News Brief

Fans in a lather for telenovelas
Natalia Gharibians doesn't speak English — much less Spanish — but every evening the 77-year-old settles in to watch EL CUERPO DEL DESEO and its handsome actor Mario Cimarro. "Everyone at my day care watches Salvador, wanting to see what Salvador is doing and what's happening to Salvador," Gharibians said of the lead character played by Cimarro. "My family asked me to go to dinner and I had to say no because I wanted to watch it."

"It doesn't matter that it's in Spanish, Russian or American ... it's about family, it's about normal life, the same as the lives of Armenians," he said. "People watch ALL MY CHILDREN and DAYS OF OUR LIVES even if they don't understand English well, so how entertaining is it to watch a soap opera in Armenian? "It's an escape from your worries. You disconnect from your life and forget your problems when you tune in to the novela."

The Biggest Loser legends return on Thursday in Australia
DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Alison Sweeney was an inspired replacement for the US version so surely there's an Aussie version of her somewhere.

"Menopause, The Musical" Casts ex-OLTL actor for Spokane run
Two of the cast members have extensive Broadway credits. Orgena Rose was in "Ragtime" on Broadway and Christopher Callen has been in 12 Broadway shows, including "Fiddler on the Roof" and "1776." Callen also played Dr. Gail Dexter in the soap ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

Former Y&R actress living in dingy LA apartment
The movie stills on the walls of Shani Wallis's tiny cluttered flat are as faded as her dreams of Hollywood fame and fortune. For millions, Shani will forever be the eternally optimistic Nancy, the Cockney girlfriend of murderous Bill Sikes in the classic 1968 Oscar-winning film Oliver! But today she shares her dingy, rented apartment in one of the less salubrious neighbourhoods of Los Angeles with her husband of 39 years, agent Bernie Rich. In 2003, she played the role of Frances on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.

Y&R: How Latham Tried But Failed to Reinvent the Wheel
Patrick Erwin writes: "The news of LML’s hiring at Y&R seemed at least initially to be good news. Y&R was by no means falling apart; it was simply showing a little wear and tear and needed a bit of tweaking — and new blood — to bring it back to life. Initially, the fans seem to like some of the changes — more concise dialogue, characters mixing more widely across the canvas. And then things went haywire."

Gemma Bissix On Her Racy Return To EASTENDERS
When Gemma Bissix returned to EASTENDERS the message was simple: welcome home - now get your kit off. The young actress played sweet but frumpy teenager Clare Bates for six years until she was written out of the show in 1998, when she and her dad Nigel (Paul Bradley) headed off to a new life in Scotland. Ten years on, Gemma's back on Albert Square as a man-eating superbitch who doesn't think twice about using her feminine charms to get what she wants. Gemma blames the year she spent on HOLLYOAKS - as another villainous vamp - for the dramatic change in Clare's personality.

Catching up with GUIDING LIGHT star Rob Bogue
He's a new single guy on the prowl, but that's not the only thing going on in Mallet's life. We caught up with Rob Bogue who gives all the scoop on what's new and exciting with Mallet. " He's trying to move on from Dinah. [Of] course he still loves her but he's exhausted from that whole relationship and he's doing the best he can to move on. He gets lonely without her and misses her greatly, but is pretty much going to give up on the relationship."

BUFFY cast reunites including Sarah Michelle Geller
The cast of the popular supernatural series BUFFY: THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, which ran from 1997 to 2003 on The WB and then UPN, were in good spirits Thursday while reuniting for a panel discussion at the William S. Paley Television Festival. That doesn't mean fans should expect the gang to get back together on screen. Sarah Michelle Gellar said she was surprised to find out moments before the reunion that her character recently had her first sexual tryst with a woman in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight," a comic book series that picks up where the show ended. Gellar also reminisced about auditioning 11 times before landing the role of Buffy Summers. "All my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network no one had heard of on a show based on a movie that wasn't all that," the 30-year-old actress said.

Former DAYS star Christie Clark has a baby girl
Clark writes in her blog: "Hello, so we had our bundle of joy a month early. Hannah was 5pds 10oz. She clearly has her fathers energy and wanted to join the party a bit earlier than was planned. We are just falling in love with our little lady, and learning the ropes as we go. Didn't get to read the last couple of chapters in the pregnancy books, trying to sneak in a chapter here and there. Thank God, I had a shower the weekend that she came out of the oven or I'd really be scrambling for items that were needed."