Brittany Underwood

Ford

Markko

I’ve been around soap fans long enough to know that whole lot of you LOVE John-Paul Lavoisier (JP to those in the know!) and his oh-so-expressive eyebrows. Last week we posted about the Likely Story: Red Carpet Riot event in New York that will be featuring One Life to Live stars Robin Strasser, Jason Tam and Brittany Underwood.

Now we can confirm that Hunky McHottie Mr. Rex Balsom himself will be joining the festivities. He’ll be joining his co-stars in reading from the teen novel series Likely Story co-authored by famed YA author David Levithan, playwright David Ozanich and Emmy-winning OLTL scribe Chris Van Etten The stars will be signing autographs and taking pictures, of course. READ MORE

Here’s some good news out of New York for a change! Next Saturday, August 15th, One Life to Live stars Robin Strasser (Dorian), Jason Tam (Markko), and Brittany Underwood (Langston) will be joining the authors of “Likely Story: Red Carpet Riot” to read from their new book and sign autographs. The “Likely Story” series follows 16 year old Mallory as she struggles to create a hit teen soap opera despite her soap diva mother, the monstrous network honchos, and her neurotic cast of talented teens.

Robin, Jason and Brittany will be appearing at 5:30 pm at the Borders in the Time Warner Center Mall at Columbus Circle (West 59th St. and Central Park West) in glamorous, glitzy New York City. The authors are Emmy-winning OLTL scribe Chris Van Etten, famed YA novelist David Levithan (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) and former SOAPnet.com blogger David Ozanich. You can listen to a podcast they did with Daytime Confidential’s Jamey and Luke here.

We’re also hearing rumors that a certain Llanview hunk whose character’s name rhymes with “Tex” will also be on hand to join in the fun. More on that story as it develops. The event is free and open to all. READ MORE

The best argument the soap opera genre can make in favor of its own survival airs at 2pm EST on ABC/ 9pm EST on  SOAPnet. Its name is One Life to Live.

OLTL's fictional town of Llanview, PA. is a town rich in history, overflowing with talent, boisterous in personality and uninhibited by an addiction to one or two characters.

Monday’s nod to Grey Gardens–acted out by the fantastic foursome of Robin Strasser, Kassie DePaiva, Trevor St. John and Florencia Lozano–and the seamlessness with which it was woven into the double wedding ceremony of Viki  to Charlie and Nora to Clint is one of many examples of why OLTL has surpassed The Young and the Restless as the genre’s most well-written soap opera.  READ MORE

My absence from Daytime Confidential lately has not been due to the usual business of family and work taking up a lot of my time, but rather a certain lack energy to post about practically any of the daytime serials that clog up my DVR from day to day. This is neither a positive nor a negative thing because there are frequent periods throughout the year when shows kind of coast along and do their their thing, usually between sweeps.

At these times, there is little for the viewer — if that viewer is me — to get all worked up about this plot twist, that character's action, some couple or another or even a whole show's direction. Normally, this state of affairs hits one or two shows at a time. Every once in a while like the last couple of weeks, the stars align and all the serials get caught in the same momentum of drift. All that is required of us is to watch and see where it all goes.

In that spirit, my brain plays a little game of soap opera hopscotch, taking in odds and ends big and small. There is no great elaboration on anything here, just a quick rundown of things I like and not like so much. Your mileage may vary... READ MORE

Langston

Lola

Starr

The 2009 Young Artist Awards have been announced and several young soap actors have been nominated.

Eddie Alderson (Matthew, One Life to Live), Mick Hazen (Parker, As the World Turns), Terrell Ransom Jr. (Theo, Days of Our Lives) and Austin Williams (Shane, One Life to Live) have been nominated in the category  "Best Performance in a TV Series, Recurring Young Actor".

Kristen Alderson (Starr, One Life to Live), Erin Sanders (Eden, The Young and the Restless) and Brittany Underwood (Langston, One Life to Live) have been nominated in the same category for actresses.

One Life to Live (Eddie Alderson, Kristen Alderson, Camila Banus, Carmen Lo Porto, Austin Williams) is also nominated in the category "Outstanding Young Performers in a TV Series". READ MORE

Okay you knew it was coming. Now that the Idiots In Charge of The-Soap-Opera-Formerly-Known-as-Days-of-Our-Lives have let the phenomenal Blake Berris go, I decided to start out doing a Wishful Casting about where Berris should end up, but it turned into more of an analysis of which soaps are managing to set things up for their next generation the right way, and which ones are getting it wrong, dead wrong.

Much of the daytime industry is experiencing a serious drought in terms of talented, young stars who can actually, you know, act. Save for The Young and the Restless, One Life to Live and General Hospital, the under 30 set at most soaps is pretty much comprised of rejects from the Pamela Anderson School of Acting and Pantomime.  I'll start with the soaps in most need of help and work my way up. READ MORE

Starr & Cole

Langston & Markko

You know, we knew that Clint had a surprise in store for Dorian and Langston (Brittany Underwood) and even though A Martinez's run may only be a short stint I thought I'd see what everyone thinks of Langston becoming a "Cramer Woman?"

Personally, I love that this storyline brings out the softer side in Dorian (Robin Strasser). Too often we just see her as the larger than life, uber bitch, diva she is and we forget that she does have a softer side (anyone who watched the 40th Anniversary episode scenes between Dorian and Mel knows that).

What do you think of this storyline? I'd love to hear your thoughts.