Nelson Branco's SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED:Issue 49
Page 4
rafts; were all in need of Gods love.
Well...that's a lot said. God Bless
Fall of the Mouse House
THE REVOLUTION “DEAD” IN TEN DAYS
While ABC didn't announce until April 2012 that it was canceling the ill-received THE REVOLUTION, ONE LIFE’s timeslot replacement, one of the lifestyle’s show’s co-hosts Tim Gunn reportedly told a group of fans during a talk at the University of Central Arkansas that ABC planned on gutting the show ten days in! That has to be a new record! Yikes!
The maligned network kept quiet because ABC "didn't want to hurt morale," says Gunn.
Sad since ABC didn’t give a shit about the morale of the hundreds who poured their heart and soul into AMC and ONE LIFE: two shows that were treated shoddily despite the fact that they once financially supported the entire network’s programming division.
I guess ABC will keep quiet about KATIE’s fate, too.
Meanwhile, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER has written a story about how some ABC affiliates are disgruntled with the underperforming talk show hosted by Katie Couric — especially when you factor KATIE’s high syndication cost, depressing ratings and lackluster content.
News & Views
SOAPILEAKS
This Week’s Hottest News, Gossip, and Reviews!
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CTV/CBS — Hello, Like Before, Aspen!
• B&B is once again taping on location in Aspen! The latest shoot involves Katherine Kelly Lang, Don Diamont, Jackie MacInnes Wood and Scott Clifton.
• In story 411, Caroline chooses Rick after Thomas goes all Sharon Newman on his the new CEO replacement at Forrester Creations. And we still don’t care about Caroline, Brad Bell. While I would never want someone as sweet and as earnest as Linsey Godfrey to lose her job, especially since she’s a cancer survivor and all, the newcomer simply isn’t shining in what should be a breakout role. Casting Coach Alert: Marcy Rylan! Make it happen, Brad.
• Bravo to Heather Tom and Don Diamont for acting their sexy little hearts out during Bill and Katie’s baby drama. This mature storyline has been a nice break from the juvenile antics involving Steffy/Liam/Hope. And it sounds like B&B is continuing to balance out its cast a bit more in the future because next week Bill seeks Brooke’s help over Katie’s postpartum depression on the heels of her life-threatening pregnancy and Bill’s deception. Could Bradley Bell be testing a Bill and Brooke hook-up? Hmmm….
DAYS OF OUR LIVES, GLOBAL/NBC — Is Nadia Married — and Pregnant? Finally: Kristen DiMera Hits Salem!
• Earlier this week, I was hearing rumours that Nadia Bjorlin and her longtime boyfriend had gotten married! “No,” Bjorlin tells me. Whew. I didn’t invest in a flower girl dress for nothing. “And [my former co-star and soap alum] Jonathan Bennett called me today to ask if I was pregnant, because the producers of DIVORCE INVITATION had read somewhere that I was,” the beauty continues. “And that’s not true, either!” Well, Bjorlin and Beemer would make beautiful babies for Mama Bjorlin to fawn all over.
• Let’s pray DAYS’s latest episode milestone celebration — Salem’s 12 K — will be received better than Y&R’s 10 K slurpfest. On Sept. 28, the cast and crew celebrated its remarkable achievement on the set. Executive producer Ken Corday made a rare appearance on set to mark the occasion, which will air on Jan. 11.
During the festivities, Corday, whose father Ted cocreated the enduring serial, shot down rumours that DAYS was moving to AMC and HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS’ former digs in Glendale, California. The Salem sets will remain in Burbank indefinitely. Too bad Corday didn’t announce the show had been renewed.
• Expect a lot of big casting announcements, reports DIGEST.
• Oct. 11 is a big day for soaps: Not only is that the day Y&R’s new head writer, Josh Griffith, airs his first show in Canada but it’s also Eileen Davidson’s first day back as Salem’s Queen of Mean, Kristen DiMera! Whoohoo!
Read below under the Y&R section for more Davidson dish.
• Newcomer Nathan Owens has been cast at DAYS. The actor was on set for the 12,000th episode celebration and has already started filming scenes in Salem.
• In story 411, Nicole makes it look like Jennifer killed her baby. (FYI: Nicole lost yet another baby last week; this time, dying in utero.) Meanwhile, is DAYS actually about to tell a relevant and timely social issue involving Caroline? It sure sounds like it. According to DIGEST, Bo and Kayla suspect Caroline is suffering from early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Is that how DAYS is going to usher Bo Brady out? By taking his mother for treatment abroad?
• Casting Coach: I’m hearing from very reliable sources that producers approached James Scott and Chandler Massey to appear in the film adaptation of 50 SHADES OF GREY. Oh, and then I woke up.
GENERAL HOSPITAL, CITYTV /ABC — Is Vanessa Marcil Back?
• Is Vanessa Marcil back on GH? The actress tweeted, “I start shooting this week.” Fans assumed the popular star was Port Charles-bound but it sounds like she just booked a HAWAII 5-0 gig. But, hey, that’s one coy way of getting GH publicity.
• "I am overworked and under-slept," Kelly Monaco reports. Despite dancing for her life each week on DANCING WITH THE STARS (and single handedly promoting GH on mainstream TV and press), the Daytime Emmy Award-nominated actress is “crying her eyes out” each day on the sudsy set thanks to her leading man Steve Burton’s impending exit. “I taped eight shows in three days,” she told SOAPS IN DEPTH, in addition to her rigorous training. As for Burton, Monaco diplomatically says she doesn’t want to say good-bye to Burton and hopes he’s just going on a vacation and will one day return “in a couple of months.”
Meanwhile, next week Sam learns her baby is alive from Jason, who is still in the dark that he’s the father of “Victor Lord IV.”
Last week, Monaco shockingly made the bottom three — so don’t forget to vote for our Kelly-Star!
• Casting Couch: With Steve Burton leaving, GH really needs Lucky back on its canvas for a variety of reasons (Luke, Liz, etc). If Jonathan Jackson is going to take his sweet NASHVILLE time to come back to Port Charles, may I suggest a recast? It’s been done twice before — and relatively successfully, I may add — and I’ve got the perfect replacement: Tom Pelphrey, who could also make a kick-ass Ethan recast, too. Make it happen, GH. I miss me some Pelphrey, who has been on fire in various roles on Broadway.
• Mmm… Magic Milo; hello, there!
• Am I the only having trouble differentiating who is Connie and Kate on this week’s ABC SOAPS IN DEPTH cover? Actress Kelly Sullivan adorns the nuptial cover opposite Maurice Benard — and herself! Cute cover, though. And smart. I caught several people in the checkout lanes at the grocery store doing double takes. By the way: Nice twist having Connie wed Johnny to protect her from loony bin, Ron!
• For a beautiful, fitting tribute to John Ingle, who passed away on Sept. 16 at the age of 84, pick up this week’s issue of SOAP OPERA DIGEST, which devotes six pages of remembrances of a truly great man and actor. Also, did you know that Ingle played the minister who married Ryan and Victoria on Y&R? Well, now you do!
ONE LIFE TO LIVE — Catching Up With the Cramers… And Former In-Laws!
• Because she doesn’t have enough social media outlets to voice her opinion (joshing, Robin), Emmy winner Robin Strasser has brought back her buzz-worthy phone hotline. Dial 212-414-5300 to hear what the ONE LIFE diva is up to these days.
• BETWEEN HEAVEN & HELL, published and written by moi, isn’t the only ONE LIFE TO LIVE book on the market. Head over here to find out more: https://www.facebook.com/oltlbook
• Meanwhile, John-Paul Lavoisier catches up with DIGEST in this week’s issue. As for how he’s adjusting to life in L.A., the actors sighs, “I’m in a funk. I’m not going to candy coat it. My life is exactly 180 degrees from where it was.” Poor J.P. Just move back to New York, buddy. Pick up DIGEST for more interesting J.P. news.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, GLOBAL/CBS — MAB Continues Her Press Tour (Zzzz…
)!
• In this week’s SOAPS IN DEPTH, Michael Maloney speaks to Maria Arena Bell with more softball questions in part two of his exclusive interview with the controversial showrunner.
It’s funny to note that the art department used my UNCENSORED logo as part of the feature’s headline: Maria Arena Bell UNCENSORED. It should’ve read: Maria Arena Bell — DELUSIONAL and FURIOUS. Anyway, if you want a good laugh, pick up the issue. Not sure why Maloney, who was hired by the Bell family to pen the William J. Bell memoir, didn’t ask her about the controversial and despised Shictor romance along with other pertinent questions like why she was rarely in the studio, if she brought back Eileen Davidson from B&B, her grossly over budgeted management style and if she missed her deadlines with CBS and Sony.
Heck, in the same issue, Sharon Case is interviewed about the disaster known as Shictor (and, on this week’s cover with Case and Eric Braeden, a headline screams: The Top Stories Actors Hated). In this interview, MAB continues to plea that she always respected Y&R’s rich history and vets yet, as Case recalls in her interview in the same issue, there were several factual errors in Sharon’s recent meltdown to fit plot. Case