Monday, February 2, 2009

News Round-up

INTERVIEW: ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Tuc Watkins (David)
"The great thing about Ron [Carlivati] coming on is that is not often that a character, a writer, and an actor, all sort of get it together. Sometimes an actor does not have a handle on what the writer and director is gunning for, and not have the full grasp on something that you are very familiar with. I think Ron appreciated the same characteristics of David that I appreciated. So, we kind of turned up the volume on David. It has been great. You know, I have been through a lot of different writers on the show. I have never really noticed that much difference in the writing, but I really did notice a difference when Ron started."

Out in Hollywood recap of the DGA Awards
"Once traffic on the red carpet began to dwindle, we headed into the dinner and discovered not only were our seats quite good, but we were the only people at our table who were not from the ABC daytime drama ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Everyone was great and I peppered them with questions about various cast members - especially my fave, Tuc Watkins - and what was great was early on in the evening, Larry Carpenter won the directing prize for the soap!"

The Life And Times of Phillip Spaulding As Told by Grant Aleksander
Grant Aleksander, the actor who has brought the character to life so memorably, gave Fancast an annotated video guide to his character, from Phillip’s days as part of the famed Four Musketeers, to his struggles to help a young Lizzie (then played by Heroes star Hayden Panetierre) survive her battle with leukemia.

New York's Diaper Rush
"If you have twins in Manhattan, it's assumed you had IVF," sighs Upper East Sider Risa Goldberg, who co-founded Big City Moms, a social events group for new mothers. "Some people find it really offensive, others divulge every detail." Risa herself doesn't mind the question—for the record, her duo was conceived naturally. But many aren't, and twin rates in the U.S. have rocketed 70 percent since 1980.

"For people who like attention, twins are great," says Risa. "If I am ever depressed, I put my boys in the stroller and take a walk down the street and people just go nuts." And the fact that they are identical has been lucrative: Her sons were recently cast on the soap opera GUIDING LIGHT. "Because of the labor laws, children can only work a certain number of hours, so identical twins are in such high demand," she says. Risa adds that the social capital is great, too—she's been accepted into an "exclusive society of twin moms who only want to hang out with other twin moms. It can feel elitist. But they get it in a way that someone with one kid will never understand."

Thaao Penghlis on his exit from DAYS
"Must say my gratitude to all of you for all the support. Can't wait to write this chapter. At least I'm in good company and I did live through the best of DAYS. And what a great group of people who have been there to share it with me.
Onwards and off to NY this Thursday for meetings. Changes are in the air."

Hollywood scene not for DAYS' Rachel Melvin
In her latest blog, Melvin writes: "So as I'm sure you've noticed, I haven't been working too much lately. So to fill the time in my schedule, I've taken to the 'Hollywood Scene'. This means going to the trendiest of clubs and hot spots in Los Angeles. The initial interest in the 'Hollywood Scene' for me, came because most of my friends are now regulars on series, working ridiculous hours, and therefore too tired to hang out... or they have boyfriends-enough said. So I wanted to meet new people, maybe network a little within the industry, or possibly meet someone and try my hand at dating finally. Besides, everyone is always talking about how fun these clubs in Los Angeles are. I sucked it up and gave it my best and I failed miserably. I mean, I really just don't get it. The whole experience to me is exhausting, disappointing, and highly overrated!"

Sixth grader hangs herself in reenactment of popular soap opera scene (and survives)
Believing she would not die from the attempt, 11-year-old Rojan of Nablus hung a rope from a tree and tied one end around her neck. She then asked her brother to push the chair out from beneath her. The eight-year-old boy pushed the chair and the rope tightened around Rojan’s neck and she lost consciousness. Hearing a commotion outside Rojan’s mother rushed to her children and cut Rojan from the tree and brought her to hospital.

The scene was meant as a reenactment of a scene from a popular Turkish drama airing currently on MBC satellite called WADI AL-DI'AB [Valley of Wolves]. The heroine of the soap opera hung herself after the hero left her, but she reappears in every following episode of the series in dreams and nightmares of the hero. The children, who Rojan gathered around the tree in the yard, were all convinced that hanging would not kill the girl, since they did not understand that the heroine herself was dead.

Rojan’s father, 36-year-old Abu Islam, said it was a miracle that his daughter was still alive. When he learned that the event was a reenactment of the events of the drama, he was outraged, and called on parents to prevent their children from watching such programs since they do not understand the serious consequences of things played down in the programs.

Relaunch of GUTE ZEITEN, SCHLECHTE ZEITEN website
The web presence of the most successful German soap opera on the RTL channel, GUTE ZEITEN, SCHLECHTE ZEITEN, was re-launched on the basis of the content management platform CONTENS. Fans of the series can find here the GZSZ Community, information about the stars and a video archive, among other features. With the help of the chronologically controlled content, there is a preview of the next episode after every show.

The Co-operative takes entire CORRIE ad break for re-brand
The Co-operative Group is to launch its £10m re-branding campaign with a two-and-a-half minute commercial during CORONATION STREET.

Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, winter to continue
The world's most famous groundhog has seen his shadow which, legend has it, means this already long winter will last for six more weeks.

Punxsutawney Phil's forecast was announced in front of thousands of revelers gathered at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. They gathered Monday morning in near freezing temperatures, with many revelers buoyed by the Super Bowl victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night.

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