NEWS: GENERAL HOSPITAL Pen-Pal Murder; Lupita Nyong'o's Soap Opera Past; TV vs. Online Video Stats; L.A. LAW Season 1 Out on DVD; Ryan McPartlin; Leven Rambin

Soap-opera pen-pal network may have led accused killer to L.A.
A New York parolee accused of fatally strangling a retired teacher in Hollywood may have come west after developing a network of pen pals, some that apparently grew from a shared fondness for GENERAL HOSPITAL. Three months after he was released from prison after serving 20 years for murder, Scott Kratlian showed up in Hollywood and allegedly strangled one of his pen pals, 82-year-old Harry Major.

The relationship between the convicted killer and the retired Hollywood High School teacher was probably one of many the inmate fostered over the years while imprisoned at Marcy Correctional Facility outside Syracuse, said another of Kratlian's pen pals. Kratlian was part of a GENERAL HOSPITAL fan club whose enthusiasts wrote to one another, Jason Ward said in an interview.

You Won't Believe How Big TV Still Is: Staggering viewership numbers and dominant revenue figures
A new study from Nielsen, conducted with ad targeting firm Simulmedia, contains plenty of insights, but among the most striking is the size of either industry. Nielsen rarely pulls back the veil on exactly how big the TV and video worlds are (they do mint the currency in the former, after all), but here it is in black and white: There are 283 million television viewers monthly (the population of the United States is 313 million), each watching an average of 146 hours of TV.

Compare that with 155 million online video viewers averaging just shy of six hours monthly on mobile and almost six and a half hours over the Web. So while TV’s audience is still almost twice that of digital video, the amount of money in digital isn’t even 5 percent of the mammoth $74 billion chunk of change in television. What’s going to bring about growth in the former, said Amit Seth, Nielsen’s evp, global media products, is equivalency.

ISA5 Spotlight #1: Nominee Reaction - Carolyn Hennesy, Sebastian La Cause, Michael Caruso, Jillian Clare, Caitlynne Medrek, Armando Saldanamora, Kelsey Jorissen & Mike Donis

Nominees for the 5th Annual Indie Series Awards were revealed in a special episode of We Love Soaps TV on Wednesday. (You can find a complete list of nominees here.) The ISAs celebrate the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Web.

The 5th Annual ISAs will take place on April 2 at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, hosted by Carolyn Hennesy. Over the next two months, We Love Soaps will put the "Spotlight" on the nominated series, as well as the nominees in front of and behind the camera. Check out our first Spotlight feature below which includes reactions from Michael Caruso, Sebastian La Cause, Jillian Clare, Caitlynne Medrek, Armando Saldanamora, Kelsey Jorissen and Mike Donis.

ISA5 host and Single Siblings guest star Carolyn Hennesy:

The fact that my time on the Single Siblings set was one of the happiest work days in many moons for me is truly the cake. The nomination is the icing, the sprinkles and the delightful butter-cream rosettes all rolled into one. A sublime experience all around. So many thanks Meryl Hathaway, Chris Alvarado and my "hubs" Jim O'Heir! Excelsior!

Hustling producer/director/writer/actor Sebastian La Cause:

The support and recognition of Hustling by the ISAs is overwhelming and incredibly joyful. It's extremely motivating and will continue to inspire me well beyond the ceremony.

DeVanity producer/writer/actor Michael Caruso:

The cast and crew of DeVanity are so incredibly honored to be recognized alongside so many other series we love and respect. This is an exciting time for web series, and we are thrilled to be returning to the ISAs for the third year in a row.

Indie Series of the Week Poll Results (December 8-14, 2013)

OUT WITH DAD was voted favorite web series for the second
week in a row.

The results are in from the We Love Soaps "Indie Series of the Week" poll for web series that aired December 8-14, 2013. OUT WITH DAD came out on top this week followed closely by ADDICTS ANONYMOUS.  FAMILY PROBLEMS finished third with THE BAY in fourth.

Check out the complete results below including the Favorite Actor, Actress and Couple of the Week:

RANK	SHOW	LAST WEEK	TOP 3
1	OUT WITH DAD	1	13
2	ADDICTS ANONYMOUS	2	3
3	FAMILY PROBLEMS	4	8
4	THE BAY	3	37
5	VANN	-	0
6	BROKEN AT LOVE	-	5
7	INTERVENTION	-	0
8	MI PROMISE	11	0
9	OUR CULTURAL CENTER	8	0
10	THE GALLERY	5	1
11	LUNGS	-	0
12	TRUTH IS	-	0
13	BULK	-	0
14	THE WALKING TEDD	7	0
15	CLOSE FRIENDS	-	1
16	PARADISE	16	0
17	MY SUPER-OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION	15	0
18	CONNECTIONS	-	0
19	WATER COOLER	-	0
20	LAWYERS	14	0

See the rest of the poll results and watch last week's Top 3 Indie web series below:







Freddie Smith from ADDICTS ANONYMOUS was voted Favorite Actor for the third week in a row. The entire Top 5 actors remained the same as the previous week for the first time ever in our poll.

RANK	ACTOR	LAST WEEK	TOP 3
1	Freddie Smith, ADDICTS ANONYMOUS	1	3
2	Jonathan Robbins, OUT WITH DAD	2	2
3	Matthew Ashford, THE BAY	3	3
4	Corey Lof, OUT WITH DAD	4	0
5	Tristan Rogers, THE BAY	5	0

Lindsey Middleton from OUT WITH DAD was voted Favorite Actress of the week.

RANK	ACTRESS	LAST WEEK	TOP 3
1	Lindsey Middleton, OUT WITH DAD	-	1
2	Molly Burnett, ADDICTS ANONYMOUS	2	3
3	Wendy Hartman, FAMILY PROBLEMS	5	5
4	Rakefet Abergel, ADDICTS ANONYMOUS	4	1
5	Caitlynne Medrek, OUT WITH DAD	3	2

Rose & Claire from OUT WITH DAD were vote Favorite Couple for the second week in a row.

RANK	COUPLE	LAST WEEK	TOP 3
1	Rose & Claire, OUT WITH DAD	1	7
2	Kevin & Haley, ADDICTS ANONYMOUS	2	2
3	Rose & Vanessa, OUT WITH DAD	3	3
4	Peter & Janice, THE BAY	4	0
5	Vivie & Holden, BROKEN AT LOVE	-	7

Links to last week's indie series below:
- ADDICTS ANONYMOUS Episode 3 "Mistakes"
- THE BAY Chapter 11 Part 3
- BROKEN AT LOVE Episode 14 "Taken to the Woodshed"
- BULK Season 2 Episode 1 "Escapes" (season premiere)
- CLOSE FRIENDS Season 2 Episode 8
- CONNECTIONS Episodes 7 & 8
- FAMILY PROBLEMS Episode 17 "Betrayed"
- THE GALLERY Episode 3 "Where is Crystal Lake"
- INTERVENTION Episode 2 "Unlikely Friends"
- LAWYERS Episode 9 "Lawyers v. Begging"
- LUNGS Episode 1 "The Trail" (series premiere)
- MI PROMISE Episodes 4, 5 & 6
- MY SUPER-OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION Episode 14 "Chipotle"
- OUR CULTURAL CENTER "Friday The 13th"
- OUT WITH DAD Season 3 Episodes 3 "Storming In & Out", 4 "Swashbuckling Adventures of Making Out", 5 "Outed" & 6 "Out with (Song and) Dance"
- PARADISE Episodes 3 "Out of the Frying Pan" & 4 "Kleptomania"
- TRUTH IS Episode 9 (season finale)
- VANN Episode 6 "The Ex-Roommate"
- THE WALKING TEDD Episode 6 "Tedd Man Walking"
- WATER COOLER Episode 3 "Holy Smokes"

INDIE SERIES AWARDS - 5th Annual ISAs:

- 5th Annual Indie Series Awards coming to Los Angeles on April 2, 2014! Now taking submissions!
- GENERAL HOSPITAL star Carolyn Hennesy To Host 5th Annual ISAs

Watch The OUT WITH DAD Musical Episode

The 2013 ISAs winner for Best Drama, OUT WITH DAD, returned this month with six new episodes to kick off Season 3. The latest is a musical episode, totally unexpected and incredibly fun. Who knew Caitlynne Medrek had such a fabulous voice? Watch the episode below:

OUT WITH DAD Is Back With New Beginnings For Rose & Nathan

Kate Conway and Caitlynne Medrek star in OUT WITH DAD.

This year's Best Drama winner at the 4th Annual ISAs, OUT WITH DAD, is back with its Season 3 premiere episode ("Starting Out"). Rose (Kate Conway) and Nathan (Jonathan Robbins) are finished moving into a new place, and Rose receives a meaningful new present from dad. Later, Claire (Caitlynne Medrek) invites her to dinner. Now she just has to figure out one thing: Is this a date?

Watch OUT WITH DAD below:

WATCH: OUT WITH DAD Season 3 Trailer

In February, OUT WITH DAD was named Best Drama Series at the 4th Annual Indie Soap Awards (The ISAs). Creator and showrunner Jason Leaver hilariously stated in his acceptance speech, "I love making Out with Dad." Those of us in the audience laughed, but in thinking about it more, it's obvious just how true of a statement that was. When a writer and producer loves what they are doing, and are passionate about their work, it shows on screen. Perhaps this is one of the reasons We Love Soaps loves OUT WITH DAD. As much as Leaver enjoys making it, we love watching it just as much. And now the highly anticipated 22-episode third season is hopefully not too far away. The trailer was released this week along with the following Season 3 description:

Life is getting more complicated as school starts again for Rose and the rest of the gang. She and her father experience new highs and lows in their lives. How 'out' is Rose prepared to be? Is Nathan ready to tell Rose about his relationship with Angela? Can Vanessa be who her parents want her to be? What does the future hold for Claire and Rose? Ready yourself for new twists and turns in OUT WITH DAD, the continuing story of a teenage girl, struggling her way out of the closet with her supportive father by her side.

Watch the newly released trailer below:

4th Annual Indie Soap Awards: Jillian Clare, Miriam Pultro, Sam Martin Top Anne Sayre's Best Dressed List

For the 4th Annual Indie Soap Awards (ISA4), We Love Soaps once again turned to our guest fashion editor: New York City's gorgeous and fabulous Anne Sayre. Anne starred, for several years, as the lovable Mitzi Matters on AS THE WORLD TURNS. She began her soap career with roles on ALL MY CHILDREN and ANOTHER WORLD, has appeared in a number of sketches on LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN and has guest starred on series like NEW YORK UNDERCOVER. And, she's no stranger to the Indie Soap Awards: in 2010, she received a nomination for her comedic performance on GOTHAM.

Ladies first!