Sylph

Coronation Street actress Maggie Jones, who played the acerbic Blanche Hunt, has died at the age of 75.

The actress, who first brought bold Blanche to the screen in the 1970s, died at the Salford Royal Hospital this morning following a long illness.

She had been making a slow recovery, after falling ill and pulling out of filming in October, but her condition deteriorated early this morning and she passed away in her sleep.

William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on the ITV1 soap, was among the many who paid tribute to the veteran actress today.

“Maggie was a big part of the Barlow family and a brilliant actress. She was a tower of strength, physically frail but mentally strong as an ox and sharp as someone half her age,” he said.

“She had an amazing dry wit and was as funny if not funnier than Blanche. We were great crossword partners, we sat through Tracy’s trial scenes doing the crossword together.

“I don’t think Maggie ever realised how much she was loved not only by everyone on the show but by the millions of Blanche fans out there. She will be greatly missed.”

Her agent Katie Threlfall also remembered the actress today: “Maggie was a rare treasure; incredibly kind, honest and loved by so many. It has been such a privilege to work with her, and we will miss her dearly.”

Jones was written out of Coronation Street in October after falling ill and undergoing major surgery, but, due to the delay between filming and screening, has appeared on the show until recently.

First recruited in 1974 to play Deirdre Barlow’s straight-talking mother, she appeared occasionally over the years until becoming a full-time face on the soap in 1999.

Blanche was well-loved for her barbed comments, including the unforgettable line delivered to Deirdre: “You need to learn to enjoy other people’s misfortune; otherwise you’re going to have a very unhappy old age”.

In total Jones acted in 830 episodes, winning several awards for the role, including Best Comedy Performance gong at the British Soap Awards in 2005 and 2008.

Funeral arrangements have yet to be made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF5Q1jr28PM

Bradley Branning set for sensational EastEnders exit

Exclusive by Nicola Methven 13/11/2009

EastEnders star Charlie Clements, who plays loser in love Bradley Branning, has quit the soap.

The actor will leave in a sensational storyline to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary in February.

Bosses have promised that his exit will be one of the most memorable.

Before he leaves fans will be thrilled to hear that he briefly gets back together with ex-wife Stacey Slater.

Actor Charlie, 22, said last night: "I have been at EastEnders for nearly four years and I have enjoyed every minute with some fantastic storylines. But I feel that now is the time to take on some new roles."

Ginger Bradley's top plot came when his marriage to Stacey, played by Lacey Turner, was ruined by her affair with his dad Max.

Since then Stacey has battled with her bi-polar disorder, while Bradley has emigrated to Canada with new girlfriend Syd.

However, his new life abroad is short-lived. Last night an insider revealed: "Bradley's emigration only lasts for six weeks before he gets called back to Albert Square early next month because of a family crisis.

"It isn't long before he realises he still has feelings for Stacey and doesn't know what to do."

EastEnders boss Diederick Santer said: "Viewers will miss Charlie hugely and I can promise a big exit. I know he'll go on to great things."

This is a photo of him:

I'm enjoying Emmerdale, although it's far from flawless.

I love it how Carl props Emmerdale every time he gets the chance. Y&RWorldTurn must scream every time he reads something like this.

I love Emmerdale in all its awfulness, that's why I love seeing a little promotion.

Finally!

Seth Myers Sunday routine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/nyregion/22routine.html?ref=television

From DigitalSpy:

Peggy Mitchell 'will not be killed off'

Barbara Windsor's EastEnders character Peggy Mitchell will reportedly not be killed off when she leaves the soap.

The 72-year-old actress recently announced that she is to quit the show in order to spend more time with husband Scott Mitchell.

She is, however, apparently keen to reprise the role in 2012, The Sun claims.

A source told the newspaper: "Barbara has such a fondness for Peggy that she genuinely wants to play her again.

"She doesn't want the character killed off. Producers understand that."

The source went on to say that Windsor may return full-time, but is more likely to come back for "special storylines".

From Hollywood Reporter:

Its characters may feel like a bunch of unloved high-school misfits, but the quirky musical TV comedy "Glee" is putting smiles on the faces of music industry executives searching for new revenue in an era of plunging album sales.

Two months into the 2009-10 TV season, "Glee" is drawing a weekly audience of 8.6 million viewers to the Fox television network. Fans have bought more than two million tunes sung by the show's cast on iTunes, and soundtracks are being compiled and sold in traditional stores.

Revenues are being split among Fox and the record company, and artists and music publishers are being paid licensing fees for songs "Glee" uses in musical numbers in each episode.

"Record labels have been desperate for new revenue," said Steve Knopper, contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine. "They are trying to figure out any way to make money and one pretty reliable way is to sync up with a hot TV show."

That's exactly what Sony Music Entertainment's Columbia Records did last January when the Fox network shopped a pilot of "Glee" to record labels months before it aired.

Columbia won the deal to partner with News Corp's Fox on the release of all "Glee" music on Apple Corp's iTunes, as well as on traditional soundtrack albums.

Columbia also has broad "360" deals -- all-encompassing agreements -- with the previously unknown actors playing the "Glee" kids. The deals cover first rights to recording contracts, and a percentage of earnings from concert revenue, endorsements, merchandising and ringtones.

TV show to pop culture icon

The first "Glee" soundtrack was released last week, a second is due out on Dec. 8, and discussions are underway for a national cast tour and several more albums.

Neither Fox nor Columbia would give disclose financial details. But Glen Brunman, soundtrack consultant at Columbia, said: "We are hopefully going to make history together."

"We felt (in January) that it wasn't just a TV show but that it had the potential to be a pop culture icon," Brunman told Reuters. "It is unique and it is an approach with a TV show that hasn't existed in the past."

Digital downloads are released each week of "Glee" cover versions before the show is broadcast, allowing Columbia to capitalize on the appetite of fans to buy immediately.

In a sign of just how popular some of the tunes have become, the "Glee" cast's rendition of the 1981 Journey song "Don't Stop Believin'" was certified gold last week after more than 500,000 digital sales.

Rihanna's "Take a Bow" single saw a 189 pct sales increase after it was covered on "Glee". Now Madonna, eager to get in on the act, has offered her catalog for an upcoming episode.

Knopper said industry economics are such that the revenue from TV partnerships "is pretty much a drop in the bucket" in the multi-billion dollar record business.

Still, the music industry has fallen on hard times. Album sales are off 40% over the last 10 years, and in 2009 U.S. revenue is down 13% at $287.6 million.

Leonard Richardson, vice president of music at the CW network, said that in an era of piracy and changing consumer habits, the music industry is now fighting for every dollar.

"TV has basically become the new radio. It is about exposure and making an impression," Richardson said.

The CW, whose programs are aimed mostly at 18-34 year-old females, also cuts deals with record labels to promote music in tune with its shows' audience.

"Record labels are very aggressive these days in letting us know what they have coming," said Richardson. The CW gets a reduced rate on music licensing in return for showing ads on screen for songs featured in dramas like "Gossip Girl."

"Our demographic is watching TV. They are on their computers and they are on their cellphones. So with the ad cards, they can go immediately to CWTV.com and purchase the song right then and there," said Richardson.

The music deals build on a trail blazed by RCA -- also part of Sony Music Entertainment -- with Fox TV show "American Idol," which has produced multi-platinum recording stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

"That (deal) has been incredibly lucrative for them and in a barren time has provided them with some of the most reliable superstars," said Knopper. "If Columbia can tap into 'Glee' the way RCA did with 'American Idol', they are going to see a pretty big bright spot."

For heaven's sake, Sylph... what is that? Is that what dance music is like now? It's better than many things I heard last time I went to the bars. Whoever invented Trance should be shot. Goodness, I feel like a dinosaur. My idea of dance music is this:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=6J9iSpA9QTs

That is Lady Gaga Dance in the Dark. I just posted it because I was checking it out, which is what I often do in this thread, not really because I like it all that much.

If you don't know who she is, look up for Just Dance and Poker Face on YouTube. Then report here.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCJg1d0VdGo

God she's so right!

Yup.

I mean, I always hated the show. But no argument there - she is spot on!

Sara Bibel wrote about the show - Diagnosing ‘Grey’s Anatomy’s’ Ailing Symptoms.

So how is this new guy doing after the Anita Lethal? Gavin Blyth or what's his name?

<p><span style="font-size:19.5pt;"><font face="Verdana">In Profile: Diederick Santer</font></span>

<span style="font-size:7.5pt;"><b><font face="Tahoma">Written by John Mason</font></b></span>

<span style="font-size:9pt;"><font face="Verdana">Following the news that EastEnders Executive Producer Diederick Santer is to step down from the role in the new year and hand over the EastEnders reins to former Hollyoaks supremo Bryan Kirkwood, ATV News takes an in profile look at the man who has been responsible for some of EastEnders most successful and controversial storylines...

Early Career

Diederick became EastEnders head honcho in October 2006 but what did the man do before he took over one of Britain's top television series? Diederick Santer graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Psychology and the History of Philosophy of Science.

His TV Career began ten years prior to his EastEnders appointment in 1996 when he became a freelance script reader for United Productions. After that he took up the role of Script Editor on the first two series of hit ITV drama Where The Heart Is. Following this Diederick moved to Granada where he continued to script-edit working on series such as A&E and The Last Train.

Joining The BBC

He joined BBC Drama production at the turn of the century where he produced the first three series of hit hairdressing drama Cutting It. He continued his producing career at the BBC by producing The Taming Of The Shrew and the Bafta-nominated Much Ado About Nothing for BBC One. In 2006 his lavish production of Jane Eyre proved a hit with critics and viewers alike.

In October 2006, Diederick became Executive Producer of EastEnders and gained a place on the board of BBC Drama Production. His first credited EastEnders episode was 5th January 2007.

EastEnders

Taking over the BBC's biggest show must surely be a daunting task but Diederick is one man who rose to the challenge. Shortly after he joined the soap casting was announced on two new Asian characters who would later form part of a full Asian family. The Masood family have been one of the most successful additions to EastEnders with fans warming to the popular clan consisting of matriarch Zainab (Nina Wadia), father Masood (Nitin Ganatra), daughter Shabnam (Zahra Ahmadi) and son Tamwar (Himesh Patel). Although Ahmadi later quit the series the family were joined by estranged son Syed (Marc Elliott) in 2009. Two other hugely popular characters Diederick Santer introduced to EastEnders are sisters Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell played by Samantha Janus and Rita Simons. A huge marketing campaign saw that their arrival was a hit with viewers and since then the pair have continued to remain popular with viewers and subsequently have remained right at the heart of the programme.

Not only has Diederick Santer introduced a string of highly successful new characters to the soap he has also revived several past ones securing the returns of hugely popular characters including Ricky and Janine Butcher and Bianca Jackson. From the new year they will be joined by other members of the Jackson clan Carol, Robbie, Sonia and Billy. He has also been responsible for the short term returns of Steven Beale, Clare Bates, Diane Butcher and Sam Mitchell. With the reintroduction of Sam Mitchell earlier this year the role was returned to the original actress Danniella Westbrook.

Throughout 2007 and 2008, the show began to have an increasing focus on the popular Branning family. Max and Tanya's turbulent relationship gripped the nation with storylines focusing on affairs, rivalry and even attempted murder more than once. Max's affair with daughter in law Stacey was one of the show's longest running storylines which built momentum over a full year. When the affair was finally revealed during the Christmas 2007 episode EastEnders was the most watched TV programme that year with over 14 million viewers tuning in for the fallout.

Under Diederick Santer EastEnders has remained dominant when it comes to Soap Awards picking up gongs on a regular basis. The show was named Best British Soap at the 2008 and 2009 British Soap Awards and Most Popular Soap at the National Television Awards in 2007 and 2008. Other awards include two TRIC awards for TV Soap Of The Year in 2008 and 2009 and Best British Soap at the Inside Soap Awards in 2008 and 2009. The show has also maintained healthy viewing figures gaining on ITV soap Coronation Street which had been clearly dominant in the ratings for several years prior to this.

Other storylines and episodes Diederick Santer's reign at EastEnders will remain notable for include soap's first single hander episode starring EastEnders veteran Dot Branning (June Brown) reflecting on her past and the future, a storyline featuring Ben Mitchell being tormented by his dad's new girlfriend Stella, a pedophilia storyline with the characters of Tony King and Whitney Dean, a violent attack on the Vic in 2007 and the story of Ronnie Mitchell's long lost daughter coming to Walford to find her mother and later being killed off. Additionally, Diederick also introduced a set of new opening and closing titles to the programme, initiated a production shuffle behind the scenes of the soap, produced EastEnders first real time episode, and introduced the show's first disabled character Adam Best (David Proud).

Although Santer's reign over EastEnders has been a successful one with a string of popular storylines the show has not been without controversy. Two stabbings, a gay kiss, tackling the taboo subject of pedophilia, a storyline involving a threatened home caesarian on one character and the death of character Danielle have all met with some controversy and a number of viewer complaints.

Diederick will leave his EastEnders post on February 20th following the show's 25th anniversary.

</font></span>

<span style="font-size:7.5pt;"><b><font face="Tahoma">http://www.atvnewsnetwork.co.uk/today/index.php/atv-today/1671-in-profile-diederick-santer-</font></b></span></p>

Someone at The Mirror invented it.

Based on reading some comment on some soap message board how Kirkwood's HO had humour. Or something.

That's always been a part of EE. Even now they do dark stories, they just end up skirting the surface, which I think leaves an empty feeling.

If they're going to do them I think they should get the most possible mileage out of them. It doesn't have to be like what Kirkwood did at Hollyoaks, with the long, depressing Niall storyline, or the Osborne debt story, but there's a way to make people feel moved, instead of just hoping they'll forget.

That might be true, but every time EastEnders went dark, they were simply - an awful soap. Every dark tale had tonnes of criticism and generally the viewership decreased.

I do think there is more room for some darkness.

Who wants darkness?

I agree with Diederick's summary of Bryan Kirkwood. He does have a brilliant storylining mind - the two have that in common I believe. This is a good move, Santer is leaving at the top of his game not leaving opportunity to get slack and Bryan is the perfect choice to carry on that good work.

At Hollyoaks, he had a mammoth task of turning the show on it's head, and he did so with style. He looked at every aspect of the show, quickly rid us of the deadwood, introduced several well thought-out characters, and set up some incredible storylines, three of which lasted a full year before all reaching their brilliant dramatic conclusions.

I'm interested to see how he'll make his mark on EastEnders seeing as it's in it's best shape in years.

I couldn't agree more. BK understands storytelling and how to let things grow slowly then peak at the right times. He's got an instinct for what makes soaps work - there's no doubt he transformed HO and made it newsworthy and critically praised.

I'm sure I read somewhere ages ago that he's a big fan of Eastenders so he will know the history and know what makes Eastenders Eastenders. I think it's unlikely he'll bring in any ex-HO actors - he knows he'll get stick if he does. There's already a very large and strong cast at EE and a well oiled production team behind the scenes. It's a very different situation from when he took over HO. So I wouldn't expect any huge changes, no mass culls, just strong storytelling with maybe a bit more character based humour thrown in.

Santer is talented, but I don't think that he was exactly suitable for overseeing a serial and serialized storytelling on a day by day basis.

As someone said that was, partly, because he was too preoccupied with creating media buzz all the time instead on focusing on all the beats of the story.

Santer was both brilliant at times and brilliant awful.

It will be interesting to see Kirkwood write for the older, non-teen characters and generally see how he does at a "mature soap". I expect him to sack Dominic Treadwell-Collins, but then again - who knows...

I like this pic of Santer:

All I have to say is that I hope he can make the show a bit better than it is right now.

What is missing now, in your opinion?

Kirkwood? Really? He loves gay characters but he may not get to do that on EE. He also loves darkness, and loud women, so that will be a good fit for EE. He was a mixed bad at Hollyoaks, but his first two years were solid.

LOL at some comments on DS!

People are talking about how he'll make EE "teeny", add "pointless cheesy montages" as episode openings, "Gemma Bissix must be wetting herself with excitement", "Hollyoaks has become a joke again since he left", "I think those expecting him to turn EastEnders into Hollyoaks 2.0 or something are being a bit dense", "Going from Hollyoaks to Eastenders you have to wonder who he slept with..." (one answer: "Dominic Treadwell-Collins ")...

just get a campaign going for a character/story that ended/left a year ago and he'll bring them back even if it doesn't make sense shame he let his ego get in the way in his last few months with HO because he did make it into a watchable show", "His work at Hollyoaks was appropriate for the demographic it's intended to appeal to. Let's not forget that this man worked extensively at Corrie before he moved to Hollyoaks and was heavily involved in the Hillman storyline. In fact I always thought he'd end up producing Corrie so this move is quite unexpected.

It's certainly the right time for Santer to step down as I think he's done all he could do now and it's always wise to inject fresh blood into the show every so often. And I'm very confident that Bryan will be able to take EE into a fresh and exciting new direction. I have a great feeling about this appointment.

And more:

Not exactly thrilled by this news, Bryan Kirkwood did some great stuff with Hollyoaks but it soon turned sour and 2008 was overall quite a weak year for the soap and things just deteriorated in his final few months there.

I'm not sure what to think, I can only judge him on what he's done at Hollyoaks and that doesn't fill me much confidence despite the good work he did there in his first few years.

Well if we're going for all the Kirkwood HO cliches then which five characters do we expect to be killed off when the Vic explodes?

He certainly won't be able to kill any characters he feels like off. Channel 4 gave him a lot of freedom because the show couldn't get any worse than it was but EastEnders is doing quite well. The BBC will just be looking for a smooth transition between the two producers and more of the same really. Subtle changes perhaps but nothing as drastic as the changes to Hollyoaks, that's for sure.

I think this is great news. I loved Kirkwood's reign at Hollyoaks. He got the audience, told teen stories but also created great plots anyone could enjoy - and not at the expense of characterisation. He won't make EastEnders teenage - he knows better than that.

Saying all that, I don't watch EE at the moment unless it happens to be on in the background (or if I'm catching up on Chryed clips on youtube), and I'm not sure Kirkwood turning up will persuade me to go over to it fulltime. But I might! HO certainly hasn't been the same since he's gone, so I have a vacancy for a soap.

Oh, that should be fun.

Of course it's old, but I've still come across people who don't realize it.

It would go against my point, that's what. Which is, that fans and critics are too different kinds of critic; at times, what is critically acclaimed, isn't necessarily fan acclaimed.

Sometimes. Sometimes not.