Fancast: Inside TV

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

It started, like most addictions do, with a pusher. I was in junior high. My best friend encouraged me to check out a show called All My Children. After a couple episodes not only was I hooked, but my life was forever changed. I had fallen in love with soap operas. At first they loved me back. In the 1980s, they provided me with romance, glamour and awesome female role models. During high school, the couple of hours I spent watching the goings on in Genoa City and Santa Barbara were often the highlight of my day. I still want to be a hybrid of Julia Wainwright and Erica Kane when and if I grow up.

As an adult, our flirtation became a long term relationship. I got my dream job at The Young & The Restless. Eventually, I joined the writing staff for several happy years. Then I wrote for All My Children for several not-so-happy weeks. Next came the writers’ strike. And here I am, soap writer turned soap blogger.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

INT. SOAP OPERA WRITERS’ ROOM – THURSDAY MORNING

A small, windowless room furnished with a table and chairs that were slightly worn back when the show was shot in black and white. A group of WRITERS grimace as they look at the latest ratings. The show has hit record lows in its key demographic – Women 18-49. The HEAD WRITER pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lights up in defiance of his nicotine patch. His SECOND IN COMMAND pulls a silver flask out of her purse and takes a swig.

HEAD WRITER: Damn. I thought the story where our presumed dead heroine was kidnapped and tortured for a month while her husband impregnated both her best friend and her mother would turn things around.

SECOND IN COMMAND: It was edgy. And dark. Very HBO. I don’t understand why the audience didn’t respond.

An intern wanders in with a stack of scripts.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Enough complaining. I want to celebrate a show that‚s getting it right ˆ One Life To Live. I'm not the first person to sing the praises of OLTL‚s headwriter Ron Carlivati. (Hey, daytime, great things happen when you promote from within!) But I want to add my voice to the chorus. Carlivati has turned the show into what a soap opera ought to be ˆ with humor, likable characters, rootable couples and umbrella stories that utilize the show‚s history. It‚s both escapist and relatable. It‚s also the only soap which feels like it takes place in the 21st century. Last Friday‚s episode, cleverly titled „Uncle-cest Is Best‰ featured a sequence in which David Vickers broke the 4th wall as he delivered a monologue that explained how he ended up as a bus boy in a Texas diner. Using nothing but limbo sets, the show managed to portray how David‚s nascent television career was hilariously derailed by the writers strike. (I can relate.) The same episode also contained a well-shot location sequence and, oh yeah, a guest appearance by Snoop Dogg. It was the most entertaining, original hour of television ˆ daytime or primetime ˆ I watched last week. This week features a soap wedding ˆ the kind where the whole cast shows up in fabulous dresses and big secrets are revealed. Remember those? The ratings have yet to reflect the show's brilliance, so I'm beseeching all of you to check it out.

[watch this One Life To Live clip]

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

When I was a kid, soap operas made Mondays bearable. The compensation for getting up early and going to school was that I'd get to see the resolution to all those Friday cliffhangers. Today I'm looking forward to watching two soaps that left me hanging over the weekend.

The first is The Bold & The Beautiful. (You can watch full episodes here.) I admit I had my reservations about the plotline in which Storm Logan committed suicide so his sister Katie could have his heart. (Storm accidentally shot her in the chest and was facing a long prison term.) I was uncomfortable with a show presenting suicide as a somewhat heroic, redemptive act. Killing off the character of Storm, played by the charismatic William DeVry seemed shortsighted. But the results have been the sort of classic, heartbreaking, grand drama that is the hallmark of the Bell shows. The always brilliant Heather Tom is delivering a

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

There’s an old saying – the opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference. In my opinion, it definitely applies to soap viewing. The on-line viewers have raged against such theoretically show killing stories as Reva’s cloning on Guiding Light, the reconning of Erica’s abortion into a long lost son on All My Children and the majority of Jim Reilly’s reign on Days of Our Lives. But, from a ratings standpoint, these stories were fine. Perhaps even successful. It seems that a show can withstand pissed of viewers who are ready to set up picket signs in front of the studio. What it cannot withstand is viewers who are bored. That seems to be the case with The Young & The Restless. Throughout Lynn Latham’s stint as the sole head writer and executive producer, fans were up in arms about the many changes she made to the show. (I’m not going to go into details, because as a former Y&R writer I can’t possibly be objective.) When she was let go, the fans rejoiced. Then the ratings plummeted. What happened?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can’t figure out what the storylines are on this show. Jack, Phyllis, Nick and Sharon decided to start a magazine. And they did. Victor’s children disapprove of his engagement to a younger woman who talks incessantly about art, but they aren’t doing anything to stop it. Jeff has the goods on Gloria, but he’s not going to expose her for the back alley grifter she is. The show is the television equivalent of Muzac. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but it’s so dull that nobody would ever seek it out. I’m wishing with all my extremely biased Y&R loving heart that the show manages to turn things around ASAP. Let Gloria get busted, let the fallout take down her sons Michael and Kevin. Give Jabot back to the Abbotts. Let Jack win and Victor lose for once. Maybe Sabrina is on Jack’s payroll. It would explain a lot. Hell, do something completely ridiculous. Just do something. Please.

[watch full episodes of Guiding Light here]

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Behind The Scenes Gossip
Wednesday morning I posted that Young & The Restless needed to make some changes ASAP. Wednesday afternoon, former Days of Our Lives and As The World Turns headwriter Hogan Sheffer was appointed co-headwriter. I feel powerful. Sheffer is credited with leading ATWT into a golden era of Emmy dominance. His tenure at DOOL was characterized by low ratings and controversy. Sheffer is known for his witty dialogue and sophisticated camp, but maligned by some fans for his lack of attention to show history. I am cautiously optimistic that his sensibility will be a better fit for Y&R.

Y&R isn’t the only show changing its writing staff. All My Children just hired Chuck Pratt as its new head writer. Pratt’s credits include everything from a headwriting stint at General Hospital to consulting producer on Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Pratt replaces James Brown and Barbara Essensten, who managed to do the seemingly impossible – turn ABC’s flagship soap into the lowest rated daytime drama on the air. Pratt has his work cut out for him.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Scenes of the Week: I inaccurately predicted that nobody would interrupt Rex and Adrianna’s wedding. This is one time I’m happy to be wrong. One Life To Live actually delivered a soap opera wedding that felt, well, soapy.

1) When the minister asked if there was any reason Rex and Adrianna shouldn’t be married, his high school girlfriend Gigi actually stood up and declared her love for Rex. I was so sure when I saw this scene in the previews that it would turn out to be a fantasy sequence or other mislead. I shouldn’t have been so cynical. Goaded into making a spectacle of herself by the bride’s mother, Gigi delivered the most cringe-inducing, entirely inappropriate plea for a man since Meredith Grey begged Derek, “Pick me. Choose me.” And, for the record, I like Gigi. Soap pay-off moment #1.

2) Adrianna acted like a Cramer woman. For months, Adrianna has been plotting to keep Gigi away from Rex – despite the fact that Gigi had no designs to steal him. She was underhanded, duplicitous and extremely unsympathetic. Yet, when Adrianna blasted Gigi for choosing her wedding. of all times, to share her feelings I found myself agreeing with her. That’s the mark of good writing. Adrianna followed up by punching Gigi in the face with technique that would make Leila Ali proud. Melissa Gallo Fumero, who plays Adrianna, was fantastic. Soap pay-off moment #2.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Stupid Network Move Of The Week
Memorial Day is one of those holidays where there’s not a heck of a lot to do. Of course we should all take time to honor our service men and women, but for the vast majority of people it’s a day of lounging and eating. A perfect day for catching up with your soaps. Unless, of course, you’re an ABC soap fan because ABC decided to air reruns. I know the thought process behind it: holiday episodes tend to be lower rated. Therefore it is not worth the expense of producing a new episode for those days. That’s true of religious holidays like Christmas. Not so much with secular days off. They’re a great way to regain lapsed or infrequent viewers. This year, with $4.00 a gallon gasoline making travel unaffordable for many, I suspect that plenty of people were at home in search of entertainment. ABC actually set up 3 cliffhangers last Friday. All My Children had the violent aftermath of Jesse and Angie’s wedding. One Life To Live ended with a Adriana crashing her car into Todd’s – and his toddler son was right next to him. On General Hospital , Sonny told Jason he was ready to leave the mob as Carly prepared to leave town. All are solid “tune in Monday and tell your friends to check it out” moments. Too bad anyone who decided to do just that caught year-old repeats.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Bringing The Sexy Back: Hooray for Hot Naked Men!
Today I’d like to ponder how daytime’s representations of gender roles…. Oh, screw it. It’s Friday. So let’s get ready for the weekend by celebrating the return of a classic soap staple: steamy sex scenes and lots of male skin! The past couple weeks has featured so much visual joy that I need to break it down by categories. Actual sex: Sami and EJ, Philip and Chloe (Days of Our Lives), Rick and Taylor (The Bold & The Beautiful) Purely gratuitous: Daniel is a towel (Days of Our Lives), Brody in black boxer briefs, Rex making breakfast in his underwear, and David tied up while shirtless (all One Life To Live) shirtless war veterans (Philip and Brody), shirtless men with professional degrees (E.J. and Daniel.) At the risk of sounding like a complete perv, the sex is one of the reasons daytime was great back in the 80s and 90s. I still have fond memories of specific scenes (Mason and Julia in a sleeping bag, Jake and Paulina and an ice cube, Steve and Kayla in a bathtub.) In recent years, networks have asked soaps to scale it back for fear of FCC fines. I don’t blame them; they had to shell out millions of dollars due to the complaints of a few viewers who apparently lack the ability to change the channel. Suddenly, the sexy has made a welcome return. Whether it’s the warm weather, post-strike optimism, or the realization that we’re likely to have somebody new running the FCC soon, I hope this trend last a long, long time.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Show of the Week
I never thought I’d be saying this about the current incarnation of the show, but last week’s All My Children was fantastic. After months of downbeat, unpleasant stories, AMC managed to pull everything together and deliver a week of dramatic, emotionally satisfying television. It all started at the remarriage of beloved 80s supercouple Jesse and Angie. Their portrayers, the brilliant Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams returned this winter to much fanfare. But their story didn’t make a whole lot of sense. (Jesse faked his own death two decades ago and was still in danger because he owned some diamonds that a mad man who was related to another former arch-villain wanted? Huh?) Somehow, it didn’t matter. The wedding itself hit all the right beats, from the return of their old-friend from back in the day Greg Nelson, to dialogue that was classic AMC.

Afterwards, it all went to hell, as the psycho Rob got his revenge, shooting Tad and Julia. I don’t agree with the decision to kill the character of Julia, especially since she had a natural story as Kate’s adoptive mother. But the death scenes were poignant as viewers saw the entire town of Pine Valley react to the death.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Kids Today…

On daytime, summer is traditionally Teen Season. In an attempt to attract young viewers while school is out, teenage characters are given front-burner storylines. When I was young, they often featured green actors in some variation of a Romeo & Juliet story of forbidden love. The good girl was always determined to remain a virgin. The guys were either preppy dweebs or “rebels” who bore more of a resemblance to the Fonz than actual bad boys. I preferred the older characters who allowed me to fantasize about the awesome adult life I was sure to have. The teens set off my b.s detector. I knew that wasn’t really how high school students acted. I still cringe when I recall how Julie and Charlie and Cecily -- the then teens of All My Children -- immediately swore off their two days of drinking and drug use after a “hip” motivational speaker lectured them about it. [see AMC photos] I rolled my eyes at Jenna and Dean’s “rocker falls for convent-raised orphan” story on Another World. When AW reran on SoapNet, I discovered that I enjoyed Dean and Jenna’s story the second time around. There was something poignant and sweet about her innocence and his grudging realization that he was falling for the uptight priss. However, I still find Dean’s moussed mullet an atrocity. More recently, I loved Guiding Light’s Jonathan and Tammy – IMHO a successful updating of the old tropes. The bad boy was truly, delightfully despicable and the good girl was quite fond of sex. Maybe teen storylines work better as nostalgia for cynical adults.

Those wholesome stories are relics of the past. Teens no longer watch daytime soaps in large numbers. If, unlike my teenage self, they’re interested in seeing stories about their age cohort, why would they? There are tons of teen dramas – Gossip Girl, Degrassi High, Friday Night Lights. But daytime hasn’t given up. (The reasoning is that once you’re hooked young, you’re often a fan for life. Kind of like cigarettes.) Today, we get stories that are supposed to be “darker” and “edgier”. On General Hospital, Lulu is tangling with mobster Johnny – who is not just a rebel but a criminal. On Bold & The Beautiful, young Phoebe returned home to find her former boyfriend Rick in bed with her mother. One Life To Live’s star-crossed teens are dealing with a pregnancy. Call me an old fart, but these stories aren’t making me reminisce about the joys of first love.

Instead, they make me sad that daytime’s teens have don’t get to experience any more romance than its adults do. The one bright spot is As The World Turns Luke and Noah. [watch full episodes] Ironically, the “daring” gay love story is an old-fashioned romance with lingering glances, first kisses and parental disapproval. Let’s hope that ATWT gets the courage to treat their relationship like that of any other popular young couple with love scenes that are as passionate as Jonathan and Tammy’s were.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Same Name, Different Face
While watching As The World Turns Thursday, I did a double take. Who was that attractive brunette with Holden? Then I remembered. She’s the new Lily, Noelle Beck. At the moment, she doesn’t seem like Lily to me. Martha Byrne joined the show as a teenager. The adopted heiress Lily’s love story with stable boy Holden was one of the greatest in soap history. Fans grew up along with Lily, joining the work force, marrying, and having children at roughly the same time that she did. Byrne forged a close connection with the audience, who admired her not only for her talent but her work for charities. Now she’s off the show for the most disappointing reason, a contract dispute. Byrne’s the latest victim of daytime’s budget crisis.

Recasts are one of the more frustrating aspects of being a soap fan. After years of getting to know every nuance of an actor’s portrayal of a character, suddenly the audience is asked to expect a new face in the role. It’s a convention that doesn’t exist in primetime.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

The Grim Reaper
These days, soap characters seem to have the lifespans of fruit flies. Death has always been a part of the genre. It should be. At their best, soaps are a magnified, funhouse version of our own lives, and unfortunately all of us eventually experience the deaths of loved ones. But so many characters have died in the past couple years, often in brutal, graphic ways, that death has lost some of its soap meaning. Recently, we’ve seen the deaths of numerous long-running characters including Days of Our Lives' Shawn “Pa” Brady, General Hospital’s Georgie Jones, Guiding Light’s Gus Arturo, All My Children’s Julia Santos, One Life To Live’s Asa Buchanan, and last week Nash Brennan. Killing off a soap character generally results in several weeks of powerful, emotional story. Bu the short term pay off often does long-term damage to the show.

I have been OLTL’s biggest cheerleader. The scenes where Dorian announced she now owns Beaucanan Enterprises, and in the process revealed that Jared was not a Beaucanan, and was sleeping with his faux-niece Natalie, were up there with the glory days of 80s soaps. If I hadn’t been spoiled for Nash’s sudden death, it would have come as a huge shock. One minute he was arguing with Jared and Natalie, the next Jared shoved him and he accidentally fell through a skylight. His death scenes moved me to tears. It was heartbreaking when Jessica told him she was pregnant with a baby he’d never get to see. Her mother, Vicki’s, poignant realization that Jessica’s loss paralleled the death of her first husband Joe was a brilliant use of history. The fallout has the potential change the lives of many characters.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Monday night I attended the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) bash in honor of this year’s Daytime Emmy Nominees. Armed with my tape recorder, I hit the Red Carpet in search of dish. The stars of all your favorite L.A. based soaps delivered:

The Young & The Restless
Is Jill Really Kay’s Daughter? Jeanne Cooper Gives Us The Scoop On Y&R
The Chancellor estate has been hopping lately. Esther’s back in action. Jeffrey Bardwell has taken up residence while recovering from being poisoned by Gloria. The Young & The Restless’s Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor) hints that this is only the start of the action. “I’m going to try to prove that Jill is not my daughter. It’s going to be racy.” Cooper did not reveal whether or not Kay would turn out to be Jill’s mother. She was adamant that Katherine had no designs on Jeffrey. Laughed Cooper, “That bum? He’s probably a quadruplet! He’ll die three times then come back as someone else.”

Kate Linder Celebrates The Return of Esther’s Uniform
Kate Linder (Esther) is delighted that her character has had more to do lately. She also likes the return to her classic wardrobe. “Esther’s back in her uniform, which I think is a good thing.” Kate opened up about the behind-the-scenes goings on at Y&R in the past year. “What I like is that Y&R seems to be getting more back to the basics, the core families.” Linder’s dream storyline is for her character’s long absent daughter, Kate to return to Genoa City. Linder, a Governor of ATAS, is looking forward to presenting the award for Best Children’s Song at the Creative Art Emmys.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Here's more from my chats with the stars at last Monday night's Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) bash in honor of this year’s Daytime Emmy Nominees:

The Bold & The Beautiful
Robin Riker Reveals Why She Left NY for The Bold & The Beautiful
The acclaimed actress whose credits include starring roles on several primetime shows joins The Bold & The Beautiful later this summer in the pivotal role of Beth Logan, matriarch of the Logan family. Robin Riker explains why she chose to leave NYC, where she worked steadily in the theater, for B&B: “I had a talk with Brad Bell, the Executive Producer and he made it sound like such a lovely invitation. And I love to accept invitations.” Riker shares that Jack Wagner’s character, Nick, persuades the absentee mother to visit her children. “Nick strong-arms her into coming home. It’s a lovely, tearful but conflicted reunion. One of the things I love about soap operas is that you see both the private space and the public space [of the characters.] What you see her doing I public, is very different from what you see her struggling with privately, so that will be the interesting reveal.”

Jacqueline Wood Does Double Duty
Jacqueline Wood is living the Hollywood dream. The Canadian native came to Los Angeles to try her luck during pilot season. The Bold & The Beautiful was her very first audition – and she landed the key role of ingénue Steffi Forrester. Viewers will also get to see a completely different side of the actress. Her former show, MVP, has its U.S. premiere on ABC following the Emmys before moving to SoapNet. Wood described her MVP character: “I play Ava the bitchy Hockey bunny.” Wood is enjoying her transition to daytime. She likes working with fellow newbie Texas Battle. Says Woods of her on-screen love interest, “We just know each other. We’re on the same page. The chemistry is awesome with us.”

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Don’t Mess With Texas
With a name like Texas Battle (he swears it’s real), the daytime newcomer who plays Marcus on The Bold & The Beautiful seems like he was destined for soap stardom. Marcus has shaken things up from the moment he showed up at the Forrester’s door. The handsome African-American Marcus gave the WASPy Donna Logan Forrester the surprise of her life when he announced her was the son she gave up for adoption years ago. Now Marcus is keeping his identity a secret while working at Forrester Creations – and getting very friendly with Steffi Forrester. The enthusiastic Battle chatted with me about joining the B&B family. [catch up by watching full-episodes here]

On his pre B&B career: I was working on the [upcoming film] Dragonball.

Battle’s credits also include guest-starring on One Tree Hill, HBO series 12 Miles of Bad Road with Lily Tomlin and roles in the movies Coach Carter and Final Destination 3.

On winning the part on B&B: My agent told me there was a part [being cast] on The Bold & The Beautiful. We had no idea what it was, but I was excited because my Mom watches B&B and I knew that it was not only one of the top shows in America, but #1 worldwide. I met with the casting director. [She] had me read a scene from a previous episode. The character was a guy named Brandon. Then I came back and met with [headwriter and Executive Producer] Brad Bell and [Supervising Producer] Rhonda Friedman. That was when I found out that I was going to play a son looking for his mother. I was very excited that B&B was developing a storyline for an African-American character. At the screen test I met Jennifer Gareis [Donna.] I was surprised because I had assumed that [Marcus’s] Mom would be African-American. I was like, you mean this beautiful blue eyed blonde is going to be my Mom?! I knew that this storyline was going to be a trip. Let the drama begin!

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Fear And Loathing In Daytime

Luke and Noah’s romance on As The World Turns is one of the hottest stories on soaps right now. Multiple sites post their scenes on-line and analyze their every move. (You can watch complete episodes of ATWT right here on fancast .) The story has generated mainstream media attention and increased interest in the long-running soap among the sort of hip, young viewers the genre is dying to attract. On July 3rd, Oakdale will even have a Gay Pride celebration featuring a performance by Cyndi Lauper. (Of course, many of those viewers are young men who aren’t considered daytime’s target audience and thus are not reflected in the female-only demographic ratings, and plenty only watch on-line.)

ATWT approached this story with caution. As with All My Children’s similarly popular lesbian love story a couple years ago, it began as a story about a teenager coming out. Almost every gay storyline on daytime has featured teenagers dealing with homophobia, both because older characters on soaps tend to be established as extraordinarily heterosexual and because it’s plausible that teenage characters won’t have significant romantic relationships. The old-skewing ATWT may have expected negative feedback when it paired Luke with Noah. It took them forever to kiss. When they did, the response, at least on-line, was along the lines of, “About time.” Still, it was months before they kissed again, and the writers have devised a myriad of contrivances, including marrying Noah to an Iraqi refugee, to keep the guys from having sex. According to the website AfterElton.com it’s been 26 days since ”Nuke” has kissed – hardly typical of a young soap couple.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

We Need A Recount
It’s Daytime Emmy week. I’ll be covering the Red Carpet, doing my best to get you the scoop. I have many fond memories of Emmy weeks past, especially when the show was in New York and Y&R would shut down for a week so we could travel back East. For a few days I actually felt like a soap opera character, getting dressed up and going to parties every night. This year I get to experience the Emmys as a member of the soap press. It will be exciting and a little bitter sweet.

I’ve got to rant about the voting process this year. A lot of the nominees are real head scratchers. Actors who had outstanding years were overlooked while some who are at best mediocre up for the statue. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Almost every year there’s at least one Emmy winner that causes viewers at home to start cursing at the TV screen. The nominees are heavily skewed in favor of CBS, with ABC virtually shut out in the acting categories. Since ABC is broadcasting the show, that should be interesting.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

I hit the red carpet Thursday night to interview a bevy of soap stars, clad in their finest cocktail attire.

As The World Turns
Van Hansis & Jake Silberman Discuss Whether “Nuke” Will Ever Marry
I asked Hansis and Silberman whether the legalization of gay marriage in California would inspire Luke and Noah to consider walking down the aisle. Hansis told me, “It was brought up in a script I got a couple days ago. A character mentioned that.” As to his potential Emmy acceptance speech, in his opinion, “I’m of the mentality not to bring up a piece of paper. I’m going to up there and make a fool of myself if I win.”

Days of Our Lives
Thaao Penghlis Pictures Alison Sweeney In Her Undies
The lead actor nominee is thrilled about all of DOOL’s nominations. “It was a lovely surprise. People had become cynical over the years, because DOOL never gets nominated.” He explained how he managed the challenging task of playing the two roles of Tony and Andre. “The hardest scene was when Andre and Tony were fencing. I decided I’d play Tony first. He’s closer to me. Andre’s more insecure. That’s why he falls. Tony doesn’t make mistakes. We shot it at 1AM.” Penghlis’s Emmy reel included a memorably creepy scene when Andre disguised himself as a clown. “I loved playing the clown. I never realized that people had a phobia about clowns. But when I put on the costume, the women in the office were screaming. I chased them around the office until they realized it was me. I thought ‘I’m going to use this.’ It wasn’t easy since we only get one rehearsal to do pirouettes with balloons and those shoes without hitting the camera. Then when I learned Alison Sweeney [Sami] hated clowns I thought, ‘I wonder what kind of underwear she’s wearing?’ My whole idea was to get inside her as slowly and painfully as possible.” On his potential acceptance speech: “I think part of what goes on is an unappreciation of daytime. I’d like to bring up that subject. We’re the unsung heroes of television and I think it’s important to voice that. What’s been given us, the kind of pressures we have to get product made.”

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

I’m writing this at 1:30AM, fresh from the Daytime Emmys. I apologize in advance for any portions that are incoherent. This was my sixth Daytime Emmys – I’ve done three in New York and three in L.A – enough to come up with an overall Emmy narrative. The weather always sucks. The red carpet is always chaotic. Over the course of the evening, someone will get sloppy drunk. I will find out that two actors are hooking up. I will run into someone I haven’t seen in years. My uncoordinated, Caucasian self will spend too much time on the dance floor in high heels resulting in agonizing foot pain. Someone will spill a drink on me. I will do something stupid and embarrassing. When all is said and done, it will be one of the best nights of my life.

Red Carpet Madness

Wednesday, I got my Red Carpet press pass. I was supposed to get a pass for the press room as well, but I got bumped because the Fire Marshal decried that they had to limit access and I am but a lowly internet writer. Every other event that I’ve covered for fancast has been organized. I received credentials, parking information, a schedule, and a “tip sheet” with information about who was scheduled to appear at the event. The Emmys had none of that. I spent the morning trying to figure out when and where I was supposed to show up. Nobody from the PR company handling the event was available. Finally, in desperation I called the Kodak theater. The operator seemed to know all about it and told me to be there by 3PM. That gave me plenty of time. I started to get ready. Then I got a call from an editor at fancast who informed me that the PR department had just gotten back to her. The press check-in was already happening. Crap! I throw on my cocktail dress, slap on some make-up and book it to the Kodak. Fortunately, I live pretty close and I know a short cut.

There is no sign indicating where press should park, so I just go into the Hollywood/Highland mall complex, which turns out to be the right call. I rush up the escalators to the red carpet area. Fans are lined up in the triple digit heat to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. That’s dedication. I search in vain for a spot to check-in. Every security guard I ask sends me someplace different. Finally one tells me that my credential entitles me to wander wherever I please on the carpet. That doesn’t sound right, but I go with it. Normally, there are designated areas for each organization, labeled with signs. But this time there are very few signs, and they’re all for broadcast media. After walking back and forth for while, I settle on an empty area near the entrance to the Kodak complex. Fortunately, I soon see a couple of familiar faces from the soap press, who proved to be an invaluable help. One flags down an event coordinator who hastily improvises signs for us. I’m relieved. ABC has thoughtfully provided cases of water to keep us all from dehydrating. I look around and realize that I’m the only member of the press stupid enough to wear high heels on the red carpet – my first bonehead move of the day.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

The Not-Ready For Primetime Emmys
According to Nielsen, last Friday’s Daytime Emmys were the lowest rated in the show’s history. The telecast [watch a two minute highlight video] got trounced by the Jonas Brothers movie, Camp Rock, which aired on the Disney Channel. Hmmmm….. Disney scheduled its heavily promoted sure-to-be-a-hit movie opposite an awards show it was airing. An awards show where rival networks got the bulk of the nominations. It’s almost like ABC didn’t care about the Daytime Emmys at all.

Unfortunately, neither did the audience. With dismal numbers (1.2/4 rating in the key demo of A18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall) I’m not sure how much longer the Emmys will air in network primetime. It’s another sad reminder of the waning popularity of soap operas.

But enough of the depressing stuff. Here are some “award winning” quotes from Emmy week.

Best Hyping of an Upcoming Storyline: Ricky Paul Goldin (Jake, All My Children) SoapNet Pre-Party:
“We have a story. The head of ABC has told us it should be a story that becomes a classic in all of daytime. Considering how long daytime has been around, that is a huge statement. I can’t tell you what the story is. But I am more probably more excited than I ever have been in my daytime career.”

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Worst. Product.Placement.Ever.Period.

As soaps desperately search for ways to become profitable, they’re turning to product placement. I’m not going to condemn this trend. If putting some Florida Orange Juice on a breakfast table can help a show’s bottom line, then so be it. I’ll accept being pulled out of a scene for a moment by a brand reference if that’s what it takes to keep a show going. After all, product placement has been a part of the genre since soaps were fifteen minute long radio serials. (It was arguably worse in the “good old days.” Some soaps sold branded products a la ABC’s former “Shop the Soaps” line. Without visuals the characters had to describe the cheap jewelry.) Blatant product integration is an accepted part of reality shows. Movies are full of lingering shots of branded products. With lots of viewers routinely fast-forwarding through commercials via Tivo, advertisers are determined to get their products seen. Audiences have become more tolerant of the concept.

However, last Friday’s episode of Days of Our Lives took it a little too far. It started off with a plug for NBC’s Ms. Universe pageant: Chelsea (Rachel Melvin) and Morgan (Kristen Renton) talk to their sorority rep about a charity walk: Chelsea says, “Second Sunday in July. We can walk all day and watch the Ms. Universe pageant at night!” Setting aside the unlikelihood of a college student being so into Ms. Universe that she knows when it’s airing weeks in advance, I can live with this one. NBC wants to promote the pageant to women. DOOL is an easy way to do it.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Carolyn Hennesy, (Diane Miller General Hospital) was originally hired for a brief role role as Sonny’s lawyer. Her performance as the tough, take-no-prisoners, fashion loving Diane was an instant hit with both the fans and the show’s powers-that-be. A year and a half later, Diane is still in Port Charles. Given how rare it is for a day-player to become a series regular, one could say it must have been fate. Hennesy, a lifelong fan of Greek mythology, wouldn’t disagree.

Another twist of fate – a conversation with a stranger – led to her writing a series of Young Adult novels set in Ancient Greece that imagine Pandora as a 13 year-old girl who accidentally opens the famous box and unleashes all of humanity’s evils. Zeus sends her on an epic quest to recapture them and save the world. The first book, Pandora Gets Jealous is available now. The second, Pandora Gets Vain is scheduled to be published in September. The books are funny and smart with an underlying theme of female empowerment. It’s easy to imagine Diane’s best friend Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) reading them to her daughters. Hennesy spoke with me about the evolution of Diane, her books, and how GH parallels Greek mythology.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Life In Fast Forward
Many of us soap viewers share a dirty little secret -- the fast forward button. When that character you hate or the couple you find the opposite of romantic comes on screen, a simple press of the button and they’re gone – along with the commercials. It saves time, it lowers blood pressure, and makes the viewing experience more pleasurable.

On the internet, soap fans have become amateur editors, creating their own customized versions of the show. Shipper fansites post only the scenes involving their favorite couples. A creative One Life To Live fan has taken to uploading episodes minus the teen pregnancy storyline to YouTube. (In all fairness, it has gotten much better now that Starr’s pulled a Juno and decided to give the baby up for adoption.) It reminds me of that version of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace without Jar-Jar that circulated a few years ago. Although, Ron Carlivati’s writing is far more entertaining than anything George Lucas has come up with in years.

Unlike other genres, where skipping a scene can render the story incomprehensible, soap operas non-linear structure allows viewers to skip entire storylines. Sometimes I wonder if I’m being a bad soap fan by skipping the parts of shows that don’t do it for me. In theory, every soap storyline and character should impact the rest of the canvas. But, unfortunately, soaps are no longer intricately woven tales where a couple’s break up impacts their parents, children and exes. If you’re getting a kick out of the surprisingly entertaining Erica Kane in prison story on All My Children, you can skip the Aidan/Greenlee/Ryan/Kendall/ Zach/Annie polygon that has managed to make everyone involved unlikable. The stories don’t intersect. I always stop and watch when a character I love unexpectedly crosses into the stories that I find dull, but unfortunately that rarely happens. It’s one of the factors contributing to the demise of daytime. If viewers are invested in individual stories rather than the show as a whole, they’re going to start flipping channels or fast-forwarding. When the storyline or relationship they’re following ends, they may end up giving up the show all together.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Watch And Learn
Earlier this week I attended a networking event for people who work in New Media. (I figure I qualify now that I’m a blogger.) Hundreds of people crowded into a bar. We all attempted to schmooze over the loud music. I was introduced to the friend of a friend. When the small talk led to my soap writing past he said, “I hope you won’t find this offensive but…” In my opinion, if you have to start a sentence that way with someone you’ve just met, it’s better to keep your mouth shut. He kept going. “So is writing for soaps considered to be like writing for the National Enquirer? Do you just sit around throwing out crazy ideas?” It never ceases to amaze me how people who don’t watch soaps think they know about them. Most non-watchers think all soaps are as unrealistic as Passions. I try to explain that most shows take themselves more seriously, but they rarely believe it. These non-viewers have no qualms about telling me how the soap writing process works.

On vacation a couple years ago, I struck up a conversation with a family staying at the same hotel. The husband derisively said, “That’s an easy job. You can just do a global replace on the character names, since soaps have the scenes over and over again.” His wife outed him as a former Days of Our Lives fan.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Cyndi Lauper Is The World’s Greatest Deux En Machina
I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend. At the risk of sounding incredibly schmaltzy, the July 3 episode of As The World Turns reminded me of why we live in a great country. Oakdale’s Gay Pride celebration, featuring Cyndi Lauper was a great way to showcase our nation’s founding principles of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. [watch the full episode here, including Lauper's performances]

All My Children did an excellent job of incorporating aspects of gay culture into the initial Bianca comes- out storyline. I loved that Pine Valley had its own lesbian bar and that Erica Kane crossed paths with an Erica drag queen. But this is the first time I’ve seen a Gay Pride event on daytime. Kudos to CBS and ATWT’s conservative production company Procter & Gamble for letting it happen. While I’m sure the timing of Oakdale’s Pride festivities was at least in part to do with Lauper’s schedule, dovetailing it with Independence Day was a nice touch.

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

When Great Characters Start To Suck
You loved him. You lusted after him. You contemplated writing fan-fic about him. Now you just want him to get the hell off your TV screen. Viewers’ relationships with soap opera characters can go through as many ups and downs as on-screen romances. It’s a curious phenomenon that I’ll call the Spike Effect, after the Buffy The Vampire Slayer vampire who went from deliciously evil to intriguing anti-hero to so annoying that I wanted to stake him.

All fans have their own opinions, and you may wildly disagree with my assessment. The characters I’ve gone from loving to hating include some heavy hitters -- General Hospital’s Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and All My Children’s Greenlee Smythe (Rebecca Budig). These characters share a common trait. They were originally villainous characters that much of the audience found likeable and sympathetic. When Edward Quartermaine (John Ingle) judged Sonny for being a criminal, viewers thought that he was being hypocritical. After all, Edward was a ruthless business man who often

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Days of Our Lives Kristen Renton (Morgan Hollingsworth) joined the cast in fall of 2007 as president of a Salem U. sorority. Her character was a hit with the fans. The show expanded Morgan’s role, giving her a father (Paul played by Linden Ashby) and a romance with Philip (Jay Kenneth Johnson). The hardworking Renton phoned me from DOOL’s hair-and-makeup room .

What’s a typical day of taping like?
It starts in hair and make-up, which for me can be the most fun because that’s where all the gossip happens.

Any juicy gossip right now?
It’s funny, because sometimes I’ll put my earphones on so it looks like I’m listening to music, when really I’m not. I’ll just listen to everyone talking about who is dating who or who told who off. The kind of stuff that you shouldn’t know but you hear because for some reason everyone cuts loose in that room. I don’t know why, but [hair and make-up] is definitely the go to gossip room.

The rest of the [less gossipy] day?
We’re usually in hair and make-up for about two hours, depending on what we’re going to do that day. If we have a juicy fantasy scene or something it might take longer. We go from there to rehearsal where we get all our blocking. Things like, ‘Take a step here, grab his butt here.’ Then we shoot. Sometimes it goes really quickly, other times not so much.