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One of the biggest stars of daytime, David Canary, has chosen not to renew his contract with 'All My Children,' in large part because of the soap's relocation to Los Angeles according to Soap Opera Network. ABC hasn't confirmed the information, but the creator of 'All My Children,' Agnes Nixon, did. And prior to her confirmation, David Canary's daughter Tweeted about it to David's fans.
David Canary has been on 'All My Children' as Adam and Stuart Chandler since 1983, winning five Daytime Emmys (out of eleven nominations), and he's a fantastic actor. The roles of Adam and Stuart have been integral to the show, even after it was revealed that Adam was responsible for shooting – and killing – Stuart last year.
Although I'm generally a 'Today' show loyalist, for the next two weeks, I'm going to be a 'Good Morning America' fan.
Why? Three words: The Winter Olympics.
Every two years, since NBC started carrying the Olympics, they turn their top-rated morning news show into essentially the Games' morning recap show. Sure, you still get that first half hour of pure news, but after that, the show becomes all-Olympics, all the time, from examining the personal stories of the athletes, to travelogues about whatever exotic locale the Games are in that year, to deep, 'SportsCenter'-like examination of the previous night's results.
But that's not the part that annoys me the most. When the hosts go out and try to do the Olympic sports themselves, the cringe factor goes up exponentially. Especially when Matt Lauer and Al Roker are involved.
There's more details coming out about Gena Rowlands' upcoming guest turn on 'NCIS,' thanks to a report from TV Guide soap expert Michael Logan. When Rowlands appears on 'NCIS' March 2 as Gibbs' former mother-in-law, Joann, the show will flashback to a time when Joann and Jethro were much younger.
Hunley (pictured), who plays Anna DiMera on 'Days of Our Lives,' told Logan that she was thrilled to play Joann in flashback, especially because of her admiration for Rowlands. "When I first saw her back in the '70s in 'A Woman Under the Influence,' I thought, 'That woman looks like me! She has my eyes!'" Hunley told Logan.
It looks like Ellen won't be the new Oprah after all. If I were Oprah, I'd be very relieved. I wouldn't want someone taking over my soul and inhabiting my body solely for "ratings."
This ends speculation that Ellen would "become the new Oprah" in the wake of Oprah announcing she will end her show in September of 2011. If she did take Oprah's place though, it would have been interesting to see if Stedman came with the deal.
Since April 1, 1963, 'General Hospital' has been broadcast on ABC. If you're keeping count, and they are at the network, that means 'General Hospital' will air episode 12,000 on February 23. It's a remarkable achievement, especially when coupled with the fact that in that the past 47 years, 'GH' has won the Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Drama Series ten times. That's more than any other soap opera; and the Daytime Emmys only began being doled out in 1971!
To commemorate the 12,000th show, SoapCentral.com reports that 'General Hospital' has conjured up a new opening for the show. The current one, with music by Dave Koz, includes a collection of images of the stars. It also ends with one of the best endings ever for a credit sequence. All the men are gathered for a big group shot, sitting and posed in a variety of ways. They're all in black and white on a white set.
Well, as Victor Newman might say: "That's a hell of a thing." Eric Braeden celebrated his 30th anniversary on 'The Young and the Restless.' It's not just three decades that makes it a memorable mark, it's that it has come after a very rough year in which Braeden quit the soap in a contract dispute and was brought back into the fold in part thanks to the influence of the head of the network, Les Moonves.
In honor of Braeden's tenure on the soap, there was a big party to commemorate the anniversary. As this picture reveals, Peter Bergman was in attendance and posed with Eric. True, on screen as Jack Abbott and Victor Newman, the two men would like to rip each other to bits, but off screen they're very civil and appreciative of each other's talents. They have had occasional dust-ups, but generally, they get along well.
After all, their characters' on screen feud has been the stuff of soap legend. Victor and Jack have shared wives, corporations, but mostly, unabashed hatred. They despise each other.
For more than 40 years, Frances was the matriarch of the Horton family, Grandma Alice, one the wisest, wittiest and most charming oldster on daytime. She was 'Days of Our Lives' Rock of Gibralter, her character was the center of her family, the heart that kept it all together even when bizarre circumstances threatened to tear the Hortons apart.
Oprah Winfrey may be leaving syndication for her own cable network, but that doesn't mean her empire won't continue. Hot on the heels of the successful launch of 'The Dr. Oz Show,' another frequent guest of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', Nate Berkus is getting his own show. 'The Nate Berkus Show' will spotlight interior design advice for guests, as well as general lifestyle tips and personal style.
Berkus has appeared on Winfrey's show many times over the years, and even served as host for her one-season prime time venture, 'Oprah's Big Give.' He's already a bestselling author, radio host, and has his own home line on Home Shopping Network, and at Linens 'n Things.
I guess with Martha Stewart leaving syndication as well, Oprah saw an opening for home decoration and interior design. She'd already taken a bite out of the cooking genre with Rachael Ray. The question is: what's left for Oprah to conquer? Is it time to horn in on the sleazy talk shows like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich? Does she have a judge she can trot out?
I pride myself in being able to see TV show plot twists coming a mile away. Maybe it's from watching TV for so long or maybe it's from watching so much TV and writing about it all day long, but I can usually figure out something that's going on. There will be a hint, a piece of writing, some foreshadowing, or something else that gives a clue to a plot twist that I can figure out.
That's not to say I figured out that the season finale of 'Lost' a couple of seasons ago was a flash forward and not a flashback, but most times I can sense something.
But there have been two major (and I mean MAJOR) plot twists on 'The Young and the Restless' the past few weeks that I didn't see coming at all. Too bad CBS spoiled them for me (and other fans) with their promos.
Is Sonny going to wind up in prison for his crimes on General Hospital? You have to wonder how he's going to avoid it now. It's not like viewers have every thought of Sonny as innocent, but he's skirted having to pay for his sins via the criminal justice system. There have been other ways he's paid, but prison? So far, Mac and the Port Charles P.D. have yet to get him locked away for long. The Feds have also dropped the ball every time they've tried. But Friday might have been the game changer.
Sonny's portrayer, Maurice Benard, thinks it is. He told Michael Logan, "I truly believe Sonny's done this time. He wants his son to be safe and he sees no other way out. ...He doesn't think he can get away with it this time -- at least that's the way I'm playing it."
When you look at the surface, it seemed like Jay Leno was quite revealing during his interview with Oprah Winfrey today. He said that he was "devastated" when NBC came to him in 2004 and told him that they wanted to give Conan O'Brien The Tonight Show. He claimed he was "embarrassed" by what he called "a big mess," and that NBC would have handled it better if "they came in and shot everyone. Then it would have only been a two-day story."
But when Oprah repeatedly tried to get Leno to react to how most of the public is reacting to this story -- that Jay should have stepped aside to give Conan a chance to succeed, and that he is unfairly taking back Conan's dream job -- Leno refused to play along. Not sure if he did so because he's truly not self-aware of what this whole mess looks like or he just doesn't care. But as far as Jay's concerned, this was all just business, and his decision to take back Tonight and Conan's departure are mutually exclusive events.
One of the most famous stars of daytime, All My Children's James Mitchell, died Friday, January 22 in Los Angeles. He was 89 and suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, complicated by pneumonia. He hadn't been on the show much of the past couple of years, but he did make it back for the AMC 40th anniversary episode on January 5, and that turned out to be his last professional appearance.
James Mitchell was a man with two great careers. To soap fans, he was the indomitable Palmer Cortlandt, a brilliant tycoon and businessman, but also a man obsessed with his family and not above manipulation to get his way.
So what does a celebrity do when he wants to look good to the public again? He goes on Oprah of course!
That's what Jay Leno is going to do. Oprah Winfrey is going to interview him for a segment that will air next Thursday. Let's predict how this will go, shall we? He'll come out to a lot of applause, he'll make some jokes about how NBC screwed both him and Conan (which Leno has been doing this past week, trying to look like NBC has wronged him in some way - pretty strange considering Leno got exactly what he wanted), make some political jokes, try to come off as The Nice Guy (TM).
Now...will Oprah give Conan a chance to be on her show at some point? Who will get the first interview with Conan anyway? I pray it's David Letterman, on March 1.
It's been weeks since All My Children dropped head writer Charles Pratt Jr. Today, the ABC soap which has just celebrated its 40th anniversary on the air, made a decision about the future story lines for the show. David Kreizman and Donna Swajeski are the new co-head writers of All My Children. The duo have worked together in the past; in 2007 they were winners of the Writers Guild Award for heading up the Guiding Light writing staff.
ABC Daytime prez Brian Frons, was effusive in praising the writers, saying, "David and Donna are the perfect team to bring new ideas to All My Children while remaining true to its core by telling stories with a focus on the integrity of the show's history, its characters and families on the canvas." It helps that Donna actually began her soap writing career at AMC, working directly with the show's creator, Agnes Nixon.
When you go on The Price is Right and make it all the way to the Showcase, you don't expect to be bidding on a Porsche Boxster. So, when Jeffery, a contestant on yesterday's episode, got a chance to make his bid, he went for it, giving an amazingly knowledgeable-sounding bid of $58,500.
As you can see in the clip below, the results didn't exactly go in his favor. But it's not like he lost the Porsche by wildly over- or under-bidding; he was right about the price. He just wasn't right enough: