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All My Children’s Bianca Montgomery Named In Top 20 Most Important LBGTQ TV Characters Of All-Time!

Courtesy/ABC

June is pride month so the LGBTQ community is showing their solidarity in events and festivals around the country in major cities, and around the world.

In honor of reflecting back on how far we have come on television with its representation of gay characters (and there is still much further we need to go), the Decider polled over 40 LGBTQ television professionals and critics and asked them to rank their top LGBTQ television characters of all time.  After the votes were tallied, 50 characters were named.

Within the major list contained some soapy characters including: #12 Billy Crystal’s Jodie Dallas on the ABC sudsy sitcom, Soap, #17 Jussie Smollett’s Jamal Lyon on the primetime soap, Empire, and at #44 Al Corley and Jack Coleman’s Stephen Carrington of the original ABC version of the sudsy, Dynasty.

However, most notable to daytime drama audiences was the inclusion in the top 20. and at #19 to be exact, of Eden Riegel’s exquisite performance of the character of Bianca Montgomery on ABC’s All My Children.  Bianca’s coming out scenes to her mother, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), her struggles to be accepted by her mother, her struggles in the romance department with the her women in her life, her same-sex wedding to Reese (Tamara Braun), while always maintaining to be the moral center of Pine Valley. even though she was an LGBTQ character. were all important moments in television history.

Riegel, talked about the important of the coming out scenes, and how key Bianca’s story was to legendary AMC creator, Agnes Nixon  in the recently posted Agnes Nixon Daytime Emmy Tribute Extended Version released and produced last week by On-Air On-Soaps Michael Fairman.  You can watch what Eden shared here.

Courtesy/IMDB

Decider’s Twitter account upon naming Bianca to the Top 20 tweeted: “Bianca Montgomery’s importance to gay TV characters went beyond the milestones”.  Eden Riegel tweeted back: “Couldn’t be prouder to be #19! #PrideMonth2017

So, what do you think of Bianca Montgomery being named to the Top 20 Most Important LGBTQ TV Characters Of All-Time?  Excited to learn she was high up on the list?

Check out the entire top 50 here.  Then, let us know if you think any other gay characters should have been on the list from the world of daytime drama? Comment below!

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Excellent! The character deserved to be on the list. I wish Will Horton had been too, but with the way he was killed off, not surprised. Great for Bianca/AMC tho. Speaks to the legacy, talent and insight of the great Agnes Nixon!

There will never be enough thanks to give Agnes Nixon for making the beloved daughter of the biggest star in daytime a lesbian. Agnes also gets credit for introducing gay characters much earlier on AMC. Eden deserves the credit as well for an outstanding performance.

One could argue that Will Horton could be on this list (much lower than Bianca). Unfortunately, the recast and subsequent (soon to be undone) murder of the character negated this.

The 3 other current shows would have characters on the least important list. At least GH has 4 recurring gay characters. CBS Daytime really should be ashamed.

I still remember that day when Bianca came out to Erica. I also remember how pissed I got when she didn’t win the Emmy that year. That was total robbery to me.

Good for Eden. Powerful story and a very well deserved honor but I’m shocked that Ryan Phllipee Billy Douglas/AIDS Quilt story isn’t right up there with her. What a glaring omission!

Thank you for remembering OLTL and the quilt story told a decade earlier than AMC groudbreKing story!

Maybe the character can be added to the fabric that makes up G.H.

Dear all my children
When is all my chilgren return to soap opera again
I love soap opera all my children.

Those scenes and that story line helped me and my mother connect as I came out. I will always be in debt to the AMC writers who took such an important storyline front and center in Erica Kane’s doorstep! It was handled with such class and grace!

All My Children

51st Daytime Emmys: Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa Receive Talk Show Host Nominations

On Thursday, nominations were announced in the Outstanding Talk Show category for the upcoming 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards. 

Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo, All My Children) coming off his first-year as co-host of ‘Live” with real-life wife, Kelly Ripa scored his first Talk Show Host nomination along with Ripa who has been nominated previous times.

Joining Mark and Kelly in the race are: Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, The View
Kelly Clarkson, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell, Sheryl Underwood, The Talk and
Tamron Hall, Tamron Hall.

Photo: CBS

As previously reported, The Talk is coming to its end when its upcoming 15th and final season ends in December of 2024.

The 51st annual Daytime Emmys are slated to be broadcast and stream live on CBS and Paramount+ on Friday night, June 7th

Look for the full list of nominations to drop on Friday morning at 12 noon ET/9 am PT.

So, are you rooting for Kelly and Mark to win their first Talk Show host award together? Comment below.

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All My Children

Mark Consuelos Celebrates One-Year Anniversary as Co-Host of ‘Live’ Alongside Kelly Ripa

Today, April 17th marks a full-year since Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo, All My Children) took over the co-hosting duties of ‘Live” alongside his wife, and longtime co-host, Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, All My Children).

Consuelos replaced Ryan Seacrest who are six seasons decided to be back on the west coast full-time. For Consuelos, now having the opportunity to work off of Ripa as co-hosts has been something of adjustment for him, but viewers have been eating it up.

Live with Kelly and Mark has remained the No. 1 entertainment talk show on television over the past year, growing 3% in average total viewers to 2.23M per episode.  It is also the most-watched daytime talk show in the last year in key demos of women 18-49 and women 25-54. All of this, since the real-life marrieds teamed-up.

Photo: ABC

Speaking with Deadline, Kelly Ripa shared why the two are gelling on-screen, “I do think that there is something very possibly relatable about our relationship. We have disagreements like a normal couple, and we’re not afraid to let them unfold on the air and in front of America, and I think people find a lot of themselves in that.”

Mark weighed in how he has progressed as a host, and what he could improve at, sharing, “I’d like to get better at my interviewing skills. I’d like to get better at reading a teleprompter…I think I’m getting better at throwing to commercial. The other day in the middle of the show as we go to commercial, my sign off was ‘See you guys around.’ I mean, the show wasn’t over. The most obvious thing to say would be, ‘We’ll be back right after this.’ But I just said, ‘See you around.’ So we went to commercial and one of the producers (goes) ‘What was that?’ I don’t know… So for the next few sign offs, as a joke, I’d say ‘See you around.’ We got a kick out of it.”

Photo: ABC

Meanwhile, Kelly has given huge props to Mark, “I find Mark utterly compelling, really interesting, super funny, and he’s bold in a way like nobody else. He says what’s on his mind. If he’s thinking it, he says it.  I’ve done this a long time and oftentimes people will adjust their natural personalities to pander to what they think the audience wants to hear, and Mark will tell people what he thinks, and he doesn’t care if it’s not a popular opinion. It gives him an edginess that I think is really missing in the landscape today. Everybody’s so afraid to say anything, and Mark is unafraid to say exactly what he’s thinking.”

In a statement, Debra O’Connell, President News Group and Networks, Disney Entertainment shared, We could not be more thrilled with how Mark has seamlessly joined the show family as permanent co-host. His undeniable charisma and his and Kelly’s natural chemistry are evident as they deliver the laughs and smiles to our viewers each morning. We are incredibly proud of how Live has continued to evolve and that the audience is responding so enthusiastically.”

So, do you think Mark Consuelos is the best co-host his wife Kelly Ripa has ever had on ‘Live’? How would you say he is doing as co-host after one full year on the job? Comment below.

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All My Children

Susan Lucci Joins the Cast of Jonah Hill’s Movie ‘Outcome’

Look who will be part of the ensemble cast in motion picture and film star Jonah Hill’s new film project! That’s right, none other than Susan Lucci (ex-Erica, All My Children).

According to Deadline, the daytime television icon joins other notables including Laverne Cox and David Spade who have been added to the cast of Outcome. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Matt Bomer (ex-Ben, Guiding Light) and Cameron Diaz.

In Outcome, which is written by, and will be directed by Hill, the dark comedy centers around Reef (played by Reeves), a damaged Hollywood star who must dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past.

Photo: JPI

Soap fans know that following her iconic run as All My Children’s Erica Kane, Susan went on to be featured in Lifetime’s Devious Maids in the role of Genevieve Delatour.  Since her Pine Valley days ended (when AMC was canceled in 2012), Susan has appeared in numerous shows and made numerous appearances.  n December of 2023, Lucci was awarded the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Photo: JPI

Outcome will debut on Apple and is an Apple Studios production. The film marks the latest collaboration for Hill and Apple Original Films, who are also developing a Grateful Dead biopic with Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, to be directed by Scorsese, with Hill starring in it and as one of the producers of the project, as well.

So, intrigued to see what kind of role Susan plays in Jonah Hill’s new film ‘Outcome’? Comment below.

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