Paula's Soapbox

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!

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 g

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 Franc

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.

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

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 t

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.

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 th

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

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!

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 Sa