Tuesday, June 15, 2010

NEWS: Scott Bryce, Teen Choice Awards, FNL Returns, Hoff

Scott Bryce Makes Spoof of Genre
Westport resident Scott Bryce was recognized recently for his work on daytime television by We Love Soaps. Bryce was named Number 37 of the 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors. "It's flattering," Bryce said. "Especially since I left AS THE WORLD TURNS two years ago."

"I took my dad's advice in playing a villain," Scott explains. "He told me to find everything nice that you can about that character because villains don't know they are villains. They think they are doing what is right."

Bryce, as director, and Michael O'Leary, as writer, are currently shopping the pilot episode of STEAMBOAT, which is a comedy series that focuses on the last days of a soap opera.

"We write what we know," Scott Bryce said, noting that the ord "steamboat" is a metaphor for something that has become passé. Explaining the parallel, Bryce said, "Commercial television is over. People use their DVRs to skip over the advertisements. The soap opera genre is dying. Over the years, the audience has diminished. I wanted to make a metaphor for our world. We are all being downsized. The game has shifted and we need to create a new model where programs partner with the sponsors. The product, literally, has to become a part of the program."

The Triumphant Return of the Hoff
Ginia Bellafante writes for the New York Times: "The writers have missed a real opportunity by sticking Mr. Hasselhoff in this particular plot line when they also have one going on in a hotel bar in Tokyo involving Japanese businessmen, karaoke and subtitles. Then there’s the story revolving around an aspiring Paris Hilton who has been filming herself having sex in a swimming pool. It is as if the YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS people don’t remember that Mr. Hasselhof was on BAYWATCH with Pamela Anderson, whose real-life frolicking on a boat was captured in a notorious sex video."

Soaps lead the way in Teen Choice Award nominations
Fox released the first nominees on Monday for this year’s Teen Choice Awards, which airs Aug. 9 at 8 p.m ET. 90210, GOSSIP GIRL, GREY'S ANATOMY and THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER are all up for Choice TV Show: Drama. Meanwhile, GLEE is nominated for Choice TV Show: Comedy.

Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch and Adrianne Palicki will appear on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS next season
Gilford will return for Season 5 as part of a four-episode arc, while Tim Riggins will likely appear in the final four episodes and Tyra will return for the final two, according to Michael Ausiello. Jesse Plemons is also in talks to return.

TRUE BLOOD season premiere draws 5.1 million viewers
The show's third season got off to a strong, if not record-breaking, start on Sunday. The first original episode in nine months attracted 5.1 million viewers, up 38 percent over last summer’s season 2 opener but down slightly from the show’s 5.3 million peak (for an episode that aired last August). With the 11 p.m. replay factored in, TRUE BLOOD ended the night with 6.4 million total viewers.

Rosemary Prinz to Star in "Memoir" July 7-11
Prinz will play legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, who, in her seventy-seventh year, dictates her memoirs and reflects on her personal and professional life. The show will take place at the RiverView Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana.

VIDEO: Egyptian soap opera shooting in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls will be the backdrop for several scenes in an up and coming Egyptian soap opera called SOMEBODY DID IT. The soap opera will hit the air in August and will be viewed by approximately 350 million people in the Middle East. The plot revolves around a love story, and the script called for a border crossing between the U.S. and Canada. It originally did not specify Niagara Falls, but they chose to shoot here because of its beauty.

Victoria Rowell teases PROPER MANORS
“I think what is even more exciting is the possibility of a new soap opera that is being bandied about,” she said. “I’m not at liberty to disclose the name of this new soap but it’s genius. It’s penned by a New Englander and set in New England. Watch out PEYTON PLACE.”

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the flash back with Scott, I think he was the best Craig, since I was named after Craig. The Hoff was great Y&R, just what they needed, they both needed a boost. I haven't gotten into those online soaps yet. I have watched Martha Byrne's a few times. The original hot Emily from ATWT was on there.

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  2. "The game has shifted and we need to create a new model where programs partner with the sponsors. The product, literally, has to become a part of the program."

    Except this idea is not really new. It is what they did with radio shows and early television shows.

    About a month ago, I was watching "The Ed Wynn Show" on DVD with my aunt and he had a whole comedic sketch on the sponsor's product...Speidel watch bands. And it was funny!

    I think with more and more entertainment online...we are now at a similar place back when tv was the new medium and no one could understand how it would work and how anyone could ever make any money from it. So it would be smart to look back and learn from those who did things the right away in the early days of television. The wrong thing to do would be to copy what US network tv is doing now...because for the most part they have it back-assward.

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  3. soaprookie, I agree with you. I've posted some classic articles from around the time TV came more into prominence and a lot of people resisted as they are resisting the web now. And I think there is something to be learned about the sponsorship model from how it was done back then.

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