SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED
Volume 02, Issue 39 (No. 49)
BY NELSON BRANCO
Copyright 2012 Nelson Branco
INSIDE — PART THREE OF UNCENSORED’s INTERVIEW WITH JEANNE COOPER: “MERYL STREEP — OR JULIA ROBERTS COULD PLAY ME IN A MOVIE!” PLUS: THE LAST DINOSAUR: THE FALL OF VICTOR NEWMAN (AND ERIC BRAEDEN)! — Twit Drama: Michelle Stafford, Joshua Morrow, and Michael Muhney! Y&R Burns Down The Newman Ranch! Chick-Fil-A Controversy Continues: Austin Peck Defends The Fast Food Chain in a Must-Read Facebook Post! Rumour Control: Is Nadia Bjorlin Married… And Preggers?! Find Out! GH Welcomes Back Kassie De Paiva! Good News for DAYS! More Delusions of Grandeur From Maria Arena Bell! Plus: Did Eileen Davidson Call MAB A Liar? B&B Filming On Location Again! Blind Items! Last Week Reviews! Casting Coach! Soap Porn Returns! UNCENSORED Quotes Of The Week!
UNCENSORED MASTHEAD:
FOUNDER/EDITOR: Nelson Branco
EDITOR AT LARGE: Denette Wilford
Follow Soap Opera Uncensored at: @nelliebranco or @SoapUncensored
NOTE FROM EDITOR/FOUNDER:
You asked — and it’s happening. For more information on subscribing to daytime’s first weekly e-zine SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED, email
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COMING SOON: VENICE — UNCENSORED
To pre-order your upcoming book VENICE THE SERIES: UNCENSORED for a special price email:
[email protected]. The Sapphic tome, which will be out this fall, chronicles the web soap’s meteoric rise, punctuates and analyzes its relevance in serial storytelling and its groundbreaking achievements in the online and soap opera medium. With every single Crystal Chappell interview I’ve ever conducted in one e-book — and those of her VENICE co-stars/directors — this is one must-buy keepsake in addition to episode synopses and reviews, top ten lists, fearless predictions, translated quotes, humour, and exclusive season four previews. Plus: Tributes to GUIDING LIGHT’s Otalia and new interviews! Order your copy now!
Say What?
UNCENSORED QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"Y&R is a flagship program in our daytime lineup. It's an iconic brand that has told compelling stories with dynamic characters for years."
—CBS Daytime VP Angelica McDaniel on daytime’s number one soap
Translation: Well, except for the Maria Arena Bell years.
"These kinds of changes are not something you take lightly. This was about asking, 'How do we modernize the show a little bit and continue to tell relevant stories as times have changed?'"
—McDaniel on ousting Maria Arena Bell as Y&R’s showrunner
Translation: And, “How can you get the showrunner in the building for more than two days a year.”
“Every1 wore black t-shirts&jeans to support @1steveburton on his last day. Steve was always so sweet&cracked me up.”
—Kristen Alderson catches the last moments of Steve Burton’s last day on the set of GH via Twitter
Translation: And we drank Monavie Juice.
“I truly believe in my heart they belong together.”
—Y&R’s Joshua Morrow on Nick and Sharon on THE TALK
Translation: … in a mental institution.
“I totally hope @JoshuaMorrowYR gets to play the story he wants.”
—Y&R’s Michelle Stafford in response to Morrow’s comments
Translation 1: Adam and Nick will make a sexy couple.
Translation 2: I’m not the only one who can’t differentiate between character and actor on this show!
“I hurt a very good friend today. Not a good feeling.”
—Y&R’s Joshua Morrow
Translation: Unless it’s Michael Muhney. That feels good.
“The fact that basically every Genoa City citizen believes that Victor is dead for the 148th time is insulting to the actors & audience.”
—Y&R’s Michael Muhney on the soap’s badly written 10K episode
Translation: Is it Oct. 12 yet?
“4 an actor who has been on Y&R for a mere 3 years to suggest that a present storyline involving a 30 year vet is ‘insulting’ is delusional arrogance.”
—Y&R’s Eric Braeden throws shade at his co-star Michael Muhney
Translation: In my old age, I can’t read or understand coherent sentences.
Translation 2: It really is the end of MY era.
Translation 3: How dare you! Maria and I worked very hard creating/writing Victor’s magnificent, epic slurpfest; you got that?
"’Soap' is not a bad word for me. I'm proud of it. I feel that shows like REVENGE have made soaps cool again."
—ABC Entertainment Prez Paul Lee
Translation: On prime time.
“He’s going to follow his passion, no matter where it takes him.”
—Peter Reckell on Bo’s impending Salem exit in SOAP OPERA DIGEST
Translation: Hello, Forrester Creations!
“I think that's it right now. We've put away the ax for a while.”
—Y&R head writer Josh Griffith on the Genoa City bloodbath
Translation: Until someone’s contract cycle expires next.
“I received a call from GH's executive producer Frank Valentini… My friend… And he said there is something coming up on the canvas for Blair. I guess it must be true because Carolyn Hinsey tweeted that I would be coming back for a ‘nice stint.’ I'm not sure what that means exactly… But maybe that's a good sign. I'm always excited to put Blair's hat back on and to walk in her shoes. GH is looking good these days.”
—Former ONE LIFE star Kassie DePaiva on Twitter
Translation: If head writer Carolyn Hinsey says so, it must be true! (Just joshing, Carolyn — you’re doing a better job promoting this show than its lazy, inept publicist Lauri Hogan.)
“His feminine hands.”
—Y&R’s Michael Muhney jokes to DIGEST about the first thing he liked about his bromantic partner Joshua Morrow
Translation: And his big penis.
Cover Story
QUEEN JEANNE
The rest of Y&R’s veteran cast may be losing it — but grande dame Jeanne Cooper is still as classy and as relevant as ever
It was a full circle moment. Earlier this summer, I was visiting my hometown, Winnipeg, Manitoba, when Jeanne Cooper called me up for an interview to promote her juicy tell-all memoir, NOT YOUNG, STILL RESTLESS (Harper Collins).
Twenty years ago it was in the small prairie city where I met my first soap star: Jeanne Cooper. Talk about déjà vu. “Omigod, you’re kidding,” she laughed!
As a passionate soap fan at the young age of 17, I journeyed to see her in some shopping mall— as did hundreds and hundreds of Genoa City enthusiasts. “I had some great memories of Winnipeg — especially with the work the Humane Society does there.”
While most fans were asking silly questions like: “Why aren’t you nicer to Esther?,” I shyly put up my hand and asked her about Emmy reform, an initiative one of my heroes and future mentors, SOAP OPERA WEEKLY’s Mimi Torchin, was spearheading at the time.
La Cooper was impressed with my knowledge — and she agreed with me that the Daytime Emmy Awards needed an overhaul desperately. We went back and forth on possible solutions juxtaposed to an audience who had no clue what we were talking about!
Later, there was a raffle for one of us to win an autographed Y&R script written by William Bell from 1992 — and I won it! I still have the script in my possession.
I referenced our encounter to Cooper — and she has a hearty laugh about my future career. “You didn’t stand a chance, huh?” Nope.
B
esides the loyal Y&R fan base in Canada, Cooper has other ties to our country. She says, “My father married a Canadian lady. My association with Canada is one of my favourites. I used to visit a lot on personal appearances — and my father used to live there, too. I love the country and people.”
Since we last spoke, Cooper’s memoir made THE NEW YORK TIMES Best-Seller List!
Are there any plans to turn the book into a movie?
“People are asking me [about the possibility],” the Emmy winner says. “My co-author is actually a screenwriter, too. But maybe, like Nina writing the screenplay for Katherine’s memoir, I’LL LIVE UNTIL I DIE [on Y&R], this may get lost in the mix, too!”
Who would Cooper cast as herself?
“The latter part of my life the actress would have to be Meryl Streep,” she begins, “She’s such a chameleon. She can play anything. She’s so brilliant. She lights up the screen. One person told me, ‘I don’t think she’s that good. You never know she acting.’ I looked at the person and said, ‘Well, duh — that’s the point of acting!’ I had to ask: ‘How did you ever get