EDITOR'S NOTE: Please note the change in the shirttail, which reflects the new author's name and her email address, to which soap-related comments and questions may be sent.
BREAKING NEWS: First Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio), then Emma Samms (Holly Scorpio), and now, fans, your three wishes are complete: Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) is coming back to General Hospital. Long-time GH fans have been speculating for quite a while that the divine Ms. Devane would find her way back to Port Charles now that her daughter, Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), is practising medicine at General Hospital. Although it remains to be seen how long Hughes will reprise her role as the one-time police chief, look for her to air sometime in May.
IN MEMORIAM: Gloria Monty, one of daytime television's behind-the-scenes legends, lost her battle with cancer on March 30, 2006, at the age of 84. As executive producer of General Hospital, she saved the soap from the brink of cancellation in 1978 with the Luke and Laura love story, which propelled the show to No. 1. Popular supercouples Frisco and Felicia and Holly and Robert were also created during Monty's tenure. Monty was the first to realise that the key to attracting and keeping soap fans was to draw in younger viewers, and it has worked fans who watched the show in high school are some of its most devoted viewers today. Monty changed the face of daytime with her adventurous love stories, making GH a national phenomenon.
CASTING NEWS: One of All My Children's most beloved characters is coming back for a brief visit in May through June. Eden Riegel is scheduled to return as Bianca Montgomery, the role for which she won a Daytime Emmy. Bianca will lend her support to sister Kendall (Alicia Minshew) when she faces a crisis concerning her baby. ... Marisa Ramirez has been cast on The Young and the Restless as Carmen Mesta, the new crisis public-relations representative for Jabot. She is scheduled to debut on May 8. Fans will best remember Ramirez from her originating the role of Gia Campbell on GH in 2000, before she left in 2002. While she was away, she guest-starred on several prime-time shows, such as CSI: Miami and Dr. Vegas. She also starred in the short-lived primetime series Miracles. Welcome back to daytime, Marisa!
ROAD TRIP: Have you run out of fresh ideas for a summer vacation? CBS has made it easy for soap fans with its CBS Superstar Weekend event at Paramount's Kings Dominion theme park in Richmond, Va. Cast members from As the World Turns and Guiding Light will be at the park on June 10 and 11 to sign autographs and participate in Q&A sessions. You can even win a chance to act out a scene with one of the stars. There is also a special surprise planned for Saturday night -- and I've been told you'll need your dancing shoes. Gates open at 10:30 a.m., and the soap event is free with the purchase of admission to the park.
Scheduled to appear from ATWT are Alexandra Chando (Maddie), Van Hansis (Luke), Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara), Terri Colombino (Katie), Kelley Menighan Hensley (Emily), Michael Park (Jack), Trent Dawson (Henry), Jennifer Landon (Gwen), Zach Roerig (Casey), Elena Goode (Jade), Grayson McCouch (Dusty), Jesse Lee Soffer (Will) and Maura West (Carly). GL talent is scheduled to include Rob Bogue (Mallet), Beth Ehlers (Harley), Michelle Ray Smith (Ava), Crystal Chappell (Olivia), Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy), Marcy Rylan (Lizzie), Bradley Cole (Jeffrey), Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus), Gina Tognoni (Dinah), Justin Deas (Frank), Robert Newman (Josh), Kim Zimmer (Reva), John Driscoll (Coop), Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan) and Lawrence St. Victor (Remy. Visit www.CBS.com for more
information.
