Photo Credit: Yolanda Perez/ABC

With anticipation high for the recently introduced TNT Original Series “Major Crimes,” The Huffington Post compiled a list of the 30 Best and Worst TV Spinoffs Ever. “Port Charles” was listed as one of televisions worst.

“Despite the fact that the ‘General Hospital‘ spinoff lasted more than six years, ‘Port Charles’ — which took ‘GH’ characters Lucy Coe, Kevin Collins, Scott Baldwin and Karen Wexler — broke all the TV soap rules, and not for the better. It dropped the open-ended writing style of other daytime dramas and spent way too much time in the hospital,” the Post cited as its reasoning for placing the daytime drama series on the list.

Premiering on Sunday, June 1, 1997 as a 2-hour primetime television event, “Port Charles” was the first spinoff of ABC Daytime’s “General Hospital.” As a daily soap opera, “PC” launched on Monday, June 2, 1997. It ended on Friday, October 3, 2003 after airing 1,633 episodes.

Shortly after its conclusion, ABC shifted Kelly Monaco (ex-Olivia “Livvie” Locke Morley) and Michael Easton (ex-Caleb Morley) to “General Hospital” and “One Life to Live,” respectively. Monaco currently portrays Sam McCall, while Easton left “OLTL” (upon that soaps cancellation) and transferred his character John McBain to “GH.”

To find out what other shows made the best or worst list, click here.

Donna Svennevik/ABC

“Yesterday, I found out I was pregnant…actually, in the same day they told me I had cancer and then I didn’t, I was pregnant,” says Blanca Soto, a Telenovela star of her character Camila Nájera de Negrete on “El Talismán” (aka: The Talisman). If that plot twist sounds familiar to you, it’s because that’s generally the storyline twists and turns we’ve come to expect on American daytime soap operas. The only difference is more viewers are tuning into Telenovelas on networks such as Univision and Telemundo than they are on ABC, CBS, or NBC, who are consistently losing viewers in record numbers. In a new report by ABC News “Nightline,” reporter Matt Gutman explores how telenovelas are thriving while American soaps are struggling to survive.

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UPDATE, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16 5:30 PM ET: A previous version of this article incorrectly included the line “Big Trouble at ‘Live! with Kelly?’” in its heading.

We apologize for the sensationalized heading, and have corrected it to include the core information. While “Live! with Kelly” did hit 20 year lows, which made that tidbit of information more noteworthy, it is one of the few daytime shows (talk or otherwise) to have been on the air as long.

Additionally, despite its lows, “Live!” was the third most watched talk show for the week. This in spite of the show losing 39 affiliated stations, representing 10% of the U.S.

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Photo Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

On Wednesday, August 15, Crystal Chappell (Danielle, “The Bold and the Beautiful“) published a new blog post on the “Venice: The Series” website. Her post was in regards to a tweet by former “Days of our Lives” co-star Melissa Reeves (Jennifer Horton) that caused controversy within the daytime community.

“Chick-fil-a today!!!! Loved every bite of it;)!! Land of the free and home of the brave. Love that we all appreciate free speech, right?” said Reeves in her tweet to her followers on Tuesday, August 1.

In response to Reeves, Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis, “General Hospital“) said on Twitter, “I’m all for 1st Am rights, but when you buy Chick Fil A, your $$ are going to fund hate groups that are actively attacking gay rights.”

Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher, “The Young and the Restless”) got personal via a posting on the Huffington Post. “I posted a tweet airing my disappointment in Melissa Reeves (another member of the daytime community) for aligning herself with this company [Chic-fil-A] that financially supports the furthering of hatred and bigotry. I did so because I have aligned myself with organizations like GLSEN (the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) and the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) and I have read too many stories of alienated LGBT kids taking their lives after relentless persecution,” Rikaart said. “Whether grown up bullies like Dan Cathy and Melissa Reeves realize it or not, they are directly or indirectly telling these vulnerable kids that there is something wrong with them, or they are somehow less than. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m certain of it,” he continued.

Since the controversy began, Reeves has not publicly spoken on the issue. According to Chappell, however, the actress has told mutual fiends that the implication of her tweet was “not what she intended.” Chappell added, “She said she saw half a tweet about Cluck Filet and thought she was supporting Free Speech. Nothing more. I thought…OK. Um….twitter fuck up? I’ve stepped into twitter convoys without really knowing what was being talked about and made a mess for myself unintentionally. Realizing after I stepped into it that I don’t at all support the person’s words I stood up for. OK….it happens. And then I asked our gay and married friends…well, why not just say that to the folks in twitter land? Was someone telling her not to? Is it work related? Ostrich in the sand syndrome? If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist kind of thing? Blonde moment? The more time went by the more frustrated I and my friends became. It started to hurt. We all know Missy has very strong religious beliefs but the person we know and love….is NOT a bigot.”

Chappell stated that she has personally reached out to Reeves regarding the issue, and that Reeves has “decided to not speak out and hope that the people who know her will trust that she didn’t intend to support an anti-gay corporation.” The creator of “Venice” and new series “The Grove: The Series” also says, “I firmly believe she should speak…not only for the fans but for her friends.”

Responding to Rikaart’s Huffington Post article, Chappell says, “I thought it was eloquent and spot on…with the exception of calling Melissa Reeves a bully.”

To read Chappell’s full blog post on the matter, click here.

Photo Credit: JPI Studios via Twitter

On Tuesday, August 14, Jon Hensley (ex-Holden Snyder, “As The World Turns“) tweeted, “Hi All, B&B has invited me back for a few more episodes, i shoot them next week! No details yet!”

Fans can expect to see his character, Dr. Meade, on screen again sometime in September.

Andrew Eccles/Disney-ABC

In an interview with John Nogawski, president, CBS Television Distribution, Broadcasting & Cable revealed that Disney/ABC Domestic Television is spending roughly $80 million just to get its Katie Couric hosted talker, aptly named “Katie,” off the ground in the next couple of weeks.

“I think [Disney/ABC] cut a bad deal,” said Nogawski. “They did get very large license fees, but the majority of those license fees are attributed to ABC’s owned-and-operated stations. ['Katie'] is going to have to do a very large number for them to make money.” By comparison, CTD is spending roughly $30 million to launch “The Jeff Probst Show” ($24 million on production, $6 million on promotion).

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Photo Credit: Disney/ABC Television Group

As has traditionally been the case for the past couple of years, ABC has announced that it will be re-running a previously aired episode of “General Hospital” on Labor Day (Monday, September 3).

Soap Opera Network has learned that the network will re-air the Monday, July 23, 2012 episode of “GH,” which found Anna discovering Luke in a fiery garden shack, Lulu confronting Patrick over his drug problem, Todd challenging Blair over her feelings and Connie paying Johnny a visit.

Full Episode Description:
It appears Luke might expire in the fire he accidentally started when Anna arrives to the rescue.  Their reunion is cut short by Heather. Someone is shot. Earlier, Heather battles Olivia with LSD-filled syringe and injects her with the hallucinogenic.  Dante arrives. Connie pays Johnny a visit and admits she’s keeping Kate from being fully integrated. Unbeknownst to them, the camera Heather planted in the office for Todd is on.  Meanwhile, Michael and Starr grow closer and Starr feels ever more grateful to Johnny for giving her the chance to move on after losing her boyfriend and daughter. Lulu confronts Patrick about his continued drug use.  Patrick confesses that he’s afraid to give the pills up because he’ll have to deal with the reality that Robin is gone.  Todd is stung by learning of Blair’s engagement to Tomas and challenges her to say she doesn’t still love Todd.

“General Hospital” moves to a new time period beginning Monday, September 10 (2:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT/CT). The network promises to thrill audiences in the days leading up to the timeslot switch with lives hanging in the balance and shocking revelations hitting Port Charles. Who survives and who thrives? You’ll just have to tune in to find out!

Photo Credit: Barnes & Noble

For those of you attending the Saturday, August 18 book signing of “The Young and the Restless Life of William J. Bell,” with co-authors Lee Phillip Bell and Michael Maloney, along with Ronn Moss (Ridge Forrester, “The Bold and the Beautiful“), Doug Davidson (Paul Williams, “The Young and the Restless”) and Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren Fenmore, “The Young and the Restless”), who are all scheduled to attend, please take note of the following information courtesy of Barnes & Noble Ventura, which will be hosting the event.

Photo Credit: Source Books

Per a representative for the book store:

• Books to purchase and wristbands will be available at our cash-wrap on the first floor. The line for the event and the event will be upstairs on the second floor.

• Our cashiers will begin handing out wristbands when we open at 9:00 am. To get a wristband a customer must either purchase a copy of the book, or bring a receipt with their book to show the cashier. Books purchased ahead of time and from other vendors are acceptable with a receipt. Customers may begin lining up by wristband number at 1:00 pm.

• Please note that while the event is listed as being from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm we may not keep the authors & cast all the way until 4:00 pm if they finish signing earlier. This means customers should arrive towards the beginning of the event so they don’t miss out.

Photo Credit: John Paschal/JPI Studios

UPDATE, 7:31 PM ET: Schmidt’s rep tells Soap Opera Network that the actor completed filming a few weeks ago, but was unable to confirm whether his final scenes have already aired. Soap Opera Network has reached out to a “Y&R” representative, but we’ve been informed that the individual is on vacation until next Monday.

PREVIOUS, 5:41 PM ET: Kevin Schmidt announced via Twitter early this evening that he’s been let go as Noah Newman on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless.”

“Hey @Official_YandR! How many times you gonna try and bring in a “New Noah”? There’s only one! Sorry to those who watch for me. #Peace @CBS,” read Schmidt’s tweet.

A representative for the actor confirmed his exit to Soap Opera Network.

Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News.

Deadline is reporting Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte is scheduled to make his series television debut when he makes a cameo appearance on the CW’s “90210.” 

Last week Lochte made it known that he’d like to take a stab at television by either competing in an upcoming season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” or possibly finding love on the networks “The Bachelor.”

Lochte’s “90210″ episode is scheduled to air on Monday, October 29.