Best known for his portrayal of Joey Buchanan on ABC’s “One Life to Live” in the 1990’s, actor Chris L. McKenna is heading to CBS’ “The Young and the Restless.” The actor first noted his joining the series in a tweet to his followers on Friday, January 17, which said, “It appears I’ll be making a bit of a return to soaps. At least for a few episodes.”

It seems like just yesterday that the world was ready to nail the lid on the coffin of daytime soap operas. Ratings were low across the board, and a slew of sudsers — “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns,” “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” — were cancelled, leaving only “Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital,” “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless” on the air. But to the surprise of critics and many soap fans, 2013 saw a drastic turnaround: All four remaining soap operas saw a significant increase in ratings, and “The Young and the Restless” once again made a list of the top 10 most-searched television programs of the year, among popular series like “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.” So why the complete 180 in daytime soap popularity?

According to Deadline Hollywood, former “Days of our Lives” star Mark Hapka (ex-Nathan Horton) has joined the cast of the FOX Digital Studio original sci-fi series, “Parallels.”

“Days of our Lives” star Alison Sweeney will announce on the Tuesday, January 21 edition of “The Ellen Show” that she will be departing the NBC Daytime drama series after portraying the role of Samantha “Sami” Brady for 21 consecutive years. Sweeney’s contract is set to expire in December 2014, according to published reports.

As previously reported, the annual “General Hospital” Fan Club weekend will take place from Thursday, July 31 through Monday, August 4 at the Sportmen’s Lodge Hotel and Events Center in Studio City, CA. Tickets for the Kick Off Cocktail Party, Main Cast and Blast from the Past – Part II events went on sale last week Monday.

As we previously reported, celebrity wedding and event planner David Tutera is headed to “The Young and the Restless,” where he’ll help Neil (Kristoff St. John) and Leslie (Angell Conwell) plan their upcoming wedding. And guess what? Soap Opera Network managed to snag an interview with the busy “My Fair Wedding” star to get the scoop on his visit to Genoa City!

Fans of “The Bold and the Beautiful’s” Karen Spencer may be in luck: The character’s portrayer, Joanna Johnson, has teased that she may soon be headed back to the soap opera!

As first reported by Soap Opera Digest, Ilene Kristen (ex-Roxy Balsom, “One Life to Live”) will again be reprising her “Ryan’s Hope” role of Delia Ryan on ABC’s “General Hospital.”

Anyone who’s been watching “General Hospital” as of late knows that the iconic sudser is seriously on fire — and from what we can tell, the flames don’t look as if they’ll die down any time soon! In fact, when Soap Opera Network caught up with executive producer Frank Valentini at this month’s Television Critics Association event at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, he revealed that fans haven’t seen anything yet! Read on for the scoop on what’s to come in the weeks ahead, how interaction with the network heads has helped with the soap’s recent success and what to expect for the long haul when it comes to everything Port Charles!

Hot on the heels of her starring role in “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas,” “The Haves and the Have Nots” and “One Life to Live” actress Tika Sumpter along with actors Kevin Hart and Ice Cube is set to take the weekend box office with their new film “Ride Along.”