News Brief

TV Guide Canada's weekly "Nelson Ratings"
Last week’s soap reviews, this week’s viewing cheatsheet, and top-rated actors!

Where Have Y&R's Epic Stories Gone?
TV Guide's Michael Logan writes: "I'm liking the babe-geezer romance of Sabrina and Victor on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, but why the snoozy setup? Outta nowhere, Victor has become an avid art collector (Sabrina's his consultant), leading to weeks of pretentious art talk, museum visits, even cameos by real-life artists. This isn't a plot! It's barely a pseudosituation, and the show has way too many of those lately. (Will Karen conquer her stage fright? Who will take an ad in "Restless Style" magazine?) What happened to all the emotionally epic, high-fever stories that made Y&R such a landmark? This soap has somehow lost its opera."

Our Lives SHOULD be a soap opera (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ron Carlivati)
Another fascinating blog entry from Tom Casiello who is "a believer again!" after last week.

Judith Light rises from soap to hope
Coming soon to a demonstration near you: UGLY BETTY star Judith Light. She is a determined activist as well as a lauded actress, with starring roles in ONE LIFE TEO LIVE and WHO'S THE BOSS.

"Both come from passion," says Light, who plays Claire Meade in the hit comedy-drama. "My passion is acting, my passion is taking a character and creating it in a way that people understand the psychology of who this person is ... so they can relate to her individually or through someone they know.

INTERVIEW: DAYS star James Reynolds
With the 10th anniversary approaching, what does James see for his Fremont Centre Theatre’s future? "We are fortunate to get to do a lot of plays a year, and they have been received very well. We’ve established ourselves as one of the better theaters in Southern California. We’d like to keep on that path."

More Daytime Emmy reaction
"I talked to about a dozen or so actors who voted," says Michael Logan, TV Guide contributing writer and soap columnist. "Some got bored halfway through, some managed to watch it all, and others decided to chuck it and not vote at all."

GENERAL HOSPITAL exec producer Jill Farren Phelps says, "I have no sour grapes, because we are nominated for show, writing and directing, but when you hand people 15 hours of work (to be completed in two weeks) there's a possibility that not everyone is going to watch it."

New York Times reviews "Other People's Money"
The play’s most nuanced role, it is subtly portrayed by James DePaiva, known to soap opera fans from ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Another soap star, Martha Byrne, a two-time Emmy winner on AS THE WORLD TURNS, moves sleekly through her part as the sexy, ambitious lawyer Kate Sullivan.

Interracial Gay Kiss on GREEK
Spring means romance, also for gay characters on TV; First Luke kissed Noah on AS THE WORLD TURNS, then two gay soldiers lip locked on GREY'S ANATOMY, and soon there will be an interracial gay kiss on ABC Family's college drama GREEK. One of the central cast members Calvin (Paul James) and his new love interest, Michael (Max Greenfield) - who is introduced this coming Monday - will share an on-screen kiss in the May 26th episode, "A Tale of Two Parties"

Looking back at Beverlee McKinsey
McKinsey adamantly defended her choice to exit the show. Her bosses felt they had been bamboozled. "They're bent out of shape because, for once, somebody beat 'em at their own game," she said. "I had warned Jill (the show's then-executive Jill Farren Phelps) -- although I don't think she paid attention to me -- that I was not happy. I was not happy with the story line."