tune in tomorrow.......

2009-08-29T00:16:00.004-05:00

Another World - 1973 Intro + Act 1

The intro and first act from a 1973 episode of the classic soap opera, Another World.

2009-08-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Another World - Rachel & Ada Argue (1981)

Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) and Ada (Constance Ford) argue over Rachel meddling in her son Jamie's life. (1981)

2009-08-28T22:51:00.002-05:00

Another World - March 19, 1979

Scene featuring Susan Harney as Alice Frame and Brian Murray as Dr. Dan Shearer.

Antonio & Gabi (Sunset Beach)

2009-08-14T20:33:00.003-05:00

Father Antonio Torres & Gabi Martinez
(Sunset Beach)

Portrayed by Nick Kiriazis & Priscilla Garita

Some photos courtesy of Velda Rosen via Facebook

A Martinez Nude

2009-08-14T13:06:00.002-05:00

A Martinez
(Falcon Crest; The Yellow Rose; Santa Barbara; L.A. Law; General Hospital; Port Charles; One Life To Live)

Texas: Rikki You're Special

2009-08-14T13:03:00.001-05:00

Texas: Rikki You're Special

Rikki and Ruby take their relationship to the next level. clips from episodes #274 and #275

Texas: Ricki Dekker Sings

2009-08-14T12:59:00.001-05:00

Ricki Dekker Sings (Texas)

"Resident Texas hunk Ricki Dekker sings at The Coop. I added this clip in case anyone was interested in hearing him sing. Not sure of his vocal talent, but he sure is easy on the eyes. Enjoy :)
Clip from episode #266"

The Official History of Another World

2009-08-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

The Official History of Another World

September 1979 Soap Summaries (Part Two)

2009-08-12T09:21:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of French Fan at SON.

Guiding Light

Written by: Bridget & Jerome Dobson
Produced by: Allen Potter

Rita's old flame Greg Fairbanks arrived and sexually tempted her. Lucille reminded Brandon that he dropped her after she agreed to raise Amanda, who is actually Alan's daughter, although Alan doesn't know it. Amanda snared Ben in a Washington motel, but assured him it's a no-strings relationship. The French patient's bullet wounds healed. Alan and Hope grew closer to each other on the island. Ross handled Jackie's legal affairs and showed a physical interest in her, and in Amanda. Floyd was a bit jealous that Mark seems smitten with Lainie. Rita realized she has problems with Ed. Lucille refused to tell Ben and Amanda why she visited Brandon, bat approved of their joint trip together.

Holly slugged Gail, who insisted Holly be her prison "slave' after Peter nixed having an affair with Gail. Alan softened under Hope's influence and they made love on the island. The mysterious French patient is undeniably Roger, who had flashbacks of Holly shooting him and of arranging with Dr. Moreno for a “fake death”. Rita resisted Greg and consulted with Sara about handling her sexual problems with Ed. Lucille admitted to Amanda that she and Brandon once had an affair, but didn't tell her the rest of the story. Mike gave up the search for Hope. Floyd felt "haunted" in Roger's old apartment. Brandon refused to tell Lucille who Amanda's real mother was.

Roger was released from the French hospital with his “new” face. Alan and Hope were rescued. Alan learned that Jackie had miscarried. Jackie and Mike were suspicious of what transpired on the island between Alan and Hope. Holly refused to be Gail’s prison slave, and Peter feared for Holly’s safety. Lainie canceled a date with Mark after Katie returned and admitted she’s crazy for Mark. Ross snatched a kiss from Jackie while inspecting the Wexler property. Eve and Rita argued about Rita being tempted by Greg, and Rita was stailed from admitting her sexyal inadequacies to Ed. Moreno and Alan refused to help Ralph financially.

Lucille refused to summon help for Brandon who passed away after whispering the name of Amanda’s mother in Lucille’s ear. Alan suspected Lucille knew something about Brandon’s death. Hope told Mike she was leaving town to avoid further contact with Alan. Mike made Ross a partner in his law firm. Katie realized Mark may have been spending time with Lainie. Justin and Elizabeth made plans to marry next week. Alan learned Dr. Moreno had moved leaving no forwarding adress.

Alan followed Hope to London. Jackie was upset to see Alan and Hope's photo in a London newspaper. Roger also saw the photo. Ross learned Amanda will inherit valuable stocks from Brandon and made a play for her. Lainie's become very attracted to Ed.

Love Of Life

Written by: Jean Holloway / Ann Marcus
Produced by: Cathy Abbi

Steve noticed that Vanessa had the blahs after a trip with Bruce. She realized Steve is interested in her. Kim told Tony that he fathered a child that she gave to a priest in order to get the baby, Tron, out of Vietnam. Wes agreed to marry Gina if he can ditch her once the baby's born. Bambi was upset by Tony's strange behavior but Paul consoled her. Mia kept Betsy's messages from Ben.

Gina went into convulsions after taking a home remedy to induce abortion that Christie gave her. Tony and Kim couldn't find anyone to help locate Tron. Kim stood in the shadows and wept during Bambi's wedding rehearsal. Wes had the guilts for reneging on marrying Gina.

Bambi went into a trance and Paul hospitalized her after Tony ran from the wedding. Tony ran to revive Kim who tried to gas herself to death. Ben and Mia succumbed to their desires. Betsy showed pregnancy symptoms. Amy got sweet with Steve.

Tom and Meg spent a night togethen while Liane resisted Andrew’s advances. Elliott and Betsy’s divorce hearing is set for next week. Paul saw Tony with Kim. Van sensed Steve’s attraction to her while Amy moved in on Bruce. Ray said he’d see Wes before pressing statutory rape charges against him on Gina’s behalf.

Paul told Bambi that Tony and Kim Soo Ling left town together. Bambi remembered that Tony had loved a Vietnamese woman who saved his life. Kim and Tony searched San Francisco for their child.

One Life To Live

Written by: Gordon Russell & Sam Hall
Produced by: Joseph Stuart

Brad went after Karen but she didn't report the rape because of Jenny. Samantha and Mick got along famously, but Tina decided she wants a piece of Mick's action. Karen drowned her sorrows at the River Rat, then injured a stranger’s lecherous paws. Katrina guessed that Karen was raped and Brad hustled to keep Katrina quiet. Dorian had Gretel take over Pat's tv show since Pat's ill. Maggie teased Adam that she had a scheme to reunite him and Pat, but Maggie intended to snatch Adam for herself. Ed convinced Edwina not to write a yellow story on Karen, who refused to confide in anyone, especially Will.

Joe learned he's deathly ill after asking Becky and Richard to return from Paris. Maggie acted nicey-nice to Pat but fantasized stealing Adam. Joe rehired Edwina who realized that Gretel is her competition for Herb's affections. Dorian hired Ellen, Mario's former fiancee, who noticed that Mario didn't remember where they planned to spend their honeymoon. Fran was upset that Mick is breaking training because of Samantha. Mick reluctantly agreed to do a health spa commercial for Dorian. Mario questioned Brad about Karen who retreated from everyone.

Joe tried to tell Viki that he’s terminally ill but was stymied because of their anniversary. Tina complained to Joe that she lost Mick to Samantha. Matt realized the game Maggie was playing with Adam. Tina made a date with Jamie, who’s in cahoots with Judd who is vengeful since Tina once jilted her. Ivan comforted Faith that hed never allow “them” to take her away. Brad laid into Peter for getting too close to Jenny. Karen slipped that she had reason to despise Brad. Brad’s pawnbroker informed Brad that Jenny’s ring and pearls have been sold.

Mario beat up Brad after realizing that Brad raped Karen. Adam caught onto Maggie’s schemes to win his affections and moved back to New York after bidding Pat farewell. Becky Lee arrived in town but Richard’s still in Europe. After Kevin’s third birthday party, Joe told Viki that he had but a few months to live.

Dorian returned from a cruise. Joe lost his vision. Clint Buchanan agreed to take over Joe's editorship at the Banner.

Ryan’s Hope

Written by: Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer
Produced by: Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer

Jill and Frank overheard Rae and Seneca discuss their schemes to keep Jill and Frank apart. Roger flared at Dee for interfering in Nancy's and Pat's relationship. Pat got drunk over Nancy and Adam. Joe introduced Siobhan to a godfather-type pal, Mr. Novotny. Jill cancelled her San Francisco trip, now that she and Frank are reunited, but Rae swore vengeance.

Rae pretended to give up Frank to Jill gracefully, but secretly convinced Seneca not to file an alienation of affection suit until Rae comes up with a better scheme. Adam admitted his love for Nancy who ran to Pat. But Pat is convinced he and Nancy are washed up unless they marry immediately. Johnny questioned Joe about his reputed crime-lord uncle, and Jack investigated.

Johnny warned Dee to button up for taking credit for Pat and Nancy’s bust up. Rae arranged with reporter Lewis to take compromising photos of Jill and Frank. Roger was arguing with Dee about neglecting their home when he was called to tend Tom who fell and had an attack. Joe’s Uncle Tom told Jack the crime reputation has been manufactured by the press.

Tom checked into the graveyard while Roger feared his wrong diagnosis of Tom’s head injuries caused his death. Delia’s commodites broke. Dan Fox informed her taht her stocks are on a downhill slide. Rae sent Jack a list of her contacts who nominated Frank to the Senate planting another copy in Jill’s files. Johnny worried Siobhan and Joe’s affair would reflect badly on Frank’s career.

Frank told Jack he knew nothing about illegal campaign contributions and such, then confronted Rae who denied sending Jack the letter. Joe told a bewildered Siobhan that he had to stop seeing her.

Search For Tomorrow

Written by: Joyce & John William Corrington
Produced by: Mary-Ellis Bunim

Travis went running to Italy after David told him something mysterious about Renata. John overheard Stephanie chew out Ted for not keeping Todd away from Wendy. Janet refused John's request to call a board meeting about Ted gambling stockholder's money on oil deals. Tony (Antonio) led David to a village where David found Renata’s birth records. Helene plotted to take advantage of Carolyn's blindness. Lee urged Sunny to have more fun in her life and that be can provide it.

Helene used sleeping potions and voodoo dolls to bring Marc and Carolyn together and thereby ruin Marc because of Gary. David found Renata working at a Catholic hospital and convinced her to meet with Travis about her "secret." Jo maintained separate bedrooms with Martin in New Orleans. Eric returned and cautioned Wendy about rushing into sex with Todd. Ted refused to sell his oil leases to Lee and Janet warned Ted about using company money without her approval.

Mignon’s detective photographed Travis having a suggestive “reunion” with Renata. Helene convinced Mignon she could use her psychic powers to keep Liza away from Travis. Todd returned to college after Wendy insisted they couldn’t sneak around and they split. Jo admitted to Martin that theur vacation together was a thrill. Lee made it clear to Sunny that he wants an affair. Travis had David take Renata to Henderson and keep her presence a secret until she can claim the “name that’s rightfully hers”.

John demanded Stephanie call for Ted’s resignation after telling her Ted’s oil investments with Collins money could go bad. Tante Helene gave Carolyn hallucinogenic drugs. Liza was convinced Travis wanted to marry Renata after she saw Renata in his arms.

Travis told Liza that Renata was his sister. He said that Mignon would be destroyed if she knew his father had stayed in Europe with Renata s mother, letting Mignon think he'd died during the war.

The Young And The Restless

Written by: William J. Bell
Produced by: William J. Bell & John Conboy

Lorie accused Lucas of trying to kill Lance by sending him to revolutionary Santo Domingo. Derek thought Suzanne is drinking heavily and ran to tell Jill he'll always love Jill. Kay finally "appeared" in front of Brock and admitted she's pretending to be dead to uncover Suzanne's schemes. Nikki fretted that Greg doesn't want to start a family immediately once they're married. Leslie returned and Lorie realized she's concerned for Lance's welfare.

Kay admitted to Brock that she's so grateful to Liz for showing her a different way of life since living "undercover” Stu thought she should give Derek his freedom to run to Jill. Nikki was so moved that Liz accepted her as a future daughter-in-law that she told Paul she couldn't see him again, even though he admitted his love. Lorie convinced Leslie to stay with Lucas so that he won't have reason to feel antagonistic toward Lance.

Greg and Nikki honeymooned in their new apartment but she fretted about their finances.

Chris kept her pregnancy to herself after learning she'd come in contact with one of Snapper's patients who had German measles. Chris hasn't had the childhood disease. Jill demanded the house and half of everything Stu owns as a divorce settlement.

Derek told Lorie that he was remarrying Suzanne. Chris left town to think but didn't tell Snapper she's pregnant and has no immunity to German measles.

September 1979 Soap Opera Summaries (Part 1)

2009-08-12T09:17:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of French Fan at SON.

All My Children

Written by: Agnes Nixon and Wisner Washam
Produced by: Agnes Nixon and Bud Kloss

Frank invited Betsy to Donna's party after Nancy turned him down. Eddie took sexual advange of a drunken Brooke, but she later told him to scram. Charles and Mona laughed that Phoebe’s been acting the saint while she's secretly playing around with Langley. Phoebe had a fit when Paul announced he's divorcing Ann, who had flashing memories of him in the sanitarium while plotting an escape. Myra cried after overhearing Nina talking to her mother's portrait and Palmer warned Myra never to mention his wife to Nina. Kelly claimed she's suffering from narcolepsy but Myrtle and Joe knew better. Tom's surgery was successful. Brooke told Mark she's pregnant. Kelly had nightmares that Linc ditched her after Eddie squealed that she’s a speed freak.

Ann escaped from the sanitarium and arrived on Phoebe's doorsteps. Nina put her foot down about Cliff to Palmer. Chuck leveled with Charlie that there's no hope for Chuck and Tara, and Charlie returned to Washington. Kelly struggled to resist her pill habit while dating Linc at a posh social function where he ran into an old girlfriend. Phoebe agreed to invest in Langley’s oil deals. Phoebe kept Ann hidden although she realized Ann's still living in the past. Brooke admitted she's not absolutely sure she's pregnant, but wishes like all get-out that she were. Nancy and Frank argued about his abuse of visitation rights with Carl.

Brooke’s pregnancy test was negative. Erica was miffed to find Betsy giving Tom a hospital back rub. Benny and Edna returned from a honeymoon in the Poconos. Claudette laughed at Eddie’s notion that he can catch Brooke romantically. Langley's marriage proposal to Phoebe was prompted by his plans to get her money. Phoebe swore him to secrecy about keeping Ann hidden. Edna called Estelle a tramp when she spotted Benny and Estelle during an innocent meeting. Wally and Betsy warned Erica to tell Tom about her disco. Myra refused to do Palmer’s dirty work in keeping Cliff and Nina apart.

Ann disappeared after searching for Paul and overhearing him and Ellen discussing their romantic ties. Myrtle told Linc that Kelly was having a breakdown after Kelly went bananas in front of Linc. Kelly has had a bad drug reaction. Eddie was put out that Brooke is only interested in sex, not his love. Myra suggested Nina see Cliff when she's at school to avoid Palmer’s wrath.

Palmer hired detective Bernard Raab, who found Cliff's former girlfriend Janice Rollins in Chicago, then tempted her with money to help break up Nina and Cliff. Erica accused Betsy of having more than a clinical interest in Tom.

Another World

Written by: Tom King
Produced by: Paul Rauch

Eileen moved back with Rita and steered clear of Joey after admitting to Morgan that she had lost her virginity to Phil. Clarice tipped off Jamie that Elaine planned an abortion. He rushed to Blaine's side. Kirk's company is in financial straits and he urged Iris to persuade Mac to sell Cory Publishing. Kirk's detective, Murdock discovered that Janice had once been kept by a guy named Howard. Murdock continued tracking down dirt on Sylvie also. Frank wasn't enthused that Janice wanted him to write an article about the plight of Vietnamese children. Mike thought Karen was bonkers when she insisted that Ted was alive. Iris feared that Vivien would return to the farm after Viv's mother died. Larry decided to enter the police academy. Sally taunted Eileen about knowing about Eileen and Phil. Paul learned he can get an annulment if Rita knew she was barren when they married.

A very-much alive Ted kidnapped Karen, who realized he's bonkers. Iris threatened to squeal about June and Jeff unless June left Kirk free to dally with Iris. Sylvie was outraged that Kirk tracked down her sister Myrtle, since the ladies never saw eye to eye. Blaine and Sally became roommates. Sally plotted with Phil to get Eileen out of town while Joey’s working in Boston where he planned to check out Serenity House. Rachel was confused by Mac's jealousy of Frank and decided to spend a few days at the artist colony. Kirk conned Iris saying he only wants to help Mac's company. Jamie wants to be responsible for Blaine's baby but doesn't want to marry her because of Cecile. Murdock discovered a scandal surrounding the death of Janice's former lover. Charlie courted Ada now that she's rid of Fred.

Myrtle told Kirk and Sylvie that she’d reveal a secret about Sylvie to the highest bidder. June agreed to put up a divorced front with Kirk but only until he got Iris’ vote at the Cory stockholders’ meeting, then Kirk must dump Iris. Rita confessed about lying to Paul before their marriage about her infertility. He insisted the marriage must end because he loves Rose. Frank searched for an Asian child whose photo he carries. Mike and Ben rescued Karen from Ted’s mad clutches. Eileen insisted to Joey that Phil didn’t do anything to make her want to leave town. Kirk blackmailed Sylvie about her alcoholism and threatened to squeal to Iris if Sylvie continues to side with mac. Frank was upset that Rachel lent moral support to Mac over Kirk’s takeover schemes. Gwen assured Mac that Willis would stick by Mac if he puts Willis on the board of directors.

Phil pressed charges against Joey who beat him up after Sally told Joey that Phil had sexually conquered Eileen. Karen and Mike headed for a new life and a wedding in Florida while Ted was committed to a prison for the criminally insane. Kirk learned from Myrtle that Sylvie had been sent to prison where she gave birth. Sylvie returned to New York after saying goodbye to a tearful Iris. Joey skipped town after patching things up with Eileen. Jim overheard Sylvie threaten to kill Kirk if he ever harmed Iris. Ben followed Karen and Mike to Florida. Rachel refused to spend a night in Frank's bed.

Kirk left Iris at his mountain retreat not knowing June was there, too. June pulled a gun on Iris but she wouldn't kill her. She's going to wait for Kirk to destroy Iris.

As The World Turns

Written by: Douglas Marland
Produced by: Joe Rothenberger

Hester stood in the garage shadows as Grant borrowed Lisa's car. Grant was injured in an accident and suspected that Bennett had tampered with the brakes. Jay warned Matt not to get hung up on Melinda who is still married to Beau. Ian admitted to Barbara that he used her to get closer to Dana. Alex departed on business after he and Val returned from their honeymoon. Val reported a missing ruby stickpin, but Tom remembered spotting one of the wedding caterer's assistants, Sheila, guiltily hanging around Kate's room. Ellen's in a funk about Dan and Dee doesn't want to return to an out-of-town school. Marcia admitted to Jeff that Doug's lost interest in her and is bait for another woman.

Grant raged at Lisa for giving Ben nett a fake alibi. Ian claimed he's throwing in the towel and arranged a divorce meeting at a lodge with Dana. Sheila was arrested for theft and Tom was appointed her lawyer, although he admitted to Barbara he doesn't trust Sheila. Ralph lamented to Jay that he's sure Mary loves Don but she won't back out of marriage because she's too decent. Ralph began making Mary suspect he hasn't reformed from his playboy days. Tom got Sheila out on bail but the police found more jewelry in her locker. Valerie went to Ecuador with Alex, but will return, leaving him there on assignment until the spring. Dan prepared Emmy and Betsy for his death. Bennett realized Lisa's not sure she trusts him now.

Ralph saved Grant from a “fixed” elevator accident after Grant was knocked unconscious by a masked person. Bob and Dana realized that Dan tricked Dana into going to the lodge, although his lawyer already canceled out. Melinda began to enjoy Matt’s attentions. Tom asked Don to take Stella’s case since she reminded him of Natalie. Grant hired a bodyguart after considering that Bennett had put a contract on him.

Kim and the children moved in with Ellen and David while adjusting to Dan's death. Lisa moved into the Inn. Bennett accused Lisa. Ian presented Barbara with a contract to do his record album cover.

Bennett refused Lisa's offer to live in Oakdale giving her a week to return to the inn. Mary and Ralph broke off their engagement. Dan told Mary that they must face their feelings for each other.

Days Of Our Lives

Written by: Elizabeth Harrower
Produced by: Betty Corday & H. Wesley Kenney

Doug fell for Lee's sympathy act and offered financial support after he inherited Byron's estate. Julie refused to see Hope. Bill dined with Maggie during Mickey's absence. Linda hired an investigative firm to tail Stephanie. Julie promised to keep mum about Stephanie being Brooke unless Stephanie hurts Bob. Steve paid court to both Mary and Lee until he learned Lee is poor as a churchmouse. Alex flirted with Maggie. Amanda had pregnancy problems after learning that her baby will legally belong to Greg even if it's Chris' child. Jordan helped Julie psychologically at Linda's urging. Mary asked Bob to hire Steve. Don became a city councilman. Chris rehired Mike at Anderson’s thanks to Margo.

Amanda was rushed to the hospital and must have a therapeutic abortion. Simpson came for his canes with the smuggled diamonds, and Steve flared at Maggie for unwittingly selling one to Tom and one to Trask. Marie admitted to Tommy that she had a disastrous affair before she entered the convent. Julie reminded Jordan of a woman he once loved and lost. Alex let Stephanie know that he's aware of her real identity. Steve retrieved Tom's cane but Trask went to Europe, and Steve failed to convince Trish to give up her diamond supply. Lee gladly accepted Doug's invitation to live under his roof. Greg arrived and learned from Tom that Amanda may have a malignancy. Alex told Phyllis he's not the marrying kind. Donna returned from Hollywood. Julie finally saw Hope and realized the child isn't repulsed by Julie's scars.

Steve intimated that Maggie and Bill are up to no good after they dined together. Cathy Breton joined the hospital cafeteria staff. Greg agreed to divorce after Amanda had a hysterectomy. Jordan convinced Doug to leave Julie alone after she got hysterical because Doug bought her a house, which she refused to accept. Since Lee is moving in on Doug, Steve expects to be her partner. Marlena learned that Samantha has a kidney problem. Trish rebid her diamonds, them was threatened by Simpson. Trish asked Margo to return the diamond she had loaned Margo to pay Earle. Maggie found Simpson in the shop and a gunshot is fired. David asked Bob for a transfer because of Stephanie.

Maggie was questioned by the police after Simpson died of a gunshot wound inflicted during their struggle at the shop. Steve pushed for a job at Anderson Manufacturing. Phyllis warned Bob that Stephanie may be out to take over the company – and Bob. Jordan warned Doug not to contact Hulie who agreed to another skin graft.

Amanda returned to Chicago with Greg leaving a bitter Chris behind. Margo returned Trish’s diamond to her not knowing Earle had substitued a fake.

The Doctors

Written by: Elizabeth Levin & David Cherrill
Produced by: Doris Quinlan

Greta nixed Billy's marriage proposal and he skipped town. The cult moved into Lisa's hospital room while Steve and Carolee tried to convince Lisa to leave the group. Far Wind put a curse on Steve indicating that if Far Wind lost "a child" so would Steve and Carolee. Kim rubbed it in to Missy that Luke doesn't have a choice about Kim becoming a club partner since Evan would take him to court.

Stephanie came under the influence of Far Wind and the cult. Luke borrowed from a loan shark to keep Kim out as a partner. Matt fretted about a threatened nurses' strike. Steve and John tried to de-program Lisa. Nola couldn't stand living with Barney and moved back with Mona. Carolee was in the dark about Stephanie and didn't want Steven involved with Lisa's problems because of the cult's threats.

Viveca Strand, a hospital commission inspector, didn’t want to recommend Colin’s cardiac unit because of Hope Memorial’s financial problems. Kim left town after Luke and Nola bought the remaining share of the club. John lamented to Greta about his troubles with his wife; then snatched a kiss. Nola taunted M.J. by giving Colin a photo of Jessica, which M.J. realized is Colin’s child.

Maggie warned Greta not to get involved with John since he’s still married. Barney was injured when the stove blew up at The Medecine Man. Lisa manipulated Carolee and Steve into letting her recuperate in their home. Mike treated Mary Hopkins, an overworked housewife. Madison Memorial’s fate rests with Viveca’s recommendation to the governor on the hospital’s efficiency.

Steve gave Nola until the end of October to move out of Mona's house. Carolee and Bennett searched the rubble in a house vacated by Far Wind.

The Edge Of Night

Written by: Henry Slesar
Produced by: Erwin Nicholson

It was revealed that Tobias is really Mickey who assured Paige he didn't want to kill her. But, Mickey slashed Tobias and arranged with gang member Zack to set up Steve and Paige for a hit Sarah and Raven slapped each other around over Elliott, then Sarah warned Logan that his wife is cheating on him. Nola went on a bender after overhearing Owen tell producer Eddie that she's washed up. But, Owen finally consented to direct the horror flick with Nola as star. Logan asked Draper to arrange Logan's adoption of Jamie.

Owen spotted Paige kissing Brian and reminded Brian that Paige is his real sister, not his stepsister. Mickey (Tobias) shot Zach because Mickey truly loves Paige. Steve recognized Mickey’s gun as the one that Joey had when Steve killed him and realized that Mickey had switched a toy gun for the real thing. Logan went on a campaign trip but Raven claimed she had the flu so she could rendezvous with Elliott. Eddie admitted he's always loved Nola.

Raven blamed Geraldine for having Logan return unexpectedly and fiding Raven and Elliott in the sack. Cliff was jealous that Owen is sparking up to Deborah and telling her he doesn’t love Noa. Bill rehired Steve. Logan prepared to fight for Jamie’s custody after he called it quits with Raven. Owen and Eddie planned to film the horror film in Monticello. Brian told Paige they are brother and sister and she agreed to run away with Mickey (Tobias). Mike and Nancy learned that Margo arranged for Draper’s New York job cancellation.

Steve cornered Mickey who jumped out of a window to his death while trying to escape with the money from his South American gun-running escapade. Raven left for London after putting April and Draper’s names on an adoption form for Jamie. All charges were dropped against Paige who confessed that Mickey was really Tobias.

Actor Trent Archer arrived in town and Nola planned a pre-production party for "Mansion of the Damned." She's invited Deborah whom she knows Owen is seeing on the sly. April said she'd divorce Draper if he helped Logan get custody of Jamie.

General Hospital

Written by: Pat Falken Smith & Margaret DePriest
Produced by: Gloria Monty

Laura warned Amy not to get interested in Luke. Joe, Jeff and Steve headed for Mexico where Carol is hospitalized. Mitch told Tracy he couldn't live with her since the mob might hound him about Ted's death. Tracy spotted Mitch coming on to Susan. Amy blabbed to Scotty that Laura got a job at the disco. Alan found Amy admiring his house, then consoled her after learning her father had died. Monica and her unborn baby's condition improved. Dorrie told Howard it is over between them and packed her bags. Lesley investigated whether Mrs. Kakorian had a history of heart trouble.

Cal died but not before he told Jeff that Heather knows the truth about Steven Lars. Mrs. Grant realized the game was up and beat around the bush to Peter about knowing of an illegal adoption. It finally dawned on him that she was trying to explain that P.J. is actually Steven Lars. Anne won temporary custody of Jeremy who suggested she marry Jeff. She vetoed the idea although she's been drawn closer to Jeff. Luke comforted Laura about her stepfather's death. Laura and Scotty argued about her job schedule. Bobbie avoided one of her ex-johns who's a patient. Monica returned to Alan, although the baby may have heart problems.

Peter had a coronary after Mrs. Grant revealed the P.J. / Steven Lars story. Bobbie and Roy were upset when Barry Johnson recognized her in the hospital. Lesley’s reports on Mrs. Kirkorian’s previous ailment couldn’t be proved. Rick and Monica were forced to confide to Howard about their night together after Mrs. Kirkorian’s surgery. Luke and Roy worried they’d have to eliminate Mitch to prove their mob royalty. Joe admitted his love for Ann, who asked they married.

Dorrie returned to England. Bobbie told Jessie she had once be a hooker. Peter died before he could tell Jeff about P.J / Steven Lars but he left Diana a mysterious letter. Kirkorian refused the hospital’s settlement so Rick and Monica prepared for a court battle. Monica returned to Alan upon her hospital release and accepted Amy’s offer to move in and help out during her recuperation.

Alice blamed herself for Peter's death because she told him about P.J.-Stephen Lars. Diana made quick plans to take P.J. to visit her mother in Florida.

Daniel Cosgrove in tighty whities

2009-08-10T02:09:00.003-05:00

Daniel Cosgrove in White Briefs

(Guiding Light; Dirty Sexy Money; Beverly Hills 90210; All My Children)

from Van Wilder (2002)

Reunion on Amity Island: Part One

2009-08-09T15:07:00.009-05:00

Reunion on Amity Island
Part One

~~~

Featuring the representations of:

Kevin G. Schmidt as Noah Hunter
Marcia Cross as Bree Hunter
Bryan Cranston as Walt
Lee Tergesen as Tobias Hunter

From the pen of:
R. Steven Frame

~~~

It is mid-morning on Amity Island.

Seventeen-year-old Noah Hunter stands on the docks holding the bag of outgoing mail containing all the confirmation details for the reservations made so far for The Amity Inn, an inn run by his parents during the summer months. The rest of the year the inn serves as home to him and his parents. He stands on the docks waiting for Claude to come around the bend for the daily mail pickup. As he stands there looking out at the waves crash onto the beach, a gentle breeze blows and the waves crash against the dock splashing him a little with the dew. He shivers a little as there is still a little nip in the air at this time of the year off the coast of Maine.

Finally he hears the motor running on Claude's boat, and soon sees Claude's boat coming closer. Claude blows the whistle, and he and Noah wave to one another.

When he gets close to the dock, Claude yells to Noah. "Hey Noah. How are reservations coming in?" he says as he tosses the bag of incoming mail to Noah.

At the same time Noah tosses the bag of outgoing mail to Claude and says, "Coming in slow right now, Claude."

Both men catch the bags and Claude turns the boat back toward the open ocean. Noah throws the bag over his shoulder, jumps on his scooter and heads back toward the main house.

Back at the main house Bree Hunter, already on her third glass of vodka, stands looking down at the docks and the ocean taking everything in. She watches her son Noah as he drives back up the coast to the inn.

Near her Walter Harper, the inn's only handyman, works on putting a fresh coat of paint on the outside of the inn; the inn that definitely looks as if it is in need of more than just a fresh coat of paint.

Bree yells to him that the mail is in and begins walking toward the house. As she walks by Walter, finishing off her vodka, she looks at him and says, "Stretch the paint thin Walt. There's no money for more and you have a long way to go. Just use enough to put up a good front and get us by until the end of summer."

Walt tips his head to her and says, "Yes, ma'am."

When she gets by and goes into the house, Walt says to himself. "Paints not the only thing running thin around here."

Noah arrives back at the inn, and comes running by Walter, says hi and heads into the house. He kisses his Mom.

"Mail seem any heavier today Noah?"

"It seems a little heavier Mom."

"Let's hope so or this may be the last summer The Amity Inn stays in business."

Noah watches as Bree sits the mail bag down and begins to pour herself another glass of vodka. He knows he shouldn't say anything before he even says it but he does anyway.

"Mom let me fix you something else to drink. It will be better for you."

"Noah, I think I am old enough to know what I want to drink. Why don't you get outside and see if you can help Walt with the painting. The first guests arrive in a few weeks and at the rate he is going he will be nowhere near finished."

Noah hesitates, but finally goes out the door.

Outside Walt is talking to himself, mocking Bree: "Paint it thin she says. Quality means nothing around here anymore. When old Mr. Hamilton was alive things were sure different. This house was full of elegant guests all summer long. Real guests not these paying kind she lets come around here......"

Walt is startled when he hears Noah's voice, "Grandpa was rich and we aren't, Walt! Mom and Dad are just doing what they have to do to get by."

"Sorry Noah. I didn't know you were there. I shouldn't have said anything." Walt says apologetically.

Noah just looks at him as he gets his paint brush ready. "Just get back to work Walt. We have to get this done."

They both return to painting.

Back inside the house, Bree begins to open the mail. She begins to believe it is all bills. Then she comes across an envelope and the name on the return address surprises her. She reads the name: "Chris Jorgenson"

"Wow I haven't heard that name in years. What in the world could he want?" she says to herself tearing into the envelope.

As she sits there reading, her husband Toby comes into the room. He has been on his regular morning jog. He goes past her to the bar area to pour himself a cold drink of water. "Anything interesting in the mail?"

Bree doesn't say anything at first as she continues to read.

"Finally she speaks," laughing between words, "Oh my God this is so amusing.....almost hillarious...."

"What is it?" Toby asks going over to the stack of mail and sorting through it, continuing to listen to her at the same time.

"Remember that young boy my dad hired about twenty years ago to work as a lifeguard for the island. You remember.......Chris Jorgenson don't you?"

When Toby hears the name he turns to look at his wife. "What in the world made you think of him. I haven't heard that name in almost 18 years now. Didn't you have a crush on him or something?"

"More like he had a crush on me. He tried to make it with me one night. Of course I wasn't about to do anything with a lifeguard. He was my Dad's hired hand. I have no idea what he was thinking. I'll admit he was cute, but he had no chance with me."

Toby leans against the desk holding the mail and listening to her go on and on about how she was too good for the lifeguard for a few minutes. Finally he catches a chance to speak. "So anyway what made you think of him after all these years?"

"Well listen at this. It is hillarious. Evidently the lifeguard has money now."

She begins to read from the letter.

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Hunter,

My wife, daughter and I are currently on an extended cruise up the East Coast in our new yacht. We would love to make a stop for the Summer on Amity Island.

Bree looks at Toby. "This is so hillarious. Oh the nouveau riche. Look at how he worked it in. The yacht. The extended cruise. Oh brother. It is just so hillarious isn't it."

"Just what's so hillarious Bree?" Toby asks.

"Isn't it obvious. He's heard about us, how we're wiped out and having to run this place as an Inn. He just wants to come back here and gloat. What better way for him to get back at me for spurning his advances than to see me be at his beck and call all summer. He had better think again? The day I take a tip from Chris Jorgenson will be the day I die." She turns, swallows the last of her vodka, and says, "Obviously we are turning his request down."

"For the love of God why Bree? In case you have forgotten what started out as a hobby with running this Inn is no longer that. It's not just a hobby anymore Bree, this damn Inn is our livelihood. As much as we need the money right now, why in the world would you even want to turn this down!"

"I'm sorry if I don't feel like being reminded all summer how far down I've sunk. And that is what it will be Tobias. I may not have my Father's money anymore, but I do have my pride."

Toby begins to hold up different bills. "Is your pride going to pay the god damn mortgage payment Bree? Or what about Walt's pay? Or the food bill for the summer? Or what about the bill for your damn vodka? We need the money Bree and we are accepting this. If we don't there won't be an Inn for us to even live in at the end of the summer."

Bree pours herself another glass of vodka. "It doesn't matter anyway. He's asked for accomodations we don't have? So that ends it."

Toby grabs the letter from Bree and begins reading, "Two bedrooms with a connecting sitting room. So what, we can give them our rooms upstairs."

"And where do you suppose we sleep Tobias?"

"The gardener's shack in the back is big enough for the three of us. We will be fine out there."

"The gardener's shack. The same shack that HE slept in when HE worked here. You expect me to sleep in the servant's quarters Tobias? And I thought his request was ridiculous. Ha. Yours beats even his." Bree says turning away from him.

"Listen Bree. We can make almost three hundred dollars a day for that suite. For three months that's almost $27,000 dollars Bree. As of right now Bree we are flat broke."

"I don't care Tobias. Just because we are broke doesn't mean we have to give up our dignity. I refuse to sink that low. I've given up a great deal in recent years but I won't lose my dignity."

"Dignity Bree!!! Fuck dignity. Look around Bree. This place is run down. It needs a lot of repair. The roof leaks. The garden has gone to seed which means there won't be any food to live off this winter. We don't have any one to call on for credit anymore. No one will give it to us. Our son wants to go to college this fall. I'm not about to tell him he can't. Dignity Bree. How in the world can you even think of turning down twenty seven thousand dollars for dignity. I hope your damn dignity keeps you warm this winter."

Bree turns and starts to walk away. Toby goes to her and spins her around, making her look at him. "You don't seem to realize it Bree, but we are fighting for our damn lives here. We're taking the reservation."

Bree looks at him. She starts walking toward the door defeated. "I'll tell Walt when he gets through to start moving our stuff to the gardener's shack," she quietly says.

Fade out

Announcer: Be sure to come back every Wednesday for the next part of Reunion on Amity Island.

Hall of Fame: Genie Francis

2009-08-09T08:57:00.005-05:00

Genie Francis
2009 Soap Opera Hall of Fame Inductee

Alice Dennison, Family
Laura Vining Webber, General Hospital
Patricia "Tyger" Hayes, Bare Essence
unknown role, Glitter
Jenny Bernard, Hotel
Melinda Jenkins, Hotel
Diana Colville, Days of Our Lives
Ceara Connor, All My Children
Ceara Connor, Loving

Eugenia Ann Francis, better known as Genie Francis to her fans, was born on May 26, 1962 in Englewood, New Jersey is probably daytime TV's most famous teen star ever.

Her father, Ivor Francis, a Canadian actor of English descent, was on the Gloria Monty-directed soap opera Bright Promise in the early 1970s, a few years before his daughter would work for her. He died in 1986 from the effects of multiple strokes. He played a brief role on General Hospital as an adoption counselor when his daughter was also on the show. Her mother, Rosemary Daley, is a former actress/model of Lithuanian descent. Genie is a confirmed Catholic. She has an older brother Ivor Jr., a younger brother Kenneth, and an older half-sister Shelley from her father's first marriage.

Genie met actor/director Jonathan Frakes while filming the television show, Bare Essence. After meeting again during the filming of the miniseries, North and South, Genie and Jonathan started dating in 1985. They became engaged in 1986, and married on May 28, 1988. The couple have two children, Jameson Ivor Frakes, born in 1994, and Elizabeth Francis Frakes, born in 1997. They have just recently moved from Belfast, Maine to Beverly Hills, California.

Genie's acting career started at the age of 13 with a guest appearance on the Aaron Spelling primetime series Family playing Alice Dennison, an unfriendly classmate of Kristy McNichol's Buddy Lawrence, in 1976. Even with only one professional acting credit to her name, she followed that with her most famous role, that of Laura Webber Spencer on General Hospital, a role in which fans got to watch her grow from a young teen of 14 into a young woman.

When Monty took over the producer position on the ailing show and decided that the dramatic focus should be on the younger characters, Douglas Marland wrote a daring story in which the confused, immature Laura took an older man as a lover. When her lover David Hamilton taunted Laura with the fact that it was really her mother that he loved, Laura accidentally killed him, and her mother took the rap for the murder.

Her ferocious, highly emotional performance at fifteen amazed her peers and, through word of mouth, hordes of teenagers were brought into the General Hospital audience. The highly melocramatic storyline was beautifully juxtaposed by a sweet, puppy-love romance with Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner). The ratings took off.

Then Pat Falken Smith, well known for her rape stories on Days of Our Lives, took over and wrote a highly ambiguous, controversial storyline in which Laura would fall in love with her rapist-seducer, Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary). The chemistry between Francis and Geary was undeniable, adn when "the powers that be" got around to calling the rap a seduction, Francis felt - and justifiably so - that her highly skilled performance as a rape victim had been negated.

The series of stories would bring her instant stardom though. A series of Luke-and-Laura-on-the-run stories would make Luke and Laura an international phenomenon and bring General Hospital unprecedented ratings. The stories sealed forever Luke and Laura as the most popular super couple in daytime history and brought them appearances on the covers of TV Guide, Us Weekly, and People magazines.

The television couple wed on November 16, 1981, with 30 million viewers tuning in to make this episode the highest-rated hour in soap opera history.

Francis was exhausted. For five years she had appeared almost daily, learing 50 pages of dialogue everyday along with her high school tudor on the set. She had no personal life at all, and felt that her whole adolescence and teenage years had been skipped. While she was in the midst of her tumultuous affair onscreen, she had not even been kissed in real life. At the peak of her success, Francis left the show in December 1982 to try her hand at primetime television and to take a brief break from the life of a soap opera actress. Her last scenes as Laura showed Laura disappearing in the fog while being trailed by a kidnapper.

Soon after, she landed a contract from CBS which included two big-budget TV movies and a series pilot. She landed the starring role in the made-for-TV movie, Bare Essence. The movie received high ratings, putting an end to the speculation that a former daytime actress could not lure a large primetime audience. When the movie was opted for a weekly series by NBC, she found herself starring in her own series. Sadly, Bare Essence, was not a success, being unable to capture the impact the movie had made, most in part due to lethargic writing that never was able to showcase the talent Francis had at all.

She decided to take time off to study and moved to New York, also hoping to launch a career on the stage. Genie had remained a fan favorite and viewers of GH wanted her back. GH offered a huge salary for thirty appearances and despite her desire to work on the stage, she agreed to come back. Fans were delighted when she returned to General Hospital on November 14, 1983. Her return was brought about to coincide with the departure of Luke when Geary decided to leave the series. During her first week on the show, the ratings jumped, adding three million viewers to the GH audience. When her limited run ended, Francis stayed true to her theater ambitions and returned to New York. She would return to General Hospital for one more brief visit in November 1984, but her work during this time was mostly on the stage and in primetime television.

She co-starred in the hit ABC miniseries, North and South (Books I and II), as the good Southern sister, Brett Main. Genie's extensive television work also included recurring appearances on Murder, She Wrote. Later she was seen in the television movie, Perry Mason and the Case of the Killer Kiss, and in Heaven and Hell, the third North and South installment.

She also was lucky in finding work on the stage where she has appeared in Crimes of the Heart and See How They Run. In 1991, Ms. Francis appeared in the Williamstown Festival Theater production of Defying Gravity. That same year, she made her New York City debut in The Baby Dance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village. She also appeared in a Comedic Curtain Raiser at Manhattan Class Company for their festival of One Acts, called "The Group."

Through the years, other daytime soaps have pursued Francis because of her tremendous popularity. She appeared on Days of our Lives as Diana Colville from 1987 to 1989 and on All My Children as con artist and incest victim Ceara Connor Hunter from 1990 to 1992. She reprised her role as Ceara on Loving in November 1991. She then returned to GH in 1993. In 1994, when Francis fell pregnant with her first child, the pregnancy was written into the show and Genie took six weeks off for maternity leave. However in early 1997 when she fell pregnant again, she took a much longer absence from the show, staying away for nearly a year and a half.

In September 2002 she abruptly left General Hospital following ABC's refusal to work out a contract she wanted.

In June 2006, Francis began negotiating with the casting directors on the show in returning to the role of Laura Webber Spencer for a limited run through November. She returned to the show with spectacular fanfare to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding. The magic of Luke and Laura was recaptured, and the reunion garnered the show more publicity than it had seen in years. Though she reprised the role for only one month, Francis's stint was so successful that she garnered a Daytime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, which she ended up winning in June 2007. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "Thank you so much. I am overwhelmed. I've waited 31 years for this moment."

In December 2007, Francis had a starring role in the Hallmark Channel movie, The Note, which earned her critical acclaim.

Genie Francis returned to General Hospital in August 2008 to reprise her role as Laura Webber Spencer. Francis told the AP, "It's a mother-daughter story. Years ago when I started playing the character as a 14-year-old girl, it was a mother-daughter story, only I was the daughter. So it's kinda cool this is full circle. It's nice to come back for visits. General Hospital is my home." She continued, "I would stay on, but General Hospital honestly doesn't seem to want that relationship with this character at the moment," said Francis. "They want little short doses during sweeps periods. It's not entirely up to me. I'm thrilled and delighted my audience stands behind me. If they didn't, you can be sure I wouldn't get to come back for these visits." Laura's character was written off as returning to France for treatment for her illness.

Lynda Hirsch on Soaps -- Gossip

2009-08-09T08:34:00.001-05:00

Source: Creators.com

There is moving: "One Life to Live" is moving a few blocks away from its current studios. And there is moving: After 39 years in New York City, "All My Children" is heading to Los Angeles. ABC, which airs the shows, has given several reasons for the move. The network felt it needed more space. The L.A. digs will give the show twice as much room. The show is also going high definition, which is easier to do in L.A. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons is that it is easier to work with the unions in L.A. than in N.Y.C. While New York is desperate to keep productions in town, it is hard to do because of the cost. In primetime, many shows are produced in Vancouver because the American dollar is worth more over there. Yes, there still is one place where you can get a few cents more for your dollar.

In the job market, companies move all the time — many across the country, some out of the country. Just ask any autoworker. With moves, jobs are always lost. It will be the same with the moves of "AMC" and "OLTL"; cameramen, sound engineers and directors will be looking for work.

As for the actors, the folks at "OLTL" have it easier. The studio is just at a different subway stop or a farther cab ride. Not so the "AMC" thespians. They all have a major choice to make. According to Thorsten Kaye (Zach), they have been given one week to make the choice. Some of the actors can commute, but trust me, flying from New York to L.A. every week is not easy. I know; I did it for several years as a movie critic. Once a month — doable. When I had to do it every week — not so doable.

Actors are talking to real estate agents on both coasts. Buying in this market may be easy but selling not so much. Los Angeles and New York are truly two different worlds.

Nothing against L.A., but really, is life in a car? The weather may seem perfect, but getting anywhere is very imperfect. Unlike New York City, no one hangs out anywhere. Unless hanging out at the mall is one's idea of hanging out. In Manhattan, need to go somewhere? Hail a cab. Hail a cab in L.A.? A cabbie will drive by thinking you are doing some type of street performance. For some actors, the move will be good because they do not have to choose between going up for L.A. auditions and working their soap at the same time. For actors who love stage work. it is not so great. Los Angeles has two major theaters that usually produce touring company shows of major hits. In L.A., Broadway is the name of a now defunct department store. While there are some other theaters, most are small and many are in strip shopping malls.

When "AMC" moves in December, it means only two soaps will originate from New York City. Actually, only one — "As the World Turns" is produced in Brooklyn, N.Y. So that will leave "OLTL," which takes over "AMC's" old studio. Time was that every soap came from N.Y.C. ABC broke that tradition when it created "General Hospital." When the list of soaps produced in L.A. grew, a friendly rivalry started among actors on both coasts. The joke used to go: Want a great dressing room? Work on an L.A. soap. Want good acting work on one in New York? The dressing rooms are still better in L.A. The acting is now equal.

One "OLTL" performer who is officially going to be making the cross-town move is Robin Strasser (Dorian). The actress has signed a new contract. Strasser has agreed to another pay cut. Last time she signed a contract, she said she had to take 67 percent less. This time, she is not saying how much. She does say that everyone on the show has taken a pay cut, but she does not think they took the hit she did.

Lynda Hirsh on Soaps -- Q&A

2009-08-09T08:31:00.002-05:00

Source: Creators.com

Q: It took me awhile, but I have grown very fond of the actress who plays Heather on "Young and Restless." When did she begin her acting career? — Robyn, Point Clear, Ala.

A: Vail Bloom, who plays Paul's daughter, Heather, and the girlfriend of the very confused Adam, has just gone from contract to recurring. Bloom, who has a degree in architecture from Princeton University, admits she is a latecomer to acting. "I was interested in acting, but I never really thought about it as a full-time career. My parents knew I had flirted with acting. They were insistent that I get a degree in a career that was not as risky. While I was in college and working toward my degree, I did get to do a lot of theater. When I made my choice to pursue acting full time, my parents were very supportive."

Q: How is Frank Dicopoulos dealing with the cancellation of "Guiding Light?" — Rene, Pittsburgh

A: He is crushed. Having been with show for almost 24 years, he really thought he would be with the show forever. The actor told us: "Even when other acting offers were on the horizon, I always chose to stay with 'Guiding Light.' I come from a working-class family. It was important that I stay in one place with my wife and children. The show has given me that chance throughout the years.

Because of 'Guiding Light,' I was able to be involved with a variety of charities. Through the years, the show listened to my ideas and used them in the show. Not all of them — some of my ideas weren't very good. One of my ideas was great. I suggested that Frank's dad come back from the dead. I felt it was important for the character to connect with his dad. So Buzz was created. To add to the luck, Justin Deas was cast to play my dad. What an honor and what fun to work with him all these years." Until the very end, he did think the show would survive in one form or the other. "Yes, there were times that the show lost its way. In the last year, it was back to where it belonged. I know some of the stories they had for the future. It is a shame the viewers are not going to get to see them."

Q: I am going crazy. Where have I seen the actor who is playing Mason on "As the World Turns"? — Janet, Toronto

A: Forbes March played Scott on "All My Children" several years back. He also played the tragic Nash on "One Life to Live." Nash, the one-time love of Jessica's life, died while having an argument with Jared. His current character, Mason, may create trouble for Noah and Luke. It appears that Mason, who is Noah's college adviser, plans to give his protege advice in his private life.

Soap Summaries: Week of August 2 through the 7th

2009-08-09T08:25:00.002-05:00

Source: Creators.com

ALL MY CHILDREN: Jake and Amanda put their plan in motion by convincing David that Amanda can't have any more children. Amanda and Jake look forward to being a family once they "adopt" a baby and are able to bring Trevor home. Tad, Taylor and Amanda come clean with Opal after she spots baby Trevor at the house. Opal agrees everyone did the right thing in keeping David away from the baby but thinks Jake's plan has flaws. Taylor realizes that Krystal still loves Tad, but Krystal states she just wants him to be happy. After asking Scott to move into the mansion, Adam proposes to Annie. JR struggles to contain his anger and disgust when Adam announces Annie agreed to marry him. In front of Liza and Jesse, Kendall unburdens herself by confessing to having killed Stuart in a taped statement. Stuart's ghost appears in front of Kendall, telling her they can all be at peace. Zach gives an impassioned plea for leniency at Kendall's sentencing hearing. Scott also makes a statement at the hearing, invoking Stuart's memory as he tells the judge his father wasn't a vindictive man. At Annie's urging, Adam asks the judge to go easy on Kendall. Marian lays into Kendall and wants her to pay dearly for killing Stuart. Marissa is the unintended victim of Marian's quest for revenge against Kendall. Liza's heart breaks for Marian as she's led off to a psychiatric facility. Colby makes it perfectly clear she wants nothing to do with either Annie or Adam.

SNEAK PEEK: Liza rejects David.

AS THE WORLD TURNS: Damian offers Meg a consulting job. Meg and Lily shoot insults at each other over their love lives. Accepting the job, Meg falls into Damian's arms. Barbara's upset when she discovers Paul's been giving his fortune away — specifically, she's horrified that he would finance Emily's new paper. Paul invites Emily and Hunter to work on the paper from Fairwinds and to move in. Paul and Emily wake up in each other's arms. When Emily takes off for work, Paul is greeted by two men in white coats. Paul quickly learns that Barbara has had him committed for his strange behavior and is taken to the hospital. Emily sneaks Paul out of the hospital in a dog crate. Paul, hiding in the Fairwinds wine cellar, discovers James' old wine-tasting journal. Henry looks through Audrey's suitcase to find an envelope with obituaries and a journal entry that mentions the name Jay Stanhope. Henry becomes convinced his mother is a serial killer. Jay and Audrey are in cahoots. When Teri turns him down, Brad asks Janet to work on "Oakdale Now." Alison tells Casey she's concerned about Bob, and thinks he's having occasional memory loss. Bob instructs Alison to administer a specific dosage of a medication to Riley, which turns out to be too high. Unaware that Riley is really Adam, Tom asks him to move out.

SNEAK PEAK: A baby is missing.

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: Still in shock from Brooke's appearance and her explanation of the recent events that took place, Ridge is torn about how to handle the situation. Stephanie and Donna go head to head when they each take opposite sides on Ridge's choices. Ridge takes the blame for the fiasco at his and Taylor's wedding. Stephanie confronts Brooke about the scene she had caused at the beach house, while Brooke has a few harsh words in return. Brooke returns from her leave of absence in order to begin a new chapter in her life. Taylor attempts to stay confident that Ridge will not succumb to Brooke's persuasiveness now that they are working together. Katie comes up with a new publicity campaign that she feels will save Forrester Creations. Unfortunately, Eric will have to make a few substantial sacrifices to proceed with the campaign, allowing Donna to become an object of male desire. Owen becomes territorial with Jackie when he notices some chemistry between her and Whip.

SNEAK PEAK: Bill is up to no good.

DAYS OF OUR LIVES: Daniel tells Lucas when Chloe wakes up, she and Daniel will be together. Lucas is unable to forgive Chloe. Victor pays Daniel's sky-high bail and tells Daniel why he thinks Kate tried to kill Chloe. Chloe has a slight beep of brain function as she whispers "Daniel." Arianna completes a drug deal with Troy. Philip learns one of his men has been shot. Bo and Philip go to the hospital where Carlo dies. Stephanie tells Philip he is not a bad man. Stephanie tells Roman she was right to break up with Philip but misses being in love. Roman assures her the right man is out there; she just has to let him in. Stephanie decides to give Nathan a chance, unaware that he is interested in Melanie.

EJ visits Grace's grave for the first time on her and Sydney's 6-month birthday and is infuriated when he sees the name "Brady" on her headstone. Nicole watches unseen as EJ smashes the old headstone and damns Sami. Chad and Kinsey reset their plan to break up Will and Mia, while Will confides in Mia he's upset about Chloe cheating on his father. Mia painfully admits to Will she's not a virgin and that Chad was her first lover. Will professes his love for her.

SNEAK PEAK: Sami and Rafe call it quits.

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason and Sam easily fall back into their comfortable, familiar pattern as they head south in their search for Michael and Kristina. Kristina remains consumed with guilt as she and Michael make their way to the Mexican border. Jerry informs Claudia he has no intention of calling off his search for Michael because he wants to use the boy as bait to get to Jason. Jerry comes to Michael and Kristina's rescue. Sam closes in on Michael and Kristina. Jax supports Carly's decision to have Michael move back in with them once he comes home. Sonny tells Claudia he wants her to come home. Dominic is shocked when he walks in on Olivia and Johnny in a compromising position. Alexis is arrested for the murder of Brianna Hughes. Robin sets out to prove her innocence. Ethan tells Rebecca he needs her in his life but she rebuffs his advances, stating she wants to see where things might lead with Nikolas. Spinelli shows up at the Scorpio family dinner to ask Mac for Maxie's hand in marriage.

NEXT WEEK: Maxie says yes.

GUIDING LIGHT: Phillip reveals to Alan that the owner of the cafe they've arrived at is the widow of the man who took his place in Vietnam. Alan goes into the diner and tells the man's son he knew his father. Phillip tells Alan he has a progressive and incurable disease. Phillip tells Ed that if he can't help him, he'll find help somewhere else. Shayne and Dinah wed. Dinah tells Mallet he can't turn Marina in because Dinah is the one who killed the man. Mallet warns Dinah that Frank knows she's the killer and says she's not safe. Dinah stops Shayne from planning the spontaneous honeymoon and admits the cops are after her because she killed the man she thought was Edmund. In the woods, Jeffrey, feverish and weak, talks to Reva's photo to keep himself going. Jeffrey collapses just before reaching a remote cabin. A man walks over to Jeffrey's lifeless body — it's Jonathan. Jeffrey comes to and warns Jonathan that Edmund wants to destroy everyone Reva loves. He explains that he needs to let Edmund think he's dead so he can get an advantage on him. Jeffrey tells Jonathan that he's doing a good job with Sarah. Jonathan gets a menacing call from Edmund.

SNEAK PEAKS: Edmund strikes.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Rex warns Schuyler to stay away from Gigi. Gigi offers Stacy money to get an abortion. Stacy accuses Gigi of being afraid that Rex will end up leaving her once the baby is born. Alone, Stacy collapses in pain after her and Gigi's heated confrontation. Realizing the baby is the only chance she has to hold onto Rex, Stacy decides not to tell him she suffered a miscarriage. Rex is furious when Gigi confesses she offered Stacy money to have an abortion. The tension mounts between Rex and Gigi when he admits he won't abandon his child, but they eventually end up in each other's arms, resolved to the fact they have a long road ahead of them. In front of Blair, Todd declares that he wants to be with Tea and only Tea. Nora locks eyes with Bo while sharing a last dance with Clint. Viki's thrown for a loop when Charlie suggests expanding their family. Asher and his boss, Serge, surprise Cole in his apartment. Serge plants a listening device in the apartment. John later tells Starr that she and Cole can't see or talk to each other until this assignment is completed. Layla defends Fish when Cristian wonders if he's gay.

SNEAK PEAK: Blair searches for Tea's secret.

YOUNG AND RESTLESS: Ashley tells Victor to give her some space because she needs to work out how he could be so cruel to her and her family and then say it was for her benefit. Paul is crushed when Nikki says she cannot marry him. Nikki admits to Victor that she is still in love with him; that he is the only man she has ever truly loved. Alone, Victor admits that he does still love Nikki. While waiting in the road at the ranch in the rain, Nikki is a deer in the headlights as Ashley's car comes barreling down the road and skids off the road. Adam admits to Heather he had a one-night stand with Rafe. Mary Jane is stricken when she realizes that Zapato ate her stuffed cat. Mary Jane drugs Jack's drink. Drunk and delirious, Jack makes love to Mary Jane, who he believes is Sharon. Daniel tells Amber that the reason they are breaking isn't because she slept with Deacon but because he can't take her constant lying. Billy tells Chloe that he can never forgive Jill for choosing Cane, a con artist, over him, her own son. Kay tells Jill that spoke to Billy on her behalf and asked him to forgive her. Kay also admits that she should have forgiven Jill years ago for everything that happened with Phillip because the truth was that her relationship with him was never as strong as Kay believed. Sharon is arrested for grand theft after she steals a ring that is identical to the one Nick gave to Phyllis.

SNEAK PEAK: A death in the family occurs.

Here's a switch: EJ wising up on 'Days of Our Lives'

2009-08-09T07:07:00.006-05:00

Source: New York Daily News

Here's a switch: EJ wising up on 'Days of Our Lives'

By Carolyn Hinsey
Daily News Staff Writer, Friday, August 7th 2009, 5:43 AM

EJ finally confronts Nicole about her bizarre behavior today on "Days of Our Lives."

"I guess he's no longer an idiot," says Arianne Zucker, who plays EJ's scheming wife, Nicole. "He finally sees there is something very wrong about her behavior."

Ya think? Nicole faked a pregnancy, stole a baby, secretly switched it with Sami's baby (whose father happened to be EJ) and then stood by when the baby Sami and EJ thought was theirs died.

"Nicole puts EJ off, but then Dr. Baker calls and wants more money," says Zucker, referring to the doctor who helped switch the babies. "Stefano [EJ's dad] says, 'Once a blackmailer, always a blackmailer.'"

Stefano pays the $100,000 behind EJ's back, vowing that Baker won't get one more dime.

Cue the murder mystery?

"Maybe," says Zucker.

Seeing Stefano and Nicole with their heads (and wallets) together raises EJ's suspicions again.

"Nicole does the angry flip and says, 'You don't trust me! You are still in love with Sami!' EJ says, 'Honey, I love you, you're my life.' What a horrible relationship."

Since Zucker recently revealed she is pregnant in real life, speculation is that EJ will learn the truth around the time Zucker goes on maternity leave.

"Either she'll run away or go to jail," says Zucker, who sees the irony of her character faking a pregnancy last year and her hiding a real one this year.

"I'm not very big yet, but I am wearing looser clothes," she says. "My chest is huge - and no, I did not get a boob job!"

ALL MY MOVES: As outlined in Inner Tube yesterday, ABC will move production of "All My Children" from New York to L.A. in December. "One Life to Live" will then move into "AMC's" upper West Side studio (which shares space with "The View"). Both soaps will go high-definition in 2010.

The big question is: How many "AMC" actors will move to L.A.?

"They've given us one week to decide," says Thorsten Kaye (Zach), whose partner, Susan Haskell, toils on "OLTL" as Marty. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm not the kind of dad who wants to be 3,000 miles away from my kids. And it's not exactly the best time to sell real estate."

That said, "I think the move shows that ABC has a lot of belief in 'AMC' and wants to keep it going," says Kaye.

See next week for more.

In other "OLTL" news, Robin Strasser has signed a new contract as "OLTL's" Dorian Lord.

SODopinion@aol.com

The Men of Sunset Beach

2009-08-07T16:49:00.004-05:00

The Men of Sunset Beach

Pictured Top Picture:
Timothy Adams, Clive Robertson, Jason George, & Eddie Cibrian

Pictured Middle Photo:
Timothy Adams, Nick Stabile, Clive Robertson, & Hank Cheyne

Pictured Bottom Photo:
Timothy Adams, Hank Cheyne, Dax Griffin & Jason George

Even More Fan Art

2009-08-07T16:43:00.003-05:00

Even More Fan Art

More banners I created for the website Daytime Royalty when I was an administrator there.

Hall of Fame: Eileen Fulton

2009-08-07T16:26:00.004-05:00

Eileen Fulton
2009 Soap Opera Hall of Fame Inductee

Lisa Miller, As The World Turns
Lisa Miller Hughes, Our Private World

Television's most famous villianess and the most popular soap star of the 1960s, Eileen Fulton was born Margaret Elizabeth McLarty on September 13, 1933 in Asheville, North Carolina; the daughter of a Methodist minister. Her father was a descendant of a long line of clergymen.

She majored in music and minored in dramatics at Greensboro College in North Carolina and made her professional debut in The Lost Colony, an annual presentation at Manteo, NC. While at Greensboro College, she received a Best Actress award for her performances in the productions of Candide and Thurber's Thirteen Clocks. In 1956, she moved to New York and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. She came to New York with a two-fold goal: to make it as a singer and an actress.

While studying her craft, Fulton worked at Macy's, selling hats and occasionally modeling for photos used to illustrate the stories in True Confessions magazine. After a few small theater gigs and a co-starring role opposite Anne Francis in the 1960 film Girl of the Night where she played a girl named Lisa, she fell into the role with which she would forever be identified.

Fulton had auditioned for a part on the CBS soap opera The Brighter Day (ironically as a minister's daughter), but producers thought she would be better cast as Bob Hughes' social-climbing girlfriend on As The World Turns. The role was originally supposed to be temporary, but William J. Bell and Irna Phillips became intrigued by the charm and energy Fulton brought to the role, and began to develop the character. She has now played Lisa almost continually (with two notable interruptions) since May 18, 1960, almost 50 years; pretty impressive for a role that was originally intended to be temporary.

When the devious Lisa had Bob Hughes (Don Hastings) and his family under her thumb, outraged mail poured into CBS. By the time Lisa had taken up with shoe salesman Bruce Elliott (James Pritchett), Fulton had to hire a security guard to protect her from the overenthusiastic, sometimes violent fans as she made her way to the studio.

The character of Lisa has been put through some wild situations -- over three dozen lovers, married eight times, divorced three times, widowed four times (with her most recent marriage annulled), murder trials, rapes, amnesia, a Mexican mudslide, a phantom fetus. Through it all fans have always been transfixed by Fulton's refreshing originality, enormous vitality, and her flamboyant comedy style as she brings Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn to life on their screens.

Fulton's portrayal of Lisa created the strongest prototype of its time for the daytime vixen; the character and actress were, in Fulton's first decades on As the World Turns, very popular (to the point where, in the late 1960s, Fulton had to hire a publicist, the first soap actress to do so). Her popularity earned her the title of daytime TV's most hated woman for a number of yeras, and when Daytime TV magazine debuted it's Reader's Poll in April 1970, she graced the poll as it's first ever Best Actress. She would go on to place in the Top 10 in the poll 58 times during the first 80 polls conducted and recorded by the magazine. Her last appearance in the top 10 was in 1977.

Among her fans through the years have been the famous such as Van Cliburn, Renata Tabaldi and Bette Davis who called Fulton "absolutely the most chic, best looking put-together woman I've ever seen."

Despite her popularity, Fulton's run has not been without controversy. During the late 1960s, after her onscreen son was SORASed from age 12 to 19, Fulton was noted for insisting it be written into her contract that her character could not become a grandmother, as she feared it would impede the glamorous, fast-paced storylines in which she was involved at the time. As a result, the actress received enormous amounts of "hate mail" when Lisa's onscreen daughter-in-law, Margo, had a miscarriage in 1986. (It is unclear whether the "granny clause", as it became known, was still in effect at the time.) Now in her seventies, Fulton no longer has the "granny clause" in her contract; her character has two sons -- a third son died a number of years ago -- and four grandchildren.

She left the show three times - first in 1963 to focus more on her stage career when she was replaced in the role of Lisa by actress Pamela King; in 1965 to bring her Lisa character to her own prime time soap spin-off, Our Private World (CBS's attempt to mimic the success of ABC's Peyton Place). On Our Private World, Lisa was written as a variation on the Bette Davis character in Beyond the Forest, a girl who pined for fun and freedom in Chicago. Our Private World lasted only thru the summer. Fulton returned to As The World Turns for ten weeks to wrap up the storylines begun on Our Private World. She then took a year off from the show to sing in various nightclubs and returned to the soap on January 16, 1967 as a new and glamorous Lisa. She left again in 1983 after a contract dispute with executive producer Mary-Ellis Bunim. In a burst of publicity, Fulton again returned to Oakdale in teh summer of 1984 as Lisa discovered the body of her fifth husband, Whit McColl, thus setting off another season of murder, mystery, and melodrama. During Fulton's 1983-1984 absence, the role of Lisa was played by Betsy von Furstenberg. The following actresses played the part during Fulton's temporary leaves: Lynn Rogers (1977-1978), Jane Powell (1991, 1993, and 1994), Maeve McGuire (1992) and Carmen Duncan (2004).

Although the character of Lisa is still appearing on the show, Fulton has been vocal about her displeasure at not being more prominently featured. Fulton was prominently featured in April 2006 during the show's 50th anniversary episode, and from January 2008 to August 2008, was roughly seen in at least two episodes per week. Her appearances have dropped off since then but she recently signed a new two year contract that will run through her 50th year on the show, 2010.

While working on ATWT, Fulton has remained very busy offscreen as well. Among other things, including the Broadway productions of The Fantasticks and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opposite her ATWT co-star Henderson Forsythe, Fulton has written two memoirs, How My World Turns and As My World Still Turns. She also wrote a mystery novel, called Soap Opera, loosely based on her experiences on As the World Turns as well as a series of six murder mystery novels including Take One for Murder about a soap opera star "Nina" and her detective boyfriend "Dino." Fulton is a talented cabaret singer and has sung in many top nightclubs around the country and starred in several one-woman shows.

She is an active supporter of many charities such as UNICEF, March of Dimes, Cerebal Palsy, Lupus Foundation, and Martha's Table, which benefits poor and homeless mothers and children. She has established a musical scholarship in her father's name at Brevarad College in North Carolina, and a Fine Arts Scholarship in her & her mother's names at their alma mater, Greensboro. She is also a women's right's advocate.

Fulton is a 1955 graduate of Greensboro College and was granted an honorary doctorate in 2005, on the 50h anniversary of her college graduation. She was the commencement speaker at Greensboro's graduation ceremony in 2005.

For her work on As The World Turns, she received one Daytime Emmy nomination for Supporting Actress in 1988. She also received the Lifetime Achivement Award from the Daytime Emmys in 2004. She was nominated twice for the Soap Opera Digest Awards: for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1996; and for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor/Actress to the Form of Continuing Drama who is currently on a Daytime Serial in 1986. In 1991, Soap Opera Digest awarded her with the Editor's Award.

She currently resides in Manhattan.

Lamas family wants to use reality TV to heal

2009-08-07T08:46:00.005-05:00

Source: Los Angeles Times

TCA Press Tour: The Lamas family wants to use reality TV to heal

11:16 AM PT, Jul 30 2009

Well, this is a little awkward.

Just a few weeks after Star Magazine reported that Lorenzo Lamas’ ex-wife and former Playboy model Shauna Sand had an affair with Lamas’ son A.J., father and son were seated on opposite ends of a couch before reporters Thursday to promote their new E! reality series “The Lamas Life.”

The subject of the affair came up first, and, initially, was quickly shot down. “I don’t make comments and I don’t, and I don’t encourage my kids to make comments, about public stories…So I guess, you’ll have to watch the show to find out how we deal with it,” Lorenzo said.

But reporters pressed to hear why any of the Lamases thought starring in a reality show would be a good idea given the family’s strained circumstances. The family is no stranger to the spotlight: Lorenzo was the star of the TV series “Falcon Crest“ and “Renegade,” daughter Shayne was the winner of “The Bachelor” and is pursuing an acting career, as is A.J. His other daughter Dakota is pursuing a career in the music industry.

Lorenzo said, for him, the show was a chance to reunite with his son.

“Before we started working together on the show, it had been a few years since we spoke,” he said, acknowledging, “it is unusual. But it was a chance to make things better.”

“I believe it’s the healthiest way. There is only one way to get a family together and that’s television,” executive producer Mike Fleiss joked. “And that’s what the E! channel is all about. Bringing people together.”

A.J. said he was more than hesitant. “I was like you,” he said to the room. “Like, ‘A…reality show to come back together?’ But if that’s what it takes.” He said he’d seen more of his dad in the last two weeks than in the last four years. “We’re working on it. I have issues with him, he has issues with me…you know, just watch the show.”

Another of Lorenzo’s ex-wives and the mother of all three children, Michele Smith, is on the show and was also present on the panel.

“We are in a sense rebuilding our lives, professionally and personally,” Lorenzo said. “We are dealing with very personal dynamics and the challenges that we face, having the public eye and spotlight again. I think it will be interesting for the audience to see how we cope with this new opportunity.”

-- Denise Martin

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All That Glitters

2009-08-07T08:08:00.003-05:00

1977

Did You Know that these beauties all had soap opera ties...

2009-08-07T07:48:00.006-05:00

Three Beautiful Ladies -- all with soap opera ties.

Jaclyn Smith auditioned for the role of Victoria Winters on Dark Shadows when Alexandra Moltke left the series.

One of Farrah Fawcett's earliest roles was on Days of Our Lives in September 1970 as Diana, a young blonde who had a one-night stand with Doug Williams after they met at Doug's Place.

Kate Jackson as most know got her start on Dark Shadows as Daphne Harridge.

Spotlight on Otto Kruger

2009-08-07T07:34:00.003-05:00

Name: Otto Kruger
Birth Name:
Alternate Name:
Nicknames:
Date of Birth: 6 September 1885, Toledo, Ohio, USA
Date of Death: 6 September 1974, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
Soap Opera Occupation: actor
Soap Opera Roles:

Louis Conrad, Dr. Kildare, 1962

Family Connections:

grandnephew of South African pioneer and former president Paul Krüger
father of stage and motion picture actress, Ottilie Kruger

Honors Received:

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures and television

Trivia:

Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA, in the Churchyard, plot #4266.
Died on his 89th birthday.
Great-nephew of Paul Krüger, South African pioneer and former president
Daughter Ottilie Kruger was a stage actress who performed with Marlon Brando on Broadway in the 1944 production of "I Remember Mama." She also appeared in two plays with her father -- "Little A" (1947) and "Time for Elizabeth" (1948). She died of pancreatic cancer on May 12, 2005, at age 78.

More Info:

Hall of Fame: Douglas Watson

2009-08-07T06:54:00.004-05:00

Douglas Watson
2009 Soap Opera Hall of Fame Inductee

Dr. Clay Carroll, The Nurses
Dr. Robert Wallace, Moment of Truth
Walter Haskins, Search For Tomorrow
Dr. Lloyd Phillips, Love of Life
Mackenzie Cory, Another World

Larkin Douglass Watson III was born February 24, 1921 in Jackson, Georgia where his ancestors were granted land for fighting in the American Revolution. One of his famous relatives was named Douglas Watson. He was a famous Indian scout, who discovered Indian Springs, site of the current Georgia State Park. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1942, he studied acting in Hollywood with the legendary Maria Ouspenskaya.

A character actor since 1950, his most notable roles were in the movies Julius Caesar (1953), Sayonara (1957), and The Money Pit (1986). He was also one of the most acclaimed actors on the New York stage, acting in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. In addition, he played on such daytime dramatic dramas as Moment of Truth (1965) (a Canadian serial), Search for Tomorrow (1966-1968), Love of Life (1972-1973), and Another World (1974-1989).

Before his acting career began, he received two Purple Heart awards and a Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in the Air Force during World War II.

After the war, he toured as Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor and made his New York debut in 1947, personally selected by Eugene O'Neill to play Don Parrit in The Iceman Cometh.

His theater career quickly took off with a Theatre World Award for his performance the next year as Eros in Antony and Cleopatra. In 1949, Watson won the Clarence Derwent Award for That Lady opposite Katharine Cornell, and the next year he topped Variety's New York Drama Critics Poll for The Wisteria Trees opposite Helen Hayes. A number of critically acclaimed roles followed in the 1950s, including Romeo opposite Olivia de Havilland's Juliet, Eben Cabot in Desire Under the Elms, Christian de Neuvilette in Cyrano de Bergerac, the title role in Henry V, Mr. Harcourt in The Country Wife opposite Julie Harris, Ralph Touchett in Portrait of a Lady opposite Jennifer Jones, Brian O'Bannion in Auntie Mame opposite Constance Bennett, and the title role T. S. Eliot's The Confidential Clerk.

Celebrated for his outstanding performances in a series of Shakesperean productions, Watson broke into motion pictures in 1953 as Octavius in Julius Caesar opposite Marlon Brando's Mark Antony. Four years later, he was reunited with Brando in the film version of Sayonara. During the 1960s he continued his Shakesperean award-winning theater streak, appearing in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, and Othello. He appeared in a number of non-Shakesperean roles, including King Henry VIII in A Man For All Seasons, Herald in Marat/Sade, Teddy Lloyd in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie opposite Zoe Caldwell, and the Major General in The Pirates of Penzance.

After two decades of busy stage work, Watson starred in his own daytime serial, Moment of Truth, in 1965. He played Dr. Bob Wallace, a psychiatrist, in this ill-fated, Canadian produced entry. Then he was seen as Walter Haskins on Search For Tomorrow for awhile, followed by a stint in 1972 as Dr. Lloyd Phillips on Love of Life. Nancy Marchand who would later appear with him on Another World portrayed his wife, Vinnie.

In 1974, he joined the cast of Another World. On Another World, Watson portrayed Mackenzie "Mac" Cory; the third actor to play the role, he had replaced Robert Emhardt. Watson earned the Another World role after a critically-acclaimed turn playing Kent in King Lear at the 1974 New York Shakespeare Festival.

As the doting father of the spoiled Iris, who found his match in the fiery Rachel, Watson quickly garnered notice inside the industry for his alternately charming and volatile performances, resulting in two Emmy awards for Outstanding Actor in 1980 and 1981.

Although Mac was busy enough for a dozen men (three marriages to Rachel, a poisoning administered by his wife Janice, a hostage kidnapped for weeks, a plane crash survivor who wandered for days on frozen tundra), Watson found time for other projects besides soaps during the 1970s and early 1980s. He appeared in the film Ulzana's Raid with Burt Lancaster and repeated his stage performance in The Trial of the Cantonville Nine in the film version. In 1973, after starring as Don Pedro in the highly praised Joe Papp production of Much Ado About Nothing, he repeated the role in a television production. He also appeared on Broadway in the musical Over Here with the Andrews Sisters and in the revival of The Philadelphia Story.

As if acting with Dame Judith Anderson in Medea, dancing with Martha Graham in several of her premier works, and singing with The New York City Opera were not enough, Watson also managed an equally impressive home life. From November 28, 1942 to his death, he was married to Harriet Eugenia (Genie) Clark. The Watsons had three children: Larkin Douglas Watson, a construction engineer; Celia Strome, a national award-winning poet; and Randall Forsberg, an internationally recognized expert on world armaments and the originator of the Nuclear Freeze Movement.

Watson died on May 1, 1989 from a heart attack at the age of 68, just a few days short of Another World's silver anniversary. His character on the show also died shortly afterward. Douglass Watson is interred at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Some Another World Fan Art

2009-08-07T06:15:00.005-05:00

Some Another World Fan Art

I could have done better on the Hunks banner. I was just learning Photoshop at the time and I did something to Hank Cheyne and Robert Kelker Kelly that scrunched them some - so they look distorted.

Going Coastal

2009-08-07T05:07:00.003-05:00

Source: Greenwitch Citizen

Going coastal

Actor Jonathan Phillips heads west in search of dream roles

By Anne W. Semmes

Updated: 07/31/2009

Jonathan Phillips is an actor passionate about his craft. A Cos Cob native, he comes from a family of actors. His mother Florence Phillips acts, as did his aunt, Madelyn O'Neil. Another aunt, Barbara O'Neil, played the mother of Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." Jonathan is tall (6'2"), dark, handsome, -- and educated: Brunswick School, Andover, University of Michigan and The Moscow Art Theater School.

For the last few years he's been working in New York theater - off off-Broadway, and landed the odd TV role, "The Mentalist," "Law & Order" and "Damages" with Glenn Close. But this week, Jonathan is headed for film land - L.A. Before he left, we asked him a few leading questions about his quest and the challenges confronting actors these days.

Why move to L.A. - when you have inroads in New York City?

I wanted a change of scene, and to get to know LA and the casting directors. I have a lot of friends out there. One is a screenwriter who has producers developing some of his screenplays.

What will you do first when you get there?

Dust off my apartment and take a good long walk in my neighborhood. It's in Los Feliz. It's a lot like Brooklyn, where I live in New York. I found it in March when I was working in the TV show "The Mentalist." I sublet it after I got work in New York on "One Life To Live," a soap on ABC. We've shot one episode. We're shooting another on Tuesday.

What part are you playing in "One Life to Live"?

I'm playing a Russian mobster. I spoke Russian in my audition. I still speak it fluently, as I studied it for years and years, first at Andover and then at U. of Michigan.

I note you have a Blackberry. Is this now an actor's tool of trade?

Most actors need to access e-mail constantly now, to stay in touch... so an iPhone, or Blackberry, or whatever, has become an essential tool. If you're casting somewhere in London or L.A. and you happen to be in New York, you can send an audition on camera. You can download a file to your computer and zap it back and forth. You don't even have to send a video. You can do it online. For actors, you can actually work wherever you are.

How long do you plan to stay in L.A.?

A year, anyway, to go through one full work cycle.

Has anyone influenced you to go to L.A.?

I've met two wonderful managers. There are agents and there are managers. Managers now do what talent agents used to do. Talent agents now mostly deal with contracts. I really like these guys.

Do you plan to take a class in L.A.?

I'll be going to class. It's a good way to meet people.

Will you have to do a day job to live?

I've heard this line - "I'm an actor. Oh really? What restaurant do you work in?" A lot of actors can make a living in L.A., while all the actors I know in NYC have to have second jobs. In L.A., they do a little modeling, commercial work, enough work for an actor without getting a day job.

What does it take to break into Hollywood?

I always tell my friends, "Keep your fingers crossed but don't hold your breath!" You need a lot of luck. I'd rather be lucky than talented, as the saying goes. You make your own luck. You have to work hard and have a focus. Most actors I know that are any good live like monks.

What opportunities do you think you'll find there that were not in NYC?

I see myself working in film and TV "legit" roles. So far, I've not had a lot of luck in commercial roles. I see myself as happiest and most successful in films and indie films; TV, as well. More than some people, I actually fluctuate between leading man and character goofball roles. I'm equally delighted to do both -- a tall guy with a deep voice.

Have you been encouraged or discouraged by your opportunities in New York City?

Both. I've been very happy in New York. But, every once in a while, you hit a glass ceiling and find it hard to get a job you have in mind. Sometimes you feel you can't get over that hurdle on your own.

Who have you studied with, and who had the most powerful teaching technique?

June Stein -- she's a wonderful actor and teacher on the film school faculty at Columbia University, and Kay Patten --she's a teacher/coach who runs a coaching studio.

Do you have a technique or a method?

I do have a technique. I went straight to the source of the Stanislavsky method in Moscow.

I studied with Russian professors, some of whom knew Stanislavsky. Theater has changed in Moscow since his time. Commercial theater has taken the place of repertoire theater.

Are there any mentors who've guided you?

My first Russian professor started me back onto the (actor) path, and my mom. I was always doing plays with her in the Cos Cob School when she taught my class Greek myths, or whatever.

Have you been influenced by your family of actors to be an actor?

It's always been a given that theater is worthwhile and a great thing to be doing. It requires a lot more courage to get into it.

What theatrical performance has given you the most confidence?

Confidence is a good word. Playing Dracula in a "glamrock" David Bowie-esque Dracula story. When you have to play the Prince of Darkness, the most intimidating character in the show, you're going to end up with a lot of confidence.

What do you feel you still have to learn?

I still have a lot to learn about doing less in film and TV acting, that it's all going on inside, that the camera can pick that up. Working with people in film and TV is a whole different set of skills -- that's why you're so excited to go out there (to L.A.). Filmmaking is so totally organic, so different from producing theater.

Do you belong to an actor's union?

I belong to two unions-- SAG and Equity, and may have to join AFTRA for working in a soap opera.

How do you deal with the constant rejection?

A sense of humor is a muscle you really have to exercise. You get pretty good at laughing at yourself. You get past the first two years and you get to realize you are an actor. It's a calling you're stuck with.

Whose directing work do you admire?

Paul Greengrass. ("Bloody Sunday," Matt Damon spy movies, "United Flight 93.") He's the top-of-the-list guy I'd like to work with, his Indie style. I auditioned for him. He likes his filmmaking to be "unconsidered," happening before your eyes.

What actors inspire you the most?

Cate Blanchett and Daniel Day Lewis. Joan Allen is a class act, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, because he uses his film career to fund his NYC theater company and produce new plays.

What is the dark side of the creative life? Why do so many talented actors succumb to addiction and meltdown? How do you keep yourself centered?

I tend to think of addiction and meltdown as a personality issue, that it's individual, not career related. Actors are incredibly centered as they spend so much time on being introspective and deeply studying what it means to be deeply human. My Russian professor said the reason we want to be actors is there will never be anything more fascinating than to study the human being. That's what we do. We study what it means to be people.

With your education, Brunswick School, University of Michigan, you could do a lot of things. What keeps you in the acting groove?

It is no more and no less absorbing to have an interest in affecting human beings and contributing to the world as an actor as it would be working for the United Nations or the Foreign Service. I don't doubt I could be an excellent lawyer or diplomat but I have an idea of my own individual creative power and instincts. A family therapist friend of my mom's said it best. When the person is happy doing the details of their work, then they're happy in their chosen profession.

What does it feel like when you know you're performing well?

It reminds me of rowing. When you're rowing well, you have a sense of weightlessness, you've achieved perfect balance. The boat has momentum and there's a kind of stillness and resilience, even though you're pulling with this power in a boat of eight guys. You're in this zone and everyone stops and holds their paddles in the air and you can glide and hear the air bubbles rushing under the hull of the boat. It's a perfect sound that you're doing it just right. You have that same balance and elegance if you're doing it right on the stage.

Willey"s joke becomes 20-years of stand-up

2009-08-07T04:48:00.005-05:00

Source: MundeleinReview

Willey's joke becomes 20-years of stand-up

August 6, 2009

By DAN PEARSON Contributor

For Walt Willey -- and his comedy fans -- being dumped on network television had a long-lasting upside.

Willey, an Ottawa, Illinois native has played attorney Jackson Montgomery since 1987 on the popular ABC soap opera, "All My Children." However in 1989, his character was dumped by the fickle Erica Kane, played by Susan Lucci. So when Regis Philbin asked Willey what he was going to do, he made a joke. "I'm going back to stand-up comedy to I heal my broken heart," he said. "I had never done stand-up before, but I thought this show was a great place to fly a flag and see if anyone saluted."

The joke became a reality and Willey started receiving job offers to perform stand-up comedy. He got it right, and is currently celebrating his 20th anniversary in stand-up.

"When I started off I didn't know what I was doing. I had a lot of guts and not much sense. Since then I like to think it has evolved."

Comedy from life

Willey, who will be performing August 13 at Zanies in Chicago and August 15 at Zanies in St. Charles, said his stand-up is firmly rooted in his own life.

"I don't do set-up and knock-down. I don't tell jokes, I tell stories and they are pretty much based on truth. It is that outlook that allowed me to get through some very good things and some very bad things with a smile on my face," he said.

Willey said it's easy finding comic situations to mine for material. "They just seem to just approach me, tackle me and bite me right around the ankles."

Fans will have the opportunity for a special one hour meet-and-greet at 6 p.m. with Willey prior to the 8 p.m. show that offers photo opportunities, special merchandizing and priority seating with profits going to his selected charities.

Willey's fans should not be surprised by his often frank, adult material. "I am a spicy guy. I am not going to pretend to be someone I am not when I get up there. Interestingly enough, I have had people say, 'Oh my God, not what I was expecting' followed immediately by 'but I laughed so hard,'" he said.

For the past 15 years, Willey has entertained Zanies audiences in February for Valentine's Day and in August so he can be here for the Chicago Air and Water Show.

Willey's new material will be animal-related. "There is always something going on at my farm in New Mexico. We have a new dog and a new cat and it's kind of tough to tell which one is which, so I will be talking a bit about that."

Wordy bird

And his parrot continues to be a source of entertainment. "I've been gone a lot and she doesn't like that at all," he explained. "She had been calling people that have been caring for her names. Where she heard these names, I have no idea. 'Hey, dummy!' is not a phrase I use."

Other topics for new material will be Willey's recent extended hometown visit where he starred as Felix in a well received production of "The Odd Couple" staged in the Ottawa High School auditorium. Oscar was played by Kim "Howard" Johnson, a friend since childhood who is the author of several books on Monty Python. "Everybody did not remember their lines, but we had a good time anyway," Willey said.

Willey is also writing a one-man show about growing up in Ottawa called "A Life In The Day," which will presented next year as part of his Willeyworld Community Productions.

Taking time off from "All My Children" for the first time in 23 years, Willey said the show's executives were super supportive. It was explained that his character, Jack, is off an extended trip to an unidentified country.

So what is the current status between Erica and Jack, who are presently divorced on the show?

"Right now, I understand Erica is fooling around with Ryan, which is another reason I am glad that Jack is out of town so he doesn't have to see that. I think our status is that we have some unfinished business which hopefully we will get to finish at some point."

Ever the eternal optimist, Willey believes strongly that there is still more to the story of one of the longest lasting couples in soap history.

"The writers have never really given us a fair chance at happiness. I think there a lot of people out there who would like nothing better than to see Jack and Erica back together and giving it a real shot. To see them be able to ignore their kids for a while and just love each other," said Willey. "And I have to say I am part of that bunch of people."

Book reveals Hollywoods near-miss casting calamities

2009-08-06T22:29:00.002-05:00

Source: thaiindian.com

Book reveals Hollywoods near-miss casting calamities

August 18th, 2008 - 5:48 pm ICT by ANI

New York, Aug 18 (ANI): A new book unveils hundreds of breakthrough roles that Hollywood celebrities have missed to date.

Mickey Rooney as Archie Bunker and Other TV Casting Almosts by Eila Mell reveals how Harrison Ford had been given the role of Meathead on All in the Family, and he turned down the classic part of Archie Bunker’’s son-in-law, Michael Meathead Stivic, which it ended up becoming Rob Reiner’’s breakout role.

Another star to have missed out was Rosie O”Donnell, who lost the role as Jerry Seinfeld’’s female best friend, Elaine Benes, on “Seinfeld,” to Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The legendary Rooney was offered the Archie Bunker part but turned it down because he didn”t want to play a bigot.

Whitney Houston turned down the role of Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” because she wanted to have a singing career. Lisa Bonet took the part.

Rachel Dratch played Jenna Maroney in the pilot for “30 Rock,” but producers pulled the part from her and gave it to sexpot Jane Krakowski.

Casting directors thought “The Office” cutie Jenna Fischer wasn”t sexy enough to play Sydney Bristow on “Alias,” so they handed the role to Jennifer Garner.

Leonardo DiCaprio almost landed on “Baywatch” as David Hasselhoff’’s son.

Courteney Cox’’s Monica Geller on “Friends” was nearly played by Nancy McKeon, who had finished “The Facts of Life” years earlier.

Mell had to talk to a number of filmmakers for writing the book.

“I interviewed tons of casting directors and discovered all these castings that didn”t happen either because some turned down the role, or some didn”t get it. Some were just totally wrong for the part and just auditioned,” the New York Post quoted Mell as saying.

Mell has another book out all about movies, titled Casting Might Have Beens. (ANI)

More Fan Art

2009-08-06T22:03:00.004-05:00

2 Versions of Same Banner Created for Daytime Royalty

Some More As The World Turns Fan Art

2009-08-06T21:58:00.005-05:00

More As The World Turns Fan Art from Steve Frame

Going Green on Grey's Anatomy

2009-08-06T20:54:00.004-05:00

Source: treehugger

Going Green on Grey's Anatomy: Actress Jessica Capshaw Tells All
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Los Angeles, California on 08. 6.09

Get ready for a must-see season six of Grey’s Anatomy, when Jessica Capshaw returns to Seattle Grace as pediatrician Arizona Roberts—the lesbian love interest of Dr. Callie Torres, played by Sara Ramirez. Currently shooting 14-hour days—and mum on storylines—Jessica took a break to talk about her growing environmentalism, the importance of green parenting, and the conventional makeup that she just can’t give up.

Although her character is groundbreaking—Sara and Jessica play the only openly gay characters currently on network television—the actress, who is the daughter of Kate Capshaw and stepdaughter to Steven Spielberg, keeps it in perspective. “I’m playing a female doctor who happens to be gay,” she said. “I’ve never at the beginning of a scene thought to myself, ‘I’m playing a gay person.’”

Much of that groundedness Jessica attributes to her husband, Christopher Gavigan, who is the Executive Director and CEO of Healthy Child, Healthy World, a national non-profit organization devoted to children’s environmental health. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit my bias: I worked with Christopher on Healthy Child’s marketing for nearly two years, and it was his influence that inspired me to launch Ecostiletto. Obviously, he’s a very influential guy. “I owe [my eco-consciousness] completely to my husband,” Jessica said. “Christopher really understands the idea of living as naturally as you possibly can and being conscious of the effect that you have on your environment.”

But although the family eats organic, Jessica draws the line at joining Christopher as a vegetarian. (She does reduce her consumption and keep red meat out of their two-year-old son’s diet.) “I’m a Midwesterner!” she said. “Not being able to have a cheeseburger once in a while would be torture!”

Jessica’s pregnancy inspired many of her eco-friendly changes, including reducing her consumption, eating organic and buying locally, BYOBing a stainless steel water bottle, and being conscious of the effects of transportation on the environment: She drives a Prius; her son’s current favorite mode of transportation is a Santa Monica Bus. And the family won’t “use anything where we can’t identify the ingredients,” she said. “Ingredients should not read like a chemistry experiment!”

Similarly, Jessica revealed that Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy has inspired a whole new range of eco-friendly makeup on the “Grey’s” set. But she also confessed that, when it comes to beauty, there are some things that she just can’t give up. “To be honest, makeup is a big part of what I do for a living. I use only essential oils for perfumes. I gave up the artificial shampoos that were supposed to make my hair look like Gisele’s and I have to tell you, my hair looks the same using the organic products as it did using the ones crammed with chemicals,” she said. “But I’ll never give up my Dior mascara that makes my lashes five miles long.”

The bottom line for Jessica? “Do the best that you can. You can’t completely change everything at once. We kind of find the little ways we can change things. And any step towards the better is, obviously, better.”

Rachel Sarnoff is founder of Ecostiletto and an occasion contributor to TreeHugger.
Read Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff’s full interviews with Jessica Capshaw and other EcoCelebrities at Ecostiletto

Where Are They Now: Ann Gillespie

2009-08-06T06:33:00.004-05:00

Ann Gillespie (Siobahn Ryan, Ryan's Hope; Vice Squad Officer, Hotel; Emory, 7th Heaven; Mrs. Ellis, ER; Mrs. Roenisch, The Practice; Shelly Thomas, Sunset Beach; Jackie Taylor, Beverly Hills 90210; Mrs. Geller, Gilmore Girls; Mrs. Finch, Judging Amy; Jackie Taylor, 90210)

Source: UPI.com

Ann Gillespie headed back to '90210'

Published: Aug. 5, 2009 at 10:16 AM

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Ann Gillespie, the actress
who played Jackie Taylor-Silver on the 1990s teen soap "Beverly Hills, 90210," has signed up to appear in its spin-off "90210."

Gillespie played the mother of Kelly Taylor on the original series.

The CW network told TVGuide.com she has agreed to appear as Jackie in several episodes of the second season of the new edition, starting in October.

Jennie Garth reprised her role of Kelly when "90210" debuted last year. She is expected to appear in several installments of the show in Season 2, as well, TVGuide.com said.

Melrose Place casts gay character

2009-08-06T02:55:00.003-05:00

Source: Zap2It

'Melrose Place' casts gay character
By Korbi Ghosh
August 5, 2009 4:55 PM

During The CW's "Melrose Place" panel at the TV Critics Press Tour yesterday, show producers confirmed that they had added a gay character to the cast, but the actor playing him has now been outed.

According to AfterElton.com, Victor Webster ("Harper's Island," "Charmed") will play Caleb Brewer -- a cigar-smoking, scotch-drinking, L.A. Lakers-loving kind of guy -- who first appears in the series' second episode.
Oh, and he's also Ella (Katie Cassidy)'s boss.

But I will simply refer to him as "New Matt" from now on.

Where Are They Now: Claudia Lonow

2009-08-05T08:09:00.004-05:00

Claudia Lonow (Hayley Cole, Hotel; Diana Fairgate, Knots Landing; Hairdresser, Beverly Hills 90210; Waitress, 7th Heaven)

Source: Ausiello Files

Press Tour Diary:
'Accidentally on Purpose'
by Michael Ausiello

WHO: Jenna Elfman, Ashley Jensen, Jon Foster, Grant Show, Lennon Parham, Nicolas Wright, and exec producer Claudia Lonow.
PREMISE: Knocked Up for TV. With half the laughs.

2:34 pm/PST: CBS handed out bowls of condoms prior to the session. And Skittles. Still debating which one I’m going to tear into first. Decisions, decisions…

2:35 pm: Elfman says the show is not a rip-off of Knocked Up. Rather, it’s a rip-off of based on a book called Accidentally on Purpose.

2:38 pm: Ashley Jensen’s real-life pregnancy will not be written into the show. On leaving the New York-based Ugly Betty for the L.A.-based Accidentally on Purpose, Jensen says, “I’m not getting as many air miles.”

2:41 pm: Regarding her numerous failed attempts to find sitcom success after Dharma & Greg, Elfman says, “I love comedy so much. And I was bound and determined to find another great show.” Wait, she’s already lined up another project after Accidentally?

2:44 pm: Opted to go with the condoms. Now comes the fun part: Deciding which critic I’m going to have sex with tonight. [Scanning the room] No. No. Maybe with a blindfold. No. Ew. Changed my mind. I’m going with the Skittles.

2:48 pm: Grant Show won’t rule out a guest appearance on The CW’s Melrose Place reboot. “We’ve been talking, but there’s nothing solid yet,” he says. “I’m not opposed to it.” Says if it happens, it’ll probably be in season 2.

2:53 pm: Jensen concedes that A.O.P. is “much more conventional than Extras,” her late, great showbiz farce with Ricky Gervais.

2:54 pm: Assuming the show will last nine whole months, Elfman’s character will eventually have the baby, insists exec producer Claudia Lonow (a former Knots Landing actress).

3:01 pm: Wait a second, are we allowed to have sex with the folks on the panel?!

3:02 pm: A CBS page informs me that no, the condoms can only be used for consensual sex with a fellow critic. Curses.

3:03 pm: Session’s over! Time for “sundaes on Monday” snack break!

3:20 pm: CBS is trying every means possible — the soothing sounds of a xylophone, free swine flu vaccines, cold hard cash — to lure us upstairs to The Diplomat room for The Doctors press conference. Nothing’s working.

3:22 pm: The show’s publicist is now reminding folks that the show “is Emmy nominated.” Still no takers.

3:26 pm: Publicist just returned to announce that The Doctors is “the No. 1 new show in syndication.” Crickets.

Pilot Watch: Melrose Place

2009-08-04T01:02:00.004-05:00

Source: BUZZSUGAR

Pilot Watch: Melrose Place
Mon, 08/03/2009 - 2:30pm by BuzzSugar

The networks have announced their Fall schedules, but which series will be worth watching? Throughout the Summer, as I watch the pilots, I'll be posting my first impressions. Note that a lot can change before a show actually makes it to air, so these aren't reviews, just quick thoughts on how the shows look now. Today's pick is the CW's Melrose Place reboot.

What's it about? As if you don't already know! TV's most scandalous apartment complex is back with a new set of 20-something tenants who just can't seem to stay out of trouble.

Who's in it? Ashlee Simpson, Katie Cassidy, and Michael Rady are among the newbies, while Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro are among the veterans who will appear.

The good: Right off the bat, the pilot is a lot more fun than what we've seen from 90210. It's fresher and more exciting, and it doesn't feel like it's trying so hard. The cast of characters is a mysterious bunch, but not everyone fits into the typical stereotypes.The crossover between old and new Melrose Place residents is smooth and makes (relative) sense, which makes me excited for potential appearances from other original stars.

The bad: As we're prone to seeing on the CW, there's a big lapse in realism here. It doesn't really make economic sense that most of these kids can afford their lavish digs with their low-paying jobs, though the original series wasn't exactly an accurate mirror of society either. There's also so much going on in the first episode, it might not take very long for the storylines to take a turn for the absurd.

Will I watch? Yup. I'm still watching 90210, too, so it looks like I'll be camping out on the CW on Tuesday nights.

Grant Show on Melrose Place: "We're Talking"

2009-08-03T23:37:00.004-05:00

Grant Show (Rick Hyde, Ryan's Hope; Marco, Lucky Chances; Jake Hanson, Beverly Hills 90210; Jake Hanson, Models Inc.; Jake Hanson, Melrose Place; Scott Axelrod, Six Feet Under; Daniel Kerr, Beautiful People; Lucas Boyd, Point Pleasant; Jack Dawson, Dirt; Tom Decker, Swingtown; Archer Montgomery, Grey's Anatomy; Archer Montgomery, Private Practice)

Source: Seattle TV Guide

Monday, August 3, 2009
Last updated 3:42 p.m. PT

Grant Show on Melrose Place: "We're Talking"

By MICKEY O'CONNOR
TV GUIDE

Now that he's appearing on a CBS sitcom in the fall, Grant Show says he's open to appearing on sister network CW's Melrose Place.

"We've been talking, but nothing solid," Show says. "I'm not opposed to it." In the meantime, Show will co-star with Jenna Elfman on CBS' unplanned-pregnancy sitcom Accidentally on Purpose.

How or when might Show's Jake return to the Melrose fold? Show says that's still TBD. "They haven't come up with the writing for me yet," he says. "I'm not sure they're even going to need me this year — maybe next year."

That gives us time to brainstorm, people! How would you like to see Jake reappear on Melrose Place?

New Movie Features Soap Veterans

2009-08-03T20:17:00.011-05:00

Catherine Hicks (Willie's girlfriend, Family; Dr. Faith Coleridge, Ryan's Hope; Jeannie Barker, Winnetka Road; Annie Camden, 7th Heaven)

Rance Howard (Gifford, Dynasty; unknown role, Dallas; Henry Clovis, Days of Our Lives; Fireman, Baywatch; Joe, Baywatch; Motel Manager, Melrose Place; unknown role, Baywatch Nights; Old Man in Park, 7th Heaven; Marcus Rosco, Angel; Oliver Kostin, ER)

Lance Henrikson (Preston Post, Ryan's Hope)

Ernest Borgnine (Nargola, Captain Video & His Video Rangers; Joe, 7th Heaven; Paul Manning, ER)

Louise Fletcher (Christine Bey, Picket Fences; Judge N. Swanson, The Practice; Tillie Simms, Any Day Now; Mrs. Wagner, 7th Heaven; Roberta 'Birdie' Chadwick, ER)

Fred Thompson (Politician on TV, Sex and the City)

Source: mlive.com

More cast announced for 'The Genesis Code': veteran actor Lance Henriksen, '7th Heaven' actress Catherine Hicks, more

by John Serba | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday July 30, 2009, 2:13 PM

In addition to Ernest Borgnine, Louise Fletcher, Fred Thompson and Rich Franklin, "The Genesis Code" will feature a few more recognizable faces in its cast.

Lance Henriksen ("Aliens," "Near Dark"), Rance Howard (father of Ron Howard) and Catherine Hicks (TV's "7th Heaven) have roles in the film, shooting in the Grand Rapids area.

The two leads will be played by relative newcomers Logan Bartholomew and Kelsey Sanders.

Jerry Zandstra, vice president of "Code" production company American Saga Productions, said Bartholomew and Sanders are in town now, and other cast members will arrive soon.

"Code" begins principal photography Monday.

Up Close & Person With Steve Frame

2009-08-03T01:38:00.005-05:00

Up Close and Personal With Steve Frame

Recent fad you admit to trying: Facebook
Favorite movie or TV actors: Christopher Meloni; Jimmy Stewart; Austin Peck; Jon Hensley; Steve Burton; Greg Vaughan; Robert Newman; Joshua Morrow; Peter Bergman; Brian Kerwin; Peter Reckell; Anthony Geary; George Reinholt; Bill Hayes; Doug Davidson; Gale Harold; John Wesley Shipp; James Van Der Beek; Ian Somerhalder; Rock Hudson; Joel Crothers; John-Paul Lavoisier; Denis Leary; Daniel Goddard; Brian Bloom; William Gray Espy; Michael E. Knight; Kin Shriner; Patrick Wilson; Julian McMahon; Dylan Walsh; Henry Fonda; Jason Patric; Aaron Eckhart; Jude Law; Clive Owen; Dean Cain; Pierce Brosnon; Sean Connery
Favorite movie or TV actresses: Mariska Hargitay; Susan Hayward; Meryl Streep; Angela Lansbury; Bette Davis; Barbara Stanwyck; Katherine Hepburn; Martha Byrne; Kristian Alfonso; Kim Zimmer; Jane Eliot; Susan Seaforth Hayes; Kirsten Storms; Farah Fath; Jacqueline Courtney; Jeanne Cooper; Rebecca Herbst; Denise Alexander; Jess Walton; Debbi Morgan; Victoria Wyndham; Millette Alexander; Maeve McGuire; Beverlee McKinsey; Judith Light; Veleka Gray; Donna Mills; Leslie Charleson; Genie Francis; Rosemary Prinz; Julia Roberts; Meg Ryan
Favorite Current Soap Couples: Charlie & Vicki (OLTL); Spinelli & Maxie (GH); Rex & Gigi (OLTL); Paul & Nikki (Y&R); Ryan & Erica (AMC); Tad & Taylor (AMC)
Favorite Soap Couples of All Time: Steve & Alice (AW); Adam & Nicole (EON); Bill & Laura (Days); Doug & Julie (Days); Bo & Hope (Days); Mac & Rachel (AW); Steve & Betsy (ATWT); Brian & Justin (QAF); David & Michael (QAF); Michael & Ben (QAF); Keller & Beecher (Oz); Holden & Lily (ATWT); Michael & Leslie (GL); Rick & Lesley (GH); Scotty & Laura (GH); Luke & Laura (GH); Robert & Holly (GH)
If You Could Be Any Soap Character Who Would It Be: Tad Martin (AMC) or Paul Williams (Y&R)
The Soap, TV or Movie Performer(s) You Would Most Like To Spend The Night With: Peter Reckell, Jon Hensley, Austin Peck, Robert Newman, Doug Davidson, Martha Byrne, Kristian Alfonso, Tanya Boyd, John Wesley Shipp, Brian Bloom, Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Michael E. Knight, Ronn Moss, Winsor Harmon, Tamara Tunie, Vincent Irizarry, Julian McMahon, Gale Harold, William Gray Espy, Joshua Morrow, Drake Hogestyn, George Reinholt, Joel Crothers, Susan Seaforth Hayes, Meg Ryan, Rob Lowe, Scott Bakula, Dean Cain; Clive Owen; Thom Bierdz & Jason Patric
Favorite movies: It's A Wondeful Live; L.A. Confidential; A Summer Place; The Usual Suspects; Braveheart; Gladiator; American Beauty; Die Hard (all of them); 12 Angry Men; Brokeback Mountain; Gone With The Wind; Back Street; Shenandoah; Mr. Smith Goes To Washington; Sugar; Latter Days; Grease; Little Women (all 3 versions); The Manchurian Candidate
Favorite TV shows: Perry Mason; Golden Girls; Law & Order; Law & Order: SVU; Murder She Wrote; Married With Children; Two and A Half Men; Rescue Me; The Shield; Nip/Tuck; Oz; Queer As Folk; Tell Me You Love Me; Cold Case; Without A Trace; Police Woman; All in the Family; Maude; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Newhart; Hunter; Wild Wild West; Magnum P.I.; CSI; CSI New York; L.A. Law;
Favorite Daytime Soap Operas: Another World; As The World Turns; Days of Our Lives; Young & the Restless; The Doctors; The Edge of Night; Somerset; Santa Barbara; Guiding Light; All My Children; Love of Life; The Secret Storm; Dark Shadows; Texas; Capitol; Loving; Port Charles; General Hospital; One Life To Live; Search For Tomorrow
If you could only keep one household appliance, it would be: Refrigerator
Favorite author: Scott Turow
Favorite food: Fajitas
Least favorite food: Spinach
Favorite comfort food: Moose Tracks ice cream or nuts
Favorite Song: Desperado by the Eagles
Favorite item of clothing: my lounge pants and my briefs
Boxers or briefs: Briefs!
Nobody knows I can: sing unless you have heard me in the shower
Greatest achievement: my children
Cause I most believe in: plight of the homeless, equal rights, & St. Judes Hospital
If I had one wish, it would be: there would be no homeless & that there would be some type of Make A Wish foundation for adults too who have fatal or serious life-altering illnesses
My most treasured possession: my mother's Bible
First thing I do when I get up in the morning: scratch my balls, piss & make a pot of coffee
Last thing I do before I go to bed: Go piss, then read, and then go piss again
Most embarrassing moment: The other time was when I worked for a copy sales place during college. I went with this guy to make a delivery to this office. He told me to take the old copier out to the truck. It was a small one but was still heavy. I bent over to pick it up, and when I came back up, I guess the pressure or something caused me to let out the loudest fart. I was so embarrassed I couldn't even come back in. I left and left my buddy there to install the new one himself. The last thing I heard as I went out the door was the whole room laughing very loudly.
Best quality: sense of humor
Worst quality: either my temper or my ability to procrastinate better than anyone
Biggest regret: The night before my Dad unexpectedly died, he called and wanted me to come see him. I had just gotten back from a long trip, and promised to come the next day. He died the next morning.
If I could live anywhere, it would be: a cabin in the woods, hear a lake; so quiet and rustic.
Greatest Fear: mice and rats
Something that makes me see red: hatred whether it is justified or not; and people who judge others based on the smallest bit of circumstantial evidence; and lack of respect for others opinions on message boards
Quality I Like Most in a Mate: sense of humor
My Hero: my mom
My First Kiss: my best friends sister when I was 14
What I Would Title My Autobiography: He Loved Life
Person I Would Choose To Play Me in a Movie About My Life: Jon Hensley
One Word or Phrase that Best Describes Me: Attitude is Everything
What is your favorite word? laughter
What is your least favorite word? hate
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? acceptance of others; tolerance; a willingness to work together; a sense of humor
What turns you off? ignorance; hatred; judgemental attitudes; negativity; giving hatred as an answer to hatred; and most of all hypocrisy
What is your favorite curse word? fuck
What sound or noise do you love? laughter and the sound of rain hitting the roof as you are trying to sleep
What sound or noise do you hate? those damn car alarms and phones ringing when I am trying to shop or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? a soap opera writer
What profession would you not like to attempt? anything to do with child care
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Come in there are people waiting to see you.

Where Are They Now: Edward Villella

2009-08-03T00:37:00.005-05:00

Edward Villella (Eddie, Guiding Light)

Source: Vail Daily

Vail dance: Up Close with Edward Villella

Villella is an American dance icon and artistic director of the Miami City Ballet,

Vail Daily staff report
newsroom@vaildaily.com
Vail, CO Colorado
Sunday, August 2, 2009

BEAVER CREEK — For all of us who think that ESPN's SportsCenter is the epicenter of world news and events, the idea of cross training is nothing new. Football players take ballet classes to help improve their footwork for routes over the middle.

But what about an aspiring ballet dancer that not only letters in baseball, but enters the boxing ring and becomes a Golden Gloves welterweight champion before heading back to the barre? Would this be considered cross training?

Such is part of the story of Edward Villella, one of America's greatest dance heroes, whose career will be celebrated Monday in a special UpClose evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek.

The UpClose evening will not only examine his career, but will include performances and on stage rehearsal looks at the many works created for and made famous by Villella, including masterpieces by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

Joining Villella and Dance Festival Director Damian Woetzel for this special evening will be members of Villella's Miami City Ballet, along with special guest stars Ethan Stiefel and Robert Fairchild. Performance pieces will include an excerpt from Balanchine's “Rubies,” along with a behind-the-scenes look at selections from the company's debut performance, which took place Saturday evening at the Ford Amphitheater.

Following his college years at the New York Maritime Academy, as well as his time on the diamond and in the ring, Villella was destined to prove that a tough brash kid out of Bayside, New York could turn into a major artist, and in doing so, change the way men danced in America as well as the way male dancers were perceived.

Villella danced at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, and also performed for Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford. In 1975, he won an Emmy Award for his CBS television production of “Harlequinade.” He also used his many television appearances to bring ballet to a more mainstream audience, including star turns on the “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Odd Couple” and even the soap opera “Guiding Light.”

In 1997, he was named a Kennedy Center Honors recipient and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.

While boxing may not necessarily be the cross training method of choice for all aspiring dancers, it's probably a safe bet that you shouldn't mess with Villella.

Tickets for the Monday's UpClose evening with Villella are priced at $45 and $55 at the Vilar Performing Arts Center.

Tickets for all performances of the 2009 Vail International Dance Festival are available online at www.vaildance.org or by phone at either 970-845-TIXS (8497) or 888-920-ARTS (2787).

If you go ...

What: UpClose with Edward Villella
Where: Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday
Cost: $45/$55 depending on seating
More information: www.vaildance.org or call 970-845-TIXS

Did You Know.....

2009-08-02T21:46:00.004-05:00

....that producer Dan Curtis intended to drive a stake through the heart of "Dark Shadows" vampire Barnabas Collins after actor Jonathan Frid's three-month contract was up, but changed his plans when Barnabas started getting too much fan mail?

Why Not Put Old Episodes of Soaps on DVD?

2009-08-02T05:33:00.002-05:00

Source: Examiner.com

Why not put old episodes of daytime soaps on DVD?

August 1, 6:30 PM

In my younger days (about 25 years ago), I was a fan of soap operas. Actually, just one. It was "All My Children."

I remember when Tom was married to Erica. (How many husbands ago was that?) I remember Palmer trying to keep Nina from marrying Cliff. When Nina's real mother Daisy appeared to her as a ghost because Palmer was trying to keep them apart. That was a long time ago.

Those were good shows.

My wife and I once attended an event several years back where Nina (Taylor Miller at that time) , Cliff (Peter Bergman), Palmer (James Mitchell) and Jesse (Darnell Williams) all appeared. It was at that event it was announced (presumably for the first time) that Phoebe Tyler was going to marry young Wade Matthews. I still remember the crowd roaring in surprise. There was no internet like there is now to quickly spread the news. Somehow, I don't think that would be announced today.

Why aren't some of these archival episodes of soaps on DVD? Some compilations are on VHS, but for some reason, the networks have never released the soaps on DVD.

We'd think they'd be popular. Do you?

Lynda Hirsch Summaries: Week of July 27 to July 31, 2009

2009-08-02T02:43:00.001-05:00

http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/fashion-and-entertainment/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps-summary-2009-08-01.html

ALL MY CHILDREN: Frankie, Angie and Jesse are devastated when Randi loses the baby. Zach sets Annie up to make it look as though she fired a shot at Adam and then slips off into the night unseen. Adam has Annie arrested, but Scott thinks she might be telling the truth when she claims someone set her up. Kendall is certain that she was the one who killed Stuart and has been repressing the memory. Jesse knows Zach framed Annie to protect Kendall and the two men tacitly agree to keep each other's secrets. Kendall tells Ryan she killed Stuart and confirms that Zach set Annie up to take the fall for her. Jake warns Amanda she can't keep running to Taylor's to see Trevor or else David might get suspicious. Taylor and Tad's talk about finding the right person to be with leads to a kiss. Krystal admits to Tad that she's bothered by the fact he's seeing Taylor but says she's happy for him.

SNEAK PEEK: Kendall is sentenced.

AS THE WORLD TURNS: Janet's little sister, Teri, comes to town, becoming Sage and Parker's nanny. Liberty returns from Chicago, claiming the internship program ran out of money. She admits to Parker she was fired for making too many mistakes. Brad learns Kim won't employ him without a co-host. He and Henry try to convince Kim to take Vienna back so Brad can work. Kim thinks the audience won't respond to Vienna anymore, but that they will respond to Henry. Henry leaps at the opportunity to co-host, but Brad helps him see that it would ruin any chances of him reuniting with Vienna. Henry dejectedly returns home, only to find a bouquet of flowers with an apology note. Henry's thrilled and thinks Vienna's returning to him, but when he opens the door, he finds it's actually his mother, there to help him recover from the loss of Vienna. Brad and Katie finally get their romantic alone time. Henry finds Audrey rifling through his things, certain she's after his money. He brings her over to Brad and Katie's to stay out of trouble, while he goes and has his account numbers and passwords changed. He gets back to his hotel room and sees it turned inside out, and is furious with Audrey — only it's not Audrey, but Vienna, who has comes back — at Audrey's insistence, no less. Henry makes love to Vienna. Meg admits Paul's been acting the way he did when she fell in love with him. Paul's grateful, but admits he's not going to have surgery to return his memories. Meg returns to Damian, upset over the fact that the new Paul doesn't want her. Damian says that Paul doesn't know what he is missing and the two begin to make love. Lily, Damian, Lucinda and Holden argue over whether Luke should work for Damian or Lucinda. Lily's increasingly uneasy with her feelings for Damian. Tom is worried Riley and Margo are having an affair.

SNEAK PEEK: Noah confronts Mason.

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: Pam takes a fancy towards Whip and makes a drastic change to show him just how much. Stephanie and Jackie agree to put aside their torrid past and become friends. Taylor asks Stephanie to be her matron of honor. Eric questions Ridge about his feelings for Brooke and his intentions with Taylor. This line of questioning gets Ridge's mind swirling with wonder of where his heart truly lies. A visit from a relentless Brooke makes Thomas and Steffy fear that she may ruin everything between Ridge and Taylor. Unaware that Steffy has been intercepting her messages, Ridge confesses his hurt to Eric that Brooke hasn't tried to talk him out of marrying Taylor. Meanwhile, Brooke waits on the beach for Ridge to arrive for their happy reunion. She takes off on her horse to find him before he marries Taylor.

SNEAK PEEK: A wedding is interrupted.

DAYS OF OUR LIVES: Daniel is brought to the police station in handcuffs. Lucas learns Daniel and Chloe were lovers. Lucas continues his confrontation in jail with Daniel, refusing to believe Daniel's assertion that Kate poisoned Chloe while also framing Daniel.

Although Victor thinks Katie is the culprit, he does not want to hurt Phillip by painting his son's mother as a murderer. EJ questions Nicole about Sydney. Rafe tells Sami he crashed a car into a tree and the impact killed Emily. Rafe tracks down Meredith and it becomes clear that she feels there is more to the story of Emily's "accident." She insists that Rafe is hiding information and is completely responsible for her death. Rafe states he will not lose Sami because of his past, and goes home to her. Back at the Salem Inn, Meredith opens the door to the person who brought her back to Salem ... Stefano!

SNEAK PEEK: Stephanie comforts Phillip.

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sam questions the way Alexis is parenting Kristina. Alexis is stopped short when Sam reveals she thinks it's possible that Kristina might have caused Claudia's accident. Claudia vows revenge on the driver responsible for the crash that caused her to lose the baby. Michael decides he has no choice but to run away in order to spare his family any more anguish. A guilt-ridden Kristina tells Michael she's running away with him. Olivia admits to Johnny that she's known about Claudia's role in Michael's shooting for months and explains why she never told Sonny. Edward keeps Nikolas away from Rebecca. Rebecca rebuffs Ethan when he says he wants another chance with her. Lulu helps Maxie derail Spinelli as he's about to ask Mac for Maxie's hand in marriage.

SNEAK PEEK: Jerry's after Jason.

GUIDING LIGHT: Phillip reveals to Alan that the owner of the cafe they've just walked into is the widow of the man who took his place in Vietnam. Dinah and Shayne wed. Dinah tells Mallet he can't turn Marina in because Dinah is the one who killed the man. Frank tells Mallet he overheard Dinah. Mallet helps Dinah flee the country. Alan confronts Phillip about the fact that he's dying. Phillip admits his disease is progressive and incurable. Suddenly, Alan's demeanor shifts and he accuses Phillip of lying to him. Phillip is desperate to find a cure. In the woods, Jeffrey, feverish and weak, talks to Reva's photo to keep himself going. Jonathan finds a lifeless Jeffrey. Jonathan lays Jeffrey down and reassures Sarah that Jeffrey is a good guy. Jeffrey starts to come to. Jeffrey tells Jonathan he's not going home yet and is going to stay "dead." Jonathan gets a menacing call from Edmund.

SNEAK PEEK: Edmund makes a vow to Lara to make Reva's family suffer.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Stacy tells Gigi and Rex she is pregnant. Rex lets out all his anger over the fact Gigi felt she had no other option but to lie to him, despite how noble her intentions were. Gigi takes full responsibility for everything that's happened between her and Rex, even his sleeping with Stacy. Bo and Nora are locked in a kiss, unaware that Matthew is watching them. Matthew tries to blackmail Bo and Nora into signing the consent form for his surgery, threatening to tell Clint if they don't. Nora admits she's confused about her feelings for Bo when Rachel presses her. Nora argues she shouldn't hurt Clint by canceling the wedding when Bo hasn't come right out and said he wants to be with her. Tea tells Todd she won't be used as a pawn in his games with Blair and returns the key he gave her. Cole tells Ashe he is ready to deal drugs. Marty tells John she wants to move forward with him. Jessica thinks she has seen Nash.

SNEAK PEEK: A hellish wedding occurs.

YOUNG AND RESTLESS: Billy and Mac make love for the first time. Cane tells Lily that the oncologist was able to harvest a few eggs during her surgery and Lily is overwhelmed with joy. Cane promises to stay by Lily's side for as long as she wants him there. Jill brings Cane to Chloe's party and asks everyone to accept that Cane is going to be a part of her life. Jack starts to put the pieces together and realizes that Victor may be behind bringing Mary Jane to Genoa City. Nick and Phyllis renew their vows. Sharon admits to Jack that the baby isn't his; its Nick's. Billy reveals to Ashley that Victor set up Colleen so she would have to resign from the Newman board of directors. Ashley has a hallucination of Sabrina telling her that Victor is after her and her baby. Later, Victor finds a frightened Ashley screaming that Sabrina told her she was going to die because of him.

SNEAK PEEK: A tragic accident happens.

Lynda Hirsch On Soaps: Gossip

2009-08-02T02:39:00.001-05:00

http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/fashion-and-entertainment/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps.html

LYNDA HIRSCH ON SOAPS -- GOSSIP

"Days of Our Lives" is going back to the good old days this fall. The NBC soap will bring back a trio of its characters that were mainstays in the early and mid 1990s.

Crystal Chappell, who played Carly Manning, is headed to town in October. For recent viewers and those who do not remember Carly, here is a bit of her past. The big part includes an affair with and eventual marriage to Bo Brady. At one point, she was Frankie Brady's birth sister. With so many writers and producers since then, who knows if this relationship will be mentioned? Especially since Billy Warlock, who played Frankie, was brought back a few years ago and then written out.

Carly was first brought into the Salem scene by Justin Kiriakis. (Wally Kurth, who played Justin, is set to reprise that role.) In a typical soap opera coincidence, Carly was stunned when she came to town and saw her boarding school chum Jennifer Horton and Jennifer's cousin Bo Brady. Bo had rescued her when she and her boyfriend Lawrence Alamain were having a heated argument. Bo had no recollection of Carly. As with most women, his lack of remembering made her furious. The beginnings of an "I hate you; now I love you" relationship was afoot. With Bo thinking his wife, Hope, was dead, he and Carly hooked up. Eventually, Carly hooked up with the man who turned out to be Bo's birth father, Victor. She did this to save Bo's life. Carly was relieved of one marital task: Victor was paralyzed so they did not have sex.

A story line that is so bizarre followed.

It is even too bizarre for me to relate. (You know how bizarre I am.) Fast forward: Bo and Carly wed. When that marriage ended, Carly and her old flame Lawrence left town together. Also set to return is Lawrence, played by Michael Sabatino. Sabatino and Chappell are married in real life. The duo met and married while working on "Days."

Lawrence is a very mercurial character. He has gone from pure evil to romantic hero. At one point, he was said to be raised by wolves with his brother, John Black. (Please let them not re-visit this plot.) The couple spent years looking for their son, Nick. The real villain in the piece was Lawrence's Aunt Vivian. Thanks to Vivian, Carly thought the son she had given birth to was dead. In truth, Vivian had raised the boy, "Nikki," as her own. When Carly realized who Nikki was, Vivian started a master plan to get rid of Carly.

Carly, a respected doctor, was seeing her patients die in droves. Vivian was injecting them with cleaning fluid. For a time, everyone thought a demented Carly was doing the dirty deed. (Every pun intended.) In the end, it was revealed that really demented Vivian was the culprit. Vivian was sent to a mental hospital.

Guess what? Vivian, played by Louise Sorel, is also returning this fall. This means the axis of evil that is Stefano, Victor and Vivian is about to create lots of problems in Salem.

Soap operas and the history of fan discussion

2009-08-02T01:25:00.000-05:00

Soap operas and the history of fan discussion
Sam Ford
MIT Convergence Culture Consortium, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

[0.1] Abstract—For decades, fans of U.S. soap operas have formed social networks surrounding their shows, and they did so even before the concept entered the vernacular. Soap fans, who started on a geographically local scale and built their communities through grassroots efforts, have found a variety of venues to connect with one another over the past several decades. This study looks at the pre-Internet development of these social networks to show how that trajectory relates to the current online community of soap opera fans. Although several scholars have studied soap opera fandom, few have taken an historical approach at understanding the trajectory of soap fandom, a view especially necessary in an era where online social networks are at the center of audience studies and where cornerstone U.S. soap operas are struggling to retain relevance and audience. To fill this gap, I argue that understanding fan networks today requires looking back to previous methods of fan networking. Soaps' longevity (the youngest U.S. soap is more than 20 years old) and frequency (all U.S. daytime soaps are daily) make them crucial texts in demonstrating how the roots of fan social networks in a pre-Internet era helped shape that fandom's transition onto the Internet, and they also illustrate the continued evolution of these networks as fans move online.

[0.2] Keywords—Archiving; As the World Turns; Community; Discussion boards; Fan clubs; Fan communities; Fan proselytizers; Fandom; General Hospital; Guiding Light; Overcoded texts; Passions; Soap opera; Soap Opera Digest; Soap Opera Weekly; Social networking; The Bold and the Beautiful; The Edge of Night

Ford, Sam. 2008. Soap operas and the history of fan discussion. Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 1. http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/42.

1. Introduction

[1.1] Recent interest in understanding fan culture from the popular press and scholars alike has been tied to questions about how digital culture is transforming our society. This rhetoric often looks at aspects of what is now known as Web 2.0 (that is, an interactive, not passive, Web) and the rise of social media as new social phenomena. These online social networks arise in what Yochai Benkler (2006) defines as a shift from an industrial information economy that defined the second half of the 19th century and all of the 20th century toward a networked information economy today, in which the process of cultural production has become decentralized. However, that shift cannot be defined in concrete terms, taking the technological determinist view that new technologies created new patterns of behavior that weren't previously part of a culture. As Benkler states, "Technology creates feasibility spaces for social practice" (2006:31). The technology is not useful if these social practices are not already prevalent.

[1.2] This essay examines the trajectory of soap opera fandom as a social network—or, rather, as a loosely connected series of networks—and argues that the shape that soap fandom has taken in a digital age is informed by the practices that existed in soap fandom culture in the pre-Internet era. Although much has been written about fan activity surrounding serialized television texts as well as the online activities of U.S. soap opera fan communities, there is a gap in the body of current literature in understanding how pre-Internet fan network practices helped shape the ways that soap opera fans relate to one another online. This project seeks both to bridge that gap and to demonstrate how soap opera fandom provides an explicit case to understand how virtual communities must be examined within the context of what came before, with fans searching for new technologies to facilitate interaction and engagement with social practices. This study culminates with the argument that the early development of online soap opera fan communities cannot be seen as the end of that process because the dynamics of soap fandom networks continue to evolve.

2. The soap opera

[2.1] From slash fan vids surrounding the CW's Supernatural to elaborate theorizing about the mysteries surrounding an island on ABC's Lost, serialized storytelling has been shown to provide ongoing texts on which fan communities can build community through interpretation, speculation, and criticism. This serialized structure has a long narrative history, from oral tales of folk cultures to literary magazines and comic strips in the 19th century. Television as a commercial medium has accelerated the pace of serialization because the explicit goal of the advertising-based business model in the United States has been to bring audiences back to the network so the audiences can be sold to advertisers.

[2.2] Nowhere has that been made more explicit than in the U.S. soap opera. The genre, named after the soap companies that sponsored the content, was launched in the 1930s as short daily radio texts that focused on the plights of a family in a drama centered on the ongoing development of an ensemble cast. The transition to television in the early 1950s eventually brought with it the expansion of the daily soap opera text to 30 minutes (in 1956), as soap operas brought on more characters and focused even more explicitly on the events in the daily lives of a core community and how decisions made by individual characters affected that community as a whole. The move to 1-hour shows in the 1970s and the doubling of soap opera cast sizes furthered an evolution that sees contemporary soap operas produce 260 hours of television per year through hour-long daily weekday texts with no off season.

[2.3] These shows attract an audience through the creation of an immersive story world defined by characteristics such as: a serial storytelling structure; a sense of long-term continuity built through years, even decades, of key characters who are featured daily or weekly; a deep character backlog that has developed over time; an ensemble cast of 30 or 40 characters who are featured on the show at any one time; and self-referential ties to events from a rich textual history. Further, these texts are defined by creative powers that are in constant flux: not only are hundreds of people employed to create soaps, but characters and story arcs will pass through various creative teams. Any U.S. soap opera that survives for decades will eventually see its creative team completely turn over.

[2.4] All of these factors combine to give these immersive story worlds a sense of permanence greater than that provided by the current creators of the show and by the individual fans (note 1). As with sports franchises, the professional wrestling world, and the superhero comic book universes of Marvel and DC, soap operas are known for their constant presence in the lives of fans. Like these other texts, soaps are immersive both in terms of depth (frequency of content) and range (the deep history of these narrative worlds).

[2.5] Although soap opera producers are of course responsible for turning out these daily texts, the power of soaps lies in the social nature through which they are read. Because of the depth and range of content for any particular U.S. soap opera, there is no way to master the content and meticulously map out the narrative world of these shows. Many episodes were never archived, especially early episodes of long-running shows that aired live, but even the youngest and shortest of the current soaps—CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful (1987–present)—would require viewing 130 hours of content each year for more than two decades if all the episodes were available. The ongoing vitality of these shows, then, is dependent on the relationships built around these daily texts and the collective intelligence the fan community provides each member in helping contextualize, explain, and understand how each day's new episode fits into the massive archive of official text.

3. Soap opera and fan discussion

[3.1] Soaps do not exist in a vacuum, and a show's daily texts can only be understood in the context of the decades-long dynamic networks of fans surrounding them. Instead of imagining the audience as a passive sea of eyeballs measured through impressions, this approach views soaps as the gathering place for these social networks. Soap operas are dynamic social texts that are created as much by the audiences that debate, critique, and interpret them as by the production team itself (note 2). Viewers often build on their own interpretations of the text through a collective attribution of meaning, an act that often becomes a strong motivation for continued viewing of the show. Conversations among family or friends while watching, post-"story" phone calls among friends, and conversations at the workplace add interpretive layers to each day's text. Although the larger and more organized public discussions afforded through online discussion boards today add new layers to these interpretive and community-building processes, these online practices have roots in the offline communities that preceded them.

[3.2] The creation of community begins with the text itself. Soaps have always had a correlation with the lives of their viewers. Soap operas invite viewers into a community where they get to know each member intimately. Most often, viewers are privy to the daily actions of people within that community, but not to the inner thoughts and motivations of characters (although voice-overs may be used, albeit rarely, to provide such information). The most common drama point on any U.S. soap opera is the moment before a scene cuts away, in which the viewer is invited to interpret the sincerity and motivations of characters by examining their facial expressions, leading to speculation about what the characters will say or do next. As Bernard Timberg puts it, the visuals of soap operas are designed to make viewers "feel somehow complicit in the ebb and flow of relationships and emotions" (1987:164).

[3.3] Because soap operas generally do not have one central character, viewers are given conflicts where the text does not clearly privilege either side. Viewers then spend as much (if not more) time watching characters recreate, react to, and debate events as they do watching new events occur. Further, because these characters age alongside the viewer, fans are able to see this community and its individual members evolve over time, along with changes in their own lives. Thus, while these shows build themselves off the performances of their ensemble casts, soap operas are, above all else, about Oakdale, or Llanview, or Salem—the communities these shows are set in.

[3.4] The degree of intimacy and connectedness of daily viewing may cause soap characters to feel somehow more "real" than those on other shows, and anecdotal evidence has always pointed to that being the case. For example, one of my high school teachers recalled listening in horror one day as her mother described a bad situation that one of her friends was going through. Only later did my teacher realize that it wasn't a story about someone who lived on her mother's block but was instead about one of the Lowells on As the World Turns (1956–present). This sort of story is not unique: soap opera watchers have always discussed, often informally and in unobserved, unrecorded everyday conversations, the situations and characters. The lack of documentation about the power of social connectedness in soaps in these earlier days is unsurprising precisely because these discussions were casual and oral.

[3.5] Even as the channels through which fans can discuss soaps have changed, the personal interaction with family and friends about the text of the show that was at the heart of the social connections surrounding soap texts from the beginning of the genre has not (Rapping 2002). Because social connections around soaps were limited to these direct interpersonal relationships in the earliest days of the genre, soap opera characters may have seemed particularly localized, a personal possession of a small number of viewers who conversed about them, without a wider forum of discussion for these shows. I now turn to the ways in which networks of soap opera fans have interacted over time, moving chronologically from the earliest accounts of fan activity to the current, more visible networks of soap opera fans online.

4. Interacting with the show: Fan letters

[4.1] The earliest accounts of fan activity surrounding soap operas came from individual letter writers looking to voice their opinion to producers. Before soap opera fans started forming prevalent collective organizations, individuals or small groups were documented anecdotally in press accounts and actors' memoirs as being particularly passionate in their care and concern about the continuity and direction of characters on the show. Fan letters provided a way for small groups of fans or individuals to try and create a connection to the show itself, much as groups befriend, comment on, and link to official sources within the soap opera world in the Internet age.

[4.2] For As the World Turns, the famous incident that drove a significant amount of fan letters to the show involved what show historian Julie Poll has labeled "the first soap supercouple before the phrase was even coined" (1996:215): the relationship between Jeff Baker and Penny Hughes in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At the height of popularity for this couple, the actor who portrayed Jeff Baker opted to leave the show, and his character was abruptly killed in a car crash. Protest letters abounded, and the situation drew attention from a mainstream press that usually did not write about soaps. For instance, an August 1962 Time article on the death of Jeff Baker points out that the actor, Mark Rydell, had been "held to the show by salary and sentiment ($50,000 and 5,000 fan letters a year)." A letter then appeared two weeks later in Time responding to the article, detailing how what the reader identifies as "our group" had "a reception on Penny and Jeff's wedding day," and group members were subsequently "suitably attired in black to watch As the World Turns on the day Jeff died" (note 3).

[4.3] The audience's backlash to Jeff's death has become part of soap—and television—lore. Even considering the hyperbole from the soap industry, this example demonstrates both how As the World Turns fans were invested in the fictional Oakdale community: they organized fannish rituals that correlated with community reactions to a wedding or death (ceremonial attendance and attire), and they sought to reach producers to try and affect the creative direction of the show (note 4). Similarly, As the World Turns actress Eileen Fulton provides anecdotes in her 1995 memoir about the regular mail she and the show would receive in the beginning of what has been to date almost 50 years playing the character of Lisa Miller; and Madeleine Edmondson and David Rounds note that CBS got "at least 35,000 letters" protesting the cancellation of some of its least popular daytime shows (1973:195).

[4.4] Above all else, the stories told about soap opera fan mail emphasize the potential power that communication with producers can give viewers. For instance, Fulton writes, "Most soap viewers don't realize how much power they have. Enough letters, telegrams, and phone calls can kill characters and story lines or turn a temporary part (like Lisa) into a long-term love affair" (1995:67). Peter Buckman notes that soap viewers have "a political sense of their own power, and its limitations. They know that it is on their loyalty that the programme makers rely—and yet…the older viewers at least are aware that they are not a strong enough market force to have a great influence on the producers" (1985:189).

[4.5] The idea that fandom can yield significant power when organized or directed toward a common goal is an important component of soap history. In fact, soap opera producers have often helped foster the notion that the soap opera primarily belongs to its fans through their marketing schemes, even as they resist or ignore many widespread viewer criticisms. However, because these floods of letters were generally not collective action, with little infrastructure in place for soap fans to organize themselves outside of their small network of fellow viewers, producers also often dismissed individual letters. In more recent times, evidence shows that fan mail is often only understood institutionally in broad, quantitative terms. In the late 1990s, for ABC's General Hospital (1963–present), fan mail was considered positive whenever the viewer did not directly threaten to quit watching. Elana Levine writes, "While the system in place to handle audience response is thorough and efficient, it does not really account for most viewers' perspectives…the actual words of audience members are only rarely seen by anyone higher in the chain of command than a writer's assistant" (2007:146). So although fan letters provided a way for fans to try and connect directly with the show, it fell short of fans' needs, primarily because it was easier for producers to continue evoking a community of fans while having systems in place to ignore that implied fan ownership when dismissing the specific sentiments of individual fan letters.

5. Soap opera fan clubs

[5.1] With few ways to band together and a geographically dispersed community of fellow soap opera viewers, dedicated viewers of shows formed fan clubs, some with the intent of official affiliation with a soap. These fan clubs were the first attempt at moving beyond small, loosely affiliated fan networks that often were driven primarily by other relationships (family, friends, coworkers, classmates) and facilitated the development of a larger social network of fans explicitly centered around their common interest in these shows.

[5.2] Little information about the history of soap fan clubs is readily available, but soap historian William J. Reynolds has said the official The Edge of Night (1956–84) fan club started in 1971 (William J. Reynolds, personal correspondence, May 12, 2007). My correspondence with the current president of both the As the World Turns and the Guiding Light (radio 1937–1956; TV 1952–present) official fan clubs emphasized that little institutional history has been passed down, as my contact did not know much about the organization before she took it over in 1999 (Mindi Schulman, personal correspondence, December 19, 2006). However, no matter how long this "official" fan club has been in operation, evidence indicates that these fan clubs and their gatherings have attracted both collaboration from the soaps and significant membership.

[5.3] The current official As the World Turns fan club (http://www.officialatwtfanclub.com/) hosts an annual luncheon with various current and former cast members and provides members with pen pal lists and various documents about the current creative team behind the show, as well as the names and birthdays of current actors. The fan club also provides two resources to fans that echo the earliest powers that fans used: a list of people to contact in the press in reaction to soaps (http://www.officialatwtfanclub.com/magazines.html), and a list of contact information, including that of the executive producer, head writer, and contacts for both TeleNext and the senior vice president of CBS Daytime (http://www.officialatwtfanclub.com/contact.html), so interested fans can send praise or (more likely) complaints.

[5.4] That potential for organizing fans to more successfully influence the direction of the show has been an important drive for soap opera fan clubs, especially because individuals or small groups sending letters independently has proven inefficient in providing the kind of interaction fans have wanted with shows. For instance, in a March 2006 letter that As the World Turns actor Ellen Dolan directed toward fans through the official fan club, Dolan pointed to the previous success of the soap's fans and the fan club in affecting decisions made by the show's leadership. In particular, Dolan mentioned that Trent Dawson, who for years played recurring character Henry Coleman, a fan favorite, was put on contract after the show's producers were impressed by his being cheered at a fan club annual event. Dolan explained her contentions with the way her character, Margo Hughes, had been written and called on fans to use their power to make a change. She writes:

[5.5] The character is being dismantled. These characters are your characters and I think valuable to the show. I need your support. I need you to help save Margo Hughes! I need you to write and ask for Margo back. I have attached a list of names and addresses for you to write to. Tell them how you feel about this character. Please guys, 'cus I love Margo and I want to keep giving her to you. Not to mention that my kid is only six, I've got many years to go. (March 2006, http://www.tnmphoto.com:3864/showthread.php?t=13390)

[5.6] Dolan's rhetoric—telling the fans that "these characters are your characters"—emphasizes fan ownership. The conversation illuminated the fact that although The Powers That Be (the producers, known to fans as TPTB) may control the fate of the show, the actors believe that fans have some authority to demand changes in the text, especially if that fan effort can be collective.

[5.7] In short, fan clubs provided the organizing mechanism that allowed fans to act on a previous desire to create a larger social network, but these networks still required a central point—the fan club organizers—that had to facilitate, organize, and control the ways that fans related to one another and, to a degree, to the show the club was built around.

6. The soap opera press

[6.1] The soap opera press is another venue that has played an important role in soap fans' platform to voice opinions to both fellow viewers and show producers. Although these specialty magazines did not completely satisfy fan interest in providing a soapbox, so to speak, they provided the first forum for fans to write to fellow fans in a position with some degree of visibility and authority, branching beyond the informal letter writing of fan clubs into the legitimacy of the newsstand. Soaps were covered to some degree by TV Guide and similar publications, and particularly big events might warrant mention in magazines that covered culture more broadly, such as Time, but few venues existed where fans could publish their opinions about soaps in a forum that other fans—and industry powers—might read. Daytime TV, despite its visibility and popularity, was left out of most publications that focused on entertainment, even as prime-time television programming was granted an increasing amount of attention from serious critics.

[6.2] This niche was filled by specialty magazines that focused on soaps, and these publications are now a staple of checkout lines in grocery stores. Whereas previous forms of fan communication involved private exchanges (local discussions, fan mail, and fan clubs) and most publications did not regularly report or include reader letters about soap operas, soap opera magazines provided a new forum that permitted the reception of soap operas to become texts themselves through official industry news, behind-the-scenes information, official columnists, fan letters, and polls.

[6.3] A variety of these specialized magazines started appearing at least by the late 1960s. They were published monthly and featured profiles of actors and polls. Their titles included Afternoon TV, Daytime TV, and TV Dawn to Dusk (note 5). By the early 1970s, more than 10 daytime television or soap opera magazine titles were being published, most through either Sterling Publications or Ideal Publications (Harrington and Bielby 1995:67). Soap Opera Digest (SOD) was launched in November 1975 as a monthly magazine; the publication became biweekly in 1979 and then weekly in 1997. In addition to publishing both official critiques from staff writers and fan perspectives on the various daytime serial dramas, SOD created an annual set of awards, similar to the daytime Emmy awards, for daytime serial dramas in 1977. In 2006, SOD and Soap Opera Weekly (SOW) were the 10th and 11th most popular weekly magazines on the newsstand, behind the various tabloids, Woman's World, and TV Guide (note 6).

[6.4] Today, only one major competitor to SOD and SOW remains in business: Soaps in Depth (SID), a weekly magazine published by Bauer Publishing. SID focuses on ABC soap operas one week and CBS soaps the next. The two versions (ABC and CBS) of SID are listed as the 53rd and 57th most popular magazines—overall, not weekly—on the newsstand (note 7). There have also been several other soap opera magazines, now defunct, in the past few decades. These magazines have a much higher readership than their subscriptions and newsstand sales indicate because many people flip through the issues while in the store without ever purchasing it, trying to find the few relevant pages about their particular soap.

[6.5] The soap opera press provides enough critical information for fans to consider it relevant, so these magazines still play a part in the modern interactions between audience members and the shows. Even though these weekly publications often lack critical engagement, the magazines have became forums for discussion precisely because there were so few places for soap fans to read about and communicate their views. Most importantly, these magazines fostered a sense of awareness of a larger community of soap opera fans, rather than considering fans as isolated clusters of viewers. The communal critiquing of soaps was easier to discount by the industry when those activities primarily occurred on a local level, but the soap opera press started the process of legitimizing and validating this interaction by archiving it in print. By their polls and published letters, and by their appeal to a niche market, these publications played an important role in forming awareness of the need for and potentials of the formation of larger soap fan communities (note 8).

[6.6] Fan clubs did not completely satisfy fan needs because of their centralized nature, and the fan press was similarly incomplete in providing a platform for fan discussion. What fans gained in visibility, they lost in ceding even more control to institutionalized powers (in this case, the editorial control of the magazine) and in a lack of interactivity (the difficulty of sustaining true dialogue through a magazine that primarily only published one-time fan letters and reactions).

7. Soap opera discussion forums

[7.1] Online fan discussions share close ties with the history of interaction among fans and between fans and producers that I have just described. Online discussion groups have not replaced the lively debate fans have always had when watching a show or when discussing the show after the fact in telephone, workplace, or dinner conversations. Nor has the rise of online forums brought about the demise of fan clubs, letters written to a show's producers, or the soap opera press. Fans still participate in a number of these activities, resulting in the varied media mix that facilitates what Mizuki Ito calls a hypersocial environment, which she describes in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh! fan communities as "peer-to-peer ecologies of cultural production and exchange" among geographically local communities, online communities, and national meetings for fan communities (2007:91). Soap fandom, and the varied activities that comprise the soap opera fan experience, must be understood in this "hypersocial" environment rather than as a disconnected media viewing experience that removes fans from social interaction (note 9).

[7.2] Instead of replacing these older modes of conversation, online fan communities make more explicit and public the type of activities that fans have long engaged in while in small groups. The Internet created a space where the one-on-one interpersonal model of fan discussion that empowered soap opera viewing could take place on a wider scale. With a public forum for concentrated discussion, the Internet empowered fans by providing new ways to organize themselves to get the attention of TPTB. Further, the Internet's concentrated niche spaces that are nevertheless public gave fans unprecedented ability to create their own texts that are based on their reception of the show through public commentaries and discussions. Jennifer Hayward has called online discussion groups "a more collaborative forum for soaps discussion" than was possible by previous modes of communication (2003:520).

[7.3] Fans also see these forums as providing extensions to the limits of previous modes of engagement: a more collective organization in disputing their dislike of particular story lines that may garner more attention than a letter-writing campaign; a more diverse conversation with other fans of the show, not limited to the more intimate social circles of previous generations; and a more critical engagement with the show than that permitted by the passive character of fan clubs. These forums provide a space for fans to create for themselves the critical responses to the show that they see the soap opera press as failing to provide.

[7.4] Soap operas operate as overcoded narratives, to use Robert C. Allen's (1985:84) term, in which the characters and their various relationships are given more possibilities than are necessary to tell the plot in order to drive deeper viewer interest. In online discussion forums, the power granted to the soap audience becomes evident in understanding and interpreting the spaces of the fictional town, the facial expressions of various characters, and the overwhelming amount of weekly dialogue. This function of the soap opera text is especially important in an Internet age, where members of fan communities spend their time between each day's text collectively unpacking the meaning of reams of information by discussing, criticizing, and theorizing (see Baym 2000). Through these activities, fans help bolster each others' support of the show, so that even if the show does not meet their expectations, fan discussion—even griping about and parodying the show—can actually help keep people with the program through a creative drought. Although small group interaction also had this component of daily social critique, the Internet provided the first mass forum where such discussions could take place in conjunction with the daily flow of the soap opera text. If the soap opera texts are overcoded, so too are fan responses, where every item is carefully and exhaustively analyzed for meaning.

[7.5] Another aspect of creative generation on the part of the fan community focuses on constructing a cohesive narrative space for the show. On As the World Turns, Oakdale is simultaneously considered a small town and the home of several major corporations. Paul Ryan's penthouse used to show a skyline view of a few very tall buildings in the middle of Oakdale, even while other residents complained about living in a town so small that they kept running into their enemies wherever they went. How can the town be both? By never definitively showing us the setting, the creative team requires viewers to conflate these various character comments and visual settings into a comprehensive Oakdale. Matt Hills defines these spaces implied but never shown as hyperdiegesis, "the creation of a vast and detailed narrative space, only a fraction of which is ever directly seen or encountered within the text," but which still tries to have some sort of internal logic (2002:137). Although small budgets are one of the major reasons for the town being represented by a few living rooms and restaurants, these narrative gaps empower much of the fan energy surrounding immersive story worlds. Each episode must raise at least as many questions as it answers, and fans bring up issues of continuity and flesh out the space where these shows take place. Internet fan networks provide fans with the opportunity to decide these meetings in sync with the rhythm of the show's daily airing.

[7.6] This open-ended process of understanding and analyzing the text of the show fuels much discussion in the fan community, even as other elements of fan communication take place. For example, Nancy Baym found that only 16 percent of the postings in the fan community she studied in the 1990s were noninterpretive, and each of those threads often contained some interpretive responses, with 53 percent of the responses she studied focusing specifically on character motivation (2000:71–72). As part of this pervasive fact of interpreting, audience members will openly bring up their own histories to help explain characters' actions. If a character is raped or is the victim of domestic abuse, members of the fan community who have likewise been victims or who have known victims may have the courage to share their own stories, then use that information to evaluate why characters may act in certain, initially puzzling ways. This action further dissolves the boundaries between the viewer's world and the fictive world of the soap opera, even as it opens up the text, expanding it beyond its televisual scope.

[7.7] The text plays into this interpretive interest not just through overcoding but also through the ambiguity I discussed at the beginning of the essay. Because the soap opera does not provide answers but only visuals, fans are left to debate the meaning. These debates are particularly heated when they are about a love triangle, where a community may be divided on which couple is right for each other, or whether either couple is preferable at all. Producers and writers can help facilitate these types of discussions by providing scenarios in shades of gray, where situations do not clearly privilege one character's perspective or leave a particular character in the clear moral right. This strategy—providing information without a clear interpretive frame—permits fans more free play with the text. In particular, this gives large online fan communities substantial material to discuss, debate, and argue on a daily basis.

[7.8] Although certainly much fan interaction occurs on the Web, as a caveat, it is important to realize that many soap opera fans are probably not online today. Soap operas air on broadcast television, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 98.2 percent of households had at least one television set in 2001. In 2003, 61.8 percent of American households were estimated to have a computer in the home, and 54.7 percent had Internet access in the home. Having a computer and Internet in the home was least prevalent for Americans 65 and older, with 34.7 percent having a computer and 29.4 percent having Internet access (note 10). It's likely that these numbers have increased in the years since the data were gathered, but it's nevertheless clear that a great many people have access to both TVs and the Internet, and the latter provides an important platform for extending the social networks built around soaps. Many new soap viewers are joining discussion boards or spending time on soap opera Web sites each year, as the consistent introductions of first-time posters in fan forums emphasize.

[7.9] However, the ways in which soap opera fandom grew online—with daily discussion prioritized over long-form writing, a constant desire for dialogue with the show's creators, and constant collective organization for fan campaigns—can only be understood holistically when taking into account the pre-Internet modes of fan interaction that created the social practices for which the Internet provided "feasibility spaces," to return to Benkler's (2006) term. Likewise, soap fandom's arrival online cannot be seen as the culmination of but rather the next step in an ongoing evolution of the community to find the tools that best facilitate the ways fans want to interact with one another and with producers.

8. Conclusion: The continued evolution of soap fandom networks

[8.1] The Internet has changed greatly from the discussion groups of the 1990s to the variety of forums available today. During the period of Baym's (2000) study, for instance, online discussion groups were still in their infancy; a far wider diversity of soap fan communities can be found today. Now, discussion forums exist alongside a variety of soap news sites, blogs, podcasts, and video sharing sites, as well as other emerging sites of social networking for fan communities that reflect changing Internet technologies and cultural practices. Further, a much greater portion of the viewership has signed on in the past decade, even as a number of soap viewers have tuned out, as declining viewership numbers reveal.

[8.2] In a forthcoming research project, I identified seven primary ways that fans interact with the texts of shows, both online and offline: fan discussion, fan criticism, fan theory, fan performance, fan community building, fan proselytizing, and fan archiving. The Internet provides tools for each of these functions, serving these social practices accordingly—and in most cases on a larger scale than pre-Internet technologies afforded. However, the Internet did not rise to meet all the needs of the fan community simultaneously, but only as it became technically possible to port these social practices online from offline fan network behavior.

[8.3] From the Internet's earliest days, soap opera discussion forums provided the primary format for fans to move their daily discussions online on a mass scale, as described earlier. This facilitation of daily conversation has been the focus of most previous scholarship about soap opera fandom online, and fan discussion forums have likewise become sites for community building, fan criticism, fan performance (through creative interpretations and cultivation of particular roles within the community), and fan proselytizing, especially when it comes to bringing new community members in.

[8.4] More recently, however, we have seen more explicit development of soap fan theorizing online, especially as popular, easy-to-use blogging technologies have been created that have permitted soap opera fans to write longer-form content in conjunction with fellow fans, scholars, and critics who are interested in engaging in discussions about larger issues facing the soap opera industry, outside of the daily rhythm of soap opera viewing. As the technology has become more prevalent in social practice, longtime fans, soap opera journalists, academics, and industry professionals have all launched platforms for this conversation, and an informal network has developed among these various sites, which reference one another, link to one another, and collaborate on projects. In addition, podcasts featuring in-depth discussion, criticism, and theory about the current state and future of soaps have become more popular, even as discussion forums continue to thrive and multiply.

[8.5] Likewise, in the past couple of years, soap opera fan archivists have been increasingly active in converting and uploading their VHS collections to YouTube and other video-sharing sites, a platform that takes the process of tape compiling and trading to a far broader audience. Soap opera production companies have not yet shut down fan use of their archival properties. Longtime fans are thus able to not only reminisce about the past, but to provide historical content that helps explain events happening on the contemporary show. When a prior character or event is mentioned, soap opera archivists will begin to post all the material they saved from that era, hoping that newer fans will seek it out and become more interested in these shows' pasts. As these practices intertwine with discussion groups and the soap opera blogosphere, these clips are often linked to and embedded in ongoing discussions, integrating these new online behaviors into existing and prevailing modes of online soap opera social networks.

[8.6] In addition to the rise of the soap opera blogosphere and online archiving has come a proliferation of online sites that provide coverage of soap operas, such as Soapdom (http://www.soapdom.com/), Soap Opera Network (http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/), and Soap Central (http://www.soapcentral.com/), which provide news and clips as well as social networking services such as polls and blog hosting. These sites have also become engrained in the daily routines of soap opera discussion. Fans on message boards scour these various sites and put the details together to provide a more cohesive, balanced, and comprehensive account of what is happening as it is relevant to their community. As a result of these additional outlets for online information, today's soap fan communities have increasingly complex conversations about fans' autonomy and political influence on the shows they watch. Fans are looking at the show not only from their own perspective, but also from that of marketers, producers, networks, or actors. The fans also often take into account various economic and cultural factors that may explain why creative decisions were made for a show, such as a character leaving or a story line changing course. In dealing with a daily text, fans consider new production news, rumors, and spoilers—plus another day's text to fuel the conversation.

[8.7] Today's Internet permits a far different level of engagement than early soap fan communities did, and the activities of the fandom have shifted as these new technologies facilitate an increasing number of online fan practices that have their roots in pre-Internet fan practices. Contemporary soap fan culture reflects the daily discussion and speculative nature of soap viewing that has been a part of the fan experience since the beginning, when small, local networks of people talked about these shows at work, at home, or on the phone. The desire to communicate with producers that led to the genre of the fan letter exists more broadly today, with fans running soap fandom campaigns related to particular shows, couples, characters, or story lines. The broader fan organization that began with fan clubs has extended to the development of online soap discussion forums that use a variety of software tools, such as bulletin boards, forums, and blogs, to permit interactivity. The role of the soap opera press has expanded, with traditional soap magazines developing a more robust Web presence alongside online news sites and blog-driven criticism and theory that has blurred the lines between professional and fan and that has created more dialogue among soap creators, critics, academics, and viewers.

[8.8] For studies of soap opera fan networks in particular, a new wave of research is necessary to fully address the continuing evolution of fandom into an interactive Web 2.0 environment and to address not just how the contemporary network differs from those of the early Internet era, but also how the social practices described in previous scholarship manifest themselves today in light of these changes. More broadly, this study indicates the importance of addressing how contemporary fan networks are influenced by pre-Internet fan practices and early Internet behavior: the same behavior is being expressed differently, and on a different scale. An historical analysis need not be limited to genres with relatively lengthy histories, like soap operas. The shape of any current fandom reflects that genre's history and the previous modes of communication the fan community used.

9. Notes

1. New soap operas have been an increasingly unlikely venture as a result of dwindling ratings for U.S. daytime dramas. A show like NBC's Passions (1999–2008) never developed a sense of permanence despite having been on the air for almost a decade. Although this would have been a healthy run for a prime-time show, soap fans viewed Passions as "new" and "ephemeral" compared with the long-standing narratives of the other eight soaps currently on the air. Passions' run ended in the summer of 2008 after spending its last season on DirecTV.

2. The notion of the power of the reader is not new; see Barthes (1967). Although Roland Barthes focuses on the solitary reader's ability to "author" the text, the social connectivity of today's media landscape enables much more widespread meaning making from the audience.

3. Allison J. Waldman, "'World' Turns 50: 'Digital Comfort Food,'" Television Week, March 27, 2006, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-143929027.html. "Murder Necessitated," Time, August 24, 1962, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896534,00.html; Rydell went on to be an actor and director on other television shows and in films. Jean Hayes (from Oklahoma City), "Watchful waking," Time, September 7, 1962, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870081-2,00.html.

4. The year before, in February 1961, character Sarah Karr was killed on The Edge of Night. Reportedly as a result of intense viewer response to the death, the actress, Teal Ames, made a statement on the show to explain to fans that it was her decision to leave (William J. Reynolds, personal communication, May 12, 2007).

5. Thanks to soap historian William J. Reynolds (personal communication, May 12, 2007) for providing the names of some of these titles from the late 1960s from his collection.

6. This information was part of a media kit from USA Today highlighting the performance of Sports Weekly and listed ABC Fas-Fax from June 30, 2006, as its source. "Weekly Magazines," USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/media_kit/sports_weekly/au_highest_in_newsstand_sales.htm. News Corp. bought the publication in 1989 and then launched a sister publication, Soap Opera Weekly. SOD and SOW were both sold to K-III in 1991, which then changed its name to Primedia. Source Interlink purchased both magazines in 2007. In 2006, SOD was listed with a total circulation of 527,925 readers, making it the 58th most popular newsstand magazine; SOW was listed as the 82nd most popular magazine, with a circulation of 239,704, according to "Top 100 ABC Magazines by Average Single Copy Sales," Magazine Publishers of America, http://www.magazine.org/consumer_marketing/circ_trends/18424.aspx. These numbers are from the first half of 2006. SOD was listed as having 345,640 subscribers and 182,285 newsstand single-copy sales, and SOW had 101,386 subscribers and 138,318 newsstand single-copy sales. According to the Millard Group, SOD's subscribers (http://www.millard.com/wb/Primedia/prime_soapd.htm) are 83 percent female and 17 percent male with a median age of 50 and a median household income of $38,000, and the Millard Group lists SOW's subscribers (http://www.millard.com/wb/Primedia/prime_soapw.htm) as 84 percent female and 16 percent male with an average age of 50.

7. This information is also part of the USA Today media kit (note 6). An April 2006 press release noted 71,405 subscribers for CBS Soaps in Depth and 79,665 subscribers for ABC Soaps in Depth. In the first half of 2006, the ABC version was listed as having 272,672 verified weekly readers, with 60,760 verified subscribers and 211,912 newsstand sales, while the CBS version had 249,514 verified weekly readers, with 56,220 verified subscribers and 193,294 newsstand sales.

8. For more on the role of the soap opera press, see Harrington and Bielby (1995:72).

9. For a particularly good study of how three of these modes exist alongside one another during the early age of the Internet, and specifically the ways in which the soap press, fan clubs, and discussion boards differ in the way they construct communication across soap fan networks, see Bielby et al. (1999).

10. Special Edition: 50th Anniversary of "Wonderful World of Color" TV, U.S. Government Census Bureau, March 11, 2004, statistics from 2001 available at http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2004/cb04-ffse04.pdf. "Households with a computer and Internet access by selected characteristics: 2003," table A, Computer and Internet use in the United States: 2003, U.S. Government Census Bureau, October 2005, http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf.

10. Works cited

Allen, Robert C. 1985. Speaking of soap operas, Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press.

Barthes, Roland. 1967. The death of the author. Aspen 5–6: sec. 3.

Baym, Nancy K. 2000. Tune in, log on: Soaps, fandom, and online community. London: Sage.

Benkler, Yochai. 2006. The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.

Bielby, Denise D., C. Lee Harrington, and William T. Bielby. 1999. Whose stories are they? Fans' engagement with soap opera narratives in three sites of fan activity. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 43:35–51.

Buckman, Peter. 1985. All for love: A study in soap opera. Salem, NH: Salem House.

Edmondson, Madeleine, and David Rounds. 1973. The soaps: Daytime serials of radio and TV. New York: Stein and Day.

Fulton, Eileen, with Desmond Atholl and Michael Cherikinian. 1995. As my world still turns: The uncensored memoirs of America's soap opera queen. New York: Birch Lane Press.

Harrington, C. Lee, and Denise D. Bielby. 1995. Soap fans: Pursuing pleasure and making meaning in everyday life. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press.

Hayward, Jennifer. 2003. Consuming pleasures: Active audiences and soap opera. In Gender, race, and class in media: A text reader, 2nd ed., ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez, 507–21. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hills, Matt. 2002. Fan cultures. London: Routledge.

Ito, Mizuko. 2007. Technologies of the childhood imagination: Yu-Gi-Oh!, media mixes, and everyday cultural production. In Structures of participation in digital culture, ed. Joe Karaganis, 88–110. New York: Social Science Research Council. http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/books/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/6-ito.pdf (accessed September 14, 2008).

Levine, Elana. 2007. Toward a paradigm for media production research: Behind the scenes at General Hospital. In Television: The critical view, 7th ed., ed. Horace Newcomb, 133–49. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

Poll, Julie. 1996. Young love, first love: Penny and Jeff. In "As the World Turns": The complete family scrapbook, 215. Los Angeles: General Publishing Group.

Rapping, Elayne. 2002. Daytime utopias: If you lived in Pine Valley, you'd be home. In Hop on pop: The politics and pleasures of popular culture, ed. Henry Jenkins, Tara McPherson, and Jane Shattuc, 47–66. Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press.

Timberg, Bernard. 1987. The rhetoric of the camera in television soap opera. In Television: The critical view, 4th ed., ed. Horace Newcomb, 164–78. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

Enrique Iglesias - Ring My Bells

2009-08-02T01:17:00.001-05:00

Enrique Iglesias Ring My Bells

Hall of Fame: Don Hastings

2009-08-02T01:07:00.004-05:00

Don Hastings
2009 Soap Opera Hall of Fame Inductee

The Video Ranger, Captain Video and His Video Rangers
Unknown Role, A Date With Life
Unknown Role, Modern Romances
Jack Lane, The Edge of Night
Bob Hughes, As The World Turns
Bob Hughes, Our Private World
Writer, The Guiding Light
Writer, As The World Turns

Television's first teen idol, Donald Francis Hastings was born April 1, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York.

Don started his show business career at the age of six when he accompanied his older brother Bob Hastings to the children's radio program in which Bob sang. When the producer heard that Don could sing too, he had Don audition for the program, Coast to Coast on the Bus. The exposure that Don received led to a part in the national company of Life With Father in 1941. Don toured with the company for three years and has acted ever since.

Don made his Broadway debut in the 1944 production of I Remember Mama.

After working sporadically in theater and television, Don turned to television full time in 1944, landing his first big role in 1949 at the age of 15. He played Captain Video's teenaged sidekick, The Video Ranger in the DuMont television series Captain Video and His Video Rangers, which ran from 1949 to 1955. In this role, he played one of television's first superheroes designed to appeal to young children. For every youngster lucky enough to have a TV in the early 50s, Don Hastings and The Video Ranger becamse their idol for six years.

He guest starred in a number of television series including Studio One and daytime dramas A Date with Life and Modern Romances.

From 1956 to 1960, he played the role of Jack Lane on the soap opera The Edge of Night, speaking the shows opening line on April 1, 1956. Since October 7, 1960, he has portrayed Bob Hughes on As the World Turns. In perhaps the most difficult role in daytime television, that of the sturdy, saintlike matinee idol, the actor has always infused the part with a brisk playing style and refreshing good humor.

Hastings currently holds the record for longest continuous actor in the history of television serials; he is second in line to co-star Helen Wagner in having the distinction of playing the same role for the longest period of time on television. William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on the British soap Coronation Street is widely believed to be the record-holder for males, but Don Hastings has portrayed Bob Hughes for two months longer than Roache has played Ken. Neither actor has taken a break during their respective tenures. The Guinness Book of Records states that the non-continuous record is held by Helen Wagner, who has played Nancy Hughes on the same soap opera, As the World Turns, since April 1956. Wagner left between 1981 and 1985.

In 1971, under tutelage of Irna Phillips, Hastings began to moonlight as a dialogue writer for ATWT and later contributed scripts to The Guiding Light as well. He used the pseudonym J.J. Matthew, which combined the names of his children: Julie, Jennifer and Matthew.

In 1977, Don toured with co-star Kathryn Hays in the musical concert act, Hastings and Hayes on Love and later they both were cast members of an off-Broadway production of Algonquin Sampler.

Possessing a strong vocal talent, Hastings has performed on television on the shows Chevrolet on Broadway and The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as recording material for Columbia records.

In 1980, soon after a 1978 storyline in which Bob romanced Karen Peters on the series, Don married actress Leslie Denniston, the actress who had played the mysterious Karen. They live in New York state with their daughter, Katharine Scott Hastings (b. 9/23/82). Don also has two daughters, Jennifer and Julie, plus a son, Matthew, from a previous marriage. Don's hobbies include travel and golf.

Active in show business (on television) since 1949. In 2009, he celebrates two big milestones, his 75th birthday and 60 years on television.

In honor of his long years on As The World Turns and daytime, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys in 2005. He was given the Silver Circle Award, given by the Academy of Television Arts & Science, in 1993 for his many years of achievement in the television industry. Sadly he has never been nominated for a Daytime Emmy award.

All My Children: Lena & Bianca

2009-08-01T09:05:00.007-05:00

Lena Kundera and Bianca Montgomery
(Olga Sosnovka & Eden Riegel, All My Children)

Intruder kills former actress, August 28, 1958

2009-08-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/forest_lawn/

The Daily Mirror - latimes.com
Intruder kills former actress, August 28, 1958

She is one of those cold cases that leave all kinds of unanswered questions even when the killer is finally caught, convicted and sent to prison. Nothing about it passes the sniff test.

We know her name was Helene Funk Jerome, born in New York on March 12, 1908, which makes her 50 at the time of the killing. She was living in a rear apartment at the Las Palmas Hotel, 1738 N. Las Palmas. That's the one used in "Pretty Woman."

She was supposedly a retired actress, but her credentials are rather vague. The Times said she was a graduate of either the Royal Dramatic Academy or the Royal Dramatic Society in London, so I'm guessing it was the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, which has no record of her -- at least online.

Most of her career was spent on the stage in China, The Times said. She never made any movies and shouldn't be confused with Helene Jerome Eddy, who died in 1990.

About 1943, Helene married Edwin Jerome, an actor who had a long career on Broadway before coming to Hollywood, where he appeared in such roles as a butler in "Gigi" and a doctor in "The Three Faces of Eve." They were estranged, he said, but remained friendly. He lived about 2 miles away at 1710 N. Harvard.

It's unclear whether Edwin called the hotel or the hotel switchboard operator called him, but either way, he became concerned when the operator said Helene's phone had been off the hook for a long time. He told police he went to the apartment to investigate and found Helene's nude body. The screen had been torn from a window near the door and detectives inferred that someone had broken in. The autopsy found that she had been strangled.

Edwin told police that he had been there late Tuesday, the night before the killing, and had answered the phone because she was asleep. Edwin said the caller was a man, but didn't get his name.

A few days later, police arrested Edgar Glenn McAdoo, 25, because he closely resembled the police sketch of a man seen with Helene in a bar a few hours before she was killed. McAdoo, who was working as a carhop after arriving from Lubbock, Texas, two months earlier, admitted being in a bar with Helene and said he escorted her back to the apartment but went home to 6674 Yucca St.

Investigators searched Helene's apartment for fingerprints to see if any matched McAdoo and he was given an extensive polygraph exam. However, prosecutors refused to file charges against him. He was released, charged with outstanding traffic warrants and freed on bail.

Next, based on an informant's report, police arrested Miller F. Dowdy, 42, who operated an all-night newsstand at Las Palmas and Hollywood Boulevard. Although the informant said Dowdy had been with Helene on the evening before the killing, Dowdy said he was working all night, although he admitted going on a date with her about three weeks earlier.

Dowdy was released a few days later for lack of evidence and police arrested Jordan Holt, 32, who was captured on a hotel roof and admitted being with Helene on the night of the killing, The Times said. The paper never reported what became of Holt, although he was apparently released.

In September 1960, police found another suspect, Henry Adolph Busch, 29, who admitted strangling three Hollywood women, including his foster mother's sister. He was questioned about Helene's killing, but apparently nothing came of it.

Finally, in November 1962, a 26-year-old shipping clerk from La Puente, Michael John Donahue, walked into the Portland, Ore., police station and confessed to killing Helene. He said he left Los Angeles a week earlier to get away but decided to confess to clear his conscience. Donahue said he followed Helene and a young man (presumably McAdoo) home from a Hollywood bar, then broke in once the man left. They argued and he killed her, he said.

Donahue pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and in April 1963 was sentenced to five years to life in prison.

This is only chronology I can come up with for Helene's killing and it doesn't fit together terribly well: Edwin is at Helene's apartment. It's late and she's asleep. The phone rings and Edwin answers, then he leaves. For the rest of it to work, Helene would have to get up, go to the bar and meet McAdoo, come home with him, and then be killed by Donahue. And Holt is supposed to fit in there someplace.

This lady seems to have been hanging around with an awful lot of low-life men who were much younger; two of them were half her age. And then throw in the guy working at the all-night newsstand; not exactly prime date material. The Times doesn't say anything about what she did for a living. I wonder what was really going on.

Helene was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park. In addition to Edwin, she was survived by sisters Josephine Laroza and Frieda Theis and brothers John and Bernard Funk.

Edwin died a little over a year after the killing, having moved to Altadena. He "reportedly never recovered from the shock of the unsolved murder of his wife," The Times said.

Public records are inconclusive on confessed killer Michael John Donahue. A man by that name died in Long Beach in 1999, but it's unclear if this is the same man.

Ex-Actress Found Dead in Hollywood Mystery (1958)

2009-08-01T08:36:00.004-05:00

Los Angeles Times,
Thursday Morning, August 28, 1958

Spotlight on: Edwin Jerome

2009-08-01T08:25:00.005-05:00

Name: Edwin Jerome
Birth Name:
Alternate Name: Ed Jerome
Nicknames:
Date of Birth: 30 December 1885, New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death: 10 September 1959, Pasadena, California, USA
Soap Opera Occupation: actor

Soap Opera Roles:

unknown role, Carol Kennedy's Romance
Dr. Samuel Tilden Field, When A Girl Marries
unknown role, Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories
unknown role, By Kathleen Norris
Will Dale, Love of Life, 1951 to 1953

Family Connections:

husband of character actress, Helen Jerome

More Info:

7th Heaven

2009-08-01T07:03:00.009-05:00

7th Heaven

Network: WB (26 Aug 1996 to 8 May 2006); CW (25 Sep 2006 to 13 May 2007)
Created by: Brenda Hampton
Country of Origin: United States
No. of Seasons: 11
Episodes: 243
First Air Date: August 26, 1996
Last Air Date: May 13, 2007

7th Heaven was an American serialized drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on Monday August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from 1996-2007. The series finale was scheduled for May 8, 2006; however, the show was renewed by the CW when the intended final episode received high ratings. The 11th and final season premiered on Monday, September 25, 2006 and ended on May 13, 2007. 7th Heaven is the longest running series that has ever aired on The WB, the longest running family drama in television history and the longest running show produced by the late Aaron Spelling. The show tells the story about a Protestant minister's family living in the fictional town of Glenoak, California.

The central characters were the Reverend Eric Camden (Stephen Collins), his wife Annie (Catherine Hicks), and their seven children: Matt (Barry Watson), Mary (Jessica Biel), Lucy (Beverley Mitchell), Simon (David Gallagher), Ruthie (Mackenzie Rosman) and the twins, David (Lorenzo Brino) and Sam (Nikolas Brino). The Reverend Eric Camden is the senior minister of the Glenoak Community Church, whose Protestant denomination is typically never disclosed (with the exception of an episode that was narrated by Simon in Season 8; in a Season 11 episode in which Annie comments on how Protestants can't have a confession; in Season 6 episode 15 when Matt tells Sarah Glass that his father is Protestant).

In at least one episode, the Disciples of Christ denominational logo (St. Andrew cross and chalice) was displayed prominently on the front of the church's pulpit. Many of the church scenes were filmed at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of North Hollywood. Although the logo display was likely unintentional, there appears to be nothing about the Camdens' brand of Christianity that would be negated if they were not a part of the Disciples of Christ. The reason for the display of the Chalice is most likely due to the rental agreement of the church. On the wall hanging left to the pulpit, the church's logo is present (blue logo with a cross/anchor symbol). The church (First Christian Church of North Hollywood), has noted that when the cast was on set, they often went into the church office to observe how church staff really act.

In an earlier online show guide from Warner Brothers Television, the back story for Eric Camden described him as being an Episcopal Priest leading, with his Bishop's permission, a non-denominational church. Some people find this interesting in light of Stephen Collins' real-life attendance at an Episcopal parish in the Pacific Palisades area.

More Info

Where Are They Now: Anne Heche

2009-08-01T05:35:00.003-05:00

Anne Heche (Vicky Hudson/Marley McKinnon, Another World; Amanda Hayes, Everwood; Nicole Morretti, Nip/Tuck)

Source: The New York Times

Anne Heche Is Playing It Normal Now

By ALEX WITCHEL

Published: July 31, 2009

Anne Heche sat in a chair while a former professional soccer player from Israel drew dots on her scalp with a black marker. Piny (pronounced PEE-nee, one name only, like Cher) of Beverly Hills has been a guru of wigs and hair extensions since he started here in 1975, with clients like Liberace and Dolly Parton. He also created John Travolta’s flowing mane in “Pulp Fiction.”

“It’s like having a toolbox I never knew existed,” Heche said, holding up a strip of long blond hair dyed to match her own that would be sewn onto a foundation of tiny braids along her scalp. Heche said she worked with Piny to create her two latest characters, in the same way she would a costume designer. “These make it easier for my hair to stay in a style,” she said of the three rows of extensions Piny recommended. “And if I have to reshoot and already have a different look, I can just take the character off the shelf. But since I’m doing publicity for these two roles now, it’s important to look how I do as these characters. I’ve learned that it’s jarring for people to see what a chameleon I am.”

And how. For a woman who recently turned 40, Heche has had more than her share of incarnations. She started life as the sexually abused child of an evangelical Christian father, who was also a closeted gay man who died of AIDS in 1983, and his eerily compliant wife, who after his death became a Christian therapist, lecturing on behalf of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family about “overcoming” homosexuality. Fresh out of high school in 1987, Heche had a four-year starter career as a soap star, playing good and evil twins on “Another World,” for which she won a Daytime Emmy in 1991. That led to a period as a budding Hollywood leading lady, co-starring with Johnny Depp in “Donnie Brasco,” Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman in “Wag the Dog” and Harrison Ford in “Six Days, Seven Nights,” while off screen she veered through a string of relationships with a variety of father figures, including Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and Steve Martin.

Then, at the 1997 Vanity Fair Oscar party, lightning struck and she fell madly in love with Ellen DeGeneres, becoming half of the most famous lesbian couple in America. Because she had never given any indication of being gay, Heche was pilloried as both publicity hound and career opportunist — though in retrospect, given her experience with her duplicitous father and homophobic mother, it could seem that her attraction to DeGeneres had less to do with acting than acting out. The romance actually destroyed her prospects as a leading lady; the deal for “Six Days, Seven Nights” was the last one made as the affair became public, and no more were offered. When the relationship soured after three and a half years and the couple split, Heche experienced what seemed to be a psychotic break, giving in to Celestia, whom she described as an alternate personality she had lived with for years, one who ultimately believed a spaceship was coming to take her to a better place. Her 2001 memoir, “Call Me Crazy,” recounted that episode, along with her sordid childhood, and started her on the road to career recovery.

Feature films mostly gave way to guest roles on shows like “Ally McBeal” and “Nip/Tuck,” and she starred on Broadway in “Proof” and “‘Twentieth Century,” for which she earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. Barely a year after splitting with DeGeneres — and Celestia — she married Coleman Laffoon, a cameraman who worked on the documentary Heche was making on DeGeneres’s stand-up tour before their breakup. (It was never broadcast.) Entertainment Weekly described Laffoon as “a jovial golden retriever of a man whom Heche credits with picking her up, brushing her off and putting her on a path to stability.” They had a son, Homer, now 7, but the path to stability reached an impasse, and Heche and Laffoon divorced last year. In March, Heche gave birth to her second son, Atlas, whose father, James Tupper, was her co-star in the ABC series “Men in Trees,” which was canceled last year after two seasons.

She’s on a definite upswing now, both personally and professionally. She co-stars with Ashton Kutcher in the movie “Spread” (which opens Aug. 14), playing a corporate lawyer in L.A., a savvy older woman who relishes the control of “keeping” Kutcher as her boy toy even as she frantically tries to appear his contemporary physically. And she has a supporting role in the critically acclaimed HBO series “Hung,” playing Jessica, the ex-wife of Ray (Thomas Jane), a former high-school athletic star, now a broke and losing high-school basketball coach who is forced to make ends meet as a gigolo. Jessica, his former high-school-cheerleader girlfriend, dumps him for a successful dermatologist in a desperate bid to reinvent herself and find some meaning in her life. Heche has done the same thing so often herself, making brave new starts seemingly fueled by great gulps of hope and wonder — until boom, it all falls down and she has to start again — that she brings an unexpected poignancy to the role.

“We auditioned a lot of people,” says Colette Burson, the co-creator of “Hung.” “It is incredibly difficult to find beautiful, talented, funny women over 35.”

The hardest part may be getting them to admit they’re over 35, but Heche doesn’t lie about her age. She has been working since she was 12. Her first role was in a New Jersey dinner-theater production of “The Music Man.” She was paid $100 a week, which helped support her family, who had lost their home and were living with neighbors. Eight days after giving birth to Atlas, she was on set, shooting “Hung.”

Her work ethic never changes, and the invitation of her book’s title aside, she did not seem crazy in the two days I spent with her. She appeared to be a focused mother and a loving partner to Tupper. Though she is perfectly capable of uttering sentences like “Every character puts me through a journey of acceptance about myself,” it is hard to discount either her intelligence or her intention. Maybe it’s because there’s an integral part of her — the abused part — that remains vigilant, a shadow of childhood anxiety that still hovers, a tireless antenna seeking approval. She has an uncanny ability to intuit who she needs to be in any situation — her persistent need to please, a phantom limb. As an actress, she uses this to feed her inner chameleon, and it informs her instincts in plumbing a character’s depths, her normally low-key energy erupting, either in lashings of passion or unanticipated fits of whimsy, both of which are just unhinged enough to be riveting. In her pre-screening remarks to the audience at the “Hung” premiere, Burson quoted Alexander Payne, who directed the pilot, on working with Heche: “Every take was different. Every take was true.”

Her all-American good looks and Midwestern-mom vibe keep her a saleable, pretty package. And her impulse toward confession, that beloved all-American pastime, keeps her struggles and dramas and torment and truth — or her version of it, at least — front and center. (DeGeneres has said little publicly about their relationship, perhaps because in Heche’s memoir, the love she expresses for DeGeneres comes across as genuine.) But Heche’s life seems naturally to generate and regenerate material. She has been up and down, back and forth, like a roller coaster that keeps threatening to derail yet manages, somehow, to stay its course.

When Piny was skeptical of Heche’s choice to let me watch two hours of the unglamorously intimate process of tightening her hair extensions, she just laughed. “No more secrets,” she told him. “Not for me, you know that.”

With Heche’s hair firmly in place, we climbed into her slightly used Jaguar sedan and headed toward Shutters hotel in Santa Monica, where Tupper and Homer were spending the day, using the pool. The house they’re renting in Venice doesn’t have one.

Driving with Heche felt like being back in high school. She is an easy person to be with, relaxed and chatty. She wore jeans and a flowing top — she was still breast-feeding — and huge sunglasses. Her extended blond hair became her, and her face had no discernible pores or oil glands. People have killed for less, but the urge never quite struck — maybe because she makes no distinctions between herself as a celebrity and the mere mortals she encounters in the course of a day. That attitude seems rooted both in her willingness to work (that work is worth was a mantra she acquired early) and the fact that, as a mere mortal herself, her need for a paycheck is real.

A sticking point at the heart of her acrimonious split with Laffoon was the very issue of employment. Their initial arrangement was that she would be the breadwinner and he would stay home and take care of Homer. In May 2007, after they separated, The San Jose Mercury News ran an article, “Anne Heche’s Husband Says Actress Is a Bad Mother,” based on an Associated Press report that an accountant hired on Laffoon’s behalf offered “a guideline of $45,239” for payments by Heche in monthly spousal and child support. Laffoon claimed Heche left her son with nannies or assistants in her trailer while she was filming “Men in Trees” in Vancouver and “after one visit, she forgot to return Homer’s favorite shoes and ‘his bedtime stuffed animals which . . . caused him extreme distress.’ ” Lisa Kasteler, Heche’s publicist, was quoted as saying, “For the past several years, the child’s father has refused to get a job in order to contribute financially to the child’s care.”

In March the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that Heche had to pay Laffoon a lump sum of $515,000 and $3,700 in monthly child support, and assume 75 percent of Homer’s private-school tuition.

When I asked her about it, she kept her tone even. “I pay an extraordinary amount of money to him, and it’s unfortunate because it is what I believe keeps him from getting a job,” she said. I reached Laffoon, a registered real estate agent in Los Angeles, by phone. He chose not to respond directly, saying only, “I’m glad it’s over and everyone seems to be moving on with their lives.”

Heche agreed about that. “I have that beautiful 7-year-old boy. The blessing of his life is that he adores his stepdad, and they have a beautiful relationship. Homer feels like he has more love in his life, that’s been the outcome of this whole thing. I’d like to leave it there.”

So she’s working as fast as she can. For “Hung,” she was originally asked to audition for the leading role of Ray’s pimp, now played by Jane Adams. “Who am I not to take a meeting?” Heche said, turning onto the freeway. “I didn’t get that part, but then they thought of me for the other. So, great. Listen, one job doesn’t ever change the path of your career. Even the greatest job can never guarantee the next five years.” That’s certainly not the prevailing wisdom out here, where “stars” are insulted if they aren’t handed a role just for being. But for Heche, in either tight times or flush, work has always been less about entitlement than salvation. “People like people who work,” she said. “When have you ever gotten upset with someone for having a job?”

At Shutters, 31/2-month-old Atlas was sleeping in a cabana while his nanny watched him. Tupper and Homer were both in the water. Heche stopped to say hi on her way to the room where we would talk. When she asked, “Can I have a kiss?” they swam toward her simultaneously, and all three laughed. Heche, who’s understandably marriage-shy at the moment, told me, once we sat down, about a recent trip to Paris. “James and Homer asked me to marry them together as a family, and all three of us decided that we would forever be engaged,” she said. “From that moment Homer said that he would like to call James his stepdad. Although recently he says James is my Dad II.” She smiled. “Homer is in this exquisite world where there are friends that have two dads and friends that have two moms, and so his understanding of the uniqueness of family really helps us out. He understands two dads. And it’s my Dad II, as in ‘also.’ You know, ‘He’s my dad, too.’ ”

Before settling on the couch, Heche poured cream into a cup of Earl Grey tea. We talked first about “Spread.” The character she plays is so hard-bitten yet, as is eventually revealed, so insecure that she resorts to vaginal surgery to remain appealing to younger men.

“It’s interesting when all of a sudden you’re the older woman,” Heche said. “I had to ask myself: ‘What am I not confident about? Why does this scare me?’ As a theme in my life, I’ve always looked at how I can rid myself of shame, so I definitely saw this character as a way to get rid of shame about getting older. Did I understand that there was a person who wanted so desperately to feel loved that they would put themselves through almost any trial, hers ended up being surgery, to stay connected to her youth? Sure. So I had a lot of compassion for this woman.”

Jessica, her character in “Hung,” has a somewhat softer cast. “I really wanted to tell a more loving tale about women,” she said, “that we are fragile, loving people who get to moments in our lives and make some really silly mistakes. I think she still has a lot of love for Ray; it ignites every time she sees him. I think she makes a decision with an open, open heart, but looks back and says, ‘How did it go wrong?’ It’s what I see in so many women: ‘How did I make this choice? Why can’t I redo it?’ That’s what I see in so many faces. ‘How did I get here?’ ”

The relationship between Ray and Jessica has some parallels to that of Heche’s parents, who met while in high school. Her father, Don, was a handsome golden boy, good at everything; her mother, Nancy, was excited and in love. Though there the story took its own turn. After Don dropped out of medical school, he never found a profession that lasted, becoming a part-time church organist and choir director, hatching doomed schemes to make money and stowing his family in rural Ohio in a religious compound. In her own 2006 memoir, “The Truth Comes Out,” Nancy Heche wrote that she essentially missed the ’60s there, never reading a newspaper, listening to the radio or watching television. Don disappeared for long periods, living in New York City, doing odd jobs. He claimed to have worked as a driver for Brooke Shields’s mother. He deified movie stars, pushing his children, whenever he reappeared, to pursue show business. After losing a series of homes, the family ended up living with neighbors.

Heche had four siblings. The eldest, Susan, also wrote a memoir about growing up with a closeted gay father, “Anonymity,” published in 1994 under her married name, Susan Bergman. She died of brain cancer in 2006. The second daughter, Cynthia, died in infancy, from a heart defect. The only son, Nathan, a target for much of his father’s nonsexual abuse, died three months after his father did, in a car accident that some surmised might have been suicide. Abigail, now a jewelry designer living in Michigan, was the other child; Anne, the baby. Anne’s account in her own memoir of her father’s sexual abuse and her mother’s denial of it is devastating. She writes that Nancy Heche told her that as an infant she couldn’t diaper Anne properly because of sores and rashes she had on her vagina but never knew why. Anne got herpes from her father, and in 1983, after he died of AIDS, doctors told her she would have to wait years to learn that she was not infected. She was 14 then; she wrote that the abuse stopped when she was 12.

Heche said that when she called her mother — during her seventh year in therapy — to confront her about the abuse, her mother ended the conversation by saying, “Jesus loves you, Anne,” before hanging up. In her memoir, Nancy Heche, who is now 72, never addresses the issue of Anne’s abuse. I contacted her publisher, Regal Books, for a response to her daughter’s comments, and was told by Jackie Morales, its marketing and publicity coordinator, that Nancy’s agent, Mark Sweeney, said his client would have no comment (though she protested Anne’s account of events at the time). Perhaps the most damning comment came from Heche, who told me she has never introduced either of her children to her mother.

Nor has she read her mother’s book. “My mother’s had a very tragic life,” she said. “Three of her five children are dead, and her husband is dead. That she is attempting to change gay people into straight people is, in my opinion, a way to keep the pain of the truth out. People wonder why I am so forthcoming with the truths that have happened in my life, and it’s because the lies that I have been surrounded with and the denial that I was raised in, for better or worse, bore a child of truth and love. My mother preaches to this day the opposite of that core of my life. It is no mistake that she still stands up against love. And one wonders why I’m not rushing to have her meet my children.”

Understanding the circumstances of Heche’s childhood makes it easier to see past the publicity circus of her relationship with DeGeneres. “My love was so all-consuming for a human being who would tell the truth,” she told me. “The impact that has on a child who grew up with such shame about who she was, who her father was, the disease he died of, the hatred my mother had for anything gay. And I got to participate in a loving truthful celebration of the way I thought the world should be.” She turned up her palms. “How could that destroy my career? I still can’t wrap my head around it.”

That is naïve at best; Hollywood executives are notoriously skittish about homosexuality and its potential to harm their bottom line. The rap on Heche is that when her bid for greater glory as DeGeneres’s other half failed, rushing to marry a man was the only plausible career rehabilitation. When I said that to her, she didn’t flinch. “I think that when I was in a same-sex relationship, it was hard for people to separate my message from the person I was with,” she said. “The message of my life has stayed the same. I think I was a wonderful spokeswoman for the right to love.”

Because Heche’s emotional breakdown happened the day after her breakup with DeGeneres — she turned up near Fresno, dressed in a bra and shorts at someone’s front door asking to take a shower before leaving Earth on her spaceship — people seemed to think it was a reaction to DeGeneres. But Heche wrote in her memoir that Celestia began six years earlier, after her mother’s refusal to acknowledge her abuse. “In that moment I split off from myself,” she wrote. While working on movies she would go to her trailer to transcribe messages she believed she was receiving from God, as Celestia.

To have crashed so publicly and rebounded so mightily is no less than extraordinary. “I went to a lot of therapy,” she said. “I talked my head off and pounded enough pillows and confronted enough ghosts. I didn’t avoid the feelings of what my childhood was. I went right into them and went as deeply as I could.” She does seem remarkably free of anger or bitterness, at this point, at least. “I think people saw how hard it was for me,” she said. “It’s what makes me the artist that I am, it’s my bag of sorrow, of human tragedy that I’ve lived through, and I go to this well every single time I create a character. But that no longer dictates my daily life.”

Neither does religion. When I asked her the differences between evangelical and fundamentalist — her family slid between the two — she said she didn’t know. “We went through different phases of being every kind of whatever was the deepest, whatever kept the blinders on,” she said. “I had a mother whose whole life was based on not looking around or knowing anything. If you’re a man who’s living with that kind of woman, you’re keeping her in a bubble so that you can do whatever you want. It’s not a big mystery how people hide abuse. They keep somebody in a bubble, and they go and do whatever the hell they want, and the person in the bubble says: ‘I love my bubble. This is the only bubble I’ve ever known, and I don’t want out of my bubble.’ Then 20 years later, you’re confronted with truths that happened from all of your children, and you say, ‘I was in a bubble.’ ” She sighed. “There’s no mystery to any life story. How do you think I turned out the way that I am? Because every single thing in my life leads to it. Every single thing in her life leads to where she is — still living in a bubble. Exactly where she always wanted to be. There’s not a lot of mystery. It’s why my brother ended up on the side of a road.” She stopped talking then and looked at me, seeming suddenly to realize someone else was there. She took a deep breath. “I hear people’s stories,” she said quietly, “and I’m so touched by how people survive their lives.”

On the afternoon of the “Hung” premiere, Heche stood on her tiny patch of backyard, giving Tupper a haircut. The three-bedroom house in Venice, rented from an American Airlines pilot, sits on a street lined with small, squat houses. Inside, the floors are poured concrete, and a basketball hoop was set up in the living room for Homer. Heche’s Mother’s Day gift from Tupper was an upright piano. Heche still talks about how her father promised to teach her to play and never did. She and Homer are now learning together.

Upstairs, Homer was setting out his pirate treasure so I could see it. At the home they own together in Vancouver, where “Men in Trees” was shot, Heche and Tupper concoct elaborate treasure hunts for Homer with clues written on parchment paper. The collection of arrowheads and colored stones is one of his prize possessions. Heche finished the haircut. “I’ll take my tip in cash,” she joked, and we went upstairs to admire the treasure. Then Homer and his mom played basketball while Tupper spent the better part of an hour making a salad. The kitchen and living room are essentially an open space, and Atlas napped in his crib next to the refrigerator decorated with Homer’s drawings.

Tupper, who is 43, used to be a carpenter. He is handsome and low-key and seems somewhat amused by his success on “Men in Trees” and by the absurdity of show business in general. Next to the cylindrical fireplace sat a pile, not of newspapers but of old scripts, ready to be burned. Tupper was about to relocate to New York to star in a new NBC medical drama, “Mercy,” and he appears with Claire Danes and Zac Efron in “Me and Orson Welles,” the new Richard Linklater movie, which opens this fall. But for the moment, he chopped carrots and celery, boiled corn on the cob for Homer’s lunch — cutting off the kernels when it was done—– and made him macaroni and cheese. Not Kraft. From scratch.

Heche and Homer then sat down to practice piano, the inevitable trade-off for basketball. Tupper brought her a plate of his salad and some tuna salad, and after a few songs, Homer ran to the front window. “Mommy, your hair person is here,” he announced. “Fantastic!” she exclaimed. “Why is that fantastic?” he asked grumpily. His happy family day was giving way to work, which in this house means hair, makeup and wardrobe.

Patrick Jagaille, the hairstylist, and Gregory Arlt, the makeup artist, set up shop on the kitchen counter. Arlt had brought a CD with him, and soon there was music playing and a blow dryer blowing. “Let the party begin,” Heche said, as her stylists, Wendi and Nicole Ferreira, rolled a dress rack through the front door and proceeded to cover the dining-room table with jewelry.

Tupper reached for his keys. “Should I get some Champagne?” he asked. Heche nodded. “It’s a tradition for us,” she said, as he headed out. This did not make Homer happy. “Mommy, how far away is the wine?” he asked.

Arlt didn’t miss a beat. “I ask myself that question every day,” he said.

Homer rebounded. “Is it O.K. if I move this a little bit?” he asked, wheeling the dress rack away from his basketball hoop. The stylists worked around him, opening boxes of shoes, propping up evening bags next to each pair. “I’m not much of a nit-picker,” Heche said, watching. “If I need them to, they can pick it out almost without me there. I say, Thank you so much for making me look like this and go out the door.” Heche’s dress was fitted the day before; another dress was for the “Hung” wrap party that weekend.

“Champagne, ladies?” Tupper poured flutes of Mumm and handed them around. “Here’s to you darlin’,” Arlt said to Heche. They have worked together for seven years, and he knows how to jolly her up and calm her down when the red carpet looms. Homer, meanwhile, curled up on Tupper’s lap in front of the computer, building a monster. Once that was done, he ran next door and returned with two little girls from the neighborhood in tow. The group headed upstairs, chattering excitedly about water balloons. Tupper followed close behind.

Heche’s upturned face remained serene as she sat, perfectly still, eyes closed. As Arlt worked, an eyebrow appeared. Then two. Atlas woke up and fussed in his crib. “Hi, sweet boy,” Heche called, without moving, as the nanny went to get him. Jagaille twisted long fat banana curls into her hair as Arlt drew her mouth and started on her eyes. Jagaille blew out the curls, pulling them into waves.

Arlt handed her a bottle of liquid lip gloss. “For your bag,” he said. She checked the bathroom mirror to see how she looked. “I love it,” she exclaimed, kissing and hugging them both. She went upstairs to put on her dress, and Tupper went to shower. I could hear her tell Homer, “Leave James alone, he has to get ready for tonight.” She came back down in her black Paule Ka dress, and Wendi tied the bow around the waist, moving it to the back.

“I’m going to put lotion on your legs, you’ve got to have a little sheen,” Arlt said, bending beside her. “I don’t get down on my knees for just anyone,” he added. Wendi held up a pair of shoes with what looked like five- or six-inch heels.

“Are these Jimmy Choos?” Heche asked. Wendi hesitated. “Why, do you hate them?” she asked. “People think they’re uncomfortable.” Heche put them on, anyway. “We’re not going for comfort tonight.” She walked around. “Years of soap-opera training,” she said. “People thought it taught me how to act, but it really taught me how to walk in high heels.” Nicole fastened an intricate silver necklace, almost like chain mail, around her neck and put on a ring and earrings. She was in full movie-star mufti.

Homer ran downstairs, unimpressed by the vision before him. “Mom, are you leaving?”

“Yes,” she said, “and you still can’t bring water balloons in the house.” She stood still while they taped her bra to the deep scoop of the dress in the back. The little girls invited Homer to come next door and stay for dinner. He started out as Heche clomped up the stairs in the Jimmy Choos. “You want me to grab a sweatshirt for you?” she called, and came down with it in hand. “I’m just going to take him next door,” she told Tupper. When we walked outside I saw Heche kneeling on the front stoop of the neighbor’s house, Homer clutching a Slinky in one hand as he hugged her, head resting on her shoulder.

In the car, the three of us made small talk, and Heche seemed preternaturally calm until we were almost there. Then, in a burst of nerves, she whipped out a mirror to reapply her lip gloss — unnecessarily —– and forced a laugh. She turned her face away and looked out the window. She hadn’t had this much at stake in a while.

As we pulled into the Paramount lot where the premiere was being held, it was hard not to feel a shiver of excitement. A bevy of handlers appeared and hustled Heche toward the red carpet. She stepped onto it and the cameras flashed, blinding and white. Perfectly composed, she fielded the shouts: “Anne! Turn left! Anne! Over your shoulder!” Obligingly, she pivoted this way and that. The shouts kept coming, and she kept smiling. For a few seconds the glare abated when the photographers paused and Heche peered past them, catching my eye. She grinned — a real, happy grin. Yes, work is worth. But at that glorious moment, on the way back up, it was also tremendous fun.

Up Close & Person With Brian Gaskill

2009-08-01T00:48:00.010-05:00

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2009-07-31T12:43:00.001-05:00

Enrique Iglesias On Top Of You

Hall of Fame: Denise Alexander

2009-07-31T12:06:00.004-05:00

Denise Alexander

2009 Soap Opera Hall of Fame Inductee

unknown role, Perry Mason
Lois Adams, The Clear Horizon
unknown role, General Hospital
Emily Sanders, Ben Jerrod
Lorna Hill, General Hospital
Susan Hunter, Days of Our Lives
Dr. Lesley Wiliams, General Hospital
Gail McLain, Hotel
Mary McKinnon, Another World
Sister Beatrice, Sunset Beach

Denise Alexander (born November 11, 1939) is best known to modern audiences for her role as Lesley Webber on General Hospital, a role she created in 1973. She has been called at times the most consistently popular actress in the history of television soap operas.

Born on Long Island, New York, she moved to Los Angeles when her father, Alec Alexander, an agent who handled at that point such notables as Frank Gorshin and Sal Mineo, decided to make the switch from the east to the west coast.

Alexander began her career as a child actress performing in radio shows such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I Remember Mama, The Marriage where she played the daughter of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and the radio soap opera Perry Mason. A successful child actress, Alexander racked up literally thousands of performing credits on TV and radio, 5000 in radio alone, by the time she was a junior at UCLA where she majored in English. On the stage, she starred on Broadway as Evelyn Munn in the revival of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour and appeared with Ethel Waters in A Member of the Wedding. She made her feature movie debut at age fourteen in the John Cassavetes film Crime In The Streets in 1956. Television began to claim her almost exclusively, and she eventually guested in over 200 shows, including Father Knows Best, I Remember Mama, Ben Casey, Twilight Zone, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Virginian, The Danny Kaye Show, and Combat.

On daytime television, she got her first regular job in 1960 portraying Lois Adams on The Clear Horizon for two years. She next appeared in daytime on the pilot episode of General Hospital on April 1, 1963; the name of her character is unknown. Next she would have a shorter stint as Emily Sanders on the short-lived NBC soap opera, Ben Jerrod, which had debuted the same day as General Hospital.

Alexander took a brief reprieve from acting and tried to sell real estate. Her return to acting happened in 1965, again on General Hospital for a short stint, this time as Lorna Hill.

Alexander first came to fame in the soap opera genre by playing Susan Hunter Martin on Days of our Lives a role she created in March 1966. A popular actress, much of the show's early success had to do with Susan's rivalry with Julie Olson (played the longest by Susan Seaforth Hayes). She became so popular in the role that she was frequently at number 1 in the most popular fan poll of the time conducted by Daytime TV magazine; twice being named Best Actress of the Year for 1972 and 1973. For seven years, her character was involved in a never-ending series of melodramtic turns -- mental instability, serious illness, rape, murder, etc. -- but Alexander tore into the role with exquisite emotionalism and gothic beauty that kept viewers riveted.

In 1973, Susan Martin was written out of the show temporarily when the Days casting office hit a snag renewing her contract and the contract lapsed. ABC Daytime rushed to offer her a then-unheard of salary/perks package to join General Hospital. When Susan Martin finally returned to Days, a new actress was playing her.

A few months later, she started on General Hospital, playing the role of Dr. Lesley Williams, which would become her longest-tenured role in daytime. At the time of her move to General Hospital, she received the highest salary every paid to a daytime actress.

For several years, the character of Lesley lacked direction. She was burdened with frigidity, a psychopathic husband, and a child that aged ten years overnight. It seemed for at least awhile that General Hospital just didn't know what to do with the character. That all changed as Alexander as Lesley proved pivotal to the show's comeback in 1978 after the late Gloria Monty took over as producer. In a storyline written by the late Douglas Marland, Lesley took the rap for her daughter's murder of David Hamilton, culminating in Lesley's trial for murder and the alienation of her husband Rick. Alexander's performance in this plotline and in the subsequent Rick-Lesley-Monica triangle was just as important as the Luke and Laura love story in bringing General Hospital to number one in the ratings. This culminated in her once again being named Best Actress of the Year by Daytime TV magazine in 1980.

In a 1981 People Weekly interview, Alexander spoke about her General Hospital boss, calling the late Gloria Monty "a wonderfully bossy little lady."

Alexander stayed with the show for eleven years, choosing to leave after tense contract negotiations in 1984. She last appeared in March 1984. Fans were outraged when her character was not just written out but killed off in an automobile accident, leaving little chance of a return to the show, especially since at this time returns from the dead were not standard fare in daytime dramas. Fans picketed the ABC studios. General Hospital's ratings which were already declining continued to do so after her departure.

In 1986, she was offered a big salary to portray the absent McKinnon matriarch, Mary, on Another World. The role was created by Margaret DePriest who had written for General Hospital years before, and had worked with Alexander there. When the commute from her home in Los Angeles to Another World's studio in New York City proved to be difficult for her, she left in 1989. In 1996, she returned to General Hospital and has played the character of Lesley on a recurring basis. In 1997, she began appearing for a few months as Sister Beatrice on the NBC soap opera, Sunset Beach.

Outside of soaps, she has produced for both network and cable television, spoken as guest lecturer/speaker to groups from charities to civic groups to college audiences. She has also worked as a photojournalist for Ladies Home Journal and other magazines. For the Katherine Hepburn film Olly, Olly, Oxen Free, directed by her longtime companion Richard Colla, she served as still photographer and production coordinator.

In 1982, she also co-produced and co-starred in Shaft of Love for Showtime Cable Network. The soap opera comedy featured such daytime favorites as Tony Geary, Kin Shriner, Morgan Fairchild, Ed Nelson, and Susan Flannery.

Besides her wins as Best Actress mentioned above, Alexander holds the record as being the performer with the most appearances in their monthly Top 10. She received one Daytime Emmy nomination in 1976 as Best Actress for the role of Lesley.

Where Are They Now: María Celeste Arrarás

2009-07-31T09:43:00.003-05:00

María Celeste Arrarás (Herself, Passions)

María Celeste Arrarás

“Maria Celeste is the leading show host for Hispanic television in the U.S!” Hispanic Image Magazine (June/July 2005)

“One of the most dynamic and well-rounded communicators in the entertainment industry today” says the NY Daily News (June 2003)

“She’s a household name in the United States and in Latin America. A darling of the Spanish- language media, which turned her into a cover girl for magazine articles that range from fitness to the super mom syndrome.” The New York Times (May 2002)

“The most prominent player in a blossoming media experiment between two television networks in different languages.” The Los Angeles Times (November, 2002)

“She’s a star, along the lines of talent like Diane Sawyer and Jane Pauley,” said the president of NBC to The New York Times (May 2002)

The Hollywood Reporter sees María Celeste as a “crossover Spanish/Anglo star” making an impact in front and behind the scenes (February, 2003)

“The Katie Couric of Latin TV” The Dallas Morning News (April 2002)

Her hiring by Telemundo/NBC was described as a “major on-air talent hire” in an article titled “NBC, Telemundo Snags Red Hot Arraras from Univision” published by The Washington Post (April 2002)

Electronic Media claims María Celeste Arraras is “the big get” in Spanish language television under the headline “Arraras turns up the heat at Telemundo. (April 2002)

“María Celeste is sizzling!” according to the Sun Sentinel. The South Florida publication points out that her show “has taken the U.S. Latin audience by storm” and that it’s popularity is spilling over into mainstream television making Maria Celeste “the darling of not only Telemundo, but also of its parent network NBC.” (November, 2002)

Maria Celeste is the host and managing editor of “Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste”, the most talked about program in Hispanic television, produced by Telemundo/NBC. The popular newsmagazine airs nationwide in the U.S. and in 15 Latin American countries. “Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste” can also be seen in Europe and the Middle East through different cable systems…it has viewers as far as Iceland!

In June 2005, Maria Celeste received an Emmy Award for her career achievements.

María Celeste is an Emmy award winning journalist that has been featured in articles by “The New York Times”, “Los Angeles Times”, “The Chicago Tribune” and “The Miami Herald”, to name a few.

In the annual “Hot Celebrity Poll” conducted by People en Español, she was chosen by readers across the nation as the “most popular and credible television personality.” She is the only person to have been in the magazine’s cover 8 times… 6 of them in the last year alone!

She has been a contributor to NBC’s “Today” show, reporting from Miami and the Bahamas, where she interviewed music superstar Shakira. She also sat with Katie Couric on the “Today” set when the show visited Miami.

Her book “Selena’s Secret” became an instant bestseller and was described by the prestigious trade magazine Publisher’s Weekly as “Simon & Schuster’s most successful front list title in Spanish.” María Celeste is currently working on a children’s book with Scholastics.

As part of her Journalistic work, she has traveled all over the world covering historical events such as the fall of the Soviet Union, the Olympic Games in Seoul, a Coup d’ Etat in Haiti, Presidential elections and many more.

On the night of María Celeste’s debut as a contributor for “Dateline/NBC”, the show experienced a dramatic audience increase in both Hispanic an Anglo demographics. Former NBC president Andrew Lack told “The Los Angeles Times” that María Celeste’s “was one of the highest segments at ‘Dateline’ that quarter.” He described her as “a serious, smart journalist.”

In 2004, she co-hosted the Brown-Black Democratic Presidential Debate in Iowa for MSNBC, a program that was #1 in the cable ratings universe when it aired live.

Her appearance as a guest star in NBC’s daytime soap opera “Passions” was an absolute success. The two episodes that she participated in experienced a dramatic increase in both household and key demos, versus the program’s average the previous year.

In May 2005 she was invited to the “Maury Povitch” show to talk about her program.

“Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste” is one of the most watched TV show in its time slot in New York City, at times surpassing the amount of viewers of both Spanish and English speaking stations.
She has been the host of the in-flight news/entertainment program produced by NBC for “TED” a subsidiary of United Airlines.

She has been selected three times as one of People’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” In its 2005 special issue the magazine choose her to be in the cover.

Maria Celeste, is the official Spanish-language Tram Tour guide voice for Universal Studios.

She was named “Queen of the Internet” after her first cyber chat surpassed the record ‘amount of participants in a chat’ set by Ricky Martin. (2001)

Her hemisphere wide popularity, credibility as a journalist and reputation as one of the most elegant international stars were some of the reasons why she was selected to be a judge in the 2003 “Miss Universe Pageant,” celebrated in Panama.

She has a star in Mexico’s walk of fame and another in the Dominican Republic. María Celeste was also recognized by the Puerto Rican community when she was chosen to be its grand Marshall in the 2001 “Puerto Rican Day Parade.”

María Celeste has three children ages 7, 6 and 4. In her spare time she’s very involved with children’s charities and animal rights organizations. Her beautiful home in Miami has been featured in Architectural Digest.

“Al Rojo Vivo con María Celeste” is an infotainment news magazine that takes you around the world in an hour. Its format has been described as “paella style” because it covers several areas within the time period such as news of the day, immigration, health, sports, entertainment and consumer issues. The show airs in the U.S. Monday through Friday at 5pm east/pacific and 4pm central.

Steve Frame's Fan Art

2009-07-31T09:06:00.006-05:00

Steve Frame's Fan Art

Gallery 1

Albion Market (Tony and Lisa)

2009-07-31T08:44:00.002-05:00

Albion Market

Tony Fraser (portrayed by John Michie) says a final goodbye to girlfriend Lisa (portrayed by Sally Baxter), after she finds out about his advances towards a barmaid. He hitches up his caravan to his Land Rover and moves to pastures new. This episode was shown on 11th May 1986.

Soap Opera History

2009-07-31T08:30:00.003-05:00

http://soap-operas.lovetoknow.com/Soap_Opera_History

Soap Opera History
From LoveToKnow Soap-Operas

America’s soap opera history is rich and extensive, from the airing of daytime’s first serial drama to the multitudes of programs running today for those who need an hourly escape from reality.

Defining the Soap Opera

Just like sitcoms and made-for-TV movies, soap operas have their own genre, and carry one of the most devoted legions of fans the entertainment world has ever seen. In its most basic form, a soap opera is simply a fiction television drama that is episodic in nature.

Most of the soaps on TV today have been airing for decades, and are continuing to go strong. With a regular entourage of characters for viewers to become emotionally invested in, the plot is usually centered on sex, romance and scandal. Unlike a typical dramatic show that follows one story throughout, soap operas usually flip flop between several plotlines, sometimes intersecting them for further twists. Females make up the majority of a soap’s audience demographic, and the classic dramatic format has caught on in other nations such as Mexico and the United Kingdom.

The Beginning of Soap Opera History

The term “soap opera” comes from the original serial radio shows that were sponsored by soap companies such as Colgate-Palmolive and Procter and Gamble. These “primitive” soap operas were broadcast during the day, where housewives became the target audience. This may quite possibly be the reason for the soap opera’s large female following today, as the trend that was sparked only continued to grow in momentum.

The first American soap opera was Guiding Light, which premiered as the first radio drama in the beginning of 1937. The program made the easy transition into television, and it is still on the air today, making it the longest drama ever played out. (Bloggers Note: The first American soap opera happened much earlier with Painted Dreams in 1930.)

Most soap operas have enjoyed over 30 year runs and continues to broadcast, including General Hospital, One Life to Live and All My Children, to name only a few.

Since so many shows have been on for such extended periods of time, many have had various actors play the same role throughout soap opera history. Since the plotlines usually veer so far from reality in terms of content, no one seems to complain about a character suddenly changing in physical appearance with no explanation. Soap opera history is rooted in fantastical works of fiction where viewers can get lost in the over-dramatic existences of several individuals, so casting can successfully be stretched and switched where necessary.

However, some actors have been with their show through thick and thin, such as Helen Wagner of (As The World Turns), who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest soap actor without interruption.

Moving Into Prime Time

Since the daytime soap opera became so popular, prime time programming got in on the action as well. While they have yet to hold such longevity, some prime time dramas have gone down in soap opera history as successful and memorable in their own right. These include Peyton Place from the 1960s, Dallas and Dynasty from the 1980s, and Beverly Hills 90210 and Dawson’s Creek from the 1990s.

Today we enjoy shows currently making history, such as Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. On cable, some prime time soaps are pushing the envelope beyond what is allowed on network television, and these shows have developed cult followings as they defy morality and typical storylines.

Daytime Emmys

Since soap operas have played such an extensive role in our entertainment culture, the Daytime Emmy Awards were created in the 1970s to recognize those actors and writers in the soaps industry in the same way the traditional Emmy Awards honors those in primetime. The Daytime Emmys also honor talk shows and children’s educational series, along with other unique and dynamic categories.

Soap opera history continues to be established as new generations discover old favorites of their mothers and grandmothers, and new storylines and characters grace the airwaves. When it comes to television broadcasts, a future of juicy soap opera plots are probably a guarantee!

Days of Our Lives Love Theme

2009-07-31T08:20:00.005-05:00

Carlo & Liz's Love Theme (Days of Our Lives)

Bruce Spingsteen's I'm On Fire

Used on Days of Our Lives as the love theme for Carlo Forenza (Don Diamont) and Liz Curtis (Gloria Loring) in 1984

tune in tomorrow.......

Another World - 1973 Intro + Act 1

Another World - Rachel & Ada Argue (1981)

Another World - March 19, 1979

Antonio & Gabi (Sunset Beach)

A Martinez Nude

Texas: Rikki You're Special

Texas: Ricki Dekker Sings

The Official History of Another World

September 1979 Soap Summaries (Part Two)

September 1979 Soap Opera Summaries (Part 1)

Daniel Cosgrove in tighty whities

Reunion on Amity Island: Part One

Hall of Fame: Genie Francis

Lynda Hirsch on Soaps -- Gossip

Lynda Hirsh on Soaps -- Q&A

Soap Summaries: Week of August 2 through the 7th

Here's a switch: EJ wising up on 'Days of Our Lives'

Here's a switch: EJ wising up on 'Days of Our Lives'

The Men of Sunset Beach

Even More Fan Art

Hall of Fame: Eileen Fulton

Lamas family wants to use reality TV to heal

All That Glitters

Did You Know that these beauties all had soap opera ties...

Spotlight on Otto Kruger

Hall of Fame: Douglas Watson

Some Another World Fan Art

Going Coastal

Going coastal

Willey"s joke becomes 20-years of stand-up

Willey's joke becomes 20-years of stand-up

Book reveals Hollywoods near-miss casting calamities

Book reveals Hollywoods near-miss casting calamities

More Fan Art

Some More As The World Turns Fan Art

Going Green on Grey's Anatomy

Where Are They Now: Ann Gillespie

Melrose Place casts gay character

Where Are They Now: Claudia Lonow

Pilot Watch: Melrose Place

Grant Show on Melrose Place: "We're Talking"

Grant Show on Melrose Place: "We're Talking"

New Movie Features Soap Veterans

by John Serba | The Grand Rapids Press Thursday July 30, 2009, 2:13 PM

Up Close & Person With Steve Frame

Where Are They Now: Edward Villella

Did You Know.....

Why Not Put Old Episodes of Soaps on DVD?

Why not put old episodes of daytime soaps on DVD?

Lynda Hirsch Summaries: Week of July 27 to July 31, 2009

http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/fashion-and-entertainment/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps-summary-2009-08-01.html

Lynda Hirsch On Soaps: Gossip

LYNDA HIRSCH ON SOAPS -- GOSSIP

Soap operas and the history of fan discussion

Enrique Iglesias - Ring My Bells

Hall of Fame: Don Hastings

All My Children: Lena & Bianca

Intruder kills former actress, August 28, 1958

Ex-Actress Found Dead in Hollywood Mystery (1958)

Spotlight on: Edwin Jerome

7th Heaven

Where Are They Now: Anne Heche

Anne Heche Is Playing It Normal Now

Up Close & Person With Brian Gaskill

Hall of Fame: Denise Alexander

Where Are They Now: María Celeste Arrarás

Steve Frame's Fan Art

Albion Market (Tony and Lisa)

Soap Opera History

Days of Our Lives Love Theme

by John Serba | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday July 30, 2009, 2:13 PM