Friday, August 17, 2012

NEWS ROUNDUP: Freddie Smith on Bullying, Y&R Casting New Role; Plus, Egypt Soaps, Apple TV, Netflix

Freddie Smith to tackle anti-gay bullying, homophobia on DAYS OF OUR LIVES
“Sonny has a romance coming up,” Smith said. “You’ve got to check out Sonny’s big storyline.”

Again, not one to spoil a storyline, Smith will go as far as saying that his character will be the victim of anti-gay bullying.

“Sonny was picked on for being gay early on,” Smith said. “So it has developed slowly, like it does in real life. And what’s interesting is that the bullying is being done by different people.”

Smith is adamant that bullying is so very wrong, and that Americans must rally to stop it for once and for all. He admits he faced mild forms of bullying and hazing as a youth growing up in Ashtabula, Ohio, but that he saw an even uglier side of bullying when kids would egg his cousin’s house. “She had it really bad,” Smith said.

Y&R is casting new contract role
Y&R is casting Tyler Douglas, who is described as "African American male. Late 20s to early 30s. Orphaned at 16. Worked his way through college and now has an MBA. He's driven to succeed. Smart, energetic. Well-read. Smoothly sexy and confident, with a witty, sometimes cynical sense of humor."

Ramadan soap opera boon for Egypt
Egypt's TV industry is enjoying a soap opera boon thanks in part to the crisis in Syria, its traditional market rival in the Middle East, BBC Monitoring reports.

This year, Egyptian channels have more than 50 soap operas on offer as they compete fiercely for audiences and advertising revenue. Their combined production cost is estimated at a record 1.18bn Egyptian pounds (£125m; $196m).

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on Croatian coast on vacation with Anderson Cooper
Ripa is currently enjoying a holiday on Croatia's Adriatic coast, writes website dnevnik.hr.

Apple's TV Vision: Sharing, Full On-Demand, Icons
The company proposes giving viewers the ability to start any show at any time through a digital-video recorder that would store TV shows on the Internet. Viewers even could start a show minutes after it has begun. Time Warner Cable Inc. TWC +0.41% offers a limited version of this feature called Start Over.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES trial: No wrongful termination
In a written decision Thursday, judges for the Second District Court of Appeal in California sided with Touchstone and ABC, declaring that Sheridan was not entitled to pursue a wrongful termination claim. The appeals court's decision vacates a trial court's decision in April.

Netflix Makes TV Marathons Easy With Post-Play


On Set With "Desires Of The Heart'
Producers of the film, detail Desires as, "Dr. Kris Sharma (Val Lauren) is a psychiatrist from India practicing in Savannah, Georgia when he meets Madeleine (Alicia Minshew, ALL MY CHILDREN), a local artist with a mysterious past. But as their relationship begins to blossom in America, Kris is summoned home to marry the woman chosen by his parents. But as he begins to make decisions about his future, he discovers centuries old secrets that may seal the fate of his destiny.

1 comment:

  1. I don't know what to think of the casting moves at Y&R. Ten years ago, with this show, I'd have been over the moon at seeing a description like this because it would have meant continuity with characters like the Barbers/Winters clan. Now...eh. The jury is out as to what it will all mean.

    It's funny that you post the article on the success of soaps in Egypt. I just read a NYT article talking about the breakdown of soaps in Syria as many of them had been financed by the government as well as the subsequent defections and turning away from el Assad by actors, writers, directors, etc. Makes me realize just how Middle Eastern soap fans are about their dramas. In the NYT article, it is described as an art form that can bridge the divide between different groups within various countries--within a country! I don't think that Daytime Drama ever got the same level of respect in the mainstream. Quite fascinating.

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