Intriguing casting news out of Port Charles on Sunday. The ABC daytime drama series has tapped former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Janet Hubert to play the character of  Yvonne,who is said to be a love interest for Mike (Max Gail) at the nursing home he is now in.

According to EW.com, Yvonne will end up having a connection to someone or someones on the canvas.

Hubert’s first episode is slated to air on December 7th.   Sitcom fans remember Janet from “Fresh Prince’ in scenes with Will Smith in the series in the role of Vivian Banks.

GH is not Janet’s first soap, either.  She appeared on One Life to Live as Evangeline Williamson’s (Renee Elise Goldsberry) and Layla Williamsom’s (Tika Sumpter) mother, Lisa.  The actress also appeared on All My Children as Alice Dawson.

In another twist, Hubert will reunite with Vernee Watson (Stella)om GH.  The two appeared together on “Fresh Prince”, where Watson played Will’s mother.

So does this mean that Yvonne and Stella are both going to be romantically interested in Mike Corbin?

What do you think of the casting news?  Interested to see this next leg of Mike’s story as he declines from Alzheimer’s, but may find love?  Comment below.

In a key move to allow those performers in front of the camera and behind the scenes crew and creatives to be acknowledged for their accomplishments this calendar year, the four daytime dramas collectively have decided to lift their threatened boycott and participate in the upcoming 46th annual Daytime Emmy competition.

This comes after the four network soaps (Days of our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless) banded together after being unsatisfied with snafu’s coming out of the 45th annual Daytime Emmy Awards earlier this year in April, and a list of grievances and concerns they asked to be addressed by the organization that administers the Emmy contest.

Then, following an internal investigation by NATAS by the law firm of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth of Washington, DC, the results which were released on November 8th, and being in receipt of their findings, the soaps decided to move forward while still having concerns they want addressed.

In a statement from the group, a spokesperson related to Deadline, who broke the story late Friday: “As a group, we are not in agreement with all of the conclusions that NATAS reached.  However, in the spirit of working with NATAS and the TV Academy on improving the integrity of the Daytime Emmys, we have lifted our boycott. We look forward to meeting with NATAS to discuss their findings and our concerns in greater detail.”

On Saturday, someone close to the situation said to Michael Fairman TV: “Our participation doesn’t mean we accept their proposal moving forward, we still have major issues that we will be discussing with the Chair and President (of NATAS), but as a collective whole, we don’t want to penalize our actors for NATAS’ mis-management.”

The 46th Annual Daytime Emmy submissions began earlier this week on November 12th, with the Daytime Emmys slated to be handed out in early May of 2019.

So, are you glad that the network soaps have lifted their threatened boycott so that your favorite performers, whose performances you have loved over the last 11 months can be acknowledged for their talents and hard work? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

More exciting roles coming the way of Alicia Coppola! Casting news out today has that the former soap alum of both Another World (Ex-Lorna) and more recently, The Young and the Restless (Ex-Meredith) has landed a recurring role on Empire.

According to Deadline: “Coppola will play a smart, flamboyant attorney investigating Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) and international money launderer Damon Cross (Wood Harris).  She’ll do almost anything for big target convictions because she believes they’ll take her to the Governor’s mansion and then the White House.”

In an Instagram post on Friday, Alicia posted: “What a way to start the Holidays, end 2018 and begin a wonderful 2019! Thank you is all I can say. To say I am Grateful is an understatement. @empirefox here I come!” Recently, Coppola also recurred on NCIS: Los Angeles.

On Thursday night’s Soap Nation Live radio broadcast, Linda Dano, who played Alicia’s on-screen mother on Another World, Felicia Gallant, had complimented Alicia during her guest segment, and she still keeps in touch with her.  You can listen to that here.

So, will you be checking out Alicia on Fox’s Empire?  Let us know via the comment section below.