News
OLTL's Erika Slezak on Zimmer, Passanante, her bandage & more!
Courtesy/ABC
The November newsletter is out from One Life to Live’s six-time Daytime Emmy winner, Erika Slezak (Viki Banks) on her website www.erikalslezak.com In it, there is a brand new Q&A with the legendary actresses which addresses many of the changes in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes in recent months at OLTL! Here are just a few excerpts!
Erika on former ATWT head scribe, Jean Passanante on the OLTL writing team : “Jean has been working since June (I think), which is when “As the World Turns’” production shut down. They had that much in the can when they went off the air in September, because they had finished shooting somewhere at the end of June or early July. So she came to us then, and yes, she has just been wonderful. She is a breakdown writer but she sits in on all of the meetings, and apparently has had some very good ideas. The whole Echo story, which I love, was Ron’s idea. Jean is very, very intelligent and very savvy as to this business. And so she knows how to direct things and where to go. I think she is going to be a great addition, and already has been one to the writing team.”
Erika on working with Kim Zimmer in the reigniting of the Echo/Viki feud: “It is delightful – absolutely delightful. You know, I said to her, “I can’t wait to hear that big ol’ laugh of yours!” She’s just a joy and she is so professional. She knew exactly how to do it and what to do. It was a little different for her because she has spent the last couple of years practically on location. She said, “Oh, it is so nice to have a studio.” And she’s just been wonderful. We have had a lot of scenes together – very fun scenes. She’s been working with Robin a bit and they’re having a great time. The whole thing has just turned out well. She and Brian Kerwin get along brilliantly. Yes, the whole thing is just working out really well. I like the story – I like where it is going. It gets much more complicated, of course, as time goes by, but I like it.”
Erika on the bandage Viki was wearing in recent scenes above her temple: “That was real life. I had a little pre-cancerous thing, and I’m not sure what it is called – a lesion or something. It was a little bump on my right temple that wasn’t going away. I spoke to the dermatologist and he cryogenically tried to remove it – they freeze it with this stuff, and anyone who has gone to a dermatologist knows what it is. If it didn’t go away after freezing, they would have to biopsy it. So, a couple of weeks later, it hadn’t gone away, so they biopsied it and said it was a basil-cell skin cancer, which is a pre-cancerous condition. In order for it not to advance and become cancer, they removed it in what was a very simple procedure.”
Make sure to read the rest of the newsletter with Erika on her thoughts on Terri Colombino coming to Llanview, (Erika screen-tested all of the Aubrey’s) and how she feels that the show is not in danger of cancellation anytime soon, with all the upgrades the show has made in production quality while pairing down the budgets at the same time to ensure its future.
News
Y&R’s Courtney Hope Gives Update Following Car Accident & Turning the Situation into a Positive
The Young and the Restless star Courtney Hope (Sally Spectra) revealed she had been in a car accident near the Harry Houdini Estate in the Hollywood Hills on Monday, December 4th.
Taking to her Instagram story at the time, she wanted to let people know that both she and the people inside the other car were okay. Hope, who plays Sally Spectra on the CBS daytime drama series, expressed that that while the incident was a “heavy moment” it wound up being “positive and overwhelmingly beautiful.”
She went on to state, “It ended up being hanging out with the guy (other driver) and his family, and my family, and people that witnessed that stayed for hours and workers and neighbors.”
Photo: JPI
Making this all the more crazy as Hope explained, “Oprah (Winfrey’s) team was at the Houdini house and them coming down, and it was like, by the end we were like, laughing and taking photos. I know that sounds absolutely crazy and ridiculous, but I was in shock of how, in such a really heavy moment, something beautiful can come out of it. Honestly, like all that mattered was that we were all okay.”
The actress added, “By the end of the encounter we were exchanging numbers and taking photos. I’m so thankful for that experience.”
Photo: CHopeIG
Always trying to look at the positive of life, Hope added, “I don’t know if our cars are totaled.” However, she did share she needed a rental car but found the positive in that sharing a photo of a keychain hanging off the steering wheel that read: “LUV is in the air”
Courtney first played the role of Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful from 2017 till August of 2020, and then joined The Young and the Restless in the same role later in 2020.
Send your well-wishes Courtney’s way that nothing more serious happened from the car incident via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Kimberly McCullough Shares Remembrance of the Late TV Legend Norman Lear on the Set of ‘One Day At a Time’
Television legend, Norman Lear passed away on Wednesday at the age of 101 years old. The comedy genius who created, wrote and produced some of the greatest sitcoms of all time died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Lear’s body of work included: All in the Family, One Day at a Time, Maude, The Jeffersons and Good Times, Sanford & Son, plus the soapy, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
General Hospital’s beloved Kimberly McCullough (Robin) has been working as a director in the television industry for years now and upon learning the news of Lear’s passing, shared a very touching moment via her Instagram that stayed with her through her directorial career. McCullough had been a director on the reboot of One Day at a Time that featured EGOT winner, Rita Moreno.
Photo: JPI
McCullough expressed: “My hat goes off to your, sir Norman. What a wonderful life you lived. In my very first directing job, only 6 weeks after having a baby, I was feeling fragile and not quite ready to get back to work. On the set of One Day At A Time, you squeezed my chin and said ‘Look at you! A baby directing our show.’ It wasn’t condescending at all. In fact you seemed thrilled by how far we’d come in the industry, giving young women a seat at the table. I replied, ‘I’m not a baby. I just had a baby.”‘
McCullough added: “You gave me nod of approval saying, ‘Even better. You let me know if you need anything.’ That meant the world to me. Thank you for your service of the television industry, of our country and being a stand up human. #ripnormanlear”
In a previous post pictured with Norman Lear, Kimberly shared: “Thank you changing the world with your storytelling. Honored to say I’ve been able to work with you. One time I heard you say “but where is the HEART of the story?” I have a feeling you’ve asked that question a lot…”
The Lear family also put out this statement on the death of the iconic TV genius: “Thank you for the moving outpouring of love and support in honor of our wonderful husband, father, and grandfather,” the Lear family said in a statement. “Norman lived a life of creativity, tenacity, and empathy. He deeply loved our country and spent a lifetime helping to preserve its founding ideals of justice and equality for all. Knowing and loving him has been the greatest of gifts. We ask for your understanding as we mourn privately in celebration of this remarkable human being.”
Tonight, across all network television, an in memoriam card will air at 8PM ET/PT to pay tribute to Lear and acknowledging his influence in the medium.
Share your thoughts on Kimberly’s touching tribute to Norman Lear and the passing of the TV legend via the comment section below.
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News
Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Exes, ‘Melrose Place’ Alum Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig Are Dating
In a romantic twist … are we sure this isn’t an episode of Days of our Lives, or The Young and the Restless? After disgraced ABC news anchors and former GMA3:What You Need to Know co-hosts, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, launched their new podcast on Tuesday, comes word that their exes are now dating!
Former Melrose Place star, Andrew Shue had been married to Robach since 2010 and their divorce was finalized in March of 2023. Marilee Fiebig had been married to T.J. Holmes for 12 years.
Last November, photos of Robach and Holmes leaked to the press which showed them holding hands and being close. They were taken off the air by ABC News and GMA3 on December 5th, 2022. The following month, it was determined they would not be returning, Now, on December 5th 2023, the two finally opened up about their relationship and its timeline on the premiere episode of their iHeartPodcast, Amy and T.J.
Photo: iHeartMedia
On Wednesday, Page Six is reporting their exes, Shue and Fiebig, are currently dating, sharing from a source, “We’re told the couple have been dating for about six months after bonding over the traumatic experience of being cheated on.” The source went on to reveal, “It turned into something else, and they’re connected over their values.”
Photo: JPI
Meanwhile, Holmes shared on the couple’s new podcast: “To be clear, we were outed as being in a relationship, but everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterers – being outed as cheating on our spouses – and it wasn’t the case.” However, conflicting reports have still said otherwise.
Primetime soap opera fans, remember Andrew Shue for his role as Billy Campbell on Melrose Place; a part he played for almost seven seasons. Fiebig has been an attorney in Atlanta.
So what do you think about Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig dating and the timing of this intel coming to light following the launch of their exes, Amy and T.J.’s podcast?
Y&R’s Courtney Hope Gives Update Following Car Accident & Turning the Situation into a Positive
Kimberly McCullough Shares Remembrance of the Late TV Legend Norman Lear on the Set of ‘One Day At a Time’
Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Exes, ‘Melrose Place’ Alum Andrew Shue and Marilee Fiebig Are Dating
GENERAL HOSPITAL: What are Your First Impressions of Charles Mesure as ‘Mr. Brennan’?
DANCING WITH THE STARS: Crowns Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy Winners of Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy
RATINGS: The Young and the Restless Hits Five-Month High in Total Viewers
J. Eddie Peck ‘Thanks’ Fans For His Return to The Young and the Restless
Daytime Emmy Lead Actress Nominee Luncheon; The Tradition Continues
General Hospital’s Jon Lindstrom Shares Heartfelt Message to Mark His 30-Year Anniversary as Dr. Kevin Collins
Y&R’s Hayley Erin Talks On the Revelation That Shocks Claire, Vendetta Against the Newmans, and Working with Her Co-Stars
DANCING WITH THE STARS: Crowns Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy Winners of Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy
Y&R’s Hayley Erin Talks On the Revelation That Shocks Claire, Vendetta Against the Newmans, and Working with Her Co-Stars
Lifetime’s ‘Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas’ Brings Epic Food Fight and “Slapfest Coup de Grâce”
RATINGS: The Young and the Restless Hits Five-Month High in Total Viewers
Mishael Morgan Stars in Hallmark’s ‘Christmas with a Kiss’
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Someone who calls Jean Passanante intelligent has to be as stupid as JP. JP along with CG destroyed the wonderful LURE love story on ATWT. Let’s see what Erika Selza has to say when JP will ruin OLTL and bring it down just like she did for ATWT.