Forget JFP, James E. Reilly or those annoying news anchors who interrupt the soaps on a seemingly daily basis — the real villain, fans say, is Jerry Springer, whose raw-and-rowdy talk show is luring busloads of viewers away from their "stories." How can the soaps compete with Springer's sensational show? Should the shows even try to compete? Springer, by the way, loves the soaps, and he's game enough to make a three-day guest appearance on Sunset Beach as, of course, a talk show host. What's next — a stint as head writer of Guiding Light? — Jonathan Reiner How did this gig come about? They called me! The publicist came to me and asked me if I'd like to do Sunset Beach, and I said, "Great!" Were you familiar with the show? It's pretty wild! Oh, yeah. I'm obviously not a regular watcher because I'm working during the day, but I know the show. It was an exciting idea, like a fantasy for me! I'm so busy having soap operas on my show every day, so I thought it would be interesting to participate in a soap opera. It's dramatic irony, since so many family crises play out on your show. That sort of stuff used to be a soap staple. I know! [Soap writers] try to write a script, thinking, "Boy, this will be wild!" And I can just say, "Been there, done that." It's odd, because soap writers feel like they have to compete with your show, and here you are, bringing your show to a soap. Yes, but Sunset's writers put a comic twist on the character and the story. I have to hand it to them, because I've done a bunch of appearances on sitcoms and other shows, and this one has a really great twist. It's a fantasy sequence, but I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to give it away. The writers did a good job. Did you have any concerns about your character, Jerry Feller? No! This is only television. After the show I do, what do I care what they play me as? I assume most of your scenes were with Sarah Buxton (Annie), since you're appearing in Annie's fantasy. She's lovely. We didn't get the chance to do much rehearsing because I literally came straight from the airport. I didn't even have the chance to check into my hotel! I went right to the studio and was introduced to everyone there. They were so nice, and made me feel right at home. No one had an attitude. It was a great set to work on. Now, what do you say to pundits who maintain that your show is killing the soaps, since the soaps now have to compete with your show? We never have anything on our show that's as dramatic as what they have on soap operas. Clearly there is far more sex, infidelity, promiscuity and murder on the soaps! All of that stuff is normal for soap operas. What makes our show different is that this is the first time we've seen it with real people. Certainly the content on soaps is much more salacious than our show — it's just that the people are beautiful, so no one complains! I know your daughter is a big soaps fan. Does she still watch? Yes. She's a great fan of Port Charles and General Hospital. Any chance of you doing a guest-starring role on one of those shows? Wendy Riche, who is the executive producer of those shows, spoke to me about doing an appearance, so it's possible. Would you like to play a character other than a talk show host? Oh, yeah! That would be fun. In fact, I'd love to be [a regular] on a soap. It looks like great fun. |