If you’ve ever tuned into NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” and wondered what life is like for the contestants following their grueling experience, former “As The World Turns” actress Martha Byrne (ex-Lily Snyder) along with writer Daryn Strauss have come together for a new series that hopes to give you the answers you crave. In “Weight: The Series,” Byrne portrays the role of Claire Carlson, a mom who loses 100 pounds on a reality show and then has to contend with the absurd and complicated reactions of her friends and family as she attempts to balance the day to day pressures of staying thin and appearing on reality TV. If the description sounds interesting to you, you might be interested in attending a VIP Soap Party and Advanced Screening of the pilot alongside several of daytime’s biggest and brightest stars!

On the Wednesday, October 1 episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” entitled “American Disgrace,” former “One Life to Live” star Kelley Missal (ex-Dani Manning) will appear as an alleged rape victim of pro basketball star Shakir “The Shark” Wilkins (guest star Henry Simmons; “NYPD Blue,” “Another World”). In the episode, Orion press rep Carla Cannon (Missal) tells reporters she was raped by Wilkins. When more women come forward, Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Carisi (guest star Peter Scanavino) disagree on the authenticity of each woman’s story, and Barba (Raul Esparza) takes a shaky case to court.

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.

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.

TVGN is proving why it’s now the “the new way to watch soaps.” With the network already picking up encore airing rights to “The Young and the Restless” this past summer, and “The Bold and the Beautiful” earlier this month, the network plans to provide soap fans with even more “soap” for their viewing pleasure courtesy of the new documentary, “Who Shot the Daytime Soap?” Airing Monday, December 16 at 8:00 PM ET/PT, preceded by airings of “B&B” at 6:30 PM ET/PT and “Y&R” at 7:00 PM ET/PT, the documentary tackles the history of daytime soap operas as told by those who were there during the good times, the bad times and the new times.

As previously reported, Tristan Rogers will soon be departing ABC’s “General Hospital” after his most recent stint as Robert Scorpio comes to an end. With his pending return to CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” in the new year, Rogers recently announced on Twitter his final film date at “GH” and his first film date back at “Y&R.”

The population of “The Young and the Restless’” Genoa City continues to rise, and the town’s latest resident is of definite quality: Former “Guiding Light” star Cynthia Watros!

Things are about to start looking a bit different in Genoa City, as “The Young and the Restless” has named its new headwriters: Current ‘Y&R’ scribe Shelly Altman and daytime writer Jean Passanante will share the position, along with ‘Y&R’ scribe Tracey Thomson, who’s been promoted to co-writer within the new, all female headwriting team.

They say fast-paced soap operas are good training grounds for primetime gigs, and that must be the case, considering several former soap stars have garnered Primetime Emmy nods this year! In light of the official announcement of the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominees, Soap Opera Network brings you the who, what and where of stars who’ve given sudsers a go.

As previously reported, “Days of our Lives” stars Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) and Greg Vaughan (Eric Brady) are starring in the Hallmark Channel original movie, “Second Chances.” The network recently released the first promo for the film, which premieres on Saturday, July 27.

Broadway star and former soap actress Valarie Pettiford (ex-Sheila Price, “One Life to Live;” ex-Courtney Walker, “Another World”) is about to take a bite out of something new: She’s joined the sixth season of the super popular HBO vampire series “True Blood!”

They portray “twins” on NBC’s “Days of our Lives,” although Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) and Greg Vaughan (Eric Brady) are anything but that in Hallmark Channel’s “Second Chances.” Premiering Saturday, July 27, the TV movie tells the story of 911 operator Jenny McLean (Sweeney), who along with her two kids, Luke (Benjamin Stockham) and Elsie (Charlotte Labadie), take in firefighter Jeff Sinclair (Vaughan) after he is injured on the job and the family is in desperate need of extra income as a result of Jenny’s work hours having been recently cut. As Jeff and Jenny find themselves drawn together due to circumstances beyond their control, they begin to wonder where their mutual attraction will take them.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, former “General Hospital” star Marissa Ramirez (ex-Gia) has been upped to series regular on CBS’ “Blue Bloods” beginning with the primetime shows fifth season. Ramirez, who joined the series as a recurring guest-star beginning with the Friday, March 8 episode entitled “Protest Too Much,” portrays Detective Maria Baez, the former and now ful-time partner of Donnie Wahlberg’s Detective Danny Raegan. The actress is replacing Jennifer Esposito, who portrayed Wahlberg’s onscreen partner, Jackie Curatola, on the drama series until November of last year.

The world may know Anne Heche (Vicky Hudson, “Another World”) as the wife of Ellen DeGeneres, but the successful actress has carved a path of her own and is about to shine in NBC’s “Save Me,” a new comedy that will have the Emmy nominee talking to God!

“Another World” and “Sunset Beach” were canceled in 1999, “Port Charles” in 2003, and “Passions” in 2007 (NBC version) and again in 2008 (DirecTV version). In 2009, “Guiding Light” got turned off and in 2010 “As The World Turns” just stopped. 2011 then brought the double cancellations of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” As a result of 8 soap operas being cancelled within a 12 year span, one would have expected 2012 to end with another soap saying goodbye. Thankfully, the year came and went without a single soap cancellation for the first time in five years. Now with the 2013 resurrection of “AMC” and “OLTL,” soaps are no longer “dying” and the genre is finally thriving once more. But, if you’re like us, you never forget your soap opera history. Enter “Soap Life,” a documentary that follows the rise and fall of American soap operas before the genres recent re-birth.

When “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” debut with brand new episodes on Monday, April 29 on Hulu, Hulu Plus and iTunes, they will have the full support of CBS Daytime. Angelica McDaniel, Senior Vice President, CBS Daytime, wishes Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz, whose Prospect Park licensed the two soaps from ABC in 2011, nothing but the best. She relays via Soap Opera Network, “Congratulations and best of luck on the success. Your success is our success and vice versa. And it’s just a thrilling new experience and I look forward to seeing where the journey takes you.”

Drea de Matteo may be best known for her roles as “Sons of Anarchy’s” Wendy Teller and “The Soprano’s” Adriana La Cerva, but soap opera fans probably recognize her as “Desperate Housewives’” tough-as-nails neighbor, Angie Bolen. And now, the Queens-born actress is set to play in yet another drama-filled adventure: Lifetime’s upcoming film, “Stalkers.”

With just a week to go before production is set to begin once more on “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” after more than a year since both series aired their last episodes on ABC, a number of behind the scenes personnel have been hired on to help spearhead the soaps into the digital world via Hulu and iTunes later this spring.

Soap Opera Digest is reporting that soap alum Kale Browne will be heard in upcoming episodes of CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” as he portrays the role of a radio DJ on the soap.

The magazine reports that Browne’s voice will be heard on the Tuesday, February 12 and Wednesday, February 13 episodes of the drama series. The actor isn’t expected to appear in the actual episodes.

With Prospect Park now signing agreements with key unions SAG-AFTRA (actors), the DGA (directors), and the WGA (writers), with an expectation to begin filming episodes of “All My Children” as soon as next month, we wondered who you wanted to see act on the soap when it moves to the web. Your choices can include past actors as well as wishful casting (recast and new characters are welcomed). We also wondered who you want to join the writing team now that thousands of writers are at Prospect Park’s disposal courtesy of their agreement with the WGA, as well as who you want to direct episodes of the series. Keep in mind that Agnes Nixon, who created both “AMC” and “One Life to Live,” is currently working as a consultant for Prospect Park, according to Foz McDermott, head of production for TOLN (Prospect Park’s The Online Network). Also note that actors Jordi Vilasuso (Dr. Griffin Castillo), Darnell Williams (Jesse Hubbard), Debbi Morgan (Dr. Angela Hubbard), Vincent Irizarry (Dr. David Hayward) and Lindsay Hartley (Dr. Cara Castillo) are all confirmed as signing on to return to “AMC” when it moves to the web. Alicia Minshew (ex-Kendall Hart) has reported that she’s been approached, while Cameron Mathison (ex-Ryan Lavery) hope’s he can be involved. There’s no word yet on the status of Susan Lucci (ex-Erica Kane), who was the only original cast member from the first season of “AMC” that had remained with the show without interruption from its debut on January 5, 1970 through its final ABC broadcast on September 23, 2011.