NEWS: Michael Easton on John McBain; CASTLE Takes on SAVED BY THE BELL with Antonio Sabato Jr.; Ellen Holly; Victoria Rowell; Mario Lopez; Darren Criss

GENERAL HOSPITAL's Michael Easton on if we will ever see John McBain again in some capacity
"Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. I’d imagine…they have that character and they can put him up there with somebody else and whoever it is would probably do a great job at it. I don’t know what the situation is. I think those guys are still trying to work out their stuff. And maybe when they do, they’ll allow us to do it. I certainly miss him. I saw Bob Woods (Bo, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) two days ago, so I certainly miss seeing my friends. I enjoyed working with them and if there’s a story there that I can contribute to the show, I would…I would certainly be open to that. We’ll see how it goes. I know they’re doing great and I'm excited for them, I hope it ends up doing really really well."

Facebook's Mobile Site Owes A Debt To 1930s Soap Operas
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg won’t like this message, but someone has to say it. His vast social network lately has morphed into something none of us saw coming: the planet’s biggest soap-opera site of all time, digitally engineered to emulate the great radio-age businesses that Irna Phillips invented in the 1930s.

Look closely at what Facebook — especially in its mobile version — has become today. The site’s content consists of millions of minor soap operas, flitting past us as we scroll down. Courtney had a baby. Jon’s going to Africa. Liz is learning a new Buddhist chant. Nanci is battling back pain. We’ve returned to the world of DAYS OF OUR LIVES and AS THE WORLD TURNS, except it’s even more vivid this time around, because each of us knows most of the characters in our personal stream.

CASTLE Takes on SAVED BY THE BELL with Antonio Sabato Jr.
Former soap opera star Antonio Sabato Jr. will guest-star on the upcoming sixth season. He will play Ramon Russo, an actor best known for his role on the fictional '90s sitcom 2 Cool For School.

As the cast of the SAVED BY THE BELL-esque sitcom prepares to reunite for a movie, the Screech-like character is murdered. Enter Castle (Nathan Fillion), Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas), who take on the case until a familiar face returns to lead the investigation.

Does the latest Doctor Who announcement suggests a big name signing - or a woman?
Last night came final confirmation that the twelfth Doctor has been chosen and will be revealed in a live BBC1 program on Sunday evening.

A live unveiling.

Matt Smith didn't get that – but he was pretty much an unknown. The BBC could hardly have risked wheeling him out in front of a live studio audience – and the rest of the nation – to the collective cry of "who?" (as opposed to "Who!")

Does that mean the new Doctor could be someone most of the audience will recognize? There's also a suggestion that the BBC is keen to bolster the profile of DOCTOR WHO in the US and would therefore like a star who is recognizable to audiences across the Atlantic.

A Culture Clings to Its Reflection in a Cleaned-Up Soap Opera
BAKTUN might be the cleanest Mexican soap opera around. The passionate love scenes that are a staple of the genre were reduced, bowing to conservative local sensibilities, to a few pecks on the cheek and hand-holding as innocent as junior high schoolers on a first date.

It was not the only accommodation made by producers of what is considered the first “telenovela,” as soap operas are known here, entirely in an indigenous language, Maya, and with a story line rooted in the community.

For starters, María, the love interest, cannot bring herself to say “I am falling in love with you” when her beau-to-be, Jacinto, finally gets his act together. Because while phrases of desire like “I love you” are roughly translatable into Maya, it is trickier to express being “in love” in the language.

Revisiting White Plains with Ellen Holly
Ellen Holly lives in a leafy neighborhood a short stroll from downtown but likens her street to a country lane. The actress began her career on Broadway starring opposite Jack Lemmon in “Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright” and Off-Broadway with James Earl Jones in “Macbeth.” From 1968 to 1985, she played a ground-breaking role on television soaps: Carla Bernari on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

“I live so close to the center of town,” she says, “but it is very quiet and peaceful here. In the summer, when it’s hot, it feels 10 degrees cooler up here.”

Former Y&R star Victoria Rowell making her own opportunities
“We are still marching for the first black producer,” a spirited Rowell said Tuesday at a National Black Theatre Festival news conference.

Rowell said Tuesday that, like generations of African Americans have done before her, she has not let her separation from the network – which she had been affilated with for more than two decades – break her. “We have to suit-up, get-up and keep going,” she said.

Dove mint chocolate bust of Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez appears captivated by the image of himself in dark chocolate at the launch of a new product from Dove that claims to "taste as good as it looks."

GLEE Likely to End After Season 6, Unless…
Fox president Kevin Reilly is envisioning a May 2015 end date for the tale of William McKinley High School’s scrappy show-choir members (and alumnae).

“Never say never, but… there’s two very clear arcs to get to that end and conclude [the series],” Reilly told reporters when asked about the future of Glee at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills. “If we discover a new crop of kids and there’s some breakout, who knows. But right now, we’re thinking about two seasons.”

Cory Monteith Memorial Card


Darren Criss Remembers "Dear Friend" Cory Monteith: "He Will Be Severely Missed"
"Obviously it's been a very rough time," Criss said. "When you start picking up the pieces after something as tragic as this, and it's funny that you say that, you don't know how to breach it, we're picking up the pieces now and there's two things you gotta remember. One, is he was a really funny guy, had a great sense of humor and he loved life. He always took care of his friends and wanted his friends to be happy. So it's only right that we, you know, try and start to smile again and laugh again. It's something that he would have wanted.

Lindsay Lohan mocks Kristen Stewart while hosting CHELSEA LATELY
Lindsay Lohan as a talk show host? Actually, she’s pretty good, judging from a clip released of the actress guest hosting.

Soap opera pays tribute to Colombia football legends
LA SELECCION – or 'the national team' – is the story of Colombia's four greatest players and how they made their names in the 80s and 90s.