Wednesday, December 9, 2009

NEWS: TIME, Zach Gilford, Future of Soaps, Thom Bierdz

TIME Magazine: The World Has Turned: Why Are Soaps Dying?
If the appeal of soap operas was heightened reality and the ability to feel better about your own life by seeing other people's woes—well, that's a commodity as cheap as air nowadays. ATWT may stop turning next year, there remains a whole sudsy world to watch.

Is There Still a Future for Soap Operas?
The future of soaps may ultimately lie in the Web. Martha Byrne is one of a handful of actresses who've created Web soap operas. Her program GOTHAM utilizes familiar faces from daytime, as does Chappell's VENICE. "I certainly think that we're going to see more shows pop up on the Web," says Chappell, who hastens to add, "I'm not convinced that daytime network TV won't survive. It'll had to tweak itself and do it for less money."

The key to the future is to keep soaps under budget. "The shows that can do that will be the ones that survive," Brad Bell says.

VIDEO: Katie Couric on AS THE WORLD TURNS
"Even if you've never watched, you've no doubt seen the famous clip of Wagner being interrupted by Walter Cronkite .. with the bulletin that President Kennedy had been shot. In the end, ATWT became the victim of a changing world -- fewer women home to watch. And when the show goes off next September, the rest of the world will in fact be turning. But some of the drama will be gone."

A-Listers on ATWT
From Meg Ryan to Martin Sheen to Marisa Tomei, visit The Daily Beast's photo gallery of the A-list stars who appearedon AS THE WORLD TURNS.

Zach Gilford says goodbye to FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT -- for now
"My problem is sometimes underdoing things. I wasn’t really worried about looking goofy or overdoing it. After four years of doing the same character, you kind of know what you’re doing. That’s not saying you’re a great actor or anything, but you know when you’re doing something stupid, or doing something real. But I think we all have confidence we can go into any scene and make it real and not do anything where people will be like, 'Really?'"

Y&R's Thom Bierdz (Phillip) brings Gay-TL a little drama
Phillip, who was recently exited Genoa City to take a mysterious trip down under in Australia, will be back, in no small part because of overwhelming fan response.

Dishes Bierdz: “I have been told, ‘You can tell Out & Equal that the character is not written off the show and will be a presence and important part of the fabric of the show for time to come.’”

Y&R's Peter Bergman on 20 years as Jack Abbott
"It doesn't feel like it at all, but it depends on what angle you look at it from," Bergman says. "If I realize that my daughter was 4 weeks old when I moved here, and this is her second year of college at USC, then yes, it seems like a long time. I've spent virtually her whole lifetime on this show. I had been married to my wife for five years when I started on this show, and now we've been married 25 years."

Christmas parade back in primetime
"The Hollywood Christmas Parade" airs Thursday on MyNetworkTV and then again on Christmas Eve. Susan Lucci served as the grand marshal for this year's parade. Performances to be included from the Grove event include Five for Fighting, Jon Secada and Cirque du Soleil.

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