American Media, Inc.

As People Magazine gets ready to release its special collector’s edition honoring 50 years of  ”General Hospital” on Tuesday, March 12, the editors of Soap Opera Digest have collaborated on their own special tribute issue for the ABC Daytime drama series. Going on sale on Monday, March 25, the full sized Digest issue will include “revealing interviews, backstage gossip, photos, memories and more!”

“General Hospital” premiered on April 1, 1963. The series has been placed on various all-time best soap opera lists including those by such publications as Time Magazine and TV Guide Magazine.

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Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

As had been widely expected, Rick Springfield is returning to ABC’s “General Hospital” just as the soap gets ready to hit the half century mark. According to People Magazine, Springfield, who debuted as Dr. Noah Drake on “GH” in 1981 before launching himself into superstardom starting with the debut of hit single “Jessie’s Girl,” will reprise his role over the course of several episodes in April.

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People Magazine/Time Warner

The last time People Magazine offerred a collector’s edition of a soap opera was in September 2011, when the mag celebrated the life and history of the then canceled “All My Children.” This time the magazine is celebrating the continued life and history of “General Hospital” with a special 50th Anniversary collector’s edition that finds Luke and Laura Spencer (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis), Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms), Sonny Corinthos and Brenda Barrett (Maurice Benard and Vanessa Marcil), Duke Lavery and Anna Devane (Ian Buchanan and Finola Highes), and Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato Jr.) gracing the cover.

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Photo Credit: Danny Feld/ABC

via Press Release

PEOPLE.COM LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER SEXIEST MAN AND WOMAN ON TV POLL

Winners to Be Announced Live on ABC’s “Emmys® Red Carpet Live,” Sunday, September 23

People.com is launching its first-ever Sexiest Man and Woman on TV poll. Users will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite of five male and five female finalists chosen by PEOPLE’s editorial staff. Voting begins today on http://www.people.com, http://www.emmys.com and http://www.abc.com, and will continue until 7:30 p.m., ET / 4:30 p.m., PT on Sunday, September 23, the evening of “The 64^th Primetime Emmy® Awards.”

The five male TV star finalists are LL Cool J (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”), Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”), Dylan McDermott (“American Horror Story”) and Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”). The five female TV star finalists are Zooey Deschanel (“New Girl”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), Heidi Klum (“Project Runway”), Sofía Vergara (“Modern Family”) and Kerry Washington (“Scandal”).

The winners of the poll will be announced live on ABC’s “Emmys Red Carpet Live,” hosted by “Good Morning America’s” Josh Elliott & Lara Spencer, Chris Harrison (“The Bachelor” / ”The Bachelorette”) and Clinton Kelly (“The Chew,” “What Not to Wear”), which begins the festivities of TV’s biggest night, coast to coast, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 from 7:00-8:00 p.m., ET / 4:00-5:00 p.m., PT, immediately followed by the awards ceremonies, live from 8:00-11:00 p.m., ET / 5:00-8:00 p.m., PT. Jimmy Kimmel, star and executive producer of the late-night ABC talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” hosts “The 64^th Primetime Emmy Awards.”

Photo Credit: John Paul Filo/CBS

People Magazine is reporting that Kristin Chenoweth, who was scheduled to appear in a recurring role on the new season of CBS’ “The Good Wife” as a political reporter, will not be returning to the series.

In a statement to People Chenoweth said, “It is with deep regret to inform everyone that due to my injuries, I am unable to return to ‘The Good Wife’ at this time.” On the status of her health the actress stated, “[I'm] getting better slowly, and thank you everyone for your concern.”

Chenoweth injured herself last month after a piece of falling lighting equipment caused her to fall and hit her head on concrete while filming scenes, TMZ reported. “While filming a scene for ‘The Good Wife’ in Brooklyn, a gust of wind blew a lighting silk out of place striking actress Kristin Chenoweth. All of us at the studio and the show are thinking about Kristin and wishing her a quick recovery,” CBS, which produces the series, said in a statement at the time.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Chenoweth’s role on “Wife” will not be recast and the program will have other characters continue the storyline in already written episodes. “We enjoyed having Kristin on the show and would love to have her back when she’s feeling better,” said a CBS representative.

Despite her not continuing on the show, Chenoweth will still appear in the season premiere episode of “The Good Wife” on Sunday, September 30 at 9:00 PM ET/PT on CBS.

Rick Rowell/ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — With an amazing spirit that shines from the inside out and a very quick learning curve, Iraq war veteran and motivational speaker J.R. Martinez wasted little time winning over legions of “All My Children” fans after joining the cast of the popular daytime drama in November of 2008. The fearless 28-year old has gone on to win over the hearts of millions more since joining the cast of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Along with soaring to the top of the leaderboard on the popular dance show, the actor has emerged as arguably the most popular star of the 13th season and a role model to many who may have never heard of him before.

On November 1, Rick Jackson, the President of the Tournament of Roses announced the appointment of Martinez as Grand Marshal of the annual event that airs on January 2. The events theme for 2012 is “Just Imagine…” The theme celebrates the power of imagination, inspiration and determination to encourage people to reach higher and try harder. Jackson felt Martinez was the perfect embodiment of “Just Imagine…” Along with leading off the Rose Parade, Martinez will also toss the coin before the 98th Rose Bowl college football game. Former Grand Marshals of the event include Bob Hope, Richard Nixon, Walt Disney, Roy Rogers, Hank Aaron, Charles Schulz, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck and George Lucas to name just a few.

On Monday, November 7, Martinez earned a Tri-Union Diversity Award, along with the likes of television legend Bill Cosby. The Tri-Union Diversity Award is awarded by the three major unions covering actors – the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). The award celebrates performers and organizations that “have taken an active stand to make a difference toward a more representational, multicultural community by helping build a foundation for diversity within the industry.” Martinez was chosen for the honor for providing a strong voice to both burn victims and disabled veterans in the industry as a performer on both “AMC” and “DWTS.”

Just this past Friday, which happened to be Veterans Day, Martinez enjoyed his second visit to “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” His first appearance was as a scheduled guest on October 12. The actor who within a month of his deployment to Iraq in 2003 suffered severe burns to nearly half of his body when his Humvee hit a land mine recently shared his personal story of triumph over tragedy with People Magazine for a cover story. He is on the cover of the November 7 issue. The aforementioned honors are not exactly everyday occurances for current or former daytime actors who have not made it in prime-time or films nor for war veterans. Along with being a fixture on entertainment shows such as EXTRA, Martinez also made a special guest appearance on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” for its Veterans Day episode.

On “DWTS,” Martinez continues to show-off his quick learning curve and, in a first for the season, earned not just one but two consecutive perfect scores with partner Karina Smirnoff in the 8th week of competiton. On Monday, considered the favorite to take the top spot, Martinez joined soccer player Hope Solo, reality star Rob Kardashian, and probably his most fierce competition, talk show host Ricki Lake in the semifinals. Despite obvious discomfort from an ankle he injured in practice this past weekend, Martinez earned high marks for his efforts but landed in third place as Kardashian continued to show improvement. Tune in to “DWTS” tonite to see if Martinez makes it to the Finals scheduled to begin airing on Monday, November 21. Having made it to the semifinals in the current season of competition, Martinez has already out-danced former “AMC” co-stars and former “DWTS” competitors Cameron Mathison (finished in 5th place in season 5), Susan Lucci (finished in 6th place in season 7) and Aiden Turner (finished in 9th place in season 10).

Source Interlink

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — On Sunday, November 13, The New York Times reported that American Media, Inc., which earlier this year purchased the licensing rights of both Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly from owner Source Interlink, in which the company now oversees all aspects including editorial, advertising, marketing and distribution, would be launching a new weekly magazine dubbed Reality Weekly.

The magazine, which is set to launch in January 2012 with a newsstand price of $1.79 per issue, has long been expected. After all, reality TV related programming and “stars” have graced the covers of People and Entertainment Weeky, and even celebrity gossip mags Us Weekly, Star (which is owned by American Media) and Life & Style.  With coveted supermarket placing between both Weekly and Digest, many often wondered if, along with dwindling audience for the soaps, American Media took over the mags just for their positioning and would shutter the mags in place of magazine’s such as Reality Weekly. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Although I do not personally subscribe to either Digest or Weekly, it recently came to my attention that Soap Opera Weekly no longer provides subscriptions for soap fans wishing to receive their Weekly at home as it and numerous other magazines have done since their inceptions. This was later confirmed as the magazine no longer provides an online subscription via the Zinio magazine subscription and tablet application service. Digest and Soaps in Depth (both ABC and CBS editions) continue to provide subscriptions, however.

An American Media representative told Soap Opera Network “Absolutely not!” when asked if the launch of Reality Weekly had anything to do with the company’s decision to stop providing subscriptions for Weekly. “We made it a 100 percent newsstand mag that generates a million dollars of editda per year,” the rep continued. EDITDA stands for Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

In an industry plagued with erosion, it’s safe to say that at least our soap magazine’s appear to have more longevity than some of the soaps themselves.

People Magazine/Time Warner, Inc.

“All My Children” will end its network television run in just five weeks on Friday, September 23, 2011. The soap that houses the biggest name in the history of the daytime drama format, Susan Lucci (Erica Kane), debuted on ABC on January 5, 1970. The entertainment industry is set to pay tribute to the show that left its mark on pop culture with several special installments that fans will not want to miss out on.

People Magazine has spent the summer working on a Special Collector’s issue for fans of “AMC.” The issue is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com for a discounted price. The publication date for the issue is September 27, 2011, which means it should be on newsstands as early as the first week of September. The following is a description of the issue provided by the editors of the popular magazine:

A commemoration of the long-running soap opera that ends in September, 2011 after 41 years. With dozens of pages of brand new, exclusive photographs and interviews, the book visits Pine Valley and all the characters that made the show an American institution. Chock full of favorite moments, story lines, and insights from star Susan Lucci, creator Agnes Nixon and many others, it’s a collector’s book that will satisfy millions of fans.

Cameron Mathison will host a one-hour special on the TV Guide Network honoring “AMC” on Sunday, September 11 at 8:00 PM EST. Mathison has played Ryan Lavery on the ABC daytime drama since December 1997, save a one year break. Mathison posted on his Twitter page that among other past and present “AMC” stars that he has interviewed Kim Delaney (ex-Jenny Gardner) and Josh Duhamel (ex-Leo du Pres) for the special. The handsome actor who will turn 42-years old next week is also a special correspondent for “Extra” and “Good Morning America.” “GMA” which airs every morning on ABC will also be airing a special on “AMC” at an air-date yet to be announced.

Photo Credit Bob D’Amico/ABC

Something must be in the air as ABC stars Marcia Cross and Patrick Dempsey have welcomed twins into their respective families.

People magazine is reporting that Marcia Cross, 44, who plays Bree Van De Kamp on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives, gave birth to fraternal twin girls on Tuesday, February 20. The actress and stockbroker husband Tom Mahoney, 49, named the twins Eden and Savannah, the magazine stated.

“Mother and babies are all doing well,” said spokesperson Heidi Slan.

Previously, Cross was ordered to bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. “Housewives” was forced to work around her pregnancy order and decided to rap Cross’ storyline earlier than planned.

In other news, Patrick Dempsey, 41, who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” also welcomed twins in to the world during the month of February. Along with wife Jillian, Dempsey said hello for the first time to Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick. The twins were born on Thursday, February 1. The Dempsey’s also have a four-year-old daughter named Talula.

“I think the thing about Patrick is, obviously he has a tremendous love for his wife and his daughter, but he has a tremendous sense of duty,” said “Anatomy” co-star Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey), when speaking to People magazine.

“He’s really sort of old-fashioned in that way – he’s got a good sense of being a gentleman and taking care of his family, and that’s what makes him a good dad. It’s an admirable quality.”