Soap Opera News (Page 3)

It’s been 45 years since General Hospital began dispensing heavy doses of drama to TV viewers. Since 1963, ABC’s longest-running daytime series has documented the trials and tribulations of Port Charles’ citizens, carving an unprecedented television niche with intrigue and illness — long before ER, House and Grey’s Anatomy.

“You don’t get to 45 years just because you’re lucky,” executive producer Jill Farren Phelps said as the cast and crew celebrated GH’s April 1 birthday with punch and cake on the show’s hospital set at ABC’s Prospect Studios.

Leslie Charleson and Jane Elliot reminisced about playing feuding sisters-in-law Monica Quartermaine and Tracy Quartermaine for over 30 years.

Since 1977, Charleson’s cardiologist character has given up a child for adoption, become a hit woman, been held hostage and battled cancer.

General Hospital characters have been through it all — often more than once.

“We have such history,” Elliot said. “Births, deaths, marriages, divorces, birthdays, that we’ve shared. When we look at each other on camera, you sometimes can’t tell if Monica and Tracy are responding to each other or if Jane and Leslie are responding to each other. It’s not the characters but the history that’s there.”

“The two of us had a fight scene the other day, and there was a gentleman who was there to serve us papers,” said Charleson, who’s been on the show for 31 years. “He informed us as we were standing there that he had done exactly the same thing 17 years ago to the two of us. You don’t get a history like that anywhere else.”

Stars such as Demi Moore, John Stamos, Ricky Martin and Rick Springfield got their start on General Hospital. A-list fan Elizabeth Taylor famously guest-starred as the malicious Helena Cassadine at supercouple Luke and Laura’s wedding in 1981, one of television’s most popular moments, attracting 30 million people.

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An exciting horde of soap stars will return to Marco Island for the tenth time to raise money for charity at SoapFest 2008.

On May 17 and 18, actors from All My Children, As The World Turns, General Hospital, and Guiding Light will mingle with Southwest Florida residents and visitors for a weekend of non-stop cruises, parties, and, of course, fun!

Scheduled to appear are:

ALL MY CHILDREN
Billy Miller (Richie Novak) Walt Willey (Jackson Montgomery)

AS THE WORLD TURNS
Dylan Bruce (Chris Hughes) Justine Cotsonas (Sofie Duran) Ewa da Cruz (Vienna Hyatt) Van Hansis (Luke Snyder) Mick Hazen (Parker Snyder) Billy Magnussen (Casey Hughes) Marnie Schulenberg (Allison Stewart) Jake Silberman (Noah Mayer)

ONE LIFE TO LIVE
Trevor St. John (Todd Manning)

GENERAL HOSPITAL
Sarah Brown (Claudia Zacchara)

GUIDING LIGHT
Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper) Jordan Clarke (Billy Lewis) Bonnie Dennison (Daisy Lemay) Michael O’Leary (Dr. Rick Bauer) Caitlin Van Zandt (Ashlee Wolf)

As loyal soap opera followers know, there have been a bevy of returns by characters and actors over the last few months.

Michael Logan of TV Guide has ranked them all and you can take a look at his list now. Below are a couple of examples from it:

Drake Hogestyn (Days of our Lives)
Who knew? This actor was often criticized for his robotic performance as white-knight hero John Black, but his character has returned from the grave as a hilariously snarky programmed killer with no emotional innards ("I love you," says his saintly wife, Marlena. "Good to know," snaps nuJohn). Weird idea, but guess what? Hogestyn is now robo-tastic!
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Rebecca Budig (All My Children)
Can she sue for promo overkill? ABC's shameless "real Greenlee" blitz set Budig up for a fall, and the show did her no favors by bringing her back in a snoozy story that had her character incapacitated by a toxic root. But Budig will triumph! It's taken weeks, but the loopy, ballsy, hot-to-trot Greens we love is slowly coming round.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

The nominations for this year's Daytime Emmy Awards will be held April 30 on The View. Among those that will be present for the announcement are:

• From: All My Children Rebecca Budig and Cameron Mathison
• From One Life to Live: Farah Fath and John-Paul Lavoisier
• From Guiding Light: Marcy Rylan
• From As the World Turns: Van Hansis
• From Days of Our Lives: Bryan Dattilo and Alison Sweeney

ABC will broadcast this year's Daytime Emmys live on Friday, June 20 from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater.

An incredibly array of multi-talented soap stars performed on Broadway on March 2 and raised $300,000 for the 4th Annual ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Here are a couple of photos from the event, beginning with a duet by a pair of All My Children stars:

From there, Catherine Hickland serenaded the crowd with a rendition of "Unchained Melody."

A couple quick notes on soap opera comings and goings next month:

• One Life to Live's Austin Williams (Shane) will appear in an episode of Law & Order titled ''Angelgrove'' on March 19
• Ian Buchanan returns to The Bold and the Beautiful as Dr. James Warwick, taking the stand at Baby Jack's custody hearing, on Monday, March 3.

The second annual Soap Cruise has been scheduled for Thursday, January 22 - Monday, January 26. Cameron Mathison will host the event once again and you can read more about it now.

TVGuide.ca has come out with its first annual Soap Opera Spirit Award winners.

Earning her first major acting award after two decades in daytime TV, Outstanding Lead Actress winner Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki, The Young and the Restless, pictured) said:

“Thank you so much for this prestigious honor.  It is particularly thrilling to receive your recognition for work that was such a delight to play.  Many thanks to the editors, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners.”

Here's a list of the winners (in bold):

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS
General Hospital, ABC
One Life to Live, ABC

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan, The Bold and the Beautiful)
Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful)
Deidre Hall (Marlena Black, Days of Our Lives)
Beth Ehlers (Harley Cooper/Irna Phillips, Guiding Light)
Gina Tognoni (Dinah Marler, Guiding Light)
Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman, The Young and the Restless)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
Jon Hensley (Holden Snyder, As the World Turns)
Jack Wagner (Nick Marone, The Bold and the Beautiful)
Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus Aitoro, Guiding Light)
Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer, General Hospital)
Trevor St. John (Todd Manning, One Life to Live)

Read the full list of winners now.

Here's a look at the top-rated soap opera (in total viewers) for the week of February 4:

1. The Young and the Restless: 5,551,000
2. The Bold and the Beautiful: 3,738,000
3. General Hospital: 3,032,000
4. As the World Turns: 3,028,000
5. Days of Our Lives: 2,980,000
6. All My Children: 2,758,000
7. One Life to Live: 2,628,000
8. Guiding Light: 2,535,000

InTurn - the reality show chronicling actors vying for a contract role on the As the World Turns - will be returning this spring for a third season.

The reality show is focused round a series of 18-25-year-olds living under the same roof and competing for the same dream job. The show airs exclusively on CBS.com.

Aside from moving to New York City and learning to coexist under one roof with their new roommates, the InTurns will have to battle it out at grueling auditions while displaying the star quality that CBS Daytime is looking for in order to win the ultimate prize: a 13 week contract role on As the World Turns.

Previous winners include Ryan Serhart.