January 2008 News Archive (Page 7)

On Saturday, March 15, join some of your favorite Days of Our Lives actors in Hartford, CT, at the Downtown Hartford Marriott.

James Scott, Nadia Bjorlin, Jay Kenneth Johnson and Judi Evans will be meeting and greeting from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. We also understand, as of now, that Martha Madison and Brandon Beemer will be present at the event, despite their firing.

Tickets are $70 per person, but you can mingle with the stars over hors d' oeuvres in the evening from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. for $90 per person.

Call Stacey at (603)738-8598 or email at ouellettestacey@yahoo.com for more details or to order tickets.

Catherine Hickland is a veteran of six - yes, six! - soap operas. Still, do you know all there is to know about this current One Life to Live star?

Check out these fun facts:

• Is separated from Michael E. Knight (Tad, All My Children), who she married on June 27, 1992.

• Was married to Baywatch's David Hasselhoff (ex-Snapper, The Young and the Restless) from 1984-89.

• Has been good friends with Kin Shriner (Keith, As the World Turns) since their days together on the show Texas.

• Subbed for Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke, The Bold and the Beautiful) for a few days in 1987 when Lang was sick.

• One Life to Live role was only supposed to last a day.

• Released a CD, Sincerely Broadway, in 2001.

As Days of Our Lives fans deal with the firing of two popular actors from that show, As the World Turns followers have this news to digest:

An insider has told soapcentral.com that Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck) and Jesse Soffer (pictured, Will Munson) will exit As the World Turns sometime before spring.

Soffer joined the show in September 2004, portraying play the downtrodden Will Munson. He's the fourth actor to play the part, but the first to take on the character as a teenager and young adult.

Meanwhile, when Landon first appeared on As the World Turns in March 2005, her work as Gwen was originally expected to be a one-shot deal. But fans took to the character quickly and show executives liked Landon so much that the actress was given a long-term contract.

Scott Bryce has also recently been let go from the show.

In a follow-up to yesterday's rumor that a pair of popular stars have been let go from Days of Our Lives, we can now confirm:

Brandon Beemer (pictured) and Martha Madison have been fired from the show. Sources say their ousting was a decision made by executive producer Ken Corday; it was financially driven.

"Wow. I can't believe how fast word travels," Madison said in a statement on her official we site. "I have been bombarded with emails and [messages] asking if it's true [that] Brandon and I have been let go from the show. I'm sorry/sad to say that we have, in fact, been released from our contracts.

It was explained to us on Friday that this was a storyline dictated move by the writers, and that, at this time, we were free to move on to other work. We have both been incredibly grateful for the time that we've had here, and we will still be taping for the next few weeks."

Her Days of Our Lives co-star echoed the actress' sentiments:

"Sad to say that it's true," Beemer write on his website. "The show's decision was very unexpected, but it's always something that comes with the territory. I'll write more when I get more info."

More than any other soap opera, All My Children is in the midst of a massive cast overhaul. New faces are gone (sorry, Sabine Singh); old faces are back (hello, Rebecca Budig).

Not only are these changes taking place during the writers' strike - Brian Fons, president of Disney-ABC's Daytime group - says they've been taking place because of the writers' strike.

"The strike actually helped us in terms of luring these actors back to the show,” Fons recently said. “If you aren't an actor with a steady prime time gig, you probably won't find [work] until fall of '09. So I think that gives soap operas a chance [for actors] to find steady work."

A solid example of this is Mario Van Peebles. The movie star has agreed to a role in All My Children, most likely due to his fear of how the strike will affect any primetime or big screen roles.

Another week of daytime drama is underway. Relive every bit of the action with The Soap Dispenser's recaps of Monday, January 21 soap operas ...

• Guiding Light
• All My Children
• One Life to Live
• General Hospital
• The Young and the Restless
• The Bold and the Beautiful
• As the World Turns
• Days of Our Lives

Thank you all for visiting The Soap Dispenser for soap opera spoilers and news from The Bold and the Beautiful to Guiding Light, All My Children and all the rest. Thanks for making The Soap Dispenser the #1 soap opera site!

Here's breaking, sad Days of Our Live news:

Brandon Beemer and Martha Madison have been fired!

As the writers’ strike approaches the three-month mark, it has conveyed new cachet, such as it is, on soap operas.

Shows like General Hospital and As the World Turns have become virtually the only reliable option for viewers interested in watching rerun-free, serialized drama on broadcast television.

None of the eight daytime dramas on network television have gone into reruns, and none have plans to do so. But in a genre that thrives on drawn-out cliffhangers, the most sensational mystery in daytime may be how these shows are being written at all, considering that nearly all of their writers are guild members on strike.

A handful of writers, for All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital on ABC and The Young and the Restless on CBS, have officially crossed picket lines to return to work in recent weeks, invoking a guild designation known as “financial core,” or financial need. But they are the exception.

Read the full article in The New York Times now.

As General Hospital fans know, Robin's dream has come true: she's pregnant!

However, telling daddy Patrick may be a nightmare.

"She's contemplating telling him, but then realizes he's so not ready," Kimberly McCullough said to Soap Opera Digest this week.

To read more about her crisis of conscience - plus who she catches Patrick with - pick up the January 29 issue of Soap Opera Digest now!

Tamara Braun, who played Carly from 2001-2005 on General Hospital, has joined the cast of Days of Our Lives.

The actress will portray the charachter of Ava, a woman from Steve's past. She'll first air February 8.

"She sounds very layered and complicated and it seems like there's a lot to sink my teeth into," Braun told Soap Opera Digest of her new role.