Editing Soap Opera Digest Awards (section)

=== 1984–2005 ===
In 1984, the awards evolved into ''The'' ''Soap Opera Digest'' Awards, to replace the less-lavish ''Soapy Award''. ''The'' ''Soap Opera Digest'' Awards were meant to promote excellence in the [[soap opera]] genre and were decided by the fans who read the magazine. The statue itself was made of crystal and in the shape of a heart.

The first ''Soap Opera Digest'' Award show aired in 1984, and was featured on national syndicated television and hosted by then husband and wife [[Catherine Hickland]] and [[David Hasselhoff]]. One of the reasons for the move up was the new-found audience of both Daytime and [[Prime time]] soap operas. That year for the first time awards were given to prime time soap operas as well as daytime soaps. This practice was phased out in the 1990s as primetime soap operas began to lose the large appeal they once had.

For the first two years, fans themselves voted on the nominees list as well as the winners. [[Ballot stuffing]] and a [[voting bloc]] for the 1985 awards led to the side effect where ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'' swept almost every category. The third awards were changed so that the editors of the magazine chose the nominees and each reader was allowed only one ballot to vote for their favorites. This allowed other shows such as ''[[Santa Barbara (TV series)|Santa Barbara]]'' and ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'' to take home trophies. A change in award season from the end of the year to the beginning meant that there was no show in 1987.

In 1992 the awards were broadcast live for the first time; in addition, the award statue (previously a flat crystal heart) was redesigned to be an inch taller. [[NBC]] had aired the event ever since it made its way to network television, but the show would no longer be seen on the network after the airing of the 2000 awards. The year 2001 marked the first time that there was no awards ceremony and voting was done entirely online. In 2003 the cable channel [[SOAPnet]] broadcast the awards which were hosted by [[Lisa Rinna]] and [[Ty Treadway]].

In 2001, the award was featured in the episode "[[Friends season 7|The One with Joey's Award]]" for the show ''[[Friends]]'', in which [[Joey Tribbiani]] ([[Matt LeBlanc]]) was nominated for a Soapy for his fictional role in ''Days of Our Lives'' but does not win. In the episode, Joey says the awards began in 1998, so it's likely not meant to be the same award, but rather a homage.

No awards were given out in 2002 or 2004. The 2005 awards were done entirely through the magazine. Fans could find a ballot in a November issue of ''Soap Opera Digest'' and then mail it to the editors. Only one ballot per person was counted. The awards were announced in the magazine in February 2005.{{More information needed|date=February 2021|reason=Are the awards still active? What's happened in the decade and a half since 2005?}}