News Round-up: Van Hansis, Bravo, FNL's Last Virgin

Soap Shrink at Sea: On Deck With AS THE WORLD TURNS’ Van Hansis
"What I can do on this show is my job. I can’t control how fast the show goes, how slow the show goes. I would say that everyone who works on the show is trying their best to give a good show and do the best show they can do. From the actors, the producers, the crew, everybody. It ebbs and flows. Sometimes people hate whatever story line you’re in, sometimes they love it. So my advice is just stick around, because if you don’t like what’s happening now, chances are in a couple of months you will."

FORBES: Economy Busts, Bravo Booms
As the economy sputters, foreclosures soar and the unemployment rate races past 8%, a network devoted to wealthy subjects with expensive pastimes would seem in poor taste--or worse, unwatchable. But the upscale offerings at NBC Universal's Bravo have proved anything but.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and the Teenage Virgin
Ian Ayres of the New York Times writes: "I was somewhat concerned that the last senior on the show lost her virginity. The show has reached what the Supreme Court calls the 'inexorable zero.' I am not a fan of 'socialist realism,' the idea that art needs to move society toward a better equilibrium. But viewers may get the subtle message that it is really unusual to graduate from high school as a virgin."

Social Lite & SCANDAL's Scandals
Jared Orlin (Entertainment Editor of YOU, the biggest family magazine in South Africa) reports: "SCANDAL! seems to be really stepping up their storylines. Over the next few months, viewers will get to see a wedding and a funeral. I'm sworn to secrecy over which actor/actress has been given the cut, but I will say this - it's a mistake!"

Network Affiliates Join Together On 'Split Market' Issue
The chairs of the ABC and Fox affiliate associations have joined with their counterparts at CBS and NBC to ask Congress not to give satellite and cable companies "a free copyright license to televise the same, duplicating broadcast entertainment and sports programming that local television stations buy in the open market."