As reported back in June, the Disney/ABC Television Group has hired Katie Couric to host a new daily syndicated talk show that is expected to air on virtually all ABC affiliated stations, including the eight owned and operated stations that have already signed off on the deal. The show currently titled “Katie” will debut in September 2012 during the 3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT time slot currently occupied by ABC’s “General Hospital,” which will be forced to relocate to an as yet to be determined timeslot on the network.
Author: Errol Lewis
Is there something special happening on this coming Thursday’s episode (August 25) of “One Life to Live?” We’re wondering because whatever was supposed to happen got changed and now everything about the episode is being kept tight lipped by the network. Other than it being Robin Strasser’s last airdate as Dorian Lord and a big storyline about to kick off with some interesting (that’s saying it lightly) twists, we just can’t imagine what could actually be happening in the episode that would make it such a big secret.
You’ve known her as Lulu Spencer on ABC’s “General Hospital” since October 2005, but you may not have known that Julie Marie Berman is also a big pet lover. The two time Emmy Award winning actress has joined together with husband Michael Grady and business partner William Busch in launching Better Buddies, Inc., which was designed to help pet owners find the best quality products with an eco-conscious mind. The company’s mission is to help with the adoption of pets by pet lovers.
On Thursday, July 21, ABC Soaps in Depth reported that Kelly Sullivan had been hired as a recast Kate Howard after more than a year since we last saw the character (last played by Megan Ward). Now Soap Opera Network has learned when you can catch your first glimpse of the actress.
Rebeka Montoya, best known for her role as Gina in the online series “Heroes: Going Postal” alongside former “GH” and “Port Charles” actor Kiko Ellsworth, is joining the cast of “General Hospital” in the recurring role of Delores Padilla.
Monday, September 5, 2011 will mark the final Labor Day repeat airing of ABC’s canceled daytime dramas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” and likely the second to last time “General Hospital” will air one during its current 3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT timeslot as Katie Couric takes over “GH’s” slot beginning in September 2012.
“One Life to Live” star Kassie DePaiva (Blair Cramer) had many fans in attendance at last weekends “One Life to Live” Fan Club Weekend Luncheon scratching their heads when she said “I was told by our executive producer [Frank Valentini] yesterday, that on Wednesday [August 10] we tied with ‘Y&R.'” Considering “The Young and the Restless” is daytime’s #1 soap, we thought she may have made a mistake too, but it turns out she wasn’t wrong at all.
With today’s news that Prospect Park has officially begun making offers to actors in hopes of them joining “All My Children” 2.0 in time for its January 2012 debut, it’s only fitting to get an insiders perspective on the innerworkings of a canceled soap opera. Cameron Mathison, who portrays the role of Ryan Lavery on the soap, spoke with Soap Opera Network during the “All My Children” Fan Club Weekend and he shed some light on Prospect Park, being a contributor on “Good Morning America” and even dancing on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Just weeks before the Prospect Park deal to pick up the production and distribution rights of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” from the Disney/ABC Television group was announced, ABC revealed that they had decided to move “One Life” head writer Ron Carlivati to “General Hospital” as a script writer once production wrapped on the soap in November. Is that still the case two months later?
As previously reported, the cast of “All My Children” have received offers from Prospect Park to return to the series upon re-launch in January 2012, nearly four months after the series completes its ABC run. According to Deadline Hollywood’s Nellie Andreeva, Prospect Park is offering Susan Lucci (Erica Kane) virtually the same salary she’s currently receiving from ABC.
On Monday, September 26, “Days of our Lives” introduces a new era of drama when new co-head writers Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas take over. On that day, citizens of Salem gather together for the launch of the new Horton Town Square that will house restaurants, boutiques and an even a book store.
“All My Children’s” Walt Willey (Jackson Montgomery) was on today’s edition of WGN Chicago’s “Midday Fix” and while the actor was there to promote his stand-up act and meet and greets while he was in town, one topic that was up for discussion happened to be about Prospect Park and what its plans are with “AMC” and in particular the actors.
Yesterday, we reported that Barret Helms was out as Baz on ABC’s “One Life to Live,” now we can also confirm that Nafessa Williams is also out as Deanne Forbes on the drama series.
After learning he was joining the cast of “One Life to Live” in the contract role of Baz on the same day the show was canceled back on April 14, Soap Opera Network can confirm that actor Barret Helms is no longer with the show.
Back in June at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, “One Life to Live” executive producer Frank Valentini alluded to Soap Opera Network that we hadn’t seen the last of Farah Fath despite her character, Gigi Morasco, being killed off. In our Twitter posting that night, we stated “according to Frank Valentini, more surprises in store for #OLTL. Have we seen the last of Gigi? Don’t believe what you see!” Come August, that’s never been more certain!
Brandon Buddy, who left “One Life to Live” in November 2010 shortly after a hacking controversy on Twitter, is now using the social network service again by seeking assistance from fans of Starr (Kristen Alderson) and Cole (Buddy) to get him back on the show.
Cady McClain returned to “All My Children” during the Tuesday, May 17 broadcast of the soap despite filming her first scenes just seven days prior (May 10). So why did the show rapidly insert her scenes into already taped episodes of the soap? “AMC” was canceled of course! During fan club weekend last month, McClain spoke with Soap Opera Network about her return, what the cancellation news meant for cast and crew, the reunion of Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight) and Dixie Cooney (McClain) and even how she got to wear sweats to work while filming scenes of Dixie laying in bed.
Details are slowly trickling in from Prospect Park, the new production company that will be handling production and distribution of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” once both series complete their runs on ABC.
On Friday, August 12, both Soap Opera Network and Soap Opera Digest reported SOAPnet’s post “All My Children” schedule (Monday, September 26), which included the insertion of “Brothers & Sisters” re-runs and the shuffling of more than 80% of the schedule into different time periods. Other than “Days of our Lives” picking up a primetime spot (8:00 PM ET/PT), nothing caught reader attention more than the network announcing classic episodes of “All My Children,” “General Hospital” and “One Life to Live.” So what is a classic episode according to the network?
Jacob Young is returning to the soap that started his daytime career back in 1997. This fall the Daytime Emmy Award winner will reprise the role of Eric Forrester (John McCook) and Brooke Logan’s (Katherine Kelly Lang) son, Rick Forrester, on the CBS daytime drama “The Bold and the Beautiful.”