Billy Warlock Is Now On Twitter!!

WooHoo!! Billy Warlock, one of my all-time favorite actors is now on twitter!!

Follow him at http://twitter.com/BillyWarlock

As most of you know, Billy is a veteran TV actor who has appeared on iconic shows like Happy Days and Baywatch. But we Soapies love him for his memorable roles (and wonderful performances) as nice guy Frankie Brady on Days of Our Lives and the tragic, misunderstood, blacksheep AJ Quartermaine on General Hospital. Billy has also been on Young and the Restless, As the World Turns, and One Life to Live. And yes, I have watched him on all of these shows!

Fun Trivia: Billy and his goddess wife Julie Pinson have both appeared on Days, Y&R and ATWT (and both have "lived" in Port Charles - Billy on GH, Julie on PC), but they only shared scenes together on Days and ATWT. My wish? I would love for them to be reunited on Days. A Frankie/Billie pairing would make me swoon!

You can follow Julie on twitter at http://twitter.com/JuliePinsonCom

And for anyone interested. We Love Soaps recently asked Billy his opinion on the state of daytime soaps. His response was honest, funny and right on target! To watch the interview click here. Wouldn't it be great if We Love Soaps did a long, in depth interview with Billy?! And Julie!

Can you tell I'm a Billy Warlock fangirl??

-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover

Nominations for the 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards Announced!

Well the nominations for the Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced. Here's a quick list of the major categories (courtesy of We Love Soaps - for the full list of categories/nominees head over to their site.)

We'll be posting our comments on the nominations soon, but until then, have a look and let us know what you think!

Outstanding Drama Series
ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
ONE LIFE TO LIVE (ABC)
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
AS THE WORLD TURNS (CBS)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
DAYS OF OUR LIVES (NBC)
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor
Christian LeBlanc, as Michael Baldwin THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)
Michael Park, as Jack Snyder AS THE WORLD TURNS (CBS)
Maurice Benard, as Sonny Corinthos GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
Ricky Paull Goldin, as Jake Martin ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
James Scott, as EJ DiMera DAYS OF OUR LIVES (NBC)

Outstanding Lead Actress
Susan Flannery, as Stephanie Forrester THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
Michelle Stafford, as Phyllis Summers THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)
Colleen Zenk, as Barbara Ryan As the World Turns" (CBS)
Alicia Minshew, as Kendall Slater ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
Debbi Morgan, as Angie Hubbard ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
Laura Wright, as Carly Corinthos Jacks GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Jonathan Jackson, as Lucky Spencer GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
Jason Thompson, as Patrick Drake GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
Brian Kerwin, as Charlie Banks ONE LIFE TO LIVE (ABC)
Doug Davidson, as Paul Williams THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)
Billy Miller, as Billy Abbott THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Melissa Claire Egan, as Annie Chandler ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
Julie Pinson, as Janet Ciconne AS THE WORLD TURNS (CBS)
Heather Tom, as Katie Logan Spencer THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
Nancy Lee Grahn, as Alexis Davis GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
Bree Williamson, as Jessica Brennan ONE LIFE TO LIVE (ABC)
Tricia Cast, as Nina Webster THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

Outstanding Younger Actor
Scott Clifton, as Liam Cooper THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (CBS)
Chandler Massey, as Will Horton DAYS OF OUR LIVES (NBC)
Chad Duell, as Michael Corinthos GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)

Outstanding Younger Actress
Brittany Allen, as Marissa Chandler ALL MY CHILDREN (ABC)
Lexi Ainsworth, as Kristina Davis GENERAL HOSPITAL (ABC)
Emily O'Brien, as Jana Hawkes THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (CBS)

-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover

WLS Posts ATWT Bible!

Hey All! I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to check out what's been going on at other soap sites lately. Thankfully, fellow Denial Island blogger soapwikijohn told me that the awesome folks over at We Love Soaps have been posting excerpts of the Original Bible for As The World Turns (formerly As The Earth Turns - *big hug* to whoever decided to change the name, lol). Martha Byrne (ex-Lily/ATWT, ex-Andrea/GH, Catherine/Gotham The Series) was gracious enough to hand over this incredible historical document to the WLS guys and they've been posting it in installments. This is a real treat for ATWT fans as well as all Soap Opera Buffs/Geeks.

Here's a link to Part 3 of the installment (from here you can easily access Parts 1 and 2): As The Earth Turns: Part 3

As always, thanks for reading! Hope everyone is doing well!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938
03/24/10 - 4:34am

PS. Still doing All Soaps, All Week w/ no fast forwarding or spoilers. I'll try posting about it later today :) And don't forget to vote in our Poll of the Week (over in the top right corner of your screens)!

The Big Kish-Off

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re aware of yummy-licious Brett Claywell and Scott Evans (Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish) being let go from One Life to Live and the outrage it’s provoked from fans. I’ve been hanging back, observing how Kish-gate is unfolding. So far I don’t know what to make of this PR mess: Is this part of a homophobic agenda? Is this a result of the actors behaving unprofessionally? Are focus groups to blame? Are these firings just par for the course, no different than the other recent firings/contract changes at OLTL (Crystal Hunt, Scott Clifton, Daphnee Duplaix, Austin Williams, plus the rumors of more firings to come)? Well…I have no clue. But when has not having a clue stopped me from voicing my opinion, lol?

Clearly OLTL is cleaning house. Whether this bloodbath is due to an ultimatum from TPTB to make some changes or else, or they’re cutting expenses to accommodate big names like Gina Tognoni (Kelly) (and possibly Thorsten??) is unclear. Revamping the show (creatively and/or budget-wise) by getting rid of a sh*tload of characters isn’t surprising. What is surprising is their decision to cut two popular characters, who happen to make up one of the most popular couples currently on the show. Getting new characters to click with viewers and developing a large fan base for a couple is a difficult feat. Kish has captured the hearts of soap fans (gay and hetero) and has garnered the show loads of positive press from the soap and mainstream media. This is the kind of response TPTB kill for, and OLTL is just throwing it away? It’s insane! When a show is consistently last place in the ratings, is it smart to get rid of one of the few things that actually works? Couples that develop a following with the audience are not a dime a dozen. OLTL has hit gold with Kish, so for goodness sakes, keep them!

Frankly the Kish-Off just confirms what I’ve felt for a long time: TPTB at ABC are simply not interested in making a long-term commitment to gay and lesbian characters. They’ll introduce these characters/stories, gladly receive accolades from the press and fans, pat themselves on the back, and before we know it the characters are out the door. It seems the gay renaissance of soaps (Otalia, Nuke, Kish, Rianca-or whatever they called that hot mess over at AMC) was just a “fad” or an experiment (for a terrific round-up analysis of gay stories on soaps, I recommend We Love Soaps' article Gays in Daytime.) As far as I can see, soaps have always been, and will continue to be, dominated by white, thin, heterosexual characters. Apparently TPTB seem to think this is playing it safe, but I think it’s insulting, boring and a sign of how behind the times and out of touch with the audience they really are.

As for OLTL…Full disclosure: I stopped watching it on a regular basis last year and it had nothing to do with Kish. While Ron Carlivati is a talented writer, I found the show uneven at best. At worst, it was a campy mess, misogynistic and more gross than entertaining. My friends and I have joked that the show should be renamed One Life to Rape. Welcome to Rapeview: a town populated by rapists/psychos and their victims. Gee, who wouldn’t want to watch that? One positive thing that’s come from Kish-gate has been people’s willingness to call OLTL out on their offensive stories and point out that that might in fact be the reason for their pathetic ratings. (The great Marlena De Lacroix wrote a terrific piece recently called Sadism for Thrills, where she critiqued OLTL and GH’s treatment of female characters.)

Look, I’m just a soap fan, but my own humble opinion is that maybe TPTB should get rid of what doesn’t work, instead of what does. How about giving us characters that we’ll love and root for, instead of making a violent pig your romantic lead (*cough* Todd *cough*)? And what about telling stories that will entertain and move us, instead of ones that trigger our gag reflex (*cough* Mitch *cough*)? But what do I know?

**EDIT: if you're interested in joining the various Save Kish campaigns, I suggest doing a #Kish search on twitter. Tons of stuff will come up :)

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As always, thanks so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you think of Kish-gate!

-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover1938