Love out Loud West’s "SOAPS IN THE CITY"

1 Los Angeles, CA ( October 10, 2008) Cops 4 Causes and POZ Magazine in association with “Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps” are pleased to announce the first, “Soaps In the City” celebrity fundraiser. The event serves as a kickoff to AIDS Walk Los Angeles weekend and benefits APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles). The biggest and brightest stars from the top daytime dramas will attend the event, and lend their support to the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. As well, the evening will also be the official launch party of daytime’s hottest new website, www.michaelfairmansoaps.com. On Thursday night, October 16th, 2008 from 6:30-9:00PM at the hip East/West Lounge in West Hollywood, California, daytime comes out in full force for an evening of red carpet arrivals, special performances, cocktails, music by DJ ORA and a very special “Soap Family Feud” competition. Scheduled to appear: THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESSS: Christian LeBlanc, Kristoff St. John, Daniel Goddard, Judith Chapman, Billy Miller, and Kate Linder GENERAL HOSPITAL: Kimberly McCullough, Megan Ward, Lisa LoCicero, Brandon Barash, and Carolyn Hennesy THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Heather Tom, John McCook, Texas Battle, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood GH: NIGHT SHIFT: Chad Allen and Adam Grimes DAYS OF OUR LIVES: James Scott, Nadia Bjorlin, Galen Gering, Ariane Zuker, Shelley Hennig, Rachel Melvin, Molly Burnett, Emcee Patrika Darbo, Martha Madison ONE LIFE TO LIVE: Ilene Kristen with a special musical performance THE LAIR: David Moretti SORDID LIVES: Ted Detwiler and Ann Walker Here! Network’s & POZ’s May cover feature Sherri Lewis Another highlight of the evening’s festivities will give party-goers a chance to bid on unique soap-related items in the event’s silent auction, which will include: A phone call from GENERAL HOSPITAL's Sonny, Maurice Benard, a set visit to THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, and a day of fashion with DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Lauren Koslow as your personal shopper at Fred Segal's. Tickets are $50.00 donation and can be purchased through www.wantickets.com Visit the “Soaps In the City” webpage for more up-to-the-minute event information@ http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/SITC/. Also make sure to check out these sites: www.pozevent.com, www.inlamagazine.com, and www.cops4causes.org. Host Committee: Giovanni Vitacolonna, Trip Wilmot, David Stern, Gaye Ann Bruno, Mark E. Sackett, Ryan Elizalde, Janice Henson, Sean Patrick Lewis, Seamus Phillips & Christopher T. Landavazo. Sponsors by: IN Los Angeles Magazine, Frontiers Magazine, Here! & East/West Lounge

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Recap, Cut Scenes & Applebees

1 Last night's FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS was excellent. Tami's decision to take the money the boosters had donated for a new scoreboard and use it on academics did not sit well with many folks in Dillon. Buddy brought the mayor to school to talk to her but Tami didn't waver. By the end of the episode, Buddy informed her the board was going to have a hearing on this situation in two weeks. Meanwhile, Eric continued to work with Smash to get him ready for a college workout. Smash was getting discouraged and the coach was having trouble getting a school to come see him. By the end, Eric had gotten Smash a walk on with Texas A&M. I'm sad to see the superb Gaius Charles leave the show, but happy he is getting a proper send-off. In the ongoing Lyla and Tim saga, Lyla encouraged her boyfriend to attend a family dinner to talk up new booster, Joe McCoy, who is an alum of Oklahoma University, a school that may be interested in Tim playing football. Buddy threatened Tim before the dinner which made him quiet and withdrawn. Tim ended up hardly saying a word the entire time and eating raw squab to boot. Lyla was upset but they made up before the show was over. Tyra ran for Student Body President, and thanks to her promising a prom where everyone would get laid, she won. Tami was disappointed at how low she would stoop to win the election. Matt's grandma's dementia started to get worse and as a minor he could not officially be responsible for her. So he borrowed Landry's car and drove to parts unknown to find his mother, and got her to sign a document making him an emancipated minor. I had assumed Matt's mother was dead so this was a shocker. 1 It was a real treat to watch 50 minutes of this wonderful show uninterrupted by commercial. And after the show, a scene that was cut between Buddy and Joe also aired. It provided some insight into the Buddy/Joe dynamic and how things work in the Dillon booster club heirarchy. How on earth is NBC going to edit this show down to 38 minutes when it airs these episodes of FNL early next year? The cut scene also made me wonder how many interesting scenes get cut ever week from FNL and other shows. A number of FNL scenes take place at Applebee's. This is the ultimate product placement. They seemlessly work the show in and out of the restaurant and it feels like it is a true part of Dillon. In last night's show, Julie had taken a job there and ran into an upset Matt outside. Also, half the town packed the place after the latest Panther victory. Perhaps daytime soaps should consider similar arrangements with businesses to add advertising dollars to their shrinking budgets, and make their (mostly fictional) towns seem more authentic.

Hutzler & Sayre on S&S

1 Brody Hutzler (ex-Patrick, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) debuted on today's episode of radio soap, SCRIPTS & SCRUPLES, today as Joseph Channing, a man from Teri's (Anne Sayre) past. Hutzler will appear on Friday's show as well, along with ALL MY CHILDREN's Jill Larson. Listen to today's episode: 1

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.