Thursday, August 22, 2013

NEWS: Showbiz411 Takes Aim at Michelle Stafford & Her Web Series With 'Scientology Pals'; Wentworth Miller Comes Out & Turns Down Russian Festival

Showbiz411: Y&R Star Leaves Show to Make YouTube Series with Scientology Pals
Roger Friedman has never held back in his columns and goes full throttle in an "exclusive" new story about Michelle Stafford's exit from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and her new web series THE STAFFORD PROJECT, and it all revolves his apparent disdain for Scientology. Here are a few quotes:

"So what did Stafford leave for? To make a YouTube series with her Scientology pals"

"But what 'The Stafford Project' hasn't addressed yet is that everyone involved in it is a Scientologist."

"Stafford has been with Scientology since 1990, and has worked her way up to OTVII, which means she may have secret information about desert rendezvous with aliens."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Stafford's web series, THE STAFFORD PROJECT, is quite funny and, if video views are any indication, a smash hit already.

ABC Developing Murder Trial Drama From Kelly Masterson & Prospect Park
The network has given a script commitment plus penalty to LIMELIGHT, a drama project from writer-playwright Kelly Masterson who is executive producing with Prospect Park’s Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry.

ABC and Prospect Park too are involved in litigation, a $25 million case over soaps ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

Disney's ABC TV Unit Laying Off 175
The layoffs amount to about 2 percent of the unit, which employs 7,600. Insiders say the layoffs will largely hit the eight owned and operated TV stations housed in Disney's ABC Television Group. The company has eight owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh Durham and Fresno.

Actress Michelle Collins leaving CORONATION STREET in April
Collins has portrayed Rovers Return landlady Stella Price since joining the ITV soap in June 2011.

CW Developing FAME-Like Drama From Debbie Allen
Unlike the 1982-87 NBC/syndicated series, which was set in New York, The CW's entry takes place at a Los Angeles-area performing arts school. Matt Witten (HOUSE) will pen the script and executive produce alongside Haskell and Allen via Magnolia Hill Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.

GLEE's Jane Lynch: Cory Monteith Memorial Episode Is the 'Most Beautiful Thing'
Lynch tweeted Wednesday that the script was the “most beautiful thing” and thanked series creator Ryan Murphy and executive producers Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan.

PRISON BREAK star Wentworth Miller refuses invitation to Russian film festival: 'As a gay man, I must decline'
Miller was invited to appear at the St. Petersburg international Film Festival, but declined due to Russia's recent anti-LGBT legislation.

"As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes," Miller wrote in a letter to the organizers, posted on GLAAD's website. "However, as a gay man, I must decline."

As Gay Culture Goes Mainstream, So Must Advertising to Gays
If brands are not inclusive in their marketing, they could be unwittingly communicating that they are exclusive.

ALL MY CHILDREN alum Josh Duhamel hates being typecast
"I think it's a matter of when you first start out you have to take what you can get and it's tough because people want to put you in a certain type of box early on. I come from a soap opera and I've got some romantic comedies, and it's hard to convince people that you can do things other than that," he told about.com.

Former daytime star Brian Gaskill creating indie film, The Speech, raising money on Kickstarter
"I have seen many producers and musical performers use the Kickstarter tool to share the experience of producing their project with their friends, family and fans. I can’t afford to finance this all by myself so I thought why not give this a try. I also saw that there was a lot of interest in me getting back out there and acting again via my Facebook page and my wonderful friends on there so I thought this would be a good way for me to get back out there as well. All the people that know my work from my daytime drama acting really want me to get back out there. This is me getting back to work."

Satire: Soap opera rap tensions increase as EMMERDALE cast release 'Da Dalez' grime album
Not to be outdone by their neighbors from across the Pennines, the cast of EMMERDALE has released an 18-song UK grime album entitled "Da Dalez." This was done in retaliation to the rap video released by CORONATION STREET's Tommy Duckworth, alias Chris Fountain, which earned him critical acclaim in the world of urban music despite him also losing his job his process.

HOLLYOAKS: Sarah Jayne Dunn to return as Mandy in 'Later'
Sarah Jayne Dunn will reprise her longstanding HOLLYOAKS role this fall. The actress, who has played Mandy Richardson on and off in the Channel 4 soap since 1996, will return for the upcoming sixth season of HOLLYOAKS LATER.

Josiah Theatre Works to Debut UNSPOKEN Soap Opera, Starring Christian Keyes, at 5th Anniversary Ball
UNSPOKEN is new soap opera series for blip.tv and iTunes about a fictional modeling agency, "Prestige Model Management", and tells a stor of love, wealth, envy, betrayal and the gripping realities of the fashion industry.

6 comments:

  1. The man that wrote the Stafford article seems like he has an axe to grind.

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    1. I agree. Almost bitter sounding, wonder if MS turned him down for a date, lol?

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  2. I still think Michelle Stafford is a great actress!

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  3. I certainly will think of Michelle and Sharon differently now that I know they represent Scientology. Not a fan anymore.

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  4. I'm not going to read Mr. Friedman's article, since I don't know what Ms. Stafford's religion has to do with the quality of her show. I've watched the first two episodes and thought she was great (as always) and that they were well produced. No subliminal messages from L. Ron Hubbard. We live in a country with "freedom of religion" built into our Constitution and, last I checked, Michelle Stafford is not foisting her spiritual POV on anyone and is doing what any professional in her position should be doing: creative entertainment. What does Mr. Friedman's religion have to do with his writing? Gosh, I hope I haven't injected any Episcopalian-ism into this comment box.

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    1. Great point. I'm not sure why it was necessary to take the time to look up the show's cast and crew to determine if they are all Scientologists. And then write a story as if you have discovered some huge scandal that was being covered up. Plus, why was it necessary to throw in an insult of Sharon Case? It just read as if there was some other agenda there. As for The Stafford Project, it has been terrific so far. The concept isn't totally original but the execution has been fantastic. I'm ready for Michelle to rock the red carpet at the ISAs next year. :)

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