News Round-up: Hallmark, Kizzie, Flannery, Proposal

Hallmark: Change Is in the Cards
Now that Crown Media Holdings has taken Hallmark off the block, its new management is going to try to make the cable network lighter and younger.

Bill Abbott, who stepped up to become president in May following the exit of Henry Schleiff, says, “We want to make it more of a destination for lighter fare, for comedies and quality programming,” and move away from its over-reliance on the Western genre typified by WALKER, TEXAS RANGER. Shows such as 7TH HEAVEN would be more in the Hallmark Channel wheelhouse, he adds. The hope is to skew the median age of viewers a little younger without alienating its core audience of boomers.

Audiences say 'yes' to The Proposal
Disney’s Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy The Proposal, featuring Betty White, grossed an estimated $12.4 millon from 3,056 runs to easily win the Friday box office and earn Bullock the best opening day gross of her career.

First interactive soap opera hits big screen
The world's first interactive soap opera is to hit the big screen. Channel Four's Dubplate Drama will premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival tomorrow – with its next episode to be decided by cinema audiences in just minutes. Dubplate, which pioneered audience voting as a way of getting youngsters to talk about difficult issues like drugs, knife crime and gangs, is to begin its third series this week – to be shown on TV on Thursday following the premiere – with a new star in chart-topping hip-hop princess Tulisa of N-Dubz.

INTERVIEW: Former Y&R actor Heath Kizzier (ex-Joshua)
"I was definitely sad to see Dr. Josh move on into That Good Night. During the last few days of the show I received the best material I'd had over the course of 2 1/2 years; so while I guess I went off with a bang (minor pun intended), it seemed that the character could have spun off into something unexpected. Truth is, I had quite hoped to have been turned into a bad-guy before the end. The writers were definitely baiting the hook for something fun to happen prior to the final two bullets to the chest."

Luzier and Warrick
Emily Joyce Luzier also enjoys reading the works of several authors and she also tries to go to their book signings to meet them. While at one such event she met Ruth Warrick, who played Phoebe Wallingford on ALL MY CHILDREN.

"We became friends," Mrs. Luzier said. "We met at a retreat in 1980 and remained friends until her death."

Spotlight On Susan Flannery
Tommy Garrett of the L.A. Canyon news writes: "Susan is one of the best actresses of our time. Her work is compared to greats like Bette Davis, Greta Garbo and Barbara Stanwyck."