News Round-up: Drew Garrett, Crystal Chappell, DTV

INTERVIEW: GH's Drew Garrett (Michael)
" went out for the first call, and did not hear anything for three weeks. So I had to put it out of my mind. But, I was into it, because the scene itself was so great. And then three weeks later Mark Teschner, the casting director at GH, called my agents and said, 'Hey, we want to bring Drew in for a producer’s session.' So, it went from me putting it out of my mind and to just move on, to a couple days later I really have a producer’s session! And from then on out, it was a pretty fast moving process. And one of the greatest parts about this story is I did the chemistry test with Laura Wright, with all the execs and the head writer… the whole crew….and it went really well."

Deep Soap: Crystal Clear
Sara Bibel writes: "Chapell’s move to Salem reveals a great deal about the current daytime landscape. First of all, there is going to be no last minute save for GL. Otalia, with its buzz among young viewers, was considered one of the main reasons GL had a shot at survival. Given Chappell’s enthusiasm for the storyline and the show, it’s unlikely she’d sign a contract with another show if she thought there were a chance the Light would keep shining. This is an unfortunate reality check for everyone who was holding out hope."

First NYC Stations Sign Off
New York stations WABC, WPIX and WNET all powered down their analog transmitters at 12:30 p.m. Friday and began broadcasting DTV on the VHF channels---7, 11 and 13---they previously used for analog.

PHOTOS: AMC's Vincent Irizarry Visits Robert Newman at "Sessions"
Newman is current starring in "Sessions" Off-Broadway.

"Pancakes and Valium" for Gibbons
Red Room's Jennifer Gibbons was a guest on the latest episode of the "Pancakes and Valium" podcast discussing GUIDING LIGHT.

CORRIE star's street attacker avoids jail term
The attacker of CORONATION STREET star Mikey North escaped a jail sentence yesterday after he admitted breaking the actor's jaw in a fit of jealous rage over a girl. Stuart Stocks, 19, blamed Mr North for wrecking his chances at getting back with 23-year-old receptionist Lauren Flinton, who lives just around the corner from Stocks in the village of Sherburn, between Malton and Scarborough.