One year ago today actor Paul Walker (ex-Brandon Collins, “The Young and the Restless”) died in a fiery car accident that also took the life of his friend Roger Rodas, CEO of Always Evolving, who was driving the red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT vehicle they were in at the time when it crashed into a tree and exploded.

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone, Christmas Day will be all the rage this holiday season. If you’re not interested in staying home to open your presents and spend time indoors with the family, why not go “Into The Woods” with soap alums Billy Magnussen (ex-Casey Hughes, “As The World Turns”) and Mackenzie Mauzy (ex-Phoebe Forrester, “The Bold and the Beautiful”)?

Before becoming Thor for millions of fans in the “Thor” film series or “The Avengers” cinematic universe, actor Chris Hemsworth was probably best known for his role on the Australian soap “Home and Away,” where he played Kimberly Jonathan “Kim” Hyde. Now a major movie star, Hemsworth has graced the cover of People Magazine as its “Sexiest Man Alive!” He’s not the only one though as several of daytime’s biggest and brightest stars of today and yesterday have also made the annual list of sexy men, which hits newsstands today.

Michael Caruso, best known as the creator and executive producer of the Daytime Emmy Award nominated, “DeVanity,” is back with a new series that will star former “Days of our Lives” actress Martha Madison (ex-Belle Black). The series, titled “Winterthorne,” follows the story of Miranda Winterthorne (Madison), a young women looking to take control of the family empire by using her best assets: Power, seduction, vulnerability, love, and ruthlessness. The series will be directed by Daytime Emmy Award winner Sonia Blangiardo (“As The World Turns,” “One Life to Live”) and is set to begin production in early 2015.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And things are looking pretty smoky this week for “Days of our Lives’” Hope (Kristian Alfonso) and Aiden (Daniel Cosgrove), who find themselves on the precipice of a new direction after Hope unlocks the single dad’s secret past! But what does the shocking information mean for the couple’s future? Soap Opera Network spoke with Alfonso and Cosgrove to find out!

Soap Opera Network can finally report that former “As The World Turns” and “Port Charles” actress Marie Wilson has joined the cast of NBC’s “Days of our Lives” in the recurring role of Bree. The actress will share scenes with former “ATWT” co-star Daniel Cosgrove (ex-Chris Hughes), who now appears as Aiden Jennings on “DAYS,” and Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady). Bree is an old acquaintance of Hope’s who turns out to be someone from Aiden’s dark past.

“As The World Turns” and “Longmire” alum Bailey Chase has signed on for a multi-episode arc on “Chicago P.D.,” playing a DEA who interacts with Erin Lindsay.

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!

“The Young and the Restless” has cemented its spot as the number one daytime drama for the past 25 years with a record of outstanding decisions, and the sudser’s latest flawless move was the addition of Emmy-winning actress Gina Tognoni, who took over the role of Phyllis Summers (previously portrayed by Michelle Stafford, Nina Clay, “General Hospital”) this year. The Missouri native showed off her serious acting chops as “Guiding Light’s” Dinah Marler and “One Life to Live’s” Kelly Cramer, and now that Phyllis is finally out of her lengthy coma and headed back to Genoa City starting this week, Tognoni will be giving soap fans yet another dose of her powerhouse skills — but this time, as the feisty GC diva “Y&R” fans have loved since she hit the scene back in 1994!

After just three seasons on the air, A&E has canceled “Longmire,” its highest rated original drama series of all time, reports Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva.

Based on the Walt Longmire Mystery novels by best-selling author Craig Johnson, the series followed its central character, Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor, “The Matrix”), the charismatic, dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. It co-starred “As The World Turns” alum Bailey Chase (ex-Chris Hughes) as Branch Connally, a deputy with political aspirations.

Last week “General Hospital” executive producer Frank Valentini revealed that there will be plenty of villains hanging around the denizens of Port Charles this fall and he wasn’t kidding. While a show rep issued a “no comment” when contacted by Soap Opera Network, actress Robin Mattson announced on her Facebook page yesterday that she is returning to the daytime soap as Heather Webber in the near future. “Heather is returning to GH soon!” read Mattson’s Facebook posting. Fans last saw Heather in February, when she was carted off to jail.

As we reported last week, Retro TV will soon begin airing reruns of NBC’s classic soap opera, “The Doctors,” which has created quite a stir for soap opera fans! What are the details of the soaps’ blast from the past? And could the network bring other former soaps like “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns,” and “Dark Shadows” to the screen? Retro TV’s Vice President of Production, Matthew Golden, spoke with TV journalist Will McKinley about these questions, so check out some excerpts below!

Daytime fans who might be feeling a little nostalgic for the “good old days of soaps” now have something to smile about: Reruns of NBC’s former soap opera, “The Doctors,” will soon be airing on Retro TV!

Soap star Lesli Kay is returning to CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful” as Felicia Forrester. The actress tweeted the news on Thursday, June 5. “Worked an episode of B&B today. It was great fun!”

Former “As the World Turns” star Dylan Bruce (ex-Chris Hughes) has a little something to sing about: His series, the BBC America conspiracy clone thriller “Orphan Black,” debuts its season two premiere episode this weekend!

“The Young and the Restless” viewers were recenlty hit with a one-two punch regarding the role of Kelly Andrews: Current portrayer Cynthia Watros was officially announced as stepping out of the role in order to take part in MTV’s new series “Finding Carter,” while Emmy winner Cady McClain (Dixie, “All My Children;” Roseanna, “As the World Turns”) was announced to be stepping into the role of the grieving mother! Soap Opera Network took part in McClain’s very first “Y&R” press conference, and the actress dished on how she landed the exciting role, how she feels about replacing Watros, working with her former Pine Valley co-stars in Genoa City and her experience saying goodbye to “AMC” and Dixie once and for all. Read on for the scoop!

From being confused with “All My Children’s” Susan Lucci (ex-Erica Kane) to herself jokingly confusing co-star Dermot Mulroney with Dylan McDermott, former “As The World Turns” actress Martha Byrne (ex-Lily Snyder) took part in a Funny or Die spoof interview intended to promote her upcoming appearance on NBC’s “Crisis,” which tells the shocking fictional story of an ambushed Washington D.C. school bus carrying some of the nation’s most important people’s children. Byrne will play the recurring role of Marie Wirth, a mother of one of the kidnapped children, beginning with the Sunday, April 6 episode.

Former “As the World Turns” star Martha Byrne (ex-Lily Snyder; ex-Andrea Floyd, “General Hospital”) is making her debut on NBC’s drama series, “Crisis,” next month, and it looks like she’ll be doing it with a literal bang! A teaser trailer featuring the actress wearing a suicide vest has already racked up over a million YouTube views, with the number growing every day. Soap Opera Network caught up with Byrne to get the scoop on her emotional “Crisis” arc, how it might be a game changer for her career, what she thinks of soap fans and more!

“All My Children’s” Amanda Seyfried (ex-Joni Stafford) was just 15 years old when she joined the soap world as “As the World Turns’” Lucinda Montgomery, and the actress has definitely done a lot of growing up since making it big in Hollywood! The “Mean Girls,” “Les Miserables” and “Lovelace” star is featured in the April edition of W magazine, where she makes it very clear that she’s not a little girl anymore!

Last night marked the 66th annual Directors Guild of America Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, but none of today’s daytime drama directors received a nomination. Why? Because the “Daytime Serials” category was integrated into the “Dramatic Series” category following a June 22, 2013 DGA National Board meeting that voted on rule changes, which forces daytime and primetime dramas to compete against internet distributed dramas such as “House of Cards,” which essentially leaves daytime itself shut out from ever receiving a nomination as the dynamics of daytime is no where near the likes of 2013 nominees “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Game of Thrones” (HBO), “Homeland” (Showtime), or even the aforementioned “House of Cards” (Netflix). “Bad” won the award for those wondering.