News

Y&R's Stephen Nichols speaks on his shocking new role!

December 18, 2009

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

The soap shocker of the week had former DAYS fan fave, Stephen Nichols, replacing William Russ in the new role of Tucker McCall on Y&R! Russ had only aired a few weeks and already the soap decided to make a switch. In a great interview out today with TV Guide Magazine. Nichols lets us in on how the quick recast happens, what we can expect from his “Tucker” and his thoughts on the demise of Patch and Kayla! Here are some excerpts!

Nichols on how he stepped into the role with a chance phone call from the shows execs: “I tend to be a very lucky person. My wife reminds me of that all the time, and this is yet another stroke of good luck, especially because the call came from Y&R. Every actor who works on soaps flips channels in his dressing room and every time I landed on Y&R I’d find the acting to be fantastic. I wasn’t laughing at anything. Nothing seemed hokey and stupid. The production values were great. The writing was better than most. And now, on my first day here, I picked up my scripts and could not believe it. There wasn’t one sentence or phrase that was hinky, nothing I felt had to be fixed, and that’s really refreshing. There’s total organization at Y&R. The characters are solid, and the stories are character-driven from what I can tell. And all the actors are exemplary. There isn’t a weak link in the whole bunch and I’ve never done a show where that’s been the case.

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Nichols on filming scenes as Tucker: “I had some great scenes today with Jess Walton [Jill] and Jeanne Cooper [Kay] and Daniel Goddard [Cane]. Tucker is coming in to take away everybody’s toys. I really like this guy. He did not come from money but rather he’s a self-made success, a regular guy who can tend bar and shoot pool and talk s–t with anybody. He’s very unassuming in many ways.”

Nichols on being dropped by DAYS with on-screen partner Mary Beth Evans, along with Deidre Hall and Drake Hogetyn in late 2008 and early 2009: “It was unfortunate. But I have to say that from the moment I came back to that show I could see it was in disarray. It just seemed to be really schizophrenic. Nobody had a real vision or thru-line as to what was happening with the stories and the characters. The show was all over the place. So I knew from the get-go that we might not last. Mary Beth and I had a talk about that right at the beginning. We were like, “We better not get too comfortable here. This could end at any moment.” That’s how crazy things were. Plus, with the economy and the budget being cut, it didn’t look good. Ed Scott came into the picture [as executive producer] and morale went up and all the actors were happy, but then there was another [executive producer] change. It was all about politics and personalities and dollars and cents. They fired four expensive people and that’s the reality. I did not take it personally one bit.”

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ricky

i used to watch y&r because of nick and phyllis..however, since MAB destroyed what they had and the wonderful character of phyllis played by the best actress in daytime, Michelle Stafford it has been hard to watch. I adore Stephen Nichols and have for over 20 years. From Days to GH and back to Days, he has and always will be my favorite. How about MAB be smart this time and pair the great Michelle Stafford with the great Stephen Nichols. What a dynamic duo they would make, sexy, naughty and smart.!

General Hospital

GH’s Maurice Benard Launches ‘State of Mind’ Website

October 13, 2019

Over the weekend, General Hospital’s Maurice Benard (Sonny Coinrthos) had been teasing on social media that he was about to debut on Sunday. Well, it’s here! Benard has launched his brand new website, MB’s State of Mind (www.mbstateofmind.com).

On the site homepage is Benard’s mission statement. The two-time Daytime Emmy-winner expressed: “State of Mind to me means being 100% present, feeling completely at peace inside of you, not letting your thoughts control your life and always looking for ways to be the best that you can be.”

The new site features merchandise including:’State of Mind” t-shirts in various colors, as well as way to pre-order Maurice’s upcoming memoir, Nothing General About it. In addition, Benard shares his “Sunday Sessions” in a special section, as well as his upcoming tour dates, with more content to come.

Maurice released a video talking about how ‘State of Mind’ came to him one night following an anxiety attack.

As many know, Benard is a mental health advocate having been very open about his own struggles with mental illness over the years, and how he wants to continue to dispel the stigma of those who battle with it.

The new site offers links to three organizations close to Maurice: Nami (National Alliance of Mental Health), Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, and the International Bipolar Foundation.

Maurice released a video talking about how ‘State of Mind’ came to him one night following an anxiety attack. Watch it below.

GH's Maurice Benard Memoir Available Now For Pre-Order

Make sure to check out Benard’s new site, and let us know if you might be picking up one of the “State of Mind” shirts for yourself via the comment section below.

Days Of Our Lives

EP Ken Corday Shares Favorite All-Time DAYS Storyline Is Marlena’s Possession

October 13, 2019

While in Australia, Ken Corday, the executive producer of Days of our Lives, sat down for an interviews segment on 9Now’s Today Extra to talk about the rich history and enduring success of the long-running NBC daytime drama series, which is about to celebrate yet another anniversary in just a few short weeks on November 8th.

During the conversation, Ken was asked about his all-time favorite storyline, or if he had a frontrunner within the wealth of twist, turns, romances, adventure, and drama that has been part of the town of Salem for over five and a half decades. Corday expressed that he did have a frontrunner … and that is was Marlena being possessed by the devil from the mid-90’s.

Photo: TodayExtra9

Ken told the Today Extra hosts: ‘When we took Deidre Hall, the lovely Marlena Evans, and had her possessed by the devil. It was right out of The Exorcist!’

The EP also admitted at first he was reticent to tell the story: “I first said, ‘No, you’re mad this will never work!’ But we did it for a few weeks, and the story was meant to play out and then end at Christmas, but it ended up going on until Easter.”

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That plot came from the mind of the late soap scribe, James Reilly, and had gone through many twists from when John Black (Drake Hogestyn) was a priest in one of that character’s many incarnations, and at the time, it was John who has to perform that exorcism on the woman he loved, after Stefano (the late Joe Mascolo) left Marlena vulnerable for demonic forces to enter her body.

There was the bed levitating, the yellow eyes, and more, along with Deidre Hall’s great performance, that made this one of the more spectacular soap opera tales ever told on daytime. In fact, over the weekend, Hall commented on Corday’s choice tweeting: “Couldn’t have said it better myself!!”

So, would you vote for Marlena’s possession as your top all-time Days story .. or do you have another pick that you think ranks at the top? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below.

Dynasty

DYNASTY Ups Four To Series Regulars As Season Three Kicks-Off

October 11, 2019

Just in time for the start of the new season of CWs deliciously wicked soap reboot of Dynasty! News on Friday has that four members of the cast have been upped to series regular, meaning they will be pivotal in story and see a lot more screen time.

According to Deadline: the third actress to play Cristal Jennings, Daniella Alonso, who debuts tonight in the season three opener has been made series regular. Along with the previously recurring: Michael Michele (Dominique Devereaux), Sam Underwood (Adam Carrington) and Adam Huber (Liam), who have now been upped to major cast status.

Additionally, Elizabeth Gillies (Fallon) seemed to have taken over the the role of Alexis from Nicollette Sheridan. Is this going to be a doppelgänger story, or not? Time will tell.

The new season gets underway with new showrunner Josh Reims, and Sallie Patrick staying on as an executive producer.

CW’s Dynasty is a modernized reboot of the 1980s primetime soap of the same name, the series follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children.

Glad to hear Sam, Adam, Michael and Daniella are series regulars for season three? Watch what happens tonight beginning at 9PMEST on the CW.

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