If a year ago someone bet me that a modern-day soap opera would not only put their African-American characters in a front burner storyline that was deeply entrenched in social issues, which had nothing to do with the color of one’s skin, race or ethnicity, I’d owe that person plenty of money right about now.
In life you set goals for yourself, or at least you try to. You even have expectations for yourself that you hope will eventually get fulfilled. In my case, over the years I had set a specific list of goals that included certain expectations as they related to one another. Earlier this year, I officially crossed one of the major things off that list. It wasn’t easy as it had plagued me for nearly a decade. A stepping stone you might call it. I took up something many years ago that eventually became impossible to maintain on a full-time basis. I decided to do it part-time. I went from part-time to being very part-time. Later you could say I dropped it completely in order to concentrate on the things that either gave me personal joy and fulfillment (this site) or put several well earned dollars in my pocket. I imagine I’m not the only one out there who’s ever had pull some sort of double duty in their lifetime. Right?
Late last month we released a new layout of our website that was to allow us to present our content in manner we’ve been working towards for some time. Unfortunately, the design came with some issues that needed to be cleaned up. That cleanup left the site virtually silent news and interview wise. That’s now over.
If things look a little bit different around here it’s because things are different. As promised on our social networks, we have been working very hard behind the scenes leading up to this Thanksgiving holiday weekend to bring you the best user experience at Soap Opera Network, which not only includes the most up-to-date soap opera related content, but also a more visually appealing layout with page speed in mind. As a result of our new design, there will be plenty of new features we’ll be able to play around with that’ll provide our readers with the best presentation of our content, including this puppy.
We’ve been hearing a lot about the talented cast that Open Book Productions and Bella Productions have assembled for “Beacon Hill” (see above), but today we finally learned how we’ll be able to watch the show when it premieres Wednesday, March 5th!
From re-runs of soap classics “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Another World,” “Port Charles,” and “Falcon Crest,” to the launches of original series “SoapCenter,” “Soap Talk” and “General Hospital: Night Shift,” SOAPnet was defined as the “new way to watch soaps” for much of its near 14-year run. With just 2 days left before SOAPnet is no more, we thought it would be a great opportunity to look back at the inaugural year of a network that gave diehard soap fans their own platform to shout with glee through the death of a network that outlived its purpose.
Celebrating its 12th year online, Soap Opera Network is currently experiencing its biggest year on record in terms of page views and unique visitors. This year we’ve been able to provide exclusive insight into the world of soaps while bringing readers inside the minds of some of their favorite characters and actors featured on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital” and “The Young and the Restless.” As we come off of the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we’re gearing up for even more features in the coming weeks and the new year including the return of the SON Awards along with the annual Airhog Awards, while introducing new features such as our first annual best and worst of the year report and our new best of soaps weekly poll highlighting the best actors, best soaps, and best storylines of the week for both daytime and primetime soap opera related programming. To better present all this content we’ve made significant alterations to our website design that gets rid of clutter and inactive coding that previously prevented the site from being presented in the best way possible. The new design codenamed “refresh” was launched today.
“General Hospital’s” 50th Anniversary commemoration episodes have been bringing the sudser some of its highest ratings in months, and the numbers haven’t stopped soaring! According to a press release sent out by the network, the show’s recent baby and legal drama powered it to a five-month high of 2.78 million total viewers. In addition, the episodes propelled the show to its 2nd-most-watched week in five months in Women 18-49 (665,000/1.0 rating) and Women 25-54 (917,000/1.5 rating), respectively.
via Press Release ALL CBS DAYTIME SHOWS FINISH THE SEASON WITH YEAR-TO-YEAR GROWTH IN VIEWERS Daytime Lineup Also Posts May…
“Days of our Lives” has equaled its biggest women 18-49 audience in 18 months and set an 11-week high in total viewers, according to “live plus same day” viewing figures for the week of May 20-24 from Nielsen Media Research.
The Online Network (TOLN) has plans to catch all fans up on their favorite shows, “All My Children” and “One Life To Live.”
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.
ABC has partnered with amfAR, The Foundation of AIDS Research, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “General Hospital.” In a press release issued today, the network said that as “GH” approaches its 50th year on the air (Monday, April 1), it will return the popular Nurses Ball event after a 12 year absence (not since 2001). amfAR’s participation includes storyline integration that will mark the first time that a real-life charity will be involved in the event.
On Monday, February 11, Paos Revolution, the team behind the upcoming “On Air” film starring “All My Children’s” Jordi Vilasuso (Dr. Griffin Castillo) and Alicia Minshew (ex-Kendall Hart) announced the launch of their official website. “The launch of paosrevolution.com is the first step of our plan to connect fans to the soap actors and insiders they love. Founding partners Jordi Vilasuso, Dock (Jeff Dockweiler) and John Homa are committed to creating an interactive actor friendly environment,” said a press release announcing the launch.
Prospect Park announced today that it will begin production on Monday, February 25 on both “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” Principal production for both programs will take place in Stamford, Connecticut as expected. The company did not release additional casting notices, despite Cady McClain announcing she had signed on for the “AMC” reboot. The company expects to release additional casting notices in the coming days and weeks.
Viewers can go back in time and re-live the iconic episodes from the show’s debut in 1987 that introduced the world to the powerful Forrester family, including Eric, Stephanie, Ridge, Thorne and Kristen, and the fashion dynasty they rule, Forrester Creations, as well as the working-class Logan family, Brooke, Katie, Donna, Beth and Storm.
“Television has seen many stars, but there will only be one Larry Hagman. Larry was a larger-than-life personality, both on-screen and off — a master showman and brilliant actor who brought to life a character that transcended the medium and truly captivated a nation. Today, we mourn the loss of a friend, but remember a man who brought true greatness to his craft and a television character in J.R. Ewing that will never be forgotten.”
All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman’s passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor. We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.
L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P.1ST along with ElliptiGO will present STAND UP AMERICA, taking place at the WorldBeat Center in Balboa Park on Saturday, Nov 24th, and featuring celebrity elliptical riders who believe in the message “ Stand Up America.” A number of high profile celebrities have committed to supporting this initiative including Arianne Zucker, who plays Nicole Walker on NBC’s “Days of our Lives,” and Lorenzo Neal, future Hall of Famer and Former SD Charger.
“The Young and the Restless” to re-air classic episode of Victor (Eric Braden) and Nikki’s (Melody Thomas Scott) wedding that aired on September 5, 2002.