BEFORE THEY HIT SPRINGFIELD

Were you a fan of Guiding Light's Alex (Beverlee McKinsey) and Fletcher (Jay Hammer)?

In 1989, Alex and Fletcher took the Spaulding jet to Venezuela. It crashed on a seemingly deserted island, and the pilot was killed. The two castaways grew closer (what else, after all, is there to do on a deserted island?), but a storm (and a mask-wearing/still presumed dead Roger Thorpe) separated the two. Fletcher returned to Springfield, while Alex stayed on as their mysterious host's "guest."

Fletch eventually rescued Alex. Alas, while he was still in love with the Spaulding scion, she'd fallen for Roger.

That marriage, naturally, didn't work out. But would a union of Alex and Fletch have done any better? After all, they were from two completely different worlds, with different interests, friends, and tolerances for Springfield-style scheming and plotting.

In the episodes of Texas currently airing on the AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel, ranch foreman Max (Jay Hammer) is having exactly those types of opposites-attract problems while married to spoiled socialite Reena (Carla Borelli). However, Reena's friend, the equally spoiled, equally social Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) thinks she has the perfect plan to renew Max and Reena's wedded bliss.

Will it work? Tune into Texas today and find out!

P.S. For all of Fletch's repeated, self-righteous protestations about his general superiority to Roger in all human endeavors, they certainly had similar tastes in women, didn't they? Not just Alex, but Holly and even, to an extent, Maureen.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: CHARLES KEATING (CARL; ANOTHER WORLD)

The Guthrie announced today that Charles Keating, the celebrated stage and screen actor, will present his one-man show, I and I: The Sense of Self.

Tackling the topic of aging, the production will have a limited run in the Dowling Studio from November 27 through December 2.

Tickets are priced at $10 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

More here.

GET RICH, GET EDUCATED, GET DIAPERED!

Procter & Gamble Productions announces its College Education Sweepstakes for a chance to win $50,000 towards your child’s education or a six-month supply of Pampers.

To enter, watch As The World Turns and/or Guiding Light on CBS on the following 3 days: November 12th, 14th and 16th.

Then answer the following question for each of these three days: Which character spoke the opening line of the show* that day?

You can submit only one answer per day (one for Guiding Light or one for As The World Turns ) and all three answers need to be correct to qualify.

Visit www.pgpcollegeeducation.com by 6:00 pm ET on November 21st to submit your answers and be entered into the sweepstakes.

Approximate drawing date is Nov. 27, 2007. No Purchase Necessary.

*That day’s episode; excludes previews or promos.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: GL

Tammy Blanchard (ex-Drew).

MAC'S OTHER DAUGHTER

While Another World's Mac had his hands full with daughters Iris and Amanda, actor Douglass Watson was actually the proud father of Randall Caroline Watson Forsberg, nuclear freeze activist.

Read about this fascinating woman, here.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: ATWT

Brian Bloom (ex-Dusty).

WINSLOW FAMILY VALUES

Edmund's back!

And just in time for David Andrew Macdonald's return as the perennial also-ran monarch (he finally got the throne away from big brother Richard, only to learn that Alonzo was the real heir and Edmund was, once again, merely the spare), we offer two photos featuring Edmund's version of family values:

Edmund with then-wife Cassie (then-Laura Wright) and stepchildren Tammy (Stephanie Gatschet) and RJ.... and Edmund with his nephew, Jonathan (Tom Pelphrey).

There are obviously many sides to the man.

Wondering which one we'll see this time around? Then you can't miss this week's Guiding Light!

LAW & ORDER

There's not a lot of trust going around Oakdale these days as Jonathan Roumie returns in his role of Fellows, a Private Investigator hired to get dirt on Meg (Marie Wilson) on Friday, November 2, and Jed Orlemann appears as Nelson Hotchkiss, a lawyer with an interesting offer for Carly (Maura West) on Friday, November 2 and Monday, November 5.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: TONY CRAIG (DRAPER; EON) PART #2

In Part #1 of our interview, Tony Craig talked about how he got the role of Draper and what he's been doing since leaving it. In Part #2, we discuss his years on the mystery soap.

PGP: The AOL/PGP Classic Soaps Channel is about to start showing your biggest storyline - Draper's trial for the murder of Margo, his subsequent escape, amnesia, and the relationship with Emily while poor April suffers back home.

TC: That was the ultimate storyline for me. That went on for over a year. It only ended when people wrote in and said, "We hate Emily. You can’t let him sleep with her!" And so, as a result, I ended up going back to April. And then we had the whole thing at the amusement park. It was enormous. It was the most fun I ever had.

PGP: Draper's escape after the train carrying him to prison crashes was a lot like The Fugitive. Only on a fraction of the budget and in much less time. How was that effect done?

TC: You wouldn't believe me if I told you. It was all done on the soundstage. They had stock footage of a railroad car. They did everything in close-up, and they had me wandering in about six square feet of artificial trees. I told the director, "Just get a couple of cameras and follow me around, and I won’t go outside this perimeter." And sure enough, that’s what he did. We shot it all in one take on one soundstage with artificial trees and smoke pots. That’s all we did. I was so concerned about not getting out of the camera line and giving them as much as I could in terms of the movement, because it had to seem like I was going for miles, when I was only going six square feet, around and around. I guess when you’re young you can do anything. They ask you to do it and you say, "Sure. What the hell? I’ll do it!"

PGP: You mentioned the amusement park climax to the Emily story. That was shot on location?

TC: We got to ride all the rides all night long. The one thing I remember is that I was deadly sick. I had strep throat and a bronchial infection. I was so sick that night. But they’d booked the amusement park, it was costing them an enormous amount of money, plus they’d trucked everybody out sixty miles, so I had to do it. And I got soaking wet. We shot all night and then I remember I had to be back on the set the next morning at nine o’clock. It wasn't so bad. When you’re young! And it was all so exciting. I enjoyed every single second of it.

PGP: Have you watched yourself on EON since leaving the show?

TC: My best friend here in New York, his daughter, who was not even born when I was on the show, was on YouTube and she came across some episodes.

PGP: What's it like to see yourself?

TC: I don’t recognize myself. I was also in Tootsie and I looked at myself and I was so thin and my hair was so black. Honestly, it looks like a different person. I've heard other actors say that and it’s true. I was a different person. Everything about me has changed. Physically and emotionally. I don’t recognize him.

PGP: Do you keep in touch with any of your EON co-stars?

TC: Oh, yes. At least once a year we have a little mini-reunion here. Terry Davis (April) and her husband, Andy Weyman, who directed the show, come into the city. I got to dinner with Maeve McGuire (Nicole) every couple of months; we went to three shows this summer. She comes into the city from Maine where she lives. Ernie Townsend (Cliff) is a principal now in a high school in New York and we see him. Forrest Compton (Mike), too. We either have a party or a lunch. Retired soap actors are a very tight knit community.

PGP ALUM DIRECTS PLAY AT RUTGERS

Sixty years after Anne Frank's diary was first published, there is still much to learn from the young girl's deeply personal account of a desperate struggle to find courage in a place surrounded by unspeakable horror.

"After the Holocaust, no one thought the world would see genocide again," says Amy Saltz, director of the Rutgers Theater Company production of "The Diary of Anne Frank," which opens November 2. "Since then, there have been multiple occurrences all over the world, and we have to ask ourselves, what is our responsibility?"

With this production, Saltz hopes to provide a window into the history of the Holocaust. Documentary images will surround the production to offer a sobering reminder of just what was at stake for the eight people hiding from the Nazis above an office building in Amsterdam.... Amy Saltz has directed both classic and new plays throughout the U.S. and abroad, working with many of the country's major contemporary playwrights including Lee Blessing, Marsha Norman, Adam Rapp, John Patrick Shanley, Robert Shenkkhan, and August Wilson. Ms. Saltz's productions have been nominated for numerous awards including the Grammy, Helen Hayes, Drama Critics' and Joseph Jefferson Awards. For television she directed Another World and Search For Tomorrow.

Details on seeing the play, here.

PINTER PLAY

Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara; ATWT) appeared on The Early Show Thursday to talk about her experience battling oral cancer.

To watch her appearance and learn more, click here.

OAKDALE WOODSMEN

On screen, Colonel Meyer may have shot his son, Noah's, boyfriend, Luke, in order to keep the two apart. But in real life, actors Daniel Hugh Kelly (Mayer), Jake Silbermann (Noah) and Van Hansis (Luke) were all smiles at the opportunity to shoot outside the studio.

Please enjoy the above photos of As The World Turns on location!

P&G TAKES SOAPS (AND SOAP) TO THE NEXT LEVEL

The company is credited with inventing the soap opera by sponsoring the "Ma Perkins' radio show and, later, "Guiding Light," so you would expect such an innovator to be one of the first to try to recreate that success in today's digital universe. As television consumption among young adults and children drastically declines, advertisers are trying to engage this audience where they are, which means the Web and eventually mobile. This is a first step by an advertiser to do just that outside of basic video advertising and sponsorships on social networking Web sites.

Entire story, here.

GL PHYSICS

Time for another Advanced Placement Physics test:

Which of the above Guiding Light couples burn the hottest?

Cyrus and Marina?

Cyrus and Harley?

Cyrus and Alex?

Let us know in the Comments below!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: TONY CRAIG (DRAPER; EON) PART ONE

Actor Tony Craig joined the cast of The Edge of Night in 1975, and played the role of Assistant District Attorney Draper Scott until 1981.

PGP: Do you remember your audition for the role of Draper?

TC: I remember the audition and I remember who was in the room and I remember walking out and not really thinking one way or the other about it. When I was young, I always had this feeling that I was going to succeed. And if it wasn’t then, it was going to be a little later or somewhere else. So when I did the audition, I just felt like if it doesn’t happen this time, then it will happen later. So the point I’m trying to make is, while I was a little surprised when I got the part, I wasn’t terribly surprised. Because I just knew that sooner or later I would get work. It was my first major part in a soap. I was very young. I was 24. I remember the producer, Mr. Nicholson, sitting there, and I remember the director sitting there, and I remember where it was. On the Upper East Side. I guess you could say I remember a hell of a lot about it!

PGP: Who did the producers initially tell you that this character was?

TC: I will never forget what they said. They said he was “a smiling cobra.” A nice guy who’s ruthless. But you know, once I got on the show and started getting fan mail from people, they wanted me to be a nice guy. Basically, my personality is not ruthless. I’m a nice guy. (I’m not patting myself on the back; sometimes I wish I weren’t). But that came through. And I think what happened was the writers and the producer recognized what they had, so they said, “Let’s forget about the cobra and make him into a nice guy with a wife and kid and go from there.” And that’s what they did.

PGP: Was it difficult getting thrust into the fast pace of a daily soap and having to play a lawyer sprouting legal jargon?

TC: Near the end, after my seventh year – you do 250 different shows a year basically; five days a week, 52 weeks a year – I honestly had no problem with it at all. Your brain, your memory is like a muscle. And if you exercise that muscle, after a while you look at a script and you know who’s writing it, and you know the proclivity they have towards certain kinds of syntax, and you just know what’s coming. It honestly didn’t bother me because I would look up the (legal) terms, see what they meant, talk to a lawyer if I had to and, for some reason, it just didn’t bother me.

PGP: You took a break from the business for a while?

TC: In 1991, my wife died. And I was in such pain that I left the city. I went to Florida where her family was and where we buried her, and I stayed for twelve years. Because I just couldn’t come back to New York, I was in such pain. That’s why I was out of the loop for so many years. I couldn’t bear to be in the city. I started my own business. I sell collectibles, baseball cards, autographs -- now I’m selling autographed first editions. I traveled a lot for the business. And then in 2002, I said, “I miss the city. I think I’m ready to come back.” I sold my house, I moved back, called my agent and picked up my acting career. I had a screen test for All My Children last December, but I think I wasn’t right for the part; they were looking for a killer. I tried to be mean, but I don’t think I was old enough, either. (Ed. note: The audition was probably for the role of Zach’s psycho dad). I’m sixty, but I look younger. I have good genes, I guess. But there aren’t that many parts written on soaps for guys my age. And the ones that are have been on forever. I’m doing basically commercials now, and industrials. The stuff I’ve been doing has been AARP, Viagra, Wal-Mart. I did an Alcoholics Anonymous commercial. I just had a callback for Belvedere Vodka. They’re all pitching themselves to the baby boomers. We’re the biggest group out there. So I’m still working. I can’t afford to retire....

Stay tuned for Part Two of our exclusive interview with Tony Craig, where he’ll take you behind the scenes of Draper’s great escape, and the location shoot that proved to be a real thrill ride. Plus, where are some of his EON co-stars now?

In the meantime, check out Tony as Draper on AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel, here!

SAM I AM

Wally Kurth first airs on As The World Turns as Sam beginning on Wednesday, November 28.

The daytime vet previously played Justin on DOOL, where his character had an affair with Angelica, played by Jane Elliot.

In 1991, he joined the cast of GH as Ned, eldest son of Tracy... played by Jane Elliot.

Wally also replaced Kevin Kline as the flamboyant Pirate King in the Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance.

His role as Sam will kind of be a combination of all three.

DIM THE LIGHT! OOOH, SPOOKY!

Jim Davidson returns as Alonzo for a special Guiding Light Halloween episode on Wednesday, October 31.

Also taking part in the spookfest: Cassie (Nicole Forester), Josh (Robert Newman), Dinah (Gina Tognoni), Edmund (David Andrew Macdonald), Jeffrey (Bradley Cole) and Will (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick a.k.a. The Kid From The Omen; this can't be good....)

DINAH GOES TO THE DOGS!

Soap star Gina Tognoni, who plays "bad girl" Dinah Marler in CBS's Guiding Light, dropped in to help judge the best dressed dog in the Canine Costume Contest and Doggie Star Search.

Story here.

ATWT: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Marisa Tomei (ex-Marcy).

Margaret Colin (ex-Margo).

(Colin is pictured with real-life husband Justin Deas as Tom, now Buzz on GL. Tomei is pictured with Christian LeBlanc, then Kirk on ATWT, now Michael on Y&R).

REAL LIFE TRAGEDY

PGP and Guiding Light extend their most heartfelt condolences to former cast member Michael Tylo (ex-Quint) on the death of his son, Michael Tylo Jr. with ex-wife Hunter Tylo (Taylor; B&B).

INTO THE WOODS

Three of ATWT's favorite couples - Carly (Maura West) and Jack (Michael Park), Lily (Martha Byrne) and Holden (Jon Hensley), and Meg (Marie Wilson) and Paul (Roger Howarth) - pose in the great outdoors.

(Even if, of the three pairs, two are currently married to other people and one is constantly arguing.)

SMILES, EVERYONE, SMILES!

October is National Dental Hygiene Month.

In its honor, please enjoy some of ATWT and GL's brightest smiles, above.

ATWT: THEN & NOW

A photographic trip down memory lane with As The World Turns stalwarts Eileen Fulton (Lisa) and Don Hastings (Bob).

Also pictured in the latter shot, Helen Wagner as Bob's mom, Nancy.

WHATEVER LOLA WANTS

Beginning on Thursday, October 25 at 10:00 PM, Guiding Light will be featured in the new season of MTV’s Run’s House as daughter Vanessa Simmons enters the world of daytime television.

Tune in every Thursday afterwards to catch all the drama, including scenes with Lawrence Saint-Victor (Remy) and EJ Bonilla (Rafe).

ALI, ALI, BYE FOR NOW...

Alexandra Chando (Maddie) says goodbye to Oakdale on Friday, October 26.

Chando began her run on As The World Turns in July 2005 and received an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2007.

Please enjoy our photo tribute to her two years on the show, above.

ACTOR APPEARANCE: SARAH'S MOM AND DAD - TOGETHER AGAIN!

Guiding Light's Marcy Rylan (Lizzie) and Tom Pelphrey (ex-Jonathan) will participate in a reading of Paul Austin’s comedy, Ecuador on Thursday, October 25, at 6:30 PM at the Fat Lady Café located in Kauneonga Lake, New York.

The reading is part of a fundraising gala celebration for the Liberty Free Theater.

For tickets and more information please call (845) 292-3788.

MOTHERLOAD OF TROUBLE

Currently, on the AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel's broadcast of The Edge of Night, April Scott (Terry Davis) is not having a very good run (well, not good for her; pretty good for soap lovers).

First, she found out that Margo Huntington (Ann Williams), a wealthy businesswoman who managed to own both a television station and to dabble in porn (as a financier, not a star), was her natural mother. Since April hadn't even known she was adopted, this came as a double whammy.

Once she and Margo developed a relationship, April had to deal with Margo and April's husband, Draper (Tony Craig), constantly butting heads. Draper did not approve of Margo sticking her nose into the Scott family business and trying to do them little favors, like secretly buying their house. Or trying to buy Raven's son, Jamey, for the then childless April.

Draper finally had enough of Margo and, at the tail end of 1979, stormed up to her apartment to confront her. Only to find a bloodied Margo lying on the floor, barely alive, her head apparently bashed in with a fireplace poker. Draper called an ambulance, then heard a noise from outside and grabbed another poker to defend himself. However, nobody proved to be there and by the time the police got to Margo's apartment, it sure did look like Draper was the guilty party.

His arrest prompted the by then pregnant April (see, they didn't need Jamey, after all; Draper was right) to suffer premature contractions. But when it turned out that she and the baby were fine, Deborah went ahead and brought Draper in.

For her part, Deborah doubted Draper's guilt. She suspected Margo's new, younger husband, Eliot (Lee Godart), a former cult leader, who was also having simultaneous affairs with Raven, Sarah and Nola (Kim Hunter).

But, despite Deborah's doubts, former Assistant District Attorney Draper was arraigned in 1980 and became the victim of the shortest murder trial (only three weeks!) in EON history!

Watch it now on the AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel!

DEATH NOT BE PROUD

2007 Daytime Emmy-nominee Stephanie Gatschet returns to Guiding Light as Tammy to help her mother Cassie through a difficult time on Wednesday, October 24.

ATWT CAN COOK

Linda Cook appears as Ann, a woman with bad news (have they gotten any other kind lately?) for Gwen (Jennifer Landon) and Will (Jesse Lee Soffer) on Friday, October 26 and Monday, October 29.

Daytime viewers may remember Cook as Laurie Ann on The Edge of Night (the one who went crazy, then came home in the final episode), Maureen on Ryan's Hope, Lucy on AMC, Egypt on Loving (who married Alex, but lost him to Ava, played by P&G vet Lisa Peluso), Brenda on Guiding Light and Ellen on OLTL. Cook also played Cynthia Linders on As The World Turns in 1993.

A NEW DAY(TIME)

CBS is readying plans to cut costs and modernize the production process of two of the longest-running shows on television—“Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns.”....

Plans include ditching their traditional soap opera production sets—which use three cameras shooting simultaneously into an expansive series of three-wall sets—in favor of using smaller crews shooting with nimble digital cameras inside enclosed four-wall sets. "Light" is considering using multiple crews to shoot scenes simultaneously, reducing the number of production hours. All exterior scenes will be shot on location—a rarity on daytime soaps—on permanent sets built in a small town outside New York City (on-location shots are typically more expensive, but the reduced crews and digital production process will offset the extra costs).

For viewers, the effect is supposed to add some realism to the staging, as rooms will not lack a fourth wall and shooting can be done in a more cinematic style. The outside location shots will give the shows a more natural sense of setting.

Read the entire story, here.

STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS

GL's Dinah Marler (Gina Tognoni) has done some pretty rotten things in her life. She's stolen money, tried to seduce her mother's husband, killed a man, stolen Cassie's identity, then tried to kill her, too.

But nothing, nothing compares to the evil deed Dinah will commit on the Tuesday, October 16th episode of Guiding Light. On today's episode, Dinah pulls her young half sister, Maureen, out of a private school exam.

How brain damaged is this woman? Does she not know how hard private school admissions are these days? Does she not care that Maureen's entire future rests solely on the results of this test?

Without the sort of elite education offered by the internationally renowned Lincoln Prep, how will Maureen manage to graduate medical school in a mere few months, like Rick Bauer? Or become president of Spaulding Enterprises without having ever finished college, like Phillip Spaulding? (Granted, the best friends ended up graduating from Springfield High after being kicked out of Lincoln Prep, but they both probably leave that part off their respective resumes).

On the other hand, Dinah spent her high school years as an unhappy carnie and Harley Cooper skipped Senior Madness in favor of giving birth to Daisy in the back of a car (she did make the prom, however, where Alan-Michael's idea of a joke accidentally voted her Queen). And they both still got a chance to be CEOs of Spaulding.

Beth Raines actually graduated high-school (and was even legitimately Queen of her Prom). But the best she could do professionally was Director of Marketing and Spaulding Board member. Ha!

Reva Shayne didn't need a college (do we even know if she has a high school one?) degree to to become a journalist at WSPR, and all Cassie had under the Education heading was "can take her clothes off to music" when she partnered with Olivia in the Beacon.

Now Olivia strikes me as someone with an entire closet full of impressive diplomas. And what good have they done her, exactly?

So maybe Dinah has the right idea, after all. Hey, teachers, leave Maureen Reardon, alone.

The girl doesn't need a formal education. She needs to learn how to survive and get ahead, Springfield style. And who better to school her in that, than her big sister, Dinah?

But, will Vanessa (Maeve Kinkead) and Matt (Kurt McKinney) agree? Tune in to GL today, and find out!

LIFE MODEL

The glitz, the glamour, the parties, the perks. Such is the life of one of New York's top models. Or is it? The Herald News spent a day with Michelle Ray Smith, who's been on dozens of magazine covers, plays Ava Peralta on CBS' daytime hit "Guiding Light" and is a new face of L'Oreal's Garnier skin care line. We saw what a model's life is really like and found out it's probably not what you think.

More at NorthJersey.com.