Soap Opera Update:
Best of the Best – MVP Award Nominees 
June 5, 1989
BEST OF THE BEST COUPLE NOMINEE: Steve and Kayla
It’s the nature of daytime soaps that all great loves must endure great pain, and surely Days of our Lives’ Patch and Kayla had their share of hardships. And yet, it’s not the tragedies that remain in our memory when we think of Patch and Kayla, it’s the joy, for their love is a triumph of perseverance in the face of defeat, determination through all travails, and loyalty for all time. The bond that was struck between Steve Johnson and Kayla Brady began under the most unsavory circumstances imaginable, but it was a strong one nevertheless. Time and adversity have drawn the couple closer and closer, so that today they share a love as deep as an ocean, as high as the sky. Together they are the best they can be, and far, far better than they are alone.
BEST OF THE BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE: Mary Beth Evans
When confronted with a difficult and demanding storyline, the pedestal upon which our favorite stars stand may crumble if they aren’t up to the challenge. Days of our Lives’ Mary Beth Evans faced such a challenge this year in the role of Kayla Brady Deveraux Johnson, when she had to enact not only the devastating aftershock of marital rape, but the physically draining months of hysterical deafness. Mary Beth did not wilt under the enormous burden of this character’s story; rather she triumphed, bringing new depth and subtext to Kayla. In gentle, heartfelt love scenes with Steve, in angry vicious fight scenes with Jack, in majestically silent passages with Benjy, and in simple, special moments with her sister Kim, Mary Beth’s Kayla soared with integrity, realism and resolve. Heroic, hurt, confident, confused, pressured, or at peace, Mary Beth played it all. Rather than falling from the pedestal, Mary Beth ascended into the stratosphere.
BEST OF THE BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: Stephen Nichols
The magic that Stephen Nichols brings to the role of Steve “Patch” Johnson on Days of our Lives is hard to put into words. He has to be seen to be understood, for how can you verbalize the intensity of his emotions, the curl of his smile, the swagger in his walk? And how can the simple derisive laugh he offers when the Patchman spots a phony be explained in mere words? There were more high points in Nichols’ performance this year than could be enumerated, but a few shine brighter in memory- Patch signing “The Rose” to Kayla in sign language when she was temporarily deaf; his sensitive confrontation with the Phantom in Steve’s old apartment, where with scalding honesty, Steve revealed the psychological scars he still carries because of his patch; facing the bitter truth that though Jack is his brother Billy, Jack is unwilling to ever embrace the Johnson family; and perhaps most memorable of all, the tender rendition of the wedding vows he offered to Kayla. Like many stars, what’s special about Stephen Nichols is not to be overanalyzed or dissected, merely appreciated and enjoyed.
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