NEWSIEST QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“I’m definitely going out with a bang.”
—Amanda Baker (Babe, All My Children) informs this week’s Soap Opera Digest
Translation: They would never kill off Alexa Havins!

DAYTIME IN MOURNING:
Eileen Herlie and Irene Dailey pass away
The daytime community suffered two more devastating losses this past week. It was announced earlier this week that Emmy winner Irene Dailey (ex-Elizabeth "Aunt Liz" Matthews, Another World) died at age 88 on Sept. 24 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Within days of the sad news, fans learned soap vet Eileen Herlie (ex-Myrtle Fargate, AMC) died on Oct. 8 in New York City at age 90. 2008 will be remembered as a year of extreme losses (Beverlee McKinsey, Robert Calhoun and Larry Haines). For Marlena Delacroix’s fond memories of Herlie and Dailey click here and here.

Finally, memo to NATAS: you better start paying tribute to fallen artists at next year’s Daytime Emmy ceremony.

AWARDS CENTRAL:
Emmy category update
Speaking of NATAS, Academy rep Brent Stanton tells The Suds Report exclusively that next year’s Daytime Emmy Awards will not include a guest-star category, despite my efforts. Damn you, people!

“The academy voted against it,” he says, adding that the next vote will determine whether there will be two or three pre-nominees. Buzz is the voting committee is leaning towards eliminating last year’s controversial third pre-nominee addition.

Sadly, despite head writer Sri Rao’s sizzling and stunning debut on GH: Night Shift, Stanton says the nighttime spinoff will not be eligible in the daytime competition. D’oh!

All My Children, A/ABC — How Thorsten Kaye impregnated a lesbian!
• Good news: Alicia Minshew (Kendall) has re-signed with All My Fetuses. The overworked star was not only granted a big raise, but also a four-month vacation before her new contract begins. Expect our vixen to languish in a coma while Minshew takes off to wed Prohibition bar owner Richie Herschenfeld.

• Minshew’s four-month absence (they’re pre-taping her scenes) is the reason Eden Riegel (Bianca) and Tamara Braun (Reese) are headed to Pine Valley. Rumour has it Riegel and Braun have only signed “four-month contracts, but that could be extended,” hints a network source.

Now here’s the story shocker of the year, folks: After the tornado hits next week, viewers will learn Binks is 12-months pregnant — with Zach’s baby! Turns out Bianca wanted her new baby to be related to her first-born, Miranda’s rapist father, Michael (ewww!) and sister, Kendall’s children, so Zach happily obliged without informing his wife, Kendall! Hey, at least it’s not Ryan’s magic sperm.

• Despite auditioning 20 big Broadway names and former soap stars for the role of Jesse’s former lover, Rebecca, Laura Koffman (ex-Cassie, OLTL) nabbed the coveted role. Koffman is said to have signed a four-month contract (is there an echo in here?) because Rebecca may suffer from a life-threatening illness. Koffman tortures Debbi Morgan (Angie) beginning Oct. 28.

• Yep, as I reported eons ago, nothing’s changed on the Rebecca Budig contract renewal front. “ABC isn’t giving up,” says a source close to Brian Frons, Greenlee’s biggest fan next to Luke Kerr. However, Budig’s inner circle maintains, “She can’t wait to get out of here!”

As The Cookie Crumbles, Facebook.com — Kraft’s new soap
Check this out, soap freaks: A Toronto ad company created a web-based soap opera series for Kraft's brand Peek Freans called As the Cookie Crumbles. The web series, which just launched its third eppy, can be consumed here.

As The World Turns, Global/CBS — Lindstrom cast as Craig!
• Who needs soaps? Mr. Julie Pinson, (Janet) Billy Warlock (ex-Frankie, DAYS; ex-AJ, GH), just booked a part on one of prime-time’s most critically acclaimed shows, Damages. Congrats, Billy.

• That sound you hear? Scott Bryce and Hunt Block downing tequila shots at a local strip club! As The Recast Turns has hired Jon Lindstrom (ex-Kevin/Ryan, GH/PC) as nuCraig Montgomery. The Suds Report recently caught up with the actor at TV Guide’s post-Emmy bash, where Lindstrom hinted a soap deal was in the works. “I’d love to do daytime again,” he said. “But I doubt GH will want me back. In the meantime, I’m having fun writing film and TV scripts.”

Lindstrom, who first airs on Dec. 3, is a friend of Barbara Bloom’s. The CBS V-P head-wrote the actor on the now-defunct Port Charles. Hey, Babs: not sure what you have against one of daytime’s best actors, Mr. Block, but this isn’t such a bad coup. You’re learning. Now if you could convince Lynn Herring (ex-Lucy, GH) to play Rosanna, Brian Frons may take you seriously as a rival.

• UPDATED: The Suds Report has learned that Hunt Block was indeed asked to reprise Craig, "but his demands were to high. P&G doesn't roll that way anymore," says an ATWT spy.

The Bold and the Beautiful, CTV/CBS — Maybe Hunt Block can play Thomas Forrester?
• Drew Tyler Bell returns as Thomas Forrester on Oct. 30 until Nov. 3 to annoy the crap out of me! Why doesn’t B&B recast this legacy character? Now would have been perfect timing considering his parents, Ridge and Taylor, play tongue hockey this week. Looks like the CBS sudser is playing the big four (Ridge/Brooke/Taylor/Nick) again. Smart move.

Days of our Lives, Global/NBC — James E. Reilly returning?
• Is James E. Reilly DAYS’ best shot at surviving the axe? Although the NBC soap earned an impressive 250,000 new viewers last week (seriously, was Dena Higley born with a horseshoe up her you-know-what?), there is increasing talk in the industry that Reilly could be asked back as a last ditch effort to save DAYS from cancellation. Me? I say, go for it. Reilly brought DAYS back from the brink before and kept it No. 1 in the demos for almost a decade. Also, DAYS is still paying out Reilly for firing him, so it would make sound financial sense, too. With Passions behind him, perhaps Reilly can undo the damage he created towards the end of his run. 

• Want to access DAYS and Y&R 24/7? For the first time in Canada, television viewers will have free access to the biggest slate of their favorite first-run Global and E! network shows On Demand from Rogers Cable. In addition to several prime-time shows, Salem and Genoa City will be made available to loyal fans across the country.

General Hospital, CTV/ABC — Zzzz…
• Vincent Pastore (Maximus) concludes his Port Murder visit on Oct. 15. Yep, that’s all I have for you this week. Like the rest of you GH fans, I’m just waiting for Bob Guza to be fired as head writer. Not that I have anything against him personally, but Guza needs a break. A really long break from the soap world. And some therapy.
 
General Hospital: Night Shift, SoapNet/DirecTV — Allen re-signs! And who the hell is Sri Rao?
• Click here to see why I love Night Shift so much.

• Head writer Sri Rao tells The Suds Report Chad Allen (Eric) signed on for one additional episode as Dr. Kyle Julian’s bum buddy! Return to TVGuide.ca this Wednesday for a must-read interview with the talented newcomer. Who the hell is Sri Rao? Will he join GH? Will he re-sign with NS next season? Is he a soap fan? How old is he? What does he look like? And what’s his surprising and juicy confession? God, I sound like one of those awful ABC promos! “Everybody’s got their something…” and I got one kick-ass interview with Rao!

One Life to Live, A/ABC — Justis Bolding fired!
• This just in: Justis Bolding has been let go as the faux Sarah Roberts. Thank you, soap god Ron Carlivati! On this special day in soap opera history, I also — coincidentally, mind you — want to announce I love the Marty and Todd romance. Love it. Can't get enough of it, actually. Isn't that weird? In fact, they're my favourite super-couple in all of daytime! Go Tarty!

• MAJOR SUDSFLASH: Is this why Justis Bolding has been fired? Andrea Evans' last OLTL tape date as Tina Lord Roberts is October 31, claim sources on the soap. "It's Brian Frons' decision," states a Llanview insider. "It's costing ABC a lot of money to keep flying in Andrea. They wanted her to relocate, but she refused. It's also a scheduling nightmare. And Ron Carlivati isn't happy about it at all. She'll last air during November sweeps - if all goes according to plan. However, Ron is trying to keep Andrea and Tina on his canvas." More details next week. ABC did not return my emails at press time for confirmation.

• Never heard of Puddle of Mudd, but clearly exec producer Frank Valentini has. The popular rock group makes their soap debut at the end of December when they perform their current hit “We Don't Have to Look Back Now” at Ultra Violet. Hmmm… wonder if Puddle of Mudd will be serenading Todd and Marty? “You had me at gang rape,” coos Marty.

• News to make you smile: Fred Johnson, one of the writers DAYS fired during the writers’ strike, has finally landed a job as a breakdown scribe on One Life. Congrats!

• Is this the love interest Andrea Evans (Tina) was referring to in a recent Michael Fairman interview? And do I care? Of course not. Christopher Cousins (Cain) is back on Oct. 13. Maybe he’ll find the real Tina this time around.

• What would Viki think? Pornflash: Former minister and wannabe gay Joey Buchanan is one super-nasty porn star! Look at what Nathan Fillion's been, er, up to during his most recent Llanview hiatus in his hilarious guest-starring stint on James Gunn's PG PORN: Nailing Your Wife.

Planet Soap, TVTropolis — It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Rapist!
• When you’re at the mercy of soap opera writers, anything can happen to you — especially when you act on One Life to Live and General Hospital. Regular Joes can turn into demon slayers and real-life comic book heroes on Planet Soap’s next episode.

Soaps In The City, MichaelFairmansoaps.com — Top soap stars to attend Love out Loud West’s AIDS WALK kicks off in LA
• If you’re in the L.A. area on Oct. 16 check out this charity event. Cops 4 Causes and POZ magazine, in association with Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps are pleased to announce the first, Soaps In the City celebrity fundraiser. The event serves as a kickoff to AIDS Walk Los Angeles weekend and benefits APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles). The biggest and brightest stars from the top daytime dramas will attend the event, and lend their support to the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As well, the evening will also be the official launch party of daytime’s hottest new website, www.michaelfairmansoaps.com. On Oct. 16th from 6:30-9:00PM, at the hip East/West Lounge in West Hollywood, Calif., daytime comes out in full force for an evening of red-carpet arrivals, special performances, cocktails, and music by DJ ORA, and a very special Soap Family Feud competition.

The Young and the Restless, Global/CBS — Graz out? Goddard a Canuck?
• Worst News Ever Alert: Don’t leave me, Graz! Soap Opera Digest quotes a well-placed source who reports one of the daytime TV’s finest younger actors, Michael Graziadei (Daniel) will not renew his contract when it expires in March 2009. Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

• That guy named Daniel Goddard (Cane) tells The Suds Report he wants to become an honorary Canuck after his recent trip to the city that always sleeps, Hamilton, Ont. The Y&R stud is scheduled to return to Ontario on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 for Toronto's National Women’s Show at the Metro Convention Centre (nationalwomenshow.com), so buy your tickets, bitches! The Aussie superstar enthuses, “I love Canada. Love the food, love the beer, and love the people. It's like going back to Australia and hanging out with friends who speak the same language, but instead of a 14-hour flight, it’s only five hours.” Imagine how much he’ll love our peaceful nation when I’m here to welcome him… in handcuffs!


SOAP OPERA MYSTERY HOUR —This week’s most scandalous blind items
—Which soap actor has been asked to tone down his drunken, outspoken behaviour at soap events?

—Which soap star has no idea their child is having an affair with their co-star?

—Which head writer is walking around with a chip on his or her shoulder alienating the soap’s entire production staff and cast?


 

 

 

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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.