News Brief

VH1 to help Sabato Jr. find true love
The matchmakers at VH1 have been enlisted to help TV heartthrob Antonio Sabato Jr. find his true love. VH1 has picked up an untitled series from Ish Entertainment that will follow Sabato as he searches for the perfect woman.

Deal reps the first at VH1 for Ish principals Michael Hirschorn and Stella Stolper since the duo ankled the cabler at the start of the year. Hirschorn had been exec VP of original programming at the channel, while Stolper was senior VP of celebrity talent development.

The Sabato project comes out of Ish's first-look deal with MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo. Project will be shot like a soap opera -- the genre Sabato's best known for -- and feature the thesp's narration as he puts contestants through various challenges, such as re-creating a steamy love scene or skydiving in a gown.

VH1 programming/production exec VP Jeff Olde said Sabato is "the 'fantasy man' for many of our viewers, and now that fantasy can become a reality."

Shooting will start late this year on the project, which will be exec produced by Hirschorn, Stolper and Michael Bloom at Ish. Sabato is also set as an exec producer.

Ex-HOLLYOAKS actress guests on THE BILL
Former HOLLYOAKS actress Elize Du Toit is to make a guest appearance on THE BILL later this year. The South African-born 27-year-old, who appeared as Izzy Cornwell in the Channel 4 soap between 2000 and 2004, is to play Claire Webster, a young woman who is beaten and dumped outside a hospital in front of Sun Hill officers.

Deep Soap: Serial Criminals
Sara A. Bibel blogs on the controversial Todd/Marty story on OLTL: "I have found this storyline like watching the proverbial car wreck: it made me uncomfortable but I couldn’t look away. I told myself that there was no way that the show would allow it to go to a romantic place. There was only one way the story could progress: Marty gets her memory back and gets revenge in a way that’s reminiscent of I Spit On Your Grave (a B-movie in which a woman hunts down and kills each of the men who gang raped her.)"

PATRICK ERWIN: When do you give up and walk away?
"My question is, if we hate these shows (or what they have become) so much, why the HELL are we still watching?"

SERIAL DRAMA: Calling This Show (GH) Terrible Is An Insult To Things That Are Actually Terrible
Mallory Harlen rants: "I don't know what did it. My beloved Maxie permanently residing in Jasonville? The constant parade of unflattering outfits Megan Ward is forced to wear, outfits that they must search high and low for because that woman can make 90% of the outfits in this world look good? Scott using the entirety of Maxie's time on the witness stand to berate her for her sexual history with Logan? Laura comparing Johnny to Luke and urging Lulu to "let him rescue her"? All of the above?

I don't know. But all of a sudden, I know why people become mass murderes. Because of this effing show."

Santa Maria High School's Vice Principal on Y&R
Mark Pierce, Santa Maria High School's Vice Principal, appeared on Wednesday's episode of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. He played the body guard for one of the main characters, Victor.

Pierce wanted to show the students at his school they can fulfill their dreams. He is now heading back down to Southern California to be in another episode of the soap.

New Kimberlin Brown film out
Proud American is a docudrama that looks at the nation's ideals, landmarks and history while telling stories about people who have overcome odds. With a disparate cast including Ken Howard (THE WHITE SHADOW), Kimberlin Brown (THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS/THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL), Yakov Smirnoff and Grant Goodeve (EIGHT IS ENOUGH). 1 hour, 30 minutes. (PG; some mild thematic elements.)

AMC's Rasche nearly steals new Brad Pitt film, Burn After Reading
"Toward the end, David Rasche (All My Children) and J.K. Simmons (Juno) nearly steal the film in two hilarious scenes as bewildered CIA officials futilely attempting to piece together the puzzle."

Vivian J. Hagerty Trowbridge Hollingsworth
This soap fan has passed away. I post this because it is the fourth such obituary I have read in the past three weeks where they talk about the deceased as a lifelong soap fan. Maybe that is common but I never remember seeing it before.

"Vivian had either a crocheting project or a romance novel in her hands at all times, except when her 'friends' were on. Her 'friends,' the characters of CBS daytime soaps lineup AS THE WORLD TURNS, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and GUIDING LIGHT, were her weekday companions."

And as I finish typing this, I just saw another one, Josephine Mary Bongiovanni.

"In her leisure time, she enjoyed reading, knitting, crocheting, watching ALL MY CHILDREN and being with family."

So make that five in three weeks, and those are just the ones I've stumbled upon.

INTERVIEW: ALL MY CHILDREN's Chrishell Stause
Stause, who plays Amanda on AMC, was interviewed on "Stardish Radio" last night.