News Round-up

The bold and the comical
"Where else on TV can you see a woman tied to a chair being smeared in honey to entice a grizzly bear to eat her? This was the plot of Tuesday night's episode of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL in Australia, where Pam (Alley Mills, formerly the mother in The Wonder Years), the unhinged sister of Forrester matriarch Stephanie (Bold stalwart Susan Flannery), attempted to murder Donna (Jennifer Gareis), the current wife of Stephanie's three-times-ex-husband Eric (John McCook). Murder-by-grizzly, bearicide or whatever you would call such a plot development is proof that Network Ten may not be as silly as they seem slotting BOLD into the prime-time 6pm slot once held by surreal animated sitcom THE SIMPSON."

"While its title might suggest it is a dry BBC documentary about typefaces, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL is in fact the most-watched soap opera in the world. The plots on BOLD are both dramatic and hilarious. The actors deliver all their dialogue with carefully measured gusto, rarely tipping out of melodrama into parody, even though the situations are clearly ludicrous."

SARA A. BIBEL: Farewell To The Man Who Loved Women
"THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS confirmed that it’s writing out Brad Carlton. Based on spoilers stating that, 'A central character will bite the bullet in a stunning way,' I deduce Brad is headed to that great reliquary in the sky. As good as the show is right now, I trust that this will actually be an entertaining, compelling story with long term consequences."

Kennedy plays "monstrous man" in Braeden film
For nearly three decades, Emmy Award-winning, German-born Eric Braeden (nee Hans Gudegast) has played wealthy, powerful tycoon Victor Newman on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.

The deep-voiced Braeden has taken Newman through numerous marriages, medical traumas, prison stays and being mistaken for dead. His most recent project is The Man Who Came Back, a movie co-written and directed by Glen Pitre, which will be released on DVD on Dec. 9. Braeden also arranged a special screening at the Egyptian Theatre to honor co-star George Kennedy and they will both be on hand for a Q&A after the screening. One hundred percent of Braeden is in this film. Not only does he star, but he invested his own money and worked on everything from research to casting to post-production work.

"This role is one that has not been undertaken because of this type of film has not been made since the '30s. Films with KKK overtones belong in another era, maybe three eras ago. On the underhand side, do those feelings [of racism] still exist? Of course they do," Kennedy said. "The role that I play [in The Man Who Came Back] is a monstrous man. Monstrous. I tried to make him even more monstrous. But it's worth it if we show what it was really like [back then]," Kennedy said.

Kelly Ripa is not splitting from hubby Mark Consuelos
Contrary to a new tabloid report, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos aren't calling it quits, her rep tells Usmagazine.com. In its latest issue, the National Enquirer claims that she stormed out on her husband of 12 years over his "other women." But Ripa's rep tells Us, "There is no truth to the story. Their marriage continues to be quite healthy and the National Enquirer should be ashamed for fabricating such an untruthful story."

MALA BHATTACHARJEE: Semi-epic Fail Alert!
"It's been two full days and I'm STILL not pleased about AS THE WORLD TURNS' Dusty manhandling Emily for Josie/Paul info. Not only is this a woman he supposedly cares about, it's a woman whom he knows has been victimized by men in the past (once quite possibly in that very same hotel room set). This kind of behavior makes it really hard to root for the Dustman to land a girl, find Johnny and live happily ever after."

PHOTOS: ATWT's Jack and Janet's wedding day
Be warned! There is another Parker-Liberty kiss on the way. It looks like the wedding is at Lily's house.

Only 1.6 million viewers watched THE SHIELD's finale
What was promised to be the very last episode of Michael Chiklis's bad cop drama went out limply Tuesday, when just 1.6 million viewers tuned in. More than 2 million watched this season's unveiling and, in its heyday -- that would be its second season -- FX's SHIELD copped as many as 4.4 million viewers. Yet another prime time show that would have finished last in the daytime ratings last week.

Laura Bell Bundy to Judge Miss America Pageant
Former GUIDING LIGHT star and Tony Award nominee Laura Bell Bundy, originator of Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde," will help judge the 2009 Miss America Pageant, which will crown its new reigning queen on January 24. The pageant will be broadcast live from Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas exclusively on TLC.

Clissold “Budd” Hill has passed
Hill died peacefully at home Nov. 20 with his partner of 34 years, J. Robert “Bob” Caldwell, at his side.

A 1949 graduate of Oak Park High School, Budd was honored with that school's Tradition of Excellence Award in 1997. From Oak Park, Budd attended the University of Colorado and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Design from Yale School of Drama.

His freelance career as a designer progressed through New York costume shops toward assisting in major Broadway and film productions. His costume designs on Broadway included "Thistle in my Bed," "The Merchant of Venice," :The Policemen," "Oedipus Rex" and "Pygmalion." He also worked for Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park Productions, the first Broadway production of "Camelot" and the Children's Television workshop. Later, Budd branched into television, including games shows and soap operas (ALL MY CHILDREN).