October 15, 2008
How much would it rule if GH: NIGHT SHIFT just made a spin-off of Robert's fantasy "going-away" party? I was delighted to see familiar faces John Reilly and Sharon Wyatt reprising their GH roles as Sean and Tiffany, a couple my Barbie dolls and I were often rooting for in the '80s, and didn't find at all jarring that their reunion with Robert, Luke, Mac, Anna and Robin happened on GH's nighttime spin-off. Sean and Tiffany would hardly recognize the Port Charles of daytime, you know? I love that NIGHT SHIFT has brought the focus back to the drama inside the hospital and touched on so many relevant issues with a remarkable degree of accuracy. The season has also given new life to our beloved Robert and Anna, granting fans a long-awaited bedside reconciliation. If you don't get SOAPnet, just wait for the DVD, which I'd assume they'd release for the holiday season. Meanwhile, kudos to New York Magazine for including Luke and Laura's wedding in its 40th Anniversary Approval Matrix. ( Check out the article here) It's nice to see a smart, hip magazine recognize the daytime genre.

October 8, 2008
I wasn't shy about expressing my displeasure with the premiere of 90210 and I haven't made a concerted effort to keep up with the new series, but somehow it keeps playing on my TV! For instance, last night, my cable seemed to be out (and no, this TV journalist doesn't have digital cable) and the only channel that came in was The CW. So it was before the debates and I figured I'd have something on in the background while I was cooking and suddenly, I was transfixed. Now, certain plot elements were totally unbelievable (drug-smelling dogs at West Beverly High! Available blanket space at a Hollywood Forever Cemetery screening! A completely red face due to cocaine usage! Relying on a high school teenager to make payments on your second home!) and there was no Kelly Taylor, but it was kind of awesome. I am terrified of the face Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) makes every time she's mad, which is A LOT, yet actually worried for her when her sketchy friend with the Nelly Furtado haircut didn't show up for a meeting that could very well ruin Naomi's future. Drama! Am I going to tune in next week? I don't know! It depends if my cat steps on the remote and puts on The CW by accident.

October 1, 2008
While I'm usually not a fan of short-term stunt casting, I have to give kudos to GH: NIGHT SHIFT for bringing soap vet Kathleen Noone (ex-Edna, PASSIONS et al) and prime-time vet Chad Allen on board to share story with NS's gay intern Kyle. In just one ep, Noone added a lovable quirkiness to Kyle and Leo's overbearing mom, Patricia, while sparks gently flew between Kyle and Allen's ailing Eric. Meanwhile, on GH, Lisa LoCicero (ex-Sonia, OLTL; ex-Jocelyn, LOVING/THE CITY) quickly got the hang of playing loud and proud Brooklynite Olivia. As for the longer-term role of Billy Abbott, played by Billy Miller (ex-Richie, AMC), you'll hear no arguments from me about Y&R rewriting that character as a jet-setting playboy. The last guy to play him did nothing for the character, so a rewrite seems only reasonable. Hmm ... now who should GH cast as Sonny and Olivia's son, who will no doubt be a hottie?!

September 24, 2008
Last night I had the pleasure of doing something completely out of the norm for a soap journalist. My co-worker Danielle McClure and I headed to the Nokia Theater for a special engagement featuring Clique Girlz, an adorable trio of preteen singers. Why were we there, you ask? Well, we were covering the show for Pixie, the tween/teen offshoot of Soap Opera Digest, which will return to newsstands in November. For anyone who's not familiar with Clique Girlz, they are three little blondes with powerful voices and unparalleled energy. When I asked them after the show how they keep up the energy during a performance, 12-year-old Paris Monroe thought for a moment then shrugged, "We're young." Right. I felt so old, especially when I had to drink a Pepsi just to stay awake past 10 p.m.! But I think I managed to hide my age — until I started talking about soap operas and the girls marveled, "There are magazines about soap operas?!"

September 17, 2008
After two back-to-back news interviews on a very exciting story involving Rex, I dashed to the OLTL studio yesterday afternoon to do double duty as a contributor to Pixie, the teen- and tween-focused collaborative effort from Digest and Weekly. My assignment was sooo difficult: Shadow 17-year-old Kristen Alderson (Starr) for "a day in the life"-type piece. Alderson is a notorious diva and made so many demands that I was ready to scrap the piece altogether — JOKING! If you don't know this after 10-plus years of watching her go from cutie pie to capable young lead, Alderson is a delightful person and is the consummate professional when it comes to interviews. We had a blast photographing her in the dressing room she shares with co-star and friend Brittany Underwood (Langston), dishing with her and co-star Brandon Buddy (Cole) as they read lines, and getting into hair and makeup to re-shoot her segment in the show's opening credits. Hairstylist Laurie Cacioli was teasing Alderson about how much she's grown since the last credits were taped and suggested someone put together a reel of Kristen over the years to demonstrate. Can you imagine having most of your life documented on TV? I certainly can’t, but Alderson takes it all in stride, from her 8:15 start time at school to running to the set to tape something like the opening credits at end of a long day.

September 11, 2008
A sick day is never really a sick day when you write about soaps for a living, because you inevitably end up on the couch watching soaps! Yesterday I was hit with a whopper of a bug and unfortunately slept through my favorite ABC soaps, but I did catch GUIDING LIGHT and YOUNG AND RESTLESS and took note of a few things: One, GL really does look (and sound) bad, and Two, you really do need an MBA to understand Y&R. This is certainly not news to anyone, but both became very clear to me as I switched the channel from reruns of THE FRESH PRINCE to GL and my boyfriend asked if I was watching BCAT (Brooklyn Community Access Television). He then recalled me mentioning the big changes at GL earlier this year and noted, "If I was a fan, I would definitely be disappointed." And why not? As I was sitting there watching a heartfelt scene between Alan and Bill in which Ron Raines and Danny Cosgrove were acting their patooties off, I thought, "Wow, I bet they're saying something really important, but I CAN'T HEAR THEM."

Moving onto Y&R, in the course of an episode, someone lost their job, someone bought out someone else from a magazine deal and someone else accepted their old job. The whole episode was about sneaky corporate dealings and as a feverish person on a sofa, I'd rather watch beautiful people making out. Call me shallow, but isn't that why we started watching daytime in the first place?

September 3, 2008
I love my daytime dramas and always will, but I'm pretty jazzed about the return of my nighttime soaps, starting with the August premieres of THE HILLS, which is clearly more of a soap than a "reality" series, and GH: NIGHT SHIFT, which despite its slow moments, is a very well-written, well-researched hospital drama. GOSSIP GIRL, of course, had a glorious season premiere on Monday, and I can't wait for GREY'S ANATOMY and UGLY BETTY to come back, but what the heck was that slop on The CW last night? Where does one even begin to explain how horrendously bad 90210 is? After all the subtle references to its predecessor, which I don't think the kids of today are really going to get, it just made me want to watch more reruns of BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 on SOAPnet and read all those interviews with Jennie Garth (Kelly) and Shannen Doherty (Brenda) that are circulating. To me, seeing Kelly and Brenda on screen together, knowing their characters' and their portrayers' complicated histories, is way more interesting than skinny girls stabbing even skinnier girls in the back for no apparent reason.

August 27, 2008
Have you noticed how after weeks of enduring what I've now dubbed "The Mendorran Tragedy" on ONE LIFE TO LIVE, that painful storyline seems to be winding down and in a not-so-bad way? I loved watching Kevin Spirtas, who finally found his footing as the whiny, horny, altogether jerky Jonas, get taken down by former cop Talia, which only reaffirmed what everyone kept telling Antonio all along: Talia can handle herself. Nevertheless, it was rewarding to see Antonio sneak into the palace and rescue his fair dame and I started to see this storyline for what it was: a hokey, campy, implausible action adventure with a decent love story (well, two if you count Sarah and Cristian) at its heart. The only thing missing was Cain, who I thought should have come back after realizing he didn't have all the Mendorran crown jewels. At least we know this isn't the last we'll see of Carlo (it never is!).

August 20, 2008
For the second year in a row, I attended the annual ONE LIFE TO LIVE fan club luncheon, and I have to give props to the 24 actors who braved Times Square on a Saturday afternoon to meet their fans. Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio) and BethAnn Bonner (Talia) served as a dynamic emcee team, running around the room during the Q&A and occasionally injecting their own commentary on the session. De los Reyes translated one Spanish-speaking fan's question and quipped to a delinquent viewer "What show are you watching?" when she asked John Brotherton when the Buchanans are going to find out he's not one of them. Another highlight was Thom Christopher (Carlo) getting misty-eyed as he thanked the fans for helping OLTL reach 40 years on the air, and Catherine Hickland (Lindsay) graciously offering to call one fan's elderly mom after the Q&A. Of course, there was a mad dash for Trevor St. John's (Todd) autograph table, but the surprise hot ticket of the day was newbie Mark Lawson (Brody), who fielded one question after another on his storyline, his background and how long he'll be sticking around Llanview (he signed a four-year contract in March). There were also several pleas for fans to write in to the powers that be and make their desires known, so if you want to see more Layla, Shaun, Markko, etc., get those pens (or keyboards) ready!

August 13, 2008
As I spent the last few weeks packing and going through various mementos in preparation for a move, I came across so many wonderful daytime relics. For instance, I found a nearly mint condition printing of a cookbook featuring ABC Daytime stars from the early '80s. This was passed down to me from my mom and I have every intention of getting it signed by one or two of the folks on the cover at the annual Fan Club Luncheon this weekend. OLTL's Robert S. Woods (Bo), for one, should get a kick out of that. I also came across a VHS recording from November 2006, when SOAPnet was airing those vintage Luke and Laura episodes in honor of the 25th anniversary, some old tapes of when Tamara Braun (love her!) was playing Carly on GH, and of course, my copy of General Hospital: The Complete Scrapbook, also given to me by a dear friend with instructions to enjoy it with my mom. It was fun looking over these things again, and reminded me of the special lady who got me started on soaps in the first place.

July 30, 2008
I have two words to say regarding the 7/26 and 7/28 episodes of ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Hot Stuff. For months, I've been raving in the magazine and on this blog about the potential of a John and Blair hookup. Unfortunately, I was stuck waiting for a flight out of L.A. when the long-awaited love scenes aired AND the cable went out in our Digest offices, so imagine my disappointment when I discovered my recording of Monday's episode was all static! But of course, JoBlair fans had already posted the scenes in a montage on YouTube.com. Not in a long while, I think, has there been a pairing on this show with such organic, sizzling chemistry. These characters bring out a lighter side in each other, but also a totally sexy, take-me-I'm-yours side! That moment when Blair walked away from John on the rooftop, and he stood up and considered his next move for a beat, then pulled her in, was priceless. I only wish that the show hadn't cut to them in bed the next day so quickly. Maybe John just isn't a candles-and-soft music kinda guy. But that Kassie DePaiva is one lucky lady when it comes to hot leading men! (In fact, you can hear her thoughts on that in the August 26 issue of Digest, which comes out on August 19.) So JoBlair fans, if you want to see this love affair play out, let TPTB at OLTL know how you feel! As DePaiva indicated in the August 5 issue, "Whether this is a short-term event, I don't know. Fans will dictate that."