Monday, October 18, 2010

NEWS: William Roache To Be Honored in New York, And Meet ATWT's Don Hastings

William Roache to be honored in New York next month for Guinness World Records
The 78-year-old British actor - who has played Ken Barlow for almost 50 years after appearing in Corrie's first episode in December 1960 - will officially become the longest-serving actor in a TV soap on November 22. Bill is set to overtake the current title holder, Don Hastings from American soap As The World Turns, who he will meet at the New York ceremony in November.

Roache first appeared as Ken on December 9, 1960. Hastings played Bob Hughes in AS THE WORLD TURNS show since October 1960 without a break, but ATWT ended in September after 13,858 episodes, so Roache is now set to take the title and has already been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. Roache told CORONATION STREET's 50th anniversary magazine: "Guinness World Records have been in touch and want to fly me over to New York for some sort of ceremony with Don Hastings."

Basic-cable shows are multiplying—and changing the way TV is made. Can the major networks learn from them?
As the media landscape changes and viewers flock to shows they like wherever they air, series on basic cable are still a junior circuit compared with the networks, but their universe keeps expanding, attracting better talent and growing in vibrancy. Once the province of reruns and sports, basic-cable networks will spend an estimated $23 billion on 1,462 original programs (including reality shows and specials), compared with $14 billion on 863 shows in 2005, research firm SNL Kagan reports.

MY GENERATION creator Noah Hawley declares television ‘over’
This “great television experiment,” as he calls it, was meant to result in “a TV show for the internet era … while, at the same time, telling fun, relatable, heartfelt stories about the lives we live today.”

“Because here’s the thing: It’s 2010,” Hawley continues. “Television is over. The ratings are plummeting. The old paradigm is dead. People have hundreds of choices. They are consuming media in countless different ways. I’ve heard that the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If television is going to prosper it needs to find a new paradigm. It’s time for television networks to become social networks. That’s my opinion, anyway.”

Thailand's finance minister appears on soap
Seems Thailand's finance minister, Korn Chatikavanij, has been moonlighting as a propagandizing soap opera star. He popped up on an episode of the popular Thai drama WANIDA last week to explain to a character -- Mr. Prajuab -- how high-interest debt repayment works. "The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has helped over 500,000 people and reduced debt burden by about 3 billion baht per month. It's lucky that Mr. Prajuab registered," Korn said on the show.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Michael Gregory
If you were a fan of the soap opera General Hospital back in the 1970s, you might remember him as Dr. Rick Webber. He's now appearing in an ad that's running non-stop as a grocer, talking about Initiative 1107. 1107 commercial: "The new tax scheme the politicians put on grocery items, makes no sense."

Top 400 Charities See Billions Less In Donations, Biggest Percentage
A new ranking of the nation's 400 biggest charities shows donations dropped by 11 percent overall last year as the Great Recession ended - the worst decline in 20 years since the Chronicle of Philanthropy began keeping a tally.

Jennifer Aniston's Camp Responds To Joan Collins' Insults
Collins not only dissed Aniston's looks to a British magazine, but she compared them unfavorably to those of her ex's current partner. "I have to say, there aren't that many good looking actresses around today. I mean, there's Angelina Jolie and there's... Angelina Jolie," Collins said. "Jennifer Aniston is cute, but I wouldn't call her beautiful." A rep for Ms. A. stated they were "aware" of the verbal slap from Collins, but they felt there was "no need to engage with that nonsense."

2 comments:

  1. It is too bad that Don Hastings is losing his title, BUT immediately prior to ATWT he was on The Edge of Night for 4-1/2 years. Not to mention that he was on Caption Video from approximately 1949 to 1955. That's a pretty impressive achievement!

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  2. "Can the Major Networks Learn?"

    They certainly could. But judging by the trigger-finger cancellation of Lone Star, they aren't learning a thing.

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