News Round-up: Y&R Casting?, DH, Bethel, Parros
Showdown in Genoa City Rocks Soap World - Glaser, Devane & Strauss on the horizon?
The soap opera world is still reeling from the news that Eric Braeden, the longtime star of CBS's No. 1-rated THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, has chosen to leave the series rather than accept a reduction in his estimated salary of $1.5 million per year.
Now there's word that some well-known actors could end up being cast on the show in order to fill the gap left by Braeden's scheduled November exit.
A source close to the show confirms that the names of Paul Michael Glaser (STARSKY & HUTCH) , William Devane (KNOTS LANDING) and Peter Strauss (RICH MAN, POOR MAN) have all come up in conversations about the future of Y&R." While no formal negotiations have taken place, the reps for those three actors have expressed at least preliminary interest in the idea of moving to Genoa City.
INTERVIEW: Y&R's Wilson Bethel (Ryder)
"Basically Ryder is very two-faced with Deacon and Kevin, so I get to play different things with both guys. I can't say that I really followed soap stars before joining Y&R, but I know Sean is like a huge soap star and a cool, cool cat. Greg is also a great guy. We've become a lot closer in real life, which lends itself to the strong, fraternal chemistry you see in the emotional scenes between Ryder and Kevin."
ATWT shooting in Philly on Thursday (with Peter Parros)
AS THE WORLD TURNS tapes outside Philadlephia City Hall tomorrow afternoon with local people playing extras. From 1 to 5 p.m. the CBS soap shoots with stars Jon Lindstrom, Cady McClain, Michael Park, Peter Parros and Maura West. The public is welcome to watch and possibly appear in crowd scenes. The Philly episodes air Nov. 6.
Someone's dying on Wisteria Lane
According to Michael Ausiello: "Although he insisted he wasn't killing off any characters in this November's big Wisteria Lane plane crash, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES boss man Marc Cherry has decided, on second thought, to kill several, including one that my mole says is a fan favorite."
MELROSE PLACE picked up for five additional episodes
The show has pulled underwhelming ratings since its inception. The CW may be hoping ratings will pick up with the arrival of Heather Locklear, who is joining the show in November. The network also picked up THE VAMPIRE DIARIES for a full season.
SAG action comes too late for some
News that SAG presidential candidate and national board member Seymour Cassel has been suspended for two years is a case of justice delayed in the eyes of some of his colleagues.
"It was actually supposed to take place back in August," said Anne-Marie Johnson, who finished second to Ken Howard in the recent SAG election. "Because of some clever tap dancing by members of the NEC, they were successful in delaying it to protect certain individuals who were running for president."
Marc Guggenheim leaving FLASHFORWARD
Co-showrunner/executive producer Marc Guggenheim is leaving the series, with co-creator/exec producer David Goyer stepping in as sole showrunner.
SEX AND THE CITY writers bring new Texas-tinged soap opera to DUMBO
"Cedar City Falls" is a live theatrical serial in eight parts that will make the big jump from Manhattan to DUMBO's Galapagos Art Space next month.
Disney cable networks represent '80% of Disney's revenue growth'
The Disney Teen Machine has become a finely tuned profit pump in an industry rife with unpredictability. The result is that Disney's cable networks represent the one slightly solid piece of earth among the entertainment giant's sinking properties. ABC is struggling, sales are way down at Disney's theme parks and stores, most of its non-Pixar movies have been wan performers, and revenue from DVDs is shriveling. The cable networks, which in addition to the Disney Channel include ESPN, ABC Family, SOAPnet and Disney XD, brought in 26% of the company's $26.3 billion in revenue and 58% of its $4.8 billion in operating income during the nine months ending June 27. In the past three years, they have represented 80% of Disney's revenue growth.
Is there such a thing as too much GLEE?
Fox has posted nearly 10 minutes of footage from tonight's show, or almost a quarter of the episode.
Revolution in a Box: It's not Twitter or Facebook that's reinventing the planet, it's TV
Thanks to television, poor people in small villages can watch soap operas that empower women, as Charles Kenny points out: "In our collective enthusiasm for whiz-bang new social-networking tools like Twitter and Facebook, the implications of this next television age — from lower birthrates among poor women to decreased corruption to higher school enrollment rates — have largely gone overlooked despite their much more sweeping impact. And it's not earnest educational programming that's reshaping the world on all those TV sets. The programs that so many dismiss as junk — from song-and-dance shows to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES — are being eagerly consumed by poor people everywhere who are just now getting access to television for the first time. That's a powerful force for spreading glitz and drama — but also social change."
Posted by Roger Newcomb
Categories: As The World Turns, Desperate Housewives, Glee, Melrose Place, The Young and the Restless
Victor Newman possible replacements: Paul Michael Glaser (STARSKY & HUTCH) , William Devane (KNOTS LANDING) and Peter Strauss (RICH MAN, POOR MAN) - not so much and I just loved William Devane on Knots Landing. Don't recast the role just have Victor leave GC. I wished they hadn't recast Adam Wilson as Chris Engen made a far better adult Adam Wilson than Michael Muhney. Right now my eyes aren't even on Y&R b/c there's nothing or no one to root for. When I watched last - I did rather enjoy Ashley telling Nikki off and ending the conversation with Nikki to leave her house or get off my ranch ... but still...