TVSquad

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.

Is that Carlo Hesser I spy? It looks a lot like Hawk from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? Actually, it's both, and his name Thom Christopher. The veteran character actor, who most recently was Colonel Dax on Guiding Light, is coming back to the soap that he's best known for, One Life to Live. In 1992, he won a Daytime Emmy for this role. Soap Opera Digest reports that Thom's will resume the role of Carlo Hesser, evil-doer extraordinare, on June 27.

Christopher's comeback comes on the heels of the major announcement, that is the return of Andrea Evans as Tina Lord Roberts after a nearly two decade absence. And One Life isn't done with the splashy returns. Susan Haskell, another former Emmy-winner (for her role as Marty Saybrooke), is also finding her way to Llanview. Never mind that her character plunged off a cliff in a van last year (when Christina Chambers played the part). You'll see, she was thrown from the vehicle and survived somehow. Trust me. Like sci-fi, soap opera deaths are not as final as you think.

I always imagined that being a Hilton is like living in a soap opera--wealth, scandal, and the occasional arrest. Apparently real life isn't dramatic enough for one member of the Hilton clan. Paris' mother, Kathy Hilton, will appear on The Young and the Restless as herself. The episode, which will air on May 13, was filmed on Wednesday.

Hilton's fictional self will ruffle some feathers in her Y&R cameo by taking over a magazine photo shoot. I'm not sure where that falls on a soap opera's bad behavior scale, but I'm sure that such workplace antics will at least earn Kathy a few dirty looks. The Hiltons have had plenty of TV exposure over the last month. Paris just did a cameo on a recent episode of My Name is Earl. Barron Hilton, Paris' brother, became a gossip show regular following his DUI arrest.

On February 29, 2008, a new era began for Guiding Light. Daytime television's longest running serial drama -- 71 years old this year -- burst out of the confines of a New York studio to begin shooting on location and on the fly in makeshift, portable sets and real places. The idea on paper was not only exciting, it seemed revolutionary. If they succeeded, Guiding Light could truly be a "guiding light" to the rest of the soap industry.

Usually when you talk about death on soap operas, you have to know that like science fiction, death doesn't mean the end of the story. After all, many characters have come back from the dead thanks to mistaken identity, bizarre abductions, switched coffins, et. al. But when I tell you now that the NBC soap opera Passions is dead, I really mean it. Really.

There is no chance that Passions is coming back to NBC. The soap was yanked from the daytime lineup last year, but in a deal with DirecTV, Passions has remained in production. The satellite provider has been showing episodes of the bizarrely-plotted show for months. However, in a recent development, DirecTV has decided to pull the plug. Universal Media Studios, which produces the one-hours, has been trying to find a new place on the dial for Passions without any luck.

CBS's daytime drama Guiding Light celebrated its 71st year on the air on January 25. First, on radio, then and now on television, this grand old soap opera has never stopped telling its stories, making broadcast history. Production goes on, but starting February 29, 2008, viewers will be seeing Guiding Light in a brand new light. Led by innovative Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler, Guiding Light it busting out of the studio to starting filming in a more realistic, cinema verite style. "Soap operas have been shot, by and large, the same way since the 1950's, the same way I Love Lucy was shot - with pedestal cameras, in just a few interior sets," said Ms. Wheeler recently. According to her, the "[it's] old-fashioned, and it isn't working anymore."

I'm fascinated by soap opera casting (yes, I have a lame social life). Since a character is usually more important to the show than an actor, you often see a character recast after an actor or actress leaves the role. Sometimes, 6 or 7 different people can play one character over a number of years.

Rebecca Budig played Greenlee Smythe on All My Children for a number of years (though she'll always be Michelle Bauer on Guiding Light to me) but left the ABC show and was replaced. Fans wanted her back in the role and now Budig has decided to come back. And she's not the only one: Debi Morgan and Darnell Williams are coming back to reprise their roles as Angie and Jesse Hubbard, even though Jesse died on screen years ago. It was so long ago that even I was watching the show, and I haven't watched it in years.

I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

If you watch Guiding Light, take note of this. The show is going to change in early 2008, according to the show's producers. Say goodbye to the ordinary camera locations and the sets. The show is going for a more cinema verite'/MTV-style show, with hand-held cameras and edgier editing. They want the show to have the look of a reality show. Or something. Ugh.

(S03E24) There's a divide, I think, among Office die-hards as to how to strike a balance between the soap opera elements of the show and the straight comedy pieces. Move too far towards the former, and we're watching Melrose Place lite; too far towards the latter, and one of the things that makes this show so special is lost.

I've made myself clear over my run of reviews that I enjoy the soapy elements as much if not more than the comedy bits. Maybe it's because I have an unabashed (and quite creepy, if your comments are to be trusted!) crush on Jenna Fischer, but either way, I tend to tune in to watch the romance inch forward. I know a lot of you are just the opposite, though, and could live without the longing glances between Jim and Pam. Just bring the funny!

That's why it's so damn nice when the show can make both camps equally happy...

Fans of the NBC soap Passions who felt sad and neglected when the network announced that the show was ending after eight years take note: the show is going to live on!

The show is going to return this fall in a new home: DirecTV. NBC and the satellite system are about to finalize a deal that will keep the quirky soap opera (which includes, I believe, a character who is a witch, and used to have a character that was a doll brought to life) on the air for four days a week. They'll have to cut the budget, too, but at least the show will live on in some form.

This is the another move in DirecTV's plan to increase the amount of original programming they have.

(S03E19) I've been noticing a pattern with shows that, because of their popularity and thus importance to the network, have to split their episodes into mini-seasons around sweeps. They tend to end each batch of episodes with a bang, spend the entire hiatus promising something huge when the new episodes start airing, and then give us a whole lotta nothin' when the new batch finally begins.

Tonight's Office suffered that same predictable letdown, but still found a whole bunch of enjoyable moments (mostly thanks to the supporting players).

It's called General Hospital: Night Shift, and it is, as the title indicates, a spinoff of General Hospital. The new series, set to premiere on SOAPnet this summer with thirteen episodes, will flesh out the stories from General Hospital and delve deeper into the characters and their lives. Really, it's more of an extension of a series than a bona fide spinoff, but whatever you call it, it's a clever idea. If ever a series had a built-in fanbase, it's this one. The new series will be written by General Hospital head writer Robert Guza, Jr., and executive produced by General Hospital executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.

This is just part of SOAPnet's plan to extend beyond daytime programming: the cable channel will also begin airing episodes of The OC and One Tree Hill starting April 9. SOAPnet recently acquired the rights to all seasons of both series.

[via TV Filter]

I have this suspicion that, except for a couple of the mega-successful shows, the soap opera is on its way out.

NBC has canceled the bizarre soap opera Passions after 8 years. This is the show that included witches (Tabitha, played by Juliet Mills) and puppets that came to life. I know, I know, you're thinking, "why didn't someone tell me there was a soap like this on, I would have watched it!" It sounds like something that I could get into for a laugh or two, though I don't know if I could have gotten into it for the long haul, unless they really went over the top all the time and didn't include serious storylines too.

If you're wondering, the show is being canceled to make room for more of The Today Show, which is expanding to 9 hours in a few weeks.

I remember when this show premiered like it was yesterday. My mom was really interested in watching it, but I thought it looked just looked like a dumb soap opera (this was before I began my two decade long obsession with Guiding Light). I watched a handful of the episodes, and I didn't like it at all. It was too weird for me. But I'm curious to watch it again, as I'll probably have a different take on it since I'm no longer, you know, 10 years old.

Vol. 1 of the series - a 3 disc set - will be released by Sony on March 27. This set will be 25 episodes, which sounds like a lot until you realize that over its two seasons, the show had 325 episodes. Yikes, I had no idea it had that many shows.

The show starred Louise Lasser as Mary, along with Greg Mullavey, Mary Kay Place, Dody Goodman, Debralee Scott, Philip Bruns, Claudia Lamb, and Dabney Coleman.

Bold and the Beautiful star Darlene Conley died of stomach cancer on Sunday in Los Angeles.

She has starred on the show as Sally Spectra for 20 years, and was diagnosed with cancer only three months ago. Producers and writers were actually developing a storyline for her to deal with the diagnosis.

Besides The Bold and the Beautiful and three other soaps (Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital), Conley guest-starred on several other TV shows, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murder, She Wrote, Highway To Heaven, The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Gunsmoke, Cagney and Lacey, and Ironside. She also did the voice of Mrs. Claus in Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.