All My Children News & Gossip
News for the week of 22-Sep-2008
Newly appointed head writer Charles Pratt Jr. brings out the big guns to boost AMC out of its doldrums. Try Eden Riegel (Bianca) on contract, as well as several other favorite returns. Bianca’s return happens because members of her family are directly devastated by a tornado and another disaster to hit the town. One of those disasters, Pratt previewed, will impact Kendall and Zach terribly.
Casting has selected an actress to portray a new female character named Natalia, who may have a huge role in Jesse’s secret past. She surfaces next month.
Soap blogger Marlena De Lacroix is willing to give the new head writer a chance at improving AMC, despite his GH-mob ties. In her September 15th column, “Take Me Home to Pine Valley,” she wrote that she’s willing to give Charles Pratt Jr. a chance to shine nevertheless, and hoped for the best. She cited the terrible “bimbos” of the fictional Fusion company as a major step back and the outstanding complexity of the fictional male population as the soap’s saving grace. “The twin acting geniuses of David Canary and Michael Knight, IMO have carried this poor show on their shoulders for the last ten years at least. Canary still has such strong acting chops and so much energy, he could stay on the show for the next 100 years. And now, Vincent Irizarry, a real soap superstar for a reason (he’s naturally magnetic and has grown infinitely more skilled as an actor over the years) is back as evil/sexy psychopath Dr. David Hayward.” She also mentioned the pain of having to watch another acting genius, Thorsten Kaye (Zach), paired up with someone beneath his acting prowess. Agree or not, do weigh in.
Amidst much gossip about Alicia Minshew’s (Kendall) contract negotiations, talk about a stalemate over salary had the actress speaking out to clarify. Minshew told fans in an online post that it’s not about salary, she’s not about that; instead, it’s more about free time, so she can take a breather, go on breaks with her fiancé and maybe start thinking about expanding their family of two.
The handsome, September 10th-born Jacob Young (JR; ex-Lucky, GH) has done his share of dating around. But it was when he met the quiet, steady Christen Steward – unlike many of the other women he’d seen – that Young knew he’d met his future wife and the mother of his future children. He sensed she was the one, she just stood out from the crowd. “She had characteristics more of a wife than a girlfriend,” Young said. “There’s just no other way to explain it. I was getting older and it was time for me. I knew I wanted to be married and have a child; those things are important to me, and I didn’t want to wait until I was 40 or 50.” Young and his newly wedded wife Christen only had to wait four months before they were blessed with a pregnancy. Like most marrieds, they initially worried a pregnancy wouldn’t happen. Christen sensed that this time, after four months of trying in vain, was it—and she first broke the news to Young in the middle of his sleep. Once the news penetrated, the next morning, he was stoked … even more when the gender turned out to be male. Young admitted to tearing up, “but then I pulled the reins back. Gotta be strong, gotta be a man [laughs]! … The legacy lives on, the name lives on, and now I can have as many girls as I want!” Had the firstborn been female, however, Young was prepared. He wanted to give her the name of Cheyenne, to honor his maternal, full-blooded Sioux Indian great-grandmother. –Soap Opera Digest, “Young Capacity” by Mara Levinsky, September 23, 2008
Rebecca Budig’s (Greenlee) mom tried to convey her love and knowledge of knitting to her daughters, but the only one who was interested in following the same path was Rebecca herself. Self-taught, Budig’s mom showed high schooler Rebecca the ropes. Today, the daughter’s so good she’s knitting fancy hats and sweaters for her co-stars and friends (a hat for Debbi Morgan/Angie, a skull-and-crossbones pink and gray sweater for Finola Hughes’/ex-Anna daughter). When time permits, Rebecca knits like mad, and her knitting master of a mom helps by sewing the different parts of a project together, “I’ll probably be the most proud when I actually put one together all on my own.” Despite how difficult her finished knitted pieces seem, the actress remains humble about her skills. She claimed to be lousy at passing on her knitting knowledge and to prefer easier patterns to follow (and from a Vogue Knitting magazine, no less!). Still, she’s hoping to finesse a Vogue-patterned sweater dress that is totally knitted. –Soap Opera Digest, “Daytime’s Got Talent!,” September 23, 2008
Jacob Young (JR; ex-Lucky, GH; ex-Rick, B&B) got a kick out of being a part of the last Daytime Emmy judging process, because he had to review the reels of most of the lead actors who’ve played his on-screen father, from Tony Geary (Luke, GH) to David Canary (Adam) and John McCook (Eric, B&B). Although it did freak him out a little to do so.
Working so closely with Canary has fostered a real father/son bond, according to Young. And, his real father and real brother-in-law’s influence has fostered in the young actor a love of golf. The one notorious hold-out is none other than hockey fanatic Thorsten Kaye (Zach). But Young caught Kaye trying on new golf shoes Cameron Mathison (Ryan) gifted him with once recently. It was one of those rare moments when Kaye seemed noticeably ruffled, Young observed.
Eden Riegel (Bianca) will return for a spell with a girlfriend by her side. That girlfriend—architect Reese Williams—will be portrayed by acting powerhouse Tamara Braun (ex-Carly, GH; ex-Ava, DOOL). As the story goes, the two characters met and fell in love while living and working in Paris. Bianca will show up October 17, with her girlfriend arriving October 30.
It didn’t take long before green-eyed beauty Denise Vasi (Randi) became a recognized soap star. She and her date were going about their business, waiting for a car to pick them up when a security guard recognized her from AMC and began calling out her soap character name. At the time, Vasi neglected to inform her date of her new celebrity gig, and had to explain the deal. Vasi counts her mom as someone interesting to look up to – “she taught me everything I know, including how to be independent, and how to be humble and moral” – as well as a friend of hers named Carolyn, who’s able to juggle a career and a family, happily. –Soap Opera Weekly, September 16, 2008
Gossip for the week of 22-Sep-2008
Adam and Erica…rock. I wasn’t paying attention to AMC as usual when it was on last Thursday when Adam and Erica came on, parlaying their veteran charisma into magic. I couldn’t take my eyes off a smirking, sexually smoldering Adam or the coy, suddenly 16-years-old flirty Erica. It almost felt like a snapshot from the Victorian era, with a vixen trying to play a world-weary cad. With Alicia Minshew’s (Kendall) contract negotiations purportedly tanking, her BFF Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) purportedly electing to opt out of the rest of her open-ended tenure, and the promise of GL’s former supercouple Gus and Harley falling flat in their newest incarnation as AMC’s Jake and Taylor… looks like it’s up to David Canary and Susan Lucci to lift a sagging AMC from the bowels of hell. I think they’re up to it.
Don’t take Colin Egglesfield’s (Josh) recurring demotion lying down. The actor asked fans of his – at the last AMC Fan Club Luncheon this past summer – to write in to TPTB to save this character. This character may already be done for, presumably due to the majority of fans’ inability to buy the unabortion birth.
This week, Opal puts Erica and Krystal on red alert, based on her psychic premonition of death up ahead. (I guess.) Maybe these two are alerted in particular, because the fatal threat involves their children, Babe, and Kendall. If Alicia Minshew (Kendall) can’t come to an agreement on her contract renegotiation, they just might kill her off in the tornado. If she does, then one of her children will buy the farm.
The casting department may or may not be seeking out a Hannah recast in a breakdown of “Leah.”
All My Children News & Gossip, Copyright © 2008 Carol Banks Weber. Published by SoapZone.com / Jeff Jungblut. No part of this page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and may not be representative of SoapZone.com or its advertisers. Don't steal scoops.
