Ron Raines (Guiding Light) Performs With the Sunshine Pops

If you're going to be in the South Florida area, the following might interest you:

Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding, GL) will appear in four separate 8:00 PM performances with the Sunshine Pops.

March 12th and 14th at the Eissey Campus Theater in Palm Beach Gardens
Tickets: 561-278-7677
March 11th at Florida Atlantic University
Tickets: 800-564-9539
March 15th at the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale
Tickets: 954-462-0222

Y&R and ATWT Crossover Characters

A crossover of CBS's The Young and the Restless and As the World Turns will result in a new Web series, L.A. Diaries, which will begin streaming today, Thursday, Feb. 22 on cbs.com's innertube. Nine webisodes of the series will feature the backstory and friendship between Y&R's Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz) and Alison Stewart (Marnie Schulenburg), a new character on ATWT.

Schulenburg will be introduced to the audience on the Thursday, Feb. 22 episode of Y&R when Amber seeks out her old friend Alison for help with an important problem. The same day, L.A. Diaries will begin telling the story of Alison and Amber's friendship and the saga of how they came to be living where they are today. Alison will make her debut on ATWT on Wednesday, March 21.

"We are so excited to have this opportunity to introduce a character from ATWT on Y&R, and to enable the audience to see their history through the webisodes of L.A. Diaries," said Barbara Bloom, Sr. Vice President, Daytime Programs, CBS. "It's a wonderful chance for the fans of both shows to tune in and see some backstory on the characters, which is something we don't often get to do in daytime."

POLL: Daytime's Meanest of the Mean

You can't have a good soap opera without an evil villain. Tell me who you think is soap land's meanest of the mean -- past and present. Some villains have reformed, or have gone a little soft with time, but I want to know who you think was the meanest when he/she was in his/her villain prime!

Poll Script from CWT

Alison Sweeney Tapped to Host "The Biggest Loser"

Caroline Rhea is out, one of daytime's biggest troublemakers is in. NBC has hired Alison Sweeney (Sami, Days of Our Lives) to be the host for the next installment of The Biggest Loser. Sweeney, who admittedly has struggled with her own weight in the past, will be pulling double-duty for NBC this fall.

I'm very excited for Alison to receive this chance to spread her hosting wings. As anyone will tell you, she is just the sweetest thing in real life, so contestants won't have to worry that "Sami" might emerge and freak out on them while they are working out on the treadmill or something. I watched the first season of Loser, but lost interest in the next two. Now, I'll be sure to tune in to Season 4 and see Ms. Sweeney in action!

Former "GL" and "90210" Star in Next "Dancing With the Stars"

Woo hoo! The new cast for ABC's hit show Dancing With the Stars has been announced, and I am especially excited to hear about one competitor in particular: Ian Ziering.

Most people remember him as Steve Sanders from Beverly Hills, 90210, but you might also remember him (and love him, as I do) as Cameron Stewart from Guiding Light. I've been watching Season 1 of 90210 on DVD as of late, so to see Ian on a new show just makes my day. I had been feeling bad for him lately, because he basically fell off the face of the planet after 90210 ended.

I'm glad to see he's back and has on his dancing shoes.

VOTE FOR IAN!

Cady McClain Speaks Out

On her official Web site, Cady McClain (ex-Dixie, AMC) speaks out on her character's death, and the rumors that are swirling around her exit from AMC. Here is a snippet of her blog entry:

What happened EXACTLY when I was fired? (And let’s not mistake the fact that that is indeed what happened.)

I was told the following:

We know you haven’t been happy this year. (True, but I was making the adjustment, as I thought we all would.) We know you and Mike have had some tough times. (True, but we have been through worse, and ANYBODY who TRULY KNOWS US, knows I would be there for Mike in a goddamn second on a goddamn dime.)

Megan feels that everything that can be written for Tad and Dixie has been. It’s all been done before. (I thought, well, this may be true, but isn’t that a little … uncreative? Why ask someone to come back if you can’t think of anything to write for them?)

It is a mutual decision of Brian, Julie and Megan. I was told they all agreed on this decision.

She told me how nice I had been looking lately.

She told me she was very sorry.

I told her, well, I guess it’s for the best, I can audition again, and focus on my music, and I was really unhappy with what I felt was a lost morality on the show, but it was a BIG surprise that they would really KILL Dixie, and that I feel bad for the fans. What about all the Kate build-up? Where’s the happy ending?

I was told how the story would play out.

Look, it’s not my show. I really am only the actor. I don’t think they will ever bring me back, especially if they have removed the Dixie CHARACTER bio from the Web site. It’s over. It’s all done. AMC is going to become something totally different than it once was. It will be all new, all different. Why? I can only conjecture.

All this comes as a shock and a shame to me. I spoke with Cady last summer and she was so excited about Dixie's return and the possibilities involved. And now, it seems, AMC has let it all slip away. Whichever soap (if that is her chosen path) picks her up will benefit from AMC's mistake.

As the World Turns, are you listening? Rosanna Cabot is due for a return!

SPOILERS! Week of Feb. 19th

AMC: Zach's father, Alexander, has a surprise waiting for his son.
ATWT: Craig and Meg take their relationship in a new direction.
B&B: Nick and Taylor admit their feelings for their exes. Will they turn to each other for comfort?
Days: Celeste confronts Sami about her secret.
GH: Lulu suspects Scotty is hiding something about Rick Webber's murder.
GL: After his gun is missing, Josh fears Cassie went too far.
OLTL: A drunken Cristian uses Blair to get revenge.
Passions: Jessica is spooked by a "man-woman." Could this be Fancy's attacker?
Y&R: Amber enlists a friend to help her trick Cane into marriage.