Posts with tag All My Children
Posted Jun 26th 2008 10:22AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Emmys, Reality-Free
Did you enjoy the
Daytime Emmy Awards last week? Were you happy to see grand soap stars like Anthony Geary and Jeanne Cooper honored? I have no complaints with the winners -- and as I mentioned in previous posts, I had predicted some of them correctly. But I do have qualms about so many actors and actresses who weren't even nominated.
A lot of great performances weren't recognized. Therefore, I've decided to recognize a few actors and actresses who should be on the ballot in 2009! That's right, this is a pre-emptive list of six who should be included in next year's Daytime Emmy nominations.
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: My Emmy nominations for 2009
Posted Jun 17th 2008 4:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Reality-Free
Death on a daytime soap is kind of like death in science fiction: it may be the real thing, but then again, maybe not. Fans of
One Life to Live were recently stunned by the death of Nash Brennan. His was truly a case of sudden death. One minute he was a vital part of the scene, negotiating to keep the land for his vineyard, the next he was taking a swing at Jared, falling through a skylight and fatally injured.
The chances that Nash's death is not the real thing seems remote. He was shown on his deathbed in the hospital, saying goodbye to his wife Jessica, making a heart with his finger to show her that he'll always love her. It was sad and poignant and final. At least, I think it was final. You can't always be sure on soaps, as I said.
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: Dead but not gone
Posted Jun 5th 2008 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Emmys, Reality-Free
The Daytime Emmys are coming.
The nominations have been announced and ABC plans to broadcast the award presentation on June 20 at 8 p.m. (EST) with Sherri Shephard and Cameron Mathison sharing the hosting duties. One of the things that invariably drives soap fans nuts is not being able to see the Emmy submissions; that is, the actual shows that the Blue Ribbon Panels are seeing when they choose the Emmy winner from the set of nominees.
Well, in a landmark move -- one more reason to love the web -- the
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has teamed with YouTube to create venue to see most of the nominating clips and judge for yourself. That's what I've done and I've decided to handicap the big Daytime Emmys contests. Tell me what you think, if you judge these clips the way I have.
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: You judge the Emmy submissions
Posted Jun 2nd 2008 8:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Daytime, WGA Strike, Reality-Free
The headwriter carousel is spinning in the world of soaps and two shows have tapped new scribes for their shows. Only they're not new, really, only new to these shows. See, in soaps, everything old is new again when it comes to headwriters. The names are usually the same, just the soaps are different.
First,
All My Children has brought in the super-experienced Charles Pratt, Jr. to take over the script duties. He being June 23, but with the lead time for soaps, his stories won't begin unfolding for about six weeks. Still, ABC daytime prez Brian Frons, was singing Chuck's praises in the announcement, saying, "Charles Pratt, Jr. is a master storyteller. His talents in writing today's biggest primetime hits in conjunction with his vast experience with daytime dramas will undoubtedly elevate
All My Children stories in new and exciting directions."
Pratt does have extensive experience, including
Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Melrose Place, Santa Barbara, and back in 2002,
General Hospital. The guy can spin a yarn and joining
All My Children he'll have lots of great characters to explore. He's also coming in just as two major stars have been added to
the All My Children cast, Guiding Light transplants Beth Ehlers and Ricky Paull Goldin.
Continue reading New (old) headwriters for All My Children & Y&R
Posted May 27th 2008 10:46AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Talk Show, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free
Well, the
Daytime Emmy nominations were not exactly soul-stirring -- lots of repeat nominees, the same old, same old -- so the producers of the Emmy broadcast are trying to inject something new: that means new hosts. Call them the newest odd couple.
Cameron Mathison will team up with Sherri Shepherd to co-host the ABC broadcast of the 35th Annunal Daytime Emmy Awards on June 20. Not coincidentally, Cameron and Sherri are ABC stars. He's Ryan Lavery on
All My Children (and a former contestant on Dancing with the Stars); she's one of the five talkers on
The View. And if you think they didn't ask Whoopi Goldberg first, you don't know TV.
Continue reading Daytime Emmys hosts announced
Posted May 20th 2008 2:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free
Soap operas thrive on drama and they're not above borrowing from other sources. You could say it happens all the time, because it does. Of course, you can also go by that old Hollywood axiom that there are really only seven stories and they're told over and over again in a variety of new and different ways. Be that as it may, a look at some soap stories going on now will remind you of some other media.
For instance, on
All My Children, you might look at Erica Kane's incarceration for insider trading (or whatever she was supposed to have done that was criminal) and think it's reminiscent of the Martha Stewart case. After all, like Martha, Erica is host of a TV show and an entrepreneur of the highest order. But the part of Erica's story that made me giggle was when she was on the run from prison with fellow con Carmen. Being handcuffed together was right out of
The 39 Steps (the Hitchcock movie and now on Broadway) and
The Defiant Ones, but the two women from different worlds clicking was more like
Ugly Betty. Remember, last season when Claire Meade escaped from prison chained to a tough girl named Yoga? Think the
AMC writers were taking notes?
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: Inspired storytelling?
Posted May 16th 2008 2:23PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
You could call it bailing from a sinking ship, assuming you think the current changes on
Guiding Light are something like being on the Titanic. On the other hand, it may just be a talented actress spreading her wings to take on a new challenge. However you couch it,
Guiding Light star Beth Ehlers is bolting the CBS soap for ABC's All My Children. She'll be assuming the role of Liza Colby Chandler, the part most recently played by Marcy Walker (who played Tangie back on
Guiding Light in 1993).
This is the second major exit from
GL, and it seems that the bottom line reason for the departures is the bottom line. Cost cutting across the board at the P&G soaps --
GL and
As the World Turns -- have squeezed the actors salaries.
Martha Byrne and Scott Bryce left
ATWT in recent months, reportedly in contract disputes, and Ricky Paull Goldin departed
GL last month and was quickly snatched up by
All My Children. Just like Ehlers.
And how coincidental that they were a major couple in Springfield. They even won a special Daytime Emmy in 2002 as America's Favorite Couple --
GL's Harley and Gus. Well, now they can spark that same chemistry in Pine Valley. Move over, Erica and Adam and Tad and Joe, you've got company.
Continue reading Beth Ehlers bolts Guiding Light for All My Children
Posted May 16th 2008 12:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Talk Show
It's the end of an era today. One of the longest running syndicated talk shows is airing its last show.
The Montel Williams Show wraps today after 17 years of discussion, controversy, interviews and inspiration. But just because the show is ending, that doesn't mean Montel is going away. At the final New York City taping in March, he explained to the adoring throng, "I'm not retiring. I am stopping
The Montel Williams Show, but I am not, in any way, shape or form, stopping anything else that I'm doing."
Williams' show has actually been one of the more dignified syndicated daytime talk shows, a step above
Jerry Springer and
Maury Povich, but not quite
The View or
Ellen DeGeneres. His style could be compared to Phil Donahue, especially in his desire to be a change agent. He really cared about the people who appeared on his program; it wasn't about being a ring leader to a freak show, as Jerry is, or confronting people with DNA tests like Maury does. Montel was not into that stuff.
Continue reading Montel Williams airs his last show today
Posted May 7th 2008 1:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Cable/Satellite, Game Show, Dancing With The Stars, Casting
He's an actor, a pin-up hunk, he's tried
Dancing With the Stars, and now he'll see what it's like to be a Jim Lange or Wink Martindale. Cameron Mathison has been tapped to host TLC's new game show
Your Place or Mine? Looking at those eyes, I'd let him redecorate my abode!
"I'm thrilled to be a part of TLC's first game show, and extremely excited about the fun concept," said Mathison. "I think both men and women, of all ages, are really going to enjoy the show because there's a little something in it for everyone." Yeah, TLC is pitching this as a family show. Hmm...we'll see. If it can capture the
Trading Spaces vibe, they may be on the right track.
Continue reading Cameron Mathison dances into game show role
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 12:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Ratings, Reality-Free
You might be surprised to learn that the results of a new poll by AOL.com found that the
number one soap opera among web searchers is Day of Our Lives. According to the
Nielsen ratings for the soaps,
The Young and the Restless is the top daytime drama -- and has been for over a thousand weeks. But I'm not surprised to read these AOL results, which shows
Days, General Hospital and
All My Children at the top of the list.
Y&R is number eight. Also getting a lot of search engine hits is a Spanish telenovela,
Fuego en la Sangre, from Mexico.
Continue reading Days of Our Lives tops poll as most searched soap
Posted Apr 16th 2008 1:40PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Daytime, Reality-Free
Let me start this TV Squad Soap Report by saying that I have a soft spot in my heart for
Days of Our Lives. It's the first soap I remember watching as a kid and I've always stuck with it, even when it's gone through some dark times. And if you're a
Days fan, you know just what I mean (more on that later).
Right now I'm beginning to see a pattern on
Days of Our Lives that's kind of upsetting. The show seems to be stuck in retro mode. They've been bringing back characters by the boat load. This is nothing new. All soaps do it. On
All My Children, they just brought
Cady McLain back -- and her character Dixie, who's supposedly dead.
One Life to Live is resurrecting greatest Tina of all,
Andrea Evans. So what's the big deal with what
Days doing it? Nothing. It's perfectly legitimate. I support it...to a point. When it reaches a point to where new characters are not taking hold and more and more of the past is becoming the present.
Continue reading TV Squad Soap Report: The retro Days of Our Lives
Posted Apr 6th 2008 8:54AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Sports, Daytime, Video, Commercials, Reality-Free
Did you know that baseball players are big-time soap opera fans? It's true. All that time they spend hanging out in the clubhouse during the day, they have the soaps playing in the background. Not all, but a lot. That said, it'll be interesting to see if the same things that sell soaps -- the drama, the relationships, the never-ending stories -- work for ESPN in selling their Fantasy Baseball League. They're calling the series of commercials "
Endless Drama."
Continue reading ESPN turns to the soaps to sell fantasy baseball - VIDEO
Posted Mar 31st 2008 4:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Pickups and Renewals
Well, here's hoping that the powers that be were reading
TV Squad after the two-hour
Knight Rider movie premiered last February. Then, at least they'll know how to fix the show, because
NBC has picked up Knight Rider as a series for the 2008-2009 schedule, and it's going to need some re-tooling.
That's the phrase they love to use in the business to describe all the work that's needed to turn a turkey -- albeit one with great ratings -- into a successful series. And
Knight Rider, as conceived in that TV movie/back door pilot, needs some major work.
Continue reading Knight Rider series officially a go
Posted Mar 24th 2008 3:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Casting
They'll be whistling Dixie in Pine Valley again.
Cady McClain is coming back to All My Children. It's not unusual for a soap favorite to return to the show where they once were a prominent player. It happens all the time. Cady has done it before, multiple times. But this time is different. This time she's coming back as a ghost!
You see, last January 2007, Dixie was killed by a serial killer. She returns now because she has a job to do, reuniting Tad with the child they thought they'd lost, Kate.
Continue reading Cady McClain will haunt All My Children
Posted Mar 20th 2008 10:01AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Casting
The richest man in the world has a secret. He likes to watch the goings on in Pine Valley. You know, the place Erica Kane -- Susan Lucci, don't you know -- calls home. And now he's going to be on his favorite ABC soap, too -- for the second time! Billionaire
Warren Buffett will play himself on All My Children during May sweeps.
Continue reading Warren Buffett returning to All My Children
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