I have had some recent constraints on my hours which has greatly limited my computer time.  Unfortunately, I do not feel I will have time to continue updating the free Sage’s Place site.  The paid site is regularly updated with spoilers, news and gossip.

I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.  It is necessary for me to free up some time and this is one of the sacrifices I have to make.

If you would like to subscribe to Sage’s Place, just click on the “Get More Sage” link above.

Thanks,

Greetings, Loveys!

The first of the “What If…” episodes are available to watch online at this link: http://abc.go.com/site/what-if

GH

The icon for this column is not an accident! Entertainment Weekly reports that Amber Tamblyn (ex-and original Emily Quartermaine) will be joining the cast of “House MD” for several episodes of the new season. At this time, her tour at Princeton Plainboro is not permanent and no first air date has been announced. She will portray a med student that House hires onto his cracker jack team of cottages (get it? cottages? little “houses”?)

Vanessa Marcil got married up over the July 4th weekend. The once and future Brenda Barrett said her I do’s with Carmine Giovinazza from “CSI: New York.”

Speaking of Brenda, you won’t believe the hero worship going on over Brenda’s return. All three ABC soaps will be suspended on August 10th so the network can, in their place, air three classic episodes of Brenda GH. The featured content is “The Men in Brenda Barrett’s Life” and will include her marriage to Jax at the Q mansion which Sonny interrupts to bring back Miranda, Jax’s other wife, the aftermath of her almost marriage to Sonny and Brenda and Jason’s wedding in Las Vegas. The episodes will air back to back in the slots normally reserved for AMC, OLTL & GH. This, of course, is the day prior to Marcils’ return to GH.

Ron Hale (Mike) told “We Love Soaps” in a recent interview that he’s about done with GH and that the execs know this.

Adrienne Barbeau’s stint as Suzanne Stanwick (staring August 12) is not a total quickie as I expected it to be. She will play the ball breaking, hard-as-nails children’s rights advocate for 3-5 weeks.

Brandon Barash told Soap Opera Digest that he is all about internet shopping. From ordering DVDs and books on Amazon.com to replenishing his He-Man figure and Garbage Pail Kid collections on ebay, he loves to spend those Zacchara dollars online. Chad Duell (Michael), on the other hand, favors Youtube.com.

AMC

Unofficial word is that Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake) and his long time girlfriend Gretta Monahan are expecting their first baby

Alicia Minshew (Kendall) and Thorsten Kaye (Zach) return to AMC in August. She’s staying permanently and arrives on Augsut 9th. He’s only there briefly and shows up on the 16th. This does not bode well for Zendall fans.

Susan Lucci (Erica) will go on her annual 10 week vacation this summer. Erica and Jackson will go off screen together and return in September. This is the result of a passionate kiss between Caleb and Erica that leads her to tell Jack that she wants to postpone their wedding ceremony, but get right to the honey part. Rumors say that Jackson will return slightly before Erica does. July 15th is their last air date until their fall return.

OLTL

Count Ilene Kristen (Roxy) among the devastated masses over Scott Clifton being let go as Schuyler Joplin. In addition to having tremendous affection for the actor himself, she we also terribly disapointed to not have more time to flesh out the story of Roxy’s newly established son. Clifton tweeted, “I just lost my fourth Emmy. Not a claim many people in the world get to make. Go me!!!” after June 27th’s 37th Annual Daytime Emmy awards. He’s now settled in at B&B as Liam.

July 15th honors the 42nd birthday of One Life to Live!

That’s all for this week. Take care, folks!

Time to Partay!!!

AMC

Susan Lucci is signed on for a guest star role in TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland,” which stars Betty White. No air date is known yet.

When last seen, Thorsten Kaye (Zach) had a big “My Name Is Earl” mustache.

Darnell Williams (Jesse) was a regular dancer on the show “Soul Train” from 1974-1975 (Soaps In Depth).

Denise Vasi (Randi) was signed with the prestigious Ford Models at the age of 12 (Soaps In Depth). She says she based her performance of Randi on Jane Fonda in “Klute.” I’m just amazed that someone as young as she is knows “Klute.”

Cady McClain (ex-Dixie) confirmed on her official website that she is now romantically involved with Jon Lindstrom (ex-Kevin, GH and PC).

OLTL

Janet Hubert is back as Lisa Williamson, Evangeline and Layla’s mother. She first airs on Friday the 9th. There is a big story unfolding about Evangeline, but not in the “Renee Elise Goldsmith is coming back” way. (At least not that we know yet). When Cris and Layla go to tell her mother that they are getting married, she lets them know that Evangeline’s condition has worsened (and when it worsens from a coma, there aren’t the greatest of prospects) and she has been moved to a hospital. A quality of life issue comes into play when Layla, who is left in charge of Evangeline’s health decisions, knows that her sister had very clear “no heroic measures” desires but her mother, who is devastated over losing her daughter, refuses to allow life support to be removed.

ABC Soaps In Depth reports that OLTL is considering casting Michael Park (ATWT) as Dan Wolek, Larry’s son. Hell, cast Abe Vigoda in the role as long as it brings back Michael Storm as Dr. Larry.

GH

We will be seeing a body double for Vanessa Marcil for a bit before she actually shows up, beginning in July. GH hopes for her to stay for at least a year.

Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) gleefully twittered that she has re-signed with GH for another 4 years.

Daniel Cummings has been cast as Taylor Wallace, the next love interest for Kristina. He starts July 13.

Big rumors about a Genie Francis (Laura) return for the fall to correspond to Tony Geary’s (Luke) return and Tracy’s softening toward her errant husband. Geary comes back in late September/early October, from his annual summer vacation to Amsterdam.

Looks like Spinelli will NOT be killed off in the Franco story, but someone else will. Money is on Claire Walsh.

Remember Valentin? James Franco getting an idea that he wanted to experiment with soaps pushed the story back as GH execs salivated all over the B list star’s idea. Head Writer Bob Guza says that the Valentin Cassadine story still may happen. If it does, it’s months away. Don’t count on Matt Borlenghi, who was originally chosen for the role, to play it, however. He has been signed to play Gianni Sorrento on “Proper Manors” and is locked into 26 episodes at least.

Nikolas supposedly soap kills Helena by giving her a little push.

When Baby Aiden is returned to Elizabeth, she says it’s not her baby. Did Helena make a switch to make sure her plan continues to play out?

AMC

Carolyn Hinsey of SOD reported that Thorsten Kaye is excited to be coming back to AMC to tape Kendall’s return. She says AMC execs are trying to pen a story good enough to lure him into a commuting situation.

Cameron Matthison told “Twin Cities Live” that he has taped scenes with Ryan in the hospital following a “life changing ordeal.”

Trent Garrett will join the AMC cast as Asher Pike. He will interact with Damon and Colby and first airs on August 13th.

OLTL

David Fumero (Cris) signed a fat contract to stay with the show amid rumors of a departure.

Brandon Buddy is also staying put after a hacker got into his Twitter account and posted that he had decided not to re-sign with OLTL.

Erin Torpey (ex-Jessica) gave birth to a son, Izaiah Torpey von Watts, according to ABC Soaps in Depth. Congratulations!

Soap Zone reported the rumor that Roger Howarth will return to the role of Todd Manning by October. That one has been flying around for a while now.

Oh my! Crystal Hunt (ex-Stacy) found out her fiancé ( Dr. Philippe Spiess, of Tampa, FL) had a secret son and had lied to her about it. She hired a private investigator who got to the truth, resulting in her breaking up with the liar-head doctor. He has sued her to get back the ring, which he says costs $96,000 and she says cost $50,000, plus $43,000 worth of household goods. She says since she bought their house and gave him close to $900,000 in gifts, she’s keeping the damned ring, thanks so much.

GH

Jonathan Jackson, Rebecca Herbst, Dominic Zamprogna and Derk Cheetwood (Lucky, Liz, Dante & Max) are asking fans to PLEASE NOT SEND GIFTS for their soon-to-be-born babies. Historically, fans flood the studio with gifts, not realizing that these folks can afford to buy booties and onsies just fine. Most times, the items are packed up and sent to homeless shelters. This time, the request is that instead of sending gifts, please go to Port Charles Wishing Well and donate money to Project Cuddle, which is a non-profit organization that helps prevent newborn baby abandonment. The four actors will receive special keepsake books from Port Charles Wishing Well documenting donations received in their name.

Rosa Blasi (Strong Medicine, Make it or Break it) has been offered a recurring role on General Hospital. What roll it will be is unknown, but her comment is interesting, “Any excuse for tranny makeup n fake eyelashes and I’m in!”

Franco will ultimately fall to his death, but says he’s already set to return again, so he’s not really dead.

Maxie’s pink crutches are compliments of Kirsten Storm’s real life broken foot.

Vanessa Marcil’s return also brings a brief visit from 80’s B Movie Babe, Adrienne Barbeau playing Suzanne Stanwyck. She first airs on August 12th.

So what else happens?? Sonny kisses Claire, Liz has her baby and the hospital goes into lock down when it’s missing, Shirley has a Cassadine connection, Carly finds out about Patrick’s dallying, Spinelli breaks up with Maxie and Johnny is furious when Claire confirms that there is no evidence connecting Sonny to the car bomb (in no particular order).

That’s all for this time. Hugs!

Here comes da dish…

Universally Soapy Stuff

Paramount Pictures has announced plans to remake the 1991 classic soap film, “Soapdish.”  The original starred Sally Fields, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey, Jr, Whoopi Goldberg, Carrie Fisher, Cathy Moriarity, Elisabeth Shue, Teri Hatcher, Garry Marshall, Carrie Fisher and Kathy Najimy and was one of my favorites.  Here’s a quick clip:

As Soap Opera Network pointed out, we now know why the Mayan calendar stopped in 2012.  That’s when Disney will cancel SOAPnet and replace it with “Disney Jr,” preschool programming.   The apocalyptic fear-mongers started screaming right away that this is the end of soaps, but I’m not buying it at all.  In fact, I can see why SOAPnet would be a losing proposition.  I mean, I don’t watch it any more.  I have a DVR and if I want to watch a soap that I didn’t record, I just go to ABC.com and watch the streaming video of it.  Because of that, I don’t think Anne Sweeney (co-char of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group was blowing smoke when she said that this is the exact reason they are cancelling the programming.  Brian Frons, President of ABC Daytime, also promises that this will not affect the ABC lineup and that soap fans are safe in believing that their shows aren’t going to go away like those on other networks.  Business is business and it makes sense to me, so I’m not really worried.

GH

Not only is James Franco coming back, but he is lobbying to get his own mother, Betsy, a role as Franco’s mom on GH.  Fan favorite Bruce Davison will play Franco’s art dealer, Wilhem Van Schlagel, for three shows in July.

It’s true.  Brenda’s back in August for a short run to start.  (Sage’s Place members got this news last Wednesday!!!)

Don’t be surprised if you see movie star James Franco’s real life mother Betsy portraying mommy weirdest to his whacked out character Franco this summer on General Hospital. Word is the actor wants his mom to play the part. Hmm, maybe Mama Franco can shed some light as to why Franco likes to masturbate to Jason Morgan wall posters after killing people for art’s sake? Or not.

Kirsten Storms (Maxie) broke her foot in real life.

Kimberly McCullough (Robin) is taking three weeks off for a vacation.  This, of course corresponds with Robin’s three week trip to Africa.  Robin returns re-invested in her marriage, only to find that Patrick has gotten way too close to Lisa in her absence.

Drew Garret is now speaking more freely about his disappointment at being fired from the role of Michael and the hasty recasting with Chad Duell.  He told Soap Opera Weekly, “I’ll be honest with you: It was the only thing that I was disappointed about. If I had been given details as to why, I feel like I would have immediately been able to learn from the experience a little bit easier, instead of having to create my own optimism. There was the ‘different direction’ thing, and this new actor Chad Duell was really, really, really intense, and just came in screaming ‘Michael.’ If I had been given some constructive criticism I would have appreciated it, because then I would have been able to learn or change from it.”  I heard the kid was just too damned good and that was his downfall.  You never know what is going to bite you in the ass in GH World.

Yep, rumors are strong that like with Lily in reverse, Olivia is killed by a car bomb, this one set on Sonny’s orders trying to take out Johnny.  Again, like with Lily, Olivia ends up driving and takes the hit.  She lingers for a while, then dies from her injuries.

Sadly, for the time being at least, the relationship between Maxie and Spinelli will not be strong enough to survive her using Matt to make him jealous and that ends up being the nail in the coffin.

OLTL

Jason Tam (Markko) is taking time off from OLTL to take part in the Public Theater’s Summer Shakespeare Lab.  The venture will take him away from OLTL taping for a total of two months.  There is no word yet on when he will last air or how Markko will be written off for the summer.

Ford, however, continues to air through June 30, so don’t expect the attempted murder charge to morph into murder or manslaughter any time soon.  Jessica begins to seriously wonder if she might have been the one to work over Ford (in “altered” form) and talks to Dr. Levin about it.

Nicholas Robuck has been cast in the role of James who will begin airing on June 9th.  He will be someone who comes onto Starr’s radar and leads her into a “summer adventure.”

David hires a hooker to cheer up Matthew.  You gotta love big brothers.

If you wondered how actors Robert S. Woods and Hillary B. Smith (they of the middle initials) fit into the clothes from their wedding scenes years ago, well, they didn’t.  Bo’s tuxedo was a copy in a larger size and Nora’s wedding ensemble was let out considerably for the new scenes.

Watch for Marty to even come around to the idea that it wasn’t Todd who pushed her down the stairs and yes, universal suspicion (except, of course, for Cole) turns to Hannah.

Yep, Natalie pregnancy coming.  Her weeping over not having Jared’s baby after he died was foreshadowing.  John and Marty losing their baby was foreshadowing.

Todd does find out about Tea’s diagnosis and is next in line to learn after Blair.  They will work together cooperatively to decide how to best take care of Danielle.  Head Writer Ron Carlivati says they will be working to make the relationship between Todd and Tea “more emotional and not just a sexy one.”

AMC

Michael Nouri (Caleb) loves everything about working on AMC except having to grow the Caleb facial hair which, according to him, made him look like a bear.  He found the pace of daytime to be “mind-bending,” saying that on the day he was interviewed, had and Susan Lucci had about 50 pages of script with no rehearsing.  He praises his leading lady for being so supportive and welcoming of him.  He loves the ambiguity of Caleb and how we can’t really be sure what he’s about or where he’s coming from and praises that he’s not like a typical daytime character.  Says Nouri, “I think they want to keep everything as unclear as possible for as long as possible.” (Soap Opera Digest, June 1, 2010).

Lucci, however, will soon take her annual summer vacation and will be off screen for a little while.  Caleb follows her back to Pine Valley and yes, a triangle with Jackson is definitely in the works.  He is said to be connected to Pine Valley’s past and like most viewers, my bet is on Palmer.  This is ultimately to push Jackson closer to Krystal.  Lucky us.

When Erica gets back to Pine Valley in June, there will be a winner of the Fusion competition announced.  Soap Opera Digest reports that “another player” will be coming into the mix.  Will that be NuBianca or Kendall (or both)?

Watch for weirdness for Angie as she begins to have dizzy spells, starting at Jake and Amanda’s wedding.  Big story coming that is said to be “emotional and heartbreaking.”

Oddly enough, David Kreizman (Co-Head Writer) insists that Ryan is “moving on” from Greenlee and that he and Madison will form a “real” relationship.

The show is casting someone new to compete for Colby’s affections.  Liza’s passionate efforts to keep Colby from Damon will end up costing her a relationship with Tad just as Tad is ready to try again.

Palmer’s will ends up having an effect on the battle between Scott and JR.  Marissa decides to fight for her marriage, but although Annie is drawn to Scott, her visceral pull to JR is stronger.

If you would like to read more from Sage, go to www.sagesplace.com

AMC

Jake and Amanda will go through with their re-wedding and there will even be a showing of Lee Meriweather as Ruth.  She will be reprenting the elder Martins who retired to Florida earlier this year.

Shannon Kane will be taking time off from AMC this summer to shoot the movie “SWAT:  Fire Fight.”   There is no word yet on when she will be gone, how long or how Natalia’s absence will be written into the script, if at all.

Kate Collins is finished up as Janet this week when Amanda’s mom will be returned to Oak Haven on May 19th.

Christina Bennett Lind has been cast as the new Bianca. She will come back to Pine Valley to deal with Greenlee while Erica is lost in the woods.  Lind has worked primarily as a stage actress in New York.  This is her first soap opera job.  She first airs on June 14th.  Although Bianca is still with Reese, neither Reese nor the girls are returning at this time and will be together in Paris.  AMC is keeping negotiations open with Tamara Braun (who played Reese previously).

Watch for a Kendall return in late July to early August.

GH

Did you recognize Lee Reherman (Head Guard Frank Wright – I wonder if the character’s middle name is “Lloyd?”) from his role as “Hawk” on the show “American Gladiators?”  I was never a fan of the show.  It was always too “Running Man” for me.

Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) and his wife, Linda Leslie, are expecting a baby later this year.

Franco’s back on Wednesday, June 30th,

Missing from this year’s Daytime Emmy Award nominees are the standards:  Tony Geary (Luke), Maurice Benard (Sonny) and Steve Burton (Jason).  Getting a nod, however, were Jonathan Jackson (Lucky), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Carolyn Hennesy (Diane),  Julie Marie Berman (Lulu), Sarah Joy Brown (ex-Claudia) and Drew Garrett (ex-Michael).

Kirsten Storms loves the comedic aspects of her Maxie character, but is frustrated that when she auditions for sitcoms, they tell her that her timing is off.  (ABC SID)

OLTL

Destiny Evans will be sticking around for a while as OLTL has placed Shenell Edmonds on contract.

OLTL used their opening from 1986-1991, for the three episodes of “Starr X’d Lovers: The Musical,” on May 14th, 17th, and 18th.  The difference is the Peabo Bryson song) was sung by various members of the cast, including Kassie DePaiva (Blair), Jason Tam (Markko) & Brittany Underwood (Langston), and Mark Lawson (Brody).   These three versions are available for download with the rest of the “Starr X’d Lovers” soundtrack on iTunes.  It’s back to the same old crap again today, Wednesday, May 19th.

Kirsten Alderson (Starr) says that the hardest part about working with her real life brother, Eddie Alderson, is when they have to be “ultraserious” with one another and they can’t keep from laughing.  Little known fact is that Eddie is quite a talented piano player and picks up a lot of his pointers from YouTube videos.

Carmen LoPorto(Jack) is starring in a feature film called “Torture Chamber” that begins filming later this month.  The movie pairs him up with Vincent Pastore (ex-Maximus Giambetti on GH and “Big Pussy” from “The Sopranos”) and is about a “demonically possessed 13-year-old boy who escapes from an asylum and ends up in an abandoned castle with a secret passageway to a cobwebbed torture chamber.”   Alrighty then.  (ABC Soaps In Depth)

OLTL’s head writer, Frank Valentini, is creating 10 four minute soap opera shorts featuring CHARACTERS (not just actors) from the three ABC daytime dramas. The shorts will air in July on ABC and SOAPnet. They will include:

AMC‘s Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and GH‘s Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), GH‘s Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and OLTL‘s Viki Banks (Erika Slezak), AMC‘s Ryan Lavery (Cameron Mathison) and GH‘s Carly Jacks (Laura Wright), AMC‘s Greenlee Smythe (Rebecca Budig) and GH‘s Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), OLTL‘s John McBain (Michael Easton) and GH‘s Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco),OLTL‘s Todd Manning (Trevor St. John) and GH‘s Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson), AMC’s Angie and Jesse Hubbard (Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams) and OLTL’s Starr Manning (Kristen Alderson), OLTL‘s Blair Cramer (Kassie DePaiva) and AMC‘s Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), OLTL‘s Tess (Bree Williamson) and GH‘s Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna), GH‘s Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) and OLTL‘s Rex Balsom (John- Paul Lavoisier).

AMC

Agnes Nixon, creator of both OLTL and AMC, will be presented with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 37th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on June 27th. The festivities will air on CBS, broadcast live from Vegas. AMC was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, if you can keep a straight face while I say that. I have to burst into amused chortles over it. AMC actually got 10 nominations.

AMC has cast the role of NuBianca following the hiring of Eden Riegel to Y&R. The role will now be played by Christina Bennett Lind who will begin airing June 14th when Bianca shows up because Erica is missing. Bianca is still with Reese (who was played by Tamara Braun), but Reese is back in Paris with their daughters for the time being.

GH

GH weighs in with won the most nominations for Daytime Emmy Awards this year with 18 nods, including one for Outstanding Drama Series. GH will compete against AMC, Y&R and B&B for the coveted award which it has won ten times previously.

Prison staff is coming onto GH for Michael’s lock up. Lee Reherman plays the head guard and begins airing on May 14th and William C. Mitchell plays Warden Powell, who first airs May 24th.

Derk Cheetwood and his wife, Cari, are again with child. The couple has a daughter, Kylie, who was born in January 2008 and the new baby is also a daughter.

Seriously, please. Why are all of these people asking Maurice Benard, Steve Burton, Julie Berman and Laura Wright about Chad Duell’s performace as Michael #3?? This is not to say the kid is bad or anything, but honestly, people, do you really think they’re going to go on record with anything other than glowing endorsements? I get the feeling they like their jobs.

Adrienne Leon first appears as Brook Lynn again on May 21st.

Sonny actually goes to visit Anthony himself at Pentonville.

Jason gets to prison with Michael just in time to find him in his jail cell completely beaten up.

The last week in May, Lulu tells Dante about her abortion.

Sam and Jason may marry just so they can get the conjugal visits while he is in prison.

Carly offers to pay Brook Lynn to seduce Dante, but she catches Johnny’s eye. Needless to say, Olivia is unamused.

Michael is released from prison in early June but Jason is not, so Maxie, Spinelli and Sam break him out not long after and eventually, Claire drops the felony charges from Jason’s record. (whut?)

Dante finds favor with Sonny again.

OLTL

OLTL manages a staggering 13 Daytime Emmy Award nominations this year, but not one for Outstanding Drama Series. Be sure and read the first paragraph of the AMC section of this column to find out about Agnes Nixon’s award.

Jessica Lecci, formerly of GL (she is the “alia” of Otalia fame), will be coming to OLTL to play Nate’s mother, Inez. She first airs on June 18th.

Seriously, darlings, that’s all I have. I know this is weak, but I’ll be sure and post any extras as I find them.

Loff, darlings. Much Loff.

AMC

I wondered how they were going to pull it off. Erica’s plane crashes into the mountain home of Caleb McGraw (played by Michael Nouri). You’ve got to admit, Erica sure goes to extremes to meet the next Mr. Kane. He will be ushering in a whole new family to Pine Valley before it’s over.

Lots of talk about how, oh how, Greenlee’s nausea could be a pregnancy when her uterus is a rocky place where no man’s seed could possibly find purchase. It was none other than Greg Madden who informed Greenlee that she has a “hostile uterus” (big freaking surprise there) and could not ever carry a baby to term. Of course, Greg Madden was a big, fat liar, so who knows? Maybe she’s a ferile as the Tennessee Valley and all pumped up with David fetus right now. Weirder shit has happened.

Shannon Kane had auditioned for a AMC several times before she landed the role of Natalie. The show called her up and said they needed to see her on tape, so her grandmother recorded her, saying Jesse’s lines from the scene to her from behind the camera. (ABC Soaps In Depth)

No mo’ Ci-ro. Victor Alfieri who played the Fusion photographer is all done with his AMC stint now.

GH

Head Writer Bob Guza has confirmed that GH is “in talks” with Vanessa Marcil about a possible return as Brenda. He says that GH is willing to accommodate any return she can manage, even if it is for only a day.

In a recent spread for ABC Soaps In Depth, Brian Frons (Prez of ABC Daytime) applauded the “balance canvas” creating by bringing Dante onto the PCPD. Says Fronzibear, “It’s not the environment it was 15 years ago when emulating The Godfather was kind of a cool thing… It’s almost more of the old days of GH, where the good guys really were the good guys.” He goes on to promise that the mob is NOT on the way out and pretty much says that it’s interesting that Sonny doesn’t know how to get out of the mob. Hey, there’s always the Tony Soprano way out…

The comments he made makes me wonder if he even watches GH at all.

Don’t get all excited to the point that I can’t control you or anything, but James Franco is coming back to GH as the troubled killer artist… Franco this summer. Try to contain your enthusiasm (and your vomiting). He recently commented, “…if you look at a lot of movies that are released in theaters, they’re just the same as soap operas.” Oh yeah. He gets it. (whatever, dude)

Ska—ore! When the character of Skye Chandler (was she still a Chandler then or what) migrated from OLTL to GH, OLTL shipped all of her Skye clothes to the GH studios in Los Angeles, plus GH had Skye clothes as well. Bonus!

Little fact: Kelly Ripa (“Life With Regis and Kelly” and Hayley from AMC) was a bridesmaid at Laura Wright’s (Carly) wedding.

OLTL

Warning: Friday, May 14th is when the musical starts. I’m ready with the FF button.

Bo and Nora’s wedding has big focus for May Sweeps. That’s a far cry from their last one where their friends had to drag them into it. This one is said to be very Bo and Nora. I dunno. I liked the last one.

When Hillary B. Smith (Nora) was in labor with her daughter, Courtney, As the World Turns was playing in the delivery room. The nurse looked up and said, “Oh my God, it’s you!” when she saw Margo (played by Hillary B. Smith).

Just so you know. It’s evidently absolutely impossible for Mark Lawson (Brody) to do any interview whatsoever without managing to interject as to what a gym head he is. OK, you’re buff. OK, you work out. OK, you “train seriously.” We get it. Yayyy you. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but it just gets really one note-y. What if in every single interview, Kassie DePaiva brought up her knitted hats?

That’s alls I got, baybeees! Have a great weekend! I’ll be around for Sage’s Spoilers as soon as they come through!

AMC

Julia Barr is thrilled with how her character (Brooke) and David Canary’s (Adam) were written off of the show and is excited about the idea of either or both of them coming back from time to time to check up on the family.

Speaking of Adam, the Crafty Sr Chandler is not done yet! Watch for one more Adam Chandler Special to be served up to his family in the near future that will pit one against the other.

Plus… Palmer’s will leaves some surprises as well.

Oh weird. Remember Adam mentioned his long lost previously never mentioned son, Miguel? AMC says there are no plans to bring him to the show, write about him or even mention him again. Like I said, weird.

OLTL

Dan Gauthier is back for another temporary go around as Kevin on May 7th. C’mon, OLTL, shit or get off the pot. Hire him back or let it go.

Gavin Alexander Hammon is the hot guy playing Reed, the guy looking for Kelly.

Bree Williamson (Jessica) is pregnant. No, God, no. Stay strong, Cris!

Ross Rayburn (Michael Lowry) is back soon.

Jerry verDorn (Clint) recently enjoyed having a familiar face join the cast. Gina Tognoni (Kelly) played his daughter Dinah when he was Ross on GL.

Scott Clifton has an interesting take on his role as Schuyler in ABC Soaps In Depth. He says, “I began the show losing a mother [when Leah Joplin shot herself] and I ended it by gaining a mother [Roxy tells him that she is his biological mother].” Although Clifton enjoyed his time in NY for OLTL, he’s moving back to LA, saying it is “the center of the universe to me.”

People started wondering if Rob Carlivati was on the way out when Jean Passanante joined the OLTL writing team. Nope. She’s jus there to help and the word is OLTL is being taken into a “new and different direction.” Remember when they said that about “Port Charles?”

GH

Do you like the whole Alexis and Mac thing? Thank an exec. The order to write a story for the two of them together came right to Bob Guza from a desk way higher than his own… or the one above him…

Zoe, the other Ward girl, won’t be showing up until later in the summer.

Much to the chagrin of portrayer Nathan Parsons, the powers that be insist that if he has to have the hair long, it goes into a ponytail.

Ah!!!! Did you see “The Sock Song” with Kimberly McCullough (Robin) and Ignacio Serricchio (ex-Diego) backing up Nikki Lynn Katt? Definately so completely not safe for work or kids or the faint of heart or sock… (No, seriously, it’s not)

Wow. Kate scenes coming up. Whoda thought?

Steve Burton (Jason), Brandon Barash (Johnny), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) and Scott Reeves (Steve) are in a bannnnd, mannnn. Go to www.portchuck.com for more info.

Things are getting heated as the roll out from Dante’s announcement takes hold.

Michael goes to prison and Jason is shocked into a crisis of conscience. Spinelli has to keep Jason from killing Dante. Carly is pretty freaking pissed herself. Sonny and Jax have it out. Dante and Jax try to help Michael. Alexis gets cleared of criminal charges, but immediately faces a wrongful death suit from the Bauers, which prompts Nikolas to send some Cassadine threats their way.

Dante retaliates by going after Jason next and Carly’s having none of that.

Not happy Corinthos family times.

That’s all for this week…

Have a great weekend!

OLTL

Has anyone checked on Elaine Princi lately? TWO, count’em, TWO former Dorian Lords died within a very short amount of time from one another. Nancy Pinkerton Peabody, the actress who originated the role and took on such high profile stories as breaking up the marriage of Julie and Mark Toland and marrying the wealthy Victor Lord, passed away on March 4th at the age of 60. Dixie Carter, who temporarily took over the role from Pinkerton at one point, died on April 10th.

Speaking of death, rumors have Tea’s collapse NOT being from a pregnancy after all, but from a brain tumor that takes Florencia Lozano off the canvas. Bada bing, bada boom. In the course of this, she and Blair become Toomah Sistahs and BFFs.

Two new bit players are showing up for the musical. Did I mention that there is going to be a musical? Oh yes, there’s going to be a musical. There is forever more going to be a never ending musical. Anyway, Lenny Platt plays Nate Sallinger, the kid who portrays Cole Thornhart in the musical (there’s going to be a musical, by the way). He first aired last Monday and is going to be around throughout Spring as this musical story goes on and on and on. Tramaine Montell Ford will also be involved in the musical and will air now through May.

Coming up for sweeps: Langston gets found out, Tea gets bad medical news and shares it with Blair causing the two to bond (Tumor Sisters?), Layla gives Jessica a beat down and Hannah proves to be more of a threat than Starr thought. Also watch for a potential Natalie – Brody pairing before the Natalie and John thing hits.

My favorite OLTL actor, Tuc Watkins (David) signed a contract, but everyone is quiet on the details.

The character of Rodney was played by Christopher Roach, btw.

GH

We are lucky as little lotto winners to get Robin Christopher back as Sky for a while since she and her tiny family are firmly settled in a life in Pennsylvania. Since her kids are now older, she agreed to a quick jaunt out to play with GH for a while, so yayyyy.

Sounds like there’s going to be a mass killin for May sweeps. Rumors have Matt (who? – just kidding), Epiphany and Alexis being killed off. Do you really think that Nancy Lee Grahn will be let go? Nah, I don’t either.

Dante will finally learn who killed Claudia from Michael himself. He’ll then share with Lucky what he’s learned.

<=====Branton Box (I want that name) will debut as Helena’s new… Andreas (I’m sure you all remember Andreas, as portrayed by the very lovely Landon Wine) soon. Helena does get the finest looking henchmen ever, doesn’t she?

Carolyn Hennesy (Diane) was tapped by ABC to write a book about Spinelli. I guess it’s along the line of “Robin’s Diary” as a GH tie in. It will share Spinelli’s perspective on the people of Port Charles. Hennesy is, of course, author of the enormously popular “Pandora” series of books for young adults.

Turns out that Chad Duell had originally been in the running for the new Michael when Drew Garrett got the part. Garrett didn’t work out, so they went to the runner up, who debuted in the role this week.

The powers that be seem to have decided Robin and Patrick have had long enough of an un-dramatic run and are ready to flush the couple via an illicit affair between – you guessed it – Patrick and Lisa.

Another girls’ night out is coming complete with fantasies. I’ll pass.

Tony Geary (Luke) ended up trapped in his beloved Amsterdam due to planes being grounded from the Iceland volcanic ash in the air. That means Luke’s return is delayed indefinitely.

Cue the Vanessa Marcil (ex-Brenda) rumors again, but this time, it looks like they might actually have legs for a brief stint. The actress recently shared a memory in the New York Post about her beginning experiences acting with Maurice Benard: “Maurice Benard said, ‘You’re cute, but you suck. What do want? Do you want to get a storyline? If you want that, you’re going to have to start working hard.” She goes on to say, “He taught me how to act.”

For those (like myself) who are ABC exclusive when it comes to soaps, it’s interesting to know that Laura Wright (Laura) played Bradley Cole’s (Warren) love interest on Guiding Light when they were Cassie and Jeffrey on GL.

AMC

Erica’s new love interest has been cast and will create a triangle with Jack. The character is Caleb McGraw, Mountain Man, and he will be played by Michael Nouri, who was previously Elliot on Y&R. This is Michael Nouri==============> I mean, what are they thinking? This guy is a year older than Susan Lucci!! How can this BE??? First, they start dressing La Luch her age as soon as she gets to So Cal and now they are casting her opposite a leading man WHO IS OLDER THAN SHE IS? Did Suze piss someone off or what? Whyare they treating her like a senior citizen instead of the 40-year-old cougar she is? Next they’ll be acting like Erica has grandchildren or something!!

<===========Hot guy alert! A fella (who is really more of Erica’s speed lately) named Victor Alfieri who was on B&B and DOOL previously is going to play Ciro, who is a fashion photographer (wonder where he’ll be working, hmmmm?) is going to be showing up soon. Honestly, I haven’t watched AMC in a bit, so he might actually already be there. Regardless, he’s looking OK to me. He started taping scenes the second week of March.

Pine Valley Bulletin shared this wonderful YouTubey and it was so great to see our vunderful Arelene again!!

President of the Official AMC Fan Club, Debbie Morris, announced this week that the AMC Fan Club Weekend will be held September 23-26 at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys, California. Although there have been AMC Fan Club events before, to my knowledge, this is the first weekend to span 4 days. You can find more info at www.amcfans.com.

It’s twue, it’s twue! Kate Collins is back as Janet Dillon on April 30, ready to manage Amanda’s modeling career.

In Soap Opera Digest, new Head Writers David Kreizman and Donna Swajeski say their goal is “kind of restoring it back to the old Pine Valley, with a new twist.” Yeah, thanks. Just don’t kill it like you did the last few shows you wrote for, ok?

That’s all for this week, folks! LOFFFF to you!