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News & Cast Updates(News section last updated December 7, 2024)Thom Christopher Dies: Actor Best Known For Villainous Role On ‘One Life to Live’ Was 84(12/7/24) Thom Christopher, the actor best known for playing mobster Carlo Hessler on ABC’s One Life to Live, died Thursday in New York after a lengthy illness. He 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’s memorable time on the sudser earned him a Daytime Emmy. 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. He was preceded in death by his wife Judith Leverone, who died in 2019. “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(11/4/24) (Video) Lori Loughlin is returning to Blue Bloods for the final season. CBS announced the details of Loughlin’s return on Monday, November 4, after her presence was teased in a promo for Season 14 Episode 14, which aired after the November 1 episode.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. There are only five episodes left of Blue Bloods‘ final season. Blue Bloods, Fridays, 10/9c, CBS Nicholas Pryor Dies: Soap Veteran & ‘Risky Business’ Actor Who Recurred On ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Was 89(10/8/24) Nicholas Pryor, whose nearly seven-decade acting career included hundreds of episodes of soap operas, playing Tom Cruise’s dad in Risky Business and Kathleen Robertson’s dad on Beverly Hills, 90210, died October 7. He 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. ‘Ripple’: Frankie Faison, Julia Chan, Ian Harding & Sydney Agudong Lead Cast Of Hallmark+ Series(10/2/24) Frankie Faison (The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain), Julia Chan (Katy Keene), Ian Harding (Our Little Secret) and Sydney Agudong (Lilo and Stitch) are set to headline Ripple, Hallmark+‘s upcoming drama series from Lionsgate Canada.Created by Michele Giannusa (The Dead Girls Detective Agency), Ripple revolves around four strangers whose lives start to serendipitously intersect. Set in New York City, the series follows the four — Walter (Faison), Kris (Chan), Nate (Harding) and Aria (Agudong) — who have unknowingly crossed paths many times but never met. As they each face life’s challenges, their actions create a ripple effect that ultimately connects them. Ripple delivers a powerful message of hope: just wait for the rainbow, some of the best things in life can’t happen without the storm. “Walter, Kris, Nate and Aria are the heart of Ripple and it was essential that we get it right in casting those roles,” said Kelly Garrett, VP Programming at Hallmark Media. “Frankie, Julia, Ian and Sydney are magic as our core four. We cannot wait for them to guide viewers through this romantic look at life and humanity in New York City.” Production on Ripple is underway in Toronto. The hourlong drama series is slated to premiere on Hallmark+ in 2025. Ripple is executive produced by Giannusa, Joni Lefkowitz (New Girl, Jane the Virgin) who also serves as showrunner, Jocelyn Hamilton (Burden of Truth) and Darren Giblin as well as Amanda Tapping (Supernatural) who also serves as supervising director and pilot director. Faison, best known for his work in The Wire, Banshee, Coming to America, and Do the Right Thing, received a lead actor Gotham Award for The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. He most recently appeared on television in Apple TV+’s Hello Tomorrow! and The Rookie: Feds and in Till and Lucille on the film side. Faison is repped by Sweeney Entertainment and Del Shaw Moonves. Chan most recently played the series regular role of Annabelle in Netflix limited series Archive 81. She also starred in the CW’s Katy Keene and on Bell Media’s Saving Hope, among others. Chan is repped by Thruline Entertainment, Buchwald and GGA in Canada. Harding played Ezra on all seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars. He was recently seen on the big screen in the James Mangold-directed Ford v Ferrari. He’ll next be seen in the TV miniseries Holidazed and in the Stephen Herek-directed Our Little Secret alongside Lindsay Lohan and Kristin Chenoweth. Harding is repped by Gersh and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Agudong will next be seen in Disney’s live-action Lilo and Stitch movie, which is eyeing a 2025 release. She can currently be seen as the lead in the adventure film At Her Feet, and in psychological thriller Ether, in which she stars and executive produces. Agudong is repped by Gersh, AEFH Talent Agency, Trilogy Talent Management, Inc. and attorney Howard Fishman of HWHM+F. ‘As the World Turns’ Star Elizabeth Hubbard’s Connecticut Home Has Hit the Market for $1.45 Million(7/13/24) (Photo) Elizabeth Hubbard spent 26 years on the hit soap opera “As the World Turns,” and spent 20 of those years at her home in Roxbury, Connecticut, which has now hit the market for the first time in decades asking $1.45 million.Built in 1969, the Emmy award-winning actress purchased the home in 1990 and lived there until her death in April 2023 at the age of 89. After she passed, the home was left to her son, Jeremy Bennett, who has decided to sell it. Bennett is fond of house as he spent a lot of time with his mother there, but now feels it’s time to sell, said listing agent Jill Sloane of Brown Harris Stevens. Bennett was not available for comment. Sitting on 2.1 acres, the 4,572 square-foot home includes four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sauna, a large deck, an infinity pool, a large recreational room with access to the pool and a detached two-car garage. The home was listed on Monday. Hubbard was a big gardener. The landscape of the property includes Hubbard’s beloved gardens which were featured in Litchfield County garden tours, according to Sloane. The property also includes a studio designed by Haver and Skolnick Architects in 2005 that works as a multifunctional space to host, practice yoga or pilates or turn into a craft or art space. The studio was previously a detached two-car garage, which they transformed, adding a new two-car garage onto the property in 2005. Hubbard carried out a number of other renovations. She added the sauna, the entire lower level, added a custom fireplace and more, according to Sloane. All of those renovations are still intact. “The living room has a fireplace that was custom made by Elizabeth MacDonald, a local Connecticut artist,” Sloane said. “When you walk in it’s like an art piece.” In the gourmet kitchen, the floor tiles were imported from Spain. “They are definitely a little different, very funky and cool,” said Sloane. Adding a lot of character to the home, custom bookshelves line the living room walls and the staircase leading to the lower level. The primary bathroom includes green and white tiled floors, a soaking tub and multiple windows overlooking the greenery outdoors. The home is located in central Roxbury and within walking distance to the center of town, including the bank, post office, market, library, hiking trails and tennis courts, according to Brown Harris Stevens. Born in New York City, Hubbard starred on the hit Soap Opera “As the World Turns,” in 1984 until the show’s last episode on September 17, 2010. Hubbard is also known for her work on the NBC show “The Doctors,” movies such as “I Never Sang for My Father,” and appeared in multiple Broadway shows.>
‘The Fabulous Four’ Trailer: Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph & Megan Mullally Are Bette Midler’s Bridesmaids In Wedding Comedy(6/16/24) (Video) Bleecker Street released the first trailer for The Fabulous Four, a wedding comedy with an iconic bridal party, during Sunday’s 77th Tony Awards.The sneak peek sees Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally‘s hilarious dynamic as a group of college friends who reunite for a last-minute destination wedding. The Fabulous Four follows life-long friends (Sarandon, Mullally, and Ralph) who travel to Key West, Florida, to be bridesmaids in the surprise wedding of their best college girlfriend Marilyn (Midler). Over the course of one outrageous trip, sisterhoods are rekindled, the past resurfaces, and there are enough sparks, raunch, and romance to change all their lives in unexpected ways. Midler, Sarandon and Mullally were announced to star in the comedy from director Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker) in May 2022. Bleecker Street acquired the North American rights to the film that October, when Sissy Spacek joined the cast. Filming was approved to begin last September in Savannah, Georgia with a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement amid the Hollywood strikes. After production was underway, Ralph stepped in for Spacek, who dropped out of the role due to scheduling conflicts. The Fabulous Four premieres July 26 in theaters. Billy Dee Williams On Actors Wearing Blackface: “If You’re An Actor, You Should Do Anything You Want To Do”(4/8/24) Billy Dee Williams is defending actors who want to wear blackface in their performances.The Star Wars actor appeared on Bill Maher’s podcast and recalled Lauren Olivier’s performance in 1965’s Othello, where the actor wore blackface. “When he did ‘Othello,’ I fell out laughing,” Williams said of Olivier on the Club Random podcast. “He stuck his ass out and walked around with his ass, you know, because Black people are supposed to have big asses.” He continued, “I thought it was hysterical. I loved it. I love that kind of stuff.” Maher mentioned that actors could not wear Blackface today, to which Williams said, “Why not? You should do it. If you’re an actor, you should do anything you want to do.” The podcast’s host noted that Williams “lived in a period where you couldn’t play the parts you should’ve played.” “The point is that you don’t go through life feeling like, ‘I’m a victim,'” Williams added. “I refuse to go through life saying to the world, ‘I’m pissed off.’ I’m not gonna be pissed off 24 hours a day.” Williams famously portrayed the role of Landon Calrissian in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. The actor reprised his role in 1983’s Return of the Jedi and again in 2019’s Rise of Skywalker. In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, Williams said he didn’t “think in terms of Black” about the characters he portrays in media. “I never think of myself in terms of the only Black character. Everybody else might think of it that way. In my reasoning in my own head, I’m just a character,” he said. “A character has certain qualities that make a character a winning character in a movie or a character that is not able to translate very well. I’ve been able to translate very well across the board.” Watch Williams’ full interview in the video here. Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala Honors Lori Loughlin(3/7/24) Lori Loughlin won the Grace Prize for A Christmas Blessing and Super Mario Bros. Movie was named Best Family Film at the 31st annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala & Report. The broadcast aired this evening on Great American Family.Movie and television winners of the night included: Best Family Movie – Super Mario Bros Movie Best Family TV– A Paris Christmas Waltz Best Movie for Mature Audiences– Jesus Revolution Best TV for Mature Audiences– Chicago P.D. “New Life” Faith & Freedom Award for Movies – Sound of Freedom Faith & Freedom Award for TV – A Million Miles Away Grace Prize for Movie Performance – Dennis Quaid for “On a Wing and a Prayer” Grace Prize for TV Performance – Lori Loughlin for “A Christmas Blessing” Visionary Award- Brad Krevoy, Emmy Award-Winning Producer Epiphany Prize for TV – Divine Influencer Epiphany Prize for Movies – Journey to Bethlehem The event was hosted by Great American Family’s Trevor Donovan and Danica McKellar, who welcomed Candace Cameron Bure, Lori Loughlin, Cameron Mathison, atthew Morrison, Jen Lilley, Eric Close, Jack Wagner, Corbin Bernsen, Pat Boone, Donna Mills, Mike Rowe, and Jesse Hutch, among others. “I didn’t ever see this happening…I love making movies, I’m really blessed to do what I love, so thank you.” said Loughlin as she received the Grace Prize for TV Performance. The evening included a musical performance by Dennis Quaid, kicked off by calling his good friend and actor Kris Kristofferson on the phone: “I am singing two songs for you tonight that they both have to do with Kris Kristofferson, who was the biggest box office star in 1974, 1975, and 1976, and I thought before I do this song I thought we could all call him,” as Quaid proceeded, he had the audience join him in saying ‘We love you, Kris!’” Additionally, two-time Grammy nominated artist Blessing Offor performed his hit Brighter Days The evening ended with a prayer lead by actress and chief creative officer at Great American Family, Candace Cameron Bure. The 31st Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala took place on Friday, February 9th at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood.. Talk Show Appearance(2/9/24) CBS News Sunday MorningAIRING Feb 25, 2024 actor Billy Dee Williams Orgies, open marriage and Diana Ross: Inside Billy Dee Williams’ wild love life(2/13/24) In the 1980s, Billy Dee Williams boasted about being able to read women’s body language in a commercial for Colt 45 malt liquor. In real life, too, he prided himself on being an expert.“The Empire Strikes Back” star’s colorful new memoir “What Have We Here?” is brimming with stories about his seven-decade career — but also more than a few salacious tales about orgies and open marriages. But the one woman Williams couldn’t get close to was Diana Ross, his movie co-star in both “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Mahogany.” “Diana was a gorgeous woman and I enjoyed kissing her. I loved kissing, period. Sometimes kissing could be even better than sex,” the actor writes. “The only person who had a problem with our kissing was Berry [Gordy].” Gordy, the founder of Motown Records and producer of “Mahogany,” was Ross’ longtime secret lover and the father of her daughter Rhonda. “During rehearsals, [Gordy] always found a reason to step in and stop us just before we got to the point where we kissed,” Williams, now 86, writes. “That’s good, that’s enough, you got it, and then you kiss.” Once cameras were rolling, “it was Berry and not … the director, who would say, ‘Cut!'” But Williams romanced plenty of other women. The Manhattan-raised actor, 87, shares that he lost his virginity at age 17 to a neighbor in his Harlem building. “A woman in our building who was raising several children lured me into her apartment one day and seduced me,” he writes. “It didn’t take much effort … once she got me inside her place, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. I was at that age where all I knew was that I was having sex. I didn’t know how or why, only that it was happening.” Williams won a scholarship to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design and snagged a job as an extra for the Metropolitan Opera through a friend named Joey. “He was gay, and so it seemed were most of the other extras, except for me,” he recalls. “Every night we partied in the Met’s basement, transforming this bastion of culture into one of the city’s hottest underground clubs … What an extraordinary time!” The actor got his break on Broadway and was cast opposite Joan Plowright in the play “A Taste of Honey” in 1960. Williams, then 23, writes that he loved working with “Joanie” and that he “flirted with constantly and unabashedly” with her — albeit in an odd way. “She liked onions and I liked garlic. Onstage, we breathed all over each other and we got a kick out of quietly finding out what the other had eaten for lunch or dinner. I flirted with her constantly and unabashedly.” But the actress’ much older fiancé, Sir Laurence Olivier, was starring in a play at the theater next door. One day, the Shakespearean legend came to visit and “caught me hitting on her. He feigned shock and anger and then let loose an infectious cackle,” Williams writes. He had married actress Audrey Sellers in 1959 and, after that union ended in 1963, Williams began dating a woman named Yvonne, whom he had known since he was a teen. The actor recalls coming home one day from the theater to find Yvonne hosting an orgy. “There were women and men, and a lot of nakedness,” he writes. “The craziness was more than I was prepared to deal with after work.” So he decided to go take a shower and “invited a young woman who was already undressed to join me. Why not?” As revenge, Yvonne insisted that Williams watch her have sex with another man — a scene he found hilarious. Annoyed, Yvonne then grabbed a pair of scissors and cut up Williams’ “beautiful alpaca sweaters … that hurt almost more than if she’d cut me. It was the excuse I needed to get away from Yvonne.” Williams and Richard Pryor starred in four movies together, including “Lady Sings the Blues,” “Hit” and “Carter’s Army.” They were even both in one of Williams’ favorite films of his career, “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings,” about the Negro Baseball League. The two actors were “good friends” for a while — but that “unraveled when I witnessed him abuse his girlfriend Patricia [Price], verbally and physically. “It wasn’t a one-time incident either. Teruko [Nakagami, Williams’ third wife] and I saw him strike her with a still smoldering log he took out of the fireplace and that ended our friendship.” Later, Williams, writes, Patricia “told me about other examples, including one time when he hit her with a Courvoisier bottle.” Witnessing the abuse ended the actors’ friendship. “I couldn’t be around someone that behaved that way,” Williams writes of Pryor. “He knew that, and it made working together on ‘Bingo’ tense.” Years later, Williams — who had an open marriage with Teruko — embarked on his own decades-long affair with Pryor’s ex. “The intense passion of our trysts was something we both craved. I was totally, thoroughly caught up in the romance of each one of our assignations,” he writes. “But Patricia was truly, madly obsessed. She once spray-painted a message on the guardrails along Mulholland Drive: I love Billy Dee.” It ended when Patricia accused Williams of assault, but she later recanted her story and the charges were eventually expunged. He eventually separated from Nakagami but they never officially divorced — realizing it was financially easier to stay married. As for those Colt 45 commercials, which cast Williams as a smooth-talking ladies’ man, he writes: “They made me a lot of money. That was a big part of my motivation for doing them. … But I was also expanding my brand in the way I always imagined. I was a romantic leading man.” The idea, he says, is “They were scripted like mini romances. I impressed a beautiful woman by pouring an icy cold can into a glass, then walked away with her and intoned, ‘Works every time.'” He took his best-known role — playing Lando Calrissian in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” — because he loved the idea of the character wearing a cape. “Amazing! It was old-school….I saw him in my head. He wasn’t written Black or White. He was beyond that. Bigger than that. He was straight out of [Alexandre] Dumas via ‘Flash Gordon.’ He was a star.” In his ninth decade, Williams is still working and says he always tells people: “Don’t worry so much…Enjoy life. It’s a gift, an astonishing, mysterious, beautiful, absurd gift.”erm Talk Show Appearance(2/9/24) The View - ABCAIRING Feb 13, 2024 Actor Billy Dee Williams. Talk Show Appearance(2/9/24) The Kelly Clarkson Show - SyndicatedAIRING Feb 16, 2024 Billy Dee Williams 31st Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Award Nominees(1/24/24) Movieguide has revealed the nominees for its 31st Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala, taking place on February 9 at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood.GRACE PRIZE FOR MOVIE PERFORMANCE BIG GEORGE FOREMAN JESUS REVOLUTION JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM ON A WING AND A PRAYER GRACE PRIZE FOR TELEVISION PERFORMANCE A THOUSAND TOMORROWS: Episode 1.1-1.3 DIVINE INFLUENCER A CHRISTMAS BLESSING Soap Opera Digest Is Ending Its Weekly Print Edition(10/27/23) The weekly print edition of Soap Opera Digest — the newsstand chronicler of daytime drama — is ending after nearly five decades.Staffers were informed of the decision Friday, according to sources. A spokesperson for a360Media, the company that owns the brand, confirmed that the weekly edition is being discontinued. The company plans to continue publishing special print issues of Soap Opera Digest four times per year. “Soap Opera Digest, like many other brands, is adjusting its print frequency and shifting more resources to digital to better accommodate its audience,” the a360Media rep said in a statement to Variety. Soap Opera Digest was first launched in 1975. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bought the publication in 1989 for $70 million before selling it two years later, per the New York Times, and it has had a succession of different owners ever since. In its heyday, the magazine had a circulation of 1.5 million in 1991, according to the Times. But the reach of its print edition, as with many magazines, has sharply fallen off in the decades since. According to its website, Soap Opera Digest is “the leading magazine reporting on the soap opera industry for over 40 years,” serving up “behind-the-scenes scoops and breaking news to passionate soap fans every week.” The mag also has included special editorial features on beauty, fashion, parenting, and health and fitness. Soap Opera Digest has been available in print and digital subscription plans, priced at $45.97 for six months (26 issues at $1.77 apiece) or $69.97 for one year (52 issues at $1.34 apiece). A360media houses a media portfolio of celebrity, entertainment and women’s lifestyle brands including Us Weekly, Star, InTouch and Life & Style. The company claims that it is the largest print publisher in the U.S., both in retail sales and units sold, with its titles representing about one-third of all magazines sold at retail. A360media was formerly known as American Media Inc., which had been the owner of the National Enquirer (involved in the “catch and kill” scandal involving Donald Trump and which Jeff Bezos accused of an extortion attempt). In 2020, AMI was acquired by Atlanta-based logistics firm accelerate360, which sold off the National Enquirer, Globe and National Examiner tabloids earlier this year. John Stamos: I Was on Phone With Lori Loughlin When College Admissions Scandal Broke(10/24/23) Before leaping to Lori Loughlin‘s defense, John Stamos in his new memoir (order it here) reveals that he was on the phone with his Full House costar as the infamous college admissions imbroglio became national news.In March 2019, TV’s Aunt Becky was implicated in Operation Varsity Blues, eventually resulting in a two-month prison sentence, a $150,000 fine and 100 hours of mandated community service. In If You Would Have Told Me, her former TV hubby says that he first was made aware of the scandal when he received a text from former Blind Date host (and “good friend”) Roger Lodge asking if Loughlin was “okay.” He then phoned Loughlin, who was on a film set and seemingly unfazed. “‘Oh that, yeah, I’m not sure,’ she answers so casually as if I just asked her if Nicky and Alex finished all their vegetables,” Stamos divulges in Chapter 19 of his tell-all. “‘I have seen some emails lately from lawyers to [my husband Mossimo Giannulli], but I stay out of it.'” It was then that Stamos claims that he heard an “odd clicking sound on the phone line. When I asked her about it, she again adopts her laissez-faire tone. ‘Oh, they may be bugging my phone,'” she told him. “I hang up as fast as I can.” Shortly thereafter, he turned on his TV and saw an FBI agent announcing “the largest college admissions scandal ever handled by the Department of Justice, involving bribes to prestigious colleges for falsified student acceptances. “Turn on the TV Lori, now!” he texted her. “There’s a big press conference happening.” When she asked “what channel,” he responded in all caps: “EVERY CHANNEL!” Loughlin was promptly fired by Hallmark Channel (where she starred on the popular primetime drama When Calls the Heart) and written out of Netflix’s Fuller House (receiving only a passing mention in its fifth and final season). But in his book, Stamos applauds his former TV wife for weathering the storm. “I’ve witnessed moments where giving up could have been the easiest way out for Lori,” he writes. “She could have shifted the blame and let her family, marriage, and life crumble. But she didn’t. I’m not sure I could have taken the hit she did with the resilience she showed. “No matter how hard she was hit, how desperate every one was to cancel her and throw her in with the pile of brutal criminals, she stood fast, protecting her daughters from the mud hurled at them day after day after day…. She managed to get up every morning, then got down on her knees and prayed to keep her family together. She did the same every night. And in between, she mostly fought to stay alive. Regardless of how dire the situation became, Lori’s resolve and faith only strengthened.” Loughlin returned to acting in 2021, first appearing in the When Calls the Heart spinoff When Hope Calls. Her next TV-movie, Great American Family’s A Christmas Blessing, airs Sunday, Nov. 12 John Stamos: If You Would Have Told Me is out in hardcover now. An audiobook is also available.l Holiday Movies with Soap Stars on Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix and Others(10/13/23) HEART FOR THE HOLIDAYS - BET+Release Date: Thursday, Nov. 2 Cast: Erica Peeples, Kyle Lowder, Starletta DuPois, Chuck Inglish, Lanelle Cooper, Leila Weisberg and Asia Harmony Premise: Hardworking businesswoman Rachel travels to the small town of Cheverly for a life-saving heart transplant. Fate connects her with a heart donor, Ms. Sims, who tragically dies in a car accident. In Cheverly, Rachel crosses paths with Amy, who also received an organ from the same donor. As Rachel attempts to leave the town, an inexplicable force keeps her bound to Cheverly, and she discovers a deep affection for the community. Amid her journey, Rachel unexpectedly falls in love with Scott, Amy’s brother. SWORN JUSTICE: TAKEN BEFORE CHRISTMAS - BET+ SO FLY CHRISTMAS - BET+ CHRISTMAS RESCUE - BET+ ‘TWAS THE TEXT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - Great American Family A CHRISTMAS BLESSING - Great American Family A PARIS CHRISTMAS WALTZ - Great American Family A ROYAL CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY - Great American Family CHECKIN’ IT TWICE - Hallmark Channel WHERE ARE YOU, CHRISTMAS? - Hallmark Channel UNDER THE CHRISTMAS SKY - Hallmark Channel MYSTIC CHRISTMAS - Hallmark Channel JOYEUX NOEL - Hallmark Channel THE SANTA SUMMIT - Hallmark Channel A MERRY SCOTTISH CHRISTMAS - Hallmark Channel HAUL OUT THE HOLLY: LIT UP - Hallmark Channel A BLITMORE CHRISTMAS - Hallmark Channel CHRISTMAS WITH A KISS - Hallmark Channel CHRISTMAS ON CHERRY LANE - Hallmark Channel MYSTERY ON MISTLETOE LANE - Hallmark Movies & Mysteries A WORLD RECORD CHRISTMAS - Hallmark Movies & Mysteries HEAVEN DOWN HERE A CHRISTMAS FREQUENCY - Hulu LADIES OF THE ’80S: A DIVAS CHRISTMAS - Lifetime BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER! - Netfilx HOW TO FALL IN LOVE BY CHRISTMAS - Roku YULETIDE THE KNOT - Uptv A Tribute to Jackie Zeman - General Hospital(8/29/23) (Watch Here) In a very special livestream event, several of the late Jackie Zeman (Bobbie Spencer) co-stars from her 45 year-run on General Hospital, participate in a tribute to their longtime friend and colleague.Joining host Michael Fairman will be: Rick Springfield (ex-Noah Drake), Brad Maule (ex-Tony Jones), Kin Shriner (Scott), Sam Behrens (ex-Jake) and Tamara Braun (ex-Carly). The actors will share stories of their time working with Jackie, and their remembrances of this beloved and iconic member of the GH family. Jackie passed away just over three months ago and while the soap community was devastated by this loss, we come together on Thursday night, August 31st to celebrate her. Join us live beginning at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. For Older News Visit The Daytime Soap Operas News Archives: Here!
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