Recently in As the World Turns Category

Well, whaddaya know, "As the World Turns" is worth keeping an eye on again for Luke and Noah fans. Today's episode (Go to AfterElton.com for extended coverage) featured decent plot developments and some above average material for Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann to sink their teeth into. Hansis is a wonderful actor, seems so natural and real in all that he does. He wants to challenge first crush Kevin for student body president. When Noah wonders if there are ulterior motives, Luke says sarcastically: "If I can beat Kevin and make him cry like a little girl, my life would be complete."

Earlier, Luke introduces Kevin to Noah at the coffee house and Noah later says to his boyfriend: "That's him? The one you were in love with in high school? ... He has clammy hands."

Episodes like this show that these actors deserve more screen time and are far more effective in believable situations like battling discrimination on their college campus than the off-the-wall stuff like Noah marrying an Iranian girl or deciding to join the Navy.

Enjoy the scenes!

Because frankly, the whole thing is kinda boring now. Why should Luke's parents get to have all the fun? p.s. I'm used to the new Lily now. I like her.

Hey, I'm not sure what is going on here but Luke and Noah could do a lot worse than to have to share a tent with gorgeous Lawrence Lau! I have not yet had a chance to watch the latest clip from "As The World Turns" but diod want to post it here for you.

Enjoy!

I haven't had the chance to blog about yesterday's episode but wanted to post the clips for ya...

Thanks to reader Terry Cromwell, I now have the identity of the actor who has just joined "As the World Turns" as the potential love interest of Luke's grandmother Lucinda. He, of course, is the very handsome - and ageless - Laurence Lau who I never, ever forgot as Greg from "All My Children" so many years ago.

Here is what Terry wrote about him: Yep, that's Laurence Lau, who played Greg to Kim Delaney's Jenny - one of All My Children's most popular couple ever. He returned to the show earlier this year for a handful of episodes sans Delaney who's character is dead. Delaney moved on to prime-time television; He moved on to play Jaime Frame on the now-defunct Another World, opposite Anne Heche, who too went on to prime time glory (and temporary/occasional insanity).
He then moved on to One Life To Live, replacing Kale Brown (who played his father in law on Another World) in the role of Sam Rapapport. But don't be fooled by his youthful good looks, Lau, who looks a radiant mid-forties is actually ten years older. So while I find the matching of he and Lucinda a little jarring, the age distance between he and Hubbard (who portrays Lucinda on ATWT) is smaller than it might appear. Now Lau hasn't just done daytime television. Before his stint on AMC, he appeared on such shows as Eight Is Enough and The Waltons, and later on such shows as Jag, Martial Law and Law and Order. Lets hope Lau will stick around Oakdale for a while.
Here is a video tribute of Laurence's "All My Children" days:

This one is a hoot: it's with Anne Heche...

And finally, here is a video of some of his prime-tine performances:

Anyway, he is hot for Lucinda and they go to dinner and he maies her dance then Luke and Noah walk and they dance. It's fun stuff.

Gosh, not only is Luke Snyder the world's sweetest boyfriend, he's also a wonderful brother and son. He is a rock for his mother and little sisters as the Snyder family deals with Lily and Holden's split due to Holden's infidelity. There's some terrific family drama in this episode!

I'm glad to see that Van Hansis is being given more to do as Luke than just moon over Noah who's undergone more personality changes than Sally Field in Sybil. In his current incarnation, he's the supportive, loving boyfriend who seems to - for the moment at least - know who he is and what he has in Luke.

Here are Thursday's scenes which include yet another Luke and Noah kiss! (and it's a pretty good one too)...

You know, I don't if I mind whether or not Luke and Noah ever have sex as much as the fact that I find myself getting hooked on the rest of the storylines on "As the World Turns" instead of just watching the scenes involving the gay lovebirds. I just don't have time for this!

Anyway, Thursday's episode has Luke in a funk because his dad, Holden, is cheatng on his mom, Lily, with a woman named Carly. Clueless Noah - the same guy who was gonna join the Army a few weeks ago - bounds down the stairs looking for his shoes and wonders what's wrong with Luke.

Luke talks about his parents and wonders about his dad and love: "If he's willing to give up my mother, then what chance do the rest of us even have? Why even try?"

Cluless Noah: "You don't think we're ,meant to last?
Luke: Do you?
Clueless Noah: Yes.
Luke: We're basically glorified roommates. We've been here in this house, alone, All day, and nothing.
Clueless Noah brings up Luke';s grandmother's rules of no sex between unmarried people living under her roof - gay or straight.

Luke responds: "That's lame.. One of us has to say it. There's nothing stopping us from having sex. So why aren't we?"

Clueless Noah insists that he wants to be with Luke too but he wants it to be special and blah, blah, blah.,

I love this remark from Luke: "You didn't seem to have this problem with Maddie."

Noah replies: "Maddie was different. She's not my happy ending."

"I don't want it to be because we have the house to ourselves for a half hour..." he adds. "You and I are going to be together for a very, very long time."

Then...they kiss! It;s not a great one. But, at least they had lip lock.,

All I have to say is that sometimes you put up with clueless and confused dudes like Noah because the sex is great. But NO SEX? Please. And it is entirely unrealistic that two guys in their late teens, in love with each other, would not be doing it every chance they get. C'mon!

Making matters worse is that some 14-year-old girl on the show got condoms and birth control pills in the same episode! No build up, no hemming and gawing about it being special etc. She just hopped into bed with this young dude who looks maybe 12.

What a screwed up show!

I'm off to an early Outfest screening (three in all today) but wanted to post the clips from yesterday's episode of "As the World Turns" that involve Luke and Noah...

I hate to say this, but I watched "As the World Turns" today and the least interesting part of it was Luke and Noah. Holden is flying off to NYC to interrupt Carly's trip with some French dude and there was a shirtless scene involving a hot young doctor whose name I don;t remember. He got some chick kicked out of the nursing program and now got her back in and he is just beautiful.

Oh yeah, Luke and Noah. Yaaaaaaawn

They were getting all cozy and almost kissing again when Luke's mom brings a letter in from his biological father, some rich Italian dude named Damien who Luke apparently hates. I don't have enough back story.

Anyway, since Noah's dad is currently missing at sea, why not bring in some other parental monster to prevent from Luke and Noah from getting to develop their relationship even a little bit more. Gotta give the gay characters the road blocks.

Luke doesn't want to read the letter (I'm so bored I can barely type this recap) but his spunky grandma Lucinda (who I really like!) just gras it from him, says, "I really don't understand this lack of curiosity and tears the damed thing open.

She tells her grandson: "I think dear old dad wants to make amends in a biiiig way."

Luke doesn't want the Grimaldi money (there's a Grimaldi family involved here?) and says: "I don't care if it's a fortune, It's dirty money ... if he wants a father-son relationship that's not gonna happen."
Sorry, i fell asleep, Okay, the last scene has Luke and Noah having coffee (what else?) and Luke tells his "lover" that he's gonna take the dough and use it for some good, He wants to open some kind of facility to help sick kids and their families while the kids are getting treatment. Sounds like the Ronald McDonald House to me. He's doing it so Noah can be a do-gooder and not have to join the Amry to feel like he's contributing to society.

How bout this Luke: you take the money, dump Noah, and take a trip to Europe or to LA and meet some guys a lot more fun than Noah. Noah is always gonna have an issue. I bet next week he's gonna wanna become a woman.

Stay tuned.

Clearly Noah doesn't know what he has in Luke. He's doing anything to screw things up from getting married to Ameera to joining the Army. I, however, do realize what a terrific catch Luke is!

Okay, before you think I've stepped into the fictional world of Oakdale and completely lost what's left of my mind, I'm finally sharing these snapshots taken last month at the SoapNET pre-Emmy party in Hollywood. Van Nansis (Luke) could not have been more warm. As for Jake Silbermann (Noah), I'm not sure what accounts for that goofy smile!

Ho hum, just another day at the office...

Related post:
-- Face-to-Face with Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann...

Gdod God, after today's terriofic episode of "As the World Turns," I can almost forgive the writers for not letting Luke and Noah kiss for all those many, many months. They kiss again this episode and that's awesome, of course, but the best part about this gay pride episode is
Cyndi Lauper, one of the best friends the LGBT community has ever had or ever will have.

If Cyndi seems like a natural actress, it should be noted that she has starred on Broadway ("Three Penny Opera") and won an Emmy Award for her guest role on "Mad About You" several years back."

She and Luke (Van Hansis) are chatting in the first scenes and he asks her why she would be bringing her "True Colors Tour" to the small town of Oakdale after playing in such big cities as Chicago, Seattle and NYC.

"When it comes to gay rights, small towns are the big ones." Cyndi said. "In small towns, you have less rights because you're isolated...I can never figure out why people act the way they act. When you love each other, you love each other."
Luke spots Noah (Jake Silbermann) walking in with another guy, and remarks to Cyndi that he's his ex-boyfriend and seems to be having no trouble moving on. Cyndi tells him to not sell himself short and adds: "I'm dedicating this show to Luke and Noah because you know you're gonna get back together!" Cyndi sings her new hit then launches into a sublime version of "True Colors" which she sings to "my new best friend Luke." After the song, Noah finds Luke, takes him outside and tells him: "The only one I want to be with is you. I'm sorry things got so messed up."

Then, they kiss - and it's a good one. Screen fades to black. When they return, Luke is introducing Noah as "the love of my life": to Cyndi who says: "What I tell you? Never give up on love. Good luck to both of you. Enjoy life and love and be proud!"

THAT would have been the perfect place for the episode to end. But nooooooooooo. Writers throw a wrench in by the next scene. Poor Luke thinks that finally, finally, he and Noah can have some bliss. No Ameera, no Col. Meyer, no paralysis. This is when Noah announces that he has joined the Army and leaves for Chicago TOMORROW.

Luke is dumbfounded and pissed saying to Noah: "Honestly, I don't think you're cut out for the Army. did you tell them that you're gay? (as he says this, Luke is wacing a little gay pride rainbow flag in front of his face which has a smirk on it).

Noah indicates that they did not ask, so he didn't tell.

Luke sums it up best when he says: "We can finally be together ... and you're leaving me."

I don't have clips yet but AfterElton.com sure does so go there to check 'em out!

Cyndi Lauper crosses paths with Luke and Noah on "As the World Turns" on Thursday when she performs at a gay pride events in their fictional town. She'll be singing her current hit "Into the Night Life" which she has performed on so many shows in recent weeks that I can;t get it out of my head! I think she also sings "True Colors."

Anyway, Noah is given his "dead" dad's dogtags which means, to him, he's dead. Of course he's not! Sheesh. But Noah thinks he is and is all conflicted and sad and at one point during today's episode, he begins to sob, falls into a hug with Luke who tells him: "You deserve to be loved." But Noah explains that his dad "died" hating that he is gay and that he could never be the man Luke wants him to be. He again walks away, leaving Luke at the farm.

Later, Luke shows up at Noah's work and says that his trying to get back together Noah "ends today."

"I'm not gonna stalk you and I'm not gonna push you into anything you don't want to do...Noah, I am always gonna love you. So if you ever need someone to talk to or not to talk to or just someone to be with, I'm here."

He then walks away...for now.

Cyndi Lauper tells TV Guide's Michael Logan in next week;s issue that she's "a real buttinsky" and can't help but play matchmaker on "As the World Turns" by trying to get our on the outs lovers Luke and Noah back together.

"Who wouldn't want to get involved with that?" Cyndi tells the mag. "I tell those boys: 'You never give up on love!' And it's true. There will always be obsticles but in the end, it;s all about love, pal."

Cyndi encounters the pair at a gay pride part in the July 3 episode and Noah has shown up with someone else! So, does Cyndi thing there have been too many obsticles between these lovebirds - especially since the episode ends with Noah announcing that he is joining the Army! (egads!)

Said Cyndi: "Anybody can do the badda-bing badda-bing sex stuff. Luke and Noah have taken a slower, deeper path and, in the end, that'll have a more powerful impact on the audience."

Miss Lauper was asked if she knew that she was stepping into such a "controversial" storyline. I love her answer: "Yeah, but why is true love controversial? Those so-called 'Jesus people' are so confused, so disconnected from their hearts. They don't speak for Jesus. He would be horrified by their beliefs! What CBS has done here is groundbreaking and very courageous. Also smart, because a lot of gay people watch soaps. I'm honored to be a little part of it."

"As the World Turns" on-screen couple Luke and Noah (Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann) presented Ellen DeGeneres with the Daytime Emmy Award Friday night for outstanding talk show host.

Bizarre that I did not even notice this until after the ceremony. Backstage, you have can watch the ceremony on TVs but when another winner comes backstage for a Q&A you often stop paying attention to the show for a few minutes. I think Tyra was holding court backstage when Nuke gave Ellen her award. They certainly are a dashing duo and Ellen, of course, is a goddess...

Jon Hensley, who has played Holden Snyder on-and-off for 20 years on "As the World Turns," wasn't nominated for an Emmy Award this year. But I can think of a few awards he should get: 1. Coolest dad of a gay teen in soap history. 2. Hottest dad of a gay teen in soap history! OK, the second category was mostly a joke but Jon is a very handsome guy. I got to see for myself at a pre-Emmy party last Thursday and again on the red carpet at the Kodak Theater on Friday.

I wanted to know how he felt about his television son, Emmy-nominated Van Hansis, coming out as gay a couple of years ago, His character of Holden and his wife Lily (played by Martha Byrne until recently) had long been one of daytime TV's supercouples.

"When they first told me about the storyline, I was pretty skeptical about whether or not we should be doing that in daytime," he admitted. "It's turned out to be, I think, one of the better storylines in the last 10 years. Fans have really loved it.
Recently we had Cyndi Lauper come on the show. I guess she was a fan of it sl she was very supportive of it. It's been great and I hope they continue it."

The most touching scenes, to me, have been when Luke gets back from maybe a fight with Noah and sits in the kitchen talking to his dad about it. Holden cares about his son's happiness first and foremost and that seems to guide him in any advice he gives.

Jon said: "They really wanted my character to very supportive of him, whatever sexuality he chose and what;s really wonderful about it is I guess there aren't that many parents like that when their sons come out to them initially and tell them that they are gay. But Holden dealt with it and he loves his son."

Got the chance to chat with "As the World Turns" on-screen lovers Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann at the SoapNET pre-Emmy party in Hollywood last night on a crazy red carpet that had me cutting an interview short with Shirley Jones so I could gab with Susan Lucci. Surreal. So by the time I got to Luke and Noah, These two guys really are close friends, finishing each other's sentences at times and Jake is even better looking in person than on television!

My first question to Emmy nominee Van Hansis was really stupid: "Why does your hair look different on just about every episode?"

His reponse: "Honestly, it grows really quickly...I don't know, they just cut it a lot and they change it. I think I'm one of the only guys on rhe show who has kinda longer hair. So our key hair stylist, Theresa, who's awesome, likes to play. She comes with all these ideas."

Here is the rest of our conversation. I think the questions get a little better:
Greg: Sometimes, the storylines really annoy me. They are very far-fetched.
Van: It's a soooaaap."
Greg: But you guys pull it off, you make us still care. Tell me how you do it.
Jake: Any script we get, you try and find what resonates with you. It is a soap so there are outlandish things that happen but that's the fun of it.
Van: Yeah, you just have to give yourself over to the genre. Even when outlandish things happen, you have to find the truth.
Greg: Are you guys having a good time with this storyline?
Van: Oh yeah. Yes. Definitely, without a doubt. It's been really great.
Greg: Are you glad Ameera's gone?
Van. No.
Jake: Absolutely not.
Greg. Okay, you enjoyed working with the actress (Tala Ashe)?
Van: Yes, she's an amazing, amazing actress and she's become a very good friend of ours and when she left we were very sad to see her go but we know that we're going to remain friends.
Greg: Do you pay much attention to the fans? They have a lot of opinions.
Van: We know that fans kind of felt like she got in between Luke and Noah, i understand. But Luke and Noah can't have it be peachy for them all the time or else fans wouldn't like that other.
Greg: People were pissed when you guys didn't kiss for so long.
Jake: We're kissing now!
Greg: Thank God. Did you hear any of the uproar? Did it matter to you?
Van: We really were not involved in that really at all and I think that's the way it needed to be and I think the fan campaign went the way it should have gone and they focused on the people they needed to focus on."
Greg: Are you nervous about the Emmy show?
Van: No. I mean like, if I won that's awesome. If I don't win, what happens? I don't win an award. It'd be great to get the award but just being nominated is awesome. It's a no lose situation to me.
Greg: Does it matter to you guys if your characters are together or is it more fun as actors for them to be having problems?
Jake: I think it's situation by sitiuation. I think there's so much further for them to go being together. I'm looking forward to what's gonna happen.
Van: Yeah, I feel like when we have scenes where they're fighting, we often have really good meaty scenes and those are great. We both like those. But we have a blast working together so we could both be wanting to kill each other, Luke and Noah could be wanting to kill each other like I guess Mr. and Mr. Smith type thing (laughs) or having a love in. It doesn't matter.
Greg: Are you used to your new mom?
Van: Yeah, Noelle (Beck) is wonderful. Of course Martha (Byrne) is one of a kind and no one is Martha but Noelle is doing an incredible job and we are very, very lucky to have her.
Greg: You miss you dad?
Jake: I do (laughs) Daniel Hugh Kelly is great to work. It's funny working with him then seeing him afterward on the screen because he's a great, funny guy and he's so nice. Then you see him on the screen and he is psychotic!

Let's hope Van wins the Emmy tonight! He deserves it!

Ameera: I can't impose on you and Luke anymore. I wish you both the very best that you can finally be together...I hope that you'll be very happy together."

Awe. Okay, don't let the door hit ya!

Luke amd Noah go to get a coffee and Noah expresses surprise that Luke would want to hang out with him after he spotted Luke and Reg together earlier. (He must be like his dad, always lurking): "I saw you with your new boyfriend."

Luke says he's not dating Reg but admits: "It felt really good to be wanted by someone who wasn't so messed up."

I'm not sure what their future holds. No doubts lots of ups and downs. I personally want to see Luke go out with Reg, test the waters. Noah has lost his appeal as far as I'm concerned. But then again, I'm not in love with him!

Noah: "I don't want to break up with you...I've got a lot to sort out.