Evening News

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Will NIGHT SHIFT 2 Be Nightmare 2?
Marlena De Lacroix writes: "The premiere of any show is at least supposed to be exciting, vamping you for the entire season. NS head writer Sri Rao has done a teenish soapish series for MTV, but this is really his first effort at a full-blown soap. His clunky, abysmally paced first episode showed that inexperience."

REVIEW: NIGH SHIFT Episode 1 "Crash"
Becca Thomas from Serial Drama writes: "I'm not saying it was perfect, but this season premiere of Night Shift did nothing to diminish my optimism about the second go-around for this show that previously led me to question the continuing necessity for cable television."

Deep Soap: Sex Education
Sara A. Bibel blogs: "Conservative activists warn that if you give teenagers access to birth control, it will encourage them to have sex. Thursday's episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS was a dramatization of this idea that Pat Robertson might find over the top. Janet (Julie Pinson) feared her sixteen year-old Liberty (Meredith Hagner) might end up getting pregnant, like she did back in high school. So she took her to the gynecologist to get condoms and birth control pills. That same day, she had sex with her fifteen year-old boyfriend Parker (Mick Hazen), who in soap fashion is both her adopted cousin and her mother's boyfriend's stepson. And I mean literally in bed. They were under the sheets. He was shirtless. She casually handed him a condom. Hazen is an authentic fifteen year-old. Hagner is a very young looking twenty-one year-old. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, eeew."

Mario Lopez Portrait Unveiled at Tony's DiNapoli

On July 24th, 2008 Mario Lopez (ex-Christian, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) had his very own portrait unveiled at the popular theater district Italian eatery, Tony DiNapoli's, in New York.

Will Maurice Benard re-sign with GH?
As fans know by now, GENERAL HOSPITAL is welcoming back Genie Francis (Laura), but are more stars on the way out? In the August 5 issue of Soap Opera Digest, Maurice Benard (Sonny) discusses contract negotiations, saying, "If I re-sign, I need to know what's gonna happen after I re-sign."

ABC names Kazi VP of synergy
ABC has named Nabil Kazi VP of synergy. Kazi, a 15-year veteran of Disney, will be responsible for synergy in all dayparts at the Alphabet, including building relationships with other Disney properties, including ESPN, SoapNet and the theme parks. He will report to co-exec veepees of marketing Michael Benson and Marla Provencio.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES presses the reset button
"I wanted to get back to where we were that very first season, where it's just the problems of some ordinary women ... small and relatable," said Marc Cherry, the show's creator and producer.