Had ABC not canceled “All My Children” back in 2011, and Prospect Park didn’t decide to cancel it again in 2013, Agnes Nixon’s “All My Children” would have celebrated its 44th anniversary today. Susan Lucci, who portrayed matriarch Erica Kane on the soap, was the only original cast member from the first season of “AMC” that had remained with the show without interruption since its debut on January 5, 1970 through its final ABC broadcast on September 23, 2011.
After nearly 14 years on the air, SOAPnet ended its broadcast run at the stroke of midnight with the final 2013 episode of ABC’s “General Hospital” (originally aired on Monday, December 30) taking it out in style.
When thinking of daytime dramas like “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless,” extreme drama, intrigue, love and romance probably come to mind. But how about comedy? Is laughter an important component within daytime dramas?
The wait is finally over for the launch of Sonia Blangiardo’s “Taint Dreams: The Series,” which features Alicia Minshew (“All My Children”), Terri Ivens (“AMC”), Grant Aleksander (“Guiding Light”), Kelley Menighan Hensley (“As the World Turns“), Walt Willey (“AMC”), Natalia Livingston (“GH“), Marnie Schulenburg (“ATWT”), Michael Lowry (“AMC,” “One Life to Live“), Nathan Purdee (“OLTL”), Austin Peck (“ATWT,” “Days of our Lives“, “OLTL”), Colleen Zenk (“ATWT”), Larkin Malloy (“The Edge of Knight,” “AMC”) Dina Manzo (“Dina’s Party” and “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”), Anthony Wilkinson (“My Big Gay Italian Wedding” and the new “My Big Gay Italian Funeral”), Lisa Marie Varon (“IMPACT WRESTLING”) and “Mr. PEC-Tacular” Jessie Godderz (“IMPACT WRESTLING” and “Big Brother”), Bobbie Eakes (“AMC,” “The Bold and the Beautiful“), Ilene Kristen (“OLTL,” “Ryan’s Hope”), James DePaiva ( “OLTL”) and Tonja Walker (“OLTL”), along with a host of newcomers, as viewers are treated to a behind the scenes look at the daytime soap “Painted Dreams.”
As we previously reported, former “All My Children” star Aiden Turner (Aidan Devane) was arrested in November for attacking his girlfriend, and the actor has now officially been charged with four counts of domestic violence!
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.
Former “All My Children” star Cady McClain (ex-Dixie Cooney) announced recently that her short film, “Flip Fantasia,” has been accepted into the 9th Annual Macon Film Festival, which will be held from February 27 – March 2, 2014 and will take place at the Cox Capitol Theatre, The Douglass Theatre and The 567 Center for Renewal in downtown Macon, GA. Describing the film she wrote, produced and directed on her website, McClain says, “I made this as a labor of love right out of my heart.” She adds, “It’s a love song to NYC, to my wild youth, to crazy people I have known that changed my life, to being raw, to innocence, to friendship, to true hearts, to broken hearts, and to the pain of having to deal with the hardest parts of life when you are very, very young… as I did.”
Wanna see something guaranteed to make you giggle? Then you won’t want to miss the “The Young and the Restless’” Joshua Morrow (Nicholas Newman) in his new gig as a talk show host! The actor has teamed up with “Y&R” production staffer Greg Edwards to create a humorous show titled “Soaps and Other Stuff,” which features “Y&R” stars answering ridiculous questions, playing silly games and being subjected to a multitude of other antics all dreamed up and acted out by Morrow himself as “host.”
Multiple Emmy-nominee Thorsten Kaye won the hearts of soap opera audiences with his strong portrayal of “All My Children’s” Zach Slater, “One Life to Live’s” Patrick Thornhart and “Port Charles’” Ian Thornhart, but can the actor strike gold again as Ronn Moss’ replacement in the role of “The Bold and the Beautiful’s” Ridge Forrester? It won’t be the first time an actor has walked into the shoes of a major character whose previous portrayer is very much loved in the role, but then again, these aren’t just any old shoes to fill! Soap Opera Network caught up with Ridge’s onscreen dad, John McCook (Eric Forrester), who’s not only been working with Kaye as Ridge since day one, but who’s also quite familiar with the father/son dynamic the two characters have established over the years. Read on to get his take on the bold recasting choice, how he views Kaye’s approach to the role and what’s in store for Eric and Ridge in the weeks ahead!
According to Soap Opera Digest, Daniel Cosgrove has joined the cast of NBC’s “Days of our Lives” in the newly created role of Aiden. “This is the first time that I’ve ever played a daytime character that wasn’t played by someone else,” said the actor to the magazine of his previous roles as Scott Chandler (“All My Children”), Chris Hughes (“As The World Turns”) and Bill Lewis (“Guiding Light”), all played by several actors prior to his portrayal.
