Sunday, November 15, 2009

News Round-up: Michael Woll, Sean Wilson, Zach Gilford

AMC's Michael Woll in first same-sex union at conservative synagogue
Michael Woll, wardrobe supervisor for ALL MY CHILDREN, has always dreamed of having a traditional Jewish wedding at Beth El Congregation, the synagogue where he grew up in West Akron. Instead, Woll found himself exchanging vows with his soulmate in August in front of a justice of the peace in Massachusetts. While the ceremony served the purpose of uniting the couple in marriage, something was missing.

"We wanted more than a ceremony," said Woll, 32. "We wanted something religious, something cultural that we could have memories of."

Michael and his partner, Gregory Orenstein, 45, got that wish on Saturday during their commitment ceremony at Beth El. The ceremony was the first same-sex union ever conducted at the Conservative synagogue.

Kings of Queens: Gays on TV once helped promote tolerance. Now they may be hurting it.
Newsweek reporter Ramin Setoodeh tries to blame effeminate gay characters on television for recent gay rights defeats in Maine and California. Or at least he implies it.

"For a while, TV got with the program. By bringing all these diverse folks into America's living rooms, TV helped bring gays into the mainstream. A survey by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that of the people who say their feelings toward gays and lesbians had become more favorable in the past five years, about one third credited that in part to characters they saw on TV. In the past year, however, the public-acceptance pendulum seems to have shifted back, at least for what is arguably the biggest test of equality. Two weeks ago, the people of Maine followed the people of California in reversing existing laws that had legalized gay marriage. In fact, when gay marriage has been put before the voters of any state, it has failed every time. Is TV to blame for this?"

He does get this part right: "The key is balance. There's so much more to the gay community than the people on TV."

Now's the time to listen to THE ARCHERS
It's part of any self-respecting radio reviewer's remit to drop in on THE ARCHERS at least once a year, and now's the time to do it, with the Lilian-and-Matt-on-the-run storyline reaching its climax. For those benighted souls unfamiliar with the intricacies of Borsetshire life, Lilian, the gin-soaked bar-room queen from Ambridge, a party girl with an erstwhile taste for toyboys, has revealed hidden depths since she got together with someone her own age, businessman Matt Crawford.

At the Bulls game with FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS star Zach Gilford
He was giddy about the floor seats Saturday night (he took more than 30 pictures at the game), got excited when the Bulls' John Salmons waved back to him and wore a shiny red Bulls jacket that looked as if it came from a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Superfans skit.

"The actress who played Carlotta on the show got it off of eBay and gave it to me," said Gilford, referring to actress Daniella Alonso.

"I love the part I play on the show. It's a cool character. But it's fun to play different roles," said the 27-year-old actor. "Me and the people I work with have been making an effort to get parts that don't fall into that (nice guy) role. Casting directors will call my agent and say, 'We love Zach, but he's not this part. He's the nice guy.' It's like, 'No, he's the nice guy on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. That doesn't mean he can't play something else.' "

Former CORONATION STREET star relishes new career as cheesemaker
Famed for his role as male nurse Martin Platt in the soap opera, Sean Wilson is currently enjoying life as an artisan cheesemaker and spent yesterday morning promoting his range of Lancashire cheeses at Hart and Son Butchers.

New Digital Channels Being Broadcast by Your Local Stations Could Be TV's New Wasteland
Welcome to television’s new wasteland of local digital multicasting. Now there are seven zillion more channels and still the same complaint, “all these channels and nothing to watch.” More accurately, there’s little worth watching on these new digital channels.

2 comments:

  1. And here I thought I was the only American who listens to The Archers :) I have to admit, it's strangely addicting.

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  2. Melanie, I produced a couple of internet radio soaps for several years and definitely use classic American radio soaps and The Archers as inspiration. Anything in entertainment that lasts as long as that show deserves some recognition.

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