News Brief

INTERVIEW: ONE LIFE TO LIVE star Erika Slezak
"I don't want to criticize the executives because I know where they're coming from. They're worried about money. But at the same time, they do not understand the value of keeping the characters, keeping the loyalty of the viewers. When they get rid of certain older characters, and I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about on other shows where they have gotten rid of certain older characters…I'm shocked because these are the people audiences have watched for 30 or 40 years. They're going to be upset. But the executives have to make their decisions and they don't make them from an artistic point of view. They make them from a practical point of view.

...they live and die on these focus groups. And, yes, you can get 25 people in a room to say, 'Yes, I hate this person and that person,' but I don't think that represents the entire viewing audience. It's very skewed because those are people, number one, who want to come and talk. They are willing to come and talk. And they are paid to come and talk. This is not an audience that is completely impartial."

CORRIE to team up with 'Best of British'
ITV soap CORONATION STREET is to team up with five 'Best of British' brands to mark its 50th anniversary.

According to Brand Republic, ITV Global Entertainment is looking to forge relationships with brands connected to tea, coffee, chocolate, soap and bread in the hope of drumming up a hive of marketing activity under the theme of 'bringing families together'.

Companies involved in the deals will be granted access to exclusive material from the show, as well as access to the soap's cast for various promotional opportunities. It is also expected that the 50th anniversary logo will be placed on the brands' product packaging.

EASTENDERS' June Brown honoured with MBE
EASTENDERS veteran June Brown collected her MBE at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, describing it as a 'quite remarkable' experience.

June, who has played Dot Cotton/Branning on and off in the BBC1 soap since 1985, said her character would herself have relished the ceremony, saying: "She would have been absolutely delighted. She's a great royalist and a fairly good Christian. She wavers off but so do we all."

90210's Kellen Lutz on his role in Twilight
"I play the bad boyfriend," the 23-year-old heartthrob said. "Aimee [Teegarden from FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS] is the sweet cheerleader girl ... who shouldn't be with me. I lead her life on the wrong track until she gets rid of me, and her life finally goes to where it should go. She graduates high school and gets a good job, while I am left in the dust."

GREY'S ANATOMY dumps Dr. Hahn: Was ABC skittish of a lesbian relationship?
Dr. Erica Hahn, one-half of GREY'S first significant gay couple, will be gone from the show after Thursday's episode. Brooke Smith says she first heard the news in mid-September. "I really hoped we were going to show what happens when two women fall in love and that they were going to treat it like any heterosexual couple on TV," she says. "And so I was surprised and disappointed when they just suddenly told me that they couldn't write for my character anymore."

TOE-bama?
Anne Sayre, who plays Teri Dean on SCRIPTS & SCRUPLES, and played Rose's best friend, Mitzi Matters on AS THE WORLD TURNS for several years, is celebrating election day in style with a special "TOE-bama" pedicure.

Hail to the Chiefs: 10 Great Fictional Presidents
On Presidents Day, take a look back at 10 historical leaders of the free world -- in movies and TV.

Soap Opera Weekly's MALA BHATTACHARJEE: Rock the Vote!
AS THE WORLD TURNS's Luke makes a shocking decision on Election Day today, but the best decision you the viewer can make is to just get out to the polls. It doesn't matter whom you're voting for — use your voice. (Just don't let Casey Hughes near the ballot box.)

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Erin Sanders
"The audition sides had nothing about my character. Even when I started work, I was in the background for the first few episodes, so I really knew nothing about who she was. I just knew she was related to River in some way.

The audition sides were light and fun. I had no idea that this was all in store for me. I'm pleased, though, because I love this sort of thing."

Regis & Kelly apologize for offending Dominican-Americans
Former AMC star Kelly Ripa said on Monday that as a child she learned the elephant represented the Republicans, and the donkey represented the Dominicans.

TOM CASIELLO: Independence. Freedom. Democracy. Soap Opera.
In honor of Election Day, I'd like to present you guys with two videos that are truly a source of hope, a source of change, a source of inspiration for me.

These are the first episodes of Karen Harris' dynamite new series: LIFE IN GENERAL, and the soap-within-the-soap, GREENVILLE GENERAL.

While the rest of us were walking in circles, my dear friend Karen (who walked in her fair share of circles too, don't get me wrong) stood up and said 'You know what?! We don't need you, networks! We have friends and colleagues and our own networking skills, and we can produce something fantastic all on our own!'

Nielsen discovers that people watch TV and surf the Web at the same time
"TV usage is at an all-time high, and yet there's a lot more people using the Internet," says a Nielsen spokesman. "Part of the answer is that it's happening simultaneously."