business with a country so close so our hearts," said Bell.
The pace is manic: B&B shoots 250 episodes a year and is trying to do 10 episodes in five days during its time in Italy.
The soap’s most important scene is the wedding between Hope and Liam (Scott Clifton). It is being shot in the stunning seaside village of Polignano A Mare, which is perched on rocky cliffs that plunge down to the crystal-clear Adriatic Sea.
Hundreds of locals gathered Tuesday to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars and get an autograph or a photo, and the actors were happy to oblige.
"Italy is always very receptive to us. They are always very welcoming, very passionate about the show, so it makes it much more fun," Moss said.
Lang, wearing an emerald green dress for the wedding scene, posed with eager fans.
"She is much more beautiful in person than on TV," declared Mimmo Scatigno, a fan who had his photo taken with her.
For the wedding scene, Matula wore an elegant ivory wedding dress designed by Vera Wang with tiny buttons running down the back and sported a Grace Kelly-like hairdo.
In a nod to Italy’s car industry, its famed three-wheeled mini scooter-car, the APE, plays a key role in the scenes. The car was first built by Piaggio in 1948 and was common in the postwar period when people couldn’t afford a larger four-wheel vehicle. It is still popular today.
The soap opera is also using the song "Volare" in a nod to Italian singer-songwriter Domenico Modugno, whose statue stands at the center of the piazza where the wedding procession was being shot. According to producers, the song represents how Hope is flying high with happiness at her wedding.
Locals also appreciated that THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL was giving a mini-boost to a region of Italy that is struggling economically. The show has brought in 16 crew members from the U.S., plus six actors, two publicists and the executive producer. They have also hired a 42-person film crew from a local company, as well as using local drivers and hotels.
It’s not the first time B&B has filmed on location in Italy. The show came to Lake Como in 1997, to Venice in 1999 and to Portofino in 2002.
The soap opera celebrated its 25th anniversary in March.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC/GLOBAL — Kissing Cousins?
• Don’t forget to tune into ELLEN today because Drake Hogestyn kicks off “Ellen's Soap Week.” Wonder if he’ll cut a move with Ellen.
• Is Will getting a new love interest? According to this week's SOAP OPERA DIGEST, Blake Berris could be returning to his role of Nick Fallon! It is important to note that Berris’s indie film career has been taking off of late so I’m not sure why he’d want to return to daytime. Regardless, the Daytime Emmy-nominated actor is super talented and awkwardly handsome: the perfect recipe for a successful DAYS stint. When Berris toiled on DAYS there were always rumours Nick was really gay. Could DAYS be planning a cousins-in-love storyline with Will?
• Writer Roulette: According to SOAP OPERA NETWORK, the new DAYS writing regime of Gary Tomlin and Chris Whitesell have made their appointments.
As expected, Tomlin’s long time friend, Fran Meyers, returns as script editor. This will be Myers’ fourth stint as the DAYS script editor: 1999-2003, August-September 2004, and October 13, 2008 – August 25, 2011. Jeanne Marie Ford moves from script editor to script writer. Breakdown writers Lisa Connor and Elizabeth Snyder have exited the show.
• He’s not my brother, he’s my hubby: Perennial co-star and real-life wife Arianne Zucker has joined Kyle Lowder on the Web series DEVANITY — as his sister. The actress will play Julia Regis, sibling of DeVanity business rival Andrew, played by Lowder. "She will attack the women of the DeVanity family with full force when they least expect it," says series creator Michael Caruso.
For more information visit https://devanity.com/.
• Nurse Crystal: While B&B newcomer Crystal Chappell wouldn’t talk about her DAYS comeback to DIGEST in a recent interview, the Emmy winner did sound off to Michael Fairman’s ON AIR, ON SOAPS. And here’s what she had to say about Carly and what went right in Salem:
“I do love [Carly] and I think she is flawed. It was fun to see the wall crumble. I have no regrets playing her the first time around, or the second time around. It was great to be entrusted with such a complex story. You know, Gary Tomlin who was the DAYS EP at the time told me at the 2010 Emmys ‘We need to give you something more substantial!’ It took him months and months to get that story approved. I never forget December of 2010, he came to me and said, ‘We are going to do NURSE JACKIE!’ That happens to be one of my favourite shows. I had an inkling the tides were turning. So, I just got into it like it was my last meal. Then, I saw the writers were doing the same thing. I then at one point went to Gary and said, ‘I know sometimes actors complain about story, but I think it’s really important to tell you that I see the great care that is going into the writing of this. I just hope you will pass that along to all of the writers.’ The dialogue was spectacular. They challenged me and they made me go back to work. It was truly one of the best times I had as an actress telling that story. I never saw it as a dark storyline or a depressing storyline; I saw it as a viable real storyline for who that person was. And as a result of it, I had a lot of people talking about themselves and their family members suffering from drug addiction. It is more prevalent than others might realize, and in particular in the medical field. To me, it felt very relevant at the time, even though it was shrouded in this lovely soap opera guise.”
• In story 411, Stefano is finally arrested by John. Which means nothing in Salem…
• The ratings are sinking again thanks to NBC’s insistence that DAYS rehash James E. Reilly’s old storylines. Does that mean exiting head writers Marlene McPherson and Darrell Thomas will be vindicated? Of course not. Morons. NBC could air porn on its network 24-7 and still come in last place in the ratings.
GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC/CITY — Watch out, Babs!
• Guess who killed Lisa? Well, we all know she’s still alive but Jason Cook, who joined GH in 2008 as Matt, is leaving the soap next month. “I didn’t think he had it in him,” muses Cook to DIGEST. While he’s surprised, he understands that head writer Ron Carlivati had no choice in the matter.
Don’t cry for Cook, however. He was going to bolt anyway: “I was going to have to take several months off the show for all these other things I’m working on,” he told DIGEST. “One would have been this summer, to do LifeCHANGE [his project with Arianne Zucker] and other shoots, as well as my new cooking show, CHOP THIS. It's an on-location cooking show with a different restaurant chef showing us a couple of recipes each week. It's going to start online at chopthis.com. If GENREFUL [his short film with co-star Bradford Anderson] gets funded, I have that to do, too. So, I am stepping away for the time being. There is no talk about me coming back, but I was going to have to take time off anyway.
Moreover, Cook will be one of contestants on FOX's new celebrity dating show THE CHOICE. He will appear on June 7.
In each episode, four celebrities sit in spinning chairs and listen to non-famous prospective dates pitch themselves. Over the course of three rounds, the contestant pool is paired down until each celebrity has chosen their date for the evening.
Cook joins Tyson Beckford, Rob Kardashian, Dean Cain, Romeo, Taylor Hicks among others in the men department. Women include Carmen Electra.
Maybe he’ll become the new Kelly Monaco.
As an aside, I’m not sad to hear this news for one reason: For four years, Cook earned a paycheque and guarantee for doing absolutely nothing thanks to Brian Frons (Guza refused to write for him but kept him on cast because of Frons’s insistence). However, I’m a little nervous that two Shawn Bradys are unemployed now.
Seriously, though, I wish Jason Cook had been pre-nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor because his drunken reel on that shady boat was surprisingly fantastic. (As many of you know, one of the litmus tests of a good is actor is whether or not they can play drunk believably
.) And surprise — that was the night Matt “killed” Lisa. Regardless, it is kind of beautiful that Matt protected Robin and Patrick from that psycho even if he let Maxie take the fall — even if when she “confessed.”
• Whoohoo: No-No Queen Kassie DePaiva just signed on to do a movie called WE ARE WHAT WE ARE. Congrats!
• How does Emmy-winning GH casting director Mark Teschner feel about the Cartini invasion? He tells UNCENSORED: “I think they are doing an amazing job and I am proud of the results… hoping to be here for a long time!”
• In story 411, Carly and Todd combust! As Michael takes the stand against Starr, Carly and Todd protect their children while flirting with each other. Carly and Todd are quite possibly the most disturbed, dysfunctional and demented soap characters on the soap dial right now. They deserve each other. While Todd is an asshole, he’s always fallen in love with relatively healthy, well-intentioned women, so this is new… I hope they live happily ever after… in Hell!
• Speaking of the ONE LIFE invasion, as a diehard Llanview fan, I can say GH is still not must-see TV for me. Yes, it’s far better than anything Garin Wolf “wrote.” But anyone who loves ONE LIFE knows GH is not a ONE LIFE redux by any means. Though it was ah-mazing to see Florencia Lozano back on my screen, the problem is that GH is lacking that magical ONE LIFE formula: humour, pop-culture references, zippy dialogue, modern situations, and character-driven storylines. But I’m giving Cartini some time; they are still cleaning up years of toxicity.
Having said that, ONE LIFE is not stealing air time from the GH characters. All you have to do is head over to soapzone.com to read the episode counts to figure it out. For starters, Kelly Sullivan has been on 18 out of 21 episodes, which is not a wise choice since fans are still polarized because of the storyline and controversial actress.
But it was nice to learn that Kristina Wagner gave GH a ratings boost in the 18-49 demo when she returned.
And while I applaud ABC for pre-empting a soap opera for a real news story, President Obama advocating for gay marriage, one has to wonder if there really is a conspiracy against anything Cartini produces. This is the second time a ONE LIFE character has debuted on GH that ABC pre-empted the struggling soap!
In the wise words of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”
• Take that, Barbara Walters: Thus far, GH is beating THE VIEW in the 18-49 ratings demo this May Sweeps (4/26/12 - 5/6/12)! In fact, the top 3 shows in Females 18-49 for May Sweeps are soaps! Below are early May Sweeps ratings provided by one of my loyal network sources:
1. Y&R: 862 K
2. BB: 715 K
3. GH: 611K
4. THE VIEW: 592K
5. THE PRICE IS RIGHT (second half-hour): 550K
6. DAYS: 503K
Soap Opera Uncensored: Issue 30 Page 4
