No SOAPnet?  No Problem... well if you're a DIRECTV subscriber, no problem.  DIRECTV will now air episodes of Night Shift on channel 101. 

General Hospital: Night Shift
Coming to The 101 Mondays at 2 pm ET beginning August 11.

On my morning hop, I found a few updates regarding General Hospital: Night Shift's ratings and news of a possible third season in the works.  There has been no official announcement of the third season pick up, however, the ratings look good enough to warrant one.

Solid Returns for General Hospital: Night Shift:

Two episodes two-date, season two of SOAPnet’s General Hospital: Night Shift is averaging a healthy 466,000 total viewers, with a 170,000 key women 18-49. Comparably, this is an increase over the prior four-week time period average by a significant 81 percent in households and 68 percent among adults 18-49.

Congrats!

Marc Berman

Night Shift is back exactly where they left off last season! The surprise hit for SOAPnet last year is still pulling in the best numbers the network has ever had. With an 11pm viewing time SOAPnet is exceeding their numbers for that time slot by over 70%.
Look for the network to start production on a third season of Night Shift, that will most likely air in the beginning of the new year.

Also, fans of the Canadian produced MVP can look forward to more new episodes as the show is continuing with production.

Stay tuned....

K. Sagin
Assistant Executive Producer, SOAPnet
Continue Reading...

Just a friendly reminder that Season Two of General Hospital: Night Shift premieres tonight at 11pm on SOAPnet!  Be sure to tune in and tell us what you think! 

Multiple sources are reporting that Brian Frons, head of ABC Daytime, has said a spin off of One Life to Live is in the works and much like General Hospital Night Shift, the spin off will air on SoapNet.  Frons not only heads up ABC Daytime, but also runs SoapNet and it looks like a Young & the Restless primetime spin off is being discussed as well. 

Knoxnews.com and our pal Nelson Branco have the details.

ABC Daytime President Brian Frons told reporters at an "OLTL" press conference today that he and SoapNet have been in talks to develop a spin-off of "OLTL" for primetime. Concepts are being tossed around, but nothing firm has been settled. Among the rumored ideas: Taking police detective John McBain (Michael Easton) and following him on a case. Continue Reading...

Soap Opera Digest online has released the cast list for General Hospital: Night Shift. The list is as follows below, but be sure to check out the shows  season premiere on Tuesday, July 22 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on SoapNet.

Antonio Sabato Jr. as Jagger Cates
Tristan Rogers as Robert Scorpio
Kimberly McCullough as Dr. Robin Scorpio
Jason Thompson as Dr. Patrick Drake
Sonya Eddy as Epiphany Johnson
Billy Dee Williams as Touissant Dubois
Adam Grimes as Dr. Kyle Julian
Carrie Southworth as Dr. Claire Simpson
Ethan Rains as Dr. Leo Julian
Azita Ghanizada as Dr. Saira Batra

I just finished watching the first two episodes of Canadian soap import MVP on SOAPnet and I am crazy impressed! After seeing previews of the show, I was intrigued yet a part of me was afraid MVP-jam packed with hopelessly-beautiful babe-izons and buffed studs in white boxer briefs who likely spent more time at the gym than at Summer Shakespeare workshops-might have proven to be more Models, Inc. than Melrose Place, but I am glad to say the land that gave us Degrassi and Maple Syrup doesn't disappoint. MVP is icy hot!

From Damon, the tormented, David Beckham-esque male slut,  to she-devil Daddy's girl Molly, to fresh-from-the-farm rookie Trevor (he of the aforementioned boxer briefs), MVP has plenty of interesting characters and juicy plotlines.

At the center of the saga is a classic Cinderella storyline featuring reformed bad guy-turned-team captain Gabe and virginal child care worker Connie. The pair gets off to a promising start before Gabe gets roped into a sex scandal involving Trevor. I won't ruin the surprise since SOAPnet plans to air all three eppys of it's new gem next Friday for the Fourth of July, but I will say I hope Gabe has his face insured! Check out MVP: He Shoots, She Scores Thurs. at  11 pm. ET.

SoapNet.com recently conducted an interview with ex- Guidng Light star Beth Ehlers. In the interview, Beth speaks about deciding to leave Guiding Light, her new character on All My Children, and working with Ricky Paull Goldin again. She has some interesting things to say about her reasons for leaving GL and why she stayed on the east coast. Here is a little snippet of what she had to say about that, but be sure to check out the entire interview. 

Beth: "My kids are at an age [6 and 9] where I want to be home more ... . I just don't have the luxury of shooting in Peapack [NJ, where "GL" shoots most of its location footage a few times a week]. ABC is just 10 blocks away from my apartment!"

What do you get when you cross one straight male fashion designer-complete with Greek God good looks-with six equally attractive future fashion mavens? A whole lot of drama. At least when recorded (and edited) for posterity and 18-to-34-year-old demos for SOAPnet's Summer 2007 docusoap The Fashionista Diaries.

I recently caught up with Andrew Kanakis, the lone "fashionisto" on the series. The good-natured, Philadelphia-bred Kanakis talked to Daytime Confidential about his experiences on the reality show, including what it was like to compete for a cushy editorial gig, first at the now-defunct Jane magazine and later at CosmoGIRL!, his "will they or won't they" showmance with co-star and then-roommate Bridget Helene, what projects the talented designer has been working on since the show taped its last episode and if there will be a second season of the reality show and how Tyra Banks factored into the equation.

Daytime Confidential: Hey Andrew, how's it going?

Andrew Kanakis: Pretty good man.

DC: Thanks for agreeing to do the interview; I was a big fan of The Fashionista Diaries.

AK: No problem! It's my pleasure.

DC: How did you get selected for the show?

AK: I was bored one day at work and a friend forwarded me an email notice that some producers were holding auditions for a reality show about the fashion industry.

DC: Where were you working?

AK:  I was an associate designer for Kenneth Cole.

DC: Nice!

AK: So I went down to ABC Studios on my lunch break and auditioned and ended up being picked for the show.

DC: I read that you initially studied industrial design at Philadelphia University, but took fashion electives to meet girls. Did you ever expect fashion would become your passion?

AK:  (Laughs) Well in fashion design courses the ratio of women to men was pretty much in my favor, but really I didn't want to take useless electives and I come from a creative background so I thought, "Let's see what this fashion thing is all about". Once I got into the class and became involved in the Sophomore Year Fashion Show I was blown away at the incredible amount of work that was involved and I decided that this [fashion] was what I wanted to pursue.

DC: Since actual fashion design is your passion as opposed to fashion editorial, it seemed like the odds were sort of stacked against you on The Fashionista Diaries in regards to landing a spot at Jane or CosmoGIRL!.

AK: Yeah, well originally I was supposed to go to 7th House [the public relations firm where Bridget Helene, Nicole Amendolare and later Laurie Hugill competed for a position], which would have been great because I would have been doing PR for fashion shows and events and getting to meet designers. But I ended up being placed at the magazines and of course Rachel [Jacoby]'s background was in editorial so she had sort of an advantage. But you know what, all of those fields, whether it be PR or editorial or design are related to a career in fashion, so they were all relevant.

DC: What was it like to work with Rachel?

AK: Rachel is a really cool girl. Whenever I was down about something she would always pick me up and vice versa.

DC: Alright well you know we couldn't talk about your time on The Fashionista Diaries without talking about Bridget.

AK:  (Laughs) Oh yeah!

DC: We definitely saw some chemistry between the two of you. What was it like being the show's "It" couple?

AK: Well you know, it's a TV show and the audience wants sex. You want a love story. Not to say there wasn't anything going on, but it was weird for something to happen one way and then I'm looking at it three months later and it is totally different than how it actually happened.

DC:  I thought it was messed up how they tried to make you look like a dog for asking Laurie out, when Bridget had sort of played you hot and cold the whole time.

AK: (Laughs) I know! Then I found out she had a boyfriend the whole time!

DC: Who had a boyfriend? Laurie?

 AK: No Bridget.

 DC: Oh wow!

 AK: There was drama, we all had our dramas. All three groups had different producers sort of talking to each other about what the other groups were doing and that added to the drama a bit. But what do you expect with one straight guy and five attractive women?

DC: So what have you been up to since the show ended?

AK: Well, I've been doing a lot of different things. I started teaching full-time at FIT [The Fashion Institute of Technology] and at another school. I have also been working on my own line of high end costume jewelry. I use only the best materials, such as Swarovski crystal and Onyx. I've sold a few pieces. The next step is to take it to market.  I've also been working on a clothing label and that actually happened because of The Fashionista Diaries, a couple of girls from Bahrain saw me on the show and wanted me to design a collection for their first season for the U.S. Market.

 DC: What's the name of the line?

 AK: It's called Hyperion.

 DC: When can we look for it?

 AK: It should premiere in the Fall of 2009.

 DC: So will the collection be couture or Ready-to-Wear?

 AK: It will be Ready-to-Wear. There will be some evening dresses, but the collection will be the type of items you would find in Bloomingdale's or Macy's.

 DC: Wow, that's awesome. So what about the girls? Do you keep in touch with them?

 AK: I saw Rachel before Christmas. I haven't seen the others that much, but we do keep in touch through an email chain that goes around to all of us. Rachel is working in editorial; Janjay [Sherman] is still at Beauty Bank, which is brand of Flirt Cosmetics; Tina [Patient] works for an event-planning firm, Laurie's at Allison and Broad Public Relations and Bridget is temping at Teen Vogue.

 DC: What about Nicole? Did any of you guys keep in touch with her after she left after the first couple of episodes?

 AK: No I can't say that I have. She sort of went on her own separate path.

 DC: So what about a second season of The Fashionista Diaries? Have you heard anything?

AK: I've heard different things. There were rumors that there would be a second season and that we [the original cast] would be brought back. Then word on the street was they would be using a whole new cast or that the show was being sold to another network, so who knows? It was speculated that SOAPnet might have had some sort of confict with the concept for the new Tyra Banks' show.

 DC: Are you talking about Stylistas [A new reality show coming to The CW next season]?

  AK: Yeah, I initially heard they were planning to call it something related to Fashionistas and then ironically it changed to Stylistas or something like that.

 DC: Cool, well if SOAPnet is rumored to have stepped in about the name of Tyra's show maybe that means they are interested in doing a second season of The Fashionista Diaries?

 AK: Maybe? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Has anyone seen the new show on SoapNet, Relative Madness? Back in April, our own resident blogger Jamey mentioned it when writing about SoapNet’s new look and content. Well the wait for the show is finally over, think The Best Week Ever meets the I Love series that VH-1 has on.

The show’s premise has an hour long top 25 countdown of real- life celebs and TV family’s no-they-didn’t moments. It’s kinda funny and interesting to see stars and experts from all genres give their opinions on the real and fictional relatives that we love and hate also.

Even though the show began on May 8 and so far have two episodes that aired, I'm down with it because its shedding a light on soaps and as we know, soaps have been on their last leg as of lately and we the soap fans and viewers need all the help we can get in order to keep our favorite pastime going.

Relative Madness airs Thursdays at 11:00 p.m., ET/PT, until it wraps up on the week of Fathers Day with an episode titled, “Father Knows Less”.  Check your local listing for SoapNet.