“General Hospital” head writer Ron Carlivati tweeted about a newcomer hitting Port Charles and now Soap Opera Network has the details! Per a rep for the show, actor/model Ryan Paevey is joining the cast of the soap in the contract role of Nathan West, a detective working for the Port Charles Police Department.
Author: Errol Lewis
Although it had long been rumored, Disney/ABC Domestic Television made it official today that it has canceled “Katie,” the daytime talker hosted by Katie Couric. “While production will continue on ‘Katie’ through June 2014, we’ve mutually agreed that there will not be a third season of the show,” the company and Couric’s team said in a joint statement. “We’re very proud of everyone’s contributions to making ‘Katie’ the #1 new syndicated talk show of 2012-2013, and we look forward to the rest of the season.”
Hartley Sawyer will soon be departing “The Young and the Restless,” a CBS representative confirms to Soap Opera Network. First reported by Daytime Confidential, we’re told that Sawyer is currently wrapping up his run as Kyle Abbott, the son of Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman).
“As The World Turns” alum Jesse Lee Soffer (ex-Will Munson) is sure making a name for himself outside of daytime television. As previously reported, the actor is starring in NBC’s newest police procedural, “Chicago P.D.,” which is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. The series follows a group of men and women of the Chicago Police Department’s elite Intelligence Unit, combatting the city’s most heinous offenses – organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond. Leading the cast is Jason Beghe as Detective Sgt. Hank Voight, who is at ground zero of the war on crime in Chicago.
TVGN is proving why it’s now the “the new way to watch soaps.” With the network already picking up encore airing rights to “The Young and the Restless” this past summer, and “The Bold and the Beautiful” earlier this month, the network plans to provide soap fans with even more “soap” for their viewing pleasure courtesy of the new documentary, “Who Shot the Daytime Soap?” Airing Monday, December 16 at 8:00 PM ET/PT, preceded by airings of “B&B” at 6:30 PM ET/PT and “Y&R” at 7:00 PM ET/PT, the documentary tackles the history of daytime soap operas as told by those who were there during the good times, the bad times and the new times.
Now playing in a theater near you, “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas” follows Perry’s titular character, Mabel “Madea” Simmons, as she accompanies her niece, Eileen (Anna Maria Horsford), to pay a surprise visit to Eileen’s daughter, Lacey, who has mysteriously informed her she’s not coming home for the holidays. In reality, Lacey followed Connor (Eric Lively), the man she loves and secretly married, from the big city to a small Alabama town as he fights to save his family farm from bankruptcy.
Speaking of “General Hospital’s” Emily Wilson (Ellie Trout), the actress announced on Monday, December 9 that she will be appearing on ABC’s “Castle” courtesy of a blurred out Twitter image. While she didn’t post any character information or episode details, a rep for the show confirms to Soap Opera Network that the actress is in fact scheduled to appear in a future episode of the primetime procedural that stars “One Life to Live” alum, Nathan Fillion (ex-Joey Buchanan), as novelist Richard Castle.
An ABC representative confirms to Soap Opera Network that actors Bradford Anderson (Damien Spinelli) and Emily Wilson (Ellie Trout) will soon be departing “General Hospital.” Per the rep, Anderson’s last airdate as Damian Spinell is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17, while an exact airdate is unknown for Wilson at this time. However, in its newest issue, Soap Opera Digest spoke with head writer Ron Carlivati, who said of Wilson’s exit, “It’s kind of hinged on Bradford’s desire to move on. We had kind of hitched Ellie’s wagon to Spinelli’s star, so in the desire to want to give him a happy ending, part of that involved Ellie going with him. I think it would have been sad to send him off by himself with this child, and also very hard to make sense, you know, that there was this great PI job that he couldn’t turn down.”
Each week Soap Opera Network publishes ratings reports that break down the highs and lows of the four remaining daytime soap operas – “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital” and “The Young and the Restless” – in total viewers and the all important key women sales demos (Women 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54). Today, with both ABC and CBS noting the success of “GH” and “Y&R,” respectively, TheWrap has published a piece entitled, “If Soaps Are ‘Dead,’ Why Are Their Audiences Growing?” In its report, the publication notes that each of the soaps are up season-to-date in all key ratings categories. Meanwhile, some of the replacements for the canceled ABC versions of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” specifically talk shows, have all “come and gone like, um, sands through the hourglass.”
Lionsgate announced today that it has acquired the feature film rights to “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,” the New York Times bestselling biographical tale that questions the details about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth. Authored by Dr. Reza Aslan, “Zealot” was released to bookstores and online publishing retailers earlier this year.
While hints of a possible return to “General Hospital” began on his Twitter page last week, where he referred to numerous Ports in the world (Portlandia, Port Hueneme, Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach), an ABC representative confirms to Soap Opera Network that actor Ryan Carnes will be reprising his role as Lucas Jones, the adopted son of Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) and Tony Jones (Brad Maule), on the ABC Daytime drama series. “Like a ship lost in the night at sea, wondering where my next port will be…,” Carnes tweeted on Wednesday, December 4.
Out of all the talent behind “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” the one voice missing after news that neither series would be moving forward with new episodes was that of Daytime Emmy Award winning actress Erika Slezak (ex-Victoria Lord, “OLTL”). On her official website, Slezak has broken her silence via her 2013 Holiday Letter for fans. In it, Slezak says, “I loved being back at ‘OLTL’; I loved being back with all my friends on the show and we had a wonderful time although it was short lived. Still, I am very grateful for that brief opportunity to have played Viki once more.”
While reporting on the nominees for the 2014 Writers Guild of America Awards (See: WGA Nominations: ‘Days of our Lives’, ‘General Hospital’ and ‘The Young and the Restless’), a couple of names appeared to have been omitted, specifically “Days of our Lives” co-head writer, Gary Tomlin, and former “The Young and the Restless” head writer, Josh Griffith. A couple of you inquired with us about that, and I in fact initially questioned it myself, at least until I was quickly reminded that both Tomlin and Griffith went “fi-core” during the 2007-2008 writers strike.
As previously reported, Tristan Rogers will soon be departing ABC’s “General Hospital” after his most recent stint as Robert Scorpio comes to an end. With his pending return to CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” in the new year, Rogers recently announced on Twitter his final film date at “GH” and his first film date back at “Y&R.”
As previously reported, ABC’s “Home for the Holidays” special event will be hitting “General Hospital.” Soap Opera Network has learned that Christopher Allen, a real life United States military veteran who served four years in the U.S. Air Force, will be appearing on the Thursday, December 26 episode as military veteran CPO Hicks.
Scheduled guests for the week of DECEMBER 9-13 are as follows (subject to change):
With an estimated value of $5,500, a lucky individual and their partner could win a dinner date with “General Hospital’s” William deVry (Julian Jerome) and former “Port Charles” and “The Young and the Restless” actress, Rebecca Staab. Now through Thursday, December 12, the married couple is auctioning off a meal that includes Sea Save founder, Georgienne Bradley, which will take place at the elegant Geoffrey’s Malibu, “a unique place, rich in its own history, it embodies the natural beauty from which it sprang, while offering an invitation to everyone who cares to celebrate life.” The highest bidder will be provided with insight into the entertainment industry, according the description on the CharityBuzz website as listed by the two soapers.
According to The New York Post, “One Life to Live’s” Erika Slezak (ex-Victoria Buchanan) has put her two-bedroom, two-bathroom co-op on the market for $1.82 million. Located in the eight-story, 60-unit brick-and-terracotta Musician’s Building in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, the property includes built-in bookcases in a large living room, an eat-in kitchen with wine refrigerator and all-in-one washer/dryer, and a wood-burning fireplace.
With nearly 24 minutes in total airtime between them, LANYentertainment released the first two installments of “The Bay: The Series” chapter 11 on the official “Bay” website yesterday. Fans of the series will not only get caught up in the happenings in Bay City, but they’ll also get their fill of drama, sex, drugs, romance, deception, murder, and much more.
Despite facing increased competition via ABC’s growing “General Hospital” in most markets, CBS’ “The Talk” celebrated Thanksgiving week (week of November 25 through 29, 2013) by generating its largest ever weekly audience in total viewers and capped its best-ever November sweep in viewers and the Women 25-54 sales demographic, according to Nielsen Live Plus Same Day ratings data.