News Round-up

On the Soap Shrink’s Couch: General Hospital’s Spinelli
Damon L. Jacobs blogs: "Behind Damien Spinelli’s strange speech and puppy dog eyes there is a young man coping with classic symptoms of Asperger’s Disorder. Individuals who carry this diagnosis typically present with impaired ability to socially interact with others, and with restricted and repetitive behaviors (ideal for a computer hacker)."

LYNN LICCARDO: Anticipation
"I held my breath when Olivia's daughter, Emma, presented a class report titled 'My Two Mommies' a couple of weeks ago. But when a frustrated Olivia kissed the clueless Natalia, who then proceded to accept Frank's invitation to go out, I realized that he story's been structured in a way that will allow every aspect of a possible late-in-life coming out to be examined, which gives me a reason - many reasons - to watch. It's not just that I want to know what's going to happen, I want to see how it's going to happen."

Media companies are rushing to repackage their videos for the Internet
Some say they can hardly keep up with advertiser demand for more. Video clips of TV shows and behind-the-scenes outtakes are omnipresent online — but how do they get there?

As users spend more time watching videos with advertisements attached, they are fast becoming an incremental moneymaker for media companies. While the young medium is not impervious to the economic slowdown, the research firm eMarketer forecasts a 45 percent gain in online video spending in 2009, evidence of the sharp rise in video production for the Web.

Producer Marshall Herskovitz on reality in the digital trenches
"I have talked to so many people, looked at so much research, my guess is TV as we now understand it as going to be here for a while, and will still be more profitable than the internet for a while – at least 5 years. It’s going to take a while to get a business model for broadband that makes sense. People truly do not understand the extent to which new media is not a business. It’s remarkably not a business. I’m speaking from painful experience."

Super Bowl ad will "reveal the secret behind Hulu"
Hulu's first-ever advertising campaign will debut on TV's biggest stage

B&B'S Rocco Returns
B&B is bringing back Bryan Genesse to reprise the role of Rocco Carner, who was one of the original characters when the show debuted in 1987. Back then, Rocco dated an insecure Katie but was really in love with Donna. "Truly, this is a homecoming for me," Genesse said. "I know the writers will make it an exhilarating roller coaster ride that I hope lasts a long, long time." Genesse's first air date is March 12.

Chasing Emmy With 20 nominations, will Y&R be the Bell of the ball?
In a classic interview with Soap Opera Digest from May 1997, William J. Bell said: "Obviously, the Emmys mean recognition, prestige, something in which everyone in the business takes great pride. When we don't win, it's a disappointment. I've been nominated, I think, for 34 Emmys, and I think I've won seven or eight. Yet we're in our 10th year of being No. 1 in daytime. The Emmys is one evening, and you have the rest of the year where you have the Nielsens once every week, and you go back to your stories and your characters."

Check out the SOD classic article archive.

INTERVIEW: Lisa Rinna Bares It All
"There's a part of me that is a giddy fan out there. I still have moments of like, 'Oh, there's John Hamm.' I'm just in love with him and his character on MAD MEN. And when you see Angelina and Brad walk in, the air goes out of the room. There's something that they have, no matter what they're wearing, no matter what's going on. It is a sparkle. It's charisma. I call it the X-factor. So I get a little giddy. I try to watch that and keep it in check, but sometimes I can't."