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Ricki Lake Talk Show Canceled! While Some New Talkers Are Axed, Others Are Still Waiting In The Wings!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

This came as no surprise but today official word was handed down that The Ricki Lake Show was canceled and will not be renewed for the 2013-2014 season.   Stephen Brown, Twentieth TV’s EVP of programming & development, stated on the cancellation:  “While we are proud of the topics the program tackled including childhood obesity, life-after the military, divorce, and addiction we were simply not able to breakthrough the crowded talk show marketplace.”

According to Deadline.com,  a similar notice will be given to the Jeff Probst Show.  Along with Lake and Probst, Anderson Cooper’s talk show, Anderson will also not see another season.

But while we hoped that programming executives and syndication arms would realize that there is just way too much talk shows on daytime, there are still more programs waiting in the wings to infuriate soap fans that include the following hosting their own talkers: Kris Jenner, Bethenny Frankel, Arsenio Hall ans Queen Latifah!

So soapers, do you think there is way to much talk on daytime at this point? Does it seem like a guest makes the round from show to show to show to promote their projects? Which talk show’s do you watch?  Let us know your thoughts!

 

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“So soapers, do you think there is way to much talk on daytime at this point?”

There’s that rhetorical question again.

There have been too many talk shows for a long time. Ricki Lake – isn’t this the second time she’s tried the talk show route? Kris Jenner, Bethany Frankel – trying to feed off their “reality” show success? I personally don’t watch talk shows, period. Not during the day, not at night, not interested. And yes, it does seem that the same people show up on them talking up their latest projects. As far as I can tell from program listings, that is, since I don’t see them myself.

Yes, way too many talk shows, what is there left to talk about.? Maury and Jerry Springer need to go away too.

i agree

Good Riddance!

i agree,too bring amc and otol back on the air and get rid of chew

And critics say soaps are derivative and repetitive?!?!?!? These talkers recycle guests, even cannibalizing on each other to fill their hours. Let’s close our mouoths save for some savvy storytelling, please. The talk format has not generated anything new for some time. And the demands of corporate American and audiences will not allow for anyone to break through or be original anyway. I am tired of crass. I am tired of lowbrow. I am tired of judge shows. Come one, webs and syndicators, work it… or maybe give us back our original continuing stories. Thank you!

I would not watch any talk show except Ellen if I did watch talk shows. I care nothing about actors and so on. I don’t care about any of the same old crap that they all seem to talk about. Yuk. They will be gone and recycling new ones soon. They are doomed before they start.

Maybe Prospect Park can save these cancelled talk shows and move them on line like they did the soaps AMC and OLTL? JUST JOKING!

We dont need anymore talk shows! Havent the poor ratings made even a dent in their heads???? SOAPS MATTER! When will they get it??

I don’t watch talkers period. Same old same old…

When are the highly paid morons at the networks going to realize people are sick and tired of talk shows. I don’t watch them. Bring back Love in the Afternoon.

they should have never cancelled all my children and one life to live.

Yes, there’s too many, what they need to do is have more soaps even if only 30 minutes ones, but then again that’s way to much tv for anyone, we just need the ones that are still here to survive with high ratings.

There are only so many times a day you can watch someone interview Jennifer Anisten about her upcoming movie and talk about the mayors cheating scandal. Make a game show and a half hour soap and call it a day kids. Build a lineup

Andrson could stay the rest can go…………Ricki take Katie with you…

The view is enough for me and it is just the 1st 25 min (Hot Topics). If the guest is on GMA earlier in the day then I don’t to see then again. If other shows like Katie or Dr. Phil get an exclusive then I usually see most of the best stuff on GMA or AH.

Never watched her. Oh wait. I don’t watch any of them. Or the talk, or the view, or doctors and shrinks, or judges. I watch soaps.

All I can say to all the network exec’s out there who thought they could replace soap operas with talk shows is Karma is a bitch.

My television’s life is in danger should Kris Jenner get a show.

Most talk shows have talked themselves out, and are just a show case for celebrities to pitch their goods. If they could tackle and handle current social/political topics like Phil Donahue did, or Oprah did when she started out (towards the end she became too celebrity focused too!), they could be interesting, but now many of them are just places for famous people to become more famous! Actually, Steve Harvey’s show has not been bad, he has been bringing on ‘regular’ people, and helping them deal with day to day lifestyle issues.

notice how ellen degeneres is getting no backlash from creating betheney frankel’s daytime talk show. ellen is very vocal against lgbt bullying but she gives a talk show to a real housewife? the whole premise of the housewife franchise are women being catty and saying degrading things abt each other. bravo pretty much glorifies bullying. oh that’s right. ellen has no problem w/ the housewives bec the bullying is between lgbt people. hollywood and the mainstream manhattan media and the entertainment press are against lgbt bullying and speak abt lgbt suicides and yet the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and National Asian Women’s Health Organization (NAWHO) has reported that suicide is the fifth leading cause of death among Asian americans overall compared to the ninth leading cause of death for white Americans. The highest suicide rate are among Asian american women 66 and older. Asian american girls have the highest rates of depressive symptoms of any group and 71% of southeast asian americans meet the criteria for depression and other major affective mental disorders w/ 81% percent Cambodian americans. 16% Asian american women have contemplated suicide compared with 13% of other americans. females ages 15 to early 20s who are Asian american die from suicide at a higher rate than all other groups. but hollywood and the mainstream media and entertainment press never speaks against that bec they only speak abt gay bullying and lgbt suicides. while actors and actresses only talk against gay bullying and lgbt suicides bec that gets them press and publicity and helps their careers and gets them favorable acting reviews. hollywood has made it acceptable to bash Asian americans and therefore hollywood has directly contributed to these high suicide rates among Asian american women. of course the mainstream manhattan media and hollywood and the entertainment press won’t criticize ellen for giving a former real housewife a platform when the real housewife franchise glorifies bullying. typical from the progressive manhattan media and the tolerant entertainment press and biased hollywood.

Are there to many talk shows? Now that’s a hot one! What kind of idiotic question is that? Oh and the one that I watch, NONE OF THEM!!!!!!

Another brand new soap opera

Gouge My Eyes OUT…. Kris Jenner? Oye! Retards watch too much “reality”.

isn’t she all that christening herself Queen of Reality….

I miss the game shows.. good ones..(not ones like deal or no deal..stupid show)….or the variety shows like Carol Burnett. What happened to comedy? Something to make you laugh and lighten your day? No one in the business has any kind of imagination any more. Since the OJ trials television has gone down the drain. Reality shows are just a drain on society, and talk shows will never have another Johnny Carson. I’m a scripted story person. Love the soaps. Build them up from morning till the news in the evening……ya know….like it used to be when TV was good.

Excellent point, LisaK.

CBS has Drew Carey so why don’t they have him do his cable show during the daytime or bring back Whose Line is it Anyway.

I would think if one network can get by with reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos and I Love Lucy (not complaining about the Lucy part), then the other networks could find something else besides TALK SHOWS for their lineup. I would also love to see another half-hour soap start up instead of decimating what we have left.

Maybe if one of these talk shows tried something new we really would watch. Maybe…

Yeah, like maybe have no one talk. Now that would be something. Seeing how long they could keep quiet instead of talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. What else is there to talk about?

Kris Jenner, Bethany Frankel, Meredith Viera, Queen Latifia are just a few waiting for a talk show spot. I’ve also heard that ABC is salivating waiting for ratings to tank for GH. They apparently want to replace it with a weight loss reality show similar to biggest Loser. God help us all…

I may be in the minority here, but as an American, I feel talked-out. News is on around the clock, on a million websites, and on a hundred talks shows. I just want to be entertained for a while, people.

I’m right there with ya, Tom. I can’t believe that anyone wants MORE talk.

News

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)

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Heather Tom, Crew Morrow

In an ironic twist of fate, and only in the soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom’s (Katie Logan) on-screen son is played by Crew Morrow (Will Spencer), the now 21-year-old son of her former TV brother on The Young and the Restless, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman).

For those who have followed the six-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress’ career, Tom began on Y&R back in 1990 as Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) daughter Victoria Newman. She played the role until 2003. Four years later, she joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful and has been there ever since.

Next month, at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Heather might add two gold statuettes to her collection with nominations for Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (which would be her record-breaking 7th for an actress), and one for being a part of B&B’s writing team.

Photo: JPI

WHICH MORROW IS IN THE ROOM?

In a new livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Heather recalled her reaction to seeing Crew Morrow on set when he started on B&B over two years ago, and pointed out the uncanny similarities between her TV son and her former TV brother.

“I just can’t even tell you how genetics is weird,” explained Tom. “Because it’s like they are the same person; the cadence and his voice and the way he laughs. When Crew was on the shows for the first couple of months, it would take me out of the scene. I would be like, ‘Oh, my God! It’s Joshua.’ It’s crazy. It’s so wonderful to have him. I love having him there. We’re so lucky to have Crew. I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Spencer family. I love that Bill (Don Diamont) and Katie’s son is on the canvas in a real way.”

In recent weeks, fans of The Bold and the Beautiful have seen a different side of Katie in regards to her son, Will. She simply does not approve, and does not trust Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock) as far as she can throw her. That puts a wrinkle in the mother/son relationship.

Photo: JPI

HEATHER TOM IS THRILLED THE CHARACTER OF WILL SPENCER IS ALL GROWN-UP

“Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this story since Will was born,” exclaimed Heather  “To be like the overprotective, overbearing mother, momma bear, I love it!”

As for Katie’s attitude. which many feel may need an “attitude adjustment,” Tom has it all figured out on just how she is tackling her scenes! “I have all kinds of justifications for it,” reveals the multi-talented star.

Photo: JPI

KATIE SEES ALL SORTS OF RED FLAGS WITH DYLAN

“So. it’s not just Katie being the b-word,” proclaims Tom. “It’s that Will, her son, whom she loves and supports so much, has been constantly saying about Electra (Laneya Grace), ‘This is the love of my life. She’s broken my heart. I love her. All I want to do is get her back.'”

“So I think Katie could be like, ‘Okay, well, Electra’s a little flighty, but my son loves her, so I’m going to try to support that relationship,” explains Heather. “In addition, Will has never told his mother, ‘I love Dylan,’ at all. I think Katie is thinking of telling Will, ‘You should run, not walk, from this girl who seems somewhat obsessed!’ I don’t know where they’re going with the Electra/Will/Dylan triangle, but I think Katie’s very focused on Dylan for a multitude of reasons.”

So, do you like seeing Heather Tom as Katie going into overprotective momma bear-mode, now that the series has a major young triangle between Electra/Will/Dylan? What do you think about the fact that Heather has been a long-running scene partner with father/son across two different soaps in Joshua Morrow and Crew Morrow? Let us know in the comment section, and in case you missed it, check out our full conversation with Heather below.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’

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Finola Hughes

There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.

In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.

Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.

Courtesy/ABC

ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT

When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.

Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.

After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.

EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027

In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.

From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.

Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo

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General Hospital

The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.

According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.

Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.

GENERAL HOSPITAL

In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.

The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.

Photo: JPI

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.

In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.

Photo: JPI

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.

The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.

In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!

Photo: CBS

BEYOND THE GATES

Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.

In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.

The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026

So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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