TOLN Releases ‘First Day of School’ Video on iTunes for ‘All My Children’

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.

After fans began speculating on her possibly joining a soap following a January 8 posting on her website, which said, “Good things are ahead this year and I hope to have more to report very soon,” NBC’s “Days of our Lives” made it official: Soap veteran actress Kassie DePaiva is joining the series in the contract role of Eve Donovan (originated by Charlotte Ross).

“Days of our Lives” may be losing actress, Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) later this year, but an equally powerhouse actress may be swooping into Salem: Former “One Life to Live” actress Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair Cramer)!

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.”

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!

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.”

As previously reported, HBO is providing its viewers with a new series detailing relationship woes, roommate drama, reaching a certain age and much more, when it premieres “Looking” tonight at 10:30 PM ET/9:30 PM CT. The series seeks to provide viewers with a different perspective on daily life for gay men in San Francisco.

While character and storyline details aren’t available at this time, actor Chris McKenna tweeted earlier this evening, “It appears I’ll be making a bit of a return to soaps. At least for a few episodes.” He tagged CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” in the tweet to his followers.