News Round-up: Eakes, Bell, Tognoni, ARMY WIVES

INTERVIEW: AMC's Bobbie Eakes (Krystal)
"When I was Macy on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, I didn’t work near as much as I’ve been working since coming to AMC. Immediately I was so fulfilled with the character. In the beginning, Krystal came in swinging pretty hard. Now she’s pretty much woven into the Pine Valley scene, and she’s a little bit subdued. She’s definitely very layered, and they continue to write very interesting stories for her.”

Krystal presently has her hands full with two big stories: the discovery of a long-lost daughter, Babe’s fraternal twin, Marissa, and the murder of Stuart Chandler.

Bobbie explains: “The murder story line is a big story line, but it is also happening at the same time that Krystal is having her daughter story line with Marissa. Krystal is implicated in the murder; a lot of people are implicated. There is a lot of action, and the show is moving really really fast, so hold on!”

Lifetime adds soapy suds to ARMY WIVES to earn stripes as major drama
Lifetime's ARMY WIVES, not surprisingly, has become a soap opera. A really good soap opera. Yes, it sells some of the same dramas as the dozens of other female-bonding shows on the air these days. But it feels sturdier, perhaps because the military component ties the show and the characters to something more solid than shopping, carrot-stick lunches and boyfriend neuroses.

Tonight's season three opener advances, though it doesn't always resolve, several of the soap-style cliffhangers from the end of season two.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Lauralee Bell (ex-Christine)
On her character on her new web series, FAMILY DINNER: "Attention starved, nutty, neurotic, crazy, typical Hollywood wife, who is so desperate for attention that she ends up causing her kids to become as neurotic as she is. Does that sound like anyone you know? With this character, it’s never enough. She has a life with her kids and her husband. They don’t have sex. They just exist in this nutty world where she’s trying her best to get her fifteen minutes of fame. It’s so much fun to play."

Catholic plot rocks CORRIE
CORONATION STREET is set to cause a religious stir with a Catholic v Protestant storyline. Producers were ordered to bring divisions to the cobbles of Weatherfield by show chief Kim Crowther.

The explosive plot, which insiders fear could spark a backlash among Christian viewers, centers on new mom Maria Connor and her Irish in-laws. Trouble flares when grandparents Helen (Dearbhla Molloy) and Barry (Frank Grimes) insist their grandson Liam should be baptized and raised as a Catholic – just as his late dad Liam Snr was. But Maria (Samia Smith) feels pressurised by their demands and flips out when Helen questions Maria’s choice of godmother.

INTERVIEW: GL's Gina Tognoni (Dinah)
On GL's cancellation: "It actually feels like a death. It has the hollowness of a death. But everything happens for a reason. You’re on a path. Nothing would make me happier than to see the show continue and to do well. It’s just a great group of people. The role [of Dinah] has so much freedom. That is what I will absolutely miss. I’m just opening my heart, waiting for all the opportunities to come my way. I hope so. I’ll know what to do when the time is right."