Square and hang at its beloved Queen Vic pub. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The 2008 tearjerker in which Dot Cotton recorded an episode-long farewell monologue to former hubby Jim. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> For 28 years running, June Brown’s Dot wore the same dress on Christmas Day. </p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Productions/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> In a way, we grew up with the characters on Aaron Spelling’s 1990-2000 Fox hit, which originated as the fish-out-of-water story of sheltered Minnesota twins transferred to schmancy West Beverly High. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The heated debates that erupted over Season 3’s Brenda/Dylan/Kelly triangle. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Since the network wasn’t initially as sold on Luke Perry or the character of Dylan McKay as Spelling was, the EP at first paid the future teen idol’s salary himself.</p>
Image: Fox Image Collection/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> While we could wax poetic about the shocking plot twists which befell the Lyon family as they fought for control of their hip-hop dynasty, the truth is, what we <em>really</em> loved was Taraji P. Henson’s trash-talking Cookie. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Sadly, the show will likely be most remembered for star Jussie Smollett staging a fake attack against himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Henson darn near got a spinoff focused on her character, but that Cookie crumbled before the proposed show could launch.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Love It:</strong> Nineteen seasons in, Shonda Rhimes’ medical drama never forgets that sometimes all it takes to get a <span style="text-decoration: line-through">patient</span> series off life support is a transfusion of fresh blood. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Season 5’s finale, which kept us waiting till the last second to learn whether Izzie Stevens or George O’Malley died. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Original cast member Ellen Pompeo was TV’s highest-paid actress — to the tune of $20M/year — when she stepped away from her role of Meredith Grey in 2022.</p>
Image: Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> The suburbs-set 2004-12 series beautifully combined slapstick comedy with dark drama while chronicling the lives of Wisteria Lane’s residents… as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor! <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> Early in Season 1, Gabrielle Solis mowed her lawn in a full-length evening gown to prevent her hubby from finding out their hunky young gardener had been too busy tending to her needs to do the chore himself. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Said gardener was played by none other than a post-<em>Passions</em>, pre-<em>Chesapeake Shores</em> Jesse Metcalfe.</p>
Image: Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p><strong>Why We Loved It:</strong> After Aaron Spelling spiked his <em>Beverly Hills, 90210</em> spinoff with <em>Dynasty</em> vet Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward, it went from plain and boring to wild and crazy. <strong>We’ll Never Forget:</strong> The Season 2 scene in which a back-from-the-dead Kimberly Shaw ripped off her wig to reveal her scarred head. <strong>Fun Fact:</strong> Years after the show ended, Locklear dated and even got engaged to former leading man Jack Wagner, who’d played her love/hate interest, Dr. Peter Burns.</p>
Image: Aaron Spelling Prods./Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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