News Round-up: Berris, DTV, Sharp, Lifetime, Garber

INTERVIEW: Blake Berris (ex-Nick, DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
"I think the trap that some actors can easily fall into is trying to figure out whether or not what's in the script is something they would do or something they think the character would do. Basically my job was to take what was written on the page and do the best with the material I could. You have to make it work."

Berris will be guest starring on THE MENTALIST tonight on CBS.

Darin Brooks wants to Tag the World
Hannah Cornett, who once lived in Hawaii but is now based in Los Angeles, has teamed up with Kaiser High School grad and DAYS OF OUR LIVES star Darin Brooks and actor Robert Parks-Valletta to participate in Tag the World, Parks-Valletta's new charity.

Tag the World has grown rapidly in Hawaii, which is now the world's No. 1 location for tag purchases. Therefore, special events like a July celebrity triathlon in Honolulu, which Cornett is spearheading, and a celebrity basketball game to benefit the organization are in the works.

Nielsen: 3.4% of Households Still Unready For DTV
3.8 million, or 3.4% of households are still unprepared for the DTV transition, which will happen June 12, 2009 (some stations have already flipped the switch to digital, and others will likely do so before the June 12 date). March saw a sharp increase in DTV preparedness, with 610 thousand homes getting DTV ready.

Marco Islanders react sourly to loss of GL
“Ratings for that program went from 5.3 in 2004 to 2.6 in November 2008. Even in a strong market like Ft. Myers, one of the top ten CBS affiliates in the country, it dropped that far. Guiding Light had almost 14 percent of the audience in 2004 and now it’s down to 6 percent,” he reported

“But there are a lot of loyal viewers here in Southwest Florida. A lady called me, last week after the announcement, crying because she had been watching the program since 1952, when she and her grandmother used to enjoy it together,” Stetson said.

Rumor Report: Will The P&G Soaps End up on Lifetime?
Jamey Giddens is reporting that "Buzz is growing that Lifetime could be possibly provide a new home for GUIDING LIGHT and AS THE WORLD TURNS after the Proctor and Gamble sudsers end their respective CBS runs."

Monti Sharp records voice over for Manhattanites
The former Daytime Emmy winner was a last minute addition to Manhattanites, released on DVD on May 6, in a small but memorable voice over role.

INTERVIEW: Soap Vet Teri Garber
"The future of soaps look bleak, I'm afraid. GL is just the first. People have so many other channels and reality shows to watch these days that the numbers are low for soap viewing. Sad, because I think it's a great genre."

Ellen Dolan in new play
Casting has been announced for South Ark Stage's revival of Jonathan Marc Sherman's "Sophistry," to play the Samuel Beckett Theatre, April 22-June 6, with an opening set for May 5. James Warwick will direct. ATWT's Ellen Dolan will be part of the cast.

INTERVIEW: Soap Writer Janet Iacobuzio
"The cancellation of GL is very bad news for the industry but this slow attrition has been going on for 20 years. I think it will continue to shrink some over the next few years but hopefully it won't go away completely."