Must See TV: Cyndi Lauper On ATWT This Thursday

TV Guide Canada's weekly "Nelson Ratings" Nelson Branco dishes on last week’s soap happenings and the Emmys, gives this week's viewing cheat sheet, and names his top rated shows, actors and moments. Deep Soap: GH's Carolyn Hennesy Trusts The Fates "I’ve been acting since I was twelve years old. In fact, if you’d told me five years ago, 'By the way you'll have a book on the bookshelves, another one waiting to be published in September and you’ll be writing a third book,' I’d have looked at you like you were nuts. Because it was always and only and forever acting. That was the only thing I was ever going to do. Maybe if I was lucky I’d produce something. But certainly nothing other than a screenplay or a sketch – I’ve been doing sketch comedy for many years with the Acme Comedy Theater [a popular Los Angeles impov group.]" BLOG UPDATE: Lynn Liccardo "...after three weeks of watching the new and improved ONE LIFE TO LIVE, it looks to me as though Carvaliti is doing it every day. Not a full blown 'Emmy episode,' of course, but every single episode in these past three weeks, even those action-filled episodes bringing back veterans, Susan Haskell and Andrea Evans, has been anchored by at least one "conversation between characters exploring relationships and revealing history." And more often than not, those conversations run the full length of the episode: same characters; often, the same physical space; emotionally, of course, things move along a few degrees." 1 James Sutton quits HOLLYOAKS HOLLYOAKS favourite James Sutton has quit the Channel 4 soap. The 25-year-old, who has captured the hearts of millions since 2006 playing the role of gay student John Paul McQueen, will bow out of the soap in September for pastures new. His exit will naturally coincide with the brief return of Guy Burnet as John Paul's old flame Craig Dean, who makes a comeback in a bid to rekindle their romance. When John Paul sees Craig again for the first time since Craig left for Trinity College, Dublin, his life is thrown into complete disarray. His feelings for Craig begin to resurface and he's forced to make the biggest decision of his life - stay with his fiancé, Father Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks), or reunite with his former love. The situation soon takes a sinister and fatal twist, however, resulting in Craig moving one step closer to the sunset ending he returned for. Speaking of his decision to quit, Sutton said: "I’ve had a really great time working on HOLLYOAKS but after much thought I’ve decided that it’s time to bring it to an end. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Bryan Kirkwood and everyone at Hollyoaks for making my time here so memorable. I’m also really grateful to the viewers for their continued support and commitment to the character and the storyline." 10 Reasons to watch OLTL Michael Fairman blogs: "Llanview is rocking. Thanks to Ron Carlivati's brilliant head writing and his amazing team! Here now are the ten reasons to make sure this invigorated soap is part of your summer 'musts'." STUDY: TV viewers' average age hits 50 According to a study released by Magna Global's Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets' average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That's the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago -- and the first time the nets' median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo. Fueling the graying of the networks: the rapid aging of ABC, NBC and Fox. The three nets continue to grow older, while CBS -- the oldest-skewing network -- has remained fairly steady. Tributes to former EASTENDERS star's brother Tributes are mounting for the teenage brother of former EASTENDERS star Brooke Kinsella who died after being stabbed in a row with youths. Ben Kinsella, 16, was knifed in a north London street at around 2am on Sunday and died later in hospital. Ms. Kinsella, 24, best known for playing Kelly Taylor in the BBC soap opera, is expected to make a personal statement. The actress, her parents, Debbie and George, and her boyfriend, former EastEnders actor Ray Panthaki, were among more than 50 people who paid their respects at the scene in York Way, Islington, on Sunday afternoon. COUNTDOWN TO JUNE 30TH: Calm Down. There Will Be No Strike Sequel. But When Will Hollywood Ever Get Back To Work? Nikki Finke provides the latest on the SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP saga. Little Richard gets 'Restless' Little Richard isn’t that young anymore, but he’ll always be restless, and he appears here as himself to perform the wedding ceremony of Jeff and Gloria Bardwell (Ted Shackelford, Judith Chapman). Ryan Phillippe buys house in Hollywood hills Not everything on the market is languishing into the next millennium. Reese Witherspoon’s ex-husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, recently bought a home in the Hollywood Hills for $7,175,000. The house, which had been listed at $7.47 million, was on the market for 34 days. (Pessimists, take note.) The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house has 8,300 square feet, according to the listing details. There are two master suites with an office area in each, a large living room and deck for parties and a media room with 14-foot ceilings. The outdoor living area includes a spa, a sauna and steam room, a fire pit and an Asian-style gazebo overlooking a pool. There’s also a two-story gym. Phillippe, 33, began his acting career playing a gay teenager on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. His 2006 breakup with Witherspoon came replete with rumors of another woman. The other woman was said to be actress Abbie Cornish, 25, who starred with Phillippe in Stop-Loss. They denied romantic involvement at the time, but Cornish and Phillippe have since gone public. Timeslot matters for the soaps! And so does culture MarkH blogs: "Americans predated the rest of the western world in women in the workplace (I'm not counting the former Communist countries), in fast food, and in the demise of communal activities (like bowling leages). It's go-go-go. It's work interfering with family time. It is parents and children not eating dinner together. It's microwave food. Into that climate, there is NO WAY to slip in a daily soap or two. Most families--AND ESPECIALLY THE TARGET WOMEN--simply have ZERO capacity. The rest of the world still has a higher proportion of at-home women (the social systems still encourage stay-at-home moms), there still less of a culture of Macdonalds and its' ilk, plus many of these shows are broadcast at more congenial times of the day." More on Cultural Biases and Soaps Sam Ford writes: "I first wrote last month about my frustrations with Bellafante's tone when writing about Luke and Noah from AS THE WORLD TURNS fame. Rather than knocking aspects of the storytelling that she felt was poor, the article indicated that aspects of the story were scripted poorly because this was a soap opera, and there's simply no way for these shows to do anything else."

Gay Pride Oakdale

1 In a first for daytime soaps, AS THE WORLD TURNS is celebrating Gay Pride today with a special appearance by Cyndi Lauper. She sings her new single, "Into the Nightlife" and dedicates her classic "True Colors" to Luke and Noah. Her appearance has garnered a lot of national media attention including articles in the NY Daily News and LA Daily News and even international coverage in newspapers around the world. Here is a sneak peak of a scene from today as well as a short clip from Wednesday's ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT.

Daytime Nielsen Ratings June 23-27, 2008

From the ABC Daytime ratings release: * Easily Daytime's No. 1 network, ABC clinched its 7th consecutive victory among Women 18-49 (1.3 rating/864,000), towering over NBC (1.1 rating/749,000) and CBS (1.1 rating/716,000) by 18%. * Daytime's No. 1 program for the second week in a row in Women 18-34, "General Hospital" (1.2 rating/394,000) delivered its best ratings in five months (since week of 1/21/08) in the key youthful demo. * In Women 18-34, ABC delivered 4 of Daytime's Top 5 programs, marking the 12th straight week the net has placed at least 3 shows in the Top 5: "General Hospital" (No. 1, 1.2 rating/394,000), "The View" (No. 2T, 1.0 rating/340,000), "One Life to Live" (No. 2T, 1.0 rating/329,000) and "All My Children" (No. 5T, 0.8 rating/257,000). * In Women 18-49, all ABC programs positioned as Top 5 players in Daytime for the fourth time in five weeks, marking the 12th week in a row the net has placed at least 3 programs in the Top 5: "General Hospital" (No. 2, 1.5 rating/985,000), "One Life to Live" (No. 3T, 1.3 rating/859,000), "The View" (No. 3T, 1.3 rating/839,000), and "All My Children" (No. 5T, 1.2 rating/772,000). * Scoring Top 5 ranks in target young Women, "One Life to Live" surpassed time period competitor CBS' "As the World Turns" by a significant 78% in Women 18-34 (329,000 vs. 185,000) and by 34% in Women 18-49 (859,000 vs. 640,000). * With its most dominant victory in recent weeks, "General Hospital" surpassed time period competitor CBS' "Guiding Light" by a substantial 172% in Women 18-34 (394,000 vs. 145,000), by 75% in Women 18-49 (985,000 vs. 564,000) and by 33% in Total Viewers (2.80 million vs. 2.11 million). Following are the Daytime Lineup averages, plus Top 5 Programs Ranks - Week of June 23, 2008:Daytime Rank: Total Viewers Women 18-49 (Rtg/000s) No. 1 CBS 3.46 million No. 1 ABC 1.3/864,000 (+2,000) No. 2 ABC 2.78 million No. 2 NBC 1.1/749,000 (-4,000) No. 3 NBC 2.57 million No. 2 CBS 1.1/716,000 (+18,000) Top 5 Daytime Programs in Women 18-49 (rank based on rating)Program Net Rtg/000s The Young & the Restless CBS 1.6/1.02 million (-40,000) General Hospital ABC 1.5/985,000 (-57,000) One Life to Live ABC 1.3/859,000 (-8,000) The View ABC 1.3/839,000 (-44,000) All My Children ABC 1.2/772,000 (-2,000) Bold and the Beautiful CBS 1.2/778,000 (-5,000)

Lauper and ATWT Lived Up To The Hype

I have to admit that with all the hype surrounding Cyndi Lauper's appearance on AS THE WORLD TURNS today, I was afraid of a couple of things: 1) Most of the "good stuff" had been revealed in various behind the scenes clips 2) The Noah and Luke scenes would be short and choppy like usual and way too much of the story would be left to our imagination. I went into it hoping for the best. This was daytime's first gay pride celebration and a lot of potential new fans might be checking out ATWT today. Boy, did they not let me down. They not only lived up to the hype, they far exceeded it. 1 The show opened with Luke introducing himself to Cyndi as a writer for Oakdale U's school newspaper. He wondered why she would bring her True Colors Tour to a small town like Oakdale. She told him that small towns were so important since there tends to be less of a support system for gays. Later, Noah showed up with Tony, the "hot tub" guy from February, which lead Luke to tell Cyndi that they were broken up. She wasn't buying it claiming she was psychic and she knew they would get back together. She went on to perform "Into the Nightlife," her infectious new single, and then dedicated "True Colors" to Luke and Noah. The performance given by Van Hansis during "True Colors" was a masterpiece. I know Emmy voters don't appreciate subtlety and nuance but very few actor in daytime could have pull off the performance he gave today as Cyndi sang directly to him. That's what makes him so good. By the end of the song, Noah told Luke they needed to talk. Outside, Noah told Luke he was the only one for him and he wanted to be together. They shared the first of two kisses during the episode. The episode with a bit of a downer as Noah told Luke he couldn't be alone with him at the farm because he had enlisted in the Army, and had to leave to be processed in Chicago tomorrow. Despite not ending on a happier note, the show had served its purpose. Luke and Noah were brought back together and then seemingly torn apart again. In this single hour I laughed, I cried, I cheered and I even danced. What more could you ask for from a soap? It was pure entertainment from beginning to end. It's very rare I can say that these days. This is where I get personal. As a gay man of 38 who has watched soaps his entire life, I never thought I would see a show like today. I was incredibly moved when Cyndi was singing "True Colors" to Luke. Not only was I thinking about Luke's journey and how the words were true for him, I was thinking about myself and how I couldn't believe I was watching a gay pride event on AS THE WORLD TURNS on an episode which prominently featured a gay couple, Luke and Noah. There are days I feel the world is not very accepting and there are days when ATWT frustrates me to no end with the Luke and Noah storyline and the lack of airtime. But today was a day to celebrate how far we've come. Thank you to AS THE WORLD TURNS for telling a story no one else on daytime will tell. No matter how much hype other shows and producers and writers may get, no one can take away the groundbreaking storyline you have created and the special episode you created today. You are the only daytime soap who has shown the courage to tell a continuing love story for two gay men. This was not just a good soap episode. It meant something to me. And to lots of fans. Please continue to remember how "real" this story is for a lot of people and treat it with the sensitivity and class it deserves. Here are the clips today including both of Cyndi's fantastic performances.

Soaps On The Entertainment Shows Last Night

Last night's entertainment shows featured several soap appearances. First Caitlin Van Zandt from GUIDING LIGHT appeared on THE INSIDER to follow up on her lap-band surgery. Then Cyndi Lauper appeared on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT to promote her appearance on AS THE WORLD TURNS today. Later, THE SOUR PRESENTS on E! made fun of Taylor on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL.

Flashback: Shawn Christian 1996

The current DAYS OF OUR LIVES star and former AS THE WORLD TURNS hunk was a "Mighty Good Man" back in 1996.

Heather Tom Who?

Cyndi Lauper brings her True Colors Tour to Oakdake's Gay Pride celebration on Thursday and does her best to reunite Luke and Noah while in town. Here's a preview:

Joan Collins Still Looks Good

1 Joan Collins (ex-Alexandra, GUIDING LIGHT; ex-Alexis, DYNASTY), who turned 74 in May, attended the Sacha Newley 'Blessed Curse' exhibition private view today at The Arts Club in London. She still looks great.

Soap Stars at Hancock Premiere

1 THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Emmy nomineee Vail Bloom attended the world premiere of Columbia Pictures' Hancock at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on June 30th in Hollywood. Other soap stars in attendance were Darin Brooks and Raya Meddine.