GUIDING LIGHT SYNOPSIS FOR FEBRUARY 22-26, 2010

Via http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis

Billy promised Mindy he would do anything he could to help her track down information about her mother... even if it meant Mindy finding her biological father.

"If it's what you need to be happy... If he's what you need to be happy," Billy swore. "I'll do whatever it takes to get that for you. Same as always."

He told Mindy that her mother's name was Sue Eugene, and that she wasn't originally from California. He didn't think she was from the south, either, because she asked Billy lots of questions about life in Oklahoma and the civil rights movement. She was very interested in politics.

Mindy wondered if maybe Sue wasn't a student at a local university. Billy admitted that possibility never crossed his mind.

"Goes to show what an over-privileged fool I was,"he sighed. "Saw a girl with a baby, working as a waitress... Never occurred to me there might be more to her than that. I went to local bars, checking if anyone knew her. Didn't think to check schools. I hope you find what you're looking for, darlin', I really do. But I have to ask, I need to know, where does this all leave... us?"

Mindy told him, "Do you remember when you found out that I'd slept with Roger? You tried to kill him. Hamp broke it up. I tried to apologize. Not so much for the affair, but for lying to you. Do you remember what you said to me that night?"

He nodded. "I said, I have no daughter."

"I knew you didn't mean it then. And even now, after everything you told me, I still know you didn't mean it. You're my father."

Billy's whole body sagged. Like his legs can barely support him. Like he'd been holding his breath... for forty years. "When I said what I said, I wasn't thinking then... not for one minute. It's hard to believe, I know - I find it hard to believe sometimes - but all these years... Part of me was drowning, marinating, in guilt. Other part, it sort of... forgot... you weren't my flesh and blood. That make any sense?"

Mindy assured him that it made perfect sense, and that he would always be her father.

She headed home, where Rick told her they were scheduled to meet with a potential birth mother in Bay City on Monday. (To learn more about Allie Fowler and what secret she's hiding from Rick and Mindy, go to: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2009/2009_34p2.html)

Rick mentioned that she would probably ask them about their families - "Kevin says to think of it as a combination job interview and first date," - prompting Mindy to panic on Twitter, "Let's see, where should we start? Do I jump right in with what I just found out about Daddy, or do I ease her into the Lewis clan by telling Allie how my father, my uncle, my granddaddy and my other uncle all slept with the Slut of Springfield? Maybe she'd prefer to hear about the Bauers? Hmmm, what to open with: Grandpa Bill's alcoholism, Ed's alcoholism or Rick's pill addiction? I could tell her about how Rick's mom left his dad for his uncle Mike. It might make us Lewises seem not so oddly incestuous by comparison. I could pretend that, when she asks about family, I think she means us. Should I tell her that Rick and I have 10 bad marriages between us? That we've both killed people, if inadvertently? That Rick has an illegitimate son with his best friend's then-wife, that I once burned my own house down?"

She told Rick, "Allie's never going to give us her baby. If I were her, I wouldn't even let us live in the same town as my kid. We're doomed."

Help Guide the Light! Tweet Mindy your advice on what she should do next at http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis

DESPERATE WORLD

Les Brandt (ex-Rafe; Another World) appears on Desperate Housewives this Sunday, February 28, 2010

He shared the above photo with us from the set.

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #42-2: HISTORY LESSONS

"I want you to tell me," Rachel forced herself to calm down, to sound reasonable. "I want you to tell me what's wrong. Why have you and I been butting heads for — "

"Forty years?"

"I was going to say, the past few weeks."

Amanda sighed. "Come on, Mom. It's been a lot more than the past few weeks."

Rachel reminisced, "We were so close when you were a little girl."

"You mean before I developed a mind and opinions of my own."

"You always had those."

"Let's be honest here. We haven't been close since... Carl."

Rachel stiffened. "I thought we'd worked through all that."

"If by worked through you mean I learned to suck it up and you pretended not to notice, then, yes, I guess we have."

"I didn't realize you felt that way."

"You didn't want to realize it. Just like you didn't want to realize that you've moved Lila Hart in as you new and improved daughter."

* * *

Lila damns Cass, Felicia disappoints Lorna, Gregory restrains Sharlene, Toni gets a new suspect in Cecile's murder, and a dueling lesson in Black History on the last Thursday of the month dedicated its celebration.

All up now at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

Discuss all this and ask the creators of AWT your questions on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Another-World/307355595460?ref=search&sid=13800416.3728872026..1

Will Dusty convince Janet they are a good match for each other? Tune into the drama tomorrow on As The World Turns!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #42-1: CHILDREN WON'T LISTEN (UNLESS YOU REALLY DON'T WANT THEM TO)

"You don't understand, Grandma," Allie said. "To me, this isn't a baby. It's a problem. I'm trying to do the best I can by him, because that's what my head tells me I'm supposed to do. I got us into this mess; it's my responsibility to get us out. But as for that other stuff, that bonding stuff the books go on and on about... Nothing. I don't feel... I don't feel like a... like a... mom."

Rachel hesitated. She looked down at the floor and then she looked up at the ceiling, and then she looked Allie directly in the eye. She said, "I'm sure you've heard, over the years, in bits and pieces here and there, that I haven't lived the most exemplary of lives."

Allie nodded mutely.

"Being pregnant with your mother was one of the happiest periods I can remember. I was madly in love with Mac, he was thrilled about becoming a father again, even Iris couldn't ruin things for us then. But that wasn't the case with Jamie. Or Matthew. Or even the twins. Carl and I were having problems when I was pregnant with Cory and Elizabeth, plus there were some health issues... But that was nothing compared to while I was pregnant with Jamie or Matt. You know that I was married to another man when Jamie was born. That I tried to pass him off as Russ Matthews' son, the same way I later tried to pass Matt off as Mac's. The difference was, with Jamie, I saw him as a tool for getting the man I really wanted, while with Matt, it was closer to what you described... a problem that it was my responsibility to somehow fix. Both times, my feelings about being pregnant were very, very complicated. But that didn't mean I didn't love both my babies. Don't confuse being unhappy over the circumstances with being unhappy about your child. That feeling won't last, I promise you."

"What if it does?" Allie challenged. "What if I end up like my mom, angry about being stuck with a kid I didn't really want?"

* * *

Donna refuses to face reality, John corners Gregory, Kirkland makes a decision, Carl comes up against his toughest critics, Frankie relives a painful episode from her past (with clip!), and an end of episode poll sure to make you laugh!

All up now at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

Join the AWT conversation on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Another-World/307355595460?ref=search&sid=13800416.3728872026..1

Coming up on As The World Turns

GUIDING LIGHT SYNOPSIS WEEK OF FEBRUARY 15-19, 2010

Via http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis

Mindy and Rick spent the long President's Day weekend talking through their options about adopting a baby (thought Mindy didn't mention that Phillip had advised against it).

Mindy wondered if the reason Rick was pushing her so hard to adopt now (despite her less than optimal current mental state, thanks to Billy) was because he wanted to make up for his less than perfect relationships with Leah and Jude.

Rick said that wasn't it and, instead, told Mindy about the Bauer family legacy. None of them were perfect people, none of them were perfect parents (not even Bert!). But they all tried their best. Being a Bauer means getting up after being knocked down. Again and again and again. Yes, things were difficult now for Mindy. But they could work through this. They could make it. They could be a real family. Rick's been dreaming of having a family with Mindy for over a quarter of a century! (Way to butter up a girl, Rick; compare her age to the century....)

Mindy thought about what he'd said, and about all the other less than perfect Springfield parents - Alan, Alex, Blake, Holly, Phillip, Beth, Buzz, Reva, Carmen.... and realized that the bar wasn't set that high! Maybe she and Rick could do this after all, no matter what crisis was also going on in their life!

She told him to go ahead, tell their lawyer that they were ready to meet with the birth mother who'd picked them. (For some details that Mindy doesn't know about Allie Fowler - but which could have major repercussions for the Bauers down the road, go to: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html)

And then Mindy went to speak to Billy.

He wasn't home; Vanessa was. Vanessa didn't presume to understand what Mindy was feeling, but she did tell her that, as someone who'd given up a child, she would have been thrilled if Dinah had been raised by a loving parent like Billy Lewis.

For Mindy's confrontation with Billy, go to: http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis and help Guide the Light!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #41-2: THE FANS DECIDE DONNA'S FATE!

"Marley, I need you to calm down," Jamie commanded gently. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Lorna tensed, watching Jamie's face swirl from shock to overwhelmed weariness before settling into cool efficiency, all in the blink of an eye.

"First of all, apply pressure to the wounds to stop the bleeding. Don't let up, even if whatever you're using becomes soaked through, just put more cloth on top. Try to elevate her arms above heart level so that she doesn't go into shock. I'm hanging up right now and sending out an ambulance. Help is on the way; sit tight. I'll meet you both here at the hospital."

"What happened?" Lorna called after Jamie as he dialed for the promised aid.

He was already headed for the Emergency Room, calling over his shoulder, "Marley claims your father just tried to kill Donna."

* * *

Jamie makes a purposeful confession to Marley - and an inadvertent one to Lorna, Alice counsels Amanda, GQ goes toe-to-toe with Gregory, Matt gets a shock from Donna, and Toni finds new evidence that turns her case upside down!

Plus, a classic clip of Felicia telling Lucas that Lorna might be their daughter!

See it all at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

"Another World Today" is on Facebook! Join the discussion at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Another-World/307355595460?ref=search&sid=13800416.3728872026..1

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: ANNA HOLBROOK (SHARLENE; ANOTHER WORLD)

Anna Holbrook debuted as Bay City's second Sharlene Frame in 1988, playing the role until 1991, and again from 1993 to 1997.

She recalls, "My choice of clothing - and a little Jack Daniels - helped shed a different light on Sharlene!"

To read where the Emmy award winning (Supporting 1996) Actress is now, go to: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html.

Tell us your thoughts about the interview on Another World Today's Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Another-World/307355595460?ref=search&sid=13800416.3728872026..1!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #41-1

"Fanny?" Lucas took one look at Felicia's ashen face as she stumbled through the door, and broke out into a cold sweat. "Where have you been?" He looked down at her shoes. The rounded toes of Felicia's $1000 violet Gucci boots were both stained with... "Is that blood?"

"Donna," Felicia croaked out, her eyes glazed with shock.

* * *

Marley toys with Grant, Jamie dances around the truth, Carl
inadvertently reveals a secret to Rachel, while GQ deliberately spills
the beans to Jen.

Plus Ryan confronts Grant about his lies in a classic clip from 1992!

See it all at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

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Coming up on As The World Turns next week:

GUIDING LIGHT SYNOPSIS FEBRUARY 8-12, 2010

Via http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis

Before Mindy could tell Rick what she'd learned from Billy about her past, he interrupted to tell her that Kevin Fowler had called from Bay City - a birth mother wanted to meet with them about adopting her unborn baby! (To find out why this girl really picked Rick and Mindy, go to: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2010/2010_40p1.html)

Rick wondered why Mindy wasn't jumping up and down at the news, prompting her to confess about Billy. Rick listened, then told Mindy that he realized it was a huge shock, but Billy was still her parent, the same way Maureen was Michelle's, Marina is Henry's and, God help them all, Alan was Phillip's.

But Mindy wasn't so sure, and wondered how she could swear to the birth mother that she would love her baby with all her heart, even if it wasn't biologically theirs, when Mindy couldn't currently say the same about Billy.

Mindy told Rick she didn't feel ready to tackle an adoption right now, but Rick insisted they go through with it. Who knew when they might get another chance?

Rick reminded Mindy that 25 years ago, he was willing to marry her and raise Phillip's baby as his own. She can thank him for that now by forgiving Billy... and by going ahead and starting a family with Rick.

Confused, Mindy went to see Phillip, figuring he'd understand exactly what she was going through. Phillip did, reassuring Mindy that she was still herself, no matter what, and that Billy still loved her; he was still her Daddy.

However, when Mindy asked Phillip if he thought she and Rick should go ahead with their adoption, Phillip advised against it. He confessed that his children always came second in his life. He always had something else going on - Beth, Alan, work - while they were growing up, and he wasn't there when they needed him. Phillip regretted all the years he'd missed with Lizzie, James, Zach and Emma, and he wished he could go back and start all over. But he couldn't.

Mindy asked, "You think if Rick and I were to adopt now, I wouldn't be able to give 100% to the baby, because of what's going on with Daddy?"

"I can't answer that for you, Mindy. I can only tell you what happened with me. You have to make that decision for yourself. With Rick."

Oh, fine, Mindy tweeted. Be that way. Full of advice, but only until I ask a direct question, and then it's, "You have to make that decision for yourself." Some friend he turned out to be. I'm in no shape to be making decisions now. And Rick's hardly a disinterested party. What do you all think?

Help Guide the Light! Tweet your advice to Mindy on what she should do next at: http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis the only officially-sanctioned GL continuation!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #40-2: VALENTINE'S DAY IN BAY CITY (PLUS A CLUE TO WHO KILLED CECILE!)

"So who shall we place in our Love Lottery this year?" Carl asked Rachel playfully as they lay in bed aboard a moored private yacht he'd chartered explicitly for the holiday. Between the people who usually lived there, and the ones who were just staying there temporarily — at last count: Lila, Jasmine, Marley, Bridget, Michele, and Lorna in the guest-house — the Cory mansion, big as it seemed, was much too crowded these days for any kind of intimate celebration.

The Love Lottery was a tradition Mr. and Mrs. Hutchins had started over a decade earlier in honor of the original Valentine's Day: Lupercalia, a Roman fertility festival wherein young, single women would put their names into an urn for the young, single men to draw out. The fated new couple was then obligated to remain together for a period of one year, at which time they could decide whether to marry or try their lottery luck again.

Rachel and Carl's version of the four hundred year old pre-Christianity practice didn't include an actual lottery. It was more a game they played between themselves, fancifully matching up the single people in their lives and making a Valentine's Day wish that they might find each other in the coming year.

It didn't often work, but the hopeless romantic in both of them kept hopefully plugging away....

* * *

Grant and Spencer nearly come to blows over the women in their lives, Sarah takes steps to neutralize Jen, Lila warns Jamie about Lorna, Cass gives Frankie her most romantic gift ever, Felicia holds Donna's fate in her hands - and you get to decide what she does!

Plus, soap opera at its finest: Three classic scenes - Grant attempts to seduce Vicky, Rachel and Lorna fight over Matt, and Lorna demands to know why Felicia gave up her baby - in today's classic clips!

See them all at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

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Join the discussion and let us know what you like - and don't like - about "Another World Today!"

Promo for So Long Springfield, an event where Guiding Light actors say goodbye to their fans, sponsored by Celebrity Events Group:



For more information, visit SoLongSpringfield.com

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ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #40-1: REVENGE SERVED... HOT

A hand clamped around Donna's throat, shoving her backwards against the headboard.

"Feel that?" Lorna asked conversationally, almost pleasantly, as if she really were soliciting Donna's opinion. "Trying to breathe while your throat's closing up? Trying to get just a little bit of air into your lungs, but you can't?" Lorna leaned in, lest Donna miss a word of the point she was trying to make. "Now imagine feeling this way with a baby inside of you. Knowing that everything you're feeling, she's feeling. If you can't breathe, neither can she. If you're dying, so is she."

Still holding Donna by the throat, Lorna wrenched her from the bed and pulled her to face a nearby mirror.

"I know it's hard to make out in this light, but your lips are starting to turn blue," Lorna continued after a few very, very long seconds, during which Donna writhed in an attempt to get away. "Your eyes are bulging out, maybe even bursting a capillary or two. That's what happened to Jenna. This is exactly what she felt. Not just for a couple of minutes, but for days, weeks, while you had her locked up."

Desperate, Donna flailed her arms, looking for something she could grab to use as a weapon. Blurred yellow flashes bobbed in front of her eyes. She wondered if she were about to pass out.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Lorna ordered, the pressure around Donna's throat suddenly gone. "You're going to be awake for what I have planned for you... "

* * *

Amanda loses patience with her daughter - and her mother, Jasmine gets her heart broken, Jamie and Matt square off, and Kevin helps Allie skirt the law.

Plus, Lorna and Jenna go head-to-head in a classic AW clip from 1992.

All up now at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

Coming up next week on As The World Turns!

GUIDING LIGHT SYNOPSIS FEBRUARY 1 - 5, 2010

Via http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis

Billy continued telling Mindy the story of how he came to be her father:

"They're trying to get the women and children out fast as possible. I walk up, carrying Mindy. Guy stops me. Asks: What the hell? I tell him: I'm not sending her out alone. He looks at me suspiciously. Asks Mindy: He your Dad? She hugs my neck, bats her eyes. Yes, sir! He doesn't look like he's buying it. I'm ready to drop Mindy and run, use her as a battering ram, anything just to get out of there.... Go! He shoves us out the door. Mindy waves bye to him as we leave. I tell myself it's ok; Sue's got to be somewhere. They'll let her go, too. See, I didn't understand then. I didn't understand till I became a parent myself. But there's no way in hell Sue was leaving without Mindy. I thought she'd be like me. I thought she'd do anything to get out. They were letting women go. I didn't think she'd stay and look for you... Mindy and I were maybe a few yards away, we weren't even across the golf course to where the cops were waiting when the whole place blew... I swear, I looked for her. I looked for your mama, I did. I looked among the ones who got out. I asked if anyone had seen her. No one saw her leave. And after, there were no survivors. Everybody still inside... The explosion was huge; bastards weren't joking around. Not even enough left over to identify bodies, they said. I didn't know what to do. Mindy was looking at me... asking where her Mama was. I kept coming back. Day after day, to the site while they were digging, when there was still hope. And then I called and called the police. I kept asking if anyone had come looking for you or Sue. Couldn't believe she didn't have anybody at all... But no one ever came searching. Weeks went by. I didn't know what to do. You used to cry yourself to sleep, asking for your Mama. But then you stopped. You started calling me Daddy. I don't even remember the moment when it happened, it just, all of a sudden, was. You and I, there we were. I'd never had to take care of anyone before you. I'd never been responsible for anything before you. I'd never given a damn before you. I knew I could never, ever really make up for what I'd done to you. I killed your Mama, I took and still take full responsibility for that. But I promised myself I'd give you the very best life I could. You'd never want for a thing. So many times, folks said I was spoiling you. They didn't understand. I could give you everything you asked for, and it still wouldn't come close to being enough. Wouldn't absolve me. One time, I actually got drunk enough to tell a priest the whole story. Had to tell somebody, I thought I would die from keeping it inside. He suggested I think of it as me saving your life. That might make it a little easier for me to live with. Idiot. I didn't save your life. Not on purpose, anyway. If I could've gotten out without you, I would have, no question about it. I used a little girl to save my own skin. I didn't save your life. But, so help me, you saved mine. Years and years, only reason I didn't drink myself to death, was because of you..."

Help Guide the Light! Tweet Mindy your advice about what she should do next at http://twitter.com/MelindaSueLewis, the only officially sanctioned Guiding Light sequel!

Don't miss tomorrow on As The World Turns when Barbara catches Paul and Mick in the middle of conflict!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #39-2: WHO'S STALKING DONNA?

When Rachel checked with Spencer's hotel, she was informed that Mr. Harrison had moved out. He had apparently decided to open up his former home and make his stay in Bay City a bit more permanent.

"Fantastic," was all Rachel really had to say to that.

It got even better when she knocked on his door and was greeted by Spencer himself — with Alice hovering in the background.

Rachel told him, "The evidence against Donna that the police found in Cecile's hotel room, it was all the same pieces that you gave me months ago."

"Perhaps you should be more careful where you put your things," Spencer suggested.

"My copies are still in my safe. Did you give that information to Cecile?"

"I hardly knew the woman."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"What motives could I possibly have had for exposing my... business dealings to the outside world?"

"You wanted to hurt Carl," Rachel grasped at straws.

"At my own expense?"

"No one can trace those documents back to you, you made sure of that."

"But why take the risk? Especially for no visible reward. Carl was the motive for Donna's actions, not a co-conspirator. This won't bring him down, it will make him sympathetic. A father denied, a tragic injured party yet again. At least in his own eyes, if no one else's. After all, wasn't it finding out about Ryan that supposedly brought about his miraculous redemption?"

* * *

Donna gets a threat, Cass tries to pull Felicia back from the edge, Lila propositions Kevin, Amanda bolsters Carl, while Jamie and Marley reach an understanding.

Plus classic Ryan and Jenna clips, and Part #3 of our exclusive interview with Kale Browne (Michael)!

All at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

Will Barbara confess Mick's secret to Paul? Find out tomorrow, Wednesday February 3, on As The World Turns!

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #39-1

Death did not become Cecile DePoulignac.

There were no people to taunt, no strawberries and chocolate to enjoy, no beautiful Chanel dresses to frolic around in, and no men to...well... pass the time with, as she was forced to witness the abominable aftermath that was her untimely and tragic death.

Not that there wasn't much to be observed from her rather lofty position in...wherever she currently was (but the fact that she was looking down had to be a good sign, right?). Thankfully, the citizens of Bay City presented Cecile with a myriad of fascinating tableaus as they sat down with their breakfasts for the morning news, be it delivered by printed paper, television or Internet.

Grant Harrison's cigar falling out of his mouth and into his bacon and eggs as he took in the morning's headline set a rather comical tone for the proceedings. Cecile was hoping for more of that.

Unfortunately, Felicia Gallant had to get hysterical, shaking her white, goose-feather impaled dressing gown sleeves and all but swooning like one of her typically underwritten romance-novel heroines (Cecile may have skimmed a tome here and there just for a laugh), leaving poor bumbling Lucas to hover around uselessly with the metaphorical smelling salts.

Then dim-bulb Jamie (what had Cecile ever seen in that boy? Oh, yes, his stepfather's money did manage to briefly paper over a multitude of sins) had gone on and on and on with the impotent platitudes as cow-eyed Marley hung from his arm, mooing and braying her misery.

Meanwhile, at the Cory mansion, Rachel and Carl (Cecile wondered if she were now in a position to track down dear, doddering Mac and get his opinion on that pairing) were having a most interesting discussion. Cecile did so enjoy being talked about.

Throughout the pathetically, irreparably provincial, wakening small town known as Bay City, assorted citizens were finding themselves entirely unprepared for the brand new world they had awoken to.

But not, to Cecile's eternal humiliation and rage, due to the shocking news of her aforementioned untimely and utterly unwarranted demise....

* * *

Marley rails at Donna, Allie throws GQ's words back at him, Carl plays puppet-master, Sarah receives unwanted advice, Felicia loses control, Gregory gets a visit from his father, and Lorna comes to an uncomfortable realization.

Plus a classic clip of Donna experiencing self-awareness!

All at: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html