5.21.2009

SOW's 20 Most Fascinating Couples

In the May 26, 2009 issue of Soap Opera Weekly there are twenty couples featured and celebrated. Here's the little introduction paragraph and a list of the spectacular twenty.

Try narrowing 20 years of soap love stories into 20 memorable couples - it's not easy! (We're putting the 20 runners-up on our Web site.) Check our latest "20 most..." list, and then vote for your fave at http://www.soapoperaweekly.com. Is your couple not on our list? Write them in at tellus@soapoperaweekly.com. (Remember, the couple had to get romantically involved between 1989 and 2009, which makes some classic pairs ineligible.)

All My Children:
Noah and Julia
Tad & Dixie

Another World:
Cass and Frankie

As The World Turns:
Jack and Carly
Luke and Noah

The Bold And The Beautiful:
Deacon and Brooke

Days Of Our Lives:
Jack and Jennifer
Shawn and Belle

General Hospital:
Sonny and Carly

Guiding Light:
Bill and Lizzie
Olivia and Natalia

Loving:
Casey and Aly

One Life To Live:
Jake and Megan
Patrick and Marty

Passions:
Luis and Sheridan

Port Charles:
Caleb and Livvie

Santa Barbara:
Warren and BJ

Sunset Beach:
Ben and Meg

The Young And The Restless:
Michael and Lauren
Phyllis and Nick

5.16.2009

2009 Daytime Emmy Nominations

This year the Emmys will be on the CW on August 30, hosted by Tyra Banks. The nominations came out May 14, and we now have a 3-month wait. The noms are surprising, to say the least. There are some glaring omissions. I just hope the actual ceremony will be worth-watching and not too focused on everything but soap operas. We'll have to wait and see, won't we? :)

And now for the major nominees...

Outstanding Directing Team:
All My Children
Days Our Our Lives
One Life To Live

Outstanding Writing Team:
All My Children
General Hospital
One Life To Live
The Bold And The Beautiful

Outstanding Younger Actress:
Meredith Hagner (Liberty, ATWT)
Rachel Melvin (Chelsea, DAYS)
Kirsten Storms (Maxie, GH)
Julie Marie Berman (Lulu, GH)
Emily O'Brien (Jana, Y&R)

Outstanding Younger Actor:
Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frankie, AMC)
Darin Brooks (Max, DAYS)
Blake Berris (Nick, DAYS)
EJ Bonilla (Rafe, GL)
Bryton McClure (Devon, Y&R)

Outstanding Supporting Actress:
Melissa Claire Egan (Annie, AMC)
Alicia Minshew (Kendall, AMC)
Julie Pinson (Janet, ATWT)
Tamara Braun (Ava, DAYS)
Bree Williamson (Jessica, OLTL)

Outstanding Supporting Actor:
Vincent Irizarry (David, AMC)
Jacob Young (JR, AMC)
Van Hansis (Luke, ATWT)
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH)
Jeff Branson (Shayne, GL)

Outstanding Lead Actress:
Debbi Morgan (Angie, AMC)
Maura West (Carly, ATWT)
Susan Haskell (Marty, OLTL)
Susan Flannery (Stephanie, B&B)
Jeanne Cooper (Katherine, Y&R)

Outstanding Lead Actor:
Thorsten Kaye (Zach, AMC)
Peter Reckell (Bo, DAYS)
Anthony Geary (Luke, GH)
Daniel Cosgrove (Bill, GL)
Christian LeBlanc (Michael, Y&R)

Outstanding Drama Series:
All My Children
Days Of Our Lives
The Bold And The Beautiful

I am NOT amused! Nor impressed! Every year now these nominations end up being surprising & disappointing. This year's are a bit better than last year's, from what I remember. But overall, they're a let-down. In a personal way, there isn't anyone I'm overly excited about. None of my favorites are here. As an All My Children viewer, I cannot believe it has the most nominations. It doesn't deserve all of those noms! Being a huge supporter of the soap world, there seems to be some balance in the acting categories, except for AMC's apparent domination and Bold & Beautiful's one lonely nom.

AMC has many talented actors, but I don't understand Irizarry's and Young's nominations. Aren't there more deserving supporting actors than them? I'm the happiest with Morgan's nomination, and THANK GOD that Brianne Moncrief (Colby) didn't get a nom. But what about Michael E. Knight (Tad)? He had some top notch work in '08.

I'm happy with most of As The World Turns' and all of One Life To Live's nominations. Not sure about ATWT's Hagner and Pinson; I haven't watched enough of them to see if they deserve Emmys. Hansis should win for Supporting Actor; it's been a long time coming. OLTL's Haskell should win for Lead Actress; the "rapemance" story was HUGE for her. Why Kristen Alderson (Starr) & Brandon Buddy (Cole) didn't get nominated I don't know. And yet again Kathy Brier (Marcie) is omitted.

I love Guiding Light's nominations; I wish there was more. How about Marcy Rylan (Lizzie), Crystal Chappell (Olivia), and Gina Tognoni (Dinah)?

The usual General Hospital actors are nominated, and again, I don't know why Geary is. He's stuck with the same kind of material year after year plus he gets two long vacations. What did he do this past year that deserves an Emmy? Why wasn't there more GH noms?

Then you have the usual Y&R nominees, but I'm surprised there's no Kristoff St. John (Neil). I'm also stunned that Y&R doesn't have two nominees in both lead categories. And I keep hearing about how amazing Billy Miller (Billy) and Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe) are! No noms for them?

I'm pleased with all the Days Of Our Lives noms because that show usually doesn't get the credit & recognition it deserves.

B&B is the one that got shafted. Way to go, Flannery, for B&B's single acting nomination! Not sure if there should have been more or not.

On the whole, I'm the happiest with the Lead Actress category because I know all of those women deserve to be there. I'm the most displeased with BOTH younger categories because I believe there may be better actresses & actors than some of the ones there.

I'm rooting for OLTL in both the Directing and Writing categories because it is one of the best soaps. It has been for, like, 2 years now. AMC had better not win for Writing because most of the past year it has been sh*t!

This leads us to the biggest reason to hate the Daytime Emmys this year: Outstanding Drama Series. What the f**k?? Only three nominees and not the most deserving AT ALL! DAYS maybe, but the other two, no. AMC is in a deep hole, and I can't believe it's better than OLTL or GH. That being said, where are OLTL & GH? Or even Y&R - the other best soap? I think even GL was pretty good this past year. And WHY only THREE nominees? That doesn't make sense! I think I'm honestly rooting for DAYS , but being a long-time AMC fan I could easily change my mind. Of course, it all depends on what episodes were submitted. AMC did have some great ones in the beginning of the year. Maybe because of that, they deserve to win. It's just shocking that other, more-deserving soaps are omitted.