Entries Tagged as 'Soap Operas'

CBS to end “As the World Turns” in September

CBS’s daytime drama As the World Turns will broadcast its final episode on Sept. 17, 2010 — one day shy of a year after the network pulled the plug on its 72-year-old daytime flagship Guiding Light. At the time of its final broadcast, the series will have spanned 54 years and more than 13,000 episodes.

“It’s extremely difficult to say good-bye to a long-running series that’s been close to our hearts for so long,” said Barbara Bloom, Senior Vice President, Daytime Programming. “The almanacs will show As the World Turns as a pioneer of the format, a hallmark for quality with its numerous Emmy’s, the launching pad for many television and film stars and a daytime ratings powerhouse for parts of three decades. But, the true legacy of As the World Turns will be the fictional characters and stories of a small Midwest town that resonated every day with millions of viewers over multiple generations, becoming a treasured daytime institution in the process. We thank our partners at Procter & Gamble for the privilege of hosting this beloved series … the actors, writers, producers and crew who worked so hard and shared their amazing talents to bring this series to life … and, of course, the viewers who shared the journey on our network for so many years.”

Longtime fans know that the series served as a launch pad for the careers of James Earl Jones, Marisa Tomei, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey, Julianne Moore, Swoosie Kurtz, Stargate Universe’s Ming-Na, Law & Order: SVU’s Tamara Tunie, Greek’s Spencer Grammer, Big Love’s Amanda Seyfreid and a host of others.

Photo credit: Kwaku Alston/CBS

James Franco’s “General Hospital” episodes start Nov. 20

Golden Globe winner franco2James Franco joins the cast of ABC’s General Hospital in the recurring role of Franco, a mysterious man who comes to Port Charles and will become intertwined with many other residents in town. His first airdate is in the Nov. 20 episode, as part of the climax of November sweeps.

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Michael Yarish/ABC

Jonathan Jackson returns to “General Hospital”

Three-time Emmy Award-winning actor Jonathan Jackson is returning to General Hospital to reprise the role he created as a teenager — Lucky Spencer, son of legendary soap super-couple Luke and Laura.gh

In his storyline, Lucky wants his former wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), to remarry him. But he doesn’t know that Elizabeth has strong feelings for her former brother-in-law (and Lucky’s brother), Nikolas Cassadine. When Luke (Anthony Geary) finds out what’s going on between Elizabeth and Nikolas, he must decide whether to tell Lucky the truth.

“We are very excited to welcome Jonathan back to Port Charles,” says executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. “His return will be sure to captivate the audience and be pivotal to this ongoing love story between some of the show’s most popular characters.”

Jackson can be seen back on GH starting on Oct. 27.

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Credit: Ron Tom/ABC

Daytime Emmy Award Nominations Announced

By RabbitEars

Nominations for the 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards were announced yesterday. PBS led the way with 56 nominations, followed by ABC with 50, syndicated shows with 49, CBS with 30, NBC with 20, Nickelodeon with 13, Disney Channel with 10 and Food Network with 10. Several other networks followed with single-digit nominations. The awards ceremony, hosted by Vanessa Williams, will air August 30 on The CW.

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SNEAK PEEK: Episode 3 Of Southern Belles: Louisville, Premiering June 4 On SOAPnet

In “The Belles Bond,” the girls go away for the weekend, where friction between Shea and Emily results in a surprising makeover. Also, Kelly reveals some deep secrets from her past and later — in a tense encounter — Emily meets with a style consultant who thinks she may need to tone down her look to be taken seriously. 

Southern Belles: Louisville airs Thursday nights beginning May 21 on SOAPnet.

Light’s Out: CBS Soap “Guiding Light” To Broadcast Its Final Episode Friday, Sept. 18

CBS’s daytime drama GUIDING LIGHT will broadcast its final episode on Friday, September 18, 2009. At the time of its final broadcast, the series will have spanned 72 years and more than 15,700 episodes on television and radio.

Created by Irna Phillips, the show debuted on NBC radio on January 25, 1937 as the 15-minute radio serial “The Guiding Light.” It made the switch to 15-minute episodes on CBS Television on June 30, 1952, although it continued to air concurrently on radio with the actors playing parts on both shows until 1956, when the radio show ended. In 1967, the series first started being broadcast in color, and a year later, the show expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In November 1977, the show expanded to a full hour. The series is credited by The Guinness Book of World Records as “The Longest-Running Television Drama.”

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Lorelai Let’s Live Together Again: “Gilmore Girls” Comes To SOAPNet April 4

Posted by ButtonKnows

Wishing for  a multigenerational — right down to the teens — series about family, friendship and social class, but the hyper-fashionista, over-sexed, Gossip Girl know-it-alls are a bit much for your taste? Well, ya missed it.

But SOAPNet has welcome news.

The network has announced that it will air all seven seasons of the beloved, family-friendly, girlie-dramedy Gilmore Girls (which originally aired from 2000-2007) Saturdays beginning April 4 at 9pm, and Sundays at 6pm ET.


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Jeff Burton Makes Pit Stop At “General Hospital”

By RabbitEars

NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, 21-time winner on the Sprint Cup Series competition, appears on next Wednesday’s (March 18) episode of ABC’s venerable soap opera General Hospital.

In his storyline, Burton visits neighborhood tavern Jake’s, where he’s having a conversation about racing with bartender Coleman (Blake Gibbons) when Dr. Drake (Jason Thompson) arrives. Despite being a racecar enthusiast, somehow Drake does not recognize the driver of No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Then, according to the ABC release, “a comedic beat ensues.”

Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, ABC will also be televising the final 11 races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which Burton will be a part of, starting with the September 12 event in Richmond, Virginia.

© 2009 Disney/ABC Television Group

General Hospital Fans: Get Your Phil Once More!

Posted By ButtonKnows

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when I was living in a pink-shag-carpeted box of a dorm room at the UW Eau Claire, my beloved roommate Puz and I fought about just one single thing — the superiority of General Hospital versus Guiding Light and which would lay claim to the 2pm time slot on our single TV.

She — and GL — won the argument on the lure of the Beth/Phillip/Lujack love triangle alone.

Eventually my passion for daytime drama was thwarted by the necessity of daytime job.

Still, some 20 years later, my heart did a nostalgic little pitter patter when an email appeared in my inbox sporting the subject line “Daytime Drama Star Grant Aleksander Ressurrects His Role As Phillip Spaulding on Guiding Light Monday, Feb. 9 on the CBS Television Network — straight from the network’s cyber-mouth.

And so he is.

When I die, I would like to come back as a daytime television star — and here is why. You’re never really gone; you’re just waiting on a better storyline. In this case, Phillip (and three cheers to the network for NOT bringing back the venerable character with a who-the-hell-is-that-guy new actor) was shot and not killed by his father Alan (the also venerable Ron Raines) some five years back. That’s real time, not necessarily Springfield time.

And on Feb. 9, whenever your local CBS affiliate shines the Light, he’ll resurrect himself when he learns that his daughter’s former beau is looking for him — and discovers dear old dad about to marry Beth!

Awwwww. Phillip! Beth! I wonder what Lujack would think about all of this.

Night Shift #2

Posted by RabbitEars

“Other People’s Children” Coming up in the second General Hospital: Night Shift episode of the new season, airing July 29 at 11pm ET on SoapNet, an adopted girl from China is rushed into the ER, and Robin races to find a donor match. But she gets more than she bargained for when she uncovers a secret about the girl. Meanwhile, Claire is pursued by a drunk patient, but she’s more interested in his sober buddy, and Leo and Kyle stop fighting long enough to have a drink and be civilized for a moment. Later, Jagger storms out after a fight with Robin about Stone.