Eye on Soaps

By Sage Bourland

Sorry folks! Waiting for info versus internet versus sick baby versus a ton of shit means I am late, late, late!

AMC

There is very little on the minds of AMC folks except for this upcoming move and now the second wave of impact has hit as ABC is swinging the axe right and left, cutting actors loose from their contracts and un-inviting or not inviting them at all to make the move. Brianne Moncrief, BANG, out as Colby Chandler. Aiden Turner, BANG, out as Aidan Devane after 7 years on the show. Soap opera veteran Beth Ehlers, BANG, out as Taylor Thompson after writers continually let her flail about uncomfortably in horribly misfit stories that never took off. Jill Larson (Opal) was not asked to make any plans to appear on the show after the move. Chrishell Stause will not be signing a contract with AMC, but will be relocating to Los Angeles for her own reasons. She hopes to be involved with other projects, but is open to non-contracted appearances on AMC. No more Joe Martin as Ray McDonnell retires with the move. He and Susan Lucci are the only actors currently on the show who have been with AMC since its first episode.

Soap Opera Network posted a list of stars who are so far thinking they are going to move with the show (and with any luck, the show is under the same impression):

Susan Lucci – Erica Kane Darnell Williams – Jesse Hubbard Michael E. Knight – Tad Martin Debbi Morgan – Dr. Angela Hubbard David Canary – Adam Chandler Vincent Irizarry – Dr. David Hayward Cameron Mathison – Ryan Lavery Jacob Young – J.R. Chandler Bobbie Eakes – Krystal Carey Hayward Melissa Claire Egan – Annie Lavery Cornelius Smith Jr. – Dr. Frankie Hubbard Ricky Paull Goldin – Dr. Jake Martin Denise Vasi – Randi Morgan J.R. Martinez – Brot Monroe Adam Mayfield – Scott Chandler Jamie Luner – Liza Colby Brittany Allen – Marissa Tasker Stephanie Gatschet – Madison North

There’s your show so far. Many were surprised to see the inclusion of both Susan Lucci and David Canary on the list as it was thought that they would not be willing to commute, however, it looks as though that is exactly what will happen. My sources say that the actors will continue to live in New York, but will fly out periodically to tape huge numbers of scenes that will be used over the coming weeks.

Sofia Black D’Elia begins playing the role of Bailey Welles today. Bailey is the biological mother of Liza Colby’s adopted son, Stuart, and she wants him back. Since the adoption was an illegal process, Liza will have to do a fast dance and come up with some clever ideas to get her to back off.

BethAnn Bonner, best known for almost winning “I Wanna Be a Soap Star” and for her portrayal of Talia Sayid on One Life to Live. Bonner will play Kat, who is initially listed as a character who will be involved with Aidan, Zach and Kendall. She begins airing the week of November 2nd.

OLTL

Despite initial reports to the contrary, Laura Koffman will NOT be returning to the role of Cassie on OLTL at this time.

Gear up for Jared Banks to fall on the sword of character assassination. Purest remember that he came onto the show as a devious con artist and was softened up in order to be worthy of the title of Charlie Banks’ son.  The actor, John Brotherton, has been released from his contract and while no final air date has yet been given (just “the fall”), the character is not expected to survive the bad guy unveiling.

The return of Kathy Brier and Chris Stack (Marcie and Michael) will only be for a handful of episodes.

There is still no word on Sean Ringgold’s status as Shaun, the comatose bodyguard on OLTL So far, all OLTL will say is “the outcome of his condition will have an effect on his entire family.” Well… yeah.

GH

James Franco’s appearance on GH is the direct result of him phoning up the powers that be, ringy dingy, and arranging for an appearance to help him prepare for a movie roll. Eden Riegel recently said, “I’ve never wanted to play a mafia princess so much in my life!” referring to the fact that GH is sort of All Mobster TV. He is described as “Jason Morgan’s worst nightmare,” so it can be presumed that he will be wearing a sweater vest with reindeer on it. Supposedly, Vanessa Marcil is dying to work with the actor and may well cast her dice to the honchos to kill two birds with one stone: make some cash, ride the Franco pony around the ring a few times.

Jonathan Jackson is wicked excited to be back at GH and told Michael Logan, “I’m sort of in a whirlwind. This is pretty much out of the blue. It’s been 10 years since I left the show but in some ways it doesn’t feel like that at all. When I [got the offer] from GH I talked about it with my family and it felt like the right time to return. I also talked it over with Tony Geary, who was really positive about this. Our relationship goes back a long way. That’s one of the biggest motivators in my coming back—getting to work with Tony again. It feels like a very exciting adventure.” He started taping this past week and first airs on Oct 27th. Since the powers that be were all up into Jonathan Jackson and Rebecca Herbst, I’m betting NIZ will be over faster than you can say, “Recast.”

After saying the character had been scrapped, GH has cast Amanda Brooks in the role of Mischa Cassadine. The character is a typical Cassadine: calculating, dangerous, with revenge on her mind. The role is recurring with a chance to go contract.

Matthew Borlenghi is slated to appear as “Travis” in Fall sweeps, a slight delay from his initially rumored first airing of October. Some, however, say he will actually be playing Valentin Cassadine (originally called Vlad). I can’t keep up. Sheesh. I’m old and all.

Grass doesn’t Sarah Joy Brown’s feet and nanoseconds after its announced that she’s bailing from GH, we hear she will be playing Sandy Sommers on B&B. Yep, she’ll be involved with her old GH love, Ric Lansing, who is known a Whip in those parts.

That’s all for this week. Peace out.

October 3rd, 2009 | Category: All My Children, General Hospital, One Life to Live | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL