Try to not focus on the actors who were in the cast but on the storylines and general quality of the show compared to other soaps. It was a different time, a different context, and basically a different show back then. I also liked the pre-Rauch stuff.
Love is stronger than hate.
Megan McTavish comes in a close second with Leah Laiman trailing at her hackneyed heel. Not sure who the EP was. The head writers during the Rauch era were Peggy O'Shea, Chris Schnessel and Gary Carlson. Before that was Gordon Russell. He and Schnessel are both deceased.