News Round-up

INTERVIEW: DAYS' Thaao Penghlis (Tony)
"I was not there, so I don’t know what happened, but, Deidre and Drake to me were the icons! Deidre is a real trouper. She does not get into victim mode, but, she has been on the show for 32 years. I looked at her and went, 'We were the best of DAYS in the 80’s.' We had the most fun because there was more money, and more rehearsals, and it wasn’t short changed. It’s certainly different now. I am sorry to see Drake and Deidre go. I am sure they will go off into the sunset somewhere. They’ll bring them back when they need them."

Nielsen Ratings for Dec 22-26, 2008
Total Viewers (versus previous week/versus last year)
1. Y&R 5,254,000 (+30,000/-498,000)
2. B&B 3,568,000 (-257,000/-308,000)
3. DAYS 3,007,000 (+199,000/+57,000)
4. GH 2,955,000 (+155,000/-82,000)
5. OLTL 2,769,000 (+85,000/-10,000)
6. AMC 2,732,000 (+42,000/-103,000)
7. ATWT 2,686,000 (-218,000/-376,000)
8. GL 2,057,000 (-119,000/-526,000)

Teen soaps dramatize pregnancy
Nearly every television season, a storybook stork delivers a plot twist in the form of a baby to a teen drama. Sexual trysts and pregnancy twists are common occurrences in youth-oriented TV land. And a recent study by Rand Corp., which tracked more than 700 12- to 17-year-olds, found that about 25 percent of those who viewed the most sexual content on TV were involved in a pregnancy, compared with about 12 percent of those who watched the least.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Eileen Davidson (Ashley)
"I got fired from Y&R and Brad Bell picked me up and employed me at B&B. I had the opportunity to work with people and do something different than I had been doing over
at “Y&R”. I am actually grateful now. I think Brad gave me the opportunity to breathe new life into Ashley. Things change. It did not work out the way I was hoping it would, but I don’t blame anybody for that, or have any ill will. The bottom line is it’s a really hard gig to figure out story, and story that works. I have learned the way Brad and other writer’s work: that is, that something will appear and you go with it. How can I feel bad about being employed, and being treated exceptionally well? They wanted me back over here and it’s like I never missed a beat. So I think I would be incredibly ungrateful if I had anything but gratitude to Brad Bell and the show."

OTALIA: Will they, won't they - a fan base starts building
GUIDING LIGHT's Olivia and Natalia continue to grow in popularity.

OUCH: Dumbing down, dissolution, and salvation of USA
"It is this violence and immorality as well as programmes that promote stereotypes against nationalities and ethnic groups that have contributed to the collective stupidity that has become the United States of America. Who cannot forget programs such as JERRY SPRINGER, FAMILIY GUY, SOUTH PARK, and even some of the soap operas such as DAYS OF OUR LIVES which promote violence, hatred, and being plain stupid?"

90210: First Bombshells Dropped
90210 returned to TV last night after a long mid-season break. For days, the promos titillated us, promising more drama, more twists and more shock. Did last night’s episode deliver?

After finding out that Shannen Doherty’s Brenda Walsh can’t have kids (and might adopt), former druggie Adrianna Duncan (played by Jessica Lowndes) is preggers, half-brother Sean (Josh Henderson) was really a con man and that the cute cheerleader Christina Worthy (Lauren London) is a bisexual, it’s hard to imagine there could be more.

But rest assured, 90210 fans…there will be more.

Catch the magic of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
The sage Billy Riggins — a peripheral character on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a show with the best peripheral characters ever to populate a TV town — captures the simple duality of the series.

“Fixing cars, drinking beer — what more do you need?”

That the answers to his question can be so different yet so clear captures the little big magic of the little big show. Some residents of the fictional Dillon, Texas, need no more, others need much more.