Daytime Soap Operas: The Edge of Night

The consumer-products giant behind household staples like Tide, Crest and Pampers has been entwined with daytime serials for nearly a century, helping to produce radio dramas like “The Guiding Light”; daytime TV mainstays including “As the World Turns”; and a recent revival of the format called “Beyond the Gates” that airs on CBS. Now the company hopes to reach digitally savvy consumers with an intriguing twist on the old formula.

In January, P&G will launch “The Golden Pear Affair,” a 50-episode “microsoap” that will be made available initially via social media and, later, a bespoke mobile app. The idea, say backers of the new program, is to reach people who are used to giving content a swipe on a mobile phone, rather than those who sit back and passively swoon in front of a more traditional screen.

Will fans of the original concept flock to new one? The bite-sized episodes “are serialized dramas. They are soapy and there are going to be some elements that are a little out there,” says Anna Saalfeld, head of P&G Studios. But the new series — some people behind the scenes refer to it as a “short opera” — is “definitely social-first. It is optimized for viewing on your screen. It is very snackable. There are key differentiators” from old-school programs.

“The Golden Pear Affair” is meant to highlight Procter’s Native line of personal-care products. A new collection of “Global Flavors” products sport fragrances from around the world, and will likely get some nods during all the action in “Pear.” “It’s got romance. It’s certainly got adventure. And it’s a lot of fun,” says Geneva Wasserman, global executive vice president of entertainment IP strategy and investment at Dentsu, the agency that has worked with Procter & Gamble on creating the series.

Native may have more room for such play. The brand was founded in 2015 with a commitment to clean formulae for its products. P&G acquired it in 2017 — a nod, perhaps, to the growing clout of start-up consumer brands such as Dollar Shave Club, Honest Co. or BodyArmor. Native is no Tide or Old Spice, which are instantly recognizable and potentially harder to slip into a piece of programming without distracting the viewer.

“Golden Pear Affair” stars Nick Ritacco and Aloyna Real, two actors who have played roles in other microdramas. The Native products being spotlighted will be available only via the brand’s website and in Target stores. The hopes is that viewers will swipe their way through the whole production.

“We want you to have a little smile and a laugh, but also a shock, and ask ‘What’s going to happen next?’” says Wasserman.

Procter is the latest to enter the growing frenzy around what is known as “microcontent,” or programming with stories and plots that are told over the course of dozens of episodes that may last just a minute or two (some parts of “Golden Pear” may go as long as two and a half minutes). In recent months, several companies have begun to supply bite-sized dramas and serials for venues like TikTok or Meta’s Reels. In China, the content capsules have already proven quite popular. Microdramas could generate as much as $11 billion in 2026, according to estimates from Omdia, a London consultancy.

Already, U.S. media companies are trying to woo adherents of shorter stuff to their own venues, well aware that a rising generation of viewers is growing accustomed to having more control over the content they watch. Viewers can now swipe away instantly if they’re bored with something.

Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision in 2025 offered sponsorships tied to a new wellspring of “microdramas”– as many as 30 different titles. But the company plans to increase its production to as many as 100 in 2026. The company recently produced a Spanish-language microdrama for the large retailer JCPenney.

Others are courting similar (short) attention. When ESPN unveiled its much-ballyhooed new “ultimate” streaming service earlier this year, it did so along with a new interactive version of “SportsCenter” that is perfect for young sports aficionados with limited time. “SportsCenter for You” doesn’t feature anchors or intros. It serves up quick, consecutive clips — a key play, a short report from a correspondent — all narrated by Hannah Storm or handful of other ESPN personnel, boosted by A.I. ESPN calls its rapid-fire clips “verts.” Meanwhile, the new Fox One streaming service features “shorts” that let users dive into their favorite topics or programs with a series of attenuated video vignettes.

“Golden Pear” drama starts from the first second of the program. The heroine is marrying a crime boss, and things pick up from there, says Jonas Barnes, founder of Pixie USA, a Georgia-based microdrama studio that produced the new series. The hope is that any nods to Native won’t get in the way of viewers enjoying the show. “What’s really important is making the product part of the story where it’s instrumental. and not just on the table. Or the character picking it up and saying, ‘Look what I got.’”

Procter & Gamble wants to get Native into the hands of young consumers. To do so, the company needs to connect with them in the venues where they get their content — and accommodate their behaviors. “A lot of our growth is going to come from multicultural consumers. A lot of our growth is going to come from younger consumers, says Saalfield. “This format really affords us” an opportunity to speak with them in ways they might appreciate.

Executives believe viewers will stick around for the high production values of the series, as well as some of the humor and sudsy antics. Procter will be counting the length of time people interact with the episodes, and how many they watch, among other behaviors.

Add up all the views, says Wasserman, and they may just equal something bigger than the sum of its parts “If you watch it all, you’ve got an hour, maybe an hour and a half of content — like a feature film.”

‘When Calls The Heart’ Renewed For Season 14; Lori Loughlin To Return

Additionally, original cast member Lori Loughlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm, On Call) is set to reprise her role of Abigail Stanton and will appear in six of the 12 episodes, the network revealed.

“Since the series’ debut in 2014, the character of Abigail Stanton was a fan favorite and beloved by the Hearties,” said Michelle Vicary, Head of Programming, Hallmark Media. “At its core the Hallmark brand is about hope, positivity and connection, which is also the central theme of When Calls the Heart. We felt that Season 14 was the right time to continue Abigail’s story with her return to this beloved series.”

Based on Janette Oke’s novel When Calls the Heart, the period-set series stars Erin Krakow, Kevin McGarry, Jack Wagner, Chris McNally, Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith. It follows a cultured, early-1900s schoolteacher named Elizabeth (Krakow) who leaves her comfortable world in the city for a new life in a frontier town.

When Calls the Heart is an All Canadian Entertainment Production in Association with Brad Krevoy Television and Believe Pictures. Brad Krevoy, Brian Bird, Michael Landon Jr., Joy Gregory, Mike Rohl, Jimmy Townsend, Amy Hartwick, Erin Krakow, Susie Belzberg, and Michael Shepard are executive producers. Vicki Sotheran and Greg Malcolm serve as producers.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli Sell Los Angeles Mansion Amid Split

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... the Hidden Hills property sold Monday for $12.65 million. The couple had been asking $14.95 million, so they took a hit off the asking price, but they're still walking away with a solid profit after buying the place for $9.5 million back in 2020.

The sprawling contemporary farmhouse spans nearly 12,000 square feet, loaded with luxury amenities including a fully equipped gym, custom home theater, chef's kitchen, and wine cellar. Outside, the backyard's a resort-style playground with a swimming pool, spa, bocce ball court, and BBQ area.

Lori and Mossimo, who've been living separate lives, called it quits in October. As we reported ... she's been in Los Angeles while he's been spending time in Sun Valley, Idaho.

The deal wipes one major asset off the table, but don't necessarily expect things to be smooth sailing from here. Our sources told us a prenuptial agreement could make the divorce messy and may even prevent Lori from getting anything in the split.

Tomer Fridman of The Fridman Group at Christie's International Real Estate Southern California held the listing.

Margaret DePriest Dies: Actress & Writer On ‘General Hospital’, ‘Days Of Our Lives’, ‘All My Children’ & More Was 94

Born in Bristow, OK on April 19, 1931, DePriest rose from Depression-era farm life to win a drama scholarship at the University of Oklahoma.

She began her career as an actress both onstage and television. One of her first credits was a contract role as Abby Cameron #1 on The Edge of Night from 1965-1966. She also portrayed social worker Mrs. Berger on The Doctors.

She segued to co-writer (with Lou Scofield) on The Edge of Night in the mid-1960s. In 1969, she co-created and was co-head writer of CBS Daytime’s Where the Heart Is, and went on to become head writer for daytime dramas General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, All My Children, Another World, One Life to Live, and most recently Sunset Beach.

She also appeared as an actress in guest-starring roles on The Catholic Hour, True Story and N.Y.P.D. in the late ’50s and 1960s.

DePriest earned five Daytime Emmy noms for Best Writing, first in 1985 for General Hospital, two for Days of Our Lives in 1984 and 1985, and for All My Children in 1990 and One Life to Live in 1992. She also was nominated for a WGA Award for Best Writing for Another World in 1998. In 1965, she won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Place for Chance.

Lori Loughlin Had Dinner with Friend James Tupper Night Before Split News

The "Full House" star and James -- who was previously married to the late actress Anne Heche -- were photographed leaving The Bird Streets Club in West Hollywood on Wednesday night after grabbing dinner together.

James was seen comforting Lori, who appeared upset, as the pair chatted and laughed while slipping out of the exclusive hot spot on the Sunset Strip.

The sighting came just hours before Lori's rep confirmed on Thursday that she and Mossimo are officially separated after 28 years of marriage.

But before you jump to conclusions ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ Lori and James are nothing more than longtime friends. The two have worked together on professional projects in the past.

Of course, Lori and her fashion-designer estranged husband made major headlines in 2019 when prosecutors said they paid $500000 to college admissions fixer Rick Singer to get their daughter, Olivia Jade, into USC on a bogus crew scholarship -- even staging photos of her on a rowing machine.

Both Lori and Mossimo pled guilty to conspiracy charges ... she served 2 months behind bars, while he got 5.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli Separate After Nearly 28 Years of Marriage

PEOPLE confirms the couple — who are parents to Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli — have separated after nearly 28 years of marriage.

"They are living apart and taking a break from their marriage. There are no legal proceedings at this time," according to Loughlin's representative Elizabeth Much.

The split comes after the Full House alum and her estranged husband listed their 11,800-square-foot mansion in Hidden Hills for $16.5 million in February.

The couple purchased the home in August 2020 for $9.5 million, PEOPLE previously confirmed, after they were embroiled in a high-profile college admissions scandal involving their daughters in 2019.

In May 2020, Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud after they were accused of paying $500,000 for their daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli's admission into the University of Southern California. The two were falsely designated as recruits to the university's crew team even though neither ever participated in the sport.

Loughlin was eventually sentenced to two months in federal prison while her husband received a five-month sentence in August of the same year. The actress almost completed her sentence before she was released from prison in December 2020.

Following the scandal, the actress slowly made her return to television, beginning with reprising her role as Abigail Stanton in When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas — a spinoff to When Calls the Heart — in December 2021 on Great American Family.

She also starred opposite James Tupper in the network's January 2023 TV film Fall Into Winter and appeared with Tupper and Jesse Hutch in A Christmas Blessing the following November.

More recently, Loughlin made an appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm, on which she played a heightened version of herself as she poked fun at her involvement in the college admissions scheme. She also recently had roles on Blue Bloods and On Call.

While she did not address the scandal directly during her conversation with First for Women Magazine, she opened up about forgiveness and learning to move forward.

"I try to be a forgiving person. I’m not one to hold onto stuff. Stuff happens to everyone. We’ve all been in positions to ask for forgiveness but to ask for it, you have to learn and know how to give forgiveness, too," she said.

"My family wasn’t one to hold grudges. I didn’t grow up in a household where if you made a mistake, you weren’t forgiven," she continued. "No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. So I was always told to let stuff go. And I think for your own health, you have to let things go because you can’t hang on to negativity. Life’s too short."

As for her secret to overcoming life's challenges, Loughlin said: "For me, it’s just persevering."

"As an actress, I hear 'no' a lot, so I just have to be myself and persevere and try not to let in negativity," she explained at the time. "My advice is to just keep moving forward. Everyone has good times and bad times. That’s life. I think you just have to pick yourself up. Nobody said life was going to be a breeze. There’s beauty in life, but there’s also hardship in life."

Frances Fisher, Will Patton, Lauren Holly Lead ‘Ruby Road’, Which Saw All Cast & Crew Get Same Daily Pay; Rosario Dawson Exec-Produces

Independent Spirit Award nominee and Guggenheim fellow Talia Lugacy directs the movie, which wrapped production this summer in rural Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The film follows Fisher as Ruby, a former coal-truck and school-bus driver, who when facing a terminal illness sets off in her yellow mini-bus through the Appalachian mountains on a final journey to reconcile with her past and her fractured family. The filmmakers are targeting a 2026 premiere.

Written and directed by Lugacy, the film was produced through a collaboration withAppalshop, an Appalachian media and advocacy organization, and supported by the Mellon, Ford, Schubert and MacArthur Foundations.

Appalshop and Lugacy developed the project alongside local performers, artists, and craftspeople, many of whom make cameos in the film, which hybridizes fiction and improvisational non-fiction.

The project is a continuation of the team’s cooperative filmmaking model, emulating Lugacy’s previous feature film, the Independent Spirit Award nominated This Is Not A War Story which was acquired by Warner OneFifty for HBO Max.

According to producers, everyone on the cast and crew received the same daily pay while traveling and living together throughout a 30 day shoot across three states.

Lugacy, Ryan De Franco, Emily Cooper, Julian West and Noah Lang produced with Rosario Dawson, Gill Holland, Fisher, Patton, Luke Lieberman, and Slade McPherson executive-producing. Satya Polisseti co-executive produced with Nick Shadix and Robyn Haddad serving as associate producers.

“Look at it this way – the backbone of America, the Appalachian region, is a microcosm of where we’re at as a collective, as a nation,” Lugacy said. “We have common threads in our anger about how things are, in our disillusion as well as in our fight for integrity and decency. This is a film that seizes on our common threads and asks us existentially how are we going to face the crises of our times – together, or not at all?”

Fisher said: “This is that one-in-a-million chance an actor yearns for: to grab hold of a character and to tell her story from the inside out – to do her justice. Then to collaborate with passionate and fiercely dedicated writer-director Talia Lugacy, was a dream come true. The scope of what we accomplished, across three states in Appalachia – from the depths of pathos to the heights of tenderness and humor with each one of my fellow actors, made this experience a poetic odyssey.”

“This is my third feature collaboration with Talia. We’ve continuously aimed to explore and celebrate the complexities of being human which has been both the guiding light of our independent filmmaking and our friendship,” said Dawson in a statement. “We’re obsessed by the worlds we’ve championed on this journey together. Producing stories that push us to dig deep and take creative risks is the driving focus that has compelled and moved us all of these years.”

Fisher is repped by Greene Talent; Patton by Grand View Management and IAG; Gainey by Monolith Entertainment Group and ATB Talent; and Holly by Mavrick Artists Agency, The Characters Talent Agency, and Gilbertson Entertainment.

Jack Betts Dies: ‘Spider-Man’ Actor Was 96

Per The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, Betts died Thursday in his sleep at his Los Osos, Calif. home, his nephew, Dean Sullivan, said.

Born Jack Fillmore Betts (saying he bore a relation to the 13th POTUS Millard Fillmore) on April 11, 1929 in Jersey City, NJ, he grew up in Miami, where he eventually studied theater at University of Miami. Afterward, he moved to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in 1953’s Richard III.

When a friend asked him to help with an audition for Lee Strasberg’s famed nonprofit, The Actors Studio, the director of the prestigious acting school granted him a three-year scholarship to study there. As a result, the venerated Elia Kazan later cast him in a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (He later returned to Braodway for Kazan’s 1959 production of Sweet Bird of Youth, as well as a late ’70s revival of Dracula, in which he once portrayed the eponymous count as Raul Julia’s standby.)

Betts’ first film credit was in 1959’s The Bloody Brood, and in 1966 he was cast as the title character in Franco Giraldi’s Sugar Colt, billed as Hunt Powers for the first time. That kicked off a string of credits in over a dozen Spaghetti Westerns through the 1970s.

On the television side, Betts racked up a number of appearances in daytime soaps, including General Hospital, The Young Marrieds, The Edge of Night, The Doctors, Another World, All My Children, Falcon Crest, Search for Tomorrow, Guiding Light, Generations and The Young and the Restless.

His other notable arcs included episodes for Perry Mason and The F.B.I., as well as turns in popular series like Gunsmoke, Seinfeld, Mad TV, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, The Mentalist and Monk. (Betts was great friends with Everybody Loves Raymond star Doris Roberts, whom he met at The Actors Studio in the ’50s; the two shared a home from the late ’80s until her death in 2016.)

In Spider-Man, Betts notably portrays Henry Balkan, the Oscorp Technologies board chairman who tells Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, “You’re out, Norman,” kicking off the Green Goblin’s villainous arc. Later on in the movie, Osborn parrots back the phrase to Balkan, as he vaporizes the board in an attack on Times Square, gleefully shouting: “Out, am I?” Additional film credits include 1993’s Falling Down with Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall, the 1995 Val Kilmer-starring Batman Forever and 1998’s Gods and Monsters opposite Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser.

In addition to his nephew, survivors include his nieces, Lynne and Gail, and his sister, Joan, who turns 100 in November.

Following the news of his death, Beverly Hills Playhouse shared a tribute to the performer on Instagram, writing: “Our beloved Jack Betts passed away peacefully at home. It is a sad day for the BHP as we have enjoyed his presence for so many years. There are actors who credit him with their not giving up because of his encouragement. We were so fortunate to have enjoyed his great spirit, passion and true dedication to the work. There was only ever one like this and we are the richer for having his presence in our theatre. Rest in peace, Jack.”

‘On Call’ Done On Prime Video After Renewal Talks Fall Through, Being Shopped To Other Buyers

This is a somewhat surprising development as On Call, created by Tim Walsh and Elliot Wolf, has done well, reaching the #1 slot on the streamer in the U.S. following the January 9 drop of all eight episodes and earning 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (The series received mixed reactions from critics.)

Indeed, Amazon a few weeks ago approached the producers of the show about a two-season renewal, sources said. It was looking good until the offer was accompanied by a request to reduce the premium on the series, I hear. Under the widely used current cost-plus streaming compensation model, the license fee producers get from the platforms covers the cost of the series plus a premium on top, which goes to the project’s profit participants and studio in lieu of backend.

This is not a surprising development — virtually every renewal conversation in the current tough economic environment across broadcast and streaming has come with strings attached involving license fee/budget reductions. The process is even harder when outside studios are involved as they face an ever higher threshold for renewal consideration. (Universal Television is the lead studio for On Call, co-producing with Amazon MGM Studios in association with NBCU-based Wolf Entertainment.)

According to sources, Amazon’s argument for the cut was that the company was losing money on the show, also something we hear often, especially on series that are not owned. For Wolf Entertainment and Universal TV, reducing a premium that was not big to begin with was not economically feasible, so the status of On Call at Amazon went from a pending two-season renewal to cancellation within the span of weeks.

All things considered, the parting of the ways was amicable, with Amazon allowing the producers to take back the rights to the existing season if they find a new home for the series, something not all streamers agree to.

I hear there are active conversations with two places. Not surprisingly, one of them is believed to be NBCUniversal’s Peacock, streaming home to Dick Wolf’s NBC Chicago and Law & Order dramas as well as his Peacock original Law & Order: Organized Crime, all ranking among the most watched programs on the platform.

Bringing back the half-hour drama genre from the early days of television in the streaming age has been a passion for Wolf. Like he has done with Law & Order, Chicago Fire and FBI, he has envisioned On Call as a franchise, with a second half-hour drama in development behind it, I hear.

The franchise potential is being shopped alongside On Call, Wolf’s first original streaming series. Still, it will likely come down to financials, with sources pegging the odds of the police drama continuing elsewhere at 50-50.

On Call was originally set up in 2021 at Amazon’s AVOD platform IMDb TV, which became Amazon Freevee before shutting down last fall. By then, the series had migrated to Prime Video. On Call stars Bellisario and Larracuente as a veteran officer and rookie duo who patrol the streets of Long Beach, CA. Incorporating a mixture of bodycam, dash-camera, and cellphone footage to create a cinema verité effect, the series explores the morality of protecting and serving a community.

The recurring cast includes Lori Loughlin, Eriq La Salle and Rich Ting. Dick Wolf, his son Elliot Wolf, Walsh, La Salle, who directed multiple episodes, and Peter Jankowski are executive producers.

John O’Hurley Family Flick

Alice Hirson, Soap Opera Vet and TV Mom to Ellen, Dead at 95

Hirson died Friday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her son David Hirson told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been there for about a year.

From 1969-93, Hirson appeared on such daytime soap operas as CBS’ The Edge of Night as Stephanie Martin; on NBC’s Another World and its spinoff, Somerset, as Marsha Davis; on ABC’s One Life to Live as Eileen Siegel; on ABC’s General Hospital as Mrs. Van Gelder; and on ABC’s Loving as Dr. Lisa Helman.

On the big screen, she played the wife of Colonel Thornbush (Robert Webber), head of the paratrooper unit known as the Thornbirds, in Private Benjamin (1980), and she was the mother of Anthony Edwards’ Gilbert Lowe in Revenge of the Nerds (1984).

Hirson portrayed Mavis Anderson, best friend of Miss Ellie and wife of Punk Anderson (Morgan Woodward), on 26 episodes of CBS’ Dallas from 1982-88. Her real-life husband, Stephen Elliott, played lawyer Scotty Demerest on the show.

Later, she surfaced on 28 installments of Ellen during the sitcom’s 1994-98 run as Lois Morgan. Neither Lois nor her husband, Harold (Steven Gilborn), had a clue that their daughter was gay, which was revealed in April 1997 on “The Puppy Episode.” (DeGeneres had recently come out as a lesbian.)

Hirson was born Alice Corinne Thorsell in Brooklyn on March 10, 1929, and raised in West Hempstead on Long Island. Her mother, May, was a homemaker, and her father, Carl, an electrical engineer.

She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1948 and while appearing in summer stock in New Hampshire was noticed and cast as Lucy Shmeeler in a touring production of On the Town, starring Nancy Walker. (Alice Pearce of Bewitched fame played her character on Broadway and in the 1949 film adaptation.)

In 1952, she appeared on the TV anthology series Hallmark Hall of Fame and married Roger O. Hirson, who went on to collaborate with composer Stephen Schwartz on the hit Broadway musical Pippin (they would divorce in the ’70s).

She made it to Broadway in 1964 in Traveller Without Luggage, then returned for 1966’s The Investigation — set in a courtroom during the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, it had debuted in 14 theaters across Germany and London on the same day a year earlier — and 1971’s Solitaire/Double Solitaire.

Hirson later was a regular on the 1992 NBC sitcom Home Fires, and she recurred as Jenny Jackson, mother of Catherine Hicks’ Annie Camden, on The WB-CW drama 7th Heaven from 1996-2006.

Her résumé included guest spots on Maude, The Waltons, Family, Barnaby Jones, Flamingo Road, Barney Miller, Murphy Brown, St. Elsewhere, NYPD Blue and Full House and work in the films The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971), Being There (1979), Mass Appeal (1984), Blind Date (1987), The Big Picture (1989), The Glass House (2001) and The Lost (2006).

Hirson met Elliott when they were both in Traveller Without Luggage, and they were married from 1980 until his death in 2005.

David Hirson, a Broadway playwright, said his mom considered herself a stage actress first and foremost, and he marveled how she was able to raise a family while working all those hours on all those soaps.

She is survived by another son, Christopher, a musician, and a grandson, Daniel.

“We lost a radiant soul and a daytime legend,” he wrote. “Alice Hirson shone her light on this world for 95 glorious years. My family and I were so blessed to have her in our lives however briefly. Unforgettable woman. Her final words were ‘It’s nice to have an audience.’ Thank you, Alice. Good night. Legend.”

Thom Christopher Dies: Actor Best Known For Villainous Role On ‘One Life to Live’ Was 84

His death was confirmed by his former OLTL co-star Anthony Crivello on Facebook, who posted pictures of their time together on the soap. Crivello played his son.

“It was a wonderful time, difficult hours and long days, but joyful each minute,” wrote Crivello.

Born on October 5, 1940, in Queens, Christopher got his start in the soaps in the 50s by playing Noel Douglas on The Edge of Night. He went on to become a journeyman actor in TV with roles in Buck Rogers, Cannon, Kojak, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, T.J. Hooker, Hunter, Murder, She Wrote and Simon & Simon.

In 1990, he signed on to ABC’s OLTL as the mobster Carlo Hessler. The character was killed off two years later, but the work didn’t end for Christopher; he then began playing Mortimer Bern, Carlo’s twin, on and off between 1996 and 2008.

Christopher went on to play Dante Partou on Loving from 1993-94. He also had an arc as Col. Dax on Guiding Light at the start of the aughts.

“May Thom fly on wings of angels to be beside his beloved Judith, and may they enjoy each other’s company once again, beside the pearly gates of heaven,” Crivello wrote on Facebook.

Lori Loughlin’s ‘Blue Bloods’ Return Details Revealed — Plus, Eddie’s Old Partner Is Back

Loughlin is reprising her role as Grace Edwards in the episode, set to air on Friday, November 8. The last time the Full House alum appeared on Blue Bloods was in 2016, four years before serving two months in prison for her conviction in a college admissions bribery case.

Tony winner Lauren Patten will also return as Rachel Witten in the episode, Eddie’s (Vanessa Ray) former partner turned social worker.

The last time fans saw Grace, it was the Season 7 premiere and she was already widowed. Grace begged Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) not to let her son join the police force, fearing what could happen to him after her husband was killed on the job. In the promo above, it’s now Frank who’s asking Grace not to affect his son’s life, as she has blocked Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) from getting an award for his work.

Here’s the official description for Blue Bloods Season 14 Episode 14, “New York Minute”: “Danny and Baez [Marisa Ramirez] scrutinize an art gallery suspected of selling counterfeit pieces after a detective investigating the establishment is murdered. Also, Eddie is conflicted when she discovers her former partner turned social worker, Rachel Witten (Lauren Patten), crossed the line to get a mentally ill client much-needed help; and Frank is upset when an award Danny was to be honored with is rescinded by Grace Edwards (Lori Loughlin), the widow of an NYPD officer killed in the line of duty.”

“My son is a decorated cop and fine family man,” Selleck firmly says in the video promo, as Loughlin shoots back, “He’s also from New York’s most visible cop family and enjoys a reputation as a very loose cannon.” Wahlberg gets emotional when saying, “It’s just getting really personal now,” in a separate scene in the teaser.

As for Rachel, who is not seen in the promo, Eddie will learn that she has gone to morally questionable lengths to help a client. Get a look at Patten in her Blue Bloods return in the photo above.

Patten has played Rachel in 19 total episodes across six seasons. She debuted in Season 8 Episode 15, and her last appearance was in Season 13 Episode 14.

Nicholas Pryor Dies: Soap Veteran & ‘Risky Business’ Actor Who Recurred On ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Was 89

Fellow actor Jon Lindstrom announced the news on social media, saying in part: “Nick was an Actor’s actor, and an exceptional friend. … He was a mentor, a sounding board, a trusted confidant, and even a father-figure beyond, yes, playing my own father on #GH and #PortCharles.” See his full post below.

Pryor racked up nearly 175 screen credits and half-dozen more on Broadway. After getting his screen start guesting on such 1950s and early ’60s TV series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Doctors, he played Tom Baxter in more than 75 episodes of the NBC daytime drama Another World. That led to a starring role on The Nurses, a 1965-67 continuation of CBS’ The Nurses, which had ended in 1965.

He then was cast in a starring role on the first season of CBS sudser Love Is a Many Splendored Thing and later had guest shots daytime soaps All My Children and The Edge of Night.

Pryor did some big-screen work in the mid-1970s including car-race romp The Gumball Rally along with TV miniseries at the height of their heyday, including The Adams Chronicles and Washington: Behind Closed Doors. He had a small but memorable role in the 1980 comedy classic Airplane! as Mr. Hammen, a soon-repentant eater of the fish plate, complete with airsickness bag and amplified hurling sound effect.

By the early ’80s, Pryor was a regular TV guest star, appearing on such popular shows as M*A*S*H, Eight Is Enough, Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, Falcon Crest, St. Elsewhere, Knight Rider Moonlighting and Who’s the Boss?

His first regular TV role came in NBC’s drama The Bronx Zoo, starring as a decent but often insufferable high school vice principal opposite his boss, Ed Asner, whose job he coveted. It lasted one season in 1987-88.

During that decade, Pryor continued to land film roles, including as Cruise’s dad in the future A-lister’s breakout 1983 pic Risky Business and in The Falcon and the Snowman, starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.

Pryor continued to work steadily in film and TV during the 1990s, landing a recurring role as Chancellor Milton Arnold on Fox’s primetime hit Beverly Hills, 90210. He appeared in more than two dozen episodes from 1994-97. He also guested on many hit shows that decade, including Growing Pains; L.A. Law; Matlock; Chicago Hope; Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman; The Practice; Silk Stalkings; Diagnosis Murder; Party of Five; and Murder, She Wrote, among others.

In 1997, he was cast as Victor Collins on ABC’s General Hospital spinoff Port Charles — a role he would play in nearly 350 episodes through 2002.

After the turn of the century, Pryor appeared in guest roles on series such as NYPD Blue, That’s Life, Strong Medicine, Without a Trace, October Road, Hart of Dixie and Nashville. His final screen roles came in 2021, with Marvel’s Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the big-screen sequel Halloween Kills.

Pryor also appeared in several Broadway productions, including 1950s plays The Egghead, Love Me Little, The Highest Tree and Howie and later the ’70s shows That Championship Season and Thieves.

For Older News Visit The Daytime Soap Operas News Archives: Here!

Facts

Submit Comments

Please Include Your Email Address If You Want A Response

Options

Other Shows

Non-Soap Polls

Other Sites

Sponsors

News & Cast Updates

Procter & Gamble Backs New Soap Opera Consisting Entirely of Micro-Episodes