Sean Smith

According to a report by E! Online, “The Young and the Restless‘” Michelle Stafford is departing the daytime drama series after 16 years portraying the role of Phyllis Summers off and on since 1994 (1994-1997 and 2000-present), according to their sources.

In mid-April, Stafford addressed fan concerns over her characters then recent onscreen disappearance. “I am still on the show,” she wrote in assurance to worried fans. “Just not working a lot.”

A rep for “Y&R” was unavailable for comment at press time.

As previously reported, ABC Entertainment Group President, Paul Lee, has called much of the networks new 2013-2014 primetime dramas “soaps,” and we definitely agree with that assessment. Wondering what our readers thought of the shows, we thought we’d give you a closer look at the networks new dramatic offerings.

FALL DRAMAS

Tuesdays
8:00 PM – “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.“

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films, as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage; Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), expert pilot and martial artist; Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), brilliant engineer; and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Tuesdays
10:00 PM – “Lucky 7“

In Astoria, Queens, a group of seven gas station employees have been chipping into a lottery pool for months, never thinking they’d actually win. Money could solve problems for each of them: Matt (Matt Long) could get his girlfriend and two kids out of his mother’s house; Matt’s brother, Nicky (Stephen Louis Grush), an ex-con, could pay off a dangerous debt; Samira (Summer Bishil), a second-generation Pakistani immigrant, could afford to go to Juilliard; Denise (Lorraine Bruce), a plucky cashier, could focus on rebuilding her crumbling marriage; Leanne (Anastasia Phillips), a young mother, could help her daughter realize her dreams; Bob (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), the store’s manager, could finally retire; and Antonio (Luis Antonio Ramos) could give his wife and kids a whole new life.

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Warner Bros. Television

On Sunday, June 16, SOAPnet will present a four-episode father’s day marathon of “One Tree Hill” dubbed “Buff Daddy.” The marathon is scheduled to run from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET/PT.

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Apple, Inc.

It remains unclear whether it was done in anticipation of the recent schedule change and the subsequent carriage loss by FX Canada, but we can report that both “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” are now available for download on the Canadian iTunes store. According to both the “AMC” and “OLTL” iTunes Canada pages, the shows were first listed on iTunes Canada on Monday, May 13. Episodes are currently priced at $9.99 for multi-pass access or $1.99 per episode.

If you are a Canadian viewer and upset at the loss of both soaps, you can purchase episodes of either series by clicking on the links below:

“All My Children” on iTunes Canada / “One Life to Live” on iTunes Canada

Rogers Media, Inc.

As a result of Prospect Park‘s announcement that it had reduced the amount of episodes aired each week of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” FX Canada has announced that it has dropped both soaps from its lineup with reruns of “30 Rock” taking over the timeslot effective Monday, May 20.

In a statement, FX Canada’s parent company, Rogers Media, said, “Due to changes in production beyond our control,  FX Canada will no longer be airing ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live.’ Beginning Monday, May 20, back-to-back episodes of critically-acclaimed series ’30 Rock’ will air from noon to 1 p.m. ET on FX Canada.”

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Chapman Baehler/TOLN

On Thursday, May 16, Prospect Park‘s The OnLine Network announced its decision to reduce the episode order of both “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” from 168 original episodes (excluding Fridays MORE shows) each per  year to just 110. “AMC” star Jill Larson (Opal Cortlandt) recently spoke out on the decision, which has fans of both soaps currently divided, on her Facebook page:

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Carin Baer/Crown Media Holdings, Inc.

Soap fans certainly know Eddie Cibrian as “Sunset Beach’s” Cole Deschanel, but the hunky star is widely known for a slew of other roles in films and TV shows like “Third Watch,” “Vanished,” “Ugly Betty,” “CSI: Miami,” “The Playboy Club,” and “For Better or Worse.” And now the actor is adding yet another gig onto his resume, this time in a new Hallmark Channel original movie called “Notes From Dad.”

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Howard Wise/JPI Studios

Fans who loved seeing Crystal Chappell (Gina Brogno, “Venice;” ex-Carly Manning, “Days of our Lives;” ex-Olivia Spencer, “Guiding Light”) as Jane in Steve Silverman’s Alfred Hitchcock-inspired series, “The Inn,” are in for quite a treat: The two-time Emmy Award winning actress is reprising the role in the second season of the dark drama!

“I’m so proud of this project,” Chappell says of the series, which follows the journey of a woman (Chappell) whose car breaks down off the beaten path and is forced to stay at the town’s local inn. “The role fulfilled my dream of playing a Hitchcock girl kind of character.”

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Ace Hicks Photography

Genoa City is apparently a very popular place to be, as “The Young and the Restless” is adding yet another character to the canvas. This time, the sudser has tapped actress Mishael Morgan to play the new character of Hillary Curtis.

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Adam Taylor/ABC

When ABC unveiled its new fall lineup this week, one thing fans couldn’t help but notice was a drastic cut to “Dancing With the Stars,” which will only be airing one night a week — on Mondays — come fall. The network has decided to build the results show into the new two-hour once-a-week format, and ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee has spilled the details on why that decision was made, as well as teased some other major changes in store for the popular reality series.

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