Amber Tamblyn Celebrates General Hospital's 50th Anniversary: "It's Where I Learned Everything About My Craft!"
Amber Tamblyn, who originated the role Emily on General Hospital and played it for six years, posted a beautiful message on her Facebook page Tuesday in honor of the show's 50th anniversary:
Yesterday was General Hospital's 50th Anniversary and I couldn't be more proud to call myself part of their family. GH is where I learned everything about my craft- the art of emotional intelligence, of listening, of interpreting, of setting a scene on fire. Its where I held Stuart Damon and wept when my real life Grandmother passed away, and where Stuart Damon held me and wept when Anna Lee passed away.
Its where I learned how to be disciplined in what I do. Where I found myself, as an actress, as a woman, and as veteran. Its where I learned what having REAL fans in your corner can do for you: carry you into a confidence that most actresses only dream of.
On GH, we burned for them and they for us. I absorbed the skilled techniques of John Homa, the turbulent genius of Maurice Bernard, the soft golden simplicity of John Ingle. Its where I had my first real life teenage secret crush (Shout out to you, Jonathan Jackson) and where I developed sister-strong bonds (double shout out, Kimberly and Becky).
General Hospital is more than an America staple. Its the staple gun.
I hope every actor has a chance to experience working on a soap, and every kid gets to grow up watching one with family.
Today I am thinking only of GH and this incredible, historic milestone.
TV Guide has posted a fascinating new interview with longtime stars Anthony Geary, Jane Elliot and the newly returned Kin Shriner. They dish on the show's heyday with stories about Gloria Monty, showing up to work drunk, the Daytime Emmys and much more.
TV Guide: It's such a joy to have the old guard back together on GH these days. Jane, I saw you on Access Hollywood asking a great question: "Why did these people ever go away?"
Elliot: I'll tell you why! It's a writing issue. Writers dry up. They can't think of a place to go with the older characters. It's easier for them to do an old story with a new character than do a new story with an old character.
Geary: And let us not forget that writers get residuals for every new character they create as long as that character is on the air.
Elliot: It's my belief that The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful are the highest-rated shows because they use the same people decade after decade. That's what this audience wants to see — their old characters in new situations. And that's what our current executive producer and head writer, Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati, are delivering.
Geary: Usually, new producers and writers want to put their stamp on a show. They don't want to continue what's working. They want to reinvent the wheel. It's an ego thing. And once they've gotten rid of characters that were well known and deeply loved, they think they can create that same magic with new characters. Frank and Ron did the exact opposite and it saved our ass. Things were pretty rough there for a while, but they got better as soon as [ABC Daytime chief] Brian Frons left. He hated the soap medium. He hated it from the beginning. He wanted reality TV.
TV Guide: Do you remember the first time you laid eyes on each other?
Elliot: I was already on the show when Tony came along. I tested with him and six or eight other guys who were up for the role of Mitch Williams. When you test, you're doing the same scene over and over and so often the actors will give similar readings. But when Tony came in, it was [her jaw drops open] "Wow! This is a horse of a different color!" In your audition you improvised something with a pen. What was it?
Geary: I was sitting at Tracy's desk, picked up a pen and started playing Tic Tac Toe, and Jane walked in, grabbed the pen out of my hand, finished the game and said, "I win!" And that set the tone for our entire real-life relationship. [Laughs] Nothing's changed.
TV Guide: Jane, how come you only lasted two years back then?
Elliot: [Hesitates for a moment] Is Gloria dead? Oh, yeah, that's right, Gloria's dead. Is her sister, Norma, dead?
Geary: Norma just recently died.
Elliot: Okay, then I can tell this story. I quit because Gloria insulted me. I was making, like, a dollar and a quarter a week — horrible money, so little money that I asked for a $50 raise and Gloria told my agent I was unprofessional. Now, you can call me a lot of things but you cannot call me unprofessional. I was so insulted she applied that word to me that I said, "I'm not working for her anymore!" I finished out my contract and left. I went to Knots Landing for a bit, then Guiding Light. I didn't return until after Gloria was gone.
TV Guide: Ever regret leaving?
Elliot: Nope.
TV Guide: Not even once? Seriously?
Elliot: Okay, yes, once. When I was on All My Children, I went over to see Julia Barr [Brooke] for lunch at her house in New Jersey and her place was so beautiful. She had these incredible lighting fixtures and every piece of furniture was functional art — just exquisite! And I sat there thinking, "So this is what you get if you stay on a show!" That's the only thing I regret — that I missed the ability to create a really stunning environment for myself. But artistically? No regrets whatsoever.
Geary: Had you already done that great, iconic scene where Tracy keeps the heart medicine from her father, before you made the decision to walk?
Elliot: Yes, but I was off the show by the time I won the Emmy. That's another thing! Gloria didn't want me to be nominated. She picked the people she wanted on the ballot. One day I got a call from her secretary who said, "It's time for the Emmy submissions and Gloria refuses to nominate you. I think you should come down here and nominate yourself." I said, "I'll be right there!" And that's the only time I ever did that. The Emmys are not my thing.
TV Guide: Give us another Gloria Monty story.
Geary: Wow, there are so many! The first thing that comes to mind is this trip a bunch of us took to a Native American reservation in Arizona or Utah somewhere. Chris Robinson [Rick] was opening a little shop at a museum there and he got me, Jackie Zeman, Lester [Leslie Charleson, Monica], Susan Brown [Gail] and Gloria to fly out with him. For some reason, the big thing there was tossing cow chips — otherwise known as dried cow s--t — and the winner is the one who can toss it the furthest. We all had to do it, including Gloria, who says in that grande-dame voice of hers, "Oh, Lester, dear...would you choose one for me?"— like she was talking about hors d'oeuvres on a party tray. So Lester went and got a very special one and handed it to Gloria who said, "I don't think this one is going to go very far, Lester dear. It's still wet."
Shriner: I have a fond memory of driving with Gloria in my open jeep over Mulholland Canyon with her almost spilling out. She was screaming, "Kin! Slow down! Kin! Stop!" Another time I was on my way to work on my motorcycle and drove past Chris Robinson on the side of the road in handcuffs. He said "You need to tell Gloria I won't be into work today!" I said, "I'm not gonna be the one to tell her! She'll kill me!"
Elliot: Those were the days when you never missed work. They would put out a barf bucket next to the stage and if you had the stomach flu...
Shriner: Or a bad hangover...
Elliot: You'd finish your scenes, barf in the bucket and come back and continue working. There was no such thing as calling in sick.
Shriner: They also had a doctor who'd show up with shots for whatever ailed you.
Geary: For those who showed up too drunk to work, they'd sober you up with vitamin B.
Shriner: The partying never stopped. We'd leave work at GH at 9 p.m., head over to Flippers Roller Disco, down a few kamikazes, skate until 2 a.m., then be back on the job by sunrise. Then the next night, we'd do it all over again!
Geary: It never seemed decadent. It all seemed so natural to us. We thought that's what show business was all about.
TV Guide: And you weren't scared of Gloria's reaction?
Shriner: She was very scary but she also had a great sense of humor. If you could get her to laugh you were in business, so I always played that angle on her and then she would not be so angry at me. But we all got yelled at quite a bit.
TV Guide: Even Mr. Geary, the superstar?
Geary: Oh, yeah, I got it, too. But I loved Gloria. I didn't have the same problems a lot of people had with her
Elliot: [Laughs] Because you were drunker than the rest of us!
Geary: I was drunker! But she could be brutal and say, "You gotta do that scene again. It was horrible!" You did it to her satisfaction, not to your own.
Elliot: And you didn't get to argue. With Gloria, it was her way or the highway. And, damn it, she was always right. She was so smart but also very vicious, and we all felt we were in the trenches together. We were young, we really liked each other and those friendships have prevailed. We go to the movies together, we travel together. We've cheered each other's wins, mourned each other's losses. We've gone through marriages, divorces, births, deaths. Kin was with me the night my father died. He was the person I most needed to call. And I was with Tony the night his mother died. We share such a rich history and a very abnormal one. Sometimes we'd be at the studio until 2 a.m. and had to be back to work at the crack of dawn so we just slept in our dressing rooms. There was no union protection. Nobody was taking care of us. Overtime was, like, $5 an hour. There was no penalty to work us long hours, so Gloria had free rein and could do whatever she wanted. As a result, we formed really close bonds. God, she was mean! But she also was a really great talent picker. She picked Tony, she picked me. She could see who had something different.
Shriner: I was already on the show when Gloria got there, so what are you saying — that she got stuck with me?
Geary: But she never got rid of you, so there's a compliment. She had no shyness about firing people.
Shriner: One time she sent a hurricane through the town and wiped out all the actors she didn't like. The writers had Scotty and Laura locked in a shed during the storm so they could survive.
Geary: [Laughs] One day, Gloria turned to me on the set and said in dismay, "Look at all these children. We have too many kids on the show right now. I feel a school-bus crash coming on..."
Elliot: We used to have this Styrofoam egg...[she stops abruptly and looks down at her smock]...Kin, you just spit food on me! Unbelievable! I had hoped to make it through the whole meal without this.
Shriner: Did I get fish taco on you?
Elliot: Yes, and that's why I wore my smock to this lunch. For this very reason! He's the sloppiest eater on the planet.
Shriner: So that's why you're wearing that smock? When you showed up in that thing I was thinking, "Hmm...is this the new fashion? Is it maternity wear?"
Elliot: No, it's my Lunch-with-Kin wear! Unbelievable! So, anyway...we used to have this Styrofoam egg on the set, like the kind you find at the craft store at Easter, and we called it the dinosaur egg because, well, Gloria was a dinosaur. When it was your turn to catch hell from her — when no matter what you did that week was wrong and she'd really hammer you for it — you'd return to your dressing room and there would be the egg. It was this compassionate reminder that there's nothing wrong with you, that it was just your turn in the barrel and that this, too, shall pass. And then that person would hand it to the next innocent victim.
Geary: There was this actress on our show named Mary O'Brien — she played Heather before they cast Robin Mattson — and she was having trouble crying in a scene. Gloria came out of the control room and said, "You've got to cry! We need you to cry!" Mary tried it again and Gloria came back out and said, 'You're still faking it! I want real tears!" After another three or four trips to the stage, Gloria finally went ballistic. "You must be the worst actress I've ever hired! I don't know what the hell was wrong with me! The whole scene is hinging on this! You are ruining General Hospital!" And she went on and on until Mary started to cry. Then Gloria said, "Yes! That's it! Shoot it!" And she walked off the set. There were times when I was embarrassed for people, when Gloria humiliated somebody beyond the pale. But I did love her eccentricities.
Shriner: You gotta have a Captain Nemo at the helm — like a Frank or a Gloria — who sees the big picture. When we shot the Luke and Laura wedding and Scotty made a surprise appearance and caught the bouquet, Gloria had me hiding out in a trailer on the set so the word wouldn't get out — and this was decades before people were spoiling things by Googling. No, that's not it. What do they call it? Tweeting! That was the first time I met Tristan Rogers [Robert]. [Laughs] He was in the same trailer sleeping one off. Hey, remember those public appearances we'd all go on together? Remember when they actually paid soap stars to show up somewhere?
Geary: Once I was hired to go down to the Grand Ole Opry for a series of appearances, and Kin was there too. We hung out together and got so carried away we didn't make it to one of the shows. They came after me — not Kin — and said, "The only reason you're here is to make sure Kin makes it to the stage." I thought, "Oh, really? In that case, Kin, why don't we skip the next show, too?"
Elliot: They were so rowdy back then.
Shriner: Tony, remember when we got lost in Canada one night? And that time you were up on the roof ready to take a swan dive into the pool? In those days you'd end up in some pretty weird spots, because the appearances would be in some mall in some far-off part of the country and they happened every weekend, so we were never quite sure where we were. And the drinking didn't help. Leslie Charleson has a whole bunch of pictures of her and me on one of those trips, and neither one of us can remember a single moment of it. We have the evidence — there we are posing with people, doing this, doing that, and looking like we're having fun. But we're, like, "How come we can't remember it?"
Elliot: Kin! Kin! [Brushing more fish taco off her smock] You did it again! Why aren't you spitting on Tony! Why is it always in my direction? Un-be-lievable!
Shriner: I'm always annoying Jane. Remember that time I ripped a couple of pages out of your script because I had to look at something really quickly?
Elliot: I went crazy!
Shriner: Not just crazy. She went monkey crazy!
Elliot: You know, I really, really hate it in interviews when actors say, "This cast is like a family." But this is my family!
Geary: It's like we're a club, a posse. And we all have similar memories though very different stories to tell. [Laughs] And, as you can tell, we never tire of telling them!
On Thursday, KATIE aired a special episode honoring the 50th anniversary of GENERAL HOSPITAL. Watch the entire episode below:
In a new ABC interview featuring the cast and crew of GENERAL HOSPITAL, executive producer Frank Valentini says he brought back the Nurses Ball, in part, to honor the history of the show. The ball begins on Friday, April 5.
"It's just going to blow everybody's mind and it's going to be a three-day event this year," Valentini said. "We couldn't fit everything in to just this one month so for the next several months, they'll be more returns and more excitement and more fun surprises for the audience."
"I'd love to have a boyfriend. That would be nice," said Leslie Charleson, who plays Dr. Monica Quartermaine and has been a part of the show for 36 years.
Check out the entire video segment below which also features Anthony Geary, Genie Francis and Finola Hughes.
There are only 25 days to go until the return of AMC, and The OnLine Network (TOLN) has released a new video promo which highlights the history of the show with a glimpse of the new cast at the end. Check it out below:
The countdown is on until the return of OLTL on April 29. With 25 days to go, The OnLine Network (TOLN) has released a new video promo for OLTL narrated by Erika Slezak which highlights the history of the Viki and Dorian rivalry with a glimpse of the new cast at the end. Check it out below:
Katie Couric will make a cameo on GENERAL HOPSITAL on April 16. She will play Dr. Kelly Curtis on GH in scenes with Nikolas and Epiphany.
Katie Couric is celebrating 50 years of GH with a special episode of KATIE today. She asks Jack Wagner to show her his smoldering kiss me now look.
Now that the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony has been scheduled for Sunday, June 16, the question then becomes what can we expect from this year's celebration. So Soaps In Depth went straight to the source for answers: executive producer Gabriel Gornell and senior executive director David Michaels!
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Daytime Emmys as well as THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, and with GENERAL HOSPITAL celebrating 50 years on the air, it's the perfect time to celebrate daytime's illustrious history. "We'll definitely be looking at past, present and future with regards to daytime television," Gornell promises. "It's our own 40th and that will anchor the theme. It'll work nicely as we honor all the anniversaries that we'll be celebrating at the same time."
And of course, you can't celebrate history without plenty of clips to illustrate it! "We're going to put particular emphasis on the wonderful clips from years past," he adds. "I can tell you everybody is excited to see wonderful clips celebrating 40 years of achievements. This year, more than any other, we're going to be embracing that."
And while ONE LIFE TO LIVE is technically eligible for awards for its final month of episodes, ALL MY CHILDREN will also be included in the show. "Let's just say that a lot of those actors are part of our 40 year history," Michaels teases, "so it's certainly appropriate [to have them there]."
Additional creative elements such as the names of presenters and a host will be announced in the coming weeks, but Michaels wants soap fans to know that the genre will not be lost in the rest of the daytime programming. "The talk shows are huge right now as are the court shows and the culinary shows," he admits. "But all of that said, still, there are no fans like soap fans. People want to see the soap stars, and they will!"
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star and New Orleans native Christian LeBlanc tells CBS News that surveillance cameras at his Louisiana house caught a hit-and-run on video. LeBlanc says the crash woke up house guests.
"We had friends in town," LeBlanc adds, "and the first thing he sees down there is this poor guy dragged by a car that's running a stop sign."
LeBlanc would like a speed bump, caution light or stop sign, "anything at this point," to be added to the busy intersection near his house.
Emme Rylan's first airdate for GENERAL HOSPITAL will be April 11, according to the actress on Twitter. Rylan is joining the cast of GH as Lulu Spencer Falconeri, replacing Julie Marie Berman, who announced her departure last month. Lulu has been kidnapped and her husband, Dante, and parents, Luke and Laura are desperately searching for her.
Rylan previously played the roles of Lizzie Spaulding in GUIDING LIGHT and, most recently, Abby Carlton in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.
Melissa Ordway is replacing Rylan on Y&R as Abby and will debut later this month.
Tickets went on sale to the public on Saturday, March 30, for The Paley Center's upcoming "General Hospital: Celebrating 50 Years and Looking Forward" event, and they sold out in 45 minutes. Will Keck, Senior Editor & Columnist of TV Guide Magazine will moderate a panel discussion on April 12 at 7 p.m PT that will feature GH executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati. Members of the cast are going to join them and will be announced soon.
If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch a conversation stream on the Paley Center website.
UPDATE:
Though more star names are still being confirmed for the event, moderator Will Keck has announced some of the actors appearing on the panel: Anthony Geary, Jane Elliot, Jacklyn Zeman, Maurice Benard, Jason Thompson and Laura Wright. Also joining the discussion are the two men responsible for bringing back so many beloved fan favorites over the past year: executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati.
Fans are just a month away from the return of "All My Children" and "One Life To Live," which will both debut online, thanks to Prospect Park's The Online Network, on April 29.
And it's not just the fans who are thrilled, so is Eden Riegel, the Emmy-award winning actress who is stepping back into the role of Bianca Montgomery.
AccessHollywood.com: How excited are you to be back in Pine Valley?
Eden: It's really tons of fun and a little bit surreal because I've had such a history with the show and it was such a huge part of my life... and I had to say goodbye to it... The final goodbye really felt like it was for good. Not initially because there was this potential that Prospect Park could bring it back, but very shortly thereafter, they couldn't make the deals with the unions and it just started looking less and less likely. When they finally demolished the set, we were sure that that was it. And then to get a call a year later, that they really meant business - first of all, it was like a dream come true, but also it signaled to all of us the real commitment that Prospect Park was making to the show and how much they believed in it. Nobody resurrects something from the dead unless they really think that people want it and it has a place in our culture and that meant a lot to us all.
Access: What was the conversation that got you on the show?
Eden: I have a family and I live in LA, and I was like, 'I want to do it so badly, but I don't know if I can.' And then they came up with this really creative idea - they're sharing the studio between 'All My Children' and 'One Life To Live,' so there's these hiatuses where we can return home to our normal lives so it's not quite as disrupted... They really wanted me back on the show and that meant a lot to me because they needed continuity for the fans and they needed representation by somebody from the Kane family. Susan Lucci is the lifeblood of the show... She's working on 'Devious Maids' right now and so she wasn't able to make a full time return, although I have heard that she's doing everything she can to come back at least for a visit, but, it was really important that the fans know that this is gonna be their show and not just a bunch of new faces. So, it meant a lot to me that they tried so hard to make it work and that they were excited about my character and had great ideas for what to do with her so I just had to do it because I wanted to see them through to this chapter.
Access: It's really interesting what you said about having a representative from the Kane family because I hadn't thought about that before ... Does that put extra pressure on you as an actress ... because you are the representative of this family.
Eden: Yeah, you know what's really funny about that is when I first started on the show, I was a teenager and I was playing 16 and I was having big problems with my mom and she had this rebellious daughter that she didn't totally understand. That was my first storyline and now I have a 16-year-old daughter on the show. It's completely fully circle and I would say Miranda much more takes after Erica and Bianca sort of takes after Mona... One of the first major storylines that 'All My Children' featured was Erica Kane, a rebellious daughter and her mother, sort of a matriarchal type, who was trying to guide her daughter to a safer place. She was trying to keep her in check, but also celebrate who she was and we're doing sort of a similar thing... It's so interesting that it should happen right at the beginning of 'All My Children 2.0.'
Access: Is it true we pick up a few years later?
Eden: That's right.
Access: The last time people saw 'All My Children,' J.R. Chandler had a gun, and he was hiding behind the walls as most of the residents of Pine Valley were gathered together. What can you tell us about where the show picks up?
Eden: By having a quick sort of fast forward you get the opportunity to restart things because things have changed a lot in these people's lives and yet, they're still struggling with some of the same issues, and, of course, that final cliffhanger has definitely affected -- it's ricocheted and affected people's lives and Miranda and A.J. who were just little kids at that point are now teenagers and dealing with the fallout themselves. So I think it was a really, really smart move to do this time jump because then you just get so many more possibilities. You don't have to quickly rehash and finish up old stories. You get to start fresh with the same people, but at a slightly different point in their lives.
Access: Do they explain away Erica's absence?
Eden: No. I think in a good way... there isn't a lot of time on like, 'Oh, where's so and so?''You remember she's out of town doing this...' They don't spend a lot of time on the exposition of that stuff so what you end up getting is the feeling that those people still are present. They're just not featured. And soap audiences are used to there being a large cast and not every storyline can be dealt with every day so, it doesn't have to be mentioned that Erica's at the nail salon today. So I don't know if it's specifically mentioned where she is or what she's doing... I don't think that her absence is gonna be quite as palpable for the audience, which is good because I'm sure they're gonna miss her enough and they can sort of believe that she is present.
Access: We've heard the show is going to be a little racier and the language is going to be a little racier. Is that true?
Eden: Yes, that's what I've heard too. And I've definitely noticed it in the language and [how] the romantic encounters are described on paper - and I didn't get to see any of them shot - but I do understand that they were quite racy and there's a little bit more skin showing.
Access: Is it more cable-y?
Eden: Yeah, I think so. I think a funny thing happens when there's much more creative freedom. Because we're doing it on the web, there aren't as many restrictions. In a strange way the show feels a little less edgy, I think it's gone a little bit more to the heart of what the show originally was, which is relationship driven rather than plot driven.
Access: You started talking about other people's relationships on the show, so I'm guessing then that there is no romance for Bianca this time around?
Eden: They're being very secretive and I can't reveal anything and some of it has to do with -- Bianca was very affected by what happened at the end of the show -- the big cliffhanger and her family is very affected by it, so if I tell you what's going on with her romantically, it's a big reveal.
Access: Finally, we hear Alicia Minshew, who plays your sister Kendall, is coming back for a cameo. Is that correct?
Eden: She is coming back for a cameo... and I got to work with her... Yes, Alicia is coming and I got to do a scene with her, which was just amazing. Staring into her big brown eyes everything came flooding back, like our old relationship and we shared so many intimate scenes together and also we're very, very close friends so it was a lovely reunion between Bianca and Kendall.
TVGN today announced that it will become the exclusive basic cable home for the #1 daytime drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (Y&R). The acquisition of the top-rated daytime franchise from Sony Pictures Television (SPT) marks the first TVGN programming announcement as part of the new CBS Corporation/Lionsgate partnership.
Beginning this summer, Y&R will move from SOAPnet, where it has already been a basic cable ratings success, to TVGN, keeping the 7 p.m. ET/PT time slot where it has built a loyal fan base, and will appear day-and-date with its broadcast on CBS. One of the most popular franchises in daytime television history, Y&R recently celebrated 40 years on the air on CBS, where it has dominated the ratings in daytime.
Currently, Y&R is the #1 daytime drama on network television among total viewers and key demos, including women 18-49 and 25-54. It has also been Soapnet’s #1 series for five consecutive years, delivering a significant audience share among women 18-49 and 25-54—two key demos for TVGN.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES star Alison Sweeney and James Scott appeared on THE TONIGHT SHOW on Tuesday evening in a skit with Jay Leno. Leno was asked by an audience member if he would ever star in a soap opera. She then asked if he would run over to DAYS and tell Sami he was in love with her.
JERSEY SHORE star JWoww is ready for her April 29 appearance as a bartender on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. She told MTV she understands all the subtleties of that part.
"I'm playing a bartender who sleeps with her boss. So it's me, basically. I used to be a bartender. I never slept with my boss, but I slept with plenty of people to know the attitude issue," she told MTV News on the set last week, where she was sporting soap opera-approved big hair and a tight t-shirt.
"And he's bringing around other girls in front of my face, so this role is totally me from night to day, day to night."
While she can understand her character's state of mind, what's been proving difficult is learning all her lines. She explained, "But the only problem is remembering my lines and knowing where to step and where to stand. So I just keep repeating my lines over and over with the cast, saying it along with them helps a lot. Last night I was going through them with [my fiancé] Roger and I completely blanked and today I'm doing better."
In a new FrontiersLA interview, Emmy winner Judith Light reflects upon her time playing Karen Wolek in ONE LIFE TO LIVE, and shares her excitement about the return of her former soap. Here's an excerpt:
A few weeks ago, the internet was abuzz again with posting the clips and scenes of the 34th anniversary of the ultimate soap opera performance of you as Karen Wolek in the Daytime Emmy winning courtroom scene on ONE LIFE TO LIVE from 1979! What do you think about that performance, when you look back at it today?
I think dynamically for the culture, as we were talking about before, what it demonstrates is the need to have the courage to come out. When people see that they are moved by it, because against all odds, against every secret, against ever knowing that she will be rejected by her community, her husband, her friends, everyone in her life just about, she knows that she has to tell the truth about what she had done. And in doing so, it sets her free.
I think at a deep profound level which we all know and can feel, there is that oneness and connectedness. Karen’s omission on the witness stand is an ionic moment, because everyone understands that at a very deep profound level. It’s not only that performance; it’s what the moment in time symbolizes … something that everyone can recognize as a kind of bravery to support a friend that simply has to be done. It doesn’t just free the friend; it frees the person who was doing it, as well. You also have to understand, that was a year and a half of putting every piece of that story in place. When I came on OLTL they said to me, “We want to do the story from the movie Belle de Jour with Catherine Deneuve.” It was the story of this woman who was a prostitute during the day and was married to this man, and that was her life. They said, “What do you think of this story?” I said, “I think it’s brilliant.”
So they carefully laid in the pieces of that, and you have to look at the level of writing! People say, “Ech, Soap Operas!” Look at what they created! I believe it is one of TV Guide’s Top 100 Moments in Television. It is for the depth of the story, the writing of the story, the year-and-a-half of placing it in real time, and then having the courtroom scene being the culmination of it. I think that is why people still relate to it.
The show that gave you your start ONE LIFE TO LIVE was canceled in 2011, and went off the air in January of 2012; only it has a second life to live! ONE LIFE is coming back online with all new episodes on April 29. What are your thoughts that his iconic soap is literally coming back from the dead?
I think it is so fantastic, and I am so happy for everyone. I am not just happy for the people on the show, because it was something that they had devoted themselves to for such a long time, but also the fact that the fans are the ones who really demanded it! They were the ones that put themselves on the line and put themselves out there, and they got what they wanted and what they deserved. It makes me so happy. You want for people to want what they have longed for, and what they have been devoted to. This is a demonstration of the power of the people.
On Monday, April 1 at 9:30 a.m. ET, Executive Producer Frank Valentini, Head Writer Ron Carlivati, and cast members Anthony Geary, Genie Francis, Kin Shriner, Jason Thompson, Kelly Monaco and Finola Hughes of ABC’s GENERAL HOSPITAL will visit the New York Stock Exchange and ring The Opening Bell to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Emmy-award winning show.
Agnes Nixon’s socially relevant serials All My Children and One Life to Live were groundbreaking in content when they debuted on ABC over 40 years ago.
Now, those same programs, which the Alphabet net canceled in 2011, stand poised to chart new territory — as business models for online programming — when they return with fresh episodes starting April 29.
Production company Prospect Park has licensed the serials from ABC and will be presenting them on Hulu Plus, iTunes and Prospect Park’s own network, dubbed the Online Network.
“A while back, Jeff (Kwatinetz, my business partner) and I started to believe that the world was about to change in terms of how viewers receive their programs,” says Rich Frank of Prospect Park. “Almost 20% of college graduates don’t buy television sets. Today, there’s the ability to feed anything to anybody’s screen — TV, iPad, or telephone — and give them programming that they want.”
While the two canceled serials were no longer wanted by ABC, Frank and Kwatinetz felt that the programs could serve as the foundation for an entire online network.
“At first, we had trouble explaining what we were trying to do, and we couldn’t make the deals,” Frank says. “After a year of (people) being out of work, there was a lot more openness to it. The guilds worked with us.”
There’s buzz that the new versions of ‘Children’ and ‘Life’ will outpace their broadcast counterparts in terms of provocative material, in order to capture new and younger viewers.
“We are going to be a little hotter and sexier,” Rich says. “That doesn’t mean we’ll be doing anything that’s offensive. We’re trying to be contemporary and have storylines that are relevant to people’s lives.”
But online soaps may find it challenging to do doing eye-grabbing material that’s more timely and provocative than what broadcast serials are already providing. For example, The Young and the Restless recently told a cyberbullying storyline with some of its teen characters; Days of Our Lives is telling an ongoing gay teen love story that has shown two young men kissing and in bed together.
“Nobody tunes in for the bells and whistles,” says “Days” co-exec producer Greg Meng. “This genre’s all about the written word.”
Steve Kent, senior exec programming veep of Sony Pictures Television (which produces “Restless” and “Days”) says he isn’t sure that the Prospect Park endeavor is a true gamechanger.
“This is an evolution of the viewing mechanism,” Kent says, “People have long predicted the demise of network television, but it still exists and will for the foreseeable future.”
As for potentially racier content, Kent says, “If they turn ‘All My Children’ into porn — and I’m sure they won’t — then nobody is going to watch. Soap audiences are more traditional.”
Kent hastens to add, however, that the definition of what’s traditional is “constantly changing.”
No matter what, the industry will be tuning in (logging on?) to see if this venture succeeds both creatively and financially.
“We all have our fingers crossed that this is successful,” says Meng. “(But) these shows won’t be competitive with us.”
Says Frank: “If we’re right, we’ll have started something. If not, then we’ll have spent a lot of time seeing if this would work. But we’re very confident that this will happen and that people will come to us. This is just the start. After we’re up on the air and running we’re going to look at doing other things.”
On Monday afternoon, GENERAL HOSPITAL stars Genie Francis and Kin Shriner taped a segment of HLN's SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. They talked about classic GH moments as well as the power of reality TV (HLN dared to suggest the wedding and Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries last year was somehow comparable to the wedding of Luke and Laura, which was watched by a record 30 million viewers in 1981).
The iconic soap set in the disaster-prone town of Port Charles turns 50 this year, and to celebrate, its stars spilled their secrets to PARADE.
In honor of GENERAL HOSPITAL's 50th anniversary week, SOAPnet will encore its 50-hour marathon of classic episodes starting Friday, April 5th at 10 p.m. ET/PT and running through Monday, April 8 at 12 a.m. ET/PT (Sunday night/Monday morning). The marathon kicks off with the very first episode from 1963, and will include shows from every decade.
The marathon will cover favorite characters, couples and storylines with such themes as romance (Luke & Laura’s wedding, Frisco & Felicia’s wedding, Luke & Laura’s dance at Wyndham’s, Lucky & Liz’s first kiss), heartbreak (Stone dies, Sonny leaves Brenda at the altar, BJ dies/Maxie’s heart transplant), action-adventure (Ice Princess, the Hostage Crisis, the Hotel Fire,) and shocking bombshells (Elizabeth finds Carly in the panic room, AJ discovers he’s Michael’s father, Jason’s car accident) plus many more surprises and appearances by fan favorites (Elizabeth Taylor as Helena Cassadine, John Stamos as Blackie, Ricky Martin as Miguel, Rick Springfield as Noah). It is an extraordinary marathon, 50 years in the making.
Stuart asked Liza for help in keeping Scott and Gillian from marrying. In typical Liza style, she shrewdly developed a plan to stop the wedding. Liza presented Ryan with an ultimatum. Ryan, busted by Liza for taking kickbacks, tried to woo Erica into changing her story. Needless to say, she was more amused than impressed. Comforted by the image of Maria, Edmund managed to free one hand, but Jim easily overpowered him. Pressured by Brooke, Laura finally told her story. Stuart, unaware of Liza's plan, offered Gillian his hand in marriage, while a dismayed Marian listened in. Tad returned from Pigeon Hollow with news for Camille. The real Axel Green showed up with the intention of reclaiming his ex-wife. Dimitri met with a mystery man who provided him with a means of tracking Jim's movement. The mystery man broke into Linden and looked nearly identical to -- but aged -- Mike Roy. Opal flew off the handle when she discovered Palmer and Isabella dining together. Dimitri tracked Jim and overtook him.
Margo and Jack were in a shootout, and Margo had to take a life. Carly took the home pregnancy test and was disappointed to find it negative, but she devised another idea. Lucinda and Molly teamed up to take David down. Nikki asked if she could move in with Barbara.
The Forresters watched anxiously as Rick and Amber underwent major surgery. Thorne told Stephanie that he was taking a vacation from the family. Grant and Macy gave their friends and family a surprise wedding. Thorne watched helplessly as Macy said "I do" to Grant. Lauren grew more and more puzzled at Johnny's strange behavior. Ridge, Taylor, and Thomas grew closer while Stephanie presented Brooke with papers that could end her marriage to Ridge.
Stefano got out of the hospital and tracked down Celeste, giving her the cure to the jungle madness. Edmund planned a surprise wedding for Susan and took Violet and Elvis to Salem just before Kristen was ready to escape to England to kidnap the baby. Susan was caught trying to escape and was scheduled for execution. The evidence against Laura continued to pile up, forcing Abe and Roman to reopen the investigation into Kristen's death. Eric and Nicole's secret photo shoot went well, and Sami vowed to make Kate accept her new campaign. Mike's rival, Craig, taunted him about his failed relationship with Carrie, renewing Carrie's commitment to the campaign at the expense of her time with Austin, who started to brood about Carrie's devotion to Mike.
Michael was returned to Carly and Jason as Tony was arrested as the kidnapper. Jason rushed Robin to the hospital, and as she recuperated, Jason made the decision to stop seeing her to protect her. Tess carried out her plot to kill Jax. Lucky joined forces with Helena.
Reva discovered that she was not alone on the island. Cassie had trouble dealing with Reva's death and the Reva clone. Blake confided her feelings for Ben to Holly; Holly gave her a way out. Ben objected to moving Abby to a minimal-security prison where she would be safe, and the judge agreed. Ben gave the tape to Blake, and Ross set the wheels in motion to get Abby released. Abby met her new cellmate. Ross went to confront Ben just as Blake, not knowing where Ross was headed, decided to visit Ben one last time. Reva built a raft. Clone Reva had another growth spurt.
Téa made it clear that she wanted a divorce, but she and Todd played a game of "Money Hungry." Viki went out on a date with Sam, and Clint showed his jealous side. Andrew told Viki that he loved Téa, but she could not condone his actions because what he did affected his congregation. Max and R.J. went to Quebec and found the twins. R.J. was shot. After Todd's nightmare, Téa slept next to him in bed. Blair had a fake ID made and showed it to Ian's solicitor. Todd gave Blair more visitation with Starr. Téa read Todd's letter. Todd and Téa kissed.
Neil told Dru he was tired of her deception. Dru told him just because she wanted a career didn't make her a terrible person. She decided to take the extended modeling job and left, taking Lily with her. Christine confided to John Silva that she was thinking of helping Michael get his law license back. Phyllis told Michael that Christine would never forgive and forget what he had done to her. The vigil for Nikki at the hospital continued, as Victor vowed to find Sara and punish her for what she had done. Victor remembered the good times he had once shared with Nikki and the idyllic family life they'd had. He called Diane from the hospital to tell her he was heading home -- he had something important to discuss with her. At the apartment, he told her that Nikki would most certainly die, and he wanted to reunite the family before she did by remarrying her. He needed Diane's cooperation to do so. Diane reluctantly agreed, and Victor headed to the Dominican Republic for a quickie divorce. Back at the hospital, Nikki started to wake up, asking where Joshua was. Shortly after learning of his death, Nikki went into cardiac arrest, and she had a near-death experience. When she got "back," Victor was there, and he told her he wanted them to be a family again. He asked Nikki if she would be his wife again, and Nikki said it was all she had ever wanted and that she felt at peace. "Yes," she said, "Yes, I do." Victor gently kissed her.
Monday ("Daniel Reunites With Parker")
Daniel is elated to see his son; Kristen loses it when Hope informs Brady that they caught his mugger.
Tuesday ("Daniel Becomes Suspicious of Chloe")
Nicole believes that Chloe was behind Jennifer ending her relationship with Daniel.
Wednesday ("Chloe's Deception")
Rafe and Nicole give Daniel some useful information; Jennifer looks to her mother for advice; Nick stops Gabi from signing Kate's papers.
Thursday ("Daniel Confronts Chloe")
Jennifer believes it is best to leave Salem; Stefano makes an effort with Chad and Cameron.
Friday ("Proposal")
EJ hints that a marriage proposal could be heading in Sami's direction; sparks fly between Nicole and Vargas.
Monday ("The Answer")
Felicia gives Frisco an answer to his proposal; Patrick honors Robin; Britt makes her news known.
Tuesday ("Britt's News")
Britt's announcement rocks the crowd; Molly and TJ sing a duet; Ellie confronts Maxie about what she is hiding; AJ and Liz kiss.
Wednesday ("Bobby Consoles Scott")
AJ and Liz take the next step in their relationship; Carly walks in on Brenda with a guest of her own.
Thursday ("Luke and Laura's Nightmare")
Luke and Laura get devastating news from Nikolas; Brenda and Carly battle it out in the Metro Court lobby.
Friday ("Monica's Elated")
Monica is overjoyed over AJ and Liz's relationship; Maxie and Mac discuss how they feel about one another.
Monday ("Katie's Condition")
Bill and Brooke rush to the hospital to see Katie; Caroline manipulates Maya.
Tuesday
Donna questions Brooke; Taylor suspects Bill and Brooke are to blame for Katie's condition.
Wednesday ("Taylor Questions Bill and Brooke")
Bill becomes irritated by Taylor's questions; Brooke gets emotional as she sits with Katie.
Thursday ("Invitation")
Taylor and Eric give Steffy and Liam an enticing invitation; Dayzee and Caroline discuss how much they don't want Maya around.
Friday ("Question for Maya")
Rick invites Maya to meet him at Forrester Creations; Hope refuses to give in to Taylor's request.
4/8, Nikki warns Adam about the consequences of double-crossing Victor; Summer concocts a plot to seduce Kyle
4/9, Victoria and Billy celebrate Johnny's birthday; Cane and Jill lend Katherine their support during a crisis.
4/10, Sharon questions Nick's intentions with Avery; Lauren tries to forget about Carmine and reconnect with Michael.
4/11, As Adam and Victor connect, Victoria seethes; Christine shares advice that hits close to home for Michael.
4/12, Nick issues a warning; Tyler makes an emotional confession to Lily.