All My Children News & Gossip
News for the week of 05-Oct-2009
Susan Lucci (Erica), Michael E. Knight (Tad), Darnell Williams (Jesse), Debbi Morgan (Angie), Vincent Irizarry (David) and David Canary (Adam) are some of the AMC superstars who have agreed to make the transition to L.A. somehow from NYC next year. Notable cast members definitively missing from this list include Thorsten Kaye (Zach) and Ray MacDonnell (Joe). Kaye quit AMC outright, while MacDonnell has been phased out, aka retired. While Lucci will film her AMC scenes in California, she will maintain her East Coast home.
*Alicia Minshew (Kendall) will go on maternity leave (it’s not known for how long) after her baby is born sometime on my birthday month (Nov.). After that, she plans to make the move to California for the show … is the official word from ABC Daytime.
The Thorsten Kaye (Zach) board forum moderator confirmed for fans last week that the actor won’t be doing AMC for much longer. After November, he’s off.
Beth Ehlers (Taylor) and Brianne Moncrief (Colby) will leave AMC shortly. Ehlers told the press that leaving was a mutual decision between herself and TPTB.
Aiden Turner (Aidan), however, had no idea he was done until a higher-up had the misfortune of breaking the bad news to him.
Chrishell Stause (Amanda) may move to L.A. with AMC, but she won’t be on the soap for much longer. She twittered last week that she did not re-sign (her current contract expires in January). “I am going to try and do some other things. Hopefully I will still film with AMC but not as a contract player.”
BethAnn Bonner (ex-Talia, OLTL; ex-Natasha, ex-GL) takes on a recurring character named Kat for the Aidan and Kendall scenes. She starts November 6th.
No sooner had word spread of Brianne Moncrief’s (Colby) exit, than Natalie Hall is announced as her recast. The third blond to occupy this space has The Good Wife and Law And Order: Special Victims Unit on her resume. Expect her to sex it up later this month.
The actor who is able to put more of his personality into the current Jake (as recast) admitted to shock, just like the rest of the cast, when TPTB told them of the coastal move several weeks ago. But in his view, it’s all good. Working in Manhattan was like “getting away with something,” a privilege considering it’s “one of the best and most expensive cities in the world.” And even if he were fired from AMC tomorrow, he’d have to leave Manhattan anyway to seek work in L.A. So it worked out for him in the end. He also admitted that while there was shock all around, he felt for the others more than himself. “I am used to change,” he explained. “All of us in this business have a bit of the gypsy in us. I mean honestly, what show can you get nowadays, in this life, and stay on one show anyway?” –Michael Fairman interview, last week
Gossip for the week of 05-Oct-2009
Don’t believe the PR hype. If it smells like a bloodbath, it is a bloodbath. I’m talking about the executive decision to pull up stakes and move the AMC studios from NYC to L.A. After this shocker, all the pre-approved mouthpieces were heard swearing up and down that this does not translate into a chopping block. You could’ve fooled me.
It may appear that *Alicia Minshew (Kendall) will return to AMC to stay after her maternity leave (following her firstborn’s November coming out party), but naysayers think not. They claim she quit AMC outright, refusing to uproot her and her husband’s lives, right along with co-star Thorsten Kaye (Zach). According to Nelson Branco in his latest Suds Report: “A source close to Minshew states, ‘ABC isn’t taking no for answer! They suggested to Lish to have the baby first, then decide, like she can’t think straight. But Alicia wants out even though she plans on briefly returning to wrap up her storyline. Her husband just bought his third restaurant in New York City, and she doesn’t want to spend her baby’s first year on a plane.’”
Branco also purported that Daniel Kennedy (Petey) wasn’t even given the courtesy of a face-to-face firing. He had read about his firing on an ABC PR puff piece.
If there’s no Taylor for Tad, then who’s he gonna date? Good ole fallback position, Krystal, or Kat (AMC newcomer BethAnn Bonner), maybe.
Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley) wants to make several return trips to the show prior to AMC’s L.A. move.
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