** Read the IDIOT RATINGS below to see how GH fared despite the DVR blackout!
SOAPILEAKS:
This Week’s Hottest News, Gossip, and Reviews!
ALL MY CHILDREN — Devious Susan!
• According to DEADINE.COM: La Susan Lucci is heading to primetime while staying close to her soap roots. The former AMC star is returning to ABC with a delicious co-starring role in the network’s pilot DEVIOUS MAIDS, a primetime soap from DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES creator Marc Cherry, in a plum co-starring role. Based on the Mexican format, DEVIOUS MAIDS follows four maids (Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez, Judy Reyes) with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. Lucci will play one of the employers, Genevieve Delacourt, a beautiful, wealthy woman who is gently crazy. Having spent her adult life attracting one powerful man after another, she’s reduced to seducing the Armenian pool boy, and the vertiginous drop in her sexual status has left her — well, the word is nuts. Unused to having men walk past her as if she were as sexless as a mailbox, Genevieve is feeling suicidal.
Can I get a, “HOLLA?!” Best news ever! No one deserves a big mainstream gig more than Lucci! It’s too bad the Emmy winner is still working for ABC. But we still get to see her campy greatness on a weekly basis. Memo to Cherry: Don’t you dare slap my Lucci, because she’ll slap you back! Also, Cherry, what’s your next project? Dastardly Athletes? Dangerous Lesbians? Demented Landscapers?
AS THE WORLD TURNS — CarJack: The Movie!
• Lost your compass? Miss those romantic yet dysfunctional spouses, WORLD TURNS’ Carly and Jack? Well, never fear: Emmy winners Maura West and Michael Park are back on your screen screaming at each other! SoapClassics.com has announced the release of The Carly and Jack Collection – CARJACK.
The $19.95 DVD collection features 10 episodes containing such memorable moments as Jack and Carly’s first kiss, Jack giving Carly "The Compass" and more. Surf over to SoapClassics.com today to purchase your copy.
Personally, I can’t wait for the Nuke Collection… or even better, The Stephen Black and Henry Stern Collection! Ha.
Next week, I speak to Maura West on how she feels being immortalized on DVD and the web as Carly!
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS/CTV — Holden On: Jon Hensley Joins Cast! Watch out, Brooke! Plus: Byrne on Her Soap Hubby! Shocker: Hope Hooked on Pills!
• First Martha Byrne (as a writer) and now Jon Hensley! TV GUIDE MAGAZINE broke news earlier this week that hunk-a-licious (and my secret husband) Jon Hensley has been cast as a yet-to-be-named doctor, who will play an integral role in B&B's upcoming Aspen, Colorado location shoot. B&B will be filming in the snowy city during the real Aspen Fashion Week. Let’s pray there isn’t a gondola in sight!
Last night, Bryne spoke with UNCENSORED about her legendary co-star’s new job! “I'm really happy for Jon,” she smiles. “I hope it turns into a regular gig. I always thought Jon would be a great addition to the cast B&B. I think Brad will love him, just like the rest of America. It will be great to see his handsome face on my TV again.
Back off Byrne, he’s mine! Stubble and all…
• Yesterday, a soap staged a celebration — not a funeral! How novel! Yep, the most watched daily serial in the world acknowledged their amazing 25-year anniversary with an on-set press day. Angelica McDaniel, Sr. Vice President, Daytime, CBS Entertainment said, “Congratulations to our amazing cast and crew, as well as the Bell family, on this remarkable achievement. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL has touched and entertained our viewers for 25 years while always remaining a vital and fundamental part of the CBS Daytime lineup.”
Showrunner Bradley Bell added, “Twenty-five years is a tremendous milestone. It’s been an extraordinary experience. The future looks bright as we venture into the next generation of family drama mixed with laughter, tears and socially relevant stories. My gratitude to CBS for their invaluable support for the past 25 years and to our incredible fans for their dedication and loyalty.”
• 25 years young — literally! B&B Chief Bradley Bell sat down with TV GUIDE to discuss the show's increasing emphasis on its twentysomething stars and what this will mean to the show's veteran players. And what was he smoking when he dropped Jack Wagner Malandro?
Bell previewed his next big social issue storyline involving Hope and her impending dependence on prescription pills: “It's especially timely, what with the sad passing of Whitney Houston. Addiction to prescription drugs is so widely spread around the world. I think this will have an impact everywhere B&B is seen. And it most certainly is prevalent in the social circles Hope and the Forresters and the Spencers all travel in.”
How does it all happen? “She's been the spokesperson for the Hope for the Future clothing line, and has been trying to lead a youth movement to encourage kids to become politically active, and to care for the environment and to be more sexually responsible — ideally waiting until marriage to have sex. And here she is living with Liam, a married man. It's completely contrary to everything she's been up on her box espousing. Parents are buying Hope's clothes for their kids because they want a positive, anti-Kardashian role model. When it's revealed that she's living with Liam, they feel they've been duped. She's labeled an adulteress and hypocrite and it becomes a media nightmare. The paparazzi will swarm her and the people who were once her fans turn on her on the various websites. She's already been taking anti-anxiety pills — prescribed by a psychiatrist — but the story will take a turn and those pills become detrimental to her well-being. This is going to be a wonderful acting challenge for Kim Matula, who plays Hope. It's really going to stretch her.” Just like Brooke likes to stretch, I bet!
As for his talented younger set, Bell acknowledges that he has the “it” team in place with Scott Clifton, Jackie Wood, Kim Matula, and Adam Gregory. “It's very much like we were 25 years ago when Ridge and Brooke were the centerpiece of B&B,” he says. “I've been looking for this for quite some time. Not since the days of Amber, Rick, Kimberly, and CJ have we had such a strong young group. Maybe this current group even eclipses them. They have been such a success for us in the ratings and the demos. We're up 400,000 viewers from last year, half of them in the 18-49 demo. So I am committed to telling younger and younger stories”.
What about dropping Jack Wagner, who is now strutting his stuff on DANCING WITH THE STARS? Was the axing a mistake considering all the press he’ll garner for his mambos? “It wasn't an easy decision,” he admits. “It's no secret I haven't given him the types of stories that he deserved. He is an incredibly gifted actor, with such range and talent, and he's also a great gentleman. It's really best for both of us.”
Even if GH hires him back? “Professionally, I'd love for him to remain available to us on a recurring basis. Personally, I wish him nothing but the best and, if that means losing him to GH, then I'll have to live with that,” he states.
Bell also stresses that B&B won’t be cancelled thanks to the unwavering support from CBS. “Even in these more difficult times for soaps, the network has been fantastic. Les Moonves and Nina Tassler have been very complimentary and continue to allow me great creative freedom. I can't imagine a better working relationship with a network. NBC and ABC have made the mistake in their daytime divisions of programming to the bottom line, just putting on cost-effective shows solely to make a profit. CBS puts quality and loyalty first and I have great faith that they will keep us around. We're all feeling very blessed.”
• In story 411, Hope and Liam finally “make love,” but it turns out to be “bad sex.” Hey, Brooke — It’s time to introduce your daughter to two letters in the alphabet: B and J.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC/GLOBAL — Is Will Possessed by the Devil? Reckell out!
• Shawn Christian, who? Less hope for DAYS fans: According to DIGEST, Peter Reckell will be temporarily off the soap beginning next week for three weeks.
• Will’s first kiss on Feb. 23 generated a lot of controversy, SOAP OPERA
DIGEST reports. The magazine printed a letter from a fan who claimed she was “sickened,” as well as messages of praise. Deidre Hall told SOD that she hadn’t been “besieged” by a storyline like this before with the exception of her possession storyline. However, after the kiss aired, Hall received over 200 posts raving about the story. So there.
• Oh, Abigail! After learning of Austin and Abby’s “affair,” Carrie runs back to Salem and professes her love for Rafe. Um, OK. And Austin overhears! “It’s soul crushing,” describes Patrick Muldoon to DIGEST.
GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC/CITY — Jackson Back? Rick Hearst Returning? Is Parsons on Crack? Sri Rao On Cartini!
How is Cartini doing at GH? Well, according to former GH: NIGHT SHIFT scribe Sri Rao they’re killing it! In an exclusive interview, the acclaimed writer raves: “Yes, GH has been a trip lately with Robin's death storyline. I've absolutely loved seeing Robert and Anna. I think they're all doing some great work. Only wish I could've been a part of it...”
He continues, “It was really emotional for me to see Kimberly McCullough leave the show since I, like so many other