Nelson Branco's SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED: Issue 51 Read online

SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED

  Volume 02, Issue 41 (No. 51)

  BY NELSON BRANCO

  Copyright 2012 Nelson Branco

  INSIDE — TRICIA CAST EXCLUSIVE: BEHIND THE MIND AND SOUL OF ONE OF DAYTIME’S BEST ACTORS EVER! PLUS: HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT JOHN DRISCOLL HEADING INTO WAR, WORKING WITH BILL BELL, HER PAST WITH JFP, THE BEHIND-THE-SCENE CHANGES AT Y&R, AND WHAT’S AHEAD FOR NINA WEBSTER! — Exclusive: Two New Contract Roles on B&B and GH! — B&B’s KATHERINE KELLY LANG EXCLUSIVE: SUPERSTAR PREVIEWS BECOMING BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL BOOK — Inside GH’s Big New Story Involving Monica Quartermaine — IS PEGGY MCKAY LEAVING DAYS? — Duh: Victoria Rowell Confirms She’s NOT Returning to Y&R! — NANCY LEE GRAHN ON THE CHEW! — Y&R’S Tracey Bregman Gets a Big Story… With A Twist — IS GABI PREGGERS ON DAYS? — DAYS Casting A New Teen! — CRYSTAL CHAPPELL’S NEW ROLE! — Plus: Is Jerry Ver Dorn On VENICE? — CLINT AND VIKI TO WED ON GH? — Top Ten Ways To Reboot DAYS — LAST WEEK REVIEWS! — Casting Coach! SOAP PORN! UNCENSORED Quotes Of The Week!

  UNCENSORED MASTHEAD:

  FOUNDER/EDITOR: Nelson Branco

  EDITOR AT LARGE: Denette Wilford

  Follow Soap Opera Uncensored at: @nelliebranco or @SoapUncensored

  NOTE FROM EDITOR/FOUNDER:

  You asked — and it’s happening. For more information on subscribing to daytime’s first weekly e-zine SOAP OPERA UNCENSORED, email [email protected]

  1 Year: $24.99 (*normally $129.48)

  *Based on $2.49 issue price

  COMING SOON: VENICE — UNCENSORED

  To pre-order your upcoming book VENICE THE SERIES: UNCENSORED for a special price email: [email protected]. The Sapphic tome, which will be out this fall, chronicles the web soap’s meteoric rise, punctuates and analyzes its relevance in serial storytelling and its groundbreaking achievements in the online and soap opera medium. With every single Crystal Chappell interview I’ve ever conducted in one e-book — and those of her VENICE co-stars/directors — this is one must-buy keepsake in addition to episode synopses and reviews, top ten lists, fearless predictions, translated quotes, humour, and exclusive season four previews. Plus: Tributes to GUIDING LIGHT’s Otalia and new interviews! Order your copy now!

  Say What?

  UNCENSORED QUOTES OF THE WEEK

  "to any Y and R viewers who read my Facebook page... I had NOTHING to do with the way they are resolving these stories. Despite my name still being on the show— which it should not be — I did not intend to have Phyllis trial end with charges being dropped or any of these other story lines now playing. I am no longer a part of this show in ANY way, folks. It's all the new guys."

  —Ousted Y&R showrunner Maria Arena Bell on her Facebook Page

  Translation: I had nothing to do with the mature, character-driven writing.

  “That I didn’t get to work with Connie. What a friggin’ shame, man. Connie and Joe would have lit it up.”

  —Richard Steinmetz on leaving GH earlier than planned

  Translation: Kelly Sullivan is a binder full of overacting!

  “I hope to God that Anna is not made a fool of, that’s all I can say! But really, it’s all in the laps of the writers.”

  —GH’s Finola Hughes sighs to DIGEST regarding Duke’s dark side

  Translation: Yep, Anna’s fucked.

  “No, I don’t.”

  —Former B&B star Ronn Moss regarding if he misses Ridge in DIGEST in yet another media tour

  Translation 1: Yes, I do — which is why I can’t shut up about me leaving!

  Translation 2: I’m the new Eric Braeden.

  “I have talked with a few people and they are all telling me separately that it’s very strange there. Things have definitely changed and it’s a different atmosphere.”

  —Moss on the B&B vibe on set these days in the same interview

  Translation: The acting is a lot better, which is throwing everything and everyone off.

  “Not ask me to take such a significant pay cut, for one. And probably put us back where fans wanted us to be, which is more front and center with the storylines and the original characters.”

  —Moss on what it would take for him to return

  Translation 1: I’m part of the 1 percent of the soap opera world — and I’d like to stay there.

  Translation 2: I can’t believe my exit has brought all the veterans back to the front burner! Not fair!

  Translation 3: And stop asking me to take acting classes.

  “I have been hearing a tidbit here and a little tidbit there about what is going to happen and I gasp. From what I’ve consistently heard, it’s amazing. I’m excited about the possibility and the new challenges.”

  —Kristian Alfonso in DIGEST regarding the “new” DAYS

  Translation 1: We’re totally fucked again.

  Translation 2: We’ll have new showrunners in three months.

  “It’s weird, isn’t it? I’ve seen the show a couple of times, thinking, ‘What are you doing there?’”

  —Jerry verDorn in DIGEST on watching his ONE LIFE co-stars on GH

  Translation: Me and half the GH audience!

  “Jill has been wonderful. She’s got the passion. She’s getting to know all of us.”

  —Tracey Bregman on her new Y&R boss, Jill Farren Phelps

  Translation: Don’t fire me, Jill!

  Chat Wars

  Report: KATIE Already Looking For New Chief

  Poor Katie Couric! In addition to sinking ratings — for the week ending Oct. 7, KATIE suffered its lowest-rated week yet, dropping six percent in the live plus same day household rating — reports are surfacing that executive producer Jeff Zucker is bolting; and the ill-received chatfest is already looking for a replacement. That means Zucker will get to keep all those millions of dollars ABC gave him to produce the show — more needless money wasted by ABC, which could have been thrown AMC, ONE LIFE or GH’s way. Maybe KATIE can hire Brian Frons as its showrunner — that would put the final nail in this coffin.

  Cover Story

  CASTING A SPELL

  Exclusive Interview: Is Tricia Cast the best actress to ever grace Y&R? UNCENSORED investigates!

  “Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there. I think the most liberating thing I did early on was to free myself from any concern with my looks as they pertained to my work.”

  —Meryl Streep

  The more things change in daytime, some things have remained the same.

  For almost four decades, Long Island, NY native Tricia Cast has been delivering one tour-de-force performance after another.

  Acting professionally since she was 12 years old, Cast immediately cast herself in her most important role: an actor’s actor.

  In 1979, she played Tatum O'Neal's role in the TV version of THE BAD NEWS BEARS. Throughout the early '80s, she continued to do guest appearances in prime-time series such as LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, IT'S A LIVING, MR. BELVEDERE, and SIMON & SIMON.

  But it was an unlikely medium, daytime television, which would eventually utilize the great gifts Cast was blessed with to its fullest potential.

  An accidental soap star in many ways, Cast first appeared on daytime in 1985 when she played SANTA BARBARA's Christy. The next year, she joined Y&R as Nina, a pregnant teen whose baby was taken and sold on the black market. Nina was only supposed to be on for a few episodes, but the character was so popular with fans, the show kept her on and gave her a bigger storyline.

  Off-screen, Cast has endured her own soap opera story. The Emmy winner wed Y&R composer Jack Allocco in
1989. Eleven years later, Cast divorced Allocco. That same year, she wed the love of her life, musician Bat McGrath. Choosing love over her stable career as a soap star, Cast left the show and moved to Nashville, TN.

  But just when she thought she was out of the topsy-turvy world of sudsy drama, they pulled her back in: Two years ago, Y&R invited Cast back for a couple of appearances when Katherine was presumed dead; she agreed and appeared in the scenes for Kay's funeral. However in May 2009, Cast returned for a bigger storyline when John Driscoll joined the show as Nina and Phillip's now-grown son, Phillip "Chance" Chancellor IV. Meanwhile, Phillip returned and revealed that he's been faking his death — and that he's gay. Today, Nina is trying to form a healthy relationship with the son she lost as a pregnant teen, Ronan, played by Emmy winner Jeff Branson.

  UNCENSORED recently rang up Cast in her Nashville hideaway to discuss Nina’s triumphant return, her iconoclastic performances on Y&R, and why she and Jeanne Cooper need a reality-TV series!

  What’s