News Brief

CORRIE airs '24-style' murder plot
Actor Gray O'Brien said that he was bracing himself for heckles after CORONATION STREEET villain Tony Gordon murders heart-throb Liam Connor next week. Furious to have discovered that Liam has been having an affair with his bride-to-be Carla Connor, Tony has planned the perfect murder under cover of his stag night.

CORRIE viewers will finally discover exactly how the evil businessman snuffs out his popular love rival (played by Rob James-Collier) in a "24-style" climax.

The "murder week" hits screens next Monday and three different killings have been filmed to keep the storyline secret. Unusually for the soap, all five episodes that week will cover one 24-hour period.

Speaking at a press conference in London, O'Brien said: "It was hard work. Very draining. It was a long shoot - we normally do 10 days, we shot it in 19. So there was a lot of night shoots."

Hall campaigns for Obama
DAYS OF OUR LIVES star Deidre Hall was in Oakland to help open the new Campaign for Change office along Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended the Canvass Kickoff with volunteers and joined the Republicans for Obama campaign. Hall said Obama is a strong advocate for women's rights, child care and tax cuts. She also joined former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for a meet-and-greet at Finnegan's Wake on the North Shore.

Y&R's Stafford honored
Music director Jatin Pandit has been honored with the 5th Annual FOSAAC Friends of South-Asian American Communities Award, for outstanding achievement in music & for composing the album America Mein India, a sensational hit in USA.

This year's theme was celebrating the friendship between United States & India. The award was given at the International Ballroom, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California USA. This ballroom is the home of the Annual Golden Globe Awards for Hollywood. FOSAAC incidentally, has raised $1 million for Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS actress Michelle Stafford received the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Award for Outstanding Leadership.

SAG could strike in November
The Screen Actors Guild could go on strike before the end of November.

In a message sent to members late Thursday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen told members that the national board will meet next weekend on the question of whether to conduct a strike authorization over SAG's master contract on features and primetime. If the national board approves, the leaders said than SAG will then need 30 to 45 days to hold such a vote among members.

"If 75% of the qualified SAG members who vote in the referendum support the strike authorization, only then can the national board of directors call an actual work stoppage, should the board decide that it has become necessary to do so," Rosenberg and Allen said in the missive.

The duo noted that it was "important" to note that if passed by a majority of the national board, the resolution does not call a strike. "It only provides for a membership referendum to be conducted, which will take approximately 30 to 45 days," they said.

Soap Watch: AMC Remembers Myrtle
It was a sad day on the set of ALL MY CHILDREN Wednesday (Oct. 8) as news spread that show veteran Eileen Herlie had passed away. The actress died in New York City due to complications from pneumonia at the age of 90.

"Eileen was much loved by every one at ALL MY CHILDREN, because she gave so much of herself everyday," says Eden Riegel, who has played AMC's Bianca since 2000. "She lit up the whole studio, corny as it sounds. No one was ever more alive than she."

Herlie joined the cast of ALL MY CHILDREN in 1976 as Myrtle Fargate, a loving and wise mother figure to most of the citizens of Pine Valley, especially Erica Kane (Susan Lucci). "I'm sure Eileen is lighting up the skies in heaven with her flaming red hair and lovely Scottish accent," says Lucci, who's also currently a contestant on DANCING WITH THE STARS. "The earth's loss is heaven's gain."

In saying goodbye, the AMC cast and crew shared stories about Herlie, as well as a champagne toast to celebrate her life. "I think she really would have enjoyed [that]," Riegel says. "She loved a good cocktail, loved having an attractive young man around to flirt with, loved getting her hair and makeup done, loved to act, and gave it all she had right up to the end."

INTERVIEW: THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL's Jack Wagner
"It’s a tricky show, because its pretty much core family oriented. So, when you get actors and characters that are not integrated into that family, actors like Heather [Tom], you say to yourself, 'How do we use her the right way?' So, that is the process here. They mix and match. I think that’s what Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer) did this year. I think Heather will show, like most seasoned good actors that they can fit in everywhere."