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UPDATED! Rumors have soap veteran on her way out
On the heels of the news that "The Bold and the Beautiful" original castmember Ronn Moss (Ridge) is leaving the show comes buzz that his onscreen mother Susan Flannery (Stephanie) will follow. With a new contact inked, Daytime Emmy fave Flannery is not leaving ... at least, not yet. SEE UPDATE BELOW!
Bing: More about "The Bold and the Beautiful" | Susan Flannery
Since "The Bold and the Beautiful" debuted in 1987, Susan Flannery has been ruling the Forrester clan with an iron fist as matriarch Stephanie, ferociously protecting her onscreen husband Eric (John McCook) and son Ridge (Ronn Moss) from the clutches of Katherine Kelly Lang's sexy Brooke. Stephanie has also battled cancer, come to terms with the abuse she received from her mother (Betty White) and once even faked a heart attack to get her way. Her tenure has nabbed her three Daytime Emmys and countless nominations. Flannery also banked an Emmy during her time on "Days of Our Lives," from 1966 until 1975.
Over the years, rumors have surfaced that Flannery is toying with retirement and while Stephanie continues to meddle in everyone's lives, her screen time has been scaled back since the Betty White storyline. Now, Soaps In Depth has reported she is ready to make her exit.
"Susan just re-upped her contract," a show rep told MSN TV. "It's our policy not to comment on the terms of actors' contracts."
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In other words, SID could be accurate in speculating that the new contract isn't for any real length of time, but is instead an extension that affords showrunner Brad Bell an opportunity to write Stephanie out gracefully. Of course, the source could also be wrong.
Even if Flannery does step away from the canvas, retirement may not be in the cards. In addition to playing the controlling matriarch on "The Bold and the Beautiful," the actress also directed episodes of the soap for a few years and directs the web soap "Venice the Series." She could continue directing or even return to her old stomping grounds, "Days of Our Lives," though the latter seems unlikely.
Lang and McCook Sticking Around
With so much talk of original castmember exits, John McCook has reportedly inked a new deal for three years and Katherine Kelly Lang isn't going anywhere, either.
"I'm very happy to tell you that I have re-signed my contract with 'The Bold and the Beautiful' for two more years," Lang said. "Brad has come up with an exciting new storyline for Brooke that I think the fans are going to love."
That story will put the focus on Brooke, rather than Ridge's disappearance.
“Ridge is a pivotal part of the show and he will be back in a matter of time... and probably not all that much time," Bell told TV Guide. "I will continue writing for the character. I'm looking at this in two phases, really. There will be a period of time without Ridge, which is where some new, interesting avenues for Brooke will come into play. But at some point it will be necessary for Ridge to return to the show. Who will be playing the role at that point remains to be seen. It could be Mr. Moss or it could be someone else.”
As Bell goes on to tease a major a new romance for Brooke, it sounds like he's giving Moss a chance to come back when the show is ready for him. But he also already has his eye on some "interesting" candidates for recasting.
While "Bold and the Beautiful" hasn't ruled out recasting one central character, it seems unlikely the show will take the same path with Stephanie if and when Flannery does end her reign, but you never know in soaps.
UPDATE: Flannery is staying put... or is she?
It seems Susan Flannery was indeed looking for an out, but "The Bold and the Beautiful" has wooed her back into the fold. Like original castmember Lang, she's got a hot new story on the way... But could that story be her exit storyline?
"Susan, for quite some time, was thinking she needed a break or just have some personal time," showrunner Brad Bell explained to Soap Opera Digest. "She's been through a lot personally; we know that she had her own battle with cancer and she’s had such an amazing career that she will continue to have as Stephanie Forrester, but I think it's not so much as a disagreement between her and the show, but more Susan figuring out where she is right now and what she needs. Now, Susan is going to have an incredible time with a new storyline that we've never seen before; something completely unique and interesting."
After the above was posted, however, TVLine sources confirmed Flannery is indeed on her way out and could be gone by the end of the year, while Ronn Moss accidentally confirmed Flannery's exit during a recent interview with EW.
Stay tuned for more on this story.
"The Bold and the Beautiful" airs weekdays on CBS.
New Season 8 trailer suggests the serial killer's sister gets chatty
Season 7 of Showtime's hit serial-killer drama, "Dexter," ended with Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) making a horrible choice. It's a choice that changed her life and the way she looked at her brother, Dexter (Michael C. Hall), forever.
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When the beloved series returns in June, for its eighth and final season, Deb's decision continues to haunt her as her life takes a downward spiral. But what will Deb do? Will she confess and turn in herself and Dexter, too? That's certainly what the show's newly released trailer suggests. Check it out:
"Dexter" Season 8 debuts Sunday, June 30, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.
Juicy conclusion and spoilers for next season dominate Twitter and the web
SPOILER ALERT: This post includes plot points from the Season 2 finale of "Scandal."
To call "Scandal" a guilty pleasure after Thursday night's delicious Season 2 finale would be a misnomer. After all, why should anyone feel guilty for watching what was arguably one of TV's most gratifying and twist-filled closers this year?
Not only did fans see mole Billy Chambers get his comeuppance but the rise and painful fall of Olivia (Kerry Washington) and Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) once again. This, after Olivia devised such an awe-inspiring divorce package for Fitz and Mellie (Bellamy Young). The bit on Mellie being labeled a racist was a thing of beauty in and of itself. But the best part was when viewers learned that Rowan (Joe Morton), the underhanded CIA-B613 boss, is none other than Olivia's dad. Whaaaaat!
This revelation and all the other juicy twists and turns -- including Quinn's (Katie Lowes) penchant for torture and Cyrus' (Jeff Perry ) heart attack and break-up abilities -- captured the attention of 9.1 million viewers. Many of these same viewers flocked to Twitter, GetGlue and the web to give voice to their shocks and delights.
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"Exhausted after the #Scandal finale," tweeted fan Mona Scott-Young. "I feel like I've been 'fixing,' drilling & went into cardiac arrest my damn self! #Wow!!" Meanwhile, Lena Dunham got in on the action, too. Not one to be excluded from a good time she tweeted, "Not leaving the house this weekend until I'm caught up on Scandal. I feel left behind & left out like the last girl to get my period."
And if you think the Season 2 finale was a head-spinner, creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, promises a Season 3 filled with more suspense and intrigue, especially when it comes to Rowan and Olivia's troubled father-daughter relationship.
"At the very least, Rowan was trying to get Jake (Scott Foley) to have sex with her and then make a tape of it, which seems creepy on many levels, right?" Rhimes told reporters at a "Scandal" event the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences held Thursday night. "I don't know if they were trying to kill her. That's up to interpretation."
Rhimes also said she and the writers considered an ending where Olivia and Fitz spooned in bed and ended up together but, ultimately, they wanted Olivia to have clean hands. "It was charming, adorable and really, really sexy and I love the scene and maybe one day someone will get to see it," Rhimes said. "But the problem with it was that Olivia put the white hat back on and emotionally you felt like she had found her inner core after losing it so badly. It felt like a cheat -- that we were cheating her out of trying to do something good."
"Scandal" Season 3 kicks off this fall on ABC.
Network says comic-book drama remains in the works
Wonder Woman could get another shot in primetime.
"Amazon," the CW's prequel starring the beloved comic-book hero, is in development still, even though it didn't land on the network's fall schedule. "It's being redeveloped," said Mark Pedowitz, the CW's president, following an upfronts presentation Thursday. "We don't want to produce something (inferior). It's the trickiest of all the DC characters."
The original "Wonder Woman" with Lynda Carter aired on ABC from 1975-79. David E. Kelley and NBC attempted to reboot the series, starring Adrianne Palicki in the iconic title role (pictured), for the 2011-12 season but the project died on the vine. Earlier this year, Warner Bros. TV sent out a casting call for a young woman, 5'8" or above, for a series about "the teenage years of the heroine who will become Wonder Woman," EW.com reports.
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The description of the show also included details about the heroine hailing from a "secluded country where she was raised as a solider in a brutal environment. Now a stranger in a strange modern big city, she's a fierce warrior with the innocent heart of a romantic and she will fight to the death to make the world safe."
Pedowitz said the "basics" were all there, but the execution needed work. Producers and networks don't usually cast series until a pilot is ordered, but a project like "Amazon" cannot succeed without the right woman in the lead role.
Soap reboot experience remains a work in progress
"All My Children" and "One Life to Live" have remained in the top 10 on Hulu since premiering on April 29, but the online soap reboots are reducing the number of episodes released per week. Viewing patterns indicated the shows were producing too much content for many viewers to consume, so fans can expect two episodes of each show to air each week, starting Monday, May 20.
Bing: More about "All My Children" | "One Life to Live"
New episodes of "All My Children" will now be released Mondays and Wednesdays, with fresh episodes of "One Life to Live" posted Tuesdays and Thursdays. The behind the scenes series "More" will run as a single show on Fridays.
"When it comes to online, as with all new technology, it's adapt or fail," Prospect Park explained in a news release. "We feel fortunate to be an online company and to have such an opportunity to adapt. Of course, we will continue to evaluate all the data that comes in and will be vigilant about revising our strategy as needed."
The change stems from viewing patterns that have emerged during the first month of streaming. First, fans have been binge viewing or watching on demand, usually during the weekend: That means many fans have been trying to cram five hours of soaps into their weekend. On ABC, fans watched episodes close to their airdate, so they didn't fall as far behind. They also tended to watch only two to three episodes a week. But with the action-packed reboots, it's not as easy to follow when you've missed episodes. Plus, Prospect Park clearly doesn't want fans skipping episodes.
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Another interesting shift in viewing was that fans aren't watching both shows. On television, maintaining audience is a key factor, with fans often watching whatever airs next. That doesn't apply on the Internet. Prospect Park likely hopes that, with less to consume, fans will go back to watching both series.
While the shows will release fewer episodes at a time, production will continue at the same pace through mid-June. Prospect Park will focus on editing while productions halts in July, with production resuming in August.
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Hulu will continue to stream all current episodes for free so that viewers who've fallen behind can catch up. There is no mention in the release about how this affects iTunes or how the show is performing there.
"All My Children" and "One Life to Live" can be streamed via Hulu, Hulu Plus and iTunes.
New 'Late Night' host says the new 'Tonight Show' star paved the way
Seth Meyers is sending a lot of love and gratitude Jimmy Fallon's way.
Meyers said he wouldn't have been promoted to his new "Late Night" hosting gig if Fallon hadn't proved that anchoring "Weekend Update" is the perfect training ground. Fallon will take the lead on "The Tonight Show" in February 2014. And Meyers will step into his new job around the same time, NBC announced this week.
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"I think I owe a debt of gratitude to Jimmy for having gone from 'Update' to 'Late Night' and shown that it's a nice progression," Meyers said on the 'Today' show Thursday. "So I'm very happy to be doing it. But, I mean, I think if you sit at that 'Update' desk, you learn how to talk about topical stories and certainly with the guests, you learn to talk to crazy people. Although, if you do late night there are real crazy people as opposed to Bill Hader pretending to be one."
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Hosting "Late Night with Seth Meyers" wasn't his only option. ESPN had been courting Meyers to helm a new late-night sports talk show. Meyers impressed ESPN executives when he twice hosted the ESPY Awards. But in the end, Meyers wanted to keep working with his "SNL" boss, Lorne Michaels, and opted to stay at NBC. Meyers, who is the head writer for "Saturday Night Live," will continue working on the show through the fall.
"I'm nowhere near emotionally ready for Saturday to be my last show -- I wouldn't be able to handle that," Meyers said of the "SNL" season finale, which airs May 18. "It's very strange to get a job that doesn't start for eight, nine months. So I think we'll do a lot of talking about it. But I think it'll be one of those things where the first show you do you're gonna learn 1,000 things you didn't know yet."
The "Saturday Night Live" Season 38 finale airs Saturday, May 18, at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Would the Dowager Countess approve?
By Michelle Strub
MSN TV
So many questions! Sean "Diddy" Combs tweeted Wednesday afternoon that he's joining the cast of "Downton Abbey." Right now it's unclear if this is real, a publicity stunt, he's having a public meltdown, or if the rapper-turned-sometimes-actor has been hacked.
Bing: Sean "Diddy" Combs | 'Downton Abbey'
"Downton" producers previously announced that they're adding the show's first black character in Season 4, but named Gary Carr as the actor to play the part.
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We're sure we'll know soon whether this is actually happening -- thank you, Internet sleuths (and/or hopefully a statement from PBS)! Until then, we'll just sit here pondering all the ways this could go wrong ... or right?
What do you think the Dowager Countess would say about all of this? Tell us at MSN TV on Facebook and Twitter.
UPDATE [3:08 p.m. PT]: According to the Sun-Times, a spokeswoman for WGBH, the Boston public TV station that brings the British series to America, has said this is untrue -- Diddy is NOT joining the cast.
UPDATE [3:32 p.m. PT]: Diddy continues to tweet as if it's true and has Instagrammed a photo from the set as "proof."
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Update [5:18 p.m. PT]: Diddy posted yet another photo supposedly from the set of "Downton." That facial hair doesn't really seem to match the era in which the show takes place, right? Looks like we'll be anxiously awaiting midnight to see what it is he's pulling. That Diddy!
UPDATE [12 a.m. PT]: Well, Diddy wasn't kidding after all. Downton Diddy he is.
Barbara Walters, Shaquille O'Neal, Katie Couric, Selena Gomez, Honey Boo Boo and more
Daytime hosts, notable athletes, sports newsman and reality TV stars turned out to help "Maury" celebrate its 2500th episode, airing Friday, May 17. The landmark episode also caught up with memorable first guests and featured a few surprises for Maury Povich, including his wife Connie Chung jumping out of a cake!
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The guest list for the big "Maury" episode featured Barbara Walters, Shaquille O'Neal, Katie Couric, the ladies of "The Talk," Donald Trump, Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, NeNe Leakes, Steve Harvey, Wendy Williams, Jack Hanna, Billy Bush and Kit Hoover, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, "Pardon the Interruption" hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon and fellow NBC Universal talk show hosts Jerry Springer, Steve Wilkos and Trisha Goddard.
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Selena Gomez and Honey Boo Boo also got involved in the celebration via video messages. Gomez had a surprise for a returning guest, while Honey Boo Boo let Povich know that he's not the father. Phew!
"Maury" will also catch up with the guests who started it all, including the guests who took the very first paternity and lie detector tests and the show's first out of control teen.
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Povich has more than 2500 reasons to celebrate. "Maury" goes into its landmark episode with 100 consecutive weeks as the #1 syndicated talk show among Women 18-34, Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49.
"Maury" airs weekdays in syndication.
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is exiting, but not for good
"The Bold and the Beautiful" beauty Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy) is taking a break from the drama this summer, but the Daytime Emmy nominee is not leaving for good.
Bing: More about Jacqueline MacInnes Wood | 'The Bold and the Beautiful'
"Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is taking a short break, as she has done in the past, from 'B&B,'" a show rep told MSN TV. "She remains as the character of 'Steffy Forrester'; and is continuing to tape, currently, with episodes airing through July of 2013 and then beyond."
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During Wood's past breaks from the soap, she shot the blockbuster "Final Destination 5," the pilot for "Arrow" and the upcoming Lifetime thriller "Her Husband's Betrayal." A DJ and singer, Wood also released her debut single "After Hours" in January 2012.
As "The Bold and the Beautiful" fans know, Wood's character Steffy been caught in a love triangle that aims to rival the show's epic Taylor/Ridge/Brooke triangle. As the scheming vixen of the younger set, Ridge and Taylor's daughter stooped pretty low in her battle to win Bill's son Liam away from Brooke's daughter Hope. Though Steffy seemed to have no limits, she's shown a softer side of late. That and a bun in the oven helped her finally marry Liam, but as news of Wood's short-term exit broke, Steffy was mowed down in a motorcycle accident on the show.
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With Woods set to tape scenes Friday, May 17, and air into August, one can expect Steffy will wake up before exiting the canvas this summer. The fate of her unborn baby is another matter.
"The Bold and the Beautiful" airs weekdays on CBS.
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Deanna Barnert | Los Angeles, Calif.
Entertainment journalist Deanna "TVDeeva" Barnert visits sets, interviews industry players and critiques the final product. Buzz's daytime TV queen covers it all for MSN TV, but loves her sitcoms, soaps and any juicy drama that doesn't call itself Reality TV.
