News Round-up

Handprint ceremony for ALL MY CHILDREN's Lucci tonight
FOX411 reports: "You could have a busy time of it in Times Square tonight. At 7 p.m., Susan Lucci is putting her handprints in cement at Planet Hollywood. This is not to be missed. Susan’s been playing vixen Erica Kane on ALL MY CHILDREN since 1910 — or so it would seem. But the real Lucci is a doll, a great lady and a lot of fun. You may have read that ABC forced her to take a massive pay cut recently as all soaps are on the decline. Frankly, without Lucci, and Erika Slezak on ONE LIFE TO LIVE — there would be no ABC Daytime."

CADY MCCLAIN: Throw Them Shoes. Throw Mine, Too!
"Anybody watch 60 MINUTES [on Sunday]? We are TOTALLY screwed for the next 5 years, thank you very much Bush, Cheney, Blackwater, Mortgage Lenders, Brokers, corrupt Presidents of Corporations, Senators, and all those who made a buck off the middle class while screwing the rest of us to the wall. Bastards. I pray that Obama hires someone to take on the ethical monstrosities that have occurred in the past ten years and make those idiots sit in a nice, comfy, state penitentiary.

I think an organized shoe throw might be a really great way to make a statement. Imagine thousands of people lined up to hurl their shoes at a picture of Bush. That would be too f-ing fabulous. Apparently, I’m not the ONLY one who feels this way!"

HOLLYOAKS actress on explosive exit
HOLLYOAKS fans have been gripped by the storyline involving superbitch Louise Summers (Roxanne McKee) and her fiance Warren (Jamie Lomas). As we all know, soap weddings rarely go as planned, but this couple's nuptials are set to end in disaster.

Actress McKee talked to Digital Spy about the storyline and revealed how she'd known it was going to end in dramatic fashion, saying: "Absolutely, it had to come out at some stage. I've known for over a year that I've wanted to leave, so I went to the writers last year to let them know that I wouldn't be signing another contract and asked for a nice exit at the same time."

INTERVIEW: HOLLYOAKS producer Bryan Kirkwood
"I definitely think we underplayed the romance element of 2008. You live and learn from your mistakes in this type of job. We overplayed our hand with crime and revenge storylines and underplayed the simple, straightforward love stories. That's something that'll write itself when we go into 2009."

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Welcome to the East Dillon Giraffes?
"Well, that was fun. As the third season of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS nears its end on DirecTV -- and beginning on NBC -- writers and producers certainly aren't making it easy on us. With only two more episodes to go before the waiting begins -- the annual "FNL" guessing game as to whether or not the series will nab another season -- things are already getting a bit tearful.

Saying goodbye to graduating friends is easy compared to what went down in the third season's 11th episode. Child abuse and caring for the elderly were just two of the pivotal plots of the episode -- one that also dealt with the end-of-the-world drama that are the modern-day SATs, as well as a father who essentially gambled away his daughter's college dreams."

BROOKSIDE sold: Set goes under the hammer for £735,000
"The property comprises a cul-de-sac of 13 houses, some intercommunicating, each benefiting from a front and rear garden. Internally, the houses are in shell condition," the auction catalogue noted flatly. Almost as an afterthought, it added: "The houses were formerly used as the set of the Channel 4 BROOKSIDE television series."

A solid piece of soap history
Lesbian kisses, the cult that blew up a house, Sheila Grant’s rape . . . BROOKSIDE is chiefly remembered for the sensational storylines that periodically dominated the headlines. This provocation was deliberate. The show was on Channel 4, a huge audience — as BBC One and ITV had for EastEnders and Coronation Street — was not guaranteed. Phil Redmond, BROOKIE'S creator and one of television’s true originators, knew it was better to be talked about than not. The most obvious sign of Brookside’s radicalism is symbolized by yesterday’s sale: it was the first, and is still the only, soap opera to have a fully realized set of real houses.

Stocking stuffer idea: "Death In Daytime"
Eileen Davidson's (Ashley, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) centers on Alexis Peterson, a 20-year daytime soap veteran. Marcy, the new head writer of her show, hates her and is trying to phase her character out. The two have had numerous arguments, including one in which Alexis threw an Emmy at her. So when Marcy ends up dead, Alexis becomes the prime suspect.

INTERVIEW: DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Sandra Robinson (Taylor)
Robins, formerly known as Sandra Ferguson, appeared on "BuzzWorthy Radio" last night.


INTERVIEW: ALL MY CHILDREN's Aiden Turner (Aidan)
Turner was a guest on "Stardish Radio" last night.