On Friday, January 24, NBC’s “Days of our Lives” put rumors to rest when it officially announced that former “One Life to Live” actress Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair Cramer) would be joining its cast in the contract role of Eve Donovan, a role which was originated by actress Charlotte Ross, who congratulated DePaiva on signing onto “DAYS” on Twitter.
Author: Errol Lewis
Shortly after word broke that Kassie DePaiva would be taking on the role of Eve Donovan on NBC’s “Days of our Lives” later this summer, originator Charlotte Ross took to Twitter to congratulate the former “One Life to Live” actress on snagging the part and shared some of her own fondest memories of the character. Ross also announced she’ll be appearing in a future episode(s) of ABC’s “Nashville.”
Due to an overlap with another actor (event TBA) during “General Hospital” Fan Club Weekend (Thursday, July 31 through Monday, August 4), the time for Kelly Monaco’s event has been moved up. Previously scheduled to take place from 8:00 to 11:00 PM on Friday, August 1, Monaco’s event will now take place from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
On Monday, January 27, during the east coast broadcast of NBC’s “Days of our Lives,” actor Blake Berris (Nick Fallon) will tweet live with fans of the daytime drama series as viewers get more insight into where his character has been all these months and why he’s return to Salem.
Last night marked the 66th annual Directors Guild of America Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, but none of today’s daytime drama directors received a nomination. Why? Because the “Daytime Serials” category was integrated into the “Dramatic Series” category following a June 22, 2013 DGA National Board meeting that voted on rule changes, which forces daytime and primetime dramas to compete against internet distributed dramas such as “House of Cards,” which essentially leaves daytime itself shut out from ever receiving a nomination as the dynamics of daytime is no where near the likes of 2013 nominees “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Game of Thrones” (HBO), “Homeland” (Showtime), or even the aforementioned “House of Cards” (Netflix). “Bad” won the award for those wondering.
As previously reported, “Grey’s Anatomy” star Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey) will appear on the Wednesday, January 29 episode of ABC’s “General Hospital” as Tina Estrada, a patient of Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom), who goes to General Hospital for her regularly scheduled appointment. According to the network, Tina comes face to face with an unfamiliar nurse in the episode and demands to know why HE is in her doctor’s office. The “nurse” is actually reformed serial killer Franco (Roger Howarth), as noted in the picture above, who is hiding out from the police after a warrant is issued for his arrest in the disappearance and possible murder of Carly Corinthos Jacks (Laura Wright).
Yesterday, it was announced that veteran soap actor Rick Hearst would be returning to ABC’s “General Hospital” for the first time since 2009 as his character Ric Lansing. Hearst is scheduled to first air on Monday February 24, but isn’t expected to speak until Tuesday, February 25, according to ABC Soaps In Depth. In honor of his grand return, the actor took to Twitter to thank the fans, “GH” executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati for making it all happen.
As previously reported, soap stars Cameron Mathison (ex-Ryan Lavery, “All My Children”) and Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco Jones, “General Hospital;” ex-Dominick Marone, “The Bold and the Beautiful”) are set to star in the Hallmark Movie Channel Original movie, “My Gal Sunday,” which premieres tonight at 9:00 PM ET on the cable network.
If you tuned into today’s episode of ABC’s “General Hospital” you saw two huge reveals for the character of Brad Cooper, portrayed by actor Parry Shen. In one, it was revealed that Brad and Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes) slept together after drowning their sorrows at the Floating Rib bar. In the other, it was revealed that Brad’s real father is Kim Wu from the 1980’s Asian Quarter storyline, which is famously remembered in flashbacks when a young Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) runs to the awaiting arms of her mother Anna Devanne (Finola Hughes). In fact, the scenes were recently aired when Robin once again reunited with her mother last year. In light of all the action and the drama, Soap Opera Network spoke with Shen about the huge storyline twists and turns that the soap was able to keep secret right up to the conclusion of today’s episode.
After Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) commented on her Twitter page earlier this week after a fan asked, “When will it be time for Ric to come home???” and the actress responded with, “shooting it this week ull see it next month,” fans have been left wondering if that meant Rick Hearst would be returning to ABC’s “General Hospital.” Today, Soap Opera Digest is reporting that the actor is indeed heading back to Port Charles.
As previously reported, former “General Hospital” actress Emily Wilson (ex-Ellie Trout) is set to appear in an upcoming episode of ABC’s “Castle,” entitled “Dressed To Kill.”
After fans began speculating on her possibly joining a soap following a January 8 posting on her website, which said, “Good things are ahead this year and I hope to have more to report very soon,” NBC’s “Days of our Lives” made it official: Soap veteran actress Kassie DePaiva is joining the series in the contract role of Eve Donovan (originated by Charlotte Ross).
While he may no longer be portraying the role of Steve Webber on ABC’s “General Hospital” that doesn’t mean fans of the daytime drama series can’t join in the fun with actor Scott Reeves during the upcoming General Hospital Fan Club Weekend taking place from Thursday, July 31 through Monday, August 4 at the Sportmen’s Lodge Hotel and Events Center in Studio City, CA.
Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Oscar nominated director David O. Russell (“American Hustle” and “Silver Linings Playbook”) has received a straight to series 13-episode order from ABC for his newest drama project, “an upstairs/downstairs soap set at a private country club,” which will be co-produced by ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios.
While it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, Deadline Hollywood is reporting that ABC is renewing its commitment to “General Hospital” for the upcoming 2014-15 television season. The “GH” renewal follows the recent two-year “Days of our Lives” renewal by NBC, which was announced today, and last week’s renewal of “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless” by CBS. Historically, as the network owns “GH” outright, ABC won’t necessarily make an “official” announcement as CBS and NBC have for their daytime soaps.
As previously reported, CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful” announced a new partnership with Pan Macmillan and its digital-first imprint, Momentum, in which the publishing company will release a series of novellas surrounding several characters from the daytime soap opera. Today, it was announced that the first two of eight novellas will go on sale on Tuesday, January 28. An e-book version of each will be released worldwide. In Australia, paperback print copies will be available at the same time as the digital release.
After much anticipation, NBC announced today that it has renewed “Days of our Lives” through the 2015-16 television season. The renewal ensures the soap will celebrate its 50th year on television. The series debuted on November 8, 1965.
Best known for his portrayal of Joey Buchanan on ABC’s “One Life to Live” in the 1990’s, actor Chris L. McKenna is heading to CBS’ “The Young and the Restless.” The actor first noted his joining the series in a tweet to his followers on Friday, January 17, which said, “It appears I’ll be making a bit of a return to soaps. At least for a few episodes.”
According to Deadline Hollywood, former “Days of our Lives” star Mark Hapka (ex-Nathan Horton) has joined the cast of the FOX Digital Studio original sci-fi series, “Parallels.”
“Days of our Lives” star Alison Sweeney will announce on the Tuesday, January 21 edition of “The Ellen Show” that she will be departing the NBC Daytime drama series after portraying the role of Samantha “Sami” Brady for 21 consecutive years. Sweeney’s contract is set to expire in December 2014, according to published reports.