News Brief

Baby, what a big surprise for Robin and Patrick on GH
Robin and Patrick's long-awaited wedding is interrupted Friday on GENERAL HOSPITAL when her water breaks.

"Anna takes them to the hospital," says Kimberly McCullough, who plays the pregnant Robin. "They find out that the baby has the cord wrapped around its neck. Everyone is really nervous about the baby. Kelly tries to [persuade] Robin to have a C-section right away, but she doesn't want to."

Robin goes ahead with the surgery on Monday.

"She's awake. There's a lot of screaming and grunting and crying before the baby comes out. It's not a normal television C-section. There's a whole labor scenario beforehand. You do see that, unfortunately."

And in the end, "she has a baby girl," McCullough says. "Of course, something else happens with the baby. The situation is something common that happens to mothers. It's not related to her HIV."

More on the final Disney Super Soap Weekend
Were you shocked when you learned that 2008 would be the very last year for the ABC SOAPnet Super Soap Weekend at the Walt Disney World Resort?

Well, so were managers at Disney's Hollywood Studios. They had little or no warning that ABC Daytime was planning on pulling the plug on this annual event at their theme park. Indeed, given the large amount of money that the Mouse had just poured into DHS over the past year in order to make this theme park a far better venue for special events like Super Soap (EX: The $750,000 Disney just spent on enclosing the Backlot Theater). This news came as a real surprise to these folks.

Former ATWT star Runyeon joins AMC cast
Frank Runyeon, who played Steve to Meg Ryan's Betsy on AS THE WORLD TURNS in the '80s, joins ALL MY CHILDREN as Reese's (Tamara Braun) father in December. He also played Michael on SANTA BARBARA.

Braun debuted on AMC on Thursday.

Fame is a necessary evil says EASTENDERS' Jo Joyner
"There’s a point where you’re standing in front of 60 cameras and you’ve either got it in you to pose or you curl up inside and want to run away like me. People remember the loud luvvies but I know a lot of shy actors. I’m fine when somebody’s written the words for me and I’m in character, I’ll sing karaoke if I have to, but if you ask me to get up at your do and sing karaoke, there’s no way."

HOLLYOAKS' Matt "could play Max's lost twin"
Matt Littler has joked he could return to HOLLYOAKS - as Max Cunningham's long lost brother. The 26-year-old actor won a National TV Award this week for his performance as Max, who was killed after being hit by a car immediately after his wedding to Steph Dean.

Asked whether he would like to return to the soap, he joked: "I could come back in as my lost twin brother or something."

He added that he thought the way his character was killed off worked well.

"I think it was a really wise decision from Brian (Kirkwood, the show's producer) because when he first said we thought 'wow', as they were trying to think of a way to get us out whilst leaving Ellis (Hollins) who plays Tom in there. No one had ever considered that idea and as soon as it was on the table everyone was like 'oh!' and these were the people that write the show and if that was their reaction we thought it would work with the audience as well."

OLTL brings back the previews
ONE LIFE TO LIVE will go back to promoting the next day's episodes next week. "We have an amazing story coming in November, and we want the audience to get a sneak preview every day," says executive producer Frank Valentini.

Gay teens on TV and in Speech and Debate
More fully defined portraits of gay teens — the kind that go beyond sexuality as a sole, defining characteristic of a character — seem to be proliferating on network TV (UGLY BETTY, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, DEGRASSI and AS THE WORLD TURS among them).

DENA HIGLEY: I'd like to mention the passing of Jim Reilly
"He was, and will always remain, an amazing force behind the history of DAYS. I was lucky enough to write for him during the "Buried Alive" storyline--one of my favorites. Of course, I think he will most be remembered for having Marlena act completely out of character when she was possessed and then again when she was a serial killer. Two very popular and successful storylines. Jim's imagination was crazy and it was an adventure working for him. He will be missed by the entire daytime community."

INTERVIEW: Michael Fairman
Fairman discusses the latest happenings in the soap world.