Legion College

“General Hospital” makes a few changes to the writing staff.

Head Writer Ron Carlivati brings in another writer from his former “One Life To Live” team.  Anna Theresa Cascio joins the “GH” team as a breakdown writer. Leaving the “GH” team is breakdown writer Garin Wolf, who has been with the show since 1997.  Also leaving is breakdown/script writer Tracey Thomson.

Over at “The Young and Restless,” changes were recently made as Josh Griffith takes over as Head Writer from Maria Arena Bell. Co-Head Writer Scott Hamner has also left the show.

For discussion on these topics and more, join us in the Writers/Directors thread at the SON Community.

Disney/ABC Television Group

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “General Hospital” leads the way with 23 nominations, followed by “The Young and The Restless” with 16, “Days of our Lives” with 15.  Tied with 11 nominations were “One Life to Live“, “All My Children” and “The Bold and The Beautiful“.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA

All My Children

Days of Our Lives

General Hospital

The Young and the Restless

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES WRITING TEAM

All My Children

Days of Our Lives

General Hospital

The Young and the Restless

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES DIRECTING TEAM

The Bold and The Beautiful

General Hospital

One Life To Live

The Young and the Restless

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

CRYSTAL CHAPPELL, as Dr. Carly Manning
Days of our Lives, NBC

DEBBIE MORGAN, as Angie Hubbard
All My Children, ABC

ERIKA SLEZAK, as Viki Lord
One Life to Live, ABC

HEATHER TOM, as Katie Logan Spencer
The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS

LAURA WRIGHT, as Carly Corinthos Jax
General Hospital, ABC

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

MAURICE BERNARD, as Michael “Sonny” Corinthos, Jr.
General Hospital, ABC

ANTHONY GEARY, as Luke Spencer
General Hospital, ABC

JOHN MCCOOK, as Eric Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS

DARNELL WILLIAMS, as Jesse Hubbard
All My Children, ABC

ROBERT S. WOODS, as Bo Buchanan
One Life to Live, ABC

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

MELISSA CLAIRE EGAN, as Annie Chandler
All My Children, ABC

GENIE FRANCIS, as Genevieve Atkinson
The Young and the Restless, CBS

NANCY LEE GRAHN, as Alexis Davis
General Hospital, ABC

ELIZABETH HENDRICKSON, as Chloe Mitchell
The Young and the Restless, CBS

REBECCA HERBST, as Elizabeth Webber
General Hospital, ABC

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

BRADFORD ANDERSON, as Damien Spinelli
General Hospital, ABC

MATTHEW ASHFORD, as Jack Deveraux
Days of our Lives, NBC

SEAN BLAKEMORE, as Shawn Butler
General Hospital, ABC

JONATHAN JACKSON, as Lucky Spencer
General Hospital, ABC

JASON THOMPSON, as Patrick Drake
General Hospital, ABC

OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

MOLLY BURNETT, as Melanie Layton
Days of our Lives, NBC

SHELLEY HENNIG, as Stephanie Johnson
Days of our Lives, NBC

CHRISTEL KHALIL, as Lily Winters
The Young and the Restless, CBS

JACQUELINE MACINNES WOOD, as Steffy Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS

OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

EDDIE ALDERSON, as Matthew Buchanan
One Life To Live, ABC

CHAD DUELL, as Michael Corinthos
General Hospital, ABC

CHANDLER MASSEY, as Will Horton
Days of our Lives, NBC

NATHAN PARSONS, as Ethan Lovett
General Hospital, ABC

Full list of nominations can be read here.

ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “General Hospital” DVR Alerts for the Week of May 7, 2012.

GENERAL HOSPITAL: DVR ALERTS

• Monday: McBain and Dante race to save the women they care about. Jason gets an unexpected surprise. Will Michael be able to get through to Starr in time? Anthony is convinced someone in particular has it out for him.

• Tuesday: Jason wants to know what John is after concerning Sam. Kate makes a heartfelt plea to Sonny. Starr and Michael’s relationship hits a snag. Luke and Anna’s bond continues to grow.

• Wednesday: Tea Delgado arrives in Port Charles. Is she there to help or hurt Todd’s daughter? Olivia is torn. Will Mac be moved by Felicia’s heartfelt plea? Spinelli makes an interesting discovery.

• Thursday: Todd and Tea’s relationship remains as volatile as ever. Mac and Felicia find themselves in an awkward position. Matt’s concerns about Patrick increase. Olivia makes a discovery concerning Steve.

• Friday: Tea struggles to get through to Starr. Carly welcomes a new guest to the Metro Court. Todd makes an interesting discovery. Olivia reaches out to Steve.

Disney/ABC Television Group

As Soap Opera Network first reported on March 16, Deadline‘s Nellie Andreeva is reporting that ABC has officially canceled “The Revolution” and plans to slide “General Hospital” into the 2:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT timeslot beginning Monday, September 10, the same day the network hands over the 3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT time period to affiliates. The news was later reported by The New York Times.

It was last week Wednesday (April 4, 2012) when Soap Opera Network Tweeted, via a very reliable source, that within ten days a decision on the future of “General Hospital” would be made by the network. Tomorrow, April 12 (or Saturday, April 14, depending on how you look at it), marks the one year anniversary of Black Thursday (April 14, 2011), which is best known to many as the day that ABC announced the cancellations of both “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” and the launches of “The Chew” and “The Revolution.” It was also the day Source Interlink announced a licensing deal with American Media over Soap Opera Digest and newly defunct Soap Opera Weekly.

Read More >>

Donna Svennevik/ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Former “One Life to Live” stars Brian Kerwin (ex-Charlie Banks) and Trevor St. John (ex-Victor Lord, Jr./faux Todd Manning) are scheduled to appear in upcoming episodes of Lifetime‘s newest hit drama series “The Client List” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Soap Opera Network has learned.

Beginning with episode #102 entitled “Turning the Page,” Kerwin begins a multi-episode storyline arc as Garrett, the churchgoing love interest of Cybill Shepherd‘s Linette. The episode airs Sunday, April 15, 2012.

In episode #106 entitled “The Cold Hard Truth,” airing Sunday, May 13, 2012, Trevor St. John appears alongside “Heroes” and “Felicity” star Greg Grunberg.

The two actors will not appear on screen together, however.

“The Client List” airs Sundays at 10/9c on Lifetime. The series also stars Loretta Devine and Colin Egglesfield.

Michael Desmond/A&E Television Networks, LLC

Update 6:55 PM ET: A Lifetime representative tells Soap Opera Network that “Client List” averaged 1.2 million viewers in Adults 18-49 and 1.3 million viewers in Adults 25-54.

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Lifetime’s new primetime drama series “The Client List,” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as Riley Parks – a single mother of two who happens to make a whole lot of money as a prostitute, debuted with 2.8 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in Adults 18-49, according to ratings figures released today by Nielsen Media Research.

“Client List,” which also stars Colin Egglesfield (ex-Josh Madden, “All My Children“) as Hewitt’s on-screen brother-in-law Evan Parks, is a TV series loosely based on the 2010 hit Lifetime original movie of the same name and inspired by a true story. The film debuted as cable’s second most watched original movie premiere with 3.9 million viewers and 2,099,000 Adults 25-54 viewers, 1,877,000 Adults 18-49 viewers, 1,355,000 Women 18-49 viewers and 1,501,000 Women 25-54 viewers.

In the film version, former “One Life to Live” star Teddy Sears (ex-Chad Bennett) portrayed Hewitt’s husband Rex Horton (Hewitt portrayed Samantha). In the TV series, her husband abandoned her and their kids.

“The Client List,” also starring Cybill Shepherd and Loretta Devine, airs Sundays at 10/9c on Lifetime after all-new episodes of “Army Wives.”

Monique Carboni

UPDATE 12:23 PM ET on 4/10/12: A “General Hospital” representative tells Soap Opera Network that Lozano will first air the week of May 7, 2012 as Téa Delgado from “One Life to Live.”

PREVIOUS: After weeks of speculation, Soap Opera Network can now report that actress Florencia Lozano will be reprising her role as Téa Delgado from “One Life to Live” on ABC’s “General Hospital” in the coming weeks. The news was broken by website We Love Soaps.

It was on Friday, March 23, 2012, when executive producer Frank Valentini revealed on Twitter that there was “Exciting #GH casting news coming… stay tuned!” Soon afterward, Soap Opera Digest reported that the news would be announced as soon as Monday, March 26, 2012. Since then there had not been a word uttered from Valentini or a show spokesperson in regards to the producers tweet. Although, on Friday, April 6, 2012, Valentini did post the following on Twitter:

As for the #GH casting news, thanks for waiting… I am so excited to announce the lovely @finolahughes is now on contract!

— Frank Valentini (@valentinifrank) April 6, 2012

The industry was abuzz after learning of Hughes’ status upgrade at “GH,” but there were those, including myself, who didn’t believe she was the casting news Valentini had been alluding to all along:

@ggmarie1234 That wasn’t the news. The news still hasn’t come out.

— Soaps In Depth ABC (@soapsindepthabc) April 6, 2012

Well the news is now out and Lozano begins filming this week at “GH,” according to WLS. A first airdate is uknown at this time.

Due to the holiday weekend, a show spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Legion College

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) – The “One Life To Live” invasion continues at “General Hospital” as the show makes more changes to its writing staff.

Christopher Van Etten and Jean Passanante are joining “GH” as breakdown writers and Katherine Schock is joining as a script writer.   All of them were part of current “GH” head writer Ron Carlivati‘s writing staff at “OLTL“.

Exiting “GH” are scripts writers David Kreizman, Joanna Cohen, and Nathan Fissell.  Fissell is the latest long time ‘GH’ employee who was given the axe under the new regime.   He started as an intern in 1993 and has done various jobs over the years before finally being promoted to full time script writer last year.   Breakdown writer David Rupel, who joined a couple of months ago, is also leaving.

Over at “Days of our Lives,” newly installed head writer Gary Tomlin has added Lorraine Broderick to his writing staff.

For discussion on these topics and more, join us in the Writers/Directors thread at the SON Community.

Pictured: Gary Tomlin (Photo: Aaron Montgomery/JPI)

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — With news of Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell‘s ascension to the top of the “Days of our Lives” writing team after the NBC daytime soap let go Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr., less than a year after the two were hired to replace Dena Higley, Soap Opera Digest in its newest issue (issue dated April 16, 2012) is reporting that Tomlin and Whitesell has added the multiple Emmy award winning talents of veteran writer Lorraine Broderick to its new regime.

Broderick, who most recently enjoyed a stint at ABC’s “One Life to Live” as a breakdown writer shortly after penning the final months of “All My Children” as the soaps head writer – she was hired at “AMC” just days before the network officially announced it had decided to cancel both soaps with “Children” going off the air in September 2011 and “One Life” completing its run in January 2012 - joins “DAYS” in the same position she had at “One Life to Live” until its final episodes were written. “We are excited and look forward to the stories of romance, suspense and intrigue this new dream team plans to tell,” Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng said via Digest.

Broderick’s long career in daytime television as a writer began more than three decades ago when she was hired on as a script writer at “All My Children” in 1979. She held that position until 1981, when she was named Associate Head Writer. She would begin a short stint as the soaps Co-Head Writer in 1987, but would revert back to her former position as Associate Head Writer beginning in 1988 until 1991. She left “AMC” for “Guiding Light” beginning in 1992, where she was hired once again as an Associate Head Writer (1992-1993). After leaving “GL,” Broderick would find herself at numerous daytime soaps in various capacities including the role of Head Writer and/or Associate Head Writer at “Another World,” “As The World Turns,” “One Life to Live” and “Port Charles.”

Before marking her return to “DAYS” later this year, Broderick was previously credited as Head Writer of the soap for just one month (October 1999).

Disney/ABC Television Group

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Before we post the daytime soap opera ratings for the week of March 26-30, 2012, our friend Marc Berman at TV Media Insights has posted the latest ratings for daytime talk shows and things are still looking very bad for ABC’s “The Revolution” while “The Chew” has sustained a similar total audience in comparison to former time-period occupant “All My Children.” “The View” was in repeats, while “The Talk” on CBS was up year-to-year in total viewers and Women 25-54 rating, flat in Women 18-49 rating and down in Women 18-34 rating.

What follows is a look at the daytime talk show ratings for the week of March 26-30, 2012 and a breakdown of how “Revolution” compares to “One Life to Live” on a year-to-year basis.

“One Life to Live” on ABC began a ratings trajectory on the plus side year-to-year beginning with the week of March 14-18, 2011 in total viewers, when compared to its performance for the same week in 2010 (week of March 29 – April 2, 2010), while either flat or down in some of the key sales demographics (2011 vs 2010), but in 2012 the soaps replacement, “The Revolution,” has eroded any and all audience gains the drama had picked up and has brought in historic lows for the network overall in total viewers, Women 18-49, Women 25-54 and Women 18-34. The “It’s About You” daytime talker tied its historic low in total viewers (1.32 million), and tied or hit new lows in Women 18-49 (0.4/3), Women 25-54 (0.6/4) and Women 18-34 (0.2/2). Year-to-year (week of March 28 – April 1, 2011), “One Life to Live” performed much stronger in total viewers (2.57 million), Women 18-49 (1.0/6), Women 25-54 (1.2/7) and Women 18-34 (0.6/4).

According to Berman, “Revolution” is down a whopping 49% in total viewers compared to “One Life,” while losing 60% in Women 18-49, 50% in Women 25-54 and a jaw dropping 67% in Women 18-34.

CBS’ “The Talk,” featuring some of country music’s biggest stars as guests including Reba McIntyre in promotion of “The 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards” that aired on Sunday, April 1, jumped 10% year-to-year in total viewers (1.96 million to 2.16 million), 11% in Women 25-54 (1.0/7), while flat in Women 18-49 (0.8/5) and down 20% in Women 18-34.

For a look at how “The Chew” performed compared to “All My Children” on the year-ago and more on daytime talk, head on over to TV Media Insights.