Paula's Soapbox

ATWT, AMC, and Y&R alum Cady McClain is working on a new docu-series called Seeing is Believing: Women Direct - and she needs your help! The actress has set up an Indigogo campaign to fund the project and with a month left you still have time to grab some great perks in exchange for your donation! Just $5 will get you a photo showing your support. $25 will get you a journal written by Cady and early access to the first episode and $50 will get you a signed photo of Cady dressed as a chicken on AMC in 2011! The donation perks go all the way up to $10,000 so there are plenty of things to choose from. Fair warning though - supplies are limited!  For instance, there are only 5 signed photos of Cady in the chicken suit left, so the sooner you can donate the better! Go to her  Indiegogo   for more information! 

In case you forgot that ATWT Alum Jennifer Landon (Gwen) is as gifted a singer as she is an actress, check out this video of her singing Dolly Parton's Jolene. Her mom posted the video on Facebook and Jennifer shared it. 

Last week I chatted with Martha Byrne (ex-Lily/Rose, ATWT;ex-Andrea Floyd, GH) about her upcoming web series "Weight." Now you can see a sneak peek of the show that has everyone talking! Watch the clip below, then see what Martha had to say about the show during our LIVE interview!

Baby switches are nothing new in daytime. They provide months, if not years, of story, keeping viewers on pins and needles waiting for the "big reveal." Most are quite memorable and prompt hard-to-forget performances...when they're done correctly, like the As the World Turns baby switch between Gwen and Jennifer.  This was a beautifully-crafted, heartbreaking storyline where Gwen and Casey's baby died, but Craig switched their baby for his and Jennifer's. Hence, Jennifer thought her baby was dead, when really Gwen was raising him as a single parent. This baby switch worked because people sympathized with both parties. Viewers desperately wanted to see Jennifer reunited with her son, but felt sorry for Gwen and the inevitable loss she would face when that happened. Fortunately Gwen found support and comfort with her newly-discovered sister Carly and loving boyfriend Will. The ATWT baby switch stands in stark contrast to the one currently airing on G...

Nominations for the 38th annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced last week. The following is a list of the categories that you will be most interested in, along with a few that you probably won't be and will likely never see announced during the Emmy telecast. For more information and to see a complete list of nominees go to http://www.emmyonline.org Outstanding Lead Actress Alicia Minshew (Kendall) AMC Debbi Morgan (Angie) AMC Colleen Zenk (Barbara) ATWT Susan Flannery (Stephanie) B&B Laura Wright (Carly) GH Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) Y&R Outstanding Lead Actor Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake) AMC Michael Park (Jack) ATWT James Scott (EJ) DOOL Maurice Benard (Sonny) GH Christian LeBlanc (Michael) Y&R Supporting Actress Melissa Claire Egan (Annie) AMC Julie Pinson (Janet) ATWT Heather Tom (Katie) B&B Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) GH Bree Williamson (Jessica) OLTL Tricia Cast (Nina) Y&R Supporting Actor Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) GH Jason Thompson (Patrick) GH...

If you are like me and grew up watching Stefano manipulate and otherwise destroy the Bradys in various science fiction inspired plots, it wasn't too difficult to see the Rafe double coming. Once I realized that Stefano and EJ were planning to bring in a Rafe replacement I thought "great, here we go again, the evil twin plot." While this plot device is another soap staple it is also often used by critics of this genre to point out the absurdity of it. And since DOOL has a tendency to go overboard with this sort of thing that opinion becomes difficult to refute. I can still recall each of Eileen Davidson's 5 simultaneous roles on the show and I was not looking forward to the prospect of Galen Gering repeating that history. I have to admit though that after seeing this "evil twin" in action I am cautiously optimistic about this additional Rafe. I'm not thrilled with the fact that Stefano and EJ are using Ally as a pawn, in fact I hate it. I'm tire...

Dr. Lisa Niles's inability to take "no" or "never again" for an answer may turn out to be the thing that finally makes this character and her storyline worth watching. I really hope General Hospital is planning on taking the psychotic ex-girlfriend route with her because it would finally give me a reason to care about this otherwise boring triangle. Not to mention the fact that it would teach Patrick a valuable lesson of why it is a bad idea to cheat on his wife. The crazy, unstable ex-girlfriend plot almost always makes for an entertaining soap storyline. In fact some of the most memorable performances from soaps have been given in the context of demented exes seeking revenge or vindication of some sort. I can still recall many of the scenes in which Cynthia Watros portrayed Josh Lewis's jilted wife Annie on Guiding Light. She made a near seamless transition from mild-mannered nurse to Josh and Reva's worst nightmare ov...

Martha Byrne may have only been on General Hospital for a few seconds on Wednesday, but I can already tell this new role as the mayor's wife fits her like a glove. She is certainly much better off joining the cast of GH than being on As the World Turns . Regardless of who was to blame for Byrne's departure from ATWT, I think she left the show just in time, even if this role on GH is short-lived. ATWT used to be one of my favorite soap operas and I rarely missed an episode. I grew up watching Byrne as Lily and for me no one can replace her, but in recent years the show's writing has become somewhat sloppy and rather bizarre. It is not the same soap opera it once was and does not adhere to the same standards. The turning point for ATWT came when the writers started letting the drama drive the storylines, the same problem that is currently occurring on Y&R, although to a much lesser degree. When ATWT started doing this the show went downhill very quickly. The storylines d...