It is hard to believe that now one year later, television fans will see the final performance of Daytime Emmy winner, Anne Heche (ex-Vicky/Marley, Another World).  The talented actress passed away from injuries sustained in a car crash back on August 5th, 2022.

Heche was officially declared ‘brain dead’ on August 12th, when her reps shared that Anne was “peacefully taken off life support.”  Before she passed, Anne taped what would be her final TV acting appearance in her recurring role on the legal drama, All Rise.

The series formerly with CBS and now airing on OWN, will air Heche’s last performance this Saturday, September 30th at 9pm ET/8 pm CT.  On All Rise, Heche plays lawyer Corrine Cuthbert.  Since season 2, Heche has taken on the recurring role. She appeared in six episodes.

Photo: JPI

In story, Corrine has had a fraught professional relationship with Judge Lola Carmichael played by Simone Missick.  For her final appearance, Heche’s Corrine shows up as part of a trial case.

All Rise dedicated the episode to Heche. As the hour comes to its conclusion, they express: “In Memory of Anne Heche, Our Friend and Wonderful Artist. You Are Missed.”

After this, Heche will star posthumously in the independent movie feature Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse, slated for release in November.

Will you be watching Anne’s final television performance on All Rise? Share your thoughts via the comment section below. But first, check out a teaser for the episode which also features former Y&R star, Wilson Bethel who stars on the legal drama as Mark Callan.

Judge Lola is not the one to mess with and she is making that very clear! #AllRise pic.twitter.com/IBbJrPLCUK

— All Rise (@AllRiseOWN) September 28, 2023

It’s over! After 148 days, the 2023 Writers strike will go down as the second longest in WGA union history, only a labor stoppage in 1988 was longer.

The strike will officially come to end on Wednesday at 12:01am PT.  This was due to a vote from the guild’s leadership that now has authorized its over 11,500 members to return to work.

That means: pitching and selling scripts, taking meetings, responding to notes, writers’ rooms opening up again, and more, can now restart.

Photo: JPI

The WGA committee shared that the vote, “Allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.” However, WGA East and West voted unanimously to lift the “restraining order” on Tuesday.

As the negotiators shared, the end of the strike doesn’t mean that the tentative agreement that the union reached with producers on Sunday night is a surefire thing: Union members still need to vote to ratify the contract. Union leadership announced on Tuesday that will take place between October 2nd and October 9th.

Photo: JPI

However, SAG-AFTRA still remains on strike. So, even with the writers returning to work, many productions can’t move forward without their principal actors and performers.

So soap fans, how do you feel about this news for your favorite shows? Glad that the head writers and their writing teams will be back at work as soon as this week from Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Bold and the Beautiful? Y&R’s Josh Griffith, who previously had gone Fi-Core during the 2008 strike, remained at the top rated show during the last several months.

Looks like we are close, very close, to the writing teams at your favorite soap operas returning to their jobs with news on Sunday that finally the WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative deal. What remains is the fine print, and having the WGA vote to ratify their contracts.

This is welcome news to the television, streaming and motion picture industry that after five months of a strike has put the 2023-2024 TV season in deep water.

In a statement, the Writers Guild shared, “We have reached a tentative agreement on a new 2023 MBA (Minimum Basic Agreement), which is to say an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language. We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

As the deal goes through its final stages, the writers are still technically on strike, but picketing outside studios and shows has now been suspended.

Photo: ABC

Among the writers’ demands that they fought for are: higher residuals from streaming shows, minimum staff sizes to prevent the use of “mini rooms” and protections from the use of AI.  The hope within the entertainment industry is that the new deal for the WGA will move along a new contract for SAG-AFTRA (actors) with the AMPTP.  As of Monday, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike.

Photo: JPI

As for your favorite soap operas, during the strikes, the shows were written by non-union writers or “fi-core” writers who gave up their union benefits in order to continue working.

The next steps in process will see the WGA negotiating committee vote on “whether to recommend the agreement and send it on to the WGAW Board and WGAE Council for approval,” tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.  Another vote by the board and council could lift the strike “restraining order”and allow scribes to “return to work during the ratification vote”.

So, are you happy to know that the writing teams from your favorite soaps are about to return to work and helm the scripts and the vision of the shows? Comment below.