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Soap Opera Digest and Weekly Reports Breaking News
Finola Returns! GENERAL HOSPITAL has completed the hat trick. Finola Hughes is reprising the role of Anna Devane Scorpio for May Sweeps, joining Tristan Rogers (Robert) and Emma Samms (Holly). Soap Opera Weekly first got wind of the news on March 30, following weeks of speculation. Hughes played the hugely popular character from 1985-’92. She was last seen on ALL MY CHILDREN as Anna and her twin sister, Alex, from 1999-2003. See the issue of Weekly on the stands April 10 for the complete details.
Daytime Mourns Loss of Gloria Monty Legendary soap producer and director Gloria Monty died of cancer March 30 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She was 84. A former director and producer of the CBS soaps THE SECRET STORM and BRIGHT PROMISE, Monty is best known to the soap world as the producer who saved ABC's GENERAL HOSPITAL from cancellation and turned it into a pop-culture phenomenon in the '80s. Monty's revolutionary directing, storytelling and production techniques helped to make GH the highest-rated daytime drama for nearly a decade. Her efforts inspired a reinvention of the entire soap genre, with greater emphasis on faster pacing, better production values, and nontraditional types of stories. For more on Monty and her legacy, including heartfelt comments by several of the actors she made famous, check out upcoming issues of Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly.
ATWT's Damian Is Back! We've been hinting at it for awhile now, but the deal is finally done: Paolo Seganti is returning as ATWT's Damian in May, not long after Luke comes out. "Damian is from Europe and a hot-blooded, old fashioned, square guy, so I think there will be a lot of drama," says Seganti, who lives with his family in L.A. and will be commuting to New York. "I’m going to be doing three weeks [of work] with a week off so I can be with my family." But the length of his stay is still indefinite. "It depends on Martha [Byrne, Lily]," laughs Seganti of the co-star who helped facilitate his return. "She’s the one to blame or praise for me being back."
Sabatino Joins PASSIONS PASSIONS is confirming that Michael Sabatino has signed on for a short-term role. Sabatino, a fan favorite and husband of GUIDING LIGHT's Crystal Chappell (Olivia), has had a number of daytime gigs including DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Lawrene Alamain (1990-1993) and ALL MY CHILDREN's Jonathan Kinder (1995-96). More recently he played GL's Vince Russo and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL's Anthony Armando. Of course, KNOTS LANDING viewers remember him as Chip Roberts in 1982. Details such as Sabatino's first airdate on PASSIONS and his character's name are still to come.
No More Moore at Y&R; Bad news for Shemar Moore fans. THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS confirms that the actors, now starring on CBS' CRIMINAL MINDS, is not returning to his Emmy award-winning role of Malcolm. For stoyline purposes, a return to daytime would have been ideal for Malcolm because Lily has just learned that he's her daddy, not his brother Neil.
Bergeron, Monaco To Host Daytime Emmys ABC Daytime has named Tom Bergeron (DANCING WITH THE STARS) and Kelly Monaco (Sam, GENERAL HOSPITAL) hosts of the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Bergeron, an Emmy winner for HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, and Monaco, nominated in the Best Actress category, first “worked” together when Monaco took home the first DANCING WITH THE STARS championship trophy in 2005. The Emmys will be broadcast live on April 28.
Y&R Joins SOAPnet SOAPnet, the soap cable channel, will start airing same-day episodes of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS at 7 p.m. beginining April 24. DAYS OF OUR LIVES will move to 11 p.m. every weekday with the regular ABC soap line-up sandwiched in between.
Ingle Checks Back Into GH As reported first in Soap Opera Digest, John Ingle, who has portrayed DAYS's Mickey Horton since February 2004, is heading back to Port Charles to reclaim the role of Edward Quartermaine, which he played from 1993-2004. Jed Allan, who took over for Ingle when he left for Salem, is out. But the folks in Salem are sad to see Ingle go. “We were so fortunate that John Ingle was available to us at a time when we were desperate to fill story and were dealing with the departure of John Clarke,” notes DAYS executive producer Ken Corday in a statement. “We have loved having John here, both professionally and personally, but also know a big part of his heart and history is with GENERAL HOSPITAL. Our loss is certainly GH’s gain, and we wish John nothing but continued success. He will truly be missed!”
Brooke and Bobby on B&B; THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL has struck oil. DALLAS fave Patrick Duffy (ex-Bobby) is joining the show as Stephen Logan, Brooke's father. Stephen was last played by Robert Pine. Duffy's first tape date was March 7, so look for him to begin airing in early April. For an interview with Duffy, check out the March 28 issue of Soap Opera Weekly and Soap Opera Digest.
Alfieri Joins PASSIONS DAYS OF OUR LIVES alum Victor Alfieri (ex-Franco) is joining PASSIONS as the mysterious Gianni, who's been described as "a cosmopolitan ladies' man with his eye on Fancy." Additionally, Alfieri's character is rumored to be the mysterious monk who figures into the show’s upcoming "PASSIONS Vendetta" storyline, a new cross-promotional story/campaign with Maybelline that launches March 14, after the success of Passions/Maybelline's first cross-promotional collaboration, "PASSIONS Red," at the end of last year. Alfieri's first air date is April 19.
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