AMC's Eileen Herlie Has Passed Away

1 Daytime drama has lost a number of soap legends already in 2008 (Beverlee McKinsey, Irene Dailey and Larry Haines to name a few), and now comes word that another shining star has passed. Eileen Herlie, who played the feisty Myrtle Fargate on ALL MY CHILDREN since 1976, died on Oct. 8 in New York City. She was 90. The actress was born in Glasgow, Scottish, and had an impressive stage and film career. She studied theater and appeared in small roles in movies. But she got her big break when she was cast opposite Laurence Olivier in the film version of Hamlet in 1948. She played Hamlet's mother Gertrude even though she was 13 years younger than Olivier. She appeared on Broadway as well, most notably in the musical "Take Me Along" which earned her a Tony nomination. More from the Pine Valley Bulletin: In 1976 she made the leap to the small screen and debuted as former carnival worker, Myrtle Fargate. She endured everyone as the ultimate den mother at the boarding house where just about everyone has lived at one time or another. And has been surrogate mother to, most recently, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and confidant to Zach Slater (Thorsten Kaye). In 1984, 1985 and 1986 she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Best Supporting Actress category. And she is one of only a few actresses ever to appear on the three soaps (AMC, Loving and OLTL) as the same character. Eileen has been married, but is divorced and has no children. She is survived by her brother Alfred as well nieces and nephews. Eileen's legend will live on in the hearts of AMC fans who will never forget Myrtle's wise advice and calming influence in the chaotic world of Pine Valley.

Daytime Nielsen Ratings For Week of Sept. 29-Oct 3, 2008

From the NBC ratings release: NBC's "Days of our Lives" has matched its highest women 18-49 rating in 18 weeks, lifting the daytime drama 18 percent above its rating for the same week last year. For the week of September 29-October 3, "Days of our Lives" (1.3 rating, 8 share among women 18-49, 1.0/6 among women 18-34) ranked #4 among network daytime programs in the women 18-49 category and tied for #3 in the women 18-34 demo. "Days of our Lives" equaled its highest women 18-49 rating since the week of May 26-30 and earned its highest women 18-34 rating since the week of August 11-15. The 1.3 rating among women 18-49 is an 18 percent increase on "Days'" year-ago rating of a 1.1. Season to date, "Days of our Lives" is tied for #4 among daytime programs in the women 18-49 race and ranks #4 outright among women 18-34 Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. From the ABC Daytime ratings release: * For the fifth successive week, ABC ranked as Daytime's No. 1 network in Women 18-49 (1.3 rating - tied), surpassing third-place CBS by 8% (1.2 rating). Based on deliveries, ABC (866,000) edged out NBC (831,000) as the most-watched network in Daytime by 4%. * Daytime's No. 1 program for the second straight week in Women 18-34 (385,000), "The View" posts its best deliveries in more than one year, or 53 weeks - - since week of 9/24/07. In Women 18-49 (911,000), this week was "The View's" most-watched week in six months, or 25 weeks - - since week of 4/7/08. * For the fifth week running, "The View" (No. 3 - 3.89 million) and "General Hospital" (No. 5 - 2.95 million) positioned among Daytime's Top 5 programs in Total Viewers. In Key Women, for the second week in a row, both shows tied for No. 1 in Women 18-34 and ranked among the Top 3 in Women 18-49. * In Women 18-34, for the second straight week "The View" (385,000/1.1 rating) and "General Hospital" (357,000/1.1 rating) tied as the week's No. 1 program in Daytime in the key target. With "One Life to Live" (No. 5T - 255,000/0.8 rating) rounding out the Top 5, ABC was home to 3 of the week's Top 5 programs for the second successive week. * In Women 18-49, ABC was home to 3 of Daytime's Top 5 programs with "General Hospital" (No. 2 - 1.02 million/1.5 rating), "The View" (No. 3 - 911,000/1.4 rating) and "One Life to Live" (No. 5T - 800,000/1.2 rating). * Ranking among Daytime's Top 5 programs for 25 straight weeks, "One Life to Live" defeated CBS' "As the World Turns" at 2 o'clock by 34% in Women 18-34 (255,000 vs. 191,000) and by 10% in Women 18-49 (800,000 vs. 730,000). * At 3 o'clock, "General Hospital" more than doubled CBS' "Guiding Light" in Women 18-34 (122%; 357,000 vs. 161,000), and topped the time period competitor by 72% in Women 18-49 (1.02 million vs. 592,000) and by 37% in Total Viewers (2.95 million vs. 2.15 million). Daytime Rank: Total Viewers Women 18-49 (Rtg/000s) No. 1 CBS 3.51 million No. 1 ABC 1.3/866,000 No. 2 ABC 2.93 million No. 1 NBC 1.3/831,000 No. 3 NBC 2.51 million No. 3 CBS 1.2/777,000 Top 5 Daytime Programs in Women 18-49 (rank based on rating): Program Net Rtg/000s The Young & the Restless CBS 1.7/1.10 million (-70,000) General Hospital ABC 1.5/1.02 million (+73,000) The View ABC 1.4/911,000 (+67,000) Days of Our Lives NBC 1.3/831,000 (+81,000) Bold and the Beautiful CBS 1.2/817,000 (-19,000) One Life to Live ABC 1.2/800,000 (+8,000) All My Children ABC TBD/TBD As The World Turns CBS TBD/730,000 (+23,000) Guiding Light CBS TBD/592,000 (+23,000)

Y&R Celebrates 9,000 Episodes

The number-one daytime drama for the past 19 years, CBS's THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, celebrates its 9,000th episode, Tuesday, Oct. 14, on the CBS Television Network. The show celebrated 35 years on the air this past March.

PREVIEW: Tonight's FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

1 The coach's wife and Dillon High's newest principal become the centerpiece of a town controversy in FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT's second episode of Season 3. The decision by Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) to reallocate money raised for athletics to academics, preferring new books to a new JumboTron, has the mayor of the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, on the attack early on in the episode. It's not the only drama in the episode, which sees a former couple start to reconnect and brings a bit of good news back to Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles). Related: TV Guide interview with Connie Britton

List of top 20 shows in prime-time Nielsen ratings

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Sept. 29-Oct. 5. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation. 1. (1) DANCING WITH THE STARS, ABC, 18.88 million viewers. 2. (4) NCIS, CBS, 17.47 million viewers. 3. (11) 60 MINUTES CBS, 16.65 million viewers. 4. (5) DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, ABC, 15.68 million viewers. 5. (9) DANCING WITH THE STARS RESULTS, ABC, 15.49 million viewers. 6. (7) THE MENTALIST, CBS, 15.48 million viewers. 7. (10) CSI: NY, CBS, 14.89 million viewers. 8. (6) CRIMINAL MINDS, CBS, 14.78 million viewers. 9. (7) CSI: MIAMI, CBS, 14.35 million viewers. 10. (3) NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: PITTSBURGH VS. JACKSONVILLE, NBC, 14.21 million viewers. 11. (12) TWO AND A HALF MEN, CBS, 13.58 million viewers. 12. (14) SURVIVOR: GABON, CBS, 13.08 million viewers. 13. (13) HOUSE, Fox, 12.98 million viewers. 14. (X) AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (Wednesday), NBC, 12.69 million viewers. 15. (16) WITHOUT A TRACE, CBS, 12.61 million viewers. 16. (16) EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION, ABC, 11.83 million viewers. 17. (18) COLD CASE, CBS, 11.1 million viewers. 18. (20) AMAZING RACE 13, CBS, 11 million viewers. 19. (22) LAW & ORDER: SVU, NBC, 10.39 million viewers. 20. (18) BROTHERS & SISTERS, ABC, 10.33 million viewers. Meanwhile, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS averaged 5.20 million viewers for the week peaking at 5.33 million on Wednesday.

Jon Lindstrom Cast As Craig On ATWT

1 Jon Lindstrom as been cast as the new Craig Montgomery on AS THE WORLD TURNS. HIs first airdate is December 3. Lindstrom is best known to soap fans for his roles as twin brothers Kevin Collins and Ryan Chamberlain on GENERAL HOSPITAL and PORT CHARLES. He won a Soap Opera Digest Award in 2008 as Outstanding Supporting Actor for his role on PC. Before joining the cast of GH in 1996, he played Brady on RITUALS, Paul on GENERATIONS and Mark on SANTA BARBARA. Scott Bryce, the original and most recent Craig, was fired from AS THE WORLD TURNS in February of this year apparently due to backstage drama with Executive Producer Christopher Goutman. Goutman wanted Bryce's Craig to be more like Hunt Block's version of the character per an interview Bryce did with "BuzzWorthy Radio" in July. Despite Bryce's popularity with fans, Goutman did not want him in the role. Hunt Block had a successful run as Craig earlier in the decade, and Jeffrey Meek had a short and unmemorable stint as Craig immediately before Bryce returned in April 2007.

Soap Veteran Irene Dailey Has Passed Away At 88

1 Irene Dailey, a late-blooming actress perhaps best known for her roles in television soap operas and for her portrayal of the quick-witted, sensitive mother, Nettie Cleary, in the 1964 Tony Award-winning drama “The Subject Was Roses,” died on Sept. 24 in Santa Rosa, Calif. She was 88 and lived in Guerneville, Calif. The cause was colon cancer, her friend Arleen Lorrance said. From 1974 to 1986, and then again from 1988 to 1994, Miss Dailey played Liz Matthews in ANOTHER WORLD — an upper-class-bred matriarch of a middle-class family dealing with the convolutions of life in the fictional town of Bay City. For that role, Miss Dailey won a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding actress in 1979. 1 In 1959, Miss Dailey appeared on the soap THE HOUSE ON HIGH STREET. For a year, in 1969, she played the role of Pamela Stewart in the crime-mystery soap opera THE EDGE OF NIGHT. Her many other television credits included appearances on shows like BEN CASEY, DR. KILDARE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE DEFENDERS. Miss Dailey’s film credits include roles in No Way to Treat a Lady, Five Easy Pieces and The Amityville Horror. It was only after appearing in a long series of Broadway flops that, in 1964, Miss Dailey received critical acclaim in the United States. It was for her portrayal of the mother in Frank D. Gilroy’s three-character drama, “The Subject Was Roses.” The play dealt with an incompatible couple’s love for their 21-year-old son (with Jack Albertson as the father and Martin Sheen as the son) after the son returns after three years in the Army. 1 “Miss Dailey’s Nettie is a luminous creation,” Howard Taubman wrote in The New York Times. “She can suggest hurt and desiccation with a stricken glance. Wearing a plain hat and coat and holding her purse, she can turn to walk out of her apartment so that her back conveys her utter defeat and despair.” Miss Dailey was born in New York City on Sept. 12, 1920, the daughter of Daniel and Helen Ryan Dailey. Her father was the manager of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. Her brother Dan Dailey gained fame as a song-and-dance man and Hollywood actor. At 8, Irene Dailey was dancing in vaudeville, and at 18 she was working in summer stock. With consistent bad luck, she kept winning parts in what she once said were 13 of Broadway’s worst shows. “Miss Lonelyhearts,” for example, had a nine-day run. Miss Dailey ran a lampshade store and worked as a waitress while making the Broadway rounds. Then, in 1960, she tried her luck in London. She was the 47th actress to try out for the lead in “Tomorrow — With Pictures,” about an American woman trying to take over a British newspaper empire. She got the part and drew rave reviews. “Every plummy-voiced English rose of an imitation actress should be dragged to see Miss Dailey,” The Daily Express critic wrote. “She sweats love, breathes hate, weeps desire.” In an interview with Time magazine at the time, Miss Dailey said: “I shall be 40 in September. I have nothing, really nothing. I’m not married. I have no children.” “All I really care about is the theater,” she continued. “But now, for the first time, I know in my stomach that my work is good.”

Grahn's "On My Porch" Chat Transcript

1 The transcript for last Wednesday night's discussion at NancyLeeGrahn.com with the women of daytime on the Presidential election is now up. Below are the links to the various topic and some interesting quotes from each. Part I - Crisis on Wall Street "...a vote for McCain/Palin is a vote not only against you, but against us, and worse, our children." - Nancy Lee Grahn "We agree this is a crisis but McCain said the fundamentals are strong. He has been a de-regulator; he has taken many limits off Wall Street. He believes what's good for Wall Street is good for the economy." - Kimberly McCullough Part II - Women's Issues "If there was a male character on a soap opera that said a woman can’t make as much money as he does because she needed more education, that character would be considered a villain." - Nancy Lee Grahn "The Republican party opposes advocating a women’s right to choose. Palin is for abstinence only education. They want to regulate women’s bodies, but yet not provide health insurance to protect them." - Bree Williamson Part III - Women, Children, Veterans and Health Issues "I think that one of the biggest differences between John McCain and Obama is how they treat children, health care and day care and helping mothers. They want to control reproduction, but don’t want anything to do with the kid after it’s born." - Heather Tom "There are absentee ballots being sent out to voters that are invalid. People across the country are being 'caged'. Someone needs to make sure they know where their ballot will be sent." - Deidre Hall Part IV - An Emotional, Important Time "I’m a registered Republican. My whole family is very political, very Republican. I hear snickers in the room. You don’t have to vote your party. Just vote as a member of this planet. It is your responsibility to read about the issues." - Michelle Stafford "I’ve been taking my 10 year old with me on the campaign trail. She’s been listening and learning. While in Montana, I bought her a stuffed moose for a souvenir. A man came up and asked her the moose’s name. She said he was Bill Billings from Billings, Montana. Without provocation, she added that Bill’s great grandfather was shot by Sarah Palin from a helicopter. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree." - Nancy Lee Grahn

Soap Stars At RocknRolla Premiere

1 Vail Bloom (Heather, Y&R), Natalie Zea (ex-Gwen, PASSIONS) and Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie, DAYS) were among the attendees last night at the premiere of Guy Ritchie's new film, RocknRolla, at the Arclight Cineramadome in Hollywood.