Saturday, May 2, 2009

News Round-up: GL, Nielsen, Twitter, CORRIE Crash

NIGHTLINE digs into soaps and finds: They've still got a pulse (yes!)
Entertainment Weekly's Tanner Stransky writes: "With the recent news that CBS will pull the plug on the 72-year-old (some of that time being on the radio) GUIDING LIGHT this September and the faltering economy slowing advertisement sales and generally declining ratings for the daytime dramas, one would assume that soaps aren't long for this world.

But, good news, soap fans: That's not true! At least, right this moment, according to NIGHTLINE. Sure, the network behind NIGHTLINE -- that'd be ABC -- has a vested interested in the genre, as they still have three hours of daytime drama on the air, but the segment did a decent job of trying to show how soap producers are dealing with all the hardships: They're getting creative about slashing costs."

VIDEO: GL Actors Saddened By Cancellation, Thank Pittsburgh Fans
"We were told, it was actually April Fool's Day, which was just a bad choice of days; but that was what it was," said Robert Newman, who plays Josh Lewis. "Some of us were at the studio in New York, some of us were on location. I was on location and they just gathered us all together and let us know. Procter and Gamble is very much working toward the show going elsewhere, finding another form. It might be something on cable, I think there is a possibility with Lifetime, TV Land - so it may continue on - we will see."

"I've been playing this character, Dinah Marler, for about five years and as much as I knew it might be a possibility, you never want to really believe that," said actress Gina Tognoni. "Not only is it your job, it's production, it's hair, every facet of that show going away or going through a major transition and that is difficult."

"I really wanted to be with my old pals again," he said. "If we were really going off for this phase of the show, I wanted to be a part of that, so I came in sort of mindful of that. I am sorry that we are going to be off of CBS, but I am hopeful that they can take it someplace else."

GUIDING LIGHT PROJECT: Happy Birthday Judy Collins!
Jennifer Gibbons takes a look at how Collins impacted GL in two different ways.

Enter Vanessa Chamberlain
Hal Shows has written a poem about the longtime GUIDING LIGHT character.

CORRIE Car Crash: Woman injured on soap set
Filming of CORONATION STREET was brought to a halt Friday after a car accident on the soap opera’s set. The incident happened on the famous cobbles at Granada studios in Manchester at 12.30pm this afternoon, a spokeswoman for ITV said. The victim, a 68-year-old female director, was taken to hospital. Her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Nielsen responds to Sunbeam lawsuit
A Nielsen spokesperson defended the Local People Meters and said Sunbeam's charges are baseless. "This case is utterly without merit," said the spokesperson. "The TV ratings we are providing to Miami are more accurate than any previous measurement of this market and our sample is representative of the Miami population. We believe that WSVN had other reasons for bringing this case than the ones stated in the complaint and we will be responding to it vigorously."

20 Twitter-ers You Should Be Following
TV Guide takes a look at 20 celebrity Twitter accounts worth following.

ANOTHER WORLD 45th Anniversary: The Hunks of Bay City
A look at some of the hottest hunks that appeared on AW during its 35 year run.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, way to stay on top of things, Roger! as always.

    The EW piece surprised me a little with its positivity, but I'm not complaining mind you.

    And thanks for the link to Hal's poem about Vanessa, now that's a kick-ass alliteration:

    "Woefully I will wonder what went wrong"

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