Soap Rumors: Past and Present

[soapfan770]

Remember the Eileen Davidson is a man rumor?

It seems to me that while most soap rumors might have a grain of truth to them, the rest is based on either misinterpretation, speculation, or complete fabrication. Or TPTB saying one thing and then eventually not doing it, like Brad Bell and even story he raves about only not to do it or JER's dropped stories.

[Soapsuds]

ATWT ratings went way up during the Barbara storyline. It reached a high of 3.9 rating. Once that story was over the show's ratings went down.

[Toups]

Oh God, not another rumour thread! Is it that time of year again? There's always one every year. LOL If we can keep the rumours about storylines or behind-the-scenes stuff, and not get into people's personal lives, this thread could stay open. If not, it's gonna close like every other rumour thread.

[Soapsuds]

Party Pooper!!

Actually I agree. These threads pop up to often and it's always about the same rumors which has been discussed to death in other threads.

[Paul Raven]

Billy Warlock got his job on Days as a condition of then wife Marcy Walker re-signing with Santa Barbara.

Same with Michael E Knight.Cat Hickland got her Loving gig as a result of hubby re-signing with AMC.

[quartermainefan]

if you want a current wiki rumor, that site claims Dark Shadows will star Johnny Depp, Angela Lansbury, Alec Baldwin and Sigourney Weaver.

[EricMontreal22]

AWWW I'd KILL to have Lansbury, one of my fave actresses of all time (man I wish I could fly to New York to see her in Night Music) in Dark Shadows. In her recent TCM profile she says she's been pleased with her stage legacy (as she should be--to have stared in the original casts of Anyone Can Whistle, Mame and Sweeney Todd alone is astouding especially for the variety and quality of her performances in those) but less so her recent film legacy and would love one last real showy role. I wonder if DS could provide that?

There was muc talk about AMC and OLTL being combined around thetime of the big baby crossover. I frankly never bought it, and think it just came from people confused about the crossover, but...

[Paul Raven]

re Angela-saw her in Blithe Spirit on Broadway with Rupert Everett and Christine Ebersole (ex RH OLTL & Peter Bergman's ex)and she was amazing!

[JackPeyton]

Well, Depp is involved with a possible Dark Shadows movie. But nothing id confirmed. Last i read they had people rewriting a script afterit was put on hold for Alice in Wonderland.

[quartermainefan]

http://scifiwire.com/2009/12/confirmed-johnny-depps-da.php

No idea if that means it will actually happen, but there seems to be a timeline at least.

[teplin]

I remember a rumor that JER's original storyline for the SSK story was heavy on witchcraft and satanism – supposedly, Stephano had sold his soul to the devil. Corday panicked over the fan reaction to beloved charcters' deaths, and he pressured the network to make JER changes the story. I can certainly believe it, based on the muddled mess that appeared on screen. I'm not a huge fan of JER's work, but he's a lot better than that story turned out to be -- at the time, I thought he was so angry that he didn't get his way that he was deliberately trying to sabotage the soap, the denouement and follow-up were so unbelievably bad. Anybody know the truth?

[JackPeyton]

I doubt it. The storyline wasnt a mess until the ratings went up and the show freaked that they had killed 8 characters and they made changed. Those changed were forced upon him, but that story just highlighted how truley weak his storytelling had become since he left the first time.

[Mitch]

Marland brought the show to number one several times during his tenure. Sheffer never. I liked Sheffer's first year, but after that it all fell apart (didnt he have a coheadwriter the first year.) He did nothing to "revolutionize," the show..he just tightened things up for the first year, then after that blah. I think the soap world, was just so impressed that he came from "Hollywood," (though he was not too successful there either) they give him more credit then he deserves.

[Khan]

Frankly, Hogan Sheffer's first year at ATWT was so good, because his predecessor, Leah Laiman, was so bad. You could've hired Sheri Anderson, Maggie DePriest and Thom Racina to replace that girl, and the show still would have improved.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

LOL! too true, Leah Laiman is right up there with McTavish as one of daytime's biggest recycled hacks. But unlike McTavish, she's never shown the occasional sign of knowing what she's actually doing.