MORE SOAP TREK!

Actress Mary Linda Rapelye portrayed Maggie Crawford on As The World Turns from 1981 to 1985.

Maggie was Lyla's sister, a lawyer who defended John Dixon against the charge of raping his wife, Dee, while simultaneously sleeping with Dee's lawyer, one Mr. Tom Hughes.

A few months later, Tom hired a new assistant, John's daughter, Margo. That was the beginning of the end for Maggie and Tom. Aunt was not particularly pleased with niece for a good, long while after that.

Maggie developed some sympathy for Margo, though, after Maggie met and had a whirlwind affair with cop Frank Andropoulos (Steve's brother, Betsy's uncle). Frank told her he was involved with another woman, but would ditch her for Maggie. That woman turned out to be Lyla. Maggie nobly broke things off with Frank.

Deciding that love was off the table for now, Maggie pursued parenthood. First, she visited a local sperm bank. But then, in one of those twists life is so famous for, Maggie found an abandoned baby girl in the bushes and made plans to adopt little Jill.

Unfortunately, Jill's no-good daddy, Cal, got out of prison in time to get custody of his baby. Soapily, the ex-con had a change of heart and returned Jill to Maggie on Christmas Eve, just after her long-time-coming wedding to Frank.

Finally happy with husband and child, Maggie realized that the only way to hold on to that happiness would be to leave Oakdale (okay, she didn't actually realize that; but everyone knows it's the only way). The new family headed off for California, where they're remained ever since.

However, before she was Maggie, Mary Linda Rapelye, played Irina, an ex-girlfriend of Star Trek's Pavel Chekov on an episode fans like to call The Space Hippies (its actual title is The Way To Eden).



Ms. Rapelye is currently appearing in The Rivalry, a play that was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, at the Dever Auditorium, Westfield State College. More details here.

And for more Soap Trek, click here!

CAPTION THIS!



If I know you guys, you'll come up with a good one!

HELLO, LARRY!

Ed Fry returns to As The World Turns as Dr. Larry McDermott and gives his daughter Alison a shock beginning on Monday, May 25.

Dr. Larry came to Oakdale in 1990. His official reason was a job at Memorial Hospital. His less official reason was a desire to reconnect with old girlfriend Frannie Hughes. Frannie wasn't interested, so Larry moved on to his first Oakdale older woman -- Lyla Peretti. (Lyla had just been widowed by the younger Casey Peretti.) Larry's blowhard dad, LJ, wasn't thrilled by his boy's involvement with a Grandma (Cricket, Craig and Margo all had kids by then), and the relationship eventually fizzled.

LJ was even less thrilled with Larry's next love, Susan Stewart (and he was just concerned about her age, not about her less that sterling past). Susan may have been no Grandma (she'd barely been a mom to Emily growing up), but she also could no longer have more children.

Larry reassured Susan that it didn't matter. She was enough for him. Susan wasn't convinced. Seeing her mother's insecurity, Emily volunteered to donate an egg so that Susan could give birth to Larry's child. Alison is the result.

When Larry got a job in Chicago, Susan and Alison made plans to move with him. But Emily pulled some strings to make sure her mother's job fell through and Alison remained in Oakdale. Susan and Larry tried to carry on a long-distance relationship, but when Larry had an affair, Susan filed for divorce.

Having had almost no contact with her father, Alison changed her name to Stewart -- the name of her mother's ex-husband.

Lest anyone think such a thing could never happen in the real world, you might be interested to learn that actress Sara Gilbert is the daughter of Melissa (Little House on the Prairie) Gilbert's mother and her second husband, Harold Abeles. She changed her name to Gilbert (after her mother's ex-husband) in order to further her acting career.

So see, soaps aren't that out there, after all!

GL: PHOTO PREVIEW

Alan and Bill take a friendly roller-coaster ride.





Miss it at your own peril.

Only on Guiding Light!

ATWT: ACTOR APPEARANCES

Marnie Schulenburg (Alison) will appear in a production of the Flux Theater Ensemble’s Pretty Theft from April 23 to May 17 at the Access Theater’s Gallery, located at 380 Broadway. For tickets and more information, please call 866-811-4111.

Ellen Dolan (Margo) will appear in a production of Sophistry from April 22, 2009 - June 6, 2009 at the Samuel Becket Theater on Theater Row, located at 410 W. 42nd St. For tickets, please contact sophistrytickets@gmail.com

ANOTHER WORLD RETURNS

From TVGuide.com:

It’s been 10 years since Another World went off the air, but now, thanks to a cool new Web site, the beloved soap is back from the dead. TeleNext Media, producer of Guiding Light and As the World Turns, is about to launch anotherworldtoday.com, a site that fills us in on what’s happened in Bay City since 1999, including which lovebirds are still together (Carl and Rachel, Cass and Lila) and which are kaput (Amanda and Cameron).

Chapter 1 kicks off May 4 (the 45th anniversary of AW’s debut) with Grant Harrison, who was presumed dead at the end of AW’s run, returning to town to reclaim his son, Kirkland. Meanwhile, a mystery is unfolding: Flamboyant Felicia Gallant has gone off to New York to visit Dean and Jenna, and all three have somehow vanished. Each weekly installment is interactive, with fans getting the opportunity to vote on the future direction of plots.

Entire story, here.

More here.

GL: PHOTO PREVIEW

Pretty people, pretty scenery, pretty awesome!







Only this week, only on Guiding Light!

ATWT: BAD PARENTING 101

C'mon, guys. Really? In front of Johnny? Is it too late to give custody to his great-uncle and aunt, Bob and Kim?

BE THE NEXT IRNA PHILLIPS!

In a partnership with the New York Television Festival, the (FOX) network will solicit scripts from aspiring writers, with the promise of a development deal for the winner. On Monday the festival is expected to announce that a production company is also participating in the contest this year, making it more likely that the winning idea will make it from script to screen....

The script contest is an organized way to lower the barriers and scout for new talent. Fox signed last year’s winner to a development deal, however the project has not entered production. If this year’s winner entices the judges, Procter & Gamble Productions, the company behind the recently canceled soap opera “Guiding Light,” can elect to help finance the production of a pilot episode. Pilots are typically produced before a network orders a full season of a show.

Get the details, here.

PASSIONS

Meg Ryan (ex-Betsy; ATWT) wasn't sure if she wanted to be an actress. Having suffered from numerous attacks of stage fright as a child, she actually went to college to study journalism and thought she would be a writer instead. It wasn't until she landed a role on As The World Turns that Ryan discovered her passion.

Read her story in Ken Robinson's book, The Element, here. According to Robinson, the element is the point where activities individuals enjoy and are naturally good at come together, landing them in the much coveted "zone." Using Ryan, along with a host of other wildly successful people as examples, he emphasizes the importance of nurturing talent along with developing an understanding of how talent expresses itself differently in every individual.

Ryan's story should be particularly fascinating to soap fans, as she offers a personal glimpse into a daytime actor's process, and how that process awakened her passion for acting. (One of the best parts of being on a soap, she reveals, is no audience, and thus no stage to be frightened of!)

BEFORE THEY WERE PRINCES

On the November 18, 1991 episode of Another World, angsty teen Jenna is well, angsting about the fact that boyfriend Dean is off to New York to live a glamorous, rock and roll lifestyle, while she's stuck going to lectures at Bay City University. (Her choice, btw, Dean wanted her to come along, she's the one who decided to be all mature and responsible and say no.)

As Jenna sits on a bench, pondering cruel twists of fate and other such collegiate topics, who should sit down next to her but The Big Man on Campus. He asks to borrow her notes, casually mentions that he's the star of the football team, and asks if he might see her at the Homecoming Dance later that week.

"Maybe," Jenna answers coyly, temporarily shaken from her Dean-induced funk.

Big Man takes off to tackle some practice dummies, while Jenna's adoptive mom, Felicia, notes that he's kind of cute. And that he wanted a lot more from Jenna than just her notes, hint, hint.

What makes the exchange particularly fun for P&G Classic Soaps fans, is that the jock with an agenda is played by none other than David Andrew Macdonald.

In 1998, Macdonald would show up on Another World as Jordan Stark/David Halliday, the 200 year old (he obviously uses an excellent moisturizer) owner of the Lumina Corporation. After AW's demise, he went on to play Prince Edmund of San Cristobel on Guiding Light later that year.

To watch Macdonald Before He Was Royalty (or Methusula old), click here.

Also worth noting in this episode is a guest appearance by Gerald Anthony.

The late actor first charmed daytime viewers with his duel roles as pimp Marco Dane and Dr. Mario Corelli on OLTL in 1978. He later brought Marco to GH in 1992 and, in 2003, played Ritchie on As The World Turns. In between, however, he did a stint as Rick Madison on AW, a less than upstanding citizen whom Lucas engages to track down Jenna's biological father -- a decision all of them will come to regret.

In the early 1980s, Mr. Anthony was married to Brynn Thayer, best known as Jenny on OLTL and Leanne on Matlock.

HUNTER... OR HUNTED?



Evan Alex Cole joins the cast of As The World Turns as Hunter, Emily’s new business partner on Thursday, April 30, when Lucinda announces The Intruder is going digital. (Lucinda is obviously way ahead of the curve, here. The New York Times is still trying to figure out how to get out of the red.)

But who is the hunter, and who is the hunted? This is the little number that Emily dons to welcome her new "business partner" to the world of publishing. (Well, 'welcome' perhaps is the wrong word. More like, "Go away, little boy, you bother me.")



And that's all before Alison and Jade get involved.



Hunter is in for one bumpy ride, only next week, only on As The World Turns!

GL: PHOTO PREVIEW

Just a nice, normal, young couple in love...



Just a nice, normal, wholesome, Midwestern family on vacation...



Oh, look! Grandad is here!



Now the popcorn is really going to fly!



Only next week, only on Guiding Light!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: KAITLIN HOPKINS (KELSEY; ANOTHER WORLD)

Kaitlin Hopkins, currently on tour with the national tour of Dirty Dancing, has been named head of Musical Theatre at Texas State University. Hopkins’ husband, Jim Price, will also join her on the faculty.... Hopkins’ acting career spans more than two decades and includes credits in films such as Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Nanny Diaries, How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. On television she has appeared on Law and Order, Spin City, Star Trek: Voyager, The Practice, JAG, Rescue Me and many others. She spent three years as Dr. Kelsey Harrison on the long running soap Another World.

Read the entire article, here.

And keep your eye on the episodes of AW currently airing on Hulu.com. Kelsey is only a few months away from making her first appearance... just in time for more cracks to start showing in Jamie and Marley's relationship....

FOOL'S GOLD

Henry Coleman ponders the question: What kind of fool am I?

Read his answer, here.

REASONABLE DOUBT

It's Election Day in Bay City. (Mostly because its November 1991 on the latest Hulu.com episodes of Another World.)

Grant Harrison has finally won a Senate seat, much to the delight of his Machiavellian father, Spencer. But there is a problem. Grant's cop brother, Ryan, has turned up evidence linking Grant to supervillain Carl Hutchins. (He says it's solely in the interest of protecting the public from the evil Hutchins; the fact that Ryan's girlfriend, Vicky, has been awfully chummy with Grant lately has nothing to do with Ryan's interest in the election.)

Ryan confides his dilemma to Spencer as Grant prepares to make his victory speech. Spencer tells Ryan he's got it all wrong. Grant isn't the one in Carl's pocket, Spencer is. And then he tells his son why. It's because Spencer is Irish.

Really.

Spencer blames being in cahoots with a man who robs, cheats, steals and kills on the fact that when Spencer was a young man, fresh off the boat from Europe, he couldn't find a job due to the abundance of "No Irish Need Apply" signs.

Let's do a little PGP Classic Soaps Blog math, shall we?

Actor David Hedison, who brilliantly played the wily Spencer was born in 1927. That means that the year 13 year old Spencer washed up on America's shores was circa 1940.

The infamous NINA -- as they were commonly called -- signs allegedly sprung up in America around the 1850s, during the "Know Nothing" movement's attempt to oust Irish Catholics from public office. In 1862, a song was written on the subject.

Historians, however, have long argued vehemently as to whether the signs were, in fact, as prevalent in America as legend would have it.

According to one historian, "In the entire file of the New York Times from 1851 to 1923, there are two NINA ads for men, one of which is for a teenager. Computer searches of classified help wanted ads in the daily editions of other online newspapers before 1923 such as the Brooklyn Eagle, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune show that NINA ads for men were extremely rare--fewer than two per decade. The complete absence of evidence suggests that probably zero such signs were seen at commercial establishments, shops, factories, stores, hotels, railroads, union halls, hiring halls, personnel offices, labor recruiters etc. anywhere in America, at any time. NINA signs and newspaper ads for apartments to let did exist in England and Northern Ireland, but historians have not discovered reports of any in the United States, Canada or Australia. The myth focuses on public NINA signs which deliberately marginalized and humiliated Irish male job applicants. The overwhelming evidence is that such signs never existed."

And there was most certainly no evidence of any such ads in the World War II era, i.e. Spencer Harrison's time.

So not only is the man a horrible father and a crook, he's a liar, too.

But what's even better is Spencer's justification for why it was okay for him to take Carl's dirty money. Spencer explained that he used Carl's influx of cash to build his own empire, and that he, in turn, hired people of all religions and races. So he's actually a civil rights hero.

You've got to hand it to Spencer, though (and actor Hedison). He is downright convincing, not only for the audience, but for Ryan, as well. Tune into the November 14, 1991 episode on Hulu.com, and watch, as Grant in the background makes the traditional political speech explaining how he's in this to help the poor and downtrodden and not merely to fulfill his own ginormous ego, Spencer and Ryan go head to head in one of the best father/son confrontations in daytime history!

HERE I GO AGAIN...

More cute baby (and child) pictures!

ATWT: FATHERS AND SONS

Strike a pose!







Make a date to visit the family, every day on As The World Turns.

GL: THE POWER OF THREE

Which trio will prevail?







Find out, only on Guiding Light.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: ATWT



Ming-Na (ex-Lien)



A.J. Lamas (ex-Rafael)



Spencer Grammer (ex-Lucy)

FRANK & ELENI: TOGETHER AGAIN!

The Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund will honor Business leader George Behrakis and The Food Network’s Iron Chef Star Cat Cora at its 18th Anniversary Gala at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel on Saturday, May 16, 2009... Scholarship presenters will include Fox News anchor Ernie Anastos, CBS News anchor Alexis Christoforous, Guiding Light star Frank Dicopoulos Fox-5 meteorologist Nick Gregory, CSI:NY star Melina Kanakaredes and Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas, and others.

Entire article, here.

Kanakaredes played Eleni opposite Dicopoulos' Frank on Guiding Light from 1991 to 1995. Read all about their love story, here.

ATWT FLASHBACK

The article is a rehash of the same old, same old. But the photo is to die for!



Zsa Zsa Gabor guested on As The World Turns in 1981 as Lydia Marlowe, sister of Miranda Marlowe (played by Elaine Princi, who would go on to sub for Robin Strasser as Dorian on OLTL), the exotic, European drug smuggler who married... Bob Hughes?

Of her brief visit to Oakdale, Gabor observed, "I never have worked so hard and fast in all my life. I just hope I looked OK."

Pictured with Gabor above is a very, very young Anthony Herrera (James). James was smuggling contraband Egyptian jewels through his then-wife, Barbara's, store, Fashions. When that didn't prove to be adequately lucrative, he added drugs to his repertoire. When the organization he was working for threatened James' life (yes, boys and girls, there was a time when James Stenbeck was actually scared of someone else), he tried to turn state's evidence by taping his conversations with Miranda. This story ultimately led to the syndicate's kingpin, the infamous Mr. Big, and, in a roundabout way, to Tom and Margo's romance. (Full story, here.)

AND SPEAKING OF FORMER GL MICHELLES...

Butterfly Effect 3: Revelation is out on DVD, co-starring Rachel Miner, who played the pre-teen Michelle on Guiding Light from 1990 to 1995.

Here is a photo of the actress then:



And now...

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: BETHANY JOY GALEOTTI (EX-MICHELLE; GUIDING LIGHT)

Actress and musician Bethany Joy Galeotti plays Haley, the quintessential girl-next-door, best friend to Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) and love interest for Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) on The CW's hit drama "One Tree Hill". The young Florida native began her theatre career as a child in Dallas, Texas. By the time she was 13, she moved with her family to New Jersey and began her transition from stage to screen through a series of national commercials and television pilots. After two successful years on the soap opera "Guiding Light", Galeotti headed to the West Coast, where she booked roles on "Felicity, Charmed", "The Guardian", "Off Centre" and "Maybe It's Me". Not long after, she landed a role on "One Tree Hill" and found herself heading to North Carolina, where she's been for the last six seasons.

Read the interview, here.

When she appeared on GL, the actress was known as Joie Lenz and was part of the immensely popular Michelle/Danny pairing.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: CYNTHIA WATROS (EX-ANNIE; GUIDING LIGHT)

LeVar Burton-known for his work on the children's program Reading Rainbow and immortalized as both Geordi LaForge in the Star Trek franchise and Kunta Kinte in Roots-will offer audiences a unique opportunity to see his work up close and personal at the 99-seat Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks. Also starring in the play is Cynthia Watros, star of Guiding Light and Lost.

More here.

For other Star Trek/soap connections, check out our posts on:
Kathryn Hays (Kim; ATWT)
Marj Dusay (Alex; GL)
Arnold Moss (ex-Ted; GL)
Lee Sheldon (Edge of Night Headwriter)
Jennifer Lien (Hannah; Another World)

WORLD CRYER

David Cryer, the 1958 DePauw University graduate who performs in the record-setting Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera and has shared the movie screen with Clint Eastwood and Richard Gere, will receive an honorary degree from his alma mater next month.... David Cryer's movie appearances include roles in Escape from Alcatraz and American Gigolo, and he has had roles on television's Law and Order, Dallas, Spenser: For Hire, Emergency! and Wonder Woman, among other programs. For several years he was a featured performer on the daytime serials As The World Turns and Where The Heart Is.

Entire feature, here.

Cryer portrayed Phillip Lombard on ATWT from 1989 to 1990. Phillip was the wealthy, controlling father of Brock Lombard (played by Gregory Beecroft, also Tony Reardon on GL and a very unfortunate attempt at recasting Duke Lavery on GH). Brock was in love with Ellie Snyder (with whom he shared a dark and mysterious secret), but married to Marjorie, whom he liked to slap around. Phillip refused to let Brock divorce Marjorie and Brock, being a hen-pecked Daddy's boy (when he wasn't slapping women around), went along. To make sure that Brock understood the seriousness of the situation, Phillip threatened his son with a gun and reminded that Ellie was a threat to the family, due to her knowledge of the aforementioned dark and mysterious secret.

Brock moved on from Ellie to Emily. They performed a tango at the AIDS Ball that people still talk about today (you can watch a blurry clip of it on YouTube.com at the 1:55 mark). Phillip, no more thrilled with Emily than he had been with Ellie, tried to blackmail the Stenbeck hand-me-down into staying away from his son. Brock turned around and blackmailed his father, once again over their dark and mysterious secret. It turned out that the Lombard family was deep into organized crime, and that Brock had done a little "rubbing out" work for Daddy Dearest in the past. When Brock refused to leave Emily -- and even announced he'd be divorcing his wife for her, so there! -- Phillip decided that Emily could use a little rubbing out herself. And, what the heck, get Ellie while you're at it, too.

Brock considered turning state's evidence against his father, but soon was discovered shot dead, with Ellie's fingerprints on the gun. Ellie wore a wire to try and trick Phillip into confessing that he'd ordered the hit on his own son, but Phillip was no fool. It was only when Phillip's wife and Brock's mother turned against him (gee, the guy had her child killed, what did he think she was going to do?), that the police were able to apprehend him.

We at the PGP Classic Soaps Blog can only hope that Mr. Cryer has a better relationship with his real-life son, the Two and a Half Men star, Jon Cryer.

LUKE AND NOAH CAN'T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW

They're a little tied up.



Next week on As The World Turns.

A PRINCE AMONG MEN

GL's Edmund may be down...



And depressed...



But he ain't out...



He even finds some time to shoot a few baskets.



Only next week, only on Guiding Light.

BLOG HITS THE SPOT

ATWT's Henry relives yesterday's events and ponders the one possible reason anyone might possibly wish to acquire off-spring.

Plus, find out what exactly Vienna put in her foul-smelling goop, only in Henry's blog, here!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: LOIS SMITH


Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Wilson and Managing Director Michael Stotts, announced today that acclaimed actress Lois Smith will return to Hartford Stage in the role of matriarch Stella Gordon as she joins the Broadway cast of Horton Foote's hit comedy Dividing The Estate for the production's run at Hartford Stage May 28 - July 5.... arrangement with Primary Stages.

Lois Smith's career in theatre, film, and television has spanned five decades. She made her film debut in East of Eden opposite James Dean in 1955. Additional film credits include Five Easy Pieces, Up the Sandbox, Four Friends, Fatal Attraction, Fried Green Tomatoes, How to Make an American Quilt, Dead Man Walking, Twister, and Minority Report. Much of Smith's career has been spent in television, appearing in early anthology series (Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents), soap operas (Another World, Somerset, The Edge of Night, All My Children, One Life to Live), and numerous primetime dramas, including The Defenders, Dr. Kildare, Route 66, thirtysomething, The Practice, Law & Order, Grey's Anatomy and most recently, HBO's True Blood.

Entire article, here.

Ms. Smith played Zoe on Somerset, Mrs. Oates on The Edge of Night, and Ella on Another World, among other soap roles.

MAKE UP

New York City area viewers who missed today's episode of As The World Turns can catch a rebroadcast at 2:07 AM on their local CBS station.

LET ME HEAR YOUR BODY TALK

Between Carly's body language...


And Jack's...


Parker has really given his folks a lot to bite their nails over.

Craig, naturally, is deeply, deeply concerned.


See the fractured family in action, only on As The World Turns!