The Suds Report - Dec11/09

SUDSIEST QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
“In a cost-cutting move, ABC is planning to move All My Children from New York to California at the end of the year, according to sources at the show. The decision will save an estimated $10 million annually for the company, which both owns and produces the show.”
—The L.A. Times’s Denise Martin writes in a story dissecting the state of the daytime industry
Translation: Another reason to worry about One Life’s future.

“The fact that I am able to take care of my mother. That is the thing that makes me the most proud. She used to talk about Ms. Chancellor growing up on Y&R. She’s like, ‘If I could live like Ms. Chancellor, if I can have a house and a maid,’ and she has all those things. That is my proudest accomplishment because to see all that she’s gone through and endured, and to still be ... that is what I’m most proud of.”
—Tyler Perry to Barbara Walters during her Most Fascinating People of 2009 program
Translation: But we could do without Esther and Jill.

“It’s a hell of a Christmas present.”
—Eileen Fulton to the Associated Press regarding World Turns’s cancellation
Translation: I shudder to think what we’ll get for Hanukkah.
 
“This is definitely the end of an era. We’ve been at this since 1933.”
—P&G spin-master Jeannie Tharrington on World Turns’s cancellation
Translation: But sucking at it since 2005.
.
“The days of the soap operas have changed very much. GL left last year. World Turns will leave this year. They had long and distinguished runs. And their day is over. Is it the end of an era? Sort of. Only the special soaps are going to survive. It’s certainly the end of the client-owned soap. All good things come to an end, whether it’s after 72 years or 54 years or 10 years. It’s a different time and a different business.”
—Les Moonves on World Turns’ cancellation during an interview with CNBC
Translation: My bonus cheque just got bigger!

THE IDIOT RATINGS: Nov. 30 - Dec. 4
Winner — Too little, too late: World Turns increases! AMC is ABC’s top soap!
Loser — GH continues to lose viewers despite James Franco! One Life is daytime’s lowest rated soap again!
Numbers are based on Live+Same Day ratings
(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 4,825,000 (-83,000/-191,000)
2. B&B 3,174,000 (-26,00/-423,000)
3. DAYS 2,790,000 (-310,000/+54,000)
4. AMC 2,646,000 (+28,000/+105,000)
5. GH 2,497,000 (-170,000/-356,000)
6. ATWT 2,453,000 (+37,000/-241,000)
7. OLTL 2,411,000 (-50,000/-207,000)

Households
1. Y&R 3.5/12 (-.1/-.1)
2. B&B 2.3/8 (same/-.4)
3. DAYS 2.0/7 (-.2/same)
4. AMC 1.9/6 (-.1/same)
4. GH 1.9/6 (-.1/-.3)
6. ATWT 1.8/6 (+.1/-.2)
6. OLTL 1.8/6 (-.1/-.2)

AWARDS SHOW CENTRAL
Daytime Emmys still on! World Turns/AMC special on the table!
Will there even be soaps to honour in 2010? James Romanovich informs The Suds Report that the 37th annual Daytime Emmys are still on course — despite World Turns’s cancellation. “We are still committed to producing The Daytime Emmys next year pending negotiations this week with all involved,” maintains the soap fan. “But everything is set on our part. We know all we need to know as far as where and when. With the cancellation next June of World Turns, we are now thinking about doing something special for them. The extent of that partially depends on World Turns itself if they all want to attend the Emmys. [As you know, attending the Emmys] costs P&G money. We have an All My Children 40th anniversary tribute planned to coincide with their move to Los Angeles, which is what we decided to do even before this past Emmys aired.

All My Children, ABC/A —Veteran’s Day! AMC moves out today!
• Question: Why is The View and ABC making such a big deal about AMC moving from their New York studios on Dec. 11? Shouldn’t they be promoting the first episode filmed from L.A.? Or plug upcoming storylines on the soap instead of behind-the-scenes details no one cares about? Regardless, it’s clear ABC chief Brian Frons is working overtime by promoting AMC ad nauseam instead of his best soap, One Life.

• Despite the fact that ABC Soaps in Depth is reporting that the role of Amanda will be recast, Soap Central claims Chrishell Stause has come to an agreement to continue with AMC on a recurring basis. I’m sure next week that’ll change. Make up your mind, girlfriend!

• More veterans are returning to reclaim what is rightfully theirs: James Mitchell will reprise his iconic role of Palmer Cortlandt for its 40th anniversary, according to Digest. Also, Soaps In Depth reveals that Jill Larson is back on contract and will be relocating to L.A. with the soap.

• New mom Alicia Minshew has returned to work to tape her final three episodes before she departs on her mat leave.

• What is Michael E. Knight smoking? The Emmy winner tells Soaps In Depth that he had hoped Chuck Pratt would help usher the show to L.A.! “I’m sad to see him go. Chuck was very good to Tad,” he says. I would have been scared to see what Pratt would have done to Tad if he hated the character!

• Look for Stuart’s dad to stick around Pine Nuts for a while longer. Digest is reporting that Finn Wittrock, who has recurred as Damon since October, has been placed on contract.

• Pick up this week’s Digest to hear Daniel Kennedy sound off on his shoddy/lazy exit from AMC. Kennedy tells the magazine that he wrote head writer Chuck Pratt regarding his disappointment with how Pete was written out, but never heard back (count your blessings, kid). Kennedy last aired during AMC’s entertaining Halloween episode. Later, viewers learned that Pete had moved to Paris off-camera where he fell in love with a girl. Or a boy.

• Cady McClain, who last airs next week on World Turns, tells Digest that she would love to return to AMC in her Emmy-winning role of Dixie now that Lorraine Broderick is on the writing staff. She says, “I have always said [Lorraine] understood the heart of that show like no one else.” Hey, what about its creator, Agnes Nixon, Cady?

As The World Turns, Global/CBS — The week that changed Oakdale forever!
• The tribe has spoken. Unless you were in a coma or living at Tiger Woods’s house this past week, you heard the devastating news that CBS has cancelled its 53-year-old sudser, World Turns, this past Tuesday. Last April, The Suds Report revealed there was a strong possibility that World Turns would not receive another one-year renewal, as per a story by DC.com's Jamey Giddens. As previously reported, November Sweeps was a critical time for the venerable sudser. However, despite a creative upturn, high hopes and slight ratings gains, the world will stop turning sometime in September 2010. P&G/TeleNext claims they are shopping the series to other networks. Unlike Guiding Light’s cancellation, World Turns has time to secure a new home, but insiders say don’t count on it.

• How was the cast and crew notified of World Turns’s cancellation? According to reports, CBS informed P&G “a couple of days before” the World Turns company were notified. This past Tuesday, executive producer Christopher Goutman, who should be old hat at this by now, informed his stunned employees with the heartbreaking news. “He couldn’t get through his speech,” reveals one actor. “He was a mess. He was extremely torn up. He actually cried.” Afterwards, Goutman had to call all the actors and crew who weren’t working on Tuesday. “He’s very upset and saddened by the news. Despite what has been written, Chris really wanted this show to succeed,” claims another actor. So then the question is — why did he only start improving his soap in recent months? World Turns’s cancellation is following the P&G/TeleNext pattern right down to the details. It goes something like this: Hire show-killers, bring back vets, go on location, amp up the writing, and then act stunned that the show has been cancelled. If World Turns really wanted to survive, I would think it wouldn’t have hired the people responsible for killing their last shows, Another World and Guiding Light. But hey, that’s just me. Only in daytime will shows recycle failures.

• As Soapgeist reported last Monday, show-killer Ellen Wheeler is working as a director on World Turns. “She’s only directed two shows thus far,” reports an actor. “Ellen will probably help Chris with the Herculean task of putting this show down since she just did that very same thing with GL,” another actor muses. Let’s hope Nuke actually get a kiss — and some nookie — during the final show. Wouldn’t it be cool if Noah and Luke tied the knot during the final show? Yeah, right.

• Soap Opera Digest columnist Carolyn Hinsey made a good point recently: World Turns never recovered after executive producer Christopher Goutman let Martha Byrne walk two years ago. “That was a particularly damaging loss,” Hinsey said in a recent interview. “You lose the heart of the show and people walk.” Despite Noelle Beck’s popularity, many fans and critics would like Byrne to return for the final months of the show.

• Question of the week: Two out of three soaps, which feature gay couples, have been cancelled. Coincidence?

• Despite its September end date, World Turns production will cease mid-June. “We’re already taping February sweeps,” states one actor. “We’re really far ahead.” • Should Trevor St. John be worried? While it’s too early to start figuring out which stars will be absorbed by other soaps, don’t expect Roger Howarth to return to One Life in his Emmy-winning role as Todd Manning. “At this point, Roger is planning to move out west,” says a friend close to the star. “I’m not sure he wants to join another show that may be cancelled. He’s young and very talented — he should try his luck out in Hollywood,” another friend shares. • Can CBS Soaps In Depth still put out a magazine by covering just two soaps when World Turns signs off the air? Bauer Publishing would be wise to combine DAYS with their Y&R and B&B coverage.

• P&G veteran Linda Dano shared her sadness over CBS’s decision to cancel the last TeleNext soap. The Emmy winner tweeted, “Awful, awful news. My heart goes out to my friends at the show and fans.”

• Who is to blame for World Turns’s demise? Blogger and longtime World Turns fan, Patrick Erwin, dissects the myriad suspects here.

• Those kooky cats at Daytimeconfidential.com analyzed World Turns’s cancellation and what it means for the industry. It’s definitely worth a listen. Especially when they remark on the ineptitude of soap opera publicists.

• Daytime Emmy winner Julianne Moore (someone give her an Oscar already!) offered her condolences to her former co-workers on The View. She said, “It’s really upsetting. I loved that show and I loved the people on it. I played two characters. We were cousins and half-sisters, which is kind of disgusting. We had the same father and our mothers were sisters. I love that show and continue to love it.” FYI — Moore and Noelle Beck are close friends.

• Van Hansis was on fire last week! That’s the boy I know and love! And Jake Silbermann has definitely secured a spot on Most Improved Actors of 2010! Hopefully, Crystal Chappell will absorb these popular boys on her web soap, Venice, in Season 3, so we can see them do naughty things to each other between the sheets, Adam Lambert-style.

• Speaking of Crystal Chappell, the Emmy winner shared her thoughts on the cancellation heard around the world with The Suds Report. “It is devastating to hear that another wonderful show is going off the air,” wrote the DAYS star in an email. “I wish everyone over there all the best and I feel for the fans of show.”

• Oakdale cheerleader, Colleen Zenk Pinter, is used to receiving bad news during the holidays (last Thanksgiving she was informed her cancer had returned). But the survivor is as resilient as ever despite her understandable sadness that Barbara Ryan will cease to exist a year from now. The Emmy-nominated diva tells Suds, “Since I was 25, I have been a part of the World Turns family. I’ve grown up there. I grew as an actor there. I met my husband [Mark Pinter] there. I was pregnant with my children there. I even brought them to work to prove we could have it all as working mothers. The saddest thing about our cancellation is that we will be losing our World Turns family, and make no mistake, we are a genuine family. When it’s all over, I will miss everyone terribly — especially Barbara and the fans. It’s a sad day for all of us. And not just for us, but New York City, which lost three shows this year, and the industry in general. Our cancellation affects more than just our show. Thousands of jobs have been lost. The saddest part in all of this is that we still have lots more story to tell on World Turns.”

• Y&R executive producer Paul Rauch shared his thoughts on World Turns’s cancellation with The Suds Report. The living daytime-TV legend said, “World Turns is a show I have strong feelings and a good bit of nostalgia about. It was on World Turns where I began my association with Bill Bell many years ago when I served as a supervising producer for P&G. It was a 30-minute show then and was written exclusively by Irna Phillips and Bill — without any other writers. It was just the two of them putting out all of those great shows that topped the ratings each and every week and it was the pride of Procter & Gamble and CBS. I am saddened by its cancellation and my heart goes out to Chris Goutman and his talented writers and production team and to the millions of viewers who remained loyal to the show over the years.” Hopefully, World Turns fans will check out his show, Y&R, when Oakdale finally spins off its axis.

• When the going gets cancelled, the tough gets wasted. After learning about the cancellation on Tuesday morning, the majority of the cast and crew headed out to a local bar to tie one on later that night. “There were a lot of hangovers on Wednesday,” laughs a set insider. “We were all off our game, and rightfully so!”

The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS/CTV — Tylo weds in Sin City!
• My favourite actress in the whole world, Hunter Tylo, married Gersson Archila in Las Vegas, according to the National Enquirer. The tabloid printed exclusive photos of the ceremony. A friend close to Tylo tells Suds the happy couple met on a Christian dating service two months ago. Sounds like Brad Bell wrote this real-life romance!
The happy actress released a statement confirming her nuptials, saying, “God has blessed me in the most special of ways. God has redeemed my life and future. My season of sadness has ended. We are a very happy family. I welcome your blessings and well wishes!” Congrats.

• Congratulations are in order for Kyle Lowder and Ari Zucker who welcomed their first child, daughter Isabella, earlier this week. No word if Isabella’s middle name is Toscano.

Days of our Lives, NBC/Global — Hunley returns! Will recast! • Hurray! Just when you think DAYS can’t get any better, it does! Digest announced that Emmy winner Leann Hunley has been secretly taping at the studio. “I was pleasantly surprised when I got the call. It came out of the blue,” says the actress, who was last seen this past March. • Show runner Gary Tomlin is headed in a new direction with Will Roberts. Dylan Michael Patton is out; Chandler Massey has been hired to replace him.

Also, if you’re a Scrubs fan, you’ll find this amusing:

• According to Soaps In Depth, Emmy winner Genie Francis is interested in becoming a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. Host Tom Bergeron tells the magazine the he actually suggested his pals, Francis and her hubby, Jonathan Frakes, to the producers.

Gotham, gothamtheseries.com — The Gotham blues
• Martha Byrne has released a new single, “Hold On,” and it will be featured on an upcoming episode of Gotham, which is airing every second Monday at 8 p.m. ET. FYI — that’s Jacqueline Madden who sings the catchy song at the end of the eppy. 

One Life To Live, ABC — Holy returns, Frank Valentini!
• This February, Digest reveals that Snoop Dogg will return to Llanview to sing one of his songs from his new album, Malice n Wonderland, before crossing paths with Bo.

• How many Cramers can you cram into La Boule? Laura Bonarrigo and Melissa Fumero will make this One Life viewer very happy when they reprise their roles as Dorian’s daughters to help re-introduce Gina Tognoni’s Kelly Cramer sometime in the new year. Also back is Daytime Emmy-nominated stud, Dan Gauthier. All we need now is Melinda Cramer to complete this modern family reunion. As an aside, I pray Fumero’s return is a permanent one.

• Should the lowest-rated soap on the dial, One Life, be worried that they will be axed next now that World Turns has been cancelled? The DC.com crew weighed in during a CBS podcast on the depressing possibility here. Jamey Giddens predicts One Life could be cancelled sometime in the first half of 2010, barring a ratings miracle, of course.

• Say goodbye to Michael Lowry, who last airs as Ross on Dec. 14. What a waste. Meanwhile, that sexy devil, David Gregory, drives back to Llanview as Ford on Dec. 29 for a full-time gig!

• Amanda Setton who? Soap Opera Digest is reporting that Bree Williamson is moonlighting again. The Canadian starlet will reprise her role as the costly call girl, Brandeis, on Gossip Girl.

Venice, Venicetheseries.com — Second episode delayed!
• Sucky news for Venice fans. Crystal Chappell announced that the second episode of her kick-ass new show will not air tonight, but on  Dec. 18. Chappell explains the show’s website and server need to be updated in order to accommodate the insatiable viewer demand.

The Young and the Restless, CBS/Global — Soap in mourning!
• Condolences are in order for Patty Weaver and her family. The actress’s husband, former writer and story consultant, Jerry Birn died in his sleep on Dec. 5. He was 86. Birn won three Daytime Emmy Awards and a WGA Award for his work on Y&R. A memorial service is being planned for January 2010.

Soap Opera Mystery Hour — This week’s hottest blind items
— Which GL star called up Ellen Wheeler upon learning that she was directing World Turns for a job the day after the soap cancelled?

—Which recently fired heiress is bragging to anyone who will listen that even without a job she’ll be richer than anyone on soaps?

—Which soap diva will not allow anyone to direct her scenes except the executive producer?

—Which east-coast gay actor got drunk at a recent party and admitted to a straight soap star from another show that he had a foot fetish? Later, the gay star begged his peer to let him rub and smell his feet!

Want to dish the soaps with Nelson Branco? Join The Suds Report discussion group today on Facebook.com.

Follow TV Guide Canada on Facebook! And follow Suds Report on Twitter!

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.