Meandering Musings

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) -- Soap Opera Network first reported that Sarah Michelle Gellar was interested in returning to her roots for a guest appearance in May. Today, the same day that film-star Josh Duhamel first aired on "All My Children" in his return stint as Leo du Pres, it was announced that Gellar's interest had come to fruition. Early this afternoon, Soap Opera Digest broke the news that the actress will appear on "AMC" for one episode before the September 23 finale on ABC.

Gellar, who has been a fan of the 41-year-old ABC soap almost her entire life, is also a fan of the actress that with much success took over the role of Erica Kane's first born in 2002, Alicia Minshew. On that note, the actress will not be returning to reprise the role of Kendall Hart. Gellar originated the role in 1993. Of her successor, Minshew, Gellar says, "[it's her] role now. She has made that beyond her own. She's amazing." Who will Gellar be playing? She has no idea, yet. The actress tells Digest she is open to playing any role, from a bar patron to the long-missing Bobby Martin's new ski-bunny wife, as long as she gets to bid the soap that started her career a respectful adieu.

The Daytime Emmy Award winner, who became a mainstream star for her seven season run (1997 to 2003) on the cult-classic and critically acclaimed "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," is set to star on the CW drama-thriller "Ringer" in the 2011-2012 prime-time season. Speaking of "AMC" and "Ringer," Justin Bruening - who is also returning to "AMC" for a short stint this summer - will be joining the cast of "Ringer" as a potential love interest for Gellar's character. The role is recurring. (Bruening had originally been set to star on an NBC reboot of "Wonder Woman" for the 2011-2012 prime-time season; the production was dropped due to expense). Gellar adds that she believe she's set to tape at "AMC" on the same day her new co-star, Bruening, returns to tape his episodes.
 

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It would be pretty funny if SMG was a babysitter for Kendal's son Spike!

But, good grief, Bruenig is going to be SMG's love interest?  Laimie?  (Thus dubbed by combining "Labrador Retriever" with his character's name... because the only thing Bruenig was ever good at was looking like a congenially confused puppy.   You could almost hear the Scobby-voiced 'huh?' in his scenes.)

From TVGuide.com:

 

Alexa Havins and Justin Bruening are returning to All My Children, ABC announced Tuesday.  Havins portrayed Babe Chandler from 2003 to 2007.  The character died.

Bruening began playing Jamie Martin in 2003 and left the series in 2007 when his character went to work in Africa. The real-life couple will return for several episodes in September.

All My Children, which was canceled in April, will air its final episode Friday, Sept. 23.


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Heh, they're busy resurrecting folks  over there (in one form or another.  It could be a slew of angels... or zombies)  because in addition to Havins,   Cady McClain's Dixie is back from the dead (again.  And last time they killed her on screen, with a body, and a funeral... and then we saw her in HEAVEN!  Actually they did the same with Havins (except the heaven part.  Babe wouldn't go to heaven. Purgatory at best, and no the show can't say otherwise, no matter how hard they try to stick a halo on her.). 

Josh Duhamel's [sp] "Leo" is also returning from the dead (or having a ghostly visitation)

As is Thorsten Kaye's "Zach."

ABC has just canceled "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" .  That leaves only "General Hospital" on the network. 

I may actually tune in for this.  I stopped watching years ago, but it's Grandma Horton, ya'll!  This will take tissues. 

Alice(character) the Horton family matriarch was always the sweetest. most supportive and understanding grandma ever (The kind that saw the good hearts in town outcast bad boys, no less) and Frances Reid was always a hilariously, wonderfully outspoken salty broad (she really deserved the term 'broad') who was beloved for telling it like it is (like calling out Ken Corday when he tried to spin his having fired her (when she was 90!) as not really, really firing her when he had to re-hire her again.  She wasn't going to let Kenny fudge the truth!  And I always loved her for calling out that asshole writer Jim Reilly as a really screwed up asshole.  Alice Horton was wonderful fictional comfort food, but Frances Reid was an awesome hoot! 

Rest in peace Alice and Frances. :(


From TVGuide.com:

Now this is Big Love! Days of Our Lives will celebrate the life, and honor the passing, of legendary actress Frances Reid with a farewell that's unprecedented in soap history. The beloved veteran, who played Salem matriarch Alice Horton from the show's debut in 1965 until her health became too fragile in 2007, died last February at age 95. On June 9, Days viewers will learn that Alice is rapidly declining, at which point several characters from the past will gather for a final visit. Among the returning fan faves: Melissa Reeves (Jennifer), Jaime Lyn Bauer (Laura), Maree Cheatham (Marie), Lisa Trusel (Melissa), Patsy Pease (Kimberly), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) and V's Roark Critchlow (Mike). Alice's death on June 23 will be followed by a splendid memorial loaded with flashbacks. TV Guide Magazine spoke about the tribute with longtime Days star Peter Reckell (Bo), one of Reid's great screen partners.

TV Guide Magazine: Soap fans love those rare friendships between characters of vastly different generations — Lila [Anna Lee] and Brenda [Vanessa Marcil] on General Hospital, Myrtle [Eileen Herlie] and Bianca [Eden Riegel] on All My Children, Nancy [Helen Wagner] and Katie [Terri Colombino] on As the World Turns. And then, most memorably, there was you and Frances Reid — the rebel biker and the donut-making granny! You two had a very special bond dating back to your whippersnapper days in the '80s. Why isn't this more common on soaps?
Reckell: It's so true. Bo and Mrs. H! I loved our scenes together. It would be great if we mixed it up more on the show these days. I don't see the kids on our show hardly at all anymore. And that's a shame because, you're right, the audience eats that up. But we do have Suzanne Rogers [Maggie] picking up the torch from Frances and working with the younger ones. It's good to see her step up and become our matriarch. She's the one with the history now. ( Read more... )

My reaction upon reading this is GOOD! That's what they get for pandering to loudmouthed bigots(though we've long had evidence that not even the most blatant incompetence, homophobia, and misogyny will get the people in charge of ABC Daytime fired.)

From Daytime Confidential:

One Life to Live hit a new low as fans tuned out in droves, following the shoddy, fear-based exit of groundbreaking supercouple Kyle (Brett Claywell) and Oliver(Scott Evans). OLTL lost 227,000 total viewers, hitting the soap opera's all-time low rating. OLTL was also down year-to-date 310,000, and was dead last among total viewers. The soap I used to race home to watch first every day, but now  can go days on end without even being bothered to look at, also dropped to record low in the women 18-49 demo. Looks like the Kish fans have spoken.

My reaction upon reading this is GOOD! That's what they get for pandering to loudmouthed bigots(though we've long had evidence that not even the most blatant incompetence, homophobia, and misogyny will get the people in charge of ABC Daytime fired.)

From Daytime Confidential:

One Life to Live hit a new low as fans tuned out in droves, following the shoddy, fear-based exit of groundbreaking supercouple Kyle (Brett Claywell) and Oliver(Scott Evans). OLTL lost 227,000 total viewers, hitting the soap opera's all-time low rating. OLTL was also down year-to-date 310,000, and was dead last among total viewers. The soap I used to race home to watch first every day, but now  can go days on end without even being bothered to look at, also dropped to record low in the women 18-49 demo. Looks like the Kish fans have spoken.

Haven't seen it yet, but the commercials look good.  Plus, Deadwood! Anyway, TV Guide's review of Justified   Sounds good as the commercials looked:

Raylan Givens, the hero of FX’s terrific new series Justified, is a disarming character in every sense of the word.

As played with laconic charm and drawling irony by Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), Raylan’s a bona fide hero (a rare breed on FX), a deputy U.S. marshal—“Like in Gunsmoke?” someone asks, to which he answers, “More like The Fugitive.” Quiet and courtly yet simmering with murderous rage for the lowlifes he encounters, Raylan has a smart and sexy dark humor that goes down bourbon smooth. But get on his or the law’s wrong side, and the soft-spoken modern cowboy becomes a quick-drawing deadly weapon.

“I don’t pull my weapon unless I’m going to shoot to kill,” he says. And unless, in his mind, it’s Justified—a clever name for a fantastically entertaining instant classic. Like its leading man (a literary creation of the renowned Elmore Leonard), Justified is cool. It is hot. And it is great. (The show premieres Tuesday at 10/9c.)

The set-up in Tuesday’s excellent pilot episode, written by Graham Yost (The Pacific, Boomtown), sends Raylan against his will back to his old Kentucky home turf, in exile for his seemingly trigger-happy loose cannon ways. Reconnecting to his roots unearths quite a bit of personal baggage: some of it sexy-funny, a lot of it scary-deadly, the latter most particularly taking the form of a childhood buddy (played by The Shield’s electrifying Walton Goggins) gone bad. White supremacist, rocket-launcher-wielding bad.

Knowing your enemy can make the job even tougher. But if anyone can get ’er done, it’s Raylan, whose sly swagger is more than justified.

This is the best new series, network or cable, of the midseason. An immediately addictive brew of action, suspense and wry humor, the show is grounded in Olyphant’s low-key but high-impact star-making performance, the work of a confident and cunning leading man who’s always good company. Edgy and adult, yet considerably less dark (as in gloomy) and twisted than many of FX’s breakout shows, Justified could be the network’s most broadly accessible entertainment yet. Having seen three of the first four episodes, I am hooked on this must-see series.

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Also, Roush's partial review of last week's (excellent) LOST:

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Oh and TVGuide has its article up on the KISH firing along with 200+ comments in response (and to bring everyone up to date, Tikka Sumter/Layla has now also been bumped to recurring status. So there you go. No more gays or African Americans left in Llanview. But, hey, they still have their rich asshole convicted three-time rapist, double-murderer, and child abuser as a romantic lead!)

Frances Reid, 'Days of Our Lives' matriarch, dies at 95

Frances Reid, the actress who portrayed family matriarch Alice Horton on Days of Our Lives from 1965 to 2007, passed away yesterday at the age of 95 in Los Angeles.

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She was the soul of Days as the eternally sweet, lovable, ever correct and wise Gradma Alice, the eternal champion of 'true love' (even if it required the redemption of a bad boy or three).

And in real life she was a salty and delightful lady who couldn't be intimidated and didn't quibble about speaking her mind (awesomely!) Or calling liars liars. ::sniffle::

Rest in peace, Frances... and Alice.

Frances Reid, 'Days of Our Lives' matriarch, dies at 95

Frances Reid, the actress who portrayed family matriarch Alice Horton on Days of Our Lives from 1965 to 2007, passed away yesterday at the age of 95 in Los Angeles.

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She was the soul of Days as the eternally sweet, lovable, ever correct and wise Gradma Alice, the eternal champion of 'true love' (even if it required the redemption of a bad boy or three).

And in real life she was a salty and delightful lady who couldn't be intimidated and didn't quibble about speaking her mind (awesomely!) Or calling liars liars. ::sniffle::

Rest in peace, Frances... and Alice.

It's New Year's Eve (well, it is in soap land) and Oliver and Kyle finally got to have teh sex. Had to break Nick's heart first, but oh well. Kish squee!