News
One Life to Live Star Erika Slezak Talks Prospect Park and Clint Richie On ‘IN with Linda Dano’ Podcast
One Life to Live icon, Erika Slezak (ex-Viki) chatted with another OLTL and soap favorite, Linda Dano (ex-Gretl, ex-Felicia, AW, et al) on the latest episode of Dano’s podcast, IN with Linda Dano.
During the conversation, the dear friends and former castmates touched on myriad of subjects including One Life’s move to the internet (then streaming) with Prospect Park following ABC cancellation of the series.
Erika related the issues she and others had getting paid from the company. This included one encounter when trying to pick-up her paycheck as she did on Fridays. Slezak shared: “I waited an hour. I waited two hours. He had know intention (to pay me) until I literally stood over him in his office and said, “Write my check, because I am not leaving until you do.” And it was the last check I ever got. They still owe me a lot of money. I am not going to say how much.”

Photo: Prospect Park
She went on to say, “They still owe Tuc Watkins (ex-David) and they still owe a lot of people a lot of money. They declared bankruptcy. Even though they produced other shows, this was a separate production and such a screw up. It was such a shame.”
The discussion turned to Phil Carey, Bob Woods and Clint Ritchie who played the Buchanan men during Erika’s time on One Life, as well at times for Linda Dano. Slezak admitted she would have loved to have seen Viki involved romantically with Asa: “My one regret is that I (as Viki) was never married to him.”

Photo: ABC
Clint Ritchie has had a controversial past with One Life to Live. Both Dano and Slezak sort of dished on some behind the scenes intel. Linda shared: “I went on a date with him and my dad, who is like nine feet tall, said to him, “You are a few minutes late and that means you’re not welcome here again.” He (Clint) was a bit of a troubled person.”

Photo: JPI
Erika responded, “Clint, most of the time was incredibly decent. He did like to drink at lunch, which was not such a good idea. But Clint was very respectful and always very nice to me. He was a lovely man and he had issues. The bizarre thing is he and Phil Carey died in the same week.”
What do you think about how the attempt to bring One Life to Live online and to Hulu ultimately failed? What do you think about Linda and Erika’s past and thoughts with Clint Richie? Enjoying Linda’s podcast? Comment below.
What a wonderful conversation.
They are both so lovely.
Could have listened to them for another hour.
The higher power need to bring back not only one life to live but all my children too.
It’s sad when people can’t let things go. The shows had their shot; nobody was watching. The shows were awful. No popular show gets canceled. At some point you have to move on.
To say “nobody was watching” is a gross overstatement. At time of cancellation, OLTL was actually higher rated than GH (and way above DAYS). The show that replaced OLTL was cancelled after 6 months and the time returned to affiliates.
Well said OG Steve.
ABC got rid of OLTL mainly about money, ratings did not override the tedious amount of money to produce a soap, especially for daytime, tv,
talk shows are quite inexpensive to produce…ABC does not do business
by emotions… ABC’s daytime shows is money in the pocket…
As for OLTL- nothing lasts forever…
OOPPSS!
- inexpensive to be expensive –
I love that show I wish it would come back on TV . It was a awesome show.
Not true it did have a fan base I watched it regularly and followed it to the net. What is sad is that they did not respect the actors.
Streaming was too new at the time and the quick transition was doomed. The cancellation of multiple soaps in quick order was just the beginning of the chainsaw the networks started to maximize profits. Now it’s endless repeating news from talking heads and blab shows. I miss the old days of entertaining drama. Would it kill them to stream the old ABC or p&g shows. Or are they tapes wiped away?
Supposedly every episode of OLTL from the time they went to 1-hour are still in existence. The tapes for the first ten years (30 and 45 minute episodes) would’ve been reused as was the practice in much of daytime.
I could’ve listened to them all day such a treat! I hope Linda has Victoria Wyndham and more Another World people.
Such a shame streaming was in its early days when online was attempted. I think an online version might succeed in today’s streaming world.
Thank you Michael for letting us know about the podcast. It’s always a thrill to hear from the fabulous Erika Slezak. I loved her stories. I can’t imagine Viki being married to Asa. That would have been WW3 with Viki trying to get him in line.
I am sorry Prospect Park failed. The concept was wonderful. The execution, not so much. I watched and enjoyed the online series on Hulu. Unfortunately, Prospect Park didn’t know how to produce a serialized drama for the long haul. I think it’s awful that several of the actors were not paid.
I will always miss our beloved One Life to Live..
Hope she does join general hospital
Erika lives happily in Connecticut while GH is filmed in California.
I miss OLTL so much ❤️! The stars , the storylines. Yeah, they definitely need to bring them back ASAP
Erika Slezak is simply class and the cast of OLTL was not treated right by Prospect Park and certainly not by ABC and Froms. Get the facts: OLTL was averaging 3.1M viewers during the week of its cancellation and 3.8M viewers for the final episode. The move backfired as ratings never recovered with the stupid talk shows to include additional cancellations. ABC may have made some extra $ for a time but NO one was watching or cared. OLTL and AMC should have never left the daytime lineup. I also still miss GL and ATWT but their ratings were not as good but over 2M+.
Hi my name is Shelly Tuttle I. Use to watch one life to live with my family all of them please bring back all my children soapra and one life to life. On hulu. Again. I love watching them.
One Life to Live online was awful.
I remember when the reboot happened. I had taken my mom to the doctor. I sat in the waiting room crying because our show was back. I didn’t care that it was on line.
Just to have another scene with Erica and Roger…..
Have you noticed ES never attacks and never says an evil word about co workers if only everyone could be like that. I always wanted her to come to Y&R as Katherine’s long lost sister to keep the history alive but I don’t blame her for probably not wanting to commute to California.
News
Shemar Moore Makes Another Return to ‘The Young and the Restless’ as Malcolm Winters
When Shemar Moore (Malcolm Winters) made his most recent on-screen return to his old stomping grounds at The Young and the Restless back at the beginning of April. Viewers also know that it has been teased that he was not done taping his most recent return story arc, and that he would be back to wrap it up.
Circle next week on the Monday, June 8 and Wednesday, June 9 episodes of the top-rated CBS soap opera, when Malcolm Winters, who has survived his bone barrow transplant surgery after being diagnosed with aplastic anemia, is back for some important conversations.
This time out, he will reconnect once again with his daughter Lily (Christel Khalil) and is recently discovered biological son, Holden (Nathan Owens). In addition, according to Parade, he will interface with his son’s New York City “travel companion” in Claire Newman (Hayley Erin).

Photo: CBS
THE LEGACY OF MALCOLM WINTERS
Part of the bigger story is Malcolm’s relationship with his ex Dr. Stephanie Simmons (Vivica A. Fox), who happens to be the mother of his child, Holden. Viewers can look for some unfinished business that the two need to settle in the upcoming episodes. Both Moore and Vivica A.Fox first appeared together on Y&R back in 1994 and then some 30 years later just a few months ago.
Shemar Moore made his debut as the younger brother of the late Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) back in 1994 and stayed with the soap until 2005. A Daytime Emmy win later, and with his first television experience under his belt, Moore went on to major primetime success on CBS’ Criminal Minds. Next, he helped launch and was the centerpiece for S.W.A.T. also on CBS, until it was canceled. Now, he will soon be seen in the new spin-off series, S.W.A.T. exiles.
During a recent conversation for Michael Fairman TV, Christel Khalil shared of working with her TV dad again: “It’s always amazing to have anyone come back that’s been away for a while, but especially, Shemar. It’s all the history with him being Lily’s dad. For me, it’s been 20 years of knowing him. Obviously, I don’t get to talk to him or hang out with him and that kind of thing. So it was just nice just to see him again and have that moment around Neil’s portrait, and to be able to share that together and even talk about that off-camera. It’s just special and feels like family, which is nice.”
So, looking forward to seeing Shemar Moore for a few more episodes as he wraps up Malcolm’s recent story arc and visits with his newly found son, Holden and his ex Stephanie? Do you hope for more emotional scenes that were not played out the first time he was back looking for a bone marrow donor to save his life? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
News
How ‘The Young and the Restless’ Mark Grossman Almost Became ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Thomas Forrester
As initially reported by Michael Fairman TV, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation recently held a live daytime drama casting directors panel which featured: Greg Salmon (The Young and the Restless), Marnie Saitta (Days of Our Lives), Christy Dooley (The Bold and the Beautiful), and Kim Coleman (Beyond the Gates).
The four soap opera casting directors traded behind the scenes stories, their process to help actor’s in the audition process, the most difficult and important recasts to their respective shows during their tenure, and the challenges of casting under-five roles, which surprisingly can harder than finding the series regulars.
When the talked turned to a major recast that Greg Salmon had to find it was to fill the shoes of Justin Hartley who exited the CBS soap to star on the NBC drama, This Is Us. The role of the black sheep of the Newman clan was previously played by Chris Engen and Michael Muhney, before Hartley. Salmon knew they found their man to be the fourth Adam when Mark Grossman entered the picture.

Photo:JPI
THE SEARCH FOR ADAM NEWMAN
Salmon explained, “That was a really tough role to recast. Before Justin, there were two other people who played the part. Adam Newman is central to the show. This is Victor Newman’s son, so it’s an incredibly important character. I remember Mark came in and read with Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) and a few other members of the Newman family. His energy was just off the charts. It felt like this is how Adam should be. Eventually, I think the audience really accepted him. Mark has playing the role for several (7) years now and he’s completely made the role his own.”
However, in an ironic twist, it appears that Grossman came very close to joining Y&R’s sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful in the part of Thomas Forrester played most recently by Matthew Atkinson, and before that Adam Gregory and Drew Tyler Bell.
THE SEARCH FOR THOMAS FORRESTER
Responding to Salmon, The Bold and the Beautiful ‘s casting director Christy Dooley revealed that Mark Grossman was once in the running for the role of Ridge and Taylor’s son. “He tested for us,” she recalled. “Mark came in and read for the role of Thomas Forrester, and he was my choice for the role,” Dooley shared.
Dooley added, “The role wound up going to Matthew Atkinson. But then Mark came down (the hall) to read for The Young and the Restless.”
Fans of The Young and the Restless know that during his 7-years as Adam Newman, that Mark Grossman has become one of the most popular stars on the show. So it’s difficult to wrap you head around that B&B might have nabbed his first as Thomas, and if so, we wouldn’t have gotten to see him turn out those stellar performances in Genoa City .
So, what did you think of this casting tidbit? Could you have seen Mark Grossman as Thomas Forrester? Glad that Y&R had him firmly as their Adam Newman? Let us know via the comment section and you can check the full daytime drama casting director panel below.
General Hospital
Marc Forget Exits ‘General Hospital’
The Thursday June 4 episode of General Hospital paved way for the end of the line for Jenz Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) butler/fixer, Pascal (Marc Forget).
In the pick of the June 3 cliffhanger, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) was the hero and stopped the evil-doer from fleeing Port Charles for his part in aiding and abetting his boss with the cover-up of the murder of Professor Henry Dalton (Daniel Goddard) among other crimes.
Today’s episode did indeed mark the final appearance of Marc Forget who joined the ABC soap opera when he debuted back in July of 2025. Viewers met met Pascal when Kelly Thiebaud returned to the soap opera as Britt Westbourne and she was being blackmailed to work on Faison’s final project while at the Five Poppies in Dalmatia.

Courtesy/ABC
A General Hospital rep confirmed to Soap Opera Digest, that the June 4 episode, “Will be the last viewers will see of Pascal for now, but notes that in the world of Port Charles, comebacks are always possible.” So, how did Pascal get written-off the canvas? Here’s what went down:
PASCAL GIVES LUCAS KEY INFORMATION BEFORE BEING DRAGGED AWAY
After Sonny intercepted Pascal on his desperate attempt to get out of town, Sonny informed him hat Sidwell would stop at nothing from trying to get retribution for whoever killed his son, Marco, and promptly turned around and said that he would help Pascal flee the country, only if he turned on Sidwell.
An absolutely terrified Pascal had evidence for Sonny that he could use against Sidwell. However, he feared he would get killed on sight if he tried to retrieve the incriminating photos of Sonny and Laura from the safe at Wyndemere. So instead, Pascal gave the combination to the safe to Lucas (Van Hansis), so he could get the blackmail photos himself. But, did Pascal just set up Lucas to be killed since he loathes him for being the man to win the heart of the late Marco?
In the end, Sonny had one of his henchmen drag Pascal away and whisked off to an airfield to fly away to parts unknown, and hopefully never to be heard from again. But what now? Is Lucas going to end up being pegged as Marco’s killer and taken down by Sidwell if he gets his hands on the incriminating photos for Sonny and Laura? Stay tuned.
So, what did you think of Marc Forget’s run as Pascal? Sad or happy to see the character go? Do you think he will be back down the line? Share your thoughts via the comment section.
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