Catching Up with the Divas of Daytime: OLTL

Ever wonder what the leading ladies of Llanview are like in their downtime? Well, look no further than Soapbox1!

This month fellow soap blogger Silas Kain interviewed three of daytime's biggest stars on his blog talk radio show "Lathered Up." Join Silas as he chats with Catherine Hickland (Lindsay), Hillary B. Smith (Nora), and Ilene Kristen (Roxy)! Visit Soapbox1 for all the details!

Soap Fans Unite For A Cause

Everyone knows that soap fans are among the most passionate groups of people, especially when it comes to their favorite soap couple. Some fans channel this passion by creating websites, blogs, or forums devoted to a particular couple. Other fans channel their passion by waging fan campaigns aimed at getting their couple more screen time, and still other fans simply wage war on each other. It is rare, in fact, to see one soap fan base getting along with another. However, several devoted Days fans have found a way to not only get along, but are using their passion for the show to make a difference in the lives of others.








Soap fan Alycia is a long-time fan of Danloe, which, for those in the know, stands for Daniel and Chloe, the Days supercouple played by actors Shawn Christian and Nadia Bjorlin. Once Alycia had a chance to meet them at a charity event she became inspired and formed the group "Shawn Christian Angels" with the intention of helping those in need. Since then the group has gained support and help from other Days fan bases such as the CarBos, fans of Bo and Carly; the Broes, fans of Brady and Chloe, as well as Crystal Chappell fans and Venice fans alike. Together they created an unofficial charity called "Project Freshly Squeezed," which raises and contributes money to "Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation," an organization devoted to raising funds and awareness for childhood cancer treatments and cures.

Alycia at the 'Angels' merchandise booth.

Inset: Nadia and Shawn are presented with baby items
which were later donated.

"Project Freshly Squeezed" is off to a promising start. This year their first fundraising effort is to encourage everyone to skip their daily cup of coffee on the 18th of every month, a date which represents Shawn Christian's birthday. The idea is that the money typically spent on a cup of coffee could instead be donated to "Project Freshly Squeezed." Alycia tells me there are lots of other fundraisers in the works which she believes will give people the incentive to donate. As for the "Shawn Christian Angels" and everyone involved with "Project Freshly Squeezed," Alycia simply states "we are just ordinary people trying to do extraordinary things."

'Angels' merchandiseInset:Shawn models one of the very first 'Angels' t-shirt designs created for a Days charity event in Dallas last year.




For more information on "Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation" & "Project Freshly Squeezed" check out the following links:

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation
Project Freshly Squeezed

Click here to follow the "Shawn Christian Angels" on twitter
Click here to follow "Project Freshly Squeezed" on twitter

If you would like to contact Alycia directly you may e-mail her at the following address: alycatangel@hotmail.com


Photos generously provided by Alycia

Positive Solutions: GH

I think we can all agree that this has been a tumultuous week for daytime television and its fans. We have received news nearly every day of a soap actor or actress who has either been fired or has chosen to leave their respective shows.

If you were one of the many fans on twitter after the news broke that GH's Rebecca Herbst had been, as they say, "let go" you know how heated some of the discussions about her departure became. So many people were angered by this news and viewed it as one more slap in the face to daytime and its fans. People understandably wanted someone to blame and wanted to find a way to keep Rebecca on the show. If you were one of these people or are just looking to find something positive in all the negative that has happened in daytime recently, check out the post "GH Fans We Are Our Own Worst Enemies" by fellow soap blogger Silas Kain over at Soapbox1. In this post Silas not only discusses the firing of Rebecca Herbst, but James Franco, and his often overlooked contribution to the soap opera genre. In this post you will also find information on how you can voice your concerns about Rebecca's firing and ABC Daytime in a way that's both positive and hopefully more productive.


Click here to read "GH Fans We Are Our Own Worst Enemies" by Silas Kain.

Farewell to Possibilities: GH

Remember last week when the only victims of the GH storylines were the viewers? Well, all of that changed as of this afternoon when soapoperadigest.com announced that fan favorite Rebecca Herbst (Liz) had been "let go." Apparently her exit, like so many, is storyline dictated. This makes me wonder what possible storyline could be worth firing Rebecca Herbst over?

I'll admit that I am not a huge Liz fan. I don't necessarily dislike the character, she just sometimes has a tendency to get on my nerves. However I still consider her to be an essential part of the show. In fact given many of the characters who are currently in front burner storylines I would say Liz is the last character who should exit the screen.

To get rid of a character like Liz (I'm all but certain this is not a recast situation) in the presence of so many new and annoying characters is tragic. This not only eliminates the possibility of a future Liason reunion, but of a Liz/Lucky reunion as well. And where does that leave the Aiden paternity storyline? Is Lucky going to be left to raise all three of Liz's kids with Siobhan and her annoying accent? Or will Jason and Sam raise Jake? Or will Liz leave town with all three of her kids without knowing that Aiden is Lucky's? I'm sure Nikolas would never miss Aiden since he already has one child he ignores. Something tells me though that Liz's exit is not going to be as simple as her deciding to leave town with her kids. My unfortunate prediction is that Liz will become the victim of a horrific crime; and given this show's history I would say that is a definite possibilty.

To visit soapoperadigest.com and read more about Rebecca Herbst's shocking GH exit click here.

On the Outs: DOOL

Days of Our Lives is beginning to look a lot like a reality show, with a barrage of actors leaving seemingly every week. Late last year Lindsay Hartley, who played Rafe and Gabi's sister Arianna exited the show. Now fresh on the heels of Mark Hapka's (Nathan) apparent firing comes the announcement on soapoperadigest.com that Shelley Hennig (Stephanie) and Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip) will soon be exiting the show as well. Apparently both Shelley and Jay have opted not to stay with the show - no word yet as to whether their characters will be recast. Without recasts it seems impossible to explain the exits given their current storylines. Nathan will likely go to Baltimore, but I'm not sure how they are going to explain Philip and Stephanie's absence without recasting. I suppose since Stephanie is now single she could simply leave town in pursuit of a fresh start; but with Philip being the father of Melanie's baby it seems like a recast may be necessary.

All of these recent exits have come as a shock to fans and will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the show's relatively small cast. It came as a surprise to me that Hapka was fired and that Hennig and Johnson have decided to leave at this point. However, I remember thinking when I was looking through the Days of Our Lives 45 Years: A Celebration in Photos book that it seemed odd that they would include so many pictures of the show's younger set considering that their overall historical contribution was still unknown. I knew it was possible, given their age, that any one of these actors might choose to leave the show, never realizing how right I was or that my ominous prediction would happen so soon. Even though I'm usually happy to be right, I wish this had been one of those times I was wrong.

So how do you think DOOL should address all these recent exits? Should the characters of Nathan, Philip, and Stephanie be recast or should their absences be explained in another way? Personally I think that with Shelley and Jay both leaving the show there should have been a Nathan/Melanie reunion with or without a recasting of the Nathan role. In addition, if it had never been written in that Melanie became pregnant with Philip's baby, a reunion between Stephanie and Philip might have been possible then they could have exited the show together.


Click here to visit soapoperadigest.com and read more about the latest DOOL exits.


To order a copy of Days of Our Lives 45 Years: A Celebration in Photos by Greg Meng and Eddie Campbell click on the amazon.com link below. My grandparents, who are long-time fans of the show, bought me a copy for Christmas and I love it!

[You should know I will receive a referral credit if you purchase this book by using the link below.]

The Brady Blame Game: DOOL

Warning: This post is dripping with sarcasm.


Apparently the Bradys have invented a new game, the object of which is to list everything bad that happens in Salem and somehow trace it back to Carly. They are not really saying how they are able to link Carly to everyone's misfortune, but they seem to be having fun trying. Clearly their animosity toward her stems from the fact that she "stole" Bo away from Hope because they have yet to provide any other plausible reasons for hating her.






Kayla and Caroline both claim that it was Carly's fault that Nathan left Stephanie and that Caroline is in trouble for changing the paternity test. Okay, so let's see if I can decipher the reason they think Carly is the cause of all of this. Caroline changed the paternity test after overhearing Stephanie's worries that Nathan and Melanie would reunite if it turned out that Philip was the father of Chloe's baby. This must mean that if Carly had never forced Chloe to take a paternity test in the first place Caroline would have never been tempted to tamper with it. Therefore no one would know that Philip is the father and Caroline wouldn't be in trouble. Moreover if it was never discovered that Philip was the father, Melanie would have stayed with him and Stephanie wouldn't have lost Nathan.




Ultimately I guess this means that none of the Bradys are responsible for their own actions. Carly should have known better than to try to keep a paternity test secret in Salem. That's too tempting a scandal for a busybody like Caroline to stay away from. Furthermore if Carly had never had an affair with Daniel then Melanie wouldn't have been born and there wouldn't be anyone for Nathan to fall in love with ever except Stephanie. How dare Carly not have the superhuman foresight to clue her in to the fact that all the Bradys would be hurt by Melanie's birth and eventually Chloe's paternity test.




Quite frankly I'm surprised that no one has accused Carly of being responsible for EJ taking Sami's kids away. Although I suppose if they tried hard enough they could find a link. Just for fun let's see if I can come up with a connection between Carly, and EJ taking Sami's kids. Hmmm, okay how about Carly is responsible for EJ taking Sami's kids because if she had not saved Rafe's life when she first came back to town then EJ and Sami would likely be together with their kids. Hey, I did it! I found the link! This is a fun game, too bad it doesn't involve logic!

This Kiss: GH

When it was announced that General Hospital would be recasting the role of Michael Corinthos, no one could have predicted the impact that Chad Duell would have on the character and GH viewers alike. Even more unpredictable has been the budding romance between Michael and Abby. Just yesterday this unlikely couple shared their first real kiss, an event documented by Michele Dargan of Soapbox1. In her post,"The Kiss Felt 'Round the World" Michele discusses this kiss and her impressions of Michael and Abby's portrayers. Click here to read "The Kiss Felt 'Round the World" by Michele Dargan.

Easy Come, Easy Go: DOOL

With the Parker paternity storyline now coming to a close, DOOL seems to be giving GH a run for their money in how to bungle the endings of perfectly good storylines. I, like many viewers, assumed that once it was discovered that Philip cheated on Melanie and fathered Chloe's child, and that Stephanie was keeping this from Nathan, there would be a Melanie and Nathan reunion. However, two very important things happened last week that will undoubtedly make that impossible. First, it was announced that Mark Hapka had been fired. Then DOOL released a promo which shows Melanie finding out she is pregnant, presumably with Philip's baby (unless of course they find a way to write in that she slept with someone else).








DOOL has been teasing its viewers for months about a Nathan and Melanie reunion and to suddenly drop that as a possibility seems like such a waste. Where is the return on the viewers' investment in watching this show? Of course there is always a chance that there will be a recast in the role of Nathan, but if Melanie really is pregnant with Philip's baby that seems unlikely. I certainly hope this poor excuse for a plot twist was not why Mark Hapka was fired because how many infants does Philip really need? Remember this is the guy who looked confused during Victor's contraceptive lecture.

Mark Hapka's exit from DOOL is reminiscent of Drew Garrett's exit from GH. Both actors were fired right at the end of a major storyline. To be fair, recasting the role of Michael hasn't been a complete catastrophe. It was a shame that GH let such a talented actor go, but Chad Duell is also talented and seems to have won favor with many viewers. Of course given the way he joined GH it could have gone either way. I just hope DOOL and its viewers are as lucky with their casting changes.

Potential calamity aside, the ending of this storyline does have one major high point - the discovery of Stephanie's part in all of this. It was such a relief that Nathan finally saw through her lies and said goodbye. The only thing better than that would be if everyone found out that she had hacked into personal medical records with the intention of changing paternity results. In fact Kayla should be careful about placing blame on Carly considering everything her daughter and mother are guilty of doing. I must say though I was almost embarrassed for Stephanie today when she realized that Nathan knew the truth about her. She went from defending her actions to pathetic groveling in about two seconds.

Before watching this I never realized it was possible for something to make you laugh and cringe all at the same time. However, the funniest part came at the end when Nathan left, closing the door behind him. Stephanie reacted by desperately beating on the door before falling into a lifeless heap of chiffon and tears, because clearly his exit meant he had escaped through some sort of portal, making it impossible for her to find him even if she opened the door.

Crazy Loves Company: GH

If ever there was a storyline or a character over utilized it would be the saga of Lisa Niles. I am both mentally and physically exhausted by the constant back and forth between Lisa & Robin, Lisa & Patrick, Robin & Patrick, and Robin & everyone else. Now new doctor Terrell has been thrown into the mix as another man powerless against Lisa's charms. It is difficult enough at this point to watch Lisa create a path of destruction all by herself, but now that she has help I'm not sure I have the energy to watch any more of her schemes.

Lisa had the potential to be an intriguing soap villain; and for a while it seemed like she may have had the potential to be a redeemable villain (see Miss Diagnosis). However her crazy behavior as well as the motivation behind this behavior is too much to grasp, particularly for someone who supposedly passed her psych evaluation at Shady Brook. Moreover it doesn't make sense that she could talk someone like Terrell into helping her destroy Robin just for the pleasure of her company. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who would be anyone's puppet. It's not like he is some inexperienced young kid with a crush. He seems too confident, too sure of himself to allow his life to revolve around Lisa and her quest to get Patrick. In fact he may be overly confident given that he is willing to help Lisa get Patrick while trying to make her forget him at the same time.

Absolutely nothing about this storyline makes any sense anymore. It's not interesting, it's just ridiculous. It was bad enough when Johnny and Ethan got involved in all of this but with Terrell involved too it is going to be a bigger mess than before. I hate to say this because Brianna Brown has done a remarkable job with the material she has been given but I really think Lisa has worn out her stay in Port Charles. If the most we can hope for is one scheme after another in order to steal Patrick from Robin then no actress anywhere is going to be able to continue to make that interesting.

Aiden Turner Gets Candid About AMC

Perhaps nothing is more disheartening to a soap fan than to see a favorite character behave in ways that are, well, out of character. This is what happened to Aiden Turner's character, Aidan Devane just prior to his departure from "All My Children."

Now, in a new interview, my friend and fellow soap blogger Michele Dargan of Soapbox1, sits down with Aiden to ask him the tough questions about his time in Pine Valley and whether his future might allow for a return to the show. Click here to read the full interview, complete with new photos of the former soap star. His answers may surprise you!

The Dance: DOOL

I hate to say this about one of the best soaps on tv, but I think Days has "jumped the shark" in the EJ/Sami/Sydney/Johnny/Rafe/Nicole/Brady saga. I know that Sami and EJ have this inherent need to constantly one-up each other but their latest competition has gotten a bit ridiculous. I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse than Sami shooting EJ in the head and him taking her kids away; but that just proves you should never assume things can't get any worse.


I meant to comment a few weeks ago on EJ's ludicrous idea that Sami somehow caused Johnny to get cancer. It was one thing for him to blurt that out while he was so upset, but he actually tried to make a case for it, saying that Sami caused Johnny's cancer by stressing him out when he moved in with him. First of all no one person can just give somebody cancer. Moreover Johnny had the cancer before he moved into the Dimera mansion it just wasn't detected. The pictures that Gaby took at Rafe and Sami's wedding prove that. EJ's accusations were so far out there that they should have never been included in the show unless at some point we are going to find out that he has brain damage from Sami shooting him.







EJ blaming Sami for Johnny's cancer turned out to be a minor annoyance compared to what is going on now. His arrangement with Nicole is so infantile it borders on pathetic. He can't stand for Sami to be happy with anyone else, that's obvious. He claims to be marrying Nicole for the soul purpose of driving Sami crazy but in actuality it seems that he is only trying to make her jealous. He's playing the game "if my ex is with someone then I have to at least appear to be with someone too." It's as if he has reverted back to being a teenager, further evidence that suggests some sort of residual brain damage.









At least EJ has an excuse for his irrational behavior, which is more than I can say for Nicole, or Brady for that matter. Nicole's fixation on Sydney has gotten out of control, to say the least. It was one thing for her to sort of lose her mind through her miscarriage and desperation to hold onto EJ but she still acts as though she has some eternal claim on Sydney, which is disturbing. Even more disturbing is the fact that no one seems to recognize how crazy it is that she is still so obsessed with Sami's baby. I thought Brady's sanity was returning on Friday when he told Nicole that Sydney was Sami's baby and that she would never belong to her; but instead he seemed to concede to the idea of Nicole marrying EJ to be around Sydney. He's completely ignoring the fact that Nicole helped EJ kidnap his step-sister's kids and is now planning ways to raise them. It boggles the mind that he could be okay with any of this, but somehow he is.









Let me just say that I have no problem with a Brady and Nicole relationship. And I really don't care if Nicole jumps from scheme to scheme but her obsession with Sami's child has to stop. I'm actually finding it difficult to watch at this point. In fact I think the only way I could continue to buy in to Nicole's attachment to Sydney is if through some convoluted sequence of events it turns out that Sydney actually belongs to her. I'm not sure if it would even be possible to create an explanation for such a plot twist, but in Salem I guess anything's possible.