SUDSIEST QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I had to put her on a box. No, I’m kidding — I stooped to conquer.”
—AMC’s six-foot-three Michael Nouri kissing his five-foot-two co-star Susan Lucci on-screen next week in Soap Opera Digest
Translation: Lucci’s a size queen who loves standing on her soapbox.
All My Children, ABC — Erica kisses Caleb!
• In story 411 … Erica leaves town with her fiancé, Jack, after Caleb McCrabby kisses the spoiled corporate queen. Confused, Erica and Jackson leave town on an early honeymoon to accommodate Susan Lucci’s summer vacation. By the way, don’t you think La Lucci is looking even more beautiful — if that’s possible — than ever these days? The L.A. sun is treating the ageless soap goddess very well. Sophia Loren, who?!
•Zach’s back, Zendall fans. Thorsten Kaye will once again make a cameo visit when Alicia Minshew brings Kendall back permanently to Freeway Valley.
As The World Turns, CBS — All the gossip fit to print!
• The 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were an official coming-out party for two real-life Oakdale couples — Austin Peck and Terri Colombino, and Cady McClain and Jon Lindstrom.
• Make sure you pick up this week’s Time Magazine for a story on World Turns’s final spin on the daytime axis. For now, click here to view Time.com's photo essay on the last days of Oakdale.
The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS/CTV — Is Kay back? Brown vs. Flannery!
• Guess those milk cartons and billboards finally worked. According to Soap Opera Digest, Lesli Kay will return to her Emmy-nominated role of Felicia in September where the Emmy winner will find a big storyline waiting for her. I’ll believe it when I see it, as certain insiders couldn’t confirm the report when Suds dug around.
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• Emmy winner Sarah “Number Four!” Brown and I waxed about the trend this year of actors being nominated for roles they no longer play. “Storylines are shorter. Attention spans are shorter, so maybe that’s why actors are jumping from soap to soap more often now,” she theorizes. “Maybe that’s more interesting for audiences — to see an actor pop into a show for a couple of years and then jump to another soap. I don’t know …”
Since Brown won three winged statues for playing GH’s Carly, she does know that she could have made Daytime Emmy history by being the first performer to win soaps’ highest acting honour in every category. It’s also the gluten-free diva’s first nomination for playing another role other than Carly (GH’s Claudia). In addition, it’s also Brown’s first nomination as Lead Actress.
Currently, Brown is toiling as B&B’s Aggie, but that doesn’t mean she can’t cheer for both shows.
“I’m so not confused,” reports Brown. “I definitely feel like I’m here to represent both shows, but I know I’m nominated for GH. I’m still so close to the people over at GH. I grew up there …” |
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Had she won, would an Emmy win for playing a polar-opposite new character on her alma mater feel any different? “Totally — because it’s Lead Actress. I have coveted the Lead Actress category my entire daytime career.”
I had to ask: Why is that so important for daytime actors to earn a Lead Acting Emmy trophy — because there are no small parts, just small actors? Brown defends, saying, “You’re being recognized as a leading performer in your field. And the women who have actually won this award make me want to get on my knees and bow down to them. To be a part of that group would be an honour.”
Well, maybe next year. “From your lips,” smiled La Brown.
As an aside, Brown wants her B&B co-star and acting idol Susan Flannery to know that she owes this year’s Lead Actress competitors $60 for their annual pre-Emmy lunch. “We’re totally busting her,” Brown laughed. “Please print that.”
And the most pressing issue? Brown’s ever-changing hair colour! Can we expect Brown to stay dirty blonde for now? “Yes,” she answers. “The black hair was only for Claudia — to help separate me from Carly. Black hair isn’t who I am. I love my hair like this.”
Too bad, because like Madonna, I prefer Brown with black tresses.
Finally, who the hell is responsible for picking one of the worst soap names for a super-talented actress? Aggie Jones? Really? Seriously, Amy and Seth?!
“Brad and I did,” insisted Brown. “Brad offered me three choices and Aggie was my choice. And yes, it was an homage to the incomparable Agnes Nixon. Absolutely. I didn’t want to be someone named Debbie Does Dallas. Anyway, I want to be remembered for my work, not my character name. Though I did love the name Claudia. It was sexy.”
Just like Brown.
Coronation Street, CBC — Snoop boozing at Rovers?
Snoop Dogg is one barking and biting soap fan! First he guested on his fave U.S. sudser, One Cancellation Threat Too Many, and now the rapper is hoping to book a gig on Corrie Street! He said producers “were interested, so hopefully it might happen.”
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Days of our Lives, NBC/Global — Cooking with the sizzling Deidre Hall!
• Move over, Ken Corday! Deidre Hall is getting into the publishing game, too, damn it!
Since Hall infamously sizzled on the tube, there’s no reason to think that the sex symbol wouldn’t steam it up in the kitchen as well. But this time Samantha isn’t spying!
Mark your calendars and start Christmas shopping early: On July 20, one of daytime’s most beloved, talented, and beautiful superstars eagerly releases her cooking book, Deidre Hall’s Kitchen Closeup: Fast, Frugal, Fabulous Food Secrets, exclusively on Amazon.com.
Hall jokes, “But if you're in Santa Monica, I’ll be selling it out of my trunk or between the flamenco guitarist and bead lady on the Promenade!”
After being ousted from her iconic role of Dr. Marlena Evans on DAYS two years ago, Hall refused to rest on her laurels. No, instead, in true survivor fashion, the fan favourite decided to begin a new chapter of her life and career — literally. |
The Daytime Emmy-nominated diva co-wrote the book with longtime friend, Lynne Bowman, who met Hall in 1968 when the future actress was modeling and Bowman was an art director for Redken Laboratories. Bowman hired Hall for a print job, and by the end of the shoot, they were best pals and still are.
Together, Hall and Bowman have been getting into trouble and making hideous mistakes in and out of the kitchen for so many years now, they’ve finally started to get the hang of it. In fact, they now think they’re pretty hot in the kitchen, and are delighted to share their hard-won wisdom with anyone who will pay attention.
Below, Hall exclusively shared her book introduction titled “Who Are These Women and Why Do They Think Anybody Needs Yet Another Cookbook,” with our TV Guide Canada readers:
My son David’s first spoonfuls of solid food, cereal, followed by Tully’s two years later, was the beginning of my food consciousness. Until then, french fries were a vegetable, toffee and Parmesan popcorn were staples, and a weight loss program meant skipping lunch. (It worked at 23!) My beloved boys came to me late in life, as did my nutritional awareness.
When the boys were in elementary school I complained about the school lunch. I was told, in the nicest possible way, “If you don’t like it, change it.” That change came with much distress and the pleadings of my little ones. “Why? What’s wrong with cookies and cupcakes at lunch? Why do YOU have to do it? The kids are mad at me!
It was my first brush with activism that continues to this day. David and I flew to Washington, D.C. to ask members of Congress to renew and improve the Child Nutrition Act, and I have joined Elizabeth Kucinich’s efforts to include more plant-based, locally grown foods in our school lunches. I planted a garden when the boys were quite small so my children wouldn’t think their food grew in tidy rows at Gelson’s grocery store. One constant of the last 40 years has been my friendship/kinship with Lynne. We have supported each other through joyous and devastating times, financial ruin, crushing betrayal, and exquisite success, all issues made manageable with time at the kitchen table. Lynne is, simply put, my friend. I mention the kitchen table since this is where many a plot has been hatched (“Let’s bake him some banana bread!”) This book began a hundred times over the past several years. It would be bumping along wonderfully well until the next interruption came: “It’s the new J. Crew, Restoration Hardware, Country Home catalogue,” “Was there any cake left over from last night?” or “The DOGS/ CAT/ HORSES are out!!
We’re happy to finally be able to invite you to pull up a chair, as we present to you our labour of love, with gratitude to our brilliant and courageous predecessors, the producers of FOOD, Inc., Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Dr. Oz, and others we spoke of in the book. And in case you were thinking all we dish about is food, just wait for our next books!
In the chapter titled, “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” the health-conscious Hall shares:
How do those women you see on the tube year after year, decade after decade, keep it glued together? What in the world are they doing so they still look eerily like they did when you used to watch the show every day in the ‘80s with your grandma? Great question. We’d like to offer, with utmost humility, a few answers. Not that we know a huge amount more than you do. The difference just may be that because it’s our business, we pay very close attention to this stuff, and try it out if we think there’s a chance it’s going to make us look a little better or feel a little more energetic. If it seems to work, even a little bit, we practice it, and maybe in some cases, perfect it. If it doesn’t work for us, we not only reject it, but tell everybody we know it didn’t work. Now, we want to share with you what did work, hoping you’ll have some fun doing your own personal research on the matter. When you’re in front of the camera every day, year after year, the environment is extremely unforgiving. If you’re going to survive with so many eyes on you from every direction, you learn a few things about makeup, hair, and wardrobe. You learn — sometimes painfully — how to keep your body in decent shape with exercise, and you learn how to eat to keep your energy up and your weight down, even when you have to leave the house at 6 a.m. and work an 18-hour day.
The good news, then, is that you’ve kept your job and your audience for a few years. The bad news is that the longer you succeed and the older you get, the more you have to keep learning it all over again. And again. And again. You change, obviously, as you age; your nutritional needs change, and your level of activity changes. The world of information changes, too, and while some things — actually, lots of things — your grandma knew to be true about food are still true, we have learned some important new information along the way. How do you sort through all of it?
Well, dear pals, we’ve done that for ourselves and for you. We’re hoping you’ll toss this little book in your bag and take it with you on your rounds, to help with the truly big questions in your life …
For the rest of Hall’s insider tips and tricks, make sure you put this delicious book on your to-do list on July 20.
For more on my first soap crush, visit La Hall’s website, www.deidrehall.me, and follow her on Twitter @DeidreHall. Also, if you’re down under, like John usually was with Marlena, Hall will be in Australia touring Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for her Health, Beauty, and Empowerment event sharing her other secrets — looking and feeling young at any age.
Hall’s first stop in Australia will be on Saturday, July 17 at the Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney. The classy blonde will then appear at the Hotel Windsor in Melbourne on Saturday, July 24. Next, the ex-Soap Opera Digest cover queen will show up at the Stamford Plaza Brisbane in Brisbane on Saturday, July 31. Got that?
• Daytime Emmy-nominated star Jessica Tuck is out on DAYS next week when Chad accidentally pushes his mother, Madeline, down a staircase. Immediately, Chad tweets about what happened in this latest development.
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• Spunky and sassy Molly Burnett took a big risk by choosing a subtle, character-driven Emmy reel to compete at this year’s 37th annual Daytime Emmy Awards and it paid off with her first career nomination. “It just spoke to me,” she summarized of her brave choice to Suds. Burnett, who is strawberry blonde, doesn’t see any impact of her Emmy nomination yet. “They’ve always written a lot for me so I haven’t noticed anything different yet. Being nominated is just a fun experience,” she boasted.
Has working with Emmy winners Crystal Chappell and Suzanne Rogers made Burnett a better actress? She nods, “Yes, they both took me under their wing. Crystal and Suzanne are both phenomenal. I wish Suzanne was nominated this year — she deserved it.”
Burnett, who was one of the few stars to wear black to the kudofest, admitted she didn’t prepare a speech. “I wanted to tone it down because I heard a lot of actresses were wearing colour and/or nudes,” she says. | |
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Does Burnett consider herself an accidental soap star? “Yeah, I’m not your typical soap actress,” she laughs. “You don’t expect to see people like me on soaps, which I think is [a good thing].”
Her real-life beau, Casey Deidrick concurs, saying he’s really proud of his “Mama,” adding, “she did amazing work this year on DAYS. If she doesn’t win this year, I have a feeling she will next year.”
Maybe Deidrick will find himself competing for a new lady next year, La Emmy.
General Hospital, ABC/CTV — Marcil weds!
• She’s taken guys and gals: Daytime’s biggest superstar, Vanessa Marcil (sorry, Eric Braeden and Crystal Chappell), wed CSI:NY boyfriend Carmine Giovinazzo (did GH honcho Bob Guza name him?).
• Head writer Guza has a full plate of superstars and characters on his hands, but the Emmy winner assures and promises Suds Report that Valentin Cassadine will appear on his sudser soon (Suds broke the casting news at last year’s Emmys!). But that hasn’t stopped Matt Borlenghi from playing the soap game. “I spoke to B&B’s Brad Bell, DAYS’s Gary Tomlin about their open-door policy while I wait to do my thing on GH. That’s why I love going to Emmys. You never know who you’re going to meet and who’ll say, ‘Matt looks freakin’ awesome!’ Seriously, I love daytime and just want to work,” the ex-AMC stud pointed out. In the meantime, Borlenghi has been cast in MYTV’s Proper Manors and the web’s The Bay.
Borlenghi admits he’s more fond of soaps as he and the genre have matured, especially now that’s he a leading man and not a romantic punk. “When I was on AMC, I was 23 so I wasn’t interested in chasing around Kelly Ripa’s Hayley and telling her, ‘I love you,’ three times a day. But I have a great respect for soaps now. I believe the stigma between daytime and nighttime is finally collapsing with the collapse of overly theatrical performances in daytime. All I want to bring, as a contributor to daytime, is an understated, vulnerable, and strong performance with a lot of dignity. Mad love. Mad skill,” he says.
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One Life To Live, ABC — Rules of engagement
• Ran into one of my favourite acting heroes ever, Mr. Trevor St. John, near a gambling table at the Las Vegas Hilton during Emmy weekend. After finally meeting face-to-face, St. John proved Todd’s sense of humour spills off screen. I ordered him to behave himself on the Emmy red carpet the next day and be nice to the press, to which he retorted, “Aren’t I always?” Predictably, St. John skipped the red carpet press all together. Bastard!
• In story 411, Todd and Blair become engaged — but to other people. I’m sure you can do the math.
Venice, venicetheseries.com — Lights, camera, attraction!
• July is unofficially Pride Month on Venice Beach as Season 2 of Crystal Chappell’s Sapphic sudser began filming in L.A. this past week. Each day, behind-the-scenes videos and pictures are uploaded, so don’t miss out on all the chaos, humour, and wardrobe malfunctions in a must-watch blog on venicetheseries.com! And look — ex-GL/DAYS star Wes Ramsey’s on the set, too! Hmmm …
• Also, Suds has learned Emmy winner Susan Flannery will direct Sunday’s taping of Venice! |
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The Young and the Restless, CBS/Global — Another bloodbath?
• It looks like Y&R wants to live forever young which means some of our old faves may get the deep freeze soon. As previously reported, this summer, film star Sean Young is back as Meggie, the cynical, wisecracking Canadian barmaid Victor encountered in Ottawa a few weeks back. Thanks to Y&R’s increasingly overburdened cast, producers are thinking of cutting up to four actors, including one Emmy winner, report sources. Suds already broke the news that Wilson Bethel and John Driscoll are being booted (Driscoll learned this past week that he is indeed leaving the sudser, and not just being dropped down to recurring status) from their less-than-stellar roles.
• Ex-GL starlet Marcy Rylan was thinking of the cast of World Turns at this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards. “I feel for them. I know that right now it’s sad but it’s a process and they’ll begin to heal soon,” she sympathizes. “I’m sure we’ll begin to see a lot of World Turns actors pop up on other shows.”
One positive aspect of all the recent soap cancellations is that the remaining soaps are cherry-picking top-drawer talent. In the process, soaps are beefing up with their casts with a bevy of talented vets and Emmy-winning talent more than ever before. “The up side of that is no matter who you are, you have to bring your A-game to the set every single day because our cast is the best of the best,” says Rylan. “Also, if you’re not doing your best there is a whole other cast out there looking for jobs so there’s no sitting back and phoning it in. The bar is set really high right now.”
Changing topics, did Rylan enjoy a baby-less Emmy weekend? “No,” she laughs. “Jackson is here with us. I brought my mom so she can babysit while we’re out. I couldn’t leave him just yet.” Awww …
Later, Suds made fun of the multi-tasking Rylan for sitting outside The Grove’s Apple Store in L.A. the week prior for 13 hours to get her manicured hands on the new iPhone. She confesses, “From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., I waited outside the store. I was shooting at Y&R, so my friends held my place in line. I would literally run over to CBS, tape a scene, and come back and get back in line. If I had to wait by myself that phone would have to been able to clean my house, make me food … But listen, it’s a cool phone. Was it worth it? Probably not, but my friends and I had fun.”
• Entertainment Weekly editor Michael Slezak will be guest-starring on July 12′s episode. Maybe he’ll show Billy Abbott that you can’t write, edit, photograph, lay out, and publish Restless Style in less than one day. Only Soap Opera Digest can accomplish that feat.
• In story 411, Adam is blackmailed into marrying Skye, while Phyllis finally breaks up with Nick the Dick.
SOAP OPERA MYSTERY HOUR — This week’s hottest blind items
—Which former east-coast fave has been experiencing financial bad luck ever since she was fired last year?
—Which west-coast actor has producers concerned due to his recent weight gain?
—Which unemployed younger actor fears his former network is blacklisting him?
Want to dish the soaps with Nelson Branco? Join The Suds Report discussion group today on Facebook.com.
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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America. |
