Sharon Newman - Reception

Reception

"Flawless; that’s the word used to describe the acting ability of Sharon Case, who portrays long-suffering Sharon Newman thankfully we have the beautiful Sharon Case playing the role of a lifetime and giving the performance of a lifetime"

—Tommy Garret of Highlight Hollywood on Case's performance (2012)

Despite her crimes and faults, Global Regina describes Sharon as a central heroine who has endured many challenges to get to where she is. In 1995 Case compared Sharon to a younger version of Jill Foster Abbott (Jess Walton), telling Soap Opera Weekly Jill "was kind of like Sharon. She was nice...no one thought she was a gold digger—at first." Kathleen Sloan of the Toronto Star said that Nick's mother (who considered Sharon a gold-digger) might be right after all. Sloan noted that Sharon's "angelic demeanor" might mask "a devil in disguise". In 2009, Luke Kerr of Zap2it noted that all of Sharon's love interests—including Jack, Brad and Nicholas—"seem to think" that she is "the perfect woman". Jamey Giddens (also from Zap2It) described her as soap opera's "hottest mess".

During Maria Arena Bell's tenure as executive producer and head writer, the character's storyline went in an unfavorable creative direction. Bell had promised to make the character a "stronger woman", but Jillian Bowe of Zap2It criticized Bell for not living up to her pledge: "Has transforming Sharon into a promiscuous, recovering kleptomanic, who never considers what her sexual choices will mean for her children, really made her stronger in 's eyes?" She also contended that Sharon's "beloved" character was being "utterly assassinated, via one ill-conceived storyline and/or romance after another". Michael Logan of TV Guide noted that the character turned from "heroine" to a "pyscho slut-nut" when she's "not channeling Joan Crawford in the Pepsi board room." Another writer from Zap2It praised Case for giving "one wonky storyline after another" her best efforts in a character that was "once beloved" but had been "royally assassinated". A September 2012 scene (in which Sharon wore white to husband Victor's funeral) was described by Joshua Morrow as "one of the best and funniest scenes" in the show's history. Tommy Garrett of Canyon News wrote, "Maria Bell knows that consummate actress Sharon Case plays the consummate heroine Sharon Newman with aplomb."

The relationship between Sharon and Nick relationship is popular with viewers, and they are considered a prominent soap-opera supercouple. The pair are known by the portmanteau "Shick" in social media. Kim Potts of The Huffington Post ranked Nick and Sharon 16th on its list of "Greatest Soap Opera Supercouples". Potts said the couple's feelings have not become "enduring love", but a reunion is "always a possibility". SoapNet reported that with their anticipated reunion in February 2009, the show gained an average of 447,000 viewers. Sharon's romance with Adam has also gained a fan following, and they are known as "Shadam" in social media. The couple are perceived as "showing us the many shades of love. In this case, mostly dark", according to SoapNet. The show gained 115,000 viewers after their reunion in December 2010. In 2012, Sharon's romance with Victor was the source of disapproval from actors, critics and viewers. Of the relationship, journalist Michael Fairman said it "hasn’t worked out or caught fire through the writing, or with the fans watching on-screen!" Several cast members expressed negative opinions about the relationship (including Case, Braeden, Morrow and Muhney), and the Daytime Confidential website placed Sharon and Victor atop its "Worst Soap Opera Couples" list.

Case has received a number of honors for her portrayal of Sharon, including Daytime Emmy Award nominations in 1996 and 1997 for Outstanding Younger Actress. At the Soap Opera Digest Awards in 1998, she won the Hottest Female Star award. In 1999 she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, her first nomination in that category; she was nominated for the same category in 2000 and 2004. At the 2003 Soap Opera Digest Awards, Case received an Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination. Cassie's 2005 death storyline (with parents Sharon and Nicholas coping afterwards) earned the show a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team. The death of Cassie Newman is rated #41 on the Soaphunks list of 100 Most Memorable Moments In Soap History. Amid critical praise for the Cassie-death storyline, Dan J. Kroll of Soap Central noted that it had "widely been expected" that Morrow and Case would receive nominations for Outstanding Leading Actress and Actor at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards; however, they were not. Despite this, Grimes was nominated for the Outstanding Younger Actress award.

In January 2011, a Daytime Emmy Awards "final push" by Canyon News suggested that Case's performance needed more Emmy attention. Case's performance in 2012, described as a "whirlwind year", was met with critical acclaim due to writing by Bell (which, in turn, was criticized). On-Air On-Soaps commented, "Surviving probably one of the worst on-screen character assassinations in soap opera history, which virtually left viewers wondering, what the heck are the writers doing to the integrity of Sharon Newman, the once befallen heroine of Genoa City?, Case rebounded by making her performances noteworthy, no matter what the creative teams decided to do to her character". This led Soap Opera Uncensored to name her Entertainer of the Year in January 2013.