Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: The original Doctor Who premiered.
1970: Dark Shadows' Daphne and Quentin held a seance on.
1984: Days' Stefano shot Roman, who fell off a cliff.
1988: General Hospital's Cheryl was delirious.

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original Doctor Who series premiered on the BBC. The show depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship.

1964: On Another World, Pat Matthews (Susan Trustman) sent a letter to the Baxter family which said she did not kill Tom.

1966: On Dark Shadows, while holding Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) captive in his cottage, Matthew (Thayer David) confessed to the murder of Bill Malloy.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: The original Doctor Who premiered.
1970: Dark Shadows' Daphne and Quentin held a seance on.
1984: Days' Stefano shot Roman, who fell off a cliff.
1988: General Hospital's Cheryl was delirious.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original Doctor Who series premiered on the BBC. The show depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship.

1964: On Another World, Pat Matthews (Susan Trustman) sent a letter to the Baxter family which said she did not kill Tom.

1966: On Dark Shadows, while holding Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) captive in his cottage, Matthew (Thayer David) confessed to the murder of Bill Malloy.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: The original Doctor Who premiered.
1970: Dark Shadows' Daphne and Quentin held a seance on.
1984: Days' Stefano shot Roman, who fell off a cliff.
1988: General Hospital's Cheryl was delirious.

"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original Doctor Who series premiered on the BBC. The show depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: The original Doctor Who premiered.
1970: Dark Shadows' Daphne and Quentin held a seance on.
1984: Days' Stefano shot Roman, who fell off a cliff.
1988: General Hospital's Cheryl was delirious.

"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause."
― Henri Louis Bergson

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original Doctor Who series premiered on the BBC. The show depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: Doctor Who premiered. 1970: Daphne and Quentin
had a seance on Dark Shadows. 1984: Days' Stefano
shot Roman, who fell off a cliff. 1988: GH's Cheryl was delirious.

"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years."
― Will Durant

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original Doctor Who series premiered on the BBC. The show depicts the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord—a time-travelling humanoid alien. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-travelling space ship.

NEWS: Connie Knight, ABC Family, ITV, Binge TV, Kevin Spirtas, Allyson Carey, Amanda Setton, John Walton

Connie Knight, mother of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, will guest star on 'The Young and the Restless'
The longtime fan will be making an appearance in Genoa City in the episode slated to air Wednesday, August 13.

ABC Family Targeting Older Women Amid Restructuring
ABC Family is looking to tighten its viewership focus. On the heels of the July 8 exit of Kate Juergens — a top architect of the network's millennial brand — and a restructuring under new chief Tom Ascheim, the network known for teen smash Pretty Little Liars wants to age up how it is perceived and lure more 20-somethings. ABC Family's median viewer is 29, which dips to 25 for original programs.

Ascheim, a former Nickelodeon exec who took over in December, tells THR his five-year plan is for ABC Family to be seen as a young-adult network instead of one that caters to families with kids.

Liberty Global says buys ITV stake from BskyB
Colorado-based Liberty Global, which has made a string of European acquisitions in recent years, added in a statement however that it did not intend to make an offer to acquire ITV. Liberty Global has purchased 259.8 million ITV shares at 185 pence per share from pay-TV giant BSkyB. ITV broadcasts hit period drama Downton Abbey and long-running soap opera Coronation Street.

Kate O'Mara Dead at 74

Kate O'Mara in DYNASTY

British actress Kate O'Mara died Sunday at the age of 74, her agent revealed.

Phil Belfield said O'Mara died in a nursing home in southern England after a short illness.

The actress, who began her television career in the 1960s, became a household name for playing Cassandra "Caress" Morrell, sister to Joan Collins' Alexis Colby, in DYNASTY.

In Britain she is often remembered for her role in TRIANGLE — a soap opera set aboard a North Sea ferry that is often cited as the worst piece of British television.

Peter Capaldi Suits Up as BBC America Reveals the First Image of the Twelfth Doctor's Costume

The Doctor has a new look as Peter Capaldi’s era officially begins. In a picture released today by the BBC, Capaldi can be seen in the costume that will define his time as the Twelfth Time Lord in one of TV’s biggest roles. Sporting a Dark Blue Crombie coat with red lining, Dark Blue trousers, a white shirt as well as black Dr. Marten shoes, the look was created by DOCTOR WHO costume designer Howard Burden.

Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings: Weekly Top 10 (December 23-29, 2013)

The Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings Weekly Top Ten for December 23-29, 2013 has been released. WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW topped all shows with a Unique Audience of over 1.26 million. BBC America's DOCTOR WHO special was second (click the chart to enlarge).

The list is ranked by Unique Audience and include four metrics for each of the top episodes:
* Tweets - Tweets ascribed to a linear TV episode.
* Unique Authors – Unique Twitter accounts that have sent at least one Tweet ascribed to a specific TV episode.
* Impressions - The number of times any Tweets ascribed to a TV episode were seen.
* Unique Audience – The total number of distinct Twitter accounts accruing at least one impression of one or more different Tweets ascribed to a TV episode.

The Doctor Regenerates in the Christmas Special, DOCTOR WHO: THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR, Premiering December 25 on BBC America

As the eleventh hour nears, a regeneration is on the horizon, but not before the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion, Clara (Jenna Coleman), enjoy one last adventure. This year's Doctor Who Christmas special marks the end of the Eleventh Doctor. Through his many adventures, this Doctor has rescued dinosaurs on a spaceship, married his love - River Song and encountered aliens including The Silence, Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and more. But it was his latest adventure, THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR, that effectively changed the course of his history as we know it when he and twelve versions of himself banded together to save Gallifrey from destruction. Now facing his very last adventure, the Eleventh Doctor receives a signal that brings him face-to-face with a massed force of the universe's deadliest aliens. What this signal means for his future life is unknown, but when the clock strikes twelve, the Eleventh will be no more.

SUPERNATURAL & DOCTOR WHO Top GetGlue Chart for the Week of November 25-December 1, 2013

BBC America's DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR Fathom Event Earns $4.77 Million at U.S. Box Office

On Monday, November 25, BBC America and NCM Fathom Events presented the DOCTOR WHO 50th Anniversary celebration, DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR in RealD 3D in over 660 select movie theaters across the country. The record setting one-night unaudited theatrical event grosses are estimated to be approximately $4.77 million, according to Rentrak. More than 320,000 tickets were sold, making this Fathom's most successful one-night event ever.

DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR had the highest per location average revenue Monday night with an estimated $7,155 per location. Overall DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR was No. 2 at the box office on Monday night.

ALMOST HUMAN & DOCTOR WHO Top GetGlue Chart for the Week of November 18-24

FOX's ALMOST HUMAN was the top broadcast show on GetGlue, and BBC America's DOCTOR WHO was the top cable show for the week of November 18-24.

On the ratings front, DOCTOR WHO's 50th Anniversary special, DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR, delivered 3.6 million viewers in L+SD for the daytime simulcast and primetime encore. On Saturday, BBC AMERICA was the #1 cable network on Twitter, Doctor Who was #1 on Twitter in all of television and the series set a record on Tumblr with the highest level of activity of any televised event ever, surpassing the Super Bowl and MTV's Video Music Awards.

DOCTOR WHO earned the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama following a massive global campaign which saw the episode broadcast in 94 countries across 6 continents.

NEWS: Katie Couric May Move From ABC to Yahoo; Alicia Minshew Shooting 'The Funeral Guest'

Katie Couric Negotiating ABC News Exit
Less than three years after joining ABC in a lucrative and wide-ranging deal that included a daytime talk show and a role at ABC News, Katie Couric is set to exit her role as ABC News special correspondent early as she nears a deal for an interview show on Yahoo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Couric's daytime talk show is in its second and almost certainly final season on ABC. She will complete the season and sources at Disney-ABC insist that a decision about the future of KATIE will not be made until sometime in December after executives get a look at the November sweeps ratings.

USA's COMPLICATIONS adds Jessica Szohr and Beth Riesgraf to its cast
The GOSSIP GIRL and LEVERAGE alums will join GREY'S ANATOMY's Lauren Stamile on the medical drama starring Jason O'Mara.

Alicia Minshew lands role in romantic comedy, The Funeral Guest
Minshew (ex-Kendall, ALL MY CHILDREN) is hard at work in Lansing, MI filming the upcoming movie, a romantic comedy that follows Emily (Julianna Robinson), a socially isolated woman, who spends her time attending stranger's funerals. Minshew plays Robin, a recently divorced lawyer who fights to win back her ex before Emily takes his heart.

Google's Greatest Doodle Yet: an Epic 8-bit DOCTOR WHO Game
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Timelord, this epic multi-level Doodle has been in the works for four months. At the Googleplex in Mountain View, it became known as the "Whodle." The company says it's the largest interactive Doodle yet created. It's an 8-bit platform game in which you play the Doctor through all his 11 incarnations.

NCIS Heads for Guinness World Records with Japan Marathon
How much do the Japanese love to watch the adventures of Team Gibbs? The Fox Japan channel is about to find out with its plan for a 10-day marathon of 234 episodes of “NCIS.”

The stunt should qualify the show for a slot in the Guinness World Records book as the longest uninterrupted transmission of a TV series, according to CBS. The marathon of segs from the show’s first 10 seasons will lead into the launch of the show’s current 11th season on Fox Japan in February.

The marathon is set to begin at 11 p.m. local time on Dec. 29 and conclude at 5 p.m. on Jan. 8.

FX's THE STRAIN Casts 'Harry Potter's' David Bradley to Replace John Hurt
He will play Professor Abraham Setrakian in the upcoming series from Guillermo del Toro.

WGN & Weinstein Company Team For Ten Commandments Event Series Produced By Bruce Cohen
Deadline reports the current plan is for each of the 10 episodes to be helmed by a different A-list director, focusing on one commandment and its evolving significance.

Where Were They When JFK Was Killed? A Movie and TV Timeline of the Kennedy Assassination
With the stipulation that there is no possible way to chronicle every TV and movie character's experience of the JFK assassination, The Wire has created a representative timeline of the events of November 22, 1963 as experienced by the fictional (or fictionalized) characters who experienced it.

Marley Shelton To Topline Lifetime Pilot THE LOTTERY
The Warner Horizon-produced conspiracy thriller is set in a world where women have stopped having children, threatening extinction of the human race. When 100 embryos are successfully fertilized, a national lottery is held to decide the surrogates.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 23)

1963: DOCTOR WHO premiered. 1970: Daphne and Quentin
had a seance on DARK SHADOWS. 1984: DAYS' Stefano
shot Roman, who fell off a cliff. 1988: GH's Cheryl was delirious.

"History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."
- John F. Kennedy

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1963: The original DOCTOR WHO series premiered on the BBC.  Global broadcasters have agreed to simulcast a 3D special honoring DOCTOR WHO's 50th anniversary to avoid plot leaks or spoilers. The special will air on Saturday, November 23 at 7 p.m. on BBC1, 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT.

DOCTOR WHO's First Doctor Regenerated in BBC America's 'An Adventure in Space and Time' Premiering November 22

David Bradley as William Hartnell in AN ADVENTURE IN
SPACE AND TIME. Photo Credit: BBC America

What do you get when you mix C.S. Lewis with H.G. Wells, and sprinkle in a bit of Father Christmas? An alien Time Lord exploring space and time in a Police Box spaceship called the "TARDIS" (Time And Relative Dimension in Space). On November 23, 1963, a television legend began when the very first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast on BBC One. Fifty years later, the genesis story is retold in a new BBC AMERICA co-production film celebrating the 50th anniversary of the franchise, AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME, premiering Friday, November 22, 9 p.m. ET/PT on BBC AMERICA.

NEWS: Lea Michele, Brandon Barash & Kirsten Storms, Derek Martin, Kerry Washington, Bobbie Eakes

GLEE's Lea Michele: Kate Hudson Helped Me Get Through Losing Cory Monteith
"I called her and said, I don't know where I'm going to go because my house is swarmed [with reporters]," Michele tells Elle in a new interview. "She was like, 'Oh, you're going to stay at my house.' Like it was nothing."

Brandon Barash and Kirsten Storms take in a World Series game
Since Brandon Barash just finished shooting an indie film, he decided to spend some down time at Busch Stadium watching his childhood team, the St. Louis Cardinals, in the World Series.

"I was born and raised in Creve Coeur," said Barash, who played Johnny Zacchara on GENERAL HOSPITAL from 2007 until this past season. "But my family moved, so I didn't do the St. Louis high-school thing."

Former EASTENDERS actor Derek Martin will reprise his role as cab driver Charlie Slater for Christmas
Details of the upcoming return are being kept closely under wraps, but the character's reasons for returning are expected to involve his daughter Kat Slater, played by Jessie Wallace. Martin has already completed filming his scenes for the one episode return.

NEWS: Marilyn Manson Joins ONCE UPON A TIME; Bridget Dobson on Successful TV Writers; DOCTOR WHO 50th Teaser Image

Marilyn Manson Joining ONCE UPON A TIME Cast
Rolling Stone is reporting that rocker Marilyn Manson will be joining the cast of the show in November. Manson will voice Shadow, a character whose voice will give life to the very essence of Neverland.

SANTA BARBARA co-creator Bridget Dobson on what makes a successful writer
"The writers who are emotionally tuned to the progress of the show, and who are most willing to adjust when the emotions are even slightly off kilter, are the most successful writers; they are the ones who learn as they go along. Adjustments are normal; without them, a show will falter and fail."

"Having said that, television writers are in a business, and sometimes politics seem to transcend the drama of the moment. For example, a network executive may plead for, even insist on, a character or a storyline being included. This situation is also normal, and it can become a kind of wrestling match. If the writer has enough experience to know that a 'trial run' of the character or the story won't 'kill' the show and will placate the executive, then it may be included, for a short period of time. If it works, hooray. If it doesn't, with luck, the executive will learn from his errors. I have yet to live long enough to see that happen. But I advance it to you as a hypothetical theory."

DOCTOR WHO 50th anniversary teaser image released ahead of new ‘celebratory’ trailer
The BBC has released a new publicity image featuring every Doctor since the show began in 1963, from William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton up to David Tennant and Matt Smith.

Nicollette Sheridan Denied Effort to Revive DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Trial
The judge sides with ABC as the three-year battle over the star's dismissal from the hit show is ended by a summary judgement in favor of the network.

BREAKING BAD Creator Vince Gilligan: Piracy Boosted Show’s Popularity
“In some ways the illegal downloading has helped us, certainly, in terms of brand awareness,” he said. “The downside is a lot of folks who worked on the show would have made more money, myself included, if all those downloads had been legal.”

JUDGE JUDY files lawsuit against man who uploaded a 2006 episode to YouTube
The company that produces the show -- Big Ticket Television -- gets an enormous amount of money for the show, so the idea that someone is stealing it and not paying a dime has them royally pissed off.

As for the culprit -- his name is Ignacio De Los Angeles. Ignacio dared to post an episode from 2006 on YouTube. Big Ticket told him to take it down, but Ignacio ignored.

NEWS: Tuc Watkins; Corbin Bernsen; Brant Daugherty; GENERATIONS Stops Filming; BEACON HILL; America Ferrera; Is KATIE on the Way Out?

Is KATIE on the Way Out?
Katie Couric's KATIE has never delivered the audience levels Disney/ABC's syndication arm promised to the TV stations that pay high fees to carry it. Syndication executives who hear the complaints of unhappy TV station owners say that KATIE is a goner. The show will make it to a third year only if Disney/ABC and Couric agree to take less money from the stations that carry it (she currently earns $10 million a year).

People close to Couric say money is less important to her than being happy with the final product. If KATIE doesn't make it to next season, ABC stations will need to find a replacement for the hour.

South Africa soap opera stand-off stops GENERATIONS filming
The producer has told the BBC he does not intend to comply with the contract demands of striking actors. Nearly the entire cast of South Africa's most popular drama series did not turn up on set when filming of the show was supposed to restart on Monday.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE star and single dad Tuc Watkins says his twins are crawling in opposite directions
'When I don't sleep, I can be pretty grumpy," says the actor who looked pretty rested at a recent fundraiser for Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing in Malibu. Twins Catchen and Curtis were back at home with their 'manny' who is Watkins' cousin. It's an arrangement that was supposed to be for a month or two but is working out so well that the actor jokes he hopes to keep his cousin on the payroll until the twins go off to college.

"My kids are 10 months old now which means they are crawling," Watkins said. "Not only are they crawling – it’s like they’ve got little jet packs on their backs and of course go in opposite directions."

Lost DOCTOR WHO Episodes Newly Recovered from the 1960s, Now Available Exclusively on iTunes

BBC Worldwide North America announces that a stash of BBC master tapes from the 1960s featuring missing episodes of Doctor Who has been recovered in Nigeria, Africa. The BBC has re-mastered the tapes, and is making two stories, The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear, now available exclusively on iTunes.

Eleven Doctor Who episodes were discovered (nine of which have not been seen for 46 years) by Philip Morris, director of Television International Enterprises Archive, by tracking records of tape shipments made by the BBC to Africa for transmission. Morris says, "The tapes had been left gathering dust in a store room at a television relay station in Nigeria. I remember wiping the dust off the masking tape on the canisters and my heart missed a beat as I saw the words 'Doctor Who'. When I read the story code I realized I'd found something pretty special."