11:55 pm - 02/08/2013
IT'S SOAP NEWS FRIDAY!!!
Jackie Zeman Returning To General Hospital!
Fans have been asking for this, and now they will finally get to see one of the those most beloved characters of all-time on General Hospital again, when Jackie returns in the role of Bobbie Spencer!
Jacklyn Zeman, who originated the role of Bobbie in 1977 and was last seen in Port Charles in 2010, is returning on March 21. "I am so pleased," Zeman beams. "Literally, every day I am getting stopped on the street: 'Are you coming back?'
It's a complicated question to answer because I always want to be positive and support the show, but at the same time, you don't want to lead people [on]. So I would say, 'Well, I haven't been invited yet.' Now, I'm so happy that when people ask me, I can say, 'I got invited back!'"
Zeman got her first hint of a possible comeback from her manager, Michael Bruno. "He called me like a week ago and said, 'I think they are going to give you some dates, but nothing's firm.' I've learned over the years, until you have a booking date and you're in a script, people can talk all they want, but you're not on TV [laughs]. Then yesterday he called with, 'Okay, we have three shows with firm dates for you!'
It was a complete shock that I had firm shows booked. I knew the 50th anniversary was coming up. And I thought, 'Maybe there's going to be something there, because it seems in everybody else's minds that it seems like a perfectly natural thing."
Zeman posted a message to fans on her Facebook page saying:
“Bobbie Spencer is coming back to GH soon. I am very happy to be invited and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. Thank you so much to all of you for your good wishes and positive thoughts. xoxox”
Cady McClain returns to All My Children!
Well, it’s time to be whistlin’ Dixie! Cady McClain posted a very special message today on her website confirming that she has plans to be part of Prospect Park’s All My Childrenreboot! Therefore, it looks like Dixie Martin will be back in action!
Since word got out that AMC/PP contacted me, I thought it was best to wait a bit until I confirmed it out of respect for the fact I am still sorting out the details of the situation. However, I feel confident in telling you that I will be a part of the AMC Internet Re-boot. I am very excited about the possibilities for the show in this medium and want to help give it every chance at success.
As you probably know by now, I am fascinated with all the many possibilities for creative expression that the Internet has to offer. I have a feeling the show will find many new opportunities for connecting with fans and I look forward to being a part of that as well.
I am also thrilled that Ginger Smith, who has worked on AMC for as long as I can remember, is finally getting the chance to helm the show. There are few people that know and love AMC as much as Ginger. I know for a fact she is doing everything in her power to make the show as wonderful for the long time fans as she possibly can.
Thank you all so much for your well wishes and support.
Steve Burton & Joshua Morrow's live chat with fans!
Steve Burton & Joshua Morrow treated fans to a live chat on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.
TIME Special Report: Can the Internet Save Soap Operas?!
It seemed, at first, like a love that would last forever. After so many years together, what could go wrong? But, as does often happen, the thrill began to wane. A last attempt at rekindling that romance ended in tears. Until, a year later, they tried again—and found that love as strong as ever.
Sound like a soap opera? It is. Two of them, actually. For nearly four decades, sudser staples All My Children and One Life to Live were afternoon television constants. When—after years of sliding ratings and high costs—they finally went off into the Great Cheesy Set in the sky (in September 2011 and January 2012, respectively), longtime fans were devastated.
But there was a mysterious stranger waiting in the shadows. A few months before the shows left the air, the L.A.-based production company Prospect Park had struck a deal with their network, ABC, getting a license to both shows and promising they would continue “with the same quality and in the same format and length,” but on a new platform: the Internet.
Of course, the road to love is treacherous and bumpy. After months of will-they-or-won’t-they and a year during which it seemed sure that the shows would never actually make the move online, Deadline broke the news in December that Prospect Park was trying again. This time it was for real. Starting this spring, new episodes will be available via iTunes, Hulu and Prospect Park’s website The OnLine Network.
Production on the revamped shows—they’ll still have new episodes every weekday, but each will last 30 minutes rather than an hour—begins this month. And, despite the year-long vacuum and the perils of the platform transition, soap-opera experts are cautiously optimistic that this plot line will have a happy ending.
It’s All About the Fans
It wouldn’t work without fan excitement—and that excitement is justified, says Carolyn Hinsey, a soap-opera blogger and veteran columnist for Soap Opera Digest. “How can you not be positive? If you could bring someone back from the dead and they might be a little sick for a while, wouldn’t you still rather have them back?” Hinsey told TIME, likening the experience to visiting an old friend. “And then they’ll get better and better, and hopefully they’ll be totally healthy and you’ll get to go hang out with them again.”
Hinsey believes that the concerns expressed by some fans in the comments sections of soap-opera fan sites—Will the casual fans have found something else to fill their free time? How will fans with slow internet connections watch the show now? What about fans with no internet access?—should not hinder the shows’ success. Many of the cast and crew from both shows (and One Life in particular) are returning for the new incarnations, after all, and prime-time soap Dallas succeeded in coming back (albeit to TV) after a hiatus lasting more than two decades.
As for the logistics of online viewing, she believes that truly devoted fans will always figure out a way to watch. “A lot of viewers didn’t have cable either, and when TV started going in the direction where you needed a cable box, they got cable. My grandmother had the antenna with the Reynolds Wrap on the end of it but if she was alive when you needed cable to watch soaps, she would have gotten cable. So I think a lot of older people will figure out a way to watch it online,” Hinsey says. “And they don’t need 3 million viewers to be possible, as a half-hour internet soap. If you get a million viewers you’re one of the biggest internet hits around.”
And the much-trumpeted end of the soap opera, she believes, was just a self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuated by network brass, who hastened to make real the demise of the genre by failing to promote or embrace shows that still had strong ties to their viewers. Her evidence? Over Christmas week this past year, the remaining ABC soap, General Hospital, reached a two-year high for viewership.
Settling Scores?
Another potential reason for fan-engagement, as befitting the genre, is revenge. Hinsey says many soap fans felt insulted by ABC’s decision to replace soap operas with lifestyle shows like The Chew and The Revolution. That resentment is on full display online: soap-opera activists like Y.B., better known as “Screw the Chew”, took to Twitter and Facebook to lash out at the network, organize boycotts of ABC and its sponsors, and plan live protests at events like ABC’s May 2011 showcase. The outcry was strong enough to influence Hoover to pull its vacuum ads from the network and—although both ABC and Propsect Park would not comment on the matter for this article—the fans believe their activism is at least partially responsible for the show’s return.
So a successful online version will be a poke at the network they feel abandoned them, although it’s not as much of a win as a return to television would have been. “We’re definitely going to watch online. Even if it’s not exactly the way we wanted it, we’re still going to support it and watch,” says Y.B. “We proved to everyone else that we wanted them back and they came back. It does feel good to prove them wrong.”
History on Their Side
There’s also cause for hope based on the history of the soap opera. That’s even if the decline of the genre isn’t just in TV executives’ collective imaginations. C. Lee Harrington, an editor of the 2012 book The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era, says that the drop in interest has been real—General Hospital‘s recent viewership numbers notwithstanding. After reaching a high point in the 1960s, there was a steady decline in ratings that continued until a sharp drop in the late ’90s. “When Guiding Light was cancelled [in 2009, after 57 years on television and another 15 on radio], it seemed like ‘anything can be cancelled,’” she says, “just because of its longevity.”
Fewer women were spending their days at home, and cable television and internet provided alternatives for those who still did. Then, in 1995, the trial of O.J. Simpson dominated daytimes airwaves and disrupted long-established viewing habits. Reality television came along, offering a cheaper-to-make alternative for networks looking for content. And soap operas, as a concept, didn’t seem to make so much sense anymore. “As the pace of life got quicker and quicker,” Harrington says, “the idea of investing in something that you needed to watch every single day just became less and less relevant to how people are living their daily lives.”
The New Model
But that doesn’t mean soap operas are done. To the contrary: Soaps once made the transition from radio to television, why can’t they make the transition to internet? They already have, in some cases: Harrington cites Venice—which stars soap vet Crystal Chappell and won a 2011 Daytime Emmy in the “special class format” category—as a successful early version of an online soap model. “There’s an audience out there looking for a different way to consume soaps. In some ways, this could be going back to the early days of radio, when you had 15-minute installments,” she says. And even compared to five years ago, the Internet is very accessible to soap fans, who already populate and contribute to a wide array of message boards and forums.
“The merging of television and the internet isn’t far away, whatever that might look like,” she says—but whatever it does look like, it will include soap operas. “This is a really ancient form of storytelling, the serial narrative. At the end of one installment, you want to know what happens next. We’re seeing it less on daytime television, but that form of storytelling will absolutely continue.”
And she’s got a point, because there’s another reason viewers will have an incentive to tune in, especially with All My Children. They need to find out what happens. The show’s finale ended—naturally—with a cliff-hanger.
Casting All My Children: Who Are Grace, Hunter & Heather? New Roles … SORAS’D Characters… Recasts?!
As many fans have been noticing, the online version of All My Children is skewing young these days with its recent casting notices. While long time AMC fans are hoping for news that some of their big name favorites will still sign on the dotted line and join Prospect Park’s Pine Valley reboot, casting is ongoing for the following three roles!
According to Soap Opera Digest, AMC is looking to fill the follwing younger demo roles: “The contract role of Grace, who is described as a blonde, driven, sexy, Caucasian girl in her early 20s, and the recurring roles of Hunter, a handsome, confident bad boy, Caucasian, 16 to 18-years old and Heather, a beautiful 18-year-old Caucasian queen bee.”
John Stamos tweets!
visiting my buddy kin shriner (scotty baldwin) at my old stomping grounds -GH
Kin Shriner on John Stamos, Genie Francis and the Pot-Smoking Eighties!
It's hard to tell who's more excited about Kin Shriner's February 19 return to General Hospital — him or us! The most beloved third wheel in suds history, Shriner's Scotty Baldwin was married to Laura (Genie Francis) back when she famously fell in love with Luke (Anthony Geary). Will the poor guy finally get revenge? According to an ABC rep, "Scott Baldwin returns to Port Charles as most of the town is gathered at the Haunted Star for a Valentine's Day party and the first person he sees is Luke. Things will escalate very quickly between the two of them." TV Guide spoke with Shriner — a veteran of 12 serials — about the best job he ever had.
TV Guide: We haven't seen Scotty since 2008. Were you dying to get back on GH for the 50th anniversary?
Kin Shriner: My goal is to always keep playing Scotty, which I've now done in five different decades, which is crazy! He's been through so many incarnations, what with hundreds of writers, plus my own meddling. He's been a goodie and a baddie. Hey, when you're happily wed to a woman who runs off with her rapist, it'll tarnish you. I'm just wondering who else they can dig up for the 50th.
TV Guide: John Stamos is showing up, right?
Shriner: I'm sure Stamos will come back because he knows GH started his career. And, of course, Ricky Dean Anderson. We need to get MacGyver back in the mix! We're like an old family from the '80s and I think we'll always feel that way. I'd love to work with Stamos again. As Blackie, he was Paul Drake to my Perry Mason, my footman, my go-to guy. "Go find this out, Blackie!"
TV Guide: Word is, GH is going to revisit that incident where Luke's daughter Lulu killed Scotty's son Logan.
Shriner: That's what they tell me. I kinda thought we played that out so I'm wondering where this is headed. Scotty took Lulu to trial and didn't win. He didn't really know Logan very well — one day the kid just suddenly popped up in town — but maybe Scotty's still disgruntled.
TV Guide: Funny how we still want to call him Scotty, rather than Scott, which the network has been pushing for years.
Shriner: [Former GH executive producer] Wendy Riche is the one who got that "Scott" stuff going. One day she suddenly made a big deal about it. "You are now playing Scott Baldwin." And I'm like, "Why? Why is that, Wendy?" I never did get a real answer. But, whatever. It's Scotty who's coming back!
TV Guide: When did you first realize GH was a juggernaut?
Shriner: I remember it clearly. It was 1979. Genie and I were in Fort Lauderdale having dinner at Stan's. Right in the middle of our conch chowder, I look up and see a line of people around the building wanting our autographs. We knew we might be onto something.
TV Guide: You and Genie are still tight, right?
Shriner: Yeah. (Laughs) And we still cause a stir! A couple of months ago I had lunch with her in Calabasas, where she lives, and she made me go to the market with her. There was quite a fuss in the produce department when people spotted us. They were asking us, "Hey, wow, what are you two doing together? Are you guys a couple now?" And I'm, like, "No, Genie just needed a couple of melons for the morning and I tagged along. Really! There's nothing going on!" Of course the people recognizing us were all in their fifties. They enjoyed those times back then. We remind them of their college days and smoking pot. (Laughs) Because that's what everyone was pretty much doing in 1981!
TV Guide: Tony and Genie have been very open about the dark side of their GH success, but for you it all seems to have been a lark. True?
Shriner: I know some of it was bumpy for them, but I've had the time of my life and made the greatest friends. We've all stayed connected in hopes that we can connect again as our characters. Lynn Herring [Lucy] and I have had a thousand phone calls — we talk at least once a week — where we're, like, "Wouldn't it be great if our characters came back to Port Charles and did such-and-such." And now it's actually happening! (Laughs) We no longer have to imagine it with tweety birds over our heads!
Jack Wagner Dishes On Details Of His General Hospital Return!
Many thought this day would never come, but under Executive Producer Frank Valentini, Jack is back and the enthusiasm for his return is palpable.
“When I talked to Frank [Valentini], the [executive] producer, and we decided that Frisco would come back it’s like, ‘Is he coming back [with the] ‘out of the Turkish prison look,’ with a little gruffy beard and Harrison Ford in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ or, is going to be more Michael Douglas ‘Wall Street’? So he said, ‘Let’s make it Turkish prison.’ So, I’ve cleaned up since I’ve been back,” Jack explains.
Jack’s character Frisco has been off the show for 18 years, missing monumental moments in the life of his family – Felicia, Maxie and his late daughter, Georgie. It’s not always easy to bring a character back to a soap. There have been plenty of column inches filled with writers lamenting implausible returns, but Frisco won’t join the category. He had a reason for being away.
“He has been a CIA agent and he chose his work over his family,” Jack says, when Sharon asks one of two Frisco-related questions on the mind of every “General Hospital” fan (the other question – about F&F comes later). “Now we’re starting to peel the onion back and I worked the other day with Kirsten Storms, who’s my daughter, [Maxie, on the show]. It really peels the onion back and brought up a lot of emotion.
“I’m really happy that this character can evolve and now say, ‘I was gone, I wasn’t a present father, I’m here now. I want to make up for the time that I was away and I think those are powerful scenes,” he continues. “I think it’s what the audience needs to hear and it’s what this character needs to say to have any kind of nobility.”
Jacob Young Speaks On His Status With B&B & Prospect Park!
CBS Daytime soap fans keep a keen eye in the coming weeks on Rick Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful! And while things are heating up for him at Forrester Creations, his portrayer Daytime Emmy winner, Jacob Young chatted with On-Air On-Soaps about his current status with B&B, after all the headlines that Prospect Park revitalized their efforts and will soon launch All My Children 2.0!
As soap fans know, while Young has played Lucky Spencer on General Hospital, Rick on B&B, he is most identifiable for his performances as the troubled son of Adam Chandler, JR on All My Children! And, in the final episode of ABC’s version of the iconic soap, JR with gun in hand … shot at someone! It appeared to be Erica Kane, or did the distraught Chandler possibly turn the gun on himself? Or, did it simply misfire?
When we caught up with Jacob, he filled us in on his future with The Bold and the Beautiful and if there was any way we might see him return as Pine Valley’s bad boy, JR! Here is what he had to say below!
Jacob on his thoughts on AMC finally moving online, how he feels about it, and his status with B&B: “I am happy for them. A lot of the people that I worked with have signed on and they will have a shot at it again and have a job. I hope that it gets on its feet and starts growing. Obviously, I am here on The Bold and the Beautiful which is probably the best job to have, and best place to be at on daytime. It is a fantastic place to work. I could not be more thrilled. As a man, and as a person with integrity and honor, I do in the back of my mind feel the need to express to Brad Bell, and to the producers of AMC, to give them an explanation as to why I can’t do it. Obviously, I am under contract. I cannot lie, Prospect Park did come to me and they said, ‘Jacob, obviously you are under contract, but where would we be if we weren’t asking you to come over?’ I said, ‘I understand. If there was anything I could do, and if it was in my power, I would absolutely, but ultimately I am here at B&B.’ It’s not my way to rock the boat. I am very lucky to be surviving in this industry, and be airing on television.”
Jacob on what he thinks will happen to the character of JR post-ABC cliffhanger, and what he has heard in terms of a recast for the role: “From what I understand, they are going to be moving the show forward a year, so they can get past that point. They told me every time they try to write the story, JR obviously would come into the picture. They also told me whether I could, or could not do AMC; they were going to continue on with the character regardless. I said, ‘I understand.’ But then I had a couple of friends tell me that they are up for the role of JR! They called and said, ‘Hey dude, I am up for your role!’ And I would go, ‘Yeah? Good.’ If it means another one of my fellow actors I know gets the job, than I am very happy for them. It’s a special character and always will be.”
Prospect Park Statement on ABC and ONE LIFE TO LIVE Characters On GENERAL HOSPITAL!
Prospect Park released the following statement regarding its licensing agreement with ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. In 2011, when Prospect Park decided to reboot these shows, they lent characters to GENERAL HOSPITAL until shooting began for the new programs so that the characters could stay alive with the fans and also so that the actors could remain working. Everyone at ABC and on the production staff of GENERAL HOSPITAL understood that this was a temporary arrangement until production started once again on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Now the time has come to start production and Prospect Park wants to, once again, cast these characters including Llanview transplants Michael Easton (John McBain) and Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning). See statement below:
"Prospect Park understands that GENERAL HOSPITAL has featured Llanview transplants Michael Easton (John) and Kristen Alderson (Starr) among others while we arranged production of the new version of ONE LIFE TO LIVE. These characters, who we own under our agreement, are obviously essential to our production efforts, and a large reason we licensed the program. We also understand that legions of GENERAL HOSPITAL fans have grown to love these actors and characters in a short time. So even though we are paying ABC millions of dollars to license the shows, we have been, and continue to be willing to equally share the characters with GENERAL HOSPITAL and ABC. It's a win-win for the actors, the shows and fans, who love all of the shows and storylines. We hope to work out these agreements with ABC and the actors."
The statement did not specifically mention Roger Howarth (Todd Manning).
Fox In Talks With Regis Philbin To Host Show On Fox Sports 1!
Fox Sports has been in talks with veteran TV host Regis Philbin to host a show for its planned Fox Sports 1 channel, according to several sources. Fox and Philbin have not agreed on a deal yet, but sources say talks are serious and an agreement could be close at hand. Fox declined to comment on the rumors, but sources say Philbin would serve as the main host of a show that would look like a sports version of "The View," with Philbin serving in the Barbara Walters role as the part-time host. Philbin is a known sports fan, and sources said the show would be a sports show, as opposed to a hybrid entertainment-and-sports show.
Sources also said that Fox has been looking into having a Jay Mohr show on Fox Sports 1. Last month, Mohr launched "Jay Mohr Sports" on Fox Sports Radio. It is not clear whether Fox is considering simulcasting Mohr's radio show or having him host his own show. Fox Sports still has not officially announced its plans for Fox Sports 1. Sources say Fox will rebrand its motorsports channel Speed as the multi-sport Fox Sports 1 this August. Around the same time, it will rebrand its action sports channel Fuel into the multi-sport Fox Sports 2, sources said.
Katie Couric Lands Interview With Widow of Joe Paterno!
Katie Couric has landed an exclusive interview with the widow of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. It is the first in-depth interview Sue Paterno has given since the sex-abuse scandal rocked college sports and forever tarnished her husband's legacy.
Couric visited Sue Paterno at her home in State College, Pa., where she lived with her husband of 50 years until his death in January 2012. That came just two months after he was fired by the university.
In June, Jerry Sandusky -- a former assistant coach at Penn State and a longtime and close colleague of Joe Paterno's -- was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.
The Paterno family has steadfastly defended Joe Paterno's actions in the case, saying he did what was expected of him by reporting Sandusky to college administrators. Sue Paterno also is scheduled to appear at Katie's New York studio on Feb. 11, when the installment is scheduled to air.
Couric's latest get comes two weeks after her sit-down with star Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, which gave the show its largest audience since its premiere in September.
Debbie Morgan tweets start date for AMC reboot!
"Almost 3 more weeks & we'll be back 2 taping new episodes of AMC on the 25th of this month! Sooo excited," Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard) revealed on Twitter.
Cassandra Foster returning to Pine Valley!
Angie Hubbard's adopted daughter, Cassandra Foster, will be returning to Pine Valley. After five years away, the character will resurface when All My Children relaunches this spring. When last seen on-screen, Cassandra was portrayed by model-turned-actress Yaya DaCosta. DaCosta rose to fame during the third cycle of the reality series America's Next Top Model. In the reality competition, created and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, DaCosta placed second behind winner Eva Pigford.
DaCosta was only a part of AMC for a few months. The actress made her debut in April 2008, and the character was ushered out in August of the same year.
Cassandra left Pine Valley to go to Paris, where her father, Jacob Foster, was set to undergo surgery.
WATCH: THE INN Series Premiere!
Watch the series premiere of Steve Silverman's THE INN, starring Crystal Chappell, below.
WATCH: Colleen Zenk Debuts On THURSTON!
On the brand new episode of THURSTON, Marshal Robinson jails Jo and Owen, and Agnes Snead coerces Judge Richards to help her sons. Three-time Emmy nominee Colleen Zenk from AS THE WORLD TURNS makes her debut as Agnes. Watch it below:
Sean Kanan Is On The Radio!
If you'd like to know what Sean Kanan (A.J., GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Deacon, THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL/THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS) is like off the set, you need go no further than www.UBNRadio.com where you'll be able to tune into the actor's new Internet radio show!
Kanan and his wife, Michele, will be co-hosting Kanan's Rules on the UBN Radio Network, discussing careers, romance, politics, current events and more with each other and with special guests. Almost no topic will be off-limits!
"Five years ago, I was a bachelor who lived alone in the Hollywood Hills," Kanan says. "I came and went and didn't answer to anyone. Now I am living with a wife, five kids and two dogs. That alone provides enough topics to last the next ten years!"
"We make a great team," Michele adds. "Living with Sean is like a carnival ride sometimes because I never know where we're gonna be or how we will get stuff done. But amid all of our shenanigans, we manage to excel at our careers and more importantly, at being a family."
Kanan's Rules will air live on Wednesdays from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm PST at www.UBNRadio.com starting this Wednesday, February 6. Past episodes will be archived at iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn, so you don't have to worry about missing a show!
GL's Goldin Gets SPONTANEOUS!
In his new series for HGTV, SPONTANEOUS CONSTRUCTION, soap vet Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake, ALL MY CHILDREN; Gus, GUIDING LIGHT) takes on the role of host as he uses social media to gather together a flash mob of volunteers and skilled workers to undertake home renovations for a family.
The series premieres on HGTV on Friday, February 15, at 8:00 pm EST, but you can get a taste of it right now with this special preview video!
See Y&R's Gloria On Stage!
Judith Chapman (Gloria) will be performing her must-see one-woman show Vivien, based on the life of actress Vivien Leigh (Gone With The Wind) at The Bandon Playhouse's Sprague Theater in Bandon, Oregon on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 17 at 2 p.m. Chapman gives a powerful tour-de-force as she delves into the triumphs of the actress' life as well as the tragedies, which included mental illness. "It started when she was 26 and plagued her 20-year marriage with Laurence Olivier," Chapman says. "TB is what killed her, but there was manic depression, too. We know more about it now, but the way it was dealt with back in the 40's, 50's and 60's was so barbaric."
For ticket information for Vivien go to www.thebandonplayhouse.com or call 541-551-1066.
Jill Mitwell Wins DGA Award For One Life to Live’s “Between Heaven and Hell” Episode!!
The DGA honors outstanding directorial achievement in feature film, documentary, and television every year at the annual DGA Awards celebration.
In hosted by Kelsey Grammer, One Life to Live director, Jill Mitwell was the night’s big winner in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials category for her stunning work in the “Between Heaven and Hell” episode which many remembered as one of the final classic episodes of One Life’s run on ABC!
This is Jill Mitwell’s fourth win in the category for One Life to Live and it was her ninth nomination. Mitwell bested episodes from General Hospital directors: Larry Carpenter, Scott McKinsey, William Ludel, and Days of our Lives Albert Alaar.
Ron Carlivati, the man in charge of writing Jill’s winning episode at One Life to Live, sent out an excited tweet this evening stating, “Jill Mitwell wins #DGA award for #OLTL episode: “Between Heaven and Hell”! So well deserved!!! Couldn’t be happier!!!”
Ms. Mitwell’s Directorial Team: Associate Directors: Tracy Casper Lang, Teresa Cicala, Michael Sweeney, Paul S. Glass
Stage Managers: Alan Needleman, Keith Greer, Tracy Casper Lang, Leah M. Weber Production Associates: Nathalie Rodriguez, Kevin Brush are also honored.
Kyle Lowder Rocks You Like A Hurricane!!
Kyle Lowder rocked the soap world as DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Brady and THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL's Rick. Now he's stopping hearts with his lead role as long-haired, tattooed singer Stacee Jaxx in Rock Of Ages, the newest smash on the Las Vegas strip! Set in in 1987, the drama tells the story of Drew and Sherrie, two wide-eyed but talented Los Angeles newcomers who chase their dreams while falling in love and crossing paths with the likes of jaded superstars like Jaxx.
Not only does the musical feature a host of your favorite 80s hits, but it also stars the classically-trained opera singer as the glam rocker belting them out. "It's been very challenging, and not just with the singing but also with the character because he's very complex," Lowder confides. "He's this conceited, ultra-cool rock god, but at the same time he's a moron -- it's very comedic."
From learning how not to "blow his tank" vocally when doing seven shows each week to doing his own makeup to becoming the toast of Las Vegas and even being invited to sing with the band Foreigner recently, Lowder says he's enjoying the biggest challenge of his career and that he couldn't be more proud of the show. "I'm living the life of a rock star, rocking out on stage every night," he enthuses. "It's really the best gig I could possibly imagine."
Tickets range from $45-$115 and are available from The Venetian Box Office at (866) 641-7469 or online at www.Venetian.com.
Robert S. Woods On How Key It Is To Have Recognizable Main Characters Onboard For OLTL Reboot!
Everyone is thrilled that One Life to Live veteran Robert S. Woods has signed on with Prospect Park to continue his role as fan favorite, Bo Buchanan! And with the recent news that his on-screen wife, Hillary B. Smith (Nora Buchanan) will also be back, One Lifers were jumping for joy that soon they would see their favorite Llanview couple again.
In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands now, Woods talks about coming out of “acting” retirement, getting the chance to work with Jennifer Pepperman again (who is the new executive producer of One Life to Live) and how happy he is that Prospect Park was able to get and secure the main core characters and actors of One Life to return including: Robin Strasser (Dorian), Jerry verDorn (Clint) and Erika Slezak (Viki).
Woods related the importance of having the core cast for the reboot: “You need that to start, otherwise you don’t have a show that’s called One Life to Live and you turn it on and go, “I don’t know anybody!” But if you have Erika sitting there at her desk and Robin waltzing in, then you can go,”Oh, okay! This is it. Sparks are gonna fly.” (Laughs) Now it’s just a matter of nailing everything down.”
Ricki Lake Talk Show Canceled!
This came as no surprise but today official word was handed down that The Ricki Lake Show was canceled and will not be renewed for the 2013-2014 season. Stephen Brown, Twentieth TV’s EVP of programming & development, stated on the cancellation: “While we are proud of the topics the program tackled including childhood obesity, life-after the military, divorce, and addiction we were simply not able to breakthrough the crowded talk show marketplace.”
According to Deadline.com, a similar notice will be given to the Jeff Probst Show. Along with Lake and Probst, Anderson Cooper’s talk show, Anderson will also not see another season.
But while we hoped that programming executives and syndication arms would realize that there is just way too much talk shows on daytime, there are still more programs waiting in the wings to infuriate soap fans that include the following hosting their own talkers: Kris Jenner, Bethenny Frankel, Arsenio Hall ans Queen Latifah!
ATWT's Silbermann On Stage Again!
AS THE WORLD TURNS alum Jake Silbermann (Noah) has appeared in more than a few stage productions since the soap's end, and he's about to add one more to the list, having been cast in The Assembled Parties.
The world-premiere play from Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg will feature Silbermann on stage with actors like Jessica Hecht and Judith Light (Karen, ONE LIFE TO LIVE). The story chronicles the family drama of a Jewish family living on Manhattan's Upper West Side over a twenty year period.
The Assembled Parties will begin previews on Thursday, March 21, and open for a limited run on Wednesday, April 17, at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street in New York City.
SOD: Michelle Stafford interview!
Phyllis and Jack will be "heating up" and are slowing falling back in love. MS talks about how much she loves working with PB. She recognizes Phick fans are upset about them ending and Nick "started playing the same thing with the sister".
As for Phick, MS talks about how badly they were written under Maria Bell. She acknowledges Bell wasn't interested in writing for them and all Phick did "during the Maria time was break up and talk about Sharon." Then Josh Griffith walked in and Nick and Phyllis ended.
She says of course as it goes for any soap couple, "if the show stays on long enough or I stay on the show long enough, there could be another incarnation", but, now "I just don't think they have anything to say to each other, to be honest with you, except if it's about their kid."
Mention of Christine gunning for Phyllis, but a "surprise offer for Christine changes everything" teases Griffith.
MS also states in her interview that there is a "big revelation" coming up for Phyllis later in February that she says is "really interesting" and something she didn't want "swept under the rug because it's such a change" for her character.
DAYS: Kate and Rafe Have Sex!
The latest issue of SOD has an article Kate and Rafe. At the beginning of the week, Kate hears from Stefano. Kate isn’t happy with Stefano’s detached demeanor, and some harsh words are exchanged. This is the tipping point for Kate, and she goes out drinking.
Rafe ends up joining her at the bar. He is angry over Sami’s treatment of Gabi. The two of them begin discussing the baby that’s coming. Kate considers Gabi family now that she is carrying her grandson’s baby, and she is understanding of what Gabi is going through. They continue to drink, and are soon saying things to one another they wouldn’t normally say. According to Lauren Koslow, “Kate also thinks that Rafe is obviously a very hot, sex guy. A chemical thing happens and it turns intimate.”
Kate wakes up in Rafe’s bed the next day. They agree it was a drunken mistake, but then they have sex again.
A Look Inside GH's book tie-in, Love in Maine!
As seen on ABC Daytime’s General Hospital, the delightful first novel from Port Charles’s Connie Falconeri. Whether you’ve been a fan of GH your entire life or simply love a romantic romp of a beach read, Love in Maine is unputdownable!
Nadia Bjorlin Interview: Does Chloe Stand A Chance At Getting Dr. Daniel Back?!
Nadia Bjorlin is back! The beautiful and talented actress was previously ushered out of Salem, and off Days of our Lives, after Chloe had turned to life of prostitution and her once loveable and feisty character became a victim of her own bad choices. Now Chloe has returned to Salem with a purpose; to snare Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian) for herself, but more importantly to give their son, Parker, a father figure he has never had, and to right the wrongs from the whole paternity pickle, thanks in part to the meddling hands of some of Salem’s most notable past and present citizens!
On-Air On-Soaps chatted with Nadia for this “quickie” interview, so we could get her take on Chloe’s latest actions, and the obstacle that she sees in the way of her future happiness, Jennifer Horton Deveraux (Melissa Reeves)! Here’s what Nadia had to say about Chloe’s sudden return that had Daniel, shall we say, speechless!
When you came back to DAYS, did you know ahead of time that Chloe was going to be an interfering “Buttinski” in the Daniel and Jennifer romance?
NADIA: (Laughs) I like that word, “Buttinski”. Actually, I was told none of the storyline. I just went on blind faith. But basically, I was really happy to come back to DAYS because previously it was just an abrupt ending for Chloe with the prostitution thing. It was such a low point for her that I really felt like there was part of the story that was not being told, that even I wanted answered. I was happy to come back to maybe redeem her, and to see what has been happening in her life now after her tragic past.
Is Chloe still in love with Dr. Daniel?
NADIA: I think now it’s more that she wants a father for her child. I think she thinks she is in love with Daniel, and she probably is. I mean, she was very in love with him before. I think now it’s more about the idea that he represents at this point. I think she is a bit of a romantic and welcomed the idea of this fairy tale. I think she is in love with him, but it’s more the whole picture she is in love with.
Will Kate continue to be Chloe’s Salem nemesis?
NADIA: Yes and no. When Chloe was in Salem last, she was so weak. Now, she has come back stronger and I like that. She has found more of her self and sense of self. Chloe is not going to let anyone mess with her. However, I think she may swing that pendulum a bit too far in the other direction. She was so victimized before, that now she is not going to take crap from anyone. And because of that, she may not necessarily listen to people who are giving her good advice. I don’t think she is going to listen to anyone! (laughs).
How is working with Melissa Reeves?
NADIA: Oh it’s so great, because she is so unbelievably sweet, and because I have to be so mean to her. It’s always people I have to be horrible to on set, that are the nicest people in real life! People don’t realize it makes it extra hard, because as an actress, you can’t draw from anything. There is no reason to be nasty to this girl. Melissa is so nice and sweet, and so I just apologize ahead of time. I go, “I am so sorry.” (Laughs) That is because of some of the mean things I have to say. Sometimes, I ask if I can change my lines. I will say, “Oh. this is so mean. I don’t know if I can do this.” Melissa is amazing to work with. We volley off of each other very well. She really cares. Melissa cares about the story, the integrity of her own character, and the characters on DAYS, in general. It is always nice to work with somebody who comes in prepared, and is about the work, and that is always fun.
The Week In The Year 2000!
Gillian told Ryan that she loved him, but she refused to cancel her wedding to Jake. Greenlee tracked down Gillian at the mall and told her a lie about Ryan having dumped her after making love all night. Alex underwent hypnosis for a second time and learned that Geoffrey had killed her best friend -- and his daughter --Cassandra. Lyle dropped all charges against Adrian and Rae after making Tad promise that he'd stop investigating him. Hayley and Mateo told Adam that they were getting married again. Scott told Becca that he loved her. Leo met with his pal, Paolo, and arranged for him to seduce Marian. A gunman held Alex hostage at the mall, and she suddenly turned into a fighting machine as she pummeled the man into submission. Liza took away Jake's visitation rights with Colby until after the custody hearing. Myrtle planned a trip to Fannie Battle Home for Unwed Mothers. Adam let Ryan eavesdrop on him and Liza so that he'd learn why Gillian felt a need to marry Jake.
Carly fibbed to a crushed Jack that she was going to Paris and then left town with Phillips to meet up with her former Hong Kong employer. John operated on Isaac after Ben admitted to Camille that Isaac was his half-brother. Henry showed Holden the photos of Molly and Chris, forcing Molly to resign, and later stole the tape from her purse so her accusing Katie looked unwarranted. Holden returned home and found Chris asleep in bed with Abigail and threw him out, warning him he knew about the affair. Chris confessed the affair to Abigail after she planned for them to run away, and she confronted Molly.
Ridge and Eric succeeded with their plan to break up Thorne and Brooke. Thorne got back together with an unlikely person. Rick found out about Amber's secret regarding his "son." Rick and Kimberly got back together after a surprise move from Rick. Amber tried to reconcile with Rick, to no avail. Sally was ecstatic about the developments between Thorne and Macy. Stephanie surprised everyone with her latest attempt to walk.
Kate had some steamy daydreams about Nicholas and asked Marlena if she would marry Victor if she were in Kate's shoes. Brandon got Larry to start to file a lawsuit against Abe and danced with Lexie. Hope fought the spider bite with Stefano's help. Stefano learned that Hope was pregnant and recalled their time together on the sub. John had more memories of his past as a thief that were very disturbing. Vivian believed that she would be married to Victor, and Ivan bought a lottery ticket. Greta and Eric continued to have problems. Bo decided to start the search for Hope.
Chloe continued to struggle with her blindness. A.J. agreed to pass off Carly's baby as his, believing the baby was Jason's. Stefan hired a mercenary to help him get Lucky from Helena. Monica and Alan celebrated her fifth year of being cancer free. Luke and Felicia overheard Stefan talking about Lucky.
Carmen plotted revenge against an unsuspecting Drew for Mick's death. Jesse testified for Michelle. Danny tried to convince Michelle to leave town to save herself, but she refused. Ross's witness gave Michelle new hope. Michelle confronted Carmen as the person trying to frame her for Ben's murder, and told Danny her theory. Carmen put doubt in Drew's mind as to Michelle's innocence. Drew recognized Len. Matt linked Vanessa and the coat she was wearing to Ben's murder. Edmund helped Carmen switch coats at the police station to remove the evidence Michelle needed to get her acquitted. Reva confronted Josh about his missed family dinner, and cited Olivia as the cause. Cassie lied to Richard again about her feelings and told him she was thinking of Hart. Cassie learned the truth about her inability to have more children and broke her engagement. Richard finally convinced Cassie that he wanted to marry her and make her and her children part of his family. Richard and Cassie shared their first "real love" and romantic moment. Everyone learned of Beth's pregnancy. Jim was elated with the news, and Susan was remorseful of her actions. Alan, unaware that Phillip was the father of Beth's child, discussed parenthood and adoption. Alan felt Phillip's anger toward him for not allowing him to know his biological parents. Beth prepared for her wedding. Harley convinced Phillip to give Beth away. Jim helped Susan understand that marrying Beth and having another child would never change his love for her. In a heated argument, Phillip fired Edmund and later, at the wedding, told him things were not working out. Edmund played his trump card, "the videotape," and blackmailed Phillip in return for his silence as the wedding march began.
Will was released on bail into Bo's custody. Nora was torn whether or not to tell Bo the truth. Dorian and Drake kissed. Hank threw a bachelor party for Bo. Lindsay confessed to Nora that she had once had an affair with Drake. Asa saw Max and Skye about to make love. Viki waited anxiously for her test results. Ben suspected Max was faking his condition. Lindsay told Dorian she was pregnant. Sam warned Nora if she interrupted the wedding they were over for good. Bo and Lindsay began to exchange their vows. Asa hired Skye to break up Max and Blair. Cristian pressed ahead with his plan to get an annulment. Nora interrupted the wedding and told Bo the truth: Lindsay had altered his fertility results.
Charity had a premonition of danger as Grace and Sam set off for their ski vacation. Ivy booked a room next to Sam and Grace's room. She later drugged Grace and confronted Sam while Ivy was completely naked. Kay planned to have Charity institutionalized.
Diane offered to sell Victor the apartment on one condition. The arrangement was for Diane to remain Victor's guest until she found a more suitable apartment for herself. Diane found out it was Nikki who had taken the sperm sample. Malcolm found out from Callie that she was married to Trey and that Sam was the one who had beaten him up severely months earlier. Olivia went to see Michael Baldwin to see if she could remove Malcolm's visitation rights to Nate. Victoria went to see Warton and tried to bargain with him. Victoria offered to pay Warton $500 per week in order for the letters to cease going to her. Ross felt Victoria was too important to him and would not let her shut him out of her life. Ashley met her mystery man, Christian, in Genoa City. Mac sought advice as to why she was going crazy over Billy Abbott. Billy's Aspen ski trip was called off due to lying to his parents.
PREVIEWS FOR NEXT WEEK!
Monday("Falling in Love")
Daniel and Chloe grow closer due to Parker's medical emergency; Sami tells Marlena about her newfound feelings for EJ.
Tuesday ("Jennifer's Lie")
Jennifer and Daniel get into an emotional argument; Stefano delivers some unsettling words to Kate.
Wednesday ("The Battle for Daniel")
Chloe and Jennifer fight about Daniel; Brady tells Kristen why he cannot marry her.
Thursday ("Valentine's Day")
Kristen gives Chad some advice; Sami is overjoyed when she discovers a ring box on her desk.
Friday ("Protecting Loved Ones")
Will is devastated when he realizes Sonny doesn't want to get back together; Nick reassures Gabi that they will retain custody of the baby.
(The Kiss)
2/11, Luke kisses Anna at the pier; TJ and Molly fight about her wish to help Rafe.
(The Gift)
2/12, Johnny presents Starr with a special gift; Frisco tells Felicia that he wants to win back her affections.
(Apology)
2/13, Lucy tries to make amends with Anna and Kevin; Sabrina feels awful about her mistake.
(Disappearance)
2/14, Alexis learns that Danny has gone missing; Carly and Starr celebrate Todd's escape.
(Confronting Molly)
2/15, TJ questions Molly about her actions; Sonny and Connie recall a special memory.
(Wanting Time with Eric)
2/11, Pam and Donna become envious of Taylor spending time with Eric; Carter shares his opinion with Dayzee.
(Stalling)
2/12, Marcus comes up with a plan to help Dayzee; the relationships of two couples head in different directions.
(The Vow)
2/13, Taylor makes a promise to Steffy about history not repeating itself; Dayzee worries about giving Maya some bad news.
(Surprise Visit)
2/14, Eric hopes for an intimate night with Taylor; Bill and Katie's romantic plans hit a snag.
(Brooke's Plan)
2/15, Brooke decides to work her magic to reunite Hope and Liam; Steffy is shocked when Liam shows up at her office.
Abby Newman returns to Genoa City
Cane goes to bat for Chelsea
Nikki reveals her secret to Victoria
Paul confronts Phyllis over the hit and run
Michael tries to repair the damage caused to his marriage
Wheeler continues to rattle Leslie with his presence
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Fans have been asking for this, and now they will finally get to see one of the those most beloved characters of all-time on General Hospital again, when Jackie returns in the role of Bobbie Spencer!
Jacklyn Zeman, who originated the role of Bobbie in 1977 and was last seen in Port Charles in 2010, is returning on March 21. "I am so pleased," Zeman beams. "Literally, every day I am getting stopped on the street: 'Are you coming back?'
It's a complicated question to answer because I always want to be positive and support the show, but at the same time, you don't want to lead people [on]. So I would say, 'Well, I haven't been invited yet.' Now, I'm so happy that when people ask me, I can say, 'I got invited back!'"
Zeman got her first hint of a possible comeback from her manager, Michael Bruno. "He called me like a week ago and said, 'I think they are going to give you some dates, but nothing's firm.' I've learned over the years, until you have a booking date and you're in a script, people can talk all they want, but you're not on TV [laughs]. Then yesterday he called with, 'Okay, we have three shows with firm dates for you!'
It was a complete shock that I had firm shows booked. I knew the 50th anniversary was coming up. And I thought, 'Maybe there's going to be something there, because it seems in everybody else's minds that it seems like a perfectly natural thing."
Zeman posted a message to fans on her Facebook page saying:
“Bobbie Spencer is coming back to GH soon. I am very happy to be invited and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. Thank you so much to all of you for your good wishes and positive thoughts. xoxox”
Well, it’s time to be whistlin’ Dixie! Cady McClain posted a very special message today on her website confirming that she has plans to be part of Prospect Park’s All My Childrenreboot! Therefore, it looks like Dixie Martin will be back in action!
Since word got out that AMC/PP contacted me, I thought it was best to wait a bit until I confirmed it out of respect for the fact I am still sorting out the details of the situation. However, I feel confident in telling you that I will be a part of the AMC Internet Re-boot. I am very excited about the possibilities for the show in this medium and want to help give it every chance at success.
As you probably know by now, I am fascinated with all the many possibilities for creative expression that the Internet has to offer. I have a feeling the show will find many new opportunities for connecting with fans and I look forward to being a part of that as well.
I am also thrilled that Ginger Smith, who has worked on AMC for as long as I can remember, is finally getting the chance to helm the show. There are few people that know and love AMC as much as Ginger. I know for a fact she is doing everything in her power to make the show as wonderful for the long time fans as she possibly can.
Thank you all so much for your well wishes and support.
Steve Burton & Joshua Morrow treated fans to a live chat on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.
It seemed, at first, like a love that would last forever. After so many years together, what could go wrong? But, as does often happen, the thrill began to wane. A last attempt at rekindling that romance ended in tears. Until, a year later, they tried again—and found that love as strong as ever.
Sound like a soap opera? It is. Two of them, actually. For nearly four decades, sudser staples All My Children and One Life to Live were afternoon television constants. When—after years of sliding ratings and high costs—they finally went off into the Great Cheesy Set in the sky (in September 2011 and January 2012, respectively), longtime fans were devastated.
But there was a mysterious stranger waiting in the shadows. A few months before the shows left the air, the L.A.-based production company Prospect Park had struck a deal with their network, ABC, getting a license to both shows and promising they would continue “with the same quality and in the same format and length,” but on a new platform: the Internet.
Of course, the road to love is treacherous and bumpy. After months of will-they-or-won’t-they and a year during which it seemed sure that the shows would never actually make the move online, Deadline broke the news in December that Prospect Park was trying again. This time it was for real. Starting this spring, new episodes will be available via iTunes, Hulu and Prospect Park’s website The OnLine Network.
Production on the revamped shows—they’ll still have new episodes every weekday, but each will last 30 minutes rather than an hour—begins this month. And, despite the year-long vacuum and the perils of the platform transition, soap-opera experts are cautiously optimistic that this plot line will have a happy ending.
It wouldn’t work without fan excitement—and that excitement is justified, says Carolyn Hinsey, a soap-opera blogger and veteran columnist for Soap Opera Digest. “How can you not be positive? If you could bring someone back from the dead and they might be a little sick for a while, wouldn’t you still rather have them back?” Hinsey told TIME, likening the experience to visiting an old friend. “And then they’ll get better and better, and hopefully they’ll be totally healthy and you’ll get to go hang out with them again.”
Hinsey believes that the concerns expressed by some fans in the comments sections of soap-opera fan sites—Will the casual fans have found something else to fill their free time? How will fans with slow internet connections watch the show now? What about fans with no internet access?—should not hinder the shows’ success. Many of the cast and crew from both shows (and One Life in particular) are returning for the new incarnations, after all, and prime-time soap Dallas succeeded in coming back (albeit to TV) after a hiatus lasting more than two decades.
As for the logistics of online viewing, she believes that truly devoted fans will always figure out a way to watch. “A lot of viewers didn’t have cable either, and when TV started going in the direction where you needed a cable box, they got cable. My grandmother had the antenna with the Reynolds Wrap on the end of it but if she was alive when you needed cable to watch soaps, she would have gotten cable. So I think a lot of older people will figure out a way to watch it online,” Hinsey says. “And they don’t need 3 million viewers to be possible, as a half-hour internet soap. If you get a million viewers you’re one of the biggest internet hits around.”
And the much-trumpeted end of the soap opera, she believes, was just a self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuated by network brass, who hastened to make real the demise of the genre by failing to promote or embrace shows that still had strong ties to their viewers. Her evidence? Over Christmas week this past year, the remaining ABC soap, General Hospital, reached a two-year high for viewership.
Another potential reason for fan-engagement, as befitting the genre, is revenge. Hinsey says many soap fans felt insulted by ABC’s decision to replace soap operas with lifestyle shows like The Chew and The Revolution. That resentment is on full display online: soap-opera activists like Y.B., better known as “Screw the Chew”, took to Twitter and Facebook to lash out at the network, organize boycotts of ABC and its sponsors, and plan live protests at events like ABC’s May 2011 showcase. The outcry was strong enough to influence Hoover to pull its vacuum ads from the network and—although both ABC and Propsect Park would not comment on the matter for this article—the fans believe their activism is at least partially responsible for the show’s return.
So a successful online version will be a poke at the network they feel abandoned them, although it’s not as much of a win as a return to television would have been. “We’re definitely going to watch online. Even if it’s not exactly the way we wanted it, we’re still going to support it and watch,” says Y.B. “We proved to everyone else that we wanted them back and they came back. It does feel good to prove them wrong.”
There’s also cause for hope based on the history of the soap opera. That’s even if the decline of the genre isn’t just in TV executives’ collective imaginations. C. Lee Harrington, an editor of the 2012 book The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era, says that the drop in interest has been real—General Hospital‘s recent viewership numbers notwithstanding. After reaching a high point in the 1960s, there was a steady decline in ratings that continued until a sharp drop in the late ’90s. “When Guiding Light was cancelled [in 2009, after 57 years on television and another 15 on radio], it seemed like ‘anything can be cancelled,’” she says, “just because of its longevity.”
Fewer women were spending their days at home, and cable television and internet provided alternatives for those who still did. Then, in 1995, the trial of O.J. Simpson dominated daytimes airwaves and disrupted long-established viewing habits. Reality television came along, offering a cheaper-to-make alternative for networks looking for content. And soap operas, as a concept, didn’t seem to make so much sense anymore. “As the pace of life got quicker and quicker,” Harrington says, “the idea of investing in something that you needed to watch every single day just became less and less relevant to how people are living their daily lives.”
But that doesn’t mean soap operas are done. To the contrary: Soaps once made the transition from radio to television, why can’t they make the transition to internet? They already have, in some cases: Harrington cites Venice—which stars soap vet Crystal Chappell and won a 2011 Daytime Emmy in the “special class format” category—as a successful early version of an online soap model. “There’s an audience out there looking for a different way to consume soaps. In some ways, this could be going back to the early days of radio, when you had 15-minute installments,” she says. And even compared to five years ago, the Internet is very accessible to soap fans, who already populate and contribute to a wide array of message boards and forums.
“The merging of television and the internet isn’t far away, whatever that might look like,” she says—but whatever it does look like, it will include soap operas. “This is a really ancient form of storytelling, the serial narrative. At the end of one installment, you want to know what happens next. We’re seeing it less on daytime television, but that form of storytelling will absolutely continue.”
And she’s got a point, because there’s another reason viewers will have an incentive to tune in, especially with All My Children. They need to find out what happens. The show’s finale ended—naturally—with a cliff-hanger.
As many fans have been noticing, the online version of All My Children is skewing young these days with its recent casting notices. While long time AMC fans are hoping for news that some of their big name favorites will still sign on the dotted line and join Prospect Park’s Pine Valley reboot, casting is ongoing for the following three roles!
According to Soap Opera Digest, AMC is looking to fill the follwing younger demo roles: “The contract role of Grace, who is described as a blonde, driven, sexy, Caucasian girl in her early 20s, and the recurring roles of Hunter, a handsome, confident bad boy, Caucasian, 16 to 18-years old and Heather, a beautiful 18-year-old Caucasian queen bee.”
visiting my buddy kin shriner (scotty baldwin) at my old stomping grounds -GH
It's hard to tell who's more excited about Kin Shriner's February 19 return to General Hospital — him or us! The most beloved third wheel in suds history, Shriner's Scotty Baldwin was married to Laura (Genie Francis) back when she famously fell in love with Luke (Anthony Geary). Will the poor guy finally get revenge? According to an ABC rep, "Scott Baldwin returns to Port Charles as most of the town is gathered at the Haunted Star for a Valentine's Day party and the first person he sees is Luke. Things will escalate very quickly between the two of them." TV Guide spoke with Shriner — a veteran of 12 serials — about the best job he ever had.
TV Guide: We haven't seen Scotty since 2008. Were you dying to get back on GH for the 50th anniversary?
Kin Shriner: My goal is to always keep playing Scotty, which I've now done in five different decades, which is crazy! He's been through so many incarnations, what with hundreds of writers, plus my own meddling. He's been a goodie and a baddie. Hey, when you're happily wed to a woman who runs off with her rapist, it'll tarnish you. I'm just wondering who else they can dig up for the 50th.
TV Guide: John Stamos is showing up, right?
Shriner: I'm sure Stamos will come back because he knows GH started his career. And, of course, Ricky Dean Anderson. We need to get MacGyver back in the mix! We're like an old family from the '80s and I think we'll always feel that way. I'd love to work with Stamos again. As Blackie, he was Paul Drake to my Perry Mason, my footman, my go-to guy. "Go find this out, Blackie!"
TV Guide: Word is, GH is going to revisit that incident where Luke's daughter Lulu killed Scotty's son Logan.
Shriner: That's what they tell me. I kinda thought we played that out so I'm wondering where this is headed. Scotty took Lulu to trial and didn't win. He didn't really know Logan very well — one day the kid just suddenly popped up in town — but maybe Scotty's still disgruntled.
TV Guide: Funny how we still want to call him Scotty, rather than Scott, which the network has been pushing for years.
Shriner: [Former GH executive producer] Wendy Riche is the one who got that "Scott" stuff going. One day she suddenly made a big deal about it. "You are now playing Scott Baldwin." And I'm like, "Why? Why is that, Wendy?" I never did get a real answer. But, whatever. It's Scotty who's coming back!
TV Guide: When did you first realize GH was a juggernaut?
Shriner: I remember it clearly. It was 1979. Genie and I were in Fort Lauderdale having dinner at Stan's. Right in the middle of our conch chowder, I look up and see a line of people around the building wanting our autographs. We knew we might be onto something.
TV Guide: You and Genie are still tight, right?
Shriner: Yeah. (Laughs) And we still cause a stir! A couple of months ago I had lunch with her in Calabasas, where she lives, and she made me go to the market with her. There was quite a fuss in the produce department when people spotted us. They were asking us, "Hey, wow, what are you two doing together? Are you guys a couple now?" And I'm, like, "No, Genie just needed a couple of melons for the morning and I tagged along. Really! There's nothing going on!" Of course the people recognizing us were all in their fifties. They enjoyed those times back then. We remind them of their college days and smoking pot. (Laughs) Because that's what everyone was pretty much doing in 1981!
TV Guide: Tony and Genie have been very open about the dark side of their GH success, but for you it all seems to have been a lark. True?
Shriner: I know some of it was bumpy for them, but I've had the time of my life and made the greatest friends. We've all stayed connected in hopes that we can connect again as our characters. Lynn Herring [Lucy] and I have had a thousand phone calls — we talk at least once a week — where we're, like, "Wouldn't it be great if our characters came back to Port Charles and did such-and-such." And now it's actually happening! (Laughs) We no longer have to imagine it with tweety birds over our heads!
Many thought this day would never come, but under Executive Producer Frank Valentini, Jack is back and the enthusiasm for his return is palpable.
“When I talked to Frank [Valentini], the [executive] producer, and we decided that Frisco would come back it’s like, ‘Is he coming back [with the] ‘out of the Turkish prison look,’ with a little gruffy beard and Harrison Ford in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ or, is going to be more Michael Douglas ‘Wall Street’? So he said, ‘Let’s make it Turkish prison.’ So, I’ve cleaned up since I’ve been back,” Jack explains.
Jack’s character Frisco has been off the show for 18 years, missing monumental moments in the life of his family – Felicia, Maxie and his late daughter, Georgie. It’s not always easy to bring a character back to a soap. There have been plenty of column inches filled with writers lamenting implausible returns, but Frisco won’t join the category. He had a reason for being away.
“He has been a CIA agent and he chose his work over his family,” Jack says, when Sharon asks one of two Frisco-related questions on the mind of every “General Hospital” fan (the other question – about F&F comes later). “Now we’re starting to peel the onion back and I worked the other day with Kirsten Storms, who’s my daughter, [Maxie, on the show]. It really peels the onion back and brought up a lot of emotion.
“I’m really happy that this character can evolve and now say, ‘I was gone, I wasn’t a present father, I’m here now. I want to make up for the time that I was away and I think those are powerful scenes,” he continues. “I think it’s what the audience needs to hear and it’s what this character needs to say to have any kind of nobility.”
CBS Daytime soap fans keep a keen eye in the coming weeks on Rick Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful! And while things are heating up for him at Forrester Creations, his portrayer Daytime Emmy winner, Jacob Young chatted with On-Air On-Soaps about his current status with B&B, after all the headlines that Prospect Park revitalized their efforts and will soon launch All My Children 2.0!
As soap fans know, while Young has played Lucky Spencer on General Hospital, Rick on B&B, he is most identifiable for his performances as the troubled son of Adam Chandler, JR on All My Children! And, in the final episode of ABC’s version of the iconic soap, JR with gun in hand … shot at someone! It appeared to be Erica Kane, or did the distraught Chandler possibly turn the gun on himself? Or, did it simply misfire?
When we caught up with Jacob, he filled us in on his future with The Bold and the Beautiful and if there was any way we might see him return as Pine Valley’s bad boy, JR! Here is what he had to say below!
Jacob on his thoughts on AMC finally moving online, how he feels about it, and his status with B&B: “I am happy for them. A lot of the people that I worked with have signed on and they will have a shot at it again and have a job. I hope that it gets on its feet and starts growing. Obviously, I am here on The Bold and the Beautiful which is probably the best job to have, and best place to be at on daytime. It is a fantastic place to work. I could not be more thrilled. As a man, and as a person with integrity and honor, I do in the back of my mind feel the need to express to Brad Bell, and to the producers of AMC, to give them an explanation as to why I can’t do it. Obviously, I am under contract. I cannot lie, Prospect Park did come to me and they said, ‘Jacob, obviously you are under contract, but where would we be if we weren’t asking you to come over?’ I said, ‘I understand. If there was anything I could do, and if it was in my power, I would absolutely, but ultimately I am here at B&B.’ It’s not my way to rock the boat. I am very lucky to be surviving in this industry, and be airing on television.”
Jacob on what he thinks will happen to the character of JR post-ABC cliffhanger, and what he has heard in terms of a recast for the role: “From what I understand, they are going to be moving the show forward a year, so they can get past that point. They told me every time they try to write the story, JR obviously would come into the picture. They also told me whether I could, or could not do AMC; they were going to continue on with the character regardless. I said, ‘I understand.’ But then I had a couple of friends tell me that they are up for the role of JR! They called and said, ‘Hey dude, I am up for your role!’ And I would go, ‘Yeah? Good.’ If it means another one of my fellow actors I know gets the job, than I am very happy for them. It’s a special character and always will be.”
Prospect Park released the following statement regarding its licensing agreement with ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. In 2011, when Prospect Park decided to reboot these shows, they lent characters to GENERAL HOSPITAL until shooting began for the new programs so that the characters could stay alive with the fans and also so that the actors could remain working. Everyone at ABC and on the production staff of GENERAL HOSPITAL understood that this was a temporary arrangement until production started once again on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Now the time has come to start production and Prospect Park wants to, once again, cast these characters including Llanview transplants Michael Easton (John McBain) and Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning). See statement below:
"Prospect Park understands that GENERAL HOSPITAL has featured Llanview transplants Michael Easton (John) and Kristen Alderson (Starr) among others while we arranged production of the new version of ONE LIFE TO LIVE. These characters, who we own under our agreement, are obviously essential to our production efforts, and a large reason we licensed the program. We also understand that legions of GENERAL HOSPITAL fans have grown to love these actors and characters in a short time. So even though we are paying ABC millions of dollars to license the shows, we have been, and continue to be willing to equally share the characters with GENERAL HOSPITAL and ABC. It's a win-win for the actors, the shows and fans, who love all of the shows and storylines. We hope to work out these agreements with ABC and the actors."
The statement did not specifically mention Roger Howarth (Todd Manning).
Fox Sports has been in talks with veteran TV host Regis Philbin to host a show for its planned Fox Sports 1 channel, according to several sources. Fox and Philbin have not agreed on a deal yet, but sources say talks are serious and an agreement could be close at hand. Fox declined to comment on the rumors, but sources say Philbin would serve as the main host of a show that would look like a sports version of "The View," with Philbin serving in the Barbara Walters role as the part-time host. Philbin is a known sports fan, and sources said the show would be a sports show, as opposed to a hybrid entertainment-and-sports show.
Sources also said that Fox has been looking into having a Jay Mohr show on Fox Sports 1. Last month, Mohr launched "Jay Mohr Sports" on Fox Sports Radio. It is not clear whether Fox is considering simulcasting Mohr's radio show or having him host his own show. Fox Sports still has not officially announced its plans for Fox Sports 1. Sources say Fox will rebrand its motorsports channel Speed as the multi-sport Fox Sports 1 this August. Around the same time, it will rebrand its action sports channel Fuel into the multi-sport Fox Sports 2, sources said.
Katie Couric has landed an exclusive interview with the widow of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. It is the first in-depth interview Sue Paterno has given since the sex-abuse scandal rocked college sports and forever tarnished her husband's legacy.
Couric visited Sue Paterno at her home in State College, Pa., where she lived with her husband of 50 years until his death in January 2012. That came just two months after he was fired by the university.
In June, Jerry Sandusky -- a former assistant coach at Penn State and a longtime and close colleague of Joe Paterno's -- was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.
The Paterno family has steadfastly defended Joe Paterno's actions in the case, saying he did what was expected of him by reporting Sandusky to college administrators. Sue Paterno also is scheduled to appear at Katie's New York studio on Feb. 11, when the installment is scheduled to air.
Couric's latest get comes two weeks after her sit-down with star Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, which gave the show its largest audience since its premiere in September.
"Almost 3 more weeks & we'll be back 2 taping new episodes of AMC on the 25th of this month! Sooo excited," Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard) revealed on Twitter.
Angie Hubbard's adopted daughter, Cassandra Foster, will be returning to Pine Valley. After five years away, the character will resurface when All My Children relaunches this spring. When last seen on-screen, Cassandra was portrayed by model-turned-actress Yaya DaCosta. DaCosta rose to fame during the third cycle of the reality series America's Next Top Model. In the reality competition, created and hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, DaCosta placed second behind winner Eva Pigford.
DaCosta was only a part of AMC for a few months. The actress made her debut in April 2008, and the character was ushered out in August of the same year.
Cassandra left Pine Valley to go to Paris, where her father, Jacob Foster, was set to undergo surgery.
Watch the series premiere of Steve Silverman's THE INN, starring Crystal Chappell, below.
On the brand new episode of THURSTON, Marshal Robinson jails Jo and Owen, and Agnes Snead coerces Judge Richards to help her sons. Three-time Emmy nominee Colleen Zenk from AS THE WORLD TURNS makes her debut as Agnes. Watch it below:
If you'd like to know what Sean Kanan (A.J., GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Deacon, THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL/THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS) is like off the set, you need go no further than www.UBNRadio.com where you'll be able to tune into the actor's new Internet radio show!
Kanan and his wife, Michele, will be co-hosting Kanan's Rules on the UBN Radio Network, discussing careers, romance, politics, current events and more with each other and with special guests. Almost no topic will be off-limits!
"Five years ago, I was a bachelor who lived alone in the Hollywood Hills," Kanan says. "I came and went and didn't answer to anyone. Now I am living with a wife, five kids and two dogs. That alone provides enough topics to last the next ten years!"
"We make a great team," Michele adds. "Living with Sean is like a carnival ride sometimes because I never know where we're gonna be or how we will get stuff done. But amid all of our shenanigans, we manage to excel at our careers and more importantly, at being a family."
Kanan's Rules will air live on Wednesdays from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm PST at www.UBNRadio.com starting this Wednesday, February 6. Past episodes will be archived at iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn, so you don't have to worry about missing a show!
In his new series for HGTV, SPONTANEOUS CONSTRUCTION, soap vet Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake, ALL MY CHILDREN; Gus, GUIDING LIGHT) takes on the role of host as he uses social media to gather together a flash mob of volunteers and skilled workers to undertake home renovations for a family.
The series premieres on HGTV on Friday, February 15, at 8:00 pm EST, but you can get a taste of it right now with this special preview video!
Judith Chapman (Gloria) will be performing her must-see one-woman show Vivien, based on the life of actress Vivien Leigh (Gone With The Wind) at The Bandon Playhouse's Sprague Theater in Bandon, Oregon on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 17 at 2 p.m. Chapman gives a powerful tour-de-force as she delves into the triumphs of the actress' life as well as the tragedies, which included mental illness. "It started when she was 26 and plagued her 20-year marriage with Laurence Olivier," Chapman says. "TB is what killed her, but there was manic depression, too. We know more about it now, but the way it was dealt with back in the 40's, 50's and 60's was so barbaric."
For ticket information for Vivien go to www.thebandonplayhouse.com or call 541-551-1066.
The DGA honors outstanding directorial achievement in feature film, documentary, and television every year at the annual DGA Awards celebration.
In hosted by Kelsey Grammer, One Life to Live director, Jill Mitwell was the night’s big winner in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials category for her stunning work in the “Between Heaven and Hell” episode which many remembered as one of the final classic episodes of One Life’s run on ABC!
This is Jill Mitwell’s fourth win in the category for One Life to Live and it was her ninth nomination. Mitwell bested episodes from General Hospital directors: Larry Carpenter, Scott McKinsey, William Ludel, and Days of our Lives Albert Alaar.
Ron Carlivati, the man in charge of writing Jill’s winning episode at One Life to Live, sent out an excited tweet this evening stating, “Jill Mitwell wins #DGA award for #OLTL episode: “Between Heaven and Hell”! So well deserved!!! Couldn’t be happier!!!”
Ms. Mitwell’s Directorial Team: Associate Directors: Tracy Casper Lang, Teresa Cicala, Michael Sweeney, Paul S. Glass
Stage Managers: Alan Needleman, Keith Greer, Tracy Casper Lang, Leah M. Weber Production Associates: Nathalie Rodriguez, Kevin Brush are also honored.
Kyle Lowder rocked the soap world as DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Brady and THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL's Rick. Now he's stopping hearts with his lead role as long-haired, tattooed singer Stacee Jaxx in Rock Of Ages, the newest smash on the Las Vegas strip! Set in in 1987, the drama tells the story of Drew and Sherrie, two wide-eyed but talented Los Angeles newcomers who chase their dreams while falling in love and crossing paths with the likes of jaded superstars like Jaxx.
Not only does the musical feature a host of your favorite 80s hits, but it also stars the classically-trained opera singer as the glam rocker belting them out. "It's been very challenging, and not just with the singing but also with the character because he's very complex," Lowder confides. "He's this conceited, ultra-cool rock god, but at the same time he's a moron -- it's very comedic."
From learning how not to "blow his tank" vocally when doing seven shows each week to doing his own makeup to becoming the toast of Las Vegas and even being invited to sing with the band Foreigner recently, Lowder says he's enjoying the biggest challenge of his career and that he couldn't be more proud of the show. "I'm living the life of a rock star, rocking out on stage every night," he enthuses. "It's really the best gig I could possibly imagine."
Tickets range from $45-$115 and are available from The Venetian Box Office at (866) 641-7469 or online at www.Venetian.com.
Everyone is thrilled that One Life to Live veteran Robert S. Woods has signed on with Prospect Park to continue his role as fan favorite, Bo Buchanan! And with the recent news that his on-screen wife, Hillary B. Smith (Nora Buchanan) will also be back, One Lifers were jumping for joy that soon they would see their favorite Llanview couple again.
In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands now, Woods talks about coming out of “acting” retirement, getting the chance to work with Jennifer Pepperman again (who is the new executive producer of One Life to Live) and how happy he is that Prospect Park was able to get and secure the main core characters and actors of One Life to return including: Robin Strasser (Dorian), Jerry verDorn (Clint) and Erika Slezak (Viki).
Woods related the importance of having the core cast for the reboot: “You need that to start, otherwise you don’t have a show that’s called One Life to Live and you turn it on and go, “I don’t know anybody!” But if you have Erika sitting there at her desk and Robin waltzing in, then you can go,”Oh, okay! This is it. Sparks are gonna fly.” (Laughs) Now it’s just a matter of nailing everything down.”
This came as no surprise but today official word was handed down that The Ricki Lake Show was canceled and will not be renewed for the 2013-2014 season. Stephen Brown, Twentieth TV’s EVP of programming & development, stated on the cancellation: “While we are proud of the topics the program tackled including childhood obesity, life-after the military, divorce, and addiction we were simply not able to breakthrough the crowded talk show marketplace.”
According to Deadline.com, a similar notice will be given to the Jeff Probst Show. Along with Lake and Probst, Anderson Cooper’s talk show, Anderson will also not see another season.
But while we hoped that programming executives and syndication arms would realize that there is just way too much talk shows on daytime, there are still more programs waiting in the wings to infuriate soap fans that include the following hosting their own talkers: Kris Jenner, Bethenny Frankel, Arsenio Hall ans Queen Latifah!
AS THE WORLD TURNS alum Jake Silbermann (Noah) has appeared in more than a few stage productions since the soap's end, and he's about to add one more to the list, having been cast in The Assembled Parties.
The world-premiere play from Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg will feature Silbermann on stage with actors like Jessica Hecht and Judith Light (Karen, ONE LIFE TO LIVE). The story chronicles the family drama of a Jewish family living on Manhattan's Upper West Side over a twenty year period.
The Assembled Parties will begin previews on Thursday, March 21, and open for a limited run on Wednesday, April 17, at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street in New York City.
Phyllis and Jack will be "heating up" and are slowing falling back in love. MS talks about how much she loves working with PB. She recognizes Phick fans are upset about them ending and Nick "started playing the same thing with the sister".
As for Phick, MS talks about how badly they were written under Maria Bell. She acknowledges Bell wasn't interested in writing for them and all Phick did "during the Maria time was break up and talk about Sharon." Then Josh Griffith walked in and Nick and Phyllis ended.
She says of course as it goes for any soap couple, "if the show stays on long enough or I stay on the show long enough, there could be another incarnation", but, now "I just don't think they have anything to say to each other, to be honest with you, except if it's about their kid."
Mention of Christine gunning for Phyllis, but a "surprise offer for Christine changes everything" teases Griffith.
MS also states in her interview that there is a "big revelation" coming up for Phyllis later in February that she says is "really interesting" and something she didn't want "swept under the rug because it's such a change" for her character.
The latest issue of SOD has an article Kate and Rafe. At the beginning of the week, Kate hears from Stefano. Kate isn’t happy with Stefano’s detached demeanor, and some harsh words are exchanged. This is the tipping point for Kate, and she goes out drinking.
Rafe ends up joining her at the bar. He is angry over Sami’s treatment of Gabi. The two of them begin discussing the baby that’s coming. Kate considers Gabi family now that she is carrying her grandson’s baby, and she is understanding of what Gabi is going through. They continue to drink, and are soon saying things to one another they wouldn’t normally say. According to Lauren Koslow, “Kate also thinks that Rafe is obviously a very hot, sex guy. A chemical thing happens and it turns intimate.”
Kate wakes up in Rafe’s bed the next day. They agree it was a drunken mistake, but then they have sex again.
As seen on ABC Daytime’s General Hospital, the delightful first novel from Port Charles’s Connie Falconeri. Whether you’ve been a fan of GH your entire life or simply love a romantic romp of a beach read, Love in Maine is unputdownable!
Nadia Bjorlin is back! The beautiful and talented actress was previously ushered out of Salem, and off Days of our Lives, after Chloe had turned to life of prostitution and her once loveable and feisty character became a victim of her own bad choices. Now Chloe has returned to Salem with a purpose; to snare Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian) for herself, but more importantly to give their son, Parker, a father figure he has never had, and to right the wrongs from the whole paternity pickle, thanks in part to the meddling hands of some of Salem’s most notable past and present citizens!
On-Air On-Soaps chatted with Nadia for this “quickie” interview, so we could get her take on Chloe’s latest actions, and the obstacle that she sees in the way of her future happiness, Jennifer Horton Deveraux (Melissa Reeves)! Here’s what Nadia had to say about Chloe’s sudden return that had Daniel, shall we say, speechless!
When you came back to DAYS, did you know ahead of time that Chloe was going to be an interfering “Buttinski” in the Daniel and Jennifer romance?
NADIA: (Laughs) I like that word, “Buttinski”. Actually, I was told none of the storyline. I just went on blind faith. But basically, I was really happy to come back to DAYS because previously it was just an abrupt ending for Chloe with the prostitution thing. It was such a low point for her that I really felt like there was part of the story that was not being told, that even I wanted answered. I was happy to come back to maybe redeem her, and to see what has been happening in her life now after her tragic past.
Is Chloe still in love with Dr. Daniel?
NADIA: I think now it’s more that she wants a father for her child. I think she thinks she is in love with Daniel, and she probably is. I mean, she was very in love with him before. I think now it’s more about the idea that he represents at this point. I think she is a bit of a romantic and welcomed the idea of this fairy tale. I think she is in love with him, but it’s more the whole picture she is in love with.
Will Kate continue to be Chloe’s Salem nemesis?
NADIA: Yes and no. When Chloe was in Salem last, she was so weak. Now, she has come back stronger and I like that. She has found more of her self and sense of self. Chloe is not going to let anyone mess with her. However, I think she may swing that pendulum a bit too far in the other direction. She was so victimized before, that now she is not going to take crap from anyone. And because of that, she may not necessarily listen to people who are giving her good advice. I don’t think she is going to listen to anyone! (laughs).
How is working with Melissa Reeves?
NADIA: Oh it’s so great, because she is so unbelievably sweet, and because I have to be so mean to her. It’s always people I have to be horrible to on set, that are the nicest people in real life! People don’t realize it makes it extra hard, because as an actress, you can’t draw from anything. There is no reason to be nasty to this girl. Melissa is so nice and sweet, and so I just apologize ahead of time. I go, “I am so sorry.” (Laughs) That is because of some of the mean things I have to say. Sometimes, I ask if I can change my lines. I will say, “Oh. this is so mean. I don’t know if I can do this.” Melissa is amazing to work with. We volley off of each other very well. She really cares. Melissa cares about the story, the integrity of her own character, and the characters on DAYS, in general. It is always nice to work with somebody who comes in prepared, and is about the work, and that is always fun.
Gillian told Ryan that she loved him, but she refused to cancel her wedding to Jake. Greenlee tracked down Gillian at the mall and told her a lie about Ryan having dumped her after making love all night. Alex underwent hypnosis for a second time and learned that Geoffrey had killed her best friend -- and his daughter --Cassandra. Lyle dropped all charges against Adrian and Rae after making Tad promise that he'd stop investigating him. Hayley and Mateo told Adam that they were getting married again. Scott told Becca that he loved her. Leo met with his pal, Paolo, and arranged for him to seduce Marian. A gunman held Alex hostage at the mall, and she suddenly turned into a fighting machine as she pummeled the man into submission. Liza took away Jake's visitation rights with Colby until after the custody hearing. Myrtle planned a trip to Fannie Battle Home for Unwed Mothers. Adam let Ryan eavesdrop on him and Liza so that he'd learn why Gillian felt a need to marry Jake.
Carly fibbed to a crushed Jack that she was going to Paris and then left town with Phillips to meet up with her former Hong Kong employer. John operated on Isaac after Ben admitted to Camille that Isaac was his half-brother. Henry showed Holden the photos of Molly and Chris, forcing Molly to resign, and later stole the tape from her purse so her accusing Katie looked unwarranted. Holden returned home and found Chris asleep in bed with Abigail and threw him out, warning him he knew about the affair. Chris confessed the affair to Abigail after she planned for them to run away, and she confronted Molly.
Ridge and Eric succeeded with their plan to break up Thorne and Brooke. Thorne got back together with an unlikely person. Rick found out about Amber's secret regarding his "son." Rick and Kimberly got back together after a surprise move from Rick. Amber tried to reconcile with Rick, to no avail. Sally was ecstatic about the developments between Thorne and Macy. Stephanie surprised everyone with her latest attempt to walk.
Kate had some steamy daydreams about Nicholas and asked Marlena if she would marry Victor if she were in Kate's shoes. Brandon got Larry to start to file a lawsuit against Abe and danced with Lexie. Hope fought the spider bite with Stefano's help. Stefano learned that Hope was pregnant and recalled their time together on the sub. John had more memories of his past as a thief that were very disturbing. Vivian believed that she would be married to Victor, and Ivan bought a lottery ticket. Greta and Eric continued to have problems. Bo decided to start the search for Hope.
Chloe continued to struggle with her blindness. A.J. agreed to pass off Carly's baby as his, believing the baby was Jason's. Stefan hired a mercenary to help him get Lucky from Helena. Monica and Alan celebrated her fifth year of being cancer free. Luke and Felicia overheard Stefan talking about Lucky.
Carmen plotted revenge against an unsuspecting Drew for Mick's death. Jesse testified for Michelle. Danny tried to convince Michelle to leave town to save herself, but she refused. Ross's witness gave Michelle new hope. Michelle confronted Carmen as the person trying to frame her for Ben's murder, and told Danny her theory. Carmen put doubt in Drew's mind as to Michelle's innocence. Drew recognized Len. Matt linked Vanessa and the coat she was wearing to Ben's murder. Edmund helped Carmen switch coats at the police station to remove the evidence Michelle needed to get her acquitted. Reva confronted Josh about his missed family dinner, and cited Olivia as the cause. Cassie lied to Richard again about her feelings and told him she was thinking of Hart. Cassie learned the truth about her inability to have more children and broke her engagement. Richard finally convinced Cassie that he wanted to marry her and make her and her children part of his family. Richard and Cassie shared their first "real love" and romantic moment. Everyone learned of Beth's pregnancy. Jim was elated with the news, and Susan was remorseful of her actions. Alan, unaware that Phillip was the father of Beth's child, discussed parenthood and adoption. Alan felt Phillip's anger toward him for not allowing him to know his biological parents. Beth prepared for her wedding. Harley convinced Phillip to give Beth away. Jim helped Susan understand that marrying Beth and having another child would never change his love for her. In a heated argument, Phillip fired Edmund and later, at the wedding, told him things were not working out. Edmund played his trump card, "the videotape," and blackmailed Phillip in return for his silence as the wedding march began.
Will was released on bail into Bo's custody. Nora was torn whether or not to tell Bo the truth. Dorian and Drake kissed. Hank threw a bachelor party for Bo. Lindsay confessed to Nora that she had once had an affair with Drake. Asa saw Max and Skye about to make love. Viki waited anxiously for her test results. Ben suspected Max was faking his condition. Lindsay told Dorian she was pregnant. Sam warned Nora if she interrupted the wedding they were over for good. Bo and Lindsay began to exchange their vows. Asa hired Skye to break up Max and Blair. Cristian pressed ahead with his plan to get an annulment. Nora interrupted the wedding and told Bo the truth: Lindsay had altered his fertility results.
Charity had a premonition of danger as Grace and Sam set off for their ski vacation. Ivy booked a room next to Sam and Grace's room. She later drugged Grace and confronted Sam while Ivy was completely naked. Kay planned to have Charity institutionalized.
Diane offered to sell Victor the apartment on one condition. The arrangement was for Diane to remain Victor's guest until she found a more suitable apartment for herself. Diane found out it was Nikki who had taken the sperm sample. Malcolm found out from Callie that she was married to Trey and that Sam was the one who had beaten him up severely months earlier. Olivia went to see Michael Baldwin to see if she could remove Malcolm's visitation rights to Nate. Victoria went to see Warton and tried to bargain with him. Victoria offered to pay Warton $500 per week in order for the letters to cease going to her. Ross felt Victoria was too important to him and would not let her shut him out of her life. Ashley met her mystery man, Christian, in Genoa City. Mac sought advice as to why she was going crazy over Billy Abbott. Billy's Aspen ski trip was called off due to lying to his parents.
Monday("Falling in Love")
Daniel and Chloe grow closer due to Parker's medical emergency; Sami tells Marlena about her newfound feelings for EJ.
Tuesday ("Jennifer's Lie")
Jennifer and Daniel get into an emotional argument; Stefano delivers some unsettling words to Kate.
Wednesday ("The Battle for Daniel")
Chloe and Jennifer fight about Daniel; Brady tells Kristen why he cannot marry her.
Thursday ("Valentine's Day")
Kristen gives Chad some advice; Sami is overjoyed when she discovers a ring box on her desk.
Friday ("Protecting Loved Ones")
Will is devastated when he realizes Sonny doesn't want to get back together; Nick reassures Gabi that they will retain custody of the baby.
(The Kiss)
2/11, Luke kisses Anna at the pier; TJ and Molly fight about her wish to help Rafe.
(The Gift)
2/12, Johnny presents Starr with a special gift; Frisco tells Felicia that he wants to win back her affections.
(Apology)
2/13, Lucy tries to make amends with Anna and Kevin; Sabrina feels awful about her mistake.
(Disappearance)
2/14, Alexis learns that Danny has gone missing; Carly and Starr celebrate Todd's escape.
(Confronting Molly)
2/15, TJ questions Molly about her actions; Sonny and Connie recall a special memory.
(Wanting Time with Eric)
2/11, Pam and Donna become envious of Taylor spending time with Eric; Carter shares his opinion with Dayzee.
(Stalling)
2/12, Marcus comes up with a plan to help Dayzee; the relationships of two couples head in different directions.
(The Vow)
2/13, Taylor makes a promise to Steffy about history not repeating itself; Dayzee worries about giving Maya some bad news.
(Surprise Visit)
2/14, Eric hopes for an intimate night with Taylor; Bill and Katie's romantic plans hit a snag.
(Brooke's Plan)
2/15, Brooke decides to work her magic to reunite Hope and Liam; Steffy is shocked when Liam shows up at her office.
Abby Newman returns to Genoa City
Cane goes to bat for Chelsea
Nikki reveals her secret to Victoria
Paul confronts Phyllis over the hit and run
Michael tries to repair the damage caused to his marriage
Wheeler continues to rattle Leslie with his presence
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