SUDS UPDATE:
It’s official: Guiding Light cancelled!
• This just in: Guiding Light, the oldest show on television, has officially been cancelled. Yes, ironically on April Fool’s day. Very funny, CBS. “Casts on GL and As The World Turns were told this morning,” says a CBS actor. Meanwhile, World Turns has been reportedly renewed for one more year. More in Suds Friday.
“No show in daytime or prime-time, or anytime, has touched so many millions of viewers across so many years,” said CBS daytime exec Barbara Bloom. “We thank the cast, crew and producers — past and present — who delivered this entertainment institution.”
Guiding Light began life in 1937 as a 15-minute radio serial, before switching to a 15-minute soap on CBS in 1952 (while continuing to air on radio until 1956). The series moved to a 30-minute format in 1968 and expanded to an hour in 1977.
The show will last air on CBS on September 18.
SUDSIEST QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
“You mean I have to buy that bitch again?”
—Robin Strasser (Dorian, One Life) explaining to welovesoaps.com’s Roger Newcomb that she had to re-buy a Susan Lucci (Erica, AMC) People magazine cover she donated because it received zero bids at her charity auction
Translation: I’m the real star of ABC, and don’t ever forget it.
“I don’t know that I would mind it so much, but everyone around me says I’m not allowed.”
—GH’s Kelly Monaco to TV Guide’s Michael Logan regarding the possibility of her going topless at her upcoming Las Vegas Peep Show
Translation: I only pose nude for Brian Frons, dumb ass!
"It’s a wonderful thing. It looked like the show was flatlining, and now it has a second wind, and the best place to get a second wind is on a youth-oriented network. I don’t know the production company or the specifics, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a CBS influence [on the show] given that CBS and The CW are part of the same [corporate] family.”
—Former Soap Opera Weekly editor and Starting Over Emmy winner Jonathan Reiner to Variety’s Michael Maloney
Translation: Because we all know young adults sit home all day watching bad soaps, game shows and reality series.
“Everyone’s talking about it. People are excited, and they’re already buying dresses.”
—Talent manager Michael Bruno to Variety’s Michael Maloney in the same article that didn’t give credit to The Envelope’s Tom O’Neil, who actually broke the story.
Translation: Soap stars are morons for buying dresses before the nominations are announced — and before NATAS confirms that, in fact, The CW is airing the Emmy ceremony. Also, everyone’s talking about the American economy — not the Daytime Emmys, sillies!
“I get to the set and they have this nice, comfy hospital bed all ready for me. I said, ‘I’m not giving birth in that! Go find me a birthing bed with stirrups. I need stirrups!’ The crew looked at me like I had three heads, but you know me — I can’t do anything half-assed. So get ready ‘cause it’s all right there, baby. This birth will be in your face!”
—Kim Zimmer (Reva, GL) to Michael Logan in TV Guide regarding her character's upcoming late-in-life birth
Translation: I should be running this cheap-ass show!
“I would never say anything about someone else’s sexuality. Ever.”
—Clementine Ford (nuMac, Y&R) to TV Guide’s Michael Logan, after the columnist pressed her about coming out in Diva magazine while she starred in The L Word
Translation: That’s SOAPnet.com’s job.
AWARD SHOW CENTRAL
The Daytime Emmys headed to The CW; Tyra Banks to host?
And the winner is… the daytime-TV industry?
Yesterday, L.A. Times’ awards show impresario Tom O’Neil exclusively broke news that The CW is thisclose to announcing it will air the 36th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which have been homeless for almost a year.
As previously reported, ABC, SOAPnet, and CBS all turned down the opportunity to air the awards show telecast, which claims to honour the best in daytime programming.
O’Neil learned that the Daytime Emmys will be held in Los Angeles in late summer — probably on Aug. 31 — at the Orpheum Theatre.
According to the story, O’Neil reports, “Some details are still sketchy, but the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences hopes to have everything ironed out and unveiled by late next week. Nominees will be announced May 14. About a half-dozen top categories, like drama series, talk shows and lead acting, will be unveiled during the fourth hour of the Today show on NBC. Another half-dozen categories, like supporting acting, will be announced during a reception at the Hearst Building in New York that evening, followed by the release of the full list of nominees a few minutes later.”
Meanwhile, the buzz around town is that the youth-oriented network plans on asking Daytime Emmy-nominated Tyra Banks to host the kudo-fest. A source close to Banks opines, “It makes sense since America’s Next Top Model is The CW’s crown jewel. That, and the fact that she’ll more than likely be nominated again for hosting her daytime talk show [The Tyra Banks Show]. I wouldn’t be surprised to see [her pals] Jay Manuel and Miss Jay with their glam sticks on the red carpet. I doubt they’ll ask a soap star to host [the Emmys] since The CW doesn’t air any. She’ll more than likely invite [multiple Emmy winner] Oprah [Winfrey] to join her. Tyra is all about her image now, and hosting the Emmys is at the top of her list of things to [accomplish].”
An Emmy-winning soap head writer tells The Suds Report that she’s not impressed with the network choice or the Emmy airdate. “Everyone knows that the Labour Day weekend is the lowest-watched time of the year. I doubt the ratings will be above a 3.0, to be honest. Gossip Girl basically averages that number, and it’s the most-buzzed about show on the net. [Conversely], Y&R attracts five million viewers each day, so [I believe] this is a step down. Last year’s Emmy Awards earned a five-something rating on ABC, so do the math. They should air on a major network, not The CW.”
The insider continues, “[Also] The CW’s demos [skews] very young. For them to honour an industry that is watched primarily by an older demo is a little [risky]. Is the CW audience really watching soaps and talk shows during the day? I doubt it.”
The source continues to say that the daytime younger demo ratings rank under one million for most soaps, so trying to attract young adults is, in her words, “foolish. TV Land, Lifetime, or Bravo would have been a better fit. I bet The CW’s thinking is they want to attract soaps’ older audiences to their network — and not the other way around. But I also hear there’s a back-up network in case The CW changes its mind, or NATAS wants more money [for its licencing fee] to air the damn thing!”
Meanwhile, an Emmy-winning soap actress worries that the Emmycast will feature more talk shows than soaps, since The CW’s daytime lineup mainly consists of court programming and chat-fests.
She asks, “If [ABC and CBS] rarely aired soap clips during the acting categories, can you imagine what The CW will do. You just know they’ll promote the hell out of Gossip Girl, 90210, and the upcoming Melrose Place [update] rather than our shows. This sucks.”
Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
EXECUTIVE RESHUFFLING
Is Mickey Dwyer-Dobbin returning to soaps?
Daytimeconfidential.com’s Jamey Giddens caused quite a stir the other day when he reported that a former network exec is in talks to take over a pair of soaps. So who could it be? Well, it sounds a lot like former CBS/P&G exec Mickey Dwyer-Dobbin to me. When The Suds Report spoke to the newly svelte exec at this past year’s Tech Emmys, Dobbin — who helped kill Another World by promoting soap blocker Christopher Goutman and Ellen Wheeler — claimed she was very happy not working in the “stressful” soap world anymore. Hmmm… has she had a change of heart? And why would she ever want to return to run ATWT and GL back into the ground — if those are indeed the soaps in question. Considering Dobbin is a proud New Yorker, that rules out the west coast soaps, unless the other candidate is former ABC chief Angela Shapiro, who created the now-defunct soap magazine, Soap Opera Update.
All My Children, A/ABC — Tamara Braun out! Did One Life make a play for Kaye?
• As previously reported, Emmy winner Eden Riegel (Binks) is back on the AMC set this week filming her mini-return to help whisk off Tamara Braun’s sexually confused character, Reese, out of town. Expect the scenes to air sometime in late April or early May. And yes, that means Braun has decided not to sign with the soap for a longer stint. Smart move, Tams. Riegel tells The Suds Report fans can expect, “a semi-happy reunion,” for the maligned lesbian couple. “They return to Paris,” Riegel teases. |
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• Thorsten Kaye (Zach) tells The Suds Report he’s happy he re-signed with AMC. “There’s still lots of story to be told,” he says coyly, without revealing the length of his new contract. The big question is: Did One Life make a play to steal the Emmy-nominated actor during his touch-and-go contract negotiations? “Nope,” he answers. “No one asked me.” His wife, and former leading lady, Susan Haskell (Marty, One Life) tells me that she’d welcome him back on her soap as either Ian or Patrick Thornhart in a heartbeat. She states proudly, “I love working with my husband. We never get sick of each other!”
• Ca-ching: Daytime’s version of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Emmy winner Michael E. Knight (Tad) and Spirit Award winner Catherine Hickland (Lindsay, One Life) have sold their 12th-floor co-op for $2.3 million.
• Susan Lucci, who? Daytime’s most famous un-aborted fetus, Colin Egglesfield (ex-Josh) lends his hair-model talents to CW’s Melrose Place update. He’s signed a contract with the nighttime sudser as one of its leads, avid surfer Auggie who also works as a sous-chef at a hot resto. Congrats.
• Is head writer Chuck Pratt-erella trying to lure yet another prime-time diva to their show? That’s the buzz on set.
• Emmy winner David Canary (Adam/Stuart) returns to Pine Valley on April 3 after a brief “hiatus.”
• Valley tidbits: Jamie Luner debuts as nuLiza on April 17. Also, ABC has confirmed that former MVP actress Brittany Allen debuts on April 21 as Marissa Tasker.
As The World Turns, Global/CBS — Dancing With Van Hansis? World Turns in jeopardy?
• Considering the passionate and loyal Nuke fan following, would Van Hansis ever consider joining Dancing With The Stars as a contestant? The star, who was dancing up a storm on Bob Guiney’s Rock The Soap Cruise, tells The Suds Report, “No! I’m an actor. I could care less about fame or celebrity.” Wisely put, Van. Meanwhile, check out Hansis’ foray into broadcast journalism as he interviews one of my favourite actors, Paolo Seganti (Damian):
• Soaps.com has learned that two new female characters will debut on World Turns in the next few weeks.
• Will World Turns be renewed this year? No one knows for sure. “We’re a little scared,” offers one setside source. “It looks like GL will be renewed, but we haven’t heard anything about our [show].”
• Charissa Chamorro (ex-Tory, GL; ex-Sophia, One Life) has been cast as a mystery woman who has clairvoyant powers! Just what daytime TV needs…
• Hurray: Sarah Glendening (Lucy) is leaving the soap again as one of the worst recasts in recent memory. She last airs on April 2. Hansis tells me that Glendening and he are pals, and is “sorry to see her go.” Meanwhile, despite news reports to the contrary, Chauntee Schuler (Bonnie) is staying in Oakdale.
• Beloved production associate Alex Roalsvig has left the soap after decades of loyal service. Good luck in your future endeavors, Alex! As soap legend and creator Irna Phillips announced moments before World Turns started spinning each weekday: “We know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn. The cycle of life is completed. What’s true in nature is true in man, for he too, has his cycles. As the World Turns.”
The Bold and the Beautiful, CTV/CBS — 22 years of camp, incest, and rags! East coast soap tried to seduce Diamont!
• In honour of B&B’s 22-year anniversary, welovesoaps.com’s Roger Newcomb dug up the campy soap’s first eppy. Tune in here to see how far the mighty have fallen.
• Here’s a storyline idea I’d kill to see: Stephanie learns that Taylor almost slept with Eric at one point. But knowing La Forrester, she’d justify it somehow by blaming it on our dear Brooke. “That slut from the Valley forced you to date Eric, didn’t she? Don’t worry, my little plastic surgery victim, I’ll kill that whore!”
• Sexy bastard Don Diamont (Bill) tells Soap Opera Digest that he’s thrilled to be back working at Television City (where both Bell soaps tape), but refuses to discuss his departure from Y&R. As the never-before-mentioned son of Bill Spencer, Diamont says it’s ironic that his Y&R character, Brad Carlton, was named in honour of his new boss, B&B chief, Bradley Bell, and that his new character, Bill Spencer is named after Bell soap creator, William Bell. Diamont also reveals that a New York soap offered him a role, but he turned it down. Question: which soap has enough cash to hire Diamont? One Life? AMC?
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Days of our Lives, Global/NBC — Is Hall planning to write a tell-all book?
• Clarification: Deidre Hall’s (ex-Marlena) salary for 2008 was $1,238,656, not $336 000 as The Suds Report previously reported. Hall’s monthly $28,000 income was a stipend paid out from her company, Panache, and not her full salary from DAYS. Panache provided the superstar with a basic income, while additionally taking care of her additional expenses, which include travelling, and aesthetic expenditures. Thanks to Daytimeroyalty.com’s jane1978 for the tip.
Regardless, my point remains: if $336,000 a year was what Hall needed to live on, it proves she would have been amenable to a pay cut to continue playing Dr. Evans Black.
Meanwhile, don’t be too surprised if Hall writes a tell-all book in the near future. A source close to Hall tells The Suds Report, “That’s why she isn’t giving any interviews about her DAYS exit. She’s a class act all the way, and doesn’t believe in burning bridges.” Well, until she lands a million-dollar book deal, that is. |
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• Thaao Penghlis (soon-to-be-ex-Tony) and I recently caught up in Los Angeles. The Daytime Emmy-nominated actor tells The Suds Report that he finished taping DAYS two weeks ago. “I just came back from a location shoot where I shot a film,” said the actor, who was in great spirits. Penghlis says he hopes his name appears on the final Emmy ballot this May.
• One of my favourite DAYS hunks, Michael T. Weiss (ex-Dr. McHairy Mike Horton), is starring in Broadway’s Impressionism, which opened this week.
• DVR alert: Blake Berris (ex-Nick) booked a gig on the season’s highest-rated new series, The Mentalist, which airs on April 7.
• Stop the presses: John Callahan is back as Dr. McBloated on April 3.
General Hospital, CTV/ABC — Pelphrey GH-bound!
• GH pulls a B&B: On April 6, the ABC soap will start airing on Swedish Television. Tragically, the Swedes will be introduced to the awful Metro Court hostage storyline in its first episode, and not, you know, GH’s glory era. That should attract big numbers. Not.
• Soap Opera Weekly is reporting that GH decided to recast Michael Corinthos instead of casting Sonny’s other son, Dante in an effort to secure Emmy winner Tom Pelphrey in the highly coveted new role. Pelphrey is trying out his luck during pilot season before he decides to do us all a favour by returning to soaps. Hurry back, Tom, because I’ll be better able to stomach GH if your sexy mug adorns this ridiculous soap. Can you imagine the heat a possible Pelphrey/Sarah Brown on-screen hookup would generate? Poor Sonny!
• Next week, Port Charles fans can look forward to my Sarah Brown (Claudia) interview, and the following week, a Jason Thompson (Patrick) and Kim McCullough feature to help celebrate the show’s 46th anniversary on April 1.
Guiding Light, Global/CBS — It’s official: GL cancelled!
• Guiding Light, the oldest show on television, has officially been cancelled. Check out the top of the page for more details, but read more about it in Suds Friday.
• TV Guide’s Michael Logan was brave enough to ask Emmy winner Kim Zimmer if Reva’s leukemia thread is GL’s way of trying to ditch the high-priced diva! She simply shrugged, “My contract’s up in June. Who knows how this will all turn out?”
• Is hair model Alicia Leigh Willis (ex-Courtney, GH) Springfield-bound? Soap Opera Source is reporting that the former L Word star recently auditioned for the role of Michelle Bauer. Wow — how the mighty have fallen.
• I’m watching Sex and the City all over again (which I do twice a year), and lo and behold, Murray Bartlett (Cyrus) is featured in season four. Bartlett plays Carrie’s gay boyfriend, Oliver Spencer, a shoe distributor whom Carrie meets at one of those homosexual dance clubs. Oliver sweeps Carrie off her feet, making her gay husband, Stanford, very jealous.
One Life to Live, A/ABC — Will Llanview welcome back Roger Howarth?
• Count Emmy winner Erika Slezak (Viki) as yet another person who thinks this Stacy storyline is a bunch of horse dung.
• Are you missing my darling Andrea Evans (ex-Tina)? Well, don’t cry for the sexy diva. She’s been wisely cast in a starring role in the upcoming dark comedy independent feature, Hit List. Evans portrays a former beauty queen who becomes a trophy wife and mother. Congrats!
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Photo credit: Steven Bergman
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• One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini was one of the many people honoured by the Heart Share Human Services of New York. The gala took place during the 21st Annual Spring Gala and Auction at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Soap blocker, ABC chief Brian Frons showed up to support executive producer Frank Valentini, as did most of the One Life cast. Check out the subtext in this picture, featuring Frons, Valentini and “head writer” Ron Carlivati from the event. |
• My favourite One Life scene ever has finally been posted on YouTube! Here’s a well-deserved thank you and big kiss for welovesoaps.com’s Roger Newcomb for finding it. As a kid, I knew every single line to the unrivaled and hilarious Emmy spoof, The Daisy Awards — and its infectious opening song, “Here’s To The Shows, Those Daytime Shows…” After re-viewing the Daisys, the lyrics to the brilliant song came back to me. I immediately sent the clip to NATAS to show them how an awards show is done right. I would kill for the Emmys to open up with this number (as long as Susan Lucci doesn’t sing it, that is). The Daisys remain one of former executive producer Paul Rauch’s most stellar moments from his spectacular Llanview tenure. Also, watching Jessica Tuck’s tour-de-force deathbed performance (from the genius mind of former head scribe Michael Malone) reminded me that one of the greatest acting achievements on soaps prompted a decade-long hate-fest for Erika Slezak (Viki) because she “stole” the lead actress Emmy right from underneath Tuck. Why? You see, Slezak was a supporting actress that year, and unfairly submitted herself in the lead category, costing the best One Life actress since Judith Light her Emmy gold. All is forgiven now, though. Watch the entire clip — and thank me later. On a side note, wouldn’t it have been cooler had Gigi switched on Fraternity Row and caught her slutty sister, Stacy acting as a lingerie model on the college soap?
• Perhaps the Pussycat Dolls, who will perform their hit single, the English version of “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire on May 13, can teach lingerie model Crystal “I’ve had no cosmetic surgery” Hunt how to strip and pole-dance properly. “The Pussycat Dolls are unmatched in terms of their success as a girl group,” said Valentini in a statement. “We are thrilled to have them on One Life to make [our] high-school prom a truly memorable event for the teens in Llanview.” If they are all released from the hospital, that is!
• Best casting news ever: On April 1, sexy daddy Doc Dougherty returns from his spectacular debut as Jackie McNaughton this past fall to help Powell Lord, er, I mean Todd Manning, along with one of Marty's other rapists, Zach (Josh Phillip Weinstein), who is first seen on April 2.
—Speaking of Powell, when I recently asked head writer Ron Carlivati if the show was trying to write out Trevor St. John (Todd), he said, “no way. I love Trevor.” Do I believe Carlivati? Of course, I do. But when I pressed the Emmy winner if he would turn away Roger Howarth (Paul, ATWT) should the CBS actor want to return and leave World Turns, RC teased, “we’d love to have Howarth back.”
Which got me to thinking: The only way to explain this Drake Hogestyn/Wayne Northrop-inspired switcheroo would be if St. John’s Todd isn’t Walker Laurence, but in fact Powell Lord, who has the real Todd caged up somewhere. Since Powell is related to Viki, it would explain why he loves the Lord family so much, and why St. John’s “Todd” remembers gang-raping Marty. Hmmm… Personally, I wouldn’t welcome back Howarth. The Emmy winner made his bed and should lie in it. Also, One Life doesn’t need another actor trying to dictate what ends up on the written page, which Howarth was infamous for doing. He’s Goutman’s problem now.
The Young and the Restless, Global/CBS — Exclusive: Which character is a friend of Dorothy’s?
• Who said the diehard Republican Bell family would never write in a major gay character? Y&R chief Maria Arena Bell continues to amaze me. The future Emmy winner will soon reveal that a current Genoa City citizen is —gasp! — a friend of Dorothy’s, report several sources. Guess who? Our lips are sealed…
• Change of plans: Thad Luckinbill (J.T) and Amelia Heinle (Victoria), and Lesli Kay (Felicia, B&B) can now be seen as soap stars on that awful show, Ghost Whisperer, airing on April 24.
• Canadian Y&R fans — get ready to gamble. Joyce Becker's soap-opera festival is heading to Caesars Windsor Casino in Windsor, Ont., on May 9. Tickets are $10. Scheduled to appear are: Sharon Case (Sharon), Christian LeBlanc (Michael), Jeanne Cooper (Katherine), and B&B’s Kyle Lowder (Rick-erella). Tickets are available at the Box Office or at www.caesarswindsor.com through www.ticketmaster.ca or charge by phone 1-888-345-5885.
• Memo to Jeanne Cooper (Kay): No more makeup! You look a million times more beautiful sans the colouring. Who out there agrees with me?
• In story news, Billy weds Chloe next week. And Mac appears in the shape of Clementine Ford on April 1. Why didn’t Y&R hire Eden Riegel instead? Oh right, I know why. Two words: Barbara Bloom.
• Did you know that dynamic duo, executive producer Paul Rauch and Y&R impresario Maria Bell worked together in the past on a project called Coming of Age on NBC? Who knew?
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• Welovesoaps.com’s Roger Newcomb isn’t the only Eric Braeden (Victor) fan out there! Recently, Stephen Colbert opened his show, The Colbert Report, reading a recent Soap Opera Digest issue featuring the Emmy winner and the lovely and talented Eileen Davidson (Ashley). Check out the hilarious clip here. Colbert, however, jokes about One Life’s Stacy drama and not Y&R. Clearly, the funnyman knows which two shows are the best in daytime. |
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SOAP OPERA MYSTERY HOUR: This week’s hottest blind items
—Which recently departed actress would have actually re-signed with her show had her head writer not told her they didn’t care if the popular thespian stayed or left?
—Which popular leading man irritates every single actor on his show? “No one gets his appeal,” says one co-star.
—Which gay actor likes to get drunk at fan events and throw himself at other married, “straight” soap stars? And sometimes — he gets lucky!
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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.
