Hillary B. Smith & Paul Michael Valley to star in "Any Given Monday" at 59E59
Smith will star in the New York premiere of Bruce Graham's "Any Given Monday," to be presented at 59E59 Theaters, October 6-November 6, with an opening on October 12. Bud Martin will direct. Former ANOTHER WORLD star Paul Michael Valley is also in the cast.
In the play, Lenny's wife leaves him for a smooth-talking lothario. While Lenny consoles himself with pizza and Monday Night Football, his best friend Mick takes matters into his own hands. Now Lenny must decide what he will stand up for and who he will stand up to.
SAG vs AFTRA: The Nastiness Ramps Up Wednesday night the AMPTP issued this statement on something they call "final offer retroactivity" with SAG quickly responding. Meanwhile the AMPTP and SAG sparred over a letter which the negotiating group representing the Big Media cartel circulated to 120 California state legislators today as well as the full Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board Of Supervisors blaming SAG for the current "de facto strike" that has Hollywood at a standstill.
New face for HOLLYOAKS cast This week saw a new addition to glossy Channel 4 soap HOLLYOAKS in the form of sultry star Kari Corbett. She plays Caroline, who met Russ (Stuart Manning) in the Dog. He was immediately intrigued when she asked him to make a phone call on her behalf before leaving her business card and disappearing into the night. As events unfold, a baffled Russ starts to wonder whether the glamorous girl is up to no good.
Kari, said: "I'm really enjoying the role of Caroline. It's so interesting to be playing a character who herself is acting a character and I love all the mysterious, ambiguous dialogue too. Russ actually thinks she's some MI6 spy but he soon discovers she's just a postwoman!"
HOLLYOAKS isn't her first foray into the world of soap. Scottish soap fans will recognise the actress from her stint in long-running serial RIVER CITY.
ATWT's Michael E. Rodgers gets from love from Scotland papers A former West Lothian hairdresser turned Hollywood star has secured a part in one of America's longest-running soaps. Whitburn-born actor Michael E. Rodgers has already had a string of bit-part TV and movie roles and is now playing the new recurring role of Neal on AS THE WORLD TURNS.
NY TIMES: Would You Buy a New Car From Eva Longoria? In the 1950s, a marketing type called James Vicary caused national hysteria when he announced he could get people to buy Coca-Cola by flashing a "Drink Coke" sign on a screen so quickly that viewers couldn’t tell, implanting the urge in their subconscious.
Mr. Vicary’s experiments turned out to be a sham. But the fear of corporations stealthily mucking about with Americans’ brains took hold in the collective imagination.
The Federal Communications Commission issued a policy statement that "subliminal perception" techniques were "contrary to the public interest." Judas Priest was accused in court of inciting suicidal tendencies with a subliminal message in a song. In 2000, Democrats in the Senate accused a Republican National Committee ad of subliminally calling Al Gore a rat.
Now the clever men and women in the persuasion business appear to have found a more effective way to reach surreptitiously into our heads: embedding the commercials into the programming itself. If a subliminal flash of "Coke" doesn’t do the trick, how about a whole episode of “The Apprentice” devoted to designing Burger King’s new Western Angus Steak Burger? Or a three-month plot line in ALL MY CHILDREN in which Erica Kane’s cosmetics company goes to battle against Revlon?
These days if you flip on DESEPERATE HOUSEWIVES, you might find Eva Longoria in an evening dress promoting a Buick LaCrosse. The boss in “The Office” raves about his Levis. And Coke shows up all over “American Idol.” Spending on product placement in the United States grew by a third last year. With TiVo snapping at broadcasters’ heels, allowing viewers to zap traditional commercials out of their shows, product placement is shaping up to be advertisers’ holy grail.
The question is, should we worry?
Regulators do. Last month, the F.C.C. proposed rules requiring broadcasters to disclose embedded commercial arrangements in a minimum font and for a set number of seconds — not just flash them across a screen at the speed of light, which is the current practice. It also opened an inquiry into whether more disclosure is even needed.
Krumholtz and Britting get engaged NUMB3RS star David Krumholtz and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS actress Vanessa Britting (Molly) are engaged, People magazine reports.
"The happy couple became engaged in Paris on a hiatus vacation last month and are beyond ecstatic," said his spokesperson, David Lust.
Krumholtz, 30, and Britting, 27, have been dating for three years. The wedding is planned for 2009.
The foursome: Carson Palmer, Jack Wagner, Greg Kinnear, Charles Barkley Here’s Lake Tahoe Action’s submission of fantasy foursomes for the July 11-13 American Century Championship golf tournament: If you think Palmer’s name sounds more like a soap opera character than the Cincinnati Bengals’ all-pro quarterback, you’re half right: That was the name of a district attorney on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Wagner appears on another soap, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, and Kinnear played a soap star in Nurse Betty.
The final soap star for the foursome might be a surprise: In addition to playing himself in a number of movies, including Space Jam, Barkley’s credits include appearing in an unknown 1984 episode of SANTA BARBARA as a bartender, according to IMDB.com.
BBC must reveal EASTENDERS costs The Information Commissioner's Office has ordered the BBC to release information about the salaries of the stars and other staff at soap opera EASTENDERS.
The Beeb had previously refused to give out the information, which was requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The corporation said salary data was not covered by the Act and that giving out such information would have a competitive effect because it would effectively reveal total programme budgets. The ICO rejected both arguments.
EVENT: Soap stars take on soldiers Soap stars from HOLLYOAKS and CORONATION STREET will play in a charity football match against soldiers of the Mercian Regiment. The game will be held at Hyde United’s ground in Walker Lane, Hyde, Cheshirem, on Friday, July 18, kick-off 7pm.
Daytime Emmy ratings hit new all-time low Opposite CAMP ROCK on Disney on Friday, the Daytime Emmy Awards on ABC settled for a preliminary 1.2 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 and 5.4 million viewers overall -- down from the kudocast's previous low of 6.1 million two years ago on ABC.
Inside The Daytime Emmys With Sara Bibel "Hmmm… OLTL won writing and directing. So that means the best show is… General Hospital. There’s a simple explanation for how this seeming nonsensical result happened. Writers vote for writing. Directors vote for directing. Everyone in daytime votes for best show. It’s a different pool of voters, voting on different episodes."
BLOG UPDATE: Lynn Licadro "Pimping the 2007 Daytime Emmys" "So, what is it with CBS? Why would they pass up the opportunity to put their shows front and center for two hours in front of an audience that loves soaps? Why did they think that pimping a show that lasted all of two episodes made more sense that showcasing GUIDING LIGHT, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2007?
A big part of it goes back to that corporate synergy thing. And, I’m not being snippy here; ABC has it, big time. The network owns and produces all three of their soaps, then rebroadcasts them on SOAPnet. They used this year’s Emmy broadcast to heavily promote a new show that will run on SOAPnet, MVP (a show about hockey players and their groupies), then ran an episode on ABC immediately following the Emmy broadcast. Now, I would rather have somebody poke me in the eye with a sharp object than actually watch MVP, but you have to give ABC credit for how well they’ve connected all the pieces."
Emmy Q&A with Lynda Hirsch Hirsch on an outrageous Emmy moment: "There was one bizarre happening at the Daytime Emmys. Robert Gentry (Ross Chandler, ALL MY CHILDREN) was waiting to hear the announcement for Best Actress. Susan Lucci (Erica) was up. The actress was nominated for the fifth time and really wanted to win. When the winner was announced, Gentry became agitated. Gentry knew Lucci was not going to win.
He was mad -- not just because Lucci was not getting the statuette. A few minutes earlier, Gentry left the table to have a smoke. On the sidewalk he noticed a headline on the front cover of the Daily News: "Lucci loses." Gentry could not believe the headline was out before the award was presented. Seems someone at the awards office leaked the information to the press the morning of the show. Terry Lester (original Jack, "Young and the Restless") attended a private afterparty that night and showed off a new solid gold Dunhill lighter he had purchased for himself.
'I was at a newspaper office doing an interview when I saw the copy for who had won and lost the award. I knew I was a loser," he told me. 'I decided to make myself a winner and buy this,' he said, flicking the expensive lighter."
Tammin Sursok loses Daytime Emmy, parties like a winner Despite being nominated for her first Daytime Emmy award, Sursok lost out to Jennifer Landon, considered TV royalty in the US, as the daughter of the late Michael Landon, of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE fame.
But you can't keep a good party girl down for long, with Sursok one of the first to prop up the bar at the gala after-party - on the arms of her THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS co-stars Vail Bloom and Adrienne Frantz.
Still keeping her mystery American beau under wraps, Sursok did make the most of the Tinseltown experience, spotted snapping up free designer shoes at the pre-awards gift suite, with her mum Julie in tow.
HOLLYOAKS babe Kari Corbett: I've gone blonde but am not doing bikini shoots HOLLYOAKS star Kari Corbett insists she will not strip off to join the teen soap's sexy calendar girls. The former RIVER CITY actress went blonde before joining the hit Channel 4 show but insists she will be keeping her bikini for the beach. Kari, 24, who has also been in Monarch of the Glen, said: "I don't see myself as the kind of girl who wants to be known for bikini shots.
"It's up to each person to make that decision for themselves but I would be reluctant to go down that path. As far as the acting goes, it's great fun and I'm very happy to be on the show. I'm enjoying it tremendously."
Chatting up the guys of "MVP" Dillon Casey has been getting a lions share of the attention for the gigantic billboard in Times Square that features him wearing very little and revealing quite an awesome body. Co-star Lucas Bryant joked: "It's just his head, it's my body."
Marlena De Lacroix is back In her latest blog entry, "Marlena" reveals her father passed away April 18 after a two week hospitalization for a heart attack. You are in my thoughts, Marlena. :)
Lynn Liccardo on P&G and listening to consumers "As I watched Charlie Rose's interview with A. G. Lafley, P&G's CEO, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to hear anything about P&G's two long-running soap operas, AS THE WORLD TURNS and GUIDING LIGHT, and indeed, I did not. But what I did hear has enormous and immediate relevance for the current sorry state of these two shows."
Soap baddies front chilling billboard campaign RIVER CITY's baddies are being unleashed on Scotland's streets in a bid to win new fans. Three of the soap's most hated characters star in bold billboards alongside the tagline 'Dangerously close to real life' as part of a sizzling new ad campaign. The team who designed the posters for BBC Scotland say the ads and new TV spots reflect the soap's new-found gritty storylines and high drama.
BLOG: Former AMC star Eden Riegel "A lot of you have asked me when I will be on All My Children again. But, unfortunately, I just don't know. I agree that it's weird that Binx hasn't visited her mama in the clink. And nothing would make me happier than hopping on the Cambias jet, slipping a nail file in a cake, and showing some "Kane-woman" support to her in this awful time. I really hope I get the chance to drop in because I am sure nothing could keep Bianca away."
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Amy Stoch (ex-Britta, DAYS) Amy Stoch's excellent adventure has included a hit TV show, cult movies and motherhood. Now she's about to add "Ph.D." to the list. The actress, who has appeared in DALLAS, DAYS OF OUR LIVES and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, is a doctoral candidate in the theater department at the University of Illinois.
Marcia Cross regrets having her children so late in life The DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star gave birth to twins Eden and Savannah just over a year ago, when she was 45. "I wanted to have kids in my 30s, but I just couldn't get it together. I don't think people want to wait. I wish I'd met my husband earlier. It's sad having kids so late, because you want to be alive for as long as possible for them."
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL tiff takes ugly turn Just as the Screen Actors Guild and its smaller sister union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are jointly preparing to face off against the studios in upcoming contract negotiations, the two actors groups are embroiled in a behind-the-scenes soap opera -- over a soap opera.
The latest episode in the long-standing turf wars between SAG and AFTRA erupted among the cast of the classic CBS daytime drama THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
For more than 50 years, AFTRA has negotiated contracts for daytime soaps. But AFTRA accuses the leadership of SAG of encroaching on its territory in an attempt to gain jurisdiction of the show. They view it as an effort by SAG to increase its power.
"This is an ongoing campaign by the Screen Actors Guild since last year to discredit AFTRA," said Roberta Reardon, president of AFTRA. "It's very clear they've tried to take this union apart."
Doug Allen, national executive director of SAG, rejects AFTRA's claims and says his union has no designs on organizing daytime dramas. "We're not raiding AFTRA, and the suggestion we are is inaccurate," he said.
The flare-up around B&B comes at a delicate time for both unions. Today, the joint board of AFTRA and SAG is meeting to approve the bargaining proposals that will be presented to the studios in their upcoming negotiations. The unions are expected to seek, among other things, higher pay for their members in the area of new media. If all goes well, the unions are likely to begin talks with the studios by mid-April.
But SAG and AFTRA, which historically have had an uneasy alliance, have been feuding for the last year over the terms of their 27-year joint bargaining pact and other issues. SAG has been looking to change the terms of the partnership. The bigger union, which has 120,000 members compared with AFTRA'S 70,000, objects to equal voting rights in the agreement even though SAG actors account for most of the earnings.
The Hatfields and McCoys-like sniping got so out of hand that John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, met with leaders of both guilds and urged them to resolve their differences before starting negotiations with the studios. The AFL-CIO, to which both SAG and AFTRA belong, bars unions from raiding each other.
The latest skirmish is now occurring on the set of B&B, the second-highest-rated daytime drama. AFTRA officials are furious that Allen and SAG President Alan Rosenberg held a private meeting with two actors from the show at which the cast members complained bitterly about AFTRA representation.
After the actors aired their grievances, Allen said, he advised them "to go to AFTRA and have those conversations with them."
AFTRA officials were upset at SAG for not telling them about the meeting until two weeks after the fact, according to Reardon. Allen dismissed the concern, saying "I don't know why SAG is being held accountable for complaints by AFTRA members about AFTRA."
The early March meeting was requested by the B&B actors, including Susan Flannery, who plays the matriarch of the fashion dynasty at the center of the show. Flannery, a regular on B&B since its inception in 1987, is leading an effort to decertify AFTRA as the union representing the actors on the series by circulating a petition, AFTRA officials said.
The petition would have to be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board, which would hold a secret ballot if it were signed by at least 30% of the employees. Flannery and other cast members believe they would earn better pay and benefits under SAG. Flannery, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment. That doesn't sit well with some high-profile AFTRA members, who say the show would be weakened if it came under another union's jurisdiction.
"If they raided this show and other shows it would be a disaster," said veteran soap star Don Hastings, who plays Dr. Bob Hughes on AS THE WORLD TURNS. He said SAG has no experience negotiating daytime contracts, which would put the show in jeopardy at a time when audiences for soaps are declining and the networks are cutting budgets.
Both Reardon and Allen say they agree on one thing: Their unions need to be well prepared to jointly negotiate a new contract with the studios. But Reardon says SAG's actions do not always suggest unanimity. "How can we be expected to sit side-by-side in a joint negotiation with a union that is actively raiding us?"
Allen says AFTRA's concerns are unfounded. The two unions, he said, just completed two days of "productive and successful" meetings to finalize their joint proposals.
Scott Reeves band performs at AFTERdark This week blue T-shirts are being sported throughout the campus of Pittsburg State University. The shirt describes AFTERdark, a night of music, motivation and evangelism provided by one of the nation's top touring campus ministry groups. The event is being held at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, in the Weede Physical Education building. Free and open to the public, AFTERdark will feature the country music band Blue County, which will perform its hit single "Good Little Girls," and also acclaimed inspirational speaker Joe White. Blue County is a country music duo from Nashville. The duo are Aaron Benward and Scott Reeves, who has appeared on the soap operas THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and DAYS OF OUR LIVES.
Working on RIVER CITY is much better than EASTENDERS, says Louise Jameson Former EASTENDER Louise Jameson claims she had to come to Scotland for work after giving London Beeb chiefs a rollicking for sacking her from Albert Square. The 56-year-old actress let rip at EASTENDERS chiefs after they sacked her from her role as fiesty matriarch Rosa Di Marco seven years ago. And she admits the outburst may have put some producers off seeing her for parts - RIVER CITY bosses aside, who have cast her as a hairdresser. The softly-spoken actress, who will make her debut in the Scottish soap next week, told how she let rip at Easties gaffers after learning about her sacking from the show in the Press. She said: "I made my feelings very clear to them after they went to the papers before coming to the cast. That's probably why I haven't worked for the BBC in seven years. Perhaps that's why I had to come over the Border for work. But it was utterly outrageous. The old producer wanted me to stay for another couple of years, and then the new one came on board and wanted the Di Marco family out of Albert Square as quickly as possible. You expect changes, I realise that, and I'm well aware that changes are made. I was caught up in the sweep of that new broom, and I've been in the business long enough to know that's how things work. It was the way it was handled that I took objection to."
EASTENDER Sid 'cried for Frank' EASTENDERS star Sid Owen has revealed that he cried for real while filming the funeral of his screen dad Frank Butcher. Speaking to The Sun Sid - who is returning to the soap as Ricky Butcher - revealed that when the scenes were shot he was still grieving for Mike Reid, who died of a heart attack last summer, and that the fictional funeral had a profound effect on him. "Normally when the camera’s not rolling you have a laugh," he said, "but this was different," he said. "For me and some of the actors who were close to Mike, like Barbara Windsor, who plays Peggy, and Pam St Clement, who plays Pat, it was different because it was real life, it happened.It was our way of saying goodbye to Mike."
Out: AS THE WORLD TURNS is finding out there is such a thing as bad publicity. The CBS sudser is making international headlines as fans protest the show -- and some boycott the entire network -- until gay supercouple Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann) and Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) are given another kiss. It's possible the protests of the past week may still spark a positive outcome. A veteran actor on the show tells Out, “Producers are rethinking their decision. To say they are panicking is an understatement.”
Buzzyworthy Radio: AUDIO: A discussion about the lack of kissing between Luke and Noah on AS THE WORLD TURNS and the fan campaign in support of the show.
Marlena De Lacroix: Patrick Erwin writes: "Remembering Douglas Marland: Highlights of a Great Career" and "Actors Recall Their Marland Moments, Part 2.
E! Online: Why do soap-opera characters come back from the dead? Because they love crowds, apparently. The latest daytime ratings show ABC's ALL MY CHILDREN had its best week in five months when recently revived Jessie (Darnell Williams) returned to the arms of his "widow," Angie (Debbi Morgan).
Playbill: The ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit concert, which was held March 2 at Town Hall in Manhattan, raised $300,000 for BC/EFA. To date the ABC fundraisers have raised a total of one million dollars for the charitable organization.
Freakonomics: Don't use lottery numbers from TV shows. ABC television show LOST included a sequence of winning lottery numbers. The combination didn’t match the Powerball numbers, though hundreds of people had played it: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. Numbers on a Powerball ticket in a recent episode of a soap opera, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, didn’t match, either.
UPI: A performer whose nude image appears on a promotional poster for London's Royal Opera House claims the photo was altered to shrink his genitals. ctor Juan Pablo di Pace, 28, whose picture has appeared on billboards and flyers since he appeared in the chorus of Verdi's Rigoletto in 2001, claims the 2005 poster for the show was altered to shrink his penis, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. Di Pace, who starred in BBC Scotland soap opera RIVER CITY after leaving the Opera House, said he also objects to the continuing usage of his photograph despite the fact that he no longer performs at the venue.
Marketing Vox News: Soap Opera Digest has launched a batch of online games, some of which can be customized with the faces of soap stars or promotional images from shows.
Jamaica Gleaner: Rebecca Herbst celebrates 10 years at General Hospital. "I think the last person Elizabeth needs in her life right now is another man."
Miami Herald: The Palm Beach set were headed to South Beach to celebrate new parents Donald Trump Jr. and wife Vanessa Trump's joint 30th-birthday party presented by Angel Music Group at Mansion in Miami on Friday night. All My Children star Cameron Mathison was in attendance.
Ontario Argus Observer: Helen Binder, the mother-in-law to the late actor John Beradino who played Dr. Hardy on General Hospital, found an interesting way to celebrate Christmas. Binder, 91, Ontario, combined her strong Catholic faith and one of the most powerful symbols in Christianity into a striking display on her front lawn.
Press Association: Soap stars backing hygiene campaign. Ten actors from the likes of Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Neighbours and River City encouraged Scots to "reach for the soap" to help reduce the spread of germs.
Guardian Unlimited: If the EastEnders Christmas Day episode is evidence of the BBC taking what it "views as a key chance to reiterate its public service credentials," with its aggressive family conflict and misery, then give me Rupert Murdoch with his bought-in programming and his football any time. It was harrowing stuff and I would have thought the BBC would offer something with a little more peace and goodwill, or at the least, somewhat less indigestible.
New York Daily News: SPOILER ALERT: Rick stabs Edmund Monday on "Guiding Light," but that turns out to be the least of his problems. "Rick is very high-strung," says David Andrew Macdonald, who plays the villainous Edmund. "Edmund used to sleep with Rick's wife [Beth] and it was the best sex she ever had. Rick is threatened by that." No, seriously. "The other version of the story is that Edmund has information that he challenges Rick with. But 'better sex' is a better story. "The "information" Edmund has is that Rick is not the father of Beth's baby - Alan is.
Boston Herald: TV Insider: Hayden Panettiere: Panettiere got her start playing Lizzie Spaulding on “Guiding Light.” She also played Ally’s daughter Maddie on “Ally McBeal” and neighbor Jessica on “Malcolm in the Middle.”
Daily Star: The sexy new girlfriend of pop megastar Robbie Williams has been given a naughty nickname by her co-stars on a US TV sitcom – “Big Pumpkins”. Ayda Field, 28, earned the moniker after her outstanding assets were mistaken for giant pumpkins in an episode of the show "Back To You." California-born Ayda, who also starred in the American daytime soap "Days Of Our Lives," is said to consider her nickname “hilarious”.
Cape Cod Times: There's always a new crop of people wanting to buy or sell homes, or fix up the ones they have. As long as those folks exist, so will demand for real estate books that tell them what to do and when. Making an impression on the consumer becomes easier if a publisher sinks a lot of money into promotion. A major publishing house is most likely to do that if the author has a platform: a TV show, a popular Web site or an existing following. Case in point: Michael Corbett, author of "Find It, Fix It, Flip It!" Yes, he's a real estate entrepreneur with many years of experience flipping houses. But he's also a onetime soap opera heartthrob (David Kimball on "The Young and the Restless"), as well as a host of the syndicated TV news magazine "Extra's Mansions and Millionaires."
TV Guide: "One Life to Live" has a new Michael McBain. Effective Dec. 3, actor Chris Stack (School of Rock) replaces troubled star Nathaniel Marston, who has been fired after his arrest for assaulting three people (plus a cop) in Manhattan in October. Crazily, Stack did a recurring gig on OLTL in 2003 as a preppie drug dealer who got Marston's character hooked on speed, a scenario that now seems "like a snake eating its own tail," Stack notes. "This is a bittersweet way to get a job. I remember Nathaniel very fondly and was sorry to hear of the circumstances that led to my hiring. At the same time, it's my hiring. I'm really thrilled to have a job." Too bad he'll start off on the wrong foot. Michael, who's facing perjury charges in Llanview, will jump bail and flee to Texas to find his on-the-lam wife. "That will come back to haunt him," Stack says.
Metro: Cerys Matthews has told of her love for fellow "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" star Marc Bannerman. Viewers were gripped by the pair's growing love affair as they cuddled beneath the Australian stars, despite former "EastEnders" star Bannerman having a girlfriend.
Glasgow Sunday Mail: Soap Round-Up for "Coronation Street", "EastEnders", "Emmerdale", "River City", "Hollyoaks" and "Neighbours."
New York Daily News: Dinah sets a fire to escape the loony bin this week on "Guiding Light," only to run into the one person in town crazier than she is.
Glasgow Sunday Mail: British soap round-up for "Coronation Street", "EastEnders", "Emmerdale", "River City", "Hollyoaks", "Neighbours" and "Home and Away".
This Is Lancashire: Radcliffe actress Jane Danson was unfairly voted off a TV talent show, it has been revealed. During an investigation into alleged phone voting discrepancies, it emerged Jane should not have been the first person to be evicted from Soapstar Superstar. The former Radcliffe High School pupil, who plays Leanne Battersby in "Coronation Street", was not in the bottom two when viewers voted by phone. "Emmerdale's" Verity Rushworth and "Hollyoaks" actor Leon Lopez received the fewest votes from members of the public and should have faced the axe instead. The scandal was found after a review of 60 ITV programmes was published last week.
Newsday: Can soaps regain their cool? Or will daytime viewers just be subjected to ever more "Maury" scandalmongering?
That's a question CBS is trying an interesting tack to answer, according to an online report from TV Week's James Hibberd. The trade writer says CBS plans to "modernize" its two New York-shot daytime dramas, "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns," with new and more nimble production techniques that include digital cameras, four-wall sets and exterior locations to make the shows look more natural.
Soap production otherwise hasn't changed much in all the years these venerable titles have been on the air. ("ATWT" premiered in 1956, while daytime granddaddy "GL" arrived on TV in 1952 after running on radio since 1937.) Rows of three-wall studio sets have always been used, giving the shows a theatrically static if not claustrophobic feel. Rare exterior forays have usually been limited to stunt events like weddings in exotic locales.
But CBS' new approach isn't only aesthetic. It's also designed to cut costs in an era when reality-based daytimers seem to make more economic sense. Hibberd reports soap production can cost five times more than court shows and twice as much as talkfests, while the latter deliver increasingly higher ratings.
Expect to see "ATWT" and "GL" take on their fresh look of "realism" early in 2008.
Hillary B. Smith & Paul Michael Valley to star in "Any Given Monday" at 59E59
