Soap Opera Uncensored: Issue 16

by Nelson Branco

SOAP OPERA: UNCENSORED

  Volume 02, Issue 06 (No. 16)

  BY NELSON BRANCO

  Copyright 2012 Nelson Branco

  INSIDE — Exclusive: 2012 EMMY AWARD PRE-NOM BALLOT! Who submitted herself twice? Plus: Shocking Lead and Supporting Actress Submissions! ONLY IN UNCENSORED! Valentine’s Day Special! Y&R’s Colin and Jill Reunited: Exclusive Interviews With Jess Walton and Tristan Rogers! Plus: Is Jess Leaving Y&R? Also: Rogers on His GH Comeback, Kimberly McCullough’s Exit, Ethan’s Paternity, Prospect Park, A Possible Y&R Return, and Cartini’s GH! Source: Did ABC kill a Multi-Million Dollar Syndication Deal For ONE LIFE? GH’s Carolyn Hennesy: “I’m back on COUGAR TOWN!” B&B: Ratings Champ! Crystal Chappell’s Exclusive VENICE Preview! B&B’s Jack Wagner Out! Is He GH-Bound? DAYS Shocker: John and Hope Married! GH’s Jason Dying? Part Two: Kim Zimmer Sounds Off On Life Post-GL and ONE LIFE! Plus: Last Week's Reviews, Unbelievable Blind Items, and Next Week's Cheat Sheet!

  UNCENSORED MASTHEAD:

  FOUNDER/EDITOR: Nelson Branco

  EDITOR AT LARGE: Denette Wilford

  Follow Soap Opera Uncensored at: @nelliebranco or @SoapUncensored

  NOTE FROM EDITOR/FOUNDER:

  You asked — and it’s happening. For more information on subscribing to daytime’s first weekly e-zine Soap Opera Uncensored, email soapuncensored@yahoo.com

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  PRE-ORDER BETWEEN HEAVEN & HELL: A ONE LIFE TO LIVE TRIBUTE

  Hi, loyal soaper!

  For a special rate on next week’s ONE LIFE TO LIVE tribute e-book, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, head over to PAYPAL and submit a $6.99 CAD payment (originally $9.99) to soapuncensored@yahoo.com (Nelson Branco)... and you'll receive the highly anticipated book first (with over 100K words of flashbacks, interviews, top-ten lists, and history!). Click on “Send Money” for “Friends/Family,” and follow the instructions. If you have any problems or questions, please email soapuncensored@yahoo.com.

  UNCENSORED QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

  “It seems like the new show should b called ‘one hospital to kill’ oops to late...... I tweeted that. I’ll take the blame. Just kidding:-)”

  —Ingo Rademacher on Twitter regarding GH’s new direction

  Translation: Ensemble shows = less money/airtime for us superstars! Plus, I’m going to miss our multiple takes!

  “I have nothing against the actors from [ONE LIFE]. Why would u think that? I'm generalizing on a show. Not cast.”

  —A more diplomatic Rademacher later on Twitter

  Translation: Michael Easton is prettier than I am.

  “People stop me all the time and ask me is there a chance ALL MY CHILDREN will come back. I say it ain’t over till it’s over! You know, there are still people interested, they’re still talking to Agnes [Nixon, the show's creator] about it one way or the other, some people are talking about maybe a movie, some people are talking about a play or a musical.”

  —Susan Lucci on RACHAEL RAY on AMC’s future prospects!

  Translation: Frankly, Prospect Park — Erica Kane will see another day with or without you!

  “I say bring it on! I was called into the producer’s office and asked if I had a problem with it. Who am I kidding? I'm going through menopause myself. I'm always hot and crabby. I'm tweeting things I don't mean. When someone startles me I scream like I've been stabbed in the eye with a knife. I won't allow the heat turned on at home, so my poor daughter has to wear a parka in the house. [Laughs] Plus, my memory is going. The other day, I kid you not, I could not remember the word “party” if my life had depended on it. I was, like, “What the hell do they call it when people get together and have fun? It starts with a P.” It's terrible!”

  —Nancy Lee Grahn to TV GUIDE’s Michael Logan

  Translation: Red wine and menopause don’t mix, ‘yo!

  “Do they want to see one more mob shootout? In the 15 years I've been on GH we haven't had many stories told about women from a woman's perspective. I think I can make this funny and entertaining and relatable. Besides, it's very timely.”

  —Grahn continues in the same interview

  Translation: There’s nothing more violent than a woman in menopause!

  “Because the soaps are also going through menopause! Women can either think of this stage of life as death, or a chance to transition into something wonderful, and that's what the soaps need to do. To survive, they need to change with the times. They need to adapt. [Laughs] They need some damn hormones!”

  —Grahn’s brilliant analogy

  Translation: And more red wine!

  “The great thing about Jill [Farren Phelps, former executive producer] is that she was always someone who you could talk to. I’m going to miss that.”

  —GH’s Maurice Benard in SOAPS IN DEPTH

  Translation: Who’s going to coddle us now? Is the show going to come first now before our egos?

  “I got engaged three times in 2011.”

  —B&B’s Scott Clifton on Liam’s complex romantic life in DIGEST

  Translation: And I’ll probably be married more times than that in 2012.

  AWARDS SHOW CENTRAL

  WGA Honours A Living Soap Legend; GH wins DGA!

  It’s about time: Iconic soap creator Claire Labine will be honoured for her career on Feb. 19 at the WGA Awards in New York City. With Ron Carlivati’s track record, AS THE WORLD TURNS will win the daytime category.

  Meanwhile, congratulations are in order for GH director William Ludell and his team, who took home the Director's Guild Award this past weekend for the April episode focusing on Luke's Intervention. Unfortunately, ONE LIFE lost the award. Shocker.

  MOUSE HOUSE

  Cancelling ONE LIFE: Worst Decision Ever!

  Pundit are wondering if cancel-happy ABC will rethink its decision to replace ratings hit, ONE LIFE, with critically panned and ratings-bankrupt THE REVULSION as it did with its prime time show, WORK IT. According to TV MEDIA INSIGHTS’ Marc Berman, THE REVOLUTION is only averaging a 1.3/4 share so far this week. Yikes.

  But don’t count on ABC doing the right thing. In its first few years, ABC had put THE VIEW on cancellation notice before it became a ratings champ. New shows take time to attract an audience, will more than likely be ABC’s reasoning. And hey, to be fair, that’s what we’ve always argued with new soaps debut to less-than-stellar ratings like GENERATIONS, PASSIONS, etc.

  However, what makes this situation unique is the fact that it’s not just the badly conceived show people are rejecting. No, according to GH’s ratings, soap fans have all but abandoned ABC Daytime for more soap-friendly channels like NBC and CBS. Cancelling THE REV and bringing back ONE LIFE could solve the Mouse House’s terminal PR disaster.

  In other REVOLTING news, a New York Casting site has exposed the fact that THE REVOLUTION is so desperate to fill it audience — that’s it’s casting actors for $30 per show to sit in their soap-killing seats.

  How. Pathetic. ONE LIFE couldn’t even get $30 to pay for an anniversary cake!

  COVER STORY

  AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

  Tristan Rogers exclusively reflects on his short-lived but unforgettable Y&R stint, the breakout Colin and Jill pairing, and re-joining GH under Cartini’s reign!

  He may be Port Charles-bound, but eternal fan favourite Tristan Rogers’ heart is still in Genoa City. After winning fans and critics alike with his against-type performance as mobster, Colin Atkinson, Rogers soared as Jill’s sexy love interest and Cane’s evil father. Unfortunately, a year later, Rogers’ stay was inexplicably terminated. Y&R’s loss is GH’s gain, I guess. UNCENSORED spoke wit
h the actor to catch up on all things Mr. Rogers’ Neighbourhood:

  Were you surprised that Colin and Jill exploded with the Y&R audience the way they did?

  I think that one got by everyone because it was never written to turn out like that. From day one, it was apparent these two had something and we just continued to build on it. There were no guidelines laid out so we went for it. It was very fortuitous that Paul Rauch was the showrunner. Because he just let us “do our thing.”

  Why do you think Colin and Jill resonated with the audience so powerfully?

  Y&R has a much older base audience. I think that had a lot to do with it. Especially early on. When we had been around for a bit we started attracting an across-the-board audience because we were just plain entertaining.

  Did Colin really love Jill?

  Absolutely. I think if it had been allowed to evolve and he got into “business” there she might have found his occupation quite stimulating. In a guilty way, of course!

  Did Jill really love Colin?

  Yes she did. Right up until he left.

  Jill and Colin appeared to have quite the sex life! How important is it for soaps to show passion for the over-40 set?

  [Very,] because that’s their audience. I don’t believe any kids in any significant numbers are watching these shows. I look at what my own kids watch and they wouldn’t be caught dead watching a show like this even though I’m on it. And this is the fault of the networks. They just haven’t adjusted the genre to really appeal to a younger developing audience. And now with reality shows in the picture, the job is so much harder. Note: I didn’t say impossible.

  Your fave Y&R acting/story moment?

  I never really had a story so let’s go with the acting moments. There were several. When I had the first bed scene with Jill and play dress-up. There was the moment in her office when we got caught. And most of the scenes with Jeanne [Cooper]. I used to work at making her crack up.

  What was it like working with Emmy winner Jess Walton?

  She was “no bullshit” right from the start. And of course I’m “nothing but,” so it was an interesting combo right from the beginning. She was very easy to work with and just fell into line with the direction these two went in. She liked it.

  Was is strange/surreal working opposite "Laura," Genie Francis, as Gen?

  We both really tried to give these two the “relationship background” that they must have had. Nothing was really laid out here. We decided early on that we would try and fill in the blank spots and give this couple a place to come from. I mean, they must have had an intense relationship at some stage. She’d never slept with anyone else and he was faithful to her. We decided that was the premise. Where it got muddy was that she blamed him for everything that was wrong in her life and yet she must have enjoyed the benefits that his position gave. Another bit that was hard to get around was her craziness. Why would Colin have a nut job like this for a wife, and was it really his fault that she was like this? So many things unanswered. I remember being told she was coming on board and didn’t believe it. When I was informed she was my ex I thought, “this will be interesting.” We both thought it could have had an interesting dynamic to it, but that never happened.

  In hindsight, sum up your Y&R experience.

  A very positive one. My biggest concern when I started was that I did not want to come across as “Scorpio as a criminal.” I wanted to establish from the start that this was a different animal. The fact that there was no fanfare and the character just snuck in the back door, so to speak, helped. There was no time for the audience to get any preconceived ideas here. He just started to grow on you.

  What are the differences between working on Y&R and GH?

  GH has always been different from every other soap. Gloria Monty established most of the differences. Today there isn’t much of what she established left, but there is something. And it comes down to the fact that GH employs a different story structure and a different story management. Although much of this has been wiped out, there is enough left to set GH aside. The stories unfold in a different way. Back in the ‘80s this was very evident. The stories were told in a way that made the characters engaging. On Y&R, the stories unfold in a more traditional way. The stories are more compartmentalized. On GH, one story was generally broken down into several stories and each story dealt with a different part of the main story. Eventually they all came together. GH was the only soap to employ this form of story management. Everybody thought back then it was all Luke and Laura. Far from it. There was a very well-thought-out plan around how the story would play out.

  Would you consider returning as Colin?

  In a heartbeat. I just delighted in what was happening. The foundations for a very interesting family were all there — father, son and father’s lover. Even Genie could have been a great part of a triangle. So many great elements…

  What are your thoughts on Colin as a character? He isn't black and white thanks to your portrayal!

  I didn’t want this guy to be a clichéd crim. I wanted something different. For starters, I wanted to establish him as being multi-dimensional. And he had to be entertaining. This above anything else. To do that he had to be an iron fist in a velvet glove. Fortunately, the writing supported that approach. It might have turned out different if they had written him as more emotional. But remember I was only supposed to be there for 10 episodes so no one was really paying any attention to what I was doing except the viewers. There were enough diverse scenes for me to establish this guy as being complete. We had the comedy, the no-bullshit side, and the emotional side. He was well-rounded and that’s what the viewers gravitated to.

  Which character did you love playing more — Colin or Robert?

  Shit, what a question. Both characters were different. And viewers pointed this out to me. I actually needed to hear it from them because as an actor you sometimes are not aware. You are too close to what you are doing. My wife pointed it out and she’s a good litmus test of what’s happening. People then started commenting on it; then I knew I was on the right track. Jess made an interesting observation when she said, “You can pretty much do what you like because you’ve established the parameters for the character. He had no background till you gave it to him”. Scorpio was a different animal as much of what you saw was written, and then I played around with it. Both these guys walk on a different side of the street. One’s not better than the other and I like that.

  Would Colin and Robert get along?

  I don’t think so. Robert would never reconcile that he was dealing with a criminal.

  Was there anyone you would’ve like to have worked with on Y&R and didn’t?

  I think Colin and Victor would have been a good match. They are both ruthless but in an entirely different way.

 

  Thoughts on the current daytime landscape?

  It’s in a bad way and I can’t see it changing. This is somewhat about money but it’s really more than that because it’s been coming for some time. The future for network television seems to be in non-scripted programming — for both daytime and prime time. Scripted programming will be the domain of cable because they do it better. It’s too bad but soaps could have made it on their own. If SOAPnet had been conceived with a sound business plan in mind, all of the soaps on a dedicated channel could have worked. Now, I feel that moment has passed.

  Are you happy with Cartini at GH? Have you noticed any changes already?

  To my understanding they didn’t take charge till Jan. 9, which means they are still airing the last shows from Garin Wolf. I’ve been told that Frank is real hands on, which is similar to what Gloria was.

  Do you think GH can be saved despite ABC giving up the show's timeslot?

  I think the big obstacle is time. For the last 10 years the show has been trashed. I doubt there’s a single character that hasn’t had their history tampered with, or a story from the past that wasn’t changed in an unnecessary way. But more
than that, you have an audience that has been baited and switched so many times they don’t trust anything to do with the show anymore. Getting their confidence back will be formidable. GH has dropped about half a million viewers in the last 12 months. Getting them back is job one. To that end, I will give it all I’ve got. This show and myself have covered many miles together. I don’t think we’re done yet.

  What do you think of the Prospect Park debacle?

  I think it was a case where they didn’t do their homework and were in over their head.

  Thoughts on Kimberly McCullough leaving GH?

  She has other things to do. I know the feeling well. It will be sad because she was a significant part of the Scorpio family but change is inevitable and constant.

  How long are you at GH for? Have you worked with Hughes and Samms yet?

  As we talk, I haven’t started yet. I have made a point of asking Frank to tell me nothing. I employed the same approach on Y&R. Just give me the script and I’ll be surprised.

  Will the audience love the story, especially if there is an Ethan retcon?

  Story is everything. I have to imagine, even without seeing a script, that things will be traumatic. As regards to the Ethan connection? I don’t know. I’ll find out soon though.

  Anything else you working on?

  You know of my dabblings with the web. I am a big believer in it. I have a new project called THROUGH THE WIRE and it will be a serial drama unlike anything currently out there. It uses everything that the web allows, like total freedom, to get across the story. I play a corrupt politician and Drake Hogestyn plays a shifty drug dealer whose luck changes when he discovers oil on his property. The roles are coarse and meaty. To this end I want to use mainly daytime artists in the title roles. There are so many good people out there that putting this together has been fun. We have some footage, which will be up on mine and Drake’s websites and Facebook soon. We are messing with some music right now. I think you’ll get a kick out of this.

  Are you throwing your name into the Emmy race this year? You betta!

  It’s highly unlikely. For starters, I’m kind of in limbo right now, not really attached to anything. It is unlikely that I could get the footage needed to submit. There would be