Letters About Stephen & Mary Beth Evans
as Steve "Patch" Johnson & Kayla
Soap Opera Digest, November 17, 1992
Thank you for the article on "The Most Romantic Couple of All Time," Days' Patch and Kayla. I will treasure it as it will probably be the last article on these two actors as a couple. I adored Steve and Kayla Johnson together, but even more I loved Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans as a team. What they had was rare. It makes it hard to get enthused about Stephen's new SB character Skyler and a predicted love story with Kelly Capwell. I want to support Stephen; he deserves a new opportunity. I should be enthused. But what I should feel and what I do feel are not the same. I suppose it was make worse by the disappointment of Days not bringing Steve back to Kayla and then the false rumors of the actors going to another soap together. I feel badly; I do wish Stephen well. I just can't get into it. It's not what I hoped for, not what I waited for, not what I care about watching. I'm sorry. I just can't let Nichols and Evans go!
L. Chathear, Edgewood, KY
I was thrilled at the results of the recent poll for "The Most Romantic Couple of All time." Days' Patch and Kayla were, without a doubt a shadow of of a doubt, the super supercouple. Your article about them in the September 22 issue stimulated a bittersweet recollection for me of those wonderful days of incredible passion and romance. Sometimes I wonder if there ever can be an adequate explanation of the enormous impact that Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans had on the hearts and minds of Days viewers. One thing is for certain: It will be a long time before daytime ever sees a couple like them. It's sad that Days chose not to reunite this perfectly matched pair. To this day, I still miss how they made me feel.
A. McKnight, Ontario, Canada
Hugs and kisses to the many fans who voted for Patch and Kayla. An even bigger hug to SOU for bringing back happy memories of this supercouple. Daytime is poorer for their loss of he most interesting characters ever. They are still fondly remembered.
Pat Preda, Ambridge, PA
Soap Opera Update, June 4, 1990
I love your publication! You give good coverage to both the show DAYS OF OUR LIVES and the couple Patch and Kayla, which I love. It is because of that coverage that I now subscribe to SOU. Several of my friends who saw my copy of SOU now subscribe because they wanted their own copies of pictures of Stephen Nichols. The centerfold of Patch and Kayla's almost-wedding was a delightful surprise and so timely. The news in most magazines is outdated. I especially like the outtake photos — the kind of pictures you won't see in any other magazine. My favorites appeared in SOU in 1988 — the wedding of Patch and Kayla. Whoever wrote the captions for the photos had a sense of humor and obviously knew their storyline. Your magazine seems to be published by people who enjoy and respect the medium of soaps. Thanks for the great entertainment!
Terry Linthicum, Brandon, MS
I started smiling from the moment I picked up your April 9 issue. Thank you for the beautiful pictures of Steve and Kayla and their "Little Sweetness," and for the wonderful articles on DAYS. I couldn't agree more with Allison J. Waldman—Jack and Jennifer simply get better and better. And I would like Al Rabin to be assured that a lot of us love what the writers are doing with Steve and Jack. Their story is very dramatic and touching. I loved it when Steve asked Jack to be his best man.
K. Murphy, Oxnard, CA
Daytime Digest Days of Our Lives, May 1990
I can't believe the writers at Days of Our Lives are stupid enough to break up the super couple of the decade, Patch and Kayla! Who is this wimpy Marina character and why, but why did they bring her into the picture? Wise up folks and bring our favorite couple back together!
I can't believe the writers at Days of Our Lives are stupid enough to break up the super couple of the decade, Patch and Kayla! Who is this wimpy Marina character and why, but why did they bring her into the picture? Wise up folks and bring our favorite couple back together!
Lucy Keeler, Grand Papids, MI
If Patch and Kayla are not reunited immediately, I'm switching to All My Children!
Chris Wilson, Los Angles, CA
No doubt, with one brief storyline interlude, it has been a year of torment, agony, anger, and frustration for Patch and Kayla fans everywhere. The kind of treatment they have received by Days writers and producers is totally unfathomable to me. Neither Stephen Nichols nor Mary Beth Evans deserve being ignored and mocked in such a shameful manner. Going on six months now they haven't had a unique story or dialogue. I don't know how Stephen and Mary Beth have managed to stick this out. It is a mark of commitment to the show and their fans that they have not let this apparently purposeful abuse drive them away. Days has waged a relentless campaign to destroy the character of Patch and Kayla. I am one fan who can see through their actions. Thank you for going to the heart of the matter in an understanding and sensitive analysis and especially for not gloating over or trivializing the sad destruction of the best couple on daytime.
CMK, Canada
Soap Opera Digest, April 17, 1990
People who do not watch DAYS OF OUR LIVES might wonder what made DAYS viewers scream about the harm done to Patch and Kayla [Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans]. Initially, the show let them be a happy couple. For one year, Patch and Kayla showed us that marriage was great. Their scenes were sexy, sensitive and radiated contentment. Seeing a wife support her husband through his feelings of inadequacy as a provider, or watching them compromise about starting a family are real problems and the Johnsons showed us how it's done. But the writers' need to live up to the word "drama" brought on the decision to ditch "happily ever after" and invent secrets, deceit, and mistrust. Then DAYS watched a disenchanted audience turn off. You don't fix it if it ain't broke. Too bad DAYS didn't realize that.
Name Withheld
Daytime TV's Greatest Stories, February 1990
Thank you so much for the excellent article on "Days Down South," (Daytime Digest, November 1989). The article by Charlene Fortenberry and Nancy Burgess was very well done. They were really able to convey to us all their excitement and anticipation in meeting Stephen, Mary Beth, Richard, Patrice, and the rest of the DAYS crew. I also enjoyed the personal articles on Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans. However, I can't agree with you that a past love will come between Patch and Kayla. This is one couple that is rock-solid in their love and devotion to each other. I can never see anyone breaking that trust. Continued success with your publications. They are the best.
Thank you so much for the excellent article on "Days Down South," (Daytime Digest, November 1989). The article by Charlene Fortenberry and Nancy Burgess was very well done. They were really able to convey to us all their excitement and anticipation in meeting Stephen, Mary Beth, Richard, Patrice, and the rest of the DAYS crew. I also enjoyed the personal articles on Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans. However, I can't agree with you that a past love will come between Patch and Kayla. This is one couple that is rock-solid in their love and devotion to each other. I can never see anyone breaking that trust. Continued success with your publications. They are the best.
Marie DeMattio, Warwick, RI
Soap Opera Update, January 29, 1990
You guys take the best pictures I've ever seen. Please! Please! Start selling them, like the one of Patch and Kayla on your recent cover. I bet you'd make a fortune. If I could buy all the studio pictures your magazine takes, I'd go crazy. I'd go broke! Surely I'm not the only one who'd be delighted to buy that Patch and Kayla picture.
You guys take the best pictures I've ever seen. Please! Please! Start selling them, like the one of Patch and Kayla on your recent cover. I bet you'd make a fortune. If I could buy all the studio pictures your magazine takes, I'd go crazy. I'd go broke! Surely I'm not the only one who'd be delighted to buy that Patch and Kayla picture.
Jennifer Dobrenz, Woodville, WI
Soap Opera Update, January 15, 1990
Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover? I went into the drugstore today and upon seeing the Patch and Kayla cover, I grew the most enormous smile...and instant paralysis. I was spellbound! Without opening the magazine I knew I had to have every copy. Dashing back to work in the drizzling rain, I didn't want to attempt to read and water my magazines. Finally arriving home and slipping out of my damp clothes, I began to attack those pages! How wonderful! I have definitely had my own opinions about the missing patch, the new storyline with Marina, and hopes, dreams and thoughts of their future. But it was certainly great to hear Stephen and Mary Beth's words on the same subjects. Thank you for thinking of the best twosome on daytime TV and for your beautiful treatment of them. Please continue to keep Stephen and Mary Beth (and Steve and Kayla) in picture and prose in SOAP OPERA UPDATE.
Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover? I went into the drugstore today and upon seeing the Patch and Kayla cover, I grew the most enormous smile...and instant paralysis. I was spellbound! Without opening the magazine I knew I had to have every copy. Dashing back to work in the drizzling rain, I didn't want to attempt to read and water my magazines. Finally arriving home and slipping out of my damp clothes, I began to attack those pages! How wonderful! I have definitely had my own opinions about the missing patch, the new storyline with Marina, and hopes, dreams and thoughts of their future. But it was certainly great to hear Stephen and Mary Beth's words on the same subjects. Thank you for thinking of the best twosome on daytime TV and for your beautiful treatment of them. Please continue to keep Stephen and Mary Beth (and Steve and Kayla) in picture and prose in SOAP OPERA UPDATE.
Linda, Scranton, PA