News Brief

AfterElton: How has AS THE WORLD TURNS handled its gay storyline? Brian Cahill (Sr. VP, Managing Director for TeleVest Daytime Programs) provides insights as does TV Guide's Michael Logan. ”I understand the impatience [of Nuke fans], but I don't see any reason to blast these folks. I've written about the soaps forever and I see progress being made. I'm encouraged to stick with it. There are a lot of pressures on soaps these days. They are shaky and have to answer to a lot. These are no longer the days where they can do what they please. There is way too much focus groups, way too much research. What they are doing is difficult to do here as opposed to primetime.”

TMZ: With her husband, Helmut Huber, and newly unveiled wax sculpture in tow, ALL MY CHILDREN star Susan Lucci, 61, was snapped at Madame Tussauds in NYC on Tuesday.

Broadway World: VIDEO: Exclusive Sneak Peek: Former ONE LIFE TO LIVE star Kerry Butler in NBC's LIPSTICK JUNGLE.

Baltimore Sun: The AARP Magazine's "Movies For Grownups" awards were held last week at the Bel Air Hotel. Former soap star Ruby Dee was in attendance along with Shirley Jones. Jones was still exhausted and hyped-up by her recent stint on the daytime soap DAYS OF OUR LIVES. She said, "I did six episodes in six days. I die in the last one. It's the hardest thing I've ever done!" She plays a 90-year-old woman, an ex-nun, thought dead in a fiery crash - but, of course, people never really die in the soaps. Lord knows Shirley gave it her Oscar-winning all.

Deadline Hollywood: A-List actors pressure SAG to start talks.

Mediapost: Striking writers votes overwhelmingly on Tuesday night to go back to work, putting an end to the longer-than-three-month strike and sending some of them to the office as soon as possible. Returning this morning are the writing staff for soap operas.

Daily Star: EASTENDERS star Lacey Turner has returned to filming after getting caught up in a fight when she left a nightclub. The actress, 19, who plays love cheat Stacey Branning in the BBC1 soap, was on her way home from a night out with co-star Aaron Sidwell (Steven Beale), also 19, when she was hit. Turner did not report the incident, which took place in a supermarket car park near the Destiny club in Watford, Hertfordshire, to police. The actress's spokeswoman said: "She was literally walking back into a car park when a fight broke out and she got clipped."

Marlena De Lacroix: A tribute to GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Shell Kepler.

Soap Opera Digest: Cassie's most ourtrageous moments on GUIDING LIGHT.