Web Series Review - What If?, Part 2

Maybe I'm just being nitpicky, but now the trapped-in-an-elevator and sitting-next-to-each-other-on-an-airplane scenarios are getting kind of tedious. I know the soaps are short of time and money, but couldn't they have dug out a few other sets just for variety? How about being stuck in the Port Charles Hospital waiting room? Or meeting at a party at Llanfair? Just something a little different!

Jason Morgan (GH)/ Greenlee Smythe (AMC) - My least favorite episode so far. God, could Greenlee have been any more annoying? If I had written it, I would have had Jason take her out (and I mean mob-style) right there on the plane! I think it was supposed to be funny.

Jesse and Angie Hubbard (AMC) / Starr Manning (OLTL) - Angie and Jesse rock with their mix of marital angst and humor. They totally steal the episode from Starr, who was just sort of there.

Dante Falconeri (GH) / Tess Buchanan (OLTL) - Disappointing. For one thing, Dante is not the type of character who does one night stands. We saw that when Claudia tried to seduce him a while back. Also, he tends to go for the damsels in distress; so I would think Jessica would be more his type than Tess.

Luke Spencer (GH) / Viki Banks (OLTL) - (pictured above) - One of the episodes I was really looking forward to, starring two soap actor legends. The thing is I wanted a little less conversation and a little more action. Basically, this was just a recap of character history. I'm assuming most of the people interested in the "What If" series already have a fairly good knowledge of the ABC soap characters.

Soap Round-Up 8/2 to 8/6

SOAP OF THE WEEK - THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. I loved the Glowworm Opening. This reminded me of soaps in the 80s -- giving an excuse for all the characters to dress to the nines and snark at each other.

Winner Moments: Fun to see the Newman girls go wild at the club opening while Ashley looked drop dead gorgeous. Lauren and Jill are fun adversaries when they don't go over the top in the graveyard. Great to see the "old" Phyllis back! Last but not least, the surprise Adam/Sharon kiss. Yes, he's a rat who swapped her baby and all that...but there was a hawtness factor with this kiss. Or maybe I've just missed having Michael Muhney around. I'm pretty much ready for Phyllis and Sharon to ditch Nick for good for the bad boys Deacon and Adam.

Loser moments: Not too long ago, Paul was kissing Lauren when she was high on the weird pills. Now he's kissing Cricket just for old times sake. And yet he's the first one to give someone a morality lecture when he gets on his high horse! If Jana wants to get her man back, she needs to stop wearing ridiculous outfits at parties. I'm ready for Mac to do a good deed in Africa or Ethiopia, somewhere far from Genoa City!

SOAP ACTORS OF THE WEEK: Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, Y&R) tied with Florencia Lozeno (Tea, OLTL). I couldn't decide which actress was better. They both rocked it!

ALL MY CHILDREN

Winner: Angie's week to shine with the blindness vs. pregancy storyline

Loser: Marissa going along with getting pregnant, doing anything for that loser JR.

AS THE WORLD TURNS

Winner: Henry just looks really funny in drag.

Loser: Wouldn't it have been cooler for Barbara to have been kidnapped by James Stenbeck rather than Iris?

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

Winner: Susan Flannery for actually having all these scenes about this monotonous Hope/Oliver/Brooke nonsense and making think that "Stephanie" cares about any of this garbage.

Best Line: Nick to Jackie: "Mother, I don't want to shame you. I just want to make sure your reality checks don't bounce!"

Losers: Where do I start? Poor Brandon Beemer having to endure the gray statue body paint? Bridget whining incessantly? Hope trying to forget Oliver's accidental escapade with Brooke by recreating the event? And if I had a dollar for everything I have to hear that stupid "motion...motion..." song again!

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Winners: The EJ/Sami proposal was sweet for as long as it lasted. Brady Black is being a badass and I like it! Better than seeing him be the constant pushover; and he is way hotter with Nicole than Arianna. Great to see Doug and Julie again in a real scene.

Losers: Was it really necessary for the "Chloe behind the screen" scene to go on for three episodes? Is NightTime Hope almost at an end? Why is she going to jail instead of going to a mental facility?

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Winners: Carly ran the show this week with her manipulations to bring Dante down! Robin just had to say she got an email from Brenda...and Sonny's like "Claire who?"

Best line: Helena: "I'll be having a massage...with benefits."

Loser: This whole "Mom of Franco" thing doesn't do it for me.

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

Winners: Todd and Tea owned it with the wedding, the confusion of Todd with the different face (Roger Howarth fans all over the world were freaking out!) and the heartbreaking scene of Tea deciding to go into hospice. Evil Eli making Hannah overdose was pretty fun and creepy.

Best Line: Jack to Blair about Eli: "Wake up and smell the carnage, Ma! The dude is a killer!"

Losers: Were all the little fantasy scenarios of Natalie's pregnancy really necessary? I'm not a fan of two main characters getting pregnant at the same time. I'm still scarred by the DAYS baby switch stuff with Sami and Nicole.

Maura West going to Y&R

As reported by TV Guide, Maura West is headed to Y&R as Diane Jenkins on October 8th.

THE BAY Teaser

Click here to see THE BAY Teaser clip. I especially liked Camden Toy (pictured above) at the end. He creeps me out!!!

Carl Gordon 1932-2010

Actor Carl Gordon died on July 20 at the age of 78. He was battling non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He may be most remembered for his role as Andrew Emerson on the 1990's Fox show ROC, but also appeared in numerous other primetime shows, theather and films. He received his degree from Brooklyn College. He was part of the original ELECTRIC COMPANY.

Gordon also played roles on daytime including Ward Griffin on AS THE WORLD TURNS and Fred Wayne on ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Alston-Gordon, five daughters and a son.

OUTTAKES with Laura Wright and Bradford Anderson

A great time was had by all on August 1st at Uncle Vinny’s Comedy Club in Staten Island with Laura Wright (Carly) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) of General Hospital. This was a cheese and wine tasting, promoting Laura’s winery (run with husband John) called Standing Sun. Plenty of pix, autographs and dish!

Here are some of the highlights of the Q&A with Laura and Bradford:

- When congratulated on his marriage, Bradford joked that half the time he didn’t know if people were talking about his new marriage of his Emmy nomination.

- Laura and Bradford loved being in Vegas for the Emmys.

- No big Disney GH event this year because it is too expensive.

- Ingo Rademacher (Jax) is actually a funny surfer dude.

- James Franco (Franco) is great to work with and always nice to the crew.

- Vanessa Marcil (Brenda) has not fully grasped all of the Brenda madness and doesn’t recall all of her storylines.

- Dahlia Salem (Claire Walsh) is great to work with.

- The Carly plot to get revenge on Dante will wrap up soon.

- Laura Wright doesn’t consider the character of Carly crazy at all, LOL.

- Loved working with Dakin Matthews (Judge Carroll) who has a ton of TV credits.

- Spinelli’s peculiar way of speaking has always been scripted that way. It was hard for Bradford to pick up at first but now it is like a second language.

- Laura loved doing the cabin scenes with Sarah Brown (Claudia).

- Lexie Ainsworth (Christine) is an “old soul” according to Bradford.

- “Maxie can take a freaking leap!” Bradford joked when asked about “Spixie”. She was so mean to Spinelli that Bradford thinks Spinelli should move on with BRENDA!!!

- Laura’s “What If” sequence with Cameron Matheson (Ryan, AMC) was supposed to involve a lot more skin and a lot less clothes, but she said no way!

- Julie Marie Berman (Lulu), Kelly Monaco (Sam) and Steve Burton (Jason) all have a tendency to crack up on the set.

- Steve Burton has really helped Chad Duell (Michael) learn the ropes around the set.

The Standing Sun Wine was excellent. My favorite was the Pinot Noir. Go to this link to find out more about it.

THE BAY Fundraiser Party

For some great pix of THE BAY fundraiser, go to Mary Beth Evans' website at this link.

A few changes coming up as announced by Lanyfilms Prod: "We've decided to go in a different direction with Charles Shaughnessy's character on our series. While he will still be playing the Captain of the police force, he will no longer be playing middle-eastern. His new character will be Englishman Captain Elliot Sanders. To play his daughter, Isabella Sanders on the series is soap opera newcomer and Shakespearean trained actress, Claire-Louise Sedgley. The English-born actress played a leading role in Gregori J. Martin's film LIGHTS OUT. We welcome Ms. Sedgley to the cast. Marie Wilson who was formerly slated to play the part, will still be part of the cast in another role. Character TBA. We apologize for any confusion but we're sure you'll be pleased with the changes!"