News Brief

Palmer Township veteran Daniel Lasko will appear today on ALL MY CHILDREN
Daniel Lasko, a Palmer Township veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan, will appear this afternoon on the daytime drama "All My Children." Lasko is in an unscripted scene in which veterans in a hospital support group share their stories.
His service dog, Wally, is at his side during the show.

The Easton Area High School graduate has a prosthetic leg due to injuries he suffered in April 2004 when his armored truck was struck by explosions in Kandahar. He has been an advocate for wounded veterans, running benefit races with a prosthetic leg and pedaling a bicycle across the country for the Soldier Ride organization.

ALL MY CHILDREN Tackles Veterans' Issues
The fictional town of Pine Valley gets a dose of realism when a real-life war veteran takes the stage on the popular daytime soap opera "All My Children" to try and bring accuracy to an Iraq-related story line.

Iraq veterans on AMC today

Iraq war veterans will appear today on ALL MY CHILDREN. Actors in scenes with them are Kelly Dougherty, Daniel Lasko and Dawn Halfaker in the front row and, in the back row, Derek McGee, JR Martinez, John Jones, Bryan Anderson, Michael E. Knight and Jamel Daniels. Lasko's dog, Wally, is in the foreground.

Susan Lucci Hangs Up Her Cha Cha Heels, Heads Back To Pine Valley
“I have had the most incredible experience here,” she raved. “I leave with so much gratitude for the opportunity to have had this particular experience in my lifetime.”

Susan also offered her gratitude to her fans before her final dance with Tony.

“I want to thank all of you wonderful audience members here,” she said. “Thank you to all the fans who have voted and kept me here for seven weeks. Most importantly I need to thank this incredible dancer, this incredible teacher, this incredible man, Tony Dovolani.”

Best couple Jack and Vera
a poll conducted by Microsoft's BigSnapSearch.com to find Britain's perfect pair of stars, CORONATION STREET's Jack and Vera Duckworth were voted best soap couple with 31 per cent, just beating EASTENDERS brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell who received 29 per cent of the vote.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Connie Britton on taking on the establishment
"In this town, and in this school, being a principal is certainly a position of power. And quite often [on television], that sort of role is shown in a very specific way. Once you put women in a position of power, you’re dealing with hysteria and anger and bitchiness, and all these kind of tags that people attach to women who are dealing with roles of power. That was something I worked really hard with the writers to resist. Certainly there are some women who behave that way when they’re given a position of power, but that’s not the experience of the women I have known."

Visibility Matters: The Disappearing Lesbian on Primetime Broadcast TV
At the turn of the century, there were several lesbian series regulars on primetime broadcast TV. In the 2004-2005 season, there were four or five. By 2006-2007, it was down to one. This season (2008-2009), the number of lesbians among the 616 series regulars is approximately zero (not counting Dr. Erica Hahn from GREY'S). There are only four lesbians in the recurring characters category — the rarely seen gay mayor on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, and three cartoon lesbians.

Mistletoe Marketplace returns the Trademart
Hundreds of guests were welcomed into the Trademart Center (Jackson, MS) with a walk down the red carpet. Everything from jewelry to Christmas decorations and food are available. This year kids will learn to toss pizza dough, and there will be a healthy culinary cookoff. Kristian Alfonso from DAYS OF OUR LIVES will make an appearance Friday night. The Junior lLague has sponsored this event to fund community service projects.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Daniel Goddard and Christel Khalil
The Y&R stars appeared on "Olivia Wilder Times" last night.