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Tom Lisanti, Author of ‘Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap’ Livestream Conversation On Tap

Courtesy/KensingtonBooks and ABC

Ryan’s Hope aired on ABC from 1975 to 1989, and along the way received multiple Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series and its iconic cast which included: Helen Gallagher, Bernard Barrow, Kate Mulgrew, Marg Helgenberger, Michael Levin, Ilene Kristen, Nancy Addison Altman, Ron Hale, Justin Deas, and many more.

Now, on Tuesday night, October 10th, author Tom Lisanti chats live with Michael Fairman on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel about the release of his upcoming book on the show, Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap, due out from Kensington Books on October 24th. It all begins at 8:30pm ET/5:30 pm PT.

Lisanti’s Ryan’s Hope tribute book takes the reader behind the scenes of the series in the words of the cast, crew, and its co-creators and head writers, Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer.

Photo: ABC

What made the soap so unique and compelling was that Ryan’s Hope was set in a real city, within recognizable communities, giving it a realism immensely appealing to viewers. The working-class, Irish-Catholic, immigrant Ryans were the core of a show that credibly tackled such topics as infidelity, addiction, religious faith, and women’s rights and more.

An award-winning author of eleven books about the ‘60s and ‘70s film and television, Lisanti has appeared on Turner Classic Movies co-hosting with Ben Mankiewicz a week of 1960s spring break/beach movies and he is featured in the documentary The Green Girl about actress Susan Oliver, and an upcoming documentary about novelist/screenwriter Terry Southern. He has recently written articles for Cinema of the 70s; Films of the Golden Age; Scary Monsters; and Cinema Retro magazines.

If you are a fan of the beloved daytime drama, you’ll will want to be with us live tomorrow night for this enlightening conversation with Tom.

Now let us know, if you cant be with us live, if you have a question for Tom on ‘Ryan’s Hope’ and its deep history via the comment section below and we just might ask during the broadcast.

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I did Godspell with Malcolm Groome at the Cecilwood Theater in the early 80s. Upstate NY. Great guy.

Thank you Michael for a wonderful program. I enjoyed it very much. It was especially wonderful seeing and hearing from the always fabulous Ilene Kristen. Thanks again.

General Hospital

Jack Wagner Recalls Dilemma During Time on General Hospital: “It Was So Hard for Me Being in the Music Business and Coming from a Soap to be Taken Legitimately as a Singing Artist.”

Soap fans first met Jack Wagner back in 1984 when he joined General Hospital as Frisco Jones. While they loved Frisco and Felicia’s (Kristina Wagner) on-screen romance, one might recall that when Frisco first came to town he was the lead singer of Blackie’s (John Stamos) band, Blackie and the Riff Raff.

During his early days on GH, Wagner was also working on his rising musical career, which put him at a serious crossroads.  Things got even more challening, when Jack became a pop star after the release of his 1985 single, “All I Need” which hit the Top 10.  The character of Frisco actually sang the song on GH, before it went on to become a mega-hit.

While Wagner appeared on GH through 1995, and again reprised the part for several episodes back in 2013, fans do this day miss him and hope one day he might return.

Photo: ABC

Speaking with PEOPLE, Wagner admitted his inner conflict with being a soap star, while trying to have a successful musical career.  Jack reflected, “I used to battle it, because it was so hard for me being in the music business and coming from a soap to be taken legitimately as a singing artist. It took time to let go of that, but now I embrace it. If I can make someone’s day by going down memory lane, it makes my day.”

Photo: WarnerBrosRecordsInc

In his early musical days, Wagner releases six albums, and his role on GH didn’t hurt the frenzy surrounding seeing him live. “I would sell concerts out in an hour or two,” Jack admitted.

Looking back at the GH hey day, in which he was a part of, Wagner added, “It really was incredible how popular the show was in the ’80s. It was crazy, because back then, people would join fan clubs, and there would be bags and bags of fan letters. I took it in stride, because it was just sort of the things (that) happened to Tony Geary (ex-Luke), Rick Springfield (ex-Noah) and John Stamos, who were ‘teen idols,’ I guess you would call us, back then.”

Wagner currently appears on Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart Sundays at 9 p.m. ET

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Interviews

(INTERVIEW) B&B’s Scott Clifton Chats On His Lead Actor Emmy-Nominated Scenes, Reluctance to Submit for Several Years, and the Honor to be Named with His Co-Stars

The Bold and the Beautiful received 12 Daytime Emmy nominations for the upcoming 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards tied with The Young and the Restless for the most of any show. Of those 12 nods, 7 were acting nominations for its cast. One of the names who made the Lead Actor race was a very familiar face to Emmy voters, and a three-time winner, Scott Clifton (Liam).

For the first-time in the shows 37-year history, three leading actors from the soap made the grade and find themselves up against each other on Emmy night: Clifton, Thorsten Kaye (Ridge) and John McCook (Eric). While Kaye won the 2023 gold statuette in the category and McCook won in 2022, the last time Clifton won in this category was 2017.

Scott also holds the Daytime Emmy record for the only actor to win in all three acting categories: ‘Younger’ in 2011, ‘Supporting’ in 2013 and then the aforementioned ‘Lead’ category. This year, also marks Clifton’s 10th Daytime Emmy nomination, having also picked up nods early in his career for his work as Dillon Quartermaine on General Hospital and as Schuyler Joplin on One Life to Live.

Photo: MFTV Inc

On Friday, April 26th, The Bold and the Beautiful held an on set celebration to honor this year’s nominated cast, crew and creatives. When B&B executive producer and head writer, Brad Bell introduced Scott Clifton, as one of the three actors from the series being recognized at Emmy time, Clifton addressed those in attendance.

Scott expressed, “I’m grateful to you, Brad Bell, and this family you created. I know at the end of my life, I’m not going to remember winning Emmys. I’m going to remember that I was nominated alongside John McCook and Thorsten Kaye. That’s what I’m going to remember, and that’s still blowing my mind, on the shoulders of giants doesn’t do it justice. So thank you, for that one.”

Photo: JPI

Following the acknowledgements, Michael Fairman TV caught up with Scott to gain some insight into what scenes he submitted on his Emmy reel, how he feels being back in the Emmy competition an, and more. Here’s what he shared below.

What scenes did you submit that landed you this Lead Actor nomination?

SCOTT: When Hope (Annika Noelle) and Liam come back home from Rome. It’s just two episodes in a row. That’s all it was, which was new for me. I’ve never really submitted a reel like that. But, it’s where Liam confronts Hope about kissing Thomas (Matthew Atkinson). It’s a side of Liam I don’t think, at least any Emmy voters have seen before where he’s just an asshole. Of course, he’s hurt and he is angry and he feels betrayed. But, he is sort of toying with Hope, almost. And then it turns into this somewhat cruel interrogation scene. Annika was incredible. It wouldn’t have worked without her performance.

Photo: JPI

It was the scene where Liam is pushing Hope to admit she kissed Thomas, going “C’mon, say it, Hope! Say it with me?”

SCOTT: Correct. Liam’s going, “I want you to say it. You say it.” That’s somewhat in the middle of the reel, and there was just sort of this lead up to that. It ends with Hope kind of pleading and begging to Liam, saying, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I still love you.” Liam’s still emotional, but he is saying, “I don’t know how that could be true.” That’s just kind of where it ends. I hadn’t planned on submitting anything. It wasn’t like I was submitting because I thought I had a good year going,”Now, which scenes do I find?” I had multiple people here that I trust, Eva Basler (VP Communications and Talent Relations, B&B) and Rachel Herman (Associate Producer, B&B), come up to me and say, “Just submit those scenes, please.”, I said, “okay.” And I did, and then this happened, which blew me away.

Did you think that, perhaps, would never receive a nomination again in your role as Liam?

SCOTT: I kind of thought the whole ‘Emmy nominations’ were over for me. They gave me three already.

Photo: NATAS

And, you hold the record for the only actor win in the Younger, Supporting and Lead categories.

SCOTT: I know, and now one of those categories doesn’t exist anymore, and that’s a bummer. And then, after that third one, I didn’t get nominated for like five years or something like that.

But in those five years, did you still submit yourself, though?

SCOTT: I fought hard not to because I wanted to give everybody a break and disappear for a while. And that comes from a place of like support and encouragement, but the show really wanted me to submit every year, even when I didn’t feel like I had anything. My argument was, this is a mistake. Emmy voter time is valuable and they don’t want to see something that you’re not totally proud of, and I don’t want to create resentment about me or the show. I would wager to say I was right. Then finally, the last two years, the show said, “OK, fine, you don’t want to submit, you don’t have to submit”. And then this year, the Emmy voters gave me the nomination. I feel good about that.

In the scenes you submitted, Liam wasn’t a doofus. He stood up for himself in it, which was good. He wasn’t going to lay down and let Hope just run over him with her betrayal.

SCOTT: We’ve seen kind of the vulnerable Liam, we’ve seen Liam scrambling to be heard, but he was in control throughout all these scenes. That’s a side that I had not played much before, and that the Emmy voters certainly haven’t seen me do.

Photo: JPI

Now, who do you root for yourself, John McCook or Thorsten Kaye since B&B holds three of the five slots in the Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series this year?

SCOTT: Oh, God. If any one of us gets it, that would be fantastic. Think about it. In terms of game theory, the value in getting an Emmy nomination is that you have a chance of winning an award for the show, right? The more we can get nominations, the more awards we can win. Those are awards for the show. That helps with ratings, it helps with the contract with the network. It’s all good. It inspires Brad to write more. So, I don’t care, honestly, but we have a three out of five chance of getting the show another Lead Actor Emmy which is huge. So, I’m rooting for any one of us.

Who did you first tell that you were Emmy-nominated?

SCOTT:  I was with my girlfriend, Elle. I was getting out of the shower and I’ve got like a towel barely around me and I got a phone call from Eva Basler. Then, Elle, she just saw the look on my face, and she could only hear my side of it, but she was trying to figure out what was going on. Then, I got off the phone and she went, “Did you just get nominated for Emmy?” And I said, “Yeah, I think I did.”

Make sure to tune-in to the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ beginning at 8pm ET/ delayed on the west coast.

Now below, check out some of the moments from the scenes that Scott included in his Emmy-nominated where Liam confronts Hope about her betrayal of kissing Thomas in Rome. Then, let us know, will you be rooting for Scott to take home the Lead Actor Emmy this year? What did you think about his nominated performance? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

 

 

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Days Of Our Lives

Serena Scott Thomas to Days of our Lives, But What Role Will She Play?

Look who’s coming to Salem next? In a tease on their official Instagram account, Days of our Lives has revealed that Serena Scott Thomas has been on set and will debut in an upcoming role, leaving many fans guessing just who might she play.

The English actress and documentary producer has previously starred in Diana, Her Story as Diane Prince of Wales, Dr. Molly Warmflash in the James Bond  film The World Is Not Enough, and played the villainess ‘Watcher” in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and Bruce Willis’ wife in the film, Hostages among others.

Serena is the younger sister of Kristen Scott Thomas, best known for her Oscar-nominated role in The English Patient. Several DAYS fans are already weighing in that Serena will play Konstantine’s (John Kaeplos) wife.

Photo: DAYS IG

However, NannyKat 63 may have it all figured out the best, when she posted, that not only will “Serena play Kostantine’s wife,” but the character “had an affair with Victor Kiriakis and got pregnant.” Thus, making Xander (Paul Telfer) her son. She went on to theorize, “Perhaps, And John and Steve will find her in the nick of time… and she’ll enter in time to stop the wedding of Maggie to him. Xander will find out his true identity then. The baby was given to Victor’s brother to be raised in Scotland.”

Photo: JPI

Sounds plausible to us! Another guess came from donnamoore_23 who said, “Ya’ll think he could be Bobberette ‘s mom or sister or .. SOMETHING to do with his story .. someone who can back up what trauma he went through to be so sick? 🤷🏼‍♀️ but I think y’all are right could be Katerina.”

Photo: JPI

Two DAYS stars, Tamara Braun (Ava) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah) also shared comments on Serena Scott Thomas’ upcoming appearance on DAYS. Godfrey simply said, “YES!!!! while Braun add her guess, expressing, “Ava’s mum. Oh wait, her mom was killed by her dad. Or was she? 🤔”

So, what do you think? What role will Serena Scott Thomas play on Days of our Lives? Share your theories in the comment section below.

 

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Peter Reckell returns for a second visit with Michael Fairman following the wrap-up of his recent run as Bo Brady on Days of our Lives.Leave A Comment

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