TVSquad

For the first time in a long time, something was different about the Daytime Emmys. No, it's not that they're on in primetime; that happened years ago. What was different was the 35th Daytime Emmys opted to forgo the theater setting and seat the stars at round tables. As co-host (with All My Children's Cameron Mathison) Sherri Shepherd told the AP days before the AP, "Usually everyone is sitting in a row. This year, it'll be like a wedding. We're also going to do something so that fans will be able to get a view of what's going on at the different tables." That would be web video created by the actors at every table - table cam. Perfect for hams. The vids are at SOAPnet. For details about the show from the winners backstage, check out AOL.

So did the seating arrangements make a difference? Well, it depends. Those who were there probably had a better time because there was an open bar, just like the Golden Globes. For viewers, it still looked like the Daytime Emmys, including many familiar faces winning. After a strained attempt at comedy for the opening -- blending All My Children fictional characters with The View's real hosts -- the show commenced.

There are many, many good actors and actresses in daytime. Some shine brighter than others simply because they are so supremely talented that they raise the level of the drama they are creating. There are two women I'm writing about now. They are both daytime actresses of the highest order. One celebrated her birthday yesterday, May 7th. She's One Life to Live's inimitable Dorian Cramer, actress Robin Strasser. The other, I'm sad to report, passed away last weekend. The incomparable Beverlee McKinsey was famous for two characters: Iris Carrington on Another World and Alexandra Spaulding on Guiding Light. Ms. McKinsey, who'd retired from daytime -- and acting overall -- in 1992 (except for a brief cameo on General Hospital) died on Friday evening from kidney failure after undergoing a transplant.

I remember vividly watching Another World when Beverlee McKinsey was front and center. She was a dynamic actress, a real scene stealer. She commanded your attention as the spoiled, grown daughter of millionaire scion MacKenzie Cory, Iris, on Another World. Her voice saying, "Daddy," is embedded in my memory.

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."

It will all happen on February 22: Oprah, the most powerful woman in the known universe, will share the small screen with Ellen DeGeneres, the funniest woman in the universe with the name "Ellen DeGeneres," when Ms. Winfrey appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for the first time.

I'm here to tell everyone that we cannot allow this to happen.

Professional bullshit artist psychic and non-clipper of fingernails Sylvia Browne will be appearing in a three-episode arc on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless starting December 7. Browne will be playing herself. There's no word on what exactly her role will entail, and I won't know afterward either, because I'm not going to watch the damn thing. Still, I have to say that placing Browne in a fictional setting does kind of make sense, considering everything that comes out of her mouth is fiction anyway.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed in this post are solely those of the author, and not those of TV Squad's parent company AOL, which conducts all its business deals with the dead through the new AOL Instant Crop Circle Messenger and Digital Ouija Board. Remember, just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't stay in touch.

[via James Randi]

Yet another in a long line of multi-platform series is being whipped up, this time by NBC. The new daytime show, iVillage Live, will debut on NBC on December 4 at noon. iVillage is an online site for women that was acquired by NBC. The show will take place at the Universal Orlando Resort and will cover the usual daytime talk show stuff like family, parenting, health, beauty, etc. The series will also air on Bravo and on the iVillage.com Web site. In order to bring the online and televised aspects together, people will be able to chat online during the show and have the text displayed on a scroll at the bottom of the television screen. They can also text questions to the show on their mobile phones. Basically, it sounds like TRL, but for adult women. Episodes will also be archived on the Web site.

I have to say, I don't quite see the appeal here, and it's not because of my natural male aversion to daytime gab fests. The mish-mash of a live show mixed with the random text messaged thoughts of everyday people might work for MTV, but I'm not sure grown ups will really latch on to such an idea. It's all going to depend how they approach it, but based on the description of this show alone, it sounds like a messy attempt at synergy.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. The first soap opera to be offered for download on iTunes is now, well, available for download on iTunes. The daytime drama you can now watch on your computer or iPod? That's right, reruns of Ryan's Hope. Wait, sorry, it's actually Passions, that kooky soap on NBC with all the crazy fantastical plotlines. Episodes will be available for $1.99 the day after they air, so if you like this soap, and I know a lot of people do, you can always catch up if you miss an episode. If any soap fans read this blog, which soap do you think iTunes should offer next? I'm pretty sure both my mom and sister would vote for General Hospital, a long-running series that most people don't know was actually a spin-off of a series called Specific Clinic*.

*I sincerely apologize for that lame joke.

(S01E09) In this episode, the KHBX news team are given a timeslot early Sunday mornings to do whatever they want, so they decide to create a daytime talk show for reporter Kevin Beekin. Before all of that, however, they shoot a segment outdoors with a roadside clean up crew. Since the garbage on the road isn't "reading" on the cameras very well, they actually take garbage out of their van and throw it on the side of the road, much to the consternation of the woman in charge of the clean up.

There first plan of action concerning the new talk show is to discuss some ideas with a PR person. They mention things like interviewing John McCain while Kevin is sitting on an elephant, and Alan gets the idea to actually pull pranks on animals, such as putting kittens inside of a dog house.

Since I've been working from home more often, I've been catching more episodes of the daytime Millionaire, hosted by future Today anchor Meredith Vieira. One thing I've noticed about the show is that contestants don't seem to get past the $25,000 level (the equivalent of the old nighttime version's $32,000 level) very often. In fact, there seem to be a whole lot of contestants that look at the $25k question, scratch their heads, and go "I'll just walk away and take the $16,000, Meredith."

WTF? During the nighttime Millionaire, contestants routinely blew past the $32k question and only started to have trouble afterwards. Many walked away with a six-figure prize. But in the daytime version, that is a rare occurrence. In fact, many walk away with as little as $1,000.

I could chalk it up to the producers creating harder questions due to a lower prize budget or simply because they produce more shows and want to spread out the big payouts. But some of these contestants... I'm not so sure about them. One today had to ask the audience on a $1,000 question asking about a book retailer that was founded in the 1920's. The answer was "The Book-of-the-Month Club." The other choices? "The Book-of-the-Day Club," "The Book-of-the-Week Club," and "The Book-of-the-Year Club." Whew. Really tough choice there.

Patricia Heaton, who spent her entire time on Everybody Loves Raymond nagging at Ray Romano, may be the host of her own daytime talk show. The Hollywood Reporter says Heaton is in talks with Buena Vista Television for a show, which would debut in 2007. Luckily, the plans are for multiple hosts, like The View. I say 'luckily' because, here on the West Coast, we have to suffer through Patricia Heaton commercials for Albertsons grocery stores that make me want to throw my remote through the television set.

AOL's gossip site TMZ reported that MSNBC was planning to get rid of all of its live daytime programming and replace them with pre-taped shows. Also, President Rick Kaplan would be given the boot. There was really no evidence given for this huge change, other than the fact that Fox News and CNN tend to garner heavier ratings with their daytime shows. I guess that's why they call it "gossip." After the report was filed, MSNBC contacted TMZ to let them know that their live daytime coverage would not be going anywhere, and that Kaplan would still remain. The network called the accusations "ridiculous and wrong on every level."

[via ad rants]

As you know, today is Martin Luther King Day, which means that some of our readers had the day off from work. To some people, that means an extra day to travel somewhere, go shopping, or visit with friends. But we know what this means to our readers: Game shows! Soap Operas! Dr. Phil! That's right; the off day gives TV lovers a chance to watch shows that they normally don't get a chance to see. Since I work from home a lot, I get to see a lot of daytime shows at least once or twice a week; but when I used to go to an office all the time, here were the shows I made sure I tuned into if I happened to have a Monday off:

One of the hazards of being home from work is the minefield that is daytime TV. It's pretty scary when you think about it; ads for denture cream, diabetes testers, and insurance to take care of your "final expenses" abound, mainly because a major component of the audience that time of the day is retirees. However, for an almost-middle-aged person like myself, seeing those commercials is a scary harbinger of what is to come, especially if I don't take care of myself like, say, Wilford Brimley.

But there is also a sad component to the daytime fascination with mortality: the disappointment you feel when you see your favorite TV legend selling Medicare supplemental insurance or life insurance on TV.