Wednesday, October 14, 2009

News Round-up: Russ to Y&R, Spirtas, Kristen, LoCicero

INTERVIEW: OLTL's Ilene Kristen (Roxy)
Kristen was a guest on "Brandon's Buzz" on Tuesday's night. She mentioned her actor friend William Russ will be playing a role on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. Russ played Burt McGowan on ANOTHER WORLD. Y&R was said to be casting the role of billionaire Tucker recently and Russ would be a perfect actor for the part.

GILMORE GIRLS creator lands HBO gig
Amy Sherman-Palladino will be tackling more mother-daughter relationships in a project for HBO. Sherman-Palladino will write and executive produce the untitled dramedy, which chronicles the complicated relationship between three adult sisters, all writers sharing the same upper east side apartment building, and their mother, a domineering literary lioness who reserves most of her affections for their ne'er-do-well brother.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS adds Steve Harris to the team
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS has boosted its roster with a little more star power for its fourth season. Veteran actor and former regular on THE PRACTICE Steve Harris will appear in at least seven episodes of the small-town football drama this season, a spokeswoman for the series confirms. Harris will play a former football star, Vernon Merriweather. His daughter, Jess, will be played by Jurnee Smollett.

INTERVIEW: GH's Lisa LoCicero (Olivia)
LoCicero was a guest on "BuzzWorthy Radio" on Tuesday night.

NORTH KENT (UK): Council launches £20,000 online soap opera
A soap opera aimed at teenagers which deals with hard-hitting issues has been created by a council for £20,000. Kent County Council (KCC) launched its Hollyoaks-style 10-part show Hollywould on its Kent TV website last Wednesday (Oct 14) and a new episode will go online each Wednesday.

Y&R actor turned BURN NOTICE writer lands project at Fox
Fox is developing an hourlong drama from soap actor turned BURN NOTICE writer Ben Watkins and Wild Hogs producer Mike Tollin. The 20th Century Fox TV project revolves around a private eye who uses her background as an ethnically and culturally diverse woman to blend into any situation. Watkins will write the pilot; he and Tollin will serve as executive producers.

While Watkins has been focusing on writing as of late, he's an ex-soap actor best known for playing Dr. Wesley Carter on CBS's the THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS from 2002 until 2004. He had previously appeared on ABC's ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

Kevin Spirtas, Scott Kerns to Star in Elliot Ramón Potts' "Loaded"
Kevin Spirtas (ex-Craig, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Jonas, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) and Scott Kerns will star in Elliot Ramón Potts' "Loaded," which will play at the Lion Theatre, November 7 - January 23, with an opening on November 15. Michael Unger will direct. The play focuses on two men who are exploring whether or not their casual sexual relationship has the potential to be something more.

Blake Lowell replaces Billy Magnussen as Huck Finn in Hartford Stage Reading
Blake Lowell has replaced Billy Magnussen (Casey, AS THE WORLD TURNS) in the reading Monday at 7:30 p.m. of the new stage adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" -- part of Hartford Stage's "Brand:NEW" play reading series which begins Friday.

A "Taste of Mischief" for Kraft's Peek Freans cookies
Women with a taste for both the sweet and saucy are being targeted again by Kraft Canada’s latest promotion for Peek Freans cookies. The cookie’s Lifestyle line of products, which bear a “sensible selection” wordmark and are marketed as a “better for you” product, has been paired with romance publisher Harlequin.

The “Taste of Mischief” campaign has executions in both the promotional and online spheres. A trio of dashing male Harlequin “heroes” posed for photos and handed out product in late September and early October around Toronto. Direct mail door hangers shaped like Harlequin novels were also distributed.

Nat Ams to sell off CBS, Viacom shares
Sumner Redstone's National Amusements will sell more shares of Viacom and CBS Corp. to get rid of its debt, but the mogul will retain more than 75% of voting control in each.

4 comments:

  1. Nice to hear about Ben Watkins' success as a writer. Would like to hear about more current or ex-soap stars succeeding outside the field.

    We keep hearing about pay cuts and difficulties of soaps, this kind of good news is welcome. I often wonder what's become of former soap stars who disappear from TV. They are big on a soap and leave for greener pastures (or are let go) and we might never see them again.

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  2. That series by the Gilmore Girls creator sounds like it could be good. I imagine it will be at least a little edgier than the Gimore Girls. It wouldn't fit on HBO if it wasn't.

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  3. I am THRILLED about Amy Sherman-Palladino getting this series! Finally, an opportunity for her to spin her creative story-telling web. If this deal goes well, could an HBO GG movie be in the works?

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  4. I'm a fan of Sherman-Palladino b/c of Gilmore Girls; thank you Amy. The premise for this show on HBO sounds similar to the TV series Sisters which ran 1991 to 1996 on NBC. Like commenter Soap50 said "I imagine it will be at least a little edgier than the Gilmore Girls. It wouldn't fit on HBO if it wasn't." ITA and quite looking forward to this show.

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