Recently in Out in Daytime TV Category

How does an attention whore like me forget to post pictures of himself with the biggest star in daytome television, Susan Lucci, and with the hilarious Sherri Shepherd of "The View."

These are from SOAPNet's pre-Emmy Awards party last month.

I can count on one hand the times I have felt physically star-struck. It just sort of hits you in unexpected ways and for me, it seems to happen when I meet stars who I watched in my childhood including two of "Charlie's Angels:" Jaclyn Smith and Cherly Ladd. It happened again the other day with Susan Lucci. Here is a column I wrote on Miss Lucci that will appear in today's LA Daily News:

During all the years that Susan Lucci was nominated for - and famously lost - the Daytime Emmy Award for her performance as Erica Kane on "All My Children," she handled the result each time with extraordinary grace.

So when she finally won her Emmy in 1999 - on her 19th try - there was something akin to a palpable sense of nationwide relief even if it meant she wouldn't be able to spoof her losing streak on "Saturday Night Live" and in commercials.

"When I did win, I got the key to the city of New York and New York City firemen would stop on their trucks and give me a big thumbs up, and beggars would sing (laughs)," Susan said when we spoke at a pre-Emmy party last week. "It was wonderful. It's much better to win but it's great to be nominated."

Here is video from the night of her 1999 Emmy win:

The night of her win, Susan vowed that she would return to the set of "Children" the next day and play Erica "for all she's worth." She kept her word and is now in her 38th year on the show playing the most famous character in soap opera history.

"I love the part of Erica Kane," she said. "I walk into the studio in the morning and I'm smiling, I'm happy. I work with great actors and I've got one of the best parts ever written for a woman as far as I'm concerned."

Remarkably youthful at 61, Susan has managed to juggle her role as the larger-than-life Erica with many other ventures including a series of well-received television movies ("Mafia Princess," "Between Love and Hate" and "Ebbie").

"I love that the fans and the public has really responded to (Erica) so much that I also have had the chance to go on Broadway in 'Annie Get Your Gun' and have a line of jewelry and lingerie and all of that on HSN," she said. "I enjoy it all. But it's all because of Erica Kane."

Erica has been married seven times, legally, and there were another five unions that were either ceremonial or later found to be invalid.

"No, I don't forget," she said when I asked if she remembered everyone her character had been married to.

Nothing in Erica's life is ever simple. She has a lesbian daughter who battled anorexia, a daughter from a traumatic teenage rape, and a son who she thought she had aborted but who was used by the doctor in an experimental fetal transplant.

Working woman Erica started as a model then edited a magazine, wrote several books, ran a cosmetic empire and now works as a talk show host. She is currently involved in a political storyline with Mario Van Peebles.

"I had talked about Erica being involved with a politician and the political world a couple of years ago," Susan said. "But the time is right now. I'm so glad that we're doing it right now because I'm loving it."

I did a joint interview with Cameron Mathison and Sherri Shepherd Wednesday afternoon to talk about their co-hosting the Daytime Emmys Awards on June 20 and they were on fire - talking over each other and making making me and themselves laugh.

Sherri is all jokes and Cameron is full of energy. Since this formidable pair are just too much for one column, I'll focus on him first and write about Sherri next week.

Cameron, 38, has played Ryan Lavery on 'All My Children' for nearly 10 years and has long been one of the most popular actors on daytime television. He just roles with each storyline, including his current one which has his character suffering from amnesia.

"I love my job and I love my life here on the show," he said. "This place has become a second home and a second family. It would take something pretty astounding to get me to leave 'All My Children.'"

Sherri suddenly interjected with her own ideas of what kind of roles Cameron should take away from the show: "I'd like to see you as a houseboy on 'Desperate Housewives' roaming around the bushes or as a patient on 'Grey's Anatomy,' naked."

Those Daytime Emmys are gonna be scandalous!

Cameron is used to being objectified though, especially after his successful stint last fall on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." when he waltzed and fox-trotted his way to a fifth-place finish. He flew cross-country regularly to do "Dancing" in Los Angeles and "Children" in New York and gained more fans than ever.

"I do have a lot of energy, I've worked hard and come a long way," he said. "These opportunities come up and I feel a little pressure to take advantage of them while I can."
Cameron's charisma and good looks have landed him various hosting gigs including the new show "Your Place or Mine" which premieres Sunday on the TLC channel.

"It was really strange to go from ignoring the camera to looking into them," he said. "For me, it is something that has become so comfortable and exciting in my life."

Each week on "Place," two families compete for a chance to win brand-new furnished rooms for their homes, or for the ability to steal rooms from their competitors.
"It's a cross between a game show and a reality show," said Cameron. "I've never hosted this kind of show before. It's a lot of information, the game is complicated, and I've got someone talking in my ear. It's a really great challenge. It keeps me sharp."

Cameron is famous for his lean but muscular physique. So much so that it was big news when tabloid photos were snapped of him carrying a couple of calorie-laden donuts in his hand.

"I saw that picture!" he said, laughing. "I work out and I try to stay active and fit so I can enjoy certain foods that I like to eat. I try to keep everything in moderation. I used to be insane about it. By the way, when I grabbed those donuts, I had just finished working out."

I really knew nothing about the CBS.com reality casting series "In Turn" until I got a note today from GLAAD's Damon Romine telling me about the episode posted above: our "As the World Turns" guys Van Hansis (Luke) and Jake Silbermann (Noah), give some advice on how to lip-lock convincingly for the camera.

The remaining six contestants, three men and three women, prepare for their screen test in this episode 7 which involves their first on-screen kiss. What's cool is that only one pairing for the screen test is male-female.

Here is a link to GLAAD's cool blog CineQueer...

This clip is hilarious. After seeing it, I'm not sure Neil Patrick Harris' head is still attatched to his body!

The stupidity of Jay Leno asking Ryan Phillippe to give the camera his "gayest look" gives us a good reason to look back on Ryan's days on "One Life to Live" when he was at the center of a breakthrough storyline playing a gay teen. Found this clip on Queerty.

In his Soap News column in the new issue of TV Guide, Michael Logan writes extensively about the Luke and Noah no-kissing controversy. Although "As the World Turns" executive producer Chris Goutman has been banned from speaking to the press about the storyline, Logan did talk to CBS daytime chief Barbara Bloom.
Bloom said: "I can assure you there is no homophobia on the part of the network nor are we pandering to any group. We have not censored ATWT or asked them to hold back in any way."

She doesn't say WHY for the love of God they are holding back but said: "I really hope the show will continue to evolve the Luke and Noah story, and that they culminate their relationship the way all couples in love do."
Logan brings up all the beyond annoying missed opportunities for a same-sex kiss: under the mistletoe on the Christmas episode and on Valentine's Day when EVERY other couple on the show kissed except for Luke and Noah.

"I understand why this makes people scream," Bloom admits. "The only thing you're going to get out of me is that the pacing is slower with Luke and Noah than with other romances on ATWT. That's good storytelling. We';re in the business of getting people to watch more."

Listen Barbara Bloom, let Luke and Noah kiss every now and then like friggen normal people and we will indeed watch more. You are testing the patience of many of your viewers with your "good storytelling."

The last time I was face-to-face with Tuc Watkins was at El Mirasol restaurant in Palm Springs. My friend James and I were having lunch and noticed Tuc with a group. On our way out, we went over to say hello and James snapped a photo of Tuc and I with his cellphone. I never bothered to download the picture to a file so when the phone broke, the picture of Tuc and I was lost forever. I told him about this when we talked the other night at a party celebrating the People's Choice Award nominations.

Tuc: "I broke your camera?"

Me: "No you didn't. I dropped it later.

Tuc: "You took a picture with me and your camera broke?

We laugh. The very cool people who run the A Socialite's Life blog snapped the photo below of Tuc and I for which I'm very grateful because now, I have a replacement for the lost cellphone snap! Anyway, Tuc's publicist arranged for us to have a chat for a story for my new daily column on page two of the L.A. Daily News. It doesn't hit newstands until tomorrow but Out In Hollywood readers get it first as a thank you for your patience with the problems we had yesterday transitioning to a new system.:

Tuc is the kind of tall, dark and handsome actor who could easily coast on his looks. But what makes this new "Desperate Housewives" cast member stand apart are his comic chops honed for over a decade as the studly and conniving David Vickers on the ABC soap "One Life to Live."

So so far on "Housewives," which casts him and Kevin Rahm as the first gay couple on Wisteria Lane, most of the funnier lines have gone to Kevin Rahm who plays the more domestic, and bitchy, of the two. I mentioned this to Tuc.
"You're right! it's sort of the opposite of David Vickers," he said. "David is usually the one who has the ba-dum, ba-dum ching. The way I think of it as, I'm Andy Griffith and Kevin is Barney Fife. Kevin is always standing a little bit in front of me - I'm usually standing a little behind him and over his shoulder just like Andy and Barney did. We are sort of the yin to each other's yang. I think he and I really work together well. Sometimes he's got the funny line and I'm the guy that sort of rolls my eyes at him.

For the 41-year-old Tuc, the role of Bob Hunter on "Housewives" is a prime-time breakthrough in a career that has included more than a decade, on-and-off, on the soap as well as two seasons on the
acclaimed Showtime series "Beggars and Choosers" which cast him as gay television executive Malcom Laffley.

"It's a lot of fun to join a show that is already running at full steam ahead," Tuc said. "Kevin Rahm and I are lucky that Marc Cherry was interested in bringing on a gay couple and he's brought a gay couple on that's not issue-oriented. We meet a lot of what are considered minority characters through their issues and we're not issue-oriented, we're not stereotypical. There's some sorta gay cliche jokes but then he'll also take what would be considered a stereotype and spin it on its ear like this horrible fountain we had. Not all gay people have great taste it turns out. It's a lot of fun to go on and be a couple on the street and not having to explain who you are and just immediately start mixing and mingling and causing trouble."

I love Tuc on "Housewives" but I wondered if he would ever find another role as good as that of Malcom on "Beggars" which had a stellar cast that also included Brian Kerwin, Charlotte Ross, Beau Bridges, Jim Belushi, and the cutie pie William McNamara who I will never forget from "Doing Time on Maple Drive."

Malcolm had to come out of the closet to clear himself of sexual harassment charges levied against him by a woman. "'Beggars and Choosers' was one of the greatest shows I ever had the opportunity to be on," Tuc said. "I loved that show and I loved playing that character. It was so well-written and I really wish that it had gone on 20 years. Everybody on it was great, we were all huddled together up there in Vancouver and only had each other to lean on. It was a real shame after the second year that the show kind of fell though the cracks."

Tuc has done scores of guest spots on shows ranging from "Six Feet Under" to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and his film credits include "The Mummy" (pictured, left) and "The Good Shepherd."
But the lying, scheming gold-digging, multi-married (including a trip down the aisle on Friday's show) but very charming David Vickers remains his signature character.

"'One Life to Live has made it possible that I can go back there and be David Vickers (pictured above with Erika Slezick's Vicki Buchanan) from time to time. I'm based out here in Los Angeles now so I can do 'Desperate Housewives' and luckily, the schedules have permitted me to continue to do both and it's great to play such polar opposite characters."

While his "Housewives" character is gay and in a steady relationship, Vickers has had many women in his turbulent life.

"I feel very fortunate that I've gotten to play a lot of gay characters and a lot of straight characters," he said. "Most of the gay characters that I've played haven't been what would be considered stereotypes and so I feel proud about maybe changing people's opinions of what gay people may be...It's great to be able to do both. So if people want to see me as a role model, then I'm thankful for that."

ONLINE EXTRA: The great thing about cyperspace is that there is so much SPACE! Here are some tidbits that didn't make the print version:

On the women of Wisteria Lane: "The women on that show have done such a good job of creating
archtypes that are individual but they work collectively. Dana Delaney had a really tough time this year of coming on and finding a niche in a show that already has a full canvas. She's done an incredible job. She's really funny and she's really scary at the same time."

On Prime-time fame: "Every actor should be so lucky as to have the opportunity to play a character that gets watched. So I feel very lucky. Actors, by what they do, they have an audience. We don't exist in a vacuum, we live in the real world. Sometimes people see you and they see you on their TV in they're living room and they feel like, 'Oh! You're from my living room, I can come and say hi. By and large, people are nice and have nice things to say. It's actually great. You go to the grocery store and you feel like you've got friends."

On my favorite Beggars and Choosers line: I tell Tuc that my all-time favorite line of his from that series was
when a really handsome computer tech comes into Malcom's office to fix something and he says to himself, "Hello, lunch!"
Says Tuc: "The way that was written, I was supposed to say, 'Yummy.' And I said to the director, 'Can I try something? Can I try saying something else and he said, 'OK.' And I said, 'Hello, lunch.'"

On being a passanger on a scary JetBlue flight that was forced to circle over Burbank for hours a few years back: "I'm actually a big fan of JetBlue. It sounds like I'm being a paid spokesman. They really handled that situation as professionally as they could. I've been asked that question a lot about what it was like and to tell you the truth, it wasn't as dramatic or terrifying as I think that it may have been made out to be.The way the crew and the pilot handled it, I felt like everything was going to be fine and it was."

On his "I Think I Do..." and "Beggars and Choosers" co-star Alexis Arquete: "Alexis Arquette is one of the craziest human beings I've ever met in my life and whenever I run into him, I always have a big smile on my
face."

I usually only see Oprah Winrey's show if I'm still up blogging or something and the late-night encore comes on. But Wednesday's show looks like it will be worth catching in the daylight hours: called "Gay Around the World," among Oprah's guests will be the articulate John Amaechi, the first NBA player - retired or active - to come out as a gay man. John is the kind of articulate, even-keeled and well-evolved person you like to see and hear talking about life as a gay man.
Oprah's website provides a PREVIEW and describes the others guests as someone was arrested and spent a year in jail. Another says she was so fearful, she moved to a different country. And, a prince's secret was so taboo, it ripped his royal family apart."
I guess the happy gay stories will be on another show - or maybe that will be John's roile.

"As the World Turns" was unbelievable today! Luke and Noah kiss and it's a pretty good one...at least it was until daddy dearest shows up. Check out the clip which also includes the events leading up to the smooch!

p.s. Thanks to the readers who pointed out that in a recent post, I refered to Noah as Nate. Just one of those stupid mistakes.

The outspoken Joy Behar has a new book out (above) and appeared on Larry King Live on Friday to talk about that and other topics. Of course, the stuff that perked up my ears were when she discussed anything that had to do with "The View" including fellow co-hosts, past and present.
On Rosie: "She left sort of abruptly...She's Rosie O'Donnell, she's got a lot of money, she can do what she wants...I like to concentrate on the fun we had this year, and we did have a lot of fun."
But she added that it was also "a year of stress." There were also moments when "things went to hell in a hand basket." And the stress did get to her, Behar admitted. She attributed a case of shingles she had this summer to it.

On the Rosie-Elisabeth on-air fight: "It's not pretty. I don't think that's the original concept [for 'The View' that Barbara Walters had... I couldn't understand why they didn't go to a commercial."
On Rosie writing that Barbara Walters is tired and should retire: "That's so not true! Barbara is not tired, she's raring to go...the woman is never tired, the woman does not tolerate anyone else being tired...If there's negative things in the book I'd assume Barbara wouldn't be happy about it - Why should she be?"
On Star Jones: "I wish her well. I don't have animosity toward her." But they're not in touch although Behar did see an episode of Jones' new show on Court TV. "We never really had fights off the air...we had different ways of seeing the world...we were not friends off of the air." She said she was "shocked" when Jones announced on the air that she was leaving because even though she knew something was happening, it wasn't supposed to be announced for several more weeks. Of Jones' departure announcement and subsequent media interviews: "I think she tried to take the high road."

On Donald Trump dissing her: "Donald Trump says I have no talent...what talent does he have? ...I've had 20 years of psychotherapy so when someone says something that's not true, I dismiss it...it's a non-issue for me."
On new moderator Whoopi Goldberg: "I'm getting real friendly with Whoopi now. I love her."
On former moderator Meredith Viera: "I miss her tremendously...she's a good, good person."

Wednesday's episode of "As the World Turns" was terrific as the Luke and Noah storyline continues to unfold. Noah's dad is being portrayed as an extremely loathsome man as I'm sure some parents of gay kids are. But it has made me think about how much kids want to not disappoint their parents even well into their adulthood. We as gay people have suffered for it forever and it takes a lot of courage to move beyond a disapproving parent. I'm glad that Noah's dad is contrasted with Luke's mom.
Here is a lengthy YouTube clip from Wednesday's show:

I've really appreciated the live-blogging of these episodes pn the AfterElton.com site whch will blog again tomorrow. Check it out!

As I suspected, Sherri Shepherd DOES know that the world is round. This morning on "The View," she admitted that she was nervous yesterday when Whoopi asked her the question and had something of a brain freeze. She was pretty funny in explaining it and the show, in general, had a more relaxed and loose tone without den mother Barbara Walters at the table. When Barbara is there, she undercuts Whoopi's position as moderator and Whoppi defers to her too much. But, I think that will change with time. I hope!
The women also addressed the Barry Manilow controversy but it wasn't anything too juicy. Whoopi just reiterated that you sit with one host, you with them all and Joy piped in with some remarks about it being a free speech show. Whoopi tried to close it then but Elisabeth piped in with some remark but I didn't jot it down because I was half-asleep. Had gotten up early to blog then fell back asleep! Yikes.
I think all the Manilow jazz has emboldened Hasselbeck a bit because she also mentioned that the day of her big fight with Rosie, guest Alicia Silverstone had not intentionally snubbed her and had later sent her a note saying so. okay, that'll do for now I guess but I have a feeling the Hasselbeck factor may rear its ugly head again, and again, and again.

OK, promise this is my last "View" related item of the day. It's gotta be because I'm going home to get ready for the 40th Anniversary part for The Advocate at Republic in LA.
So, I tuned in this morning with much anticipation thinking the gals would gab about Barry Manilow's snub of Elsabeth. But nooooooooooooooo. They drifted into a strange and rather dull conversation that veered toward religion and pitted Sherri and Elisabeth against Babs, Whoopi and Joy. Sherri has made cleare that she doesn't believe in evolution and Barbara seems to just be mystified by this. So after discussing this a bit, Whoopi asked Sherri if she thought the world was flat.
Silly question. Should have gotten a silly answer.
Nope.
Sherri said: "I don't know. I never thought about it Whoopi. Is the world flat? I never thought about ...I...I...No....But I'll tell you what I have thought about. How I'm going to feed my child, take care of my family. 'Is the world flat' has not been an important thing to me."
OK. Sherri. All you have to do to see the world is round is to leave it and view it from a distance, like astronauts have been doing for about four decades. Ever seen a globe?
Sherri is funny, she makes me laugh. But I'm wondering if she is really that dumb or just got flustered and defensive by Whoopi's tone.

BTW, the other bit I scribbled down during all this was a line from Hasselbeck who said: "Just because something is your right doesn't necessarily make it right."
This was her reaction to the ACLU supporting Sen. Larry Craig in his airport bathroom arrest mess. Whoopi and Barbara tried to explain to her that the ACLU is a good organization overall because it fights for everyone's rights. But all Elisabeth could focus on was that they fought for the rights of Nazis to march in a Jewish neighborhood in Skoke, Ill. and that they once defended NAMBLA. I think she threw NAMBLA in there three times.
Is it me or is it a pattern of ultra-conversative types to bring up unrelated inflammatory bits of information in a debate rather than just discussing an issue head on? Do they not have the facts on their side? Have they become so defensive that they lack common sense?
Do they think they are so "right" that they can overlook people's "rights"?

When I was chatting with Lorraine Bracco Friday night at the pre-Emmy party for nominated performers (she lost in the supporting actress category to Katherine Heigl), I told her how much I enjoyed her most recent guest host stint on "The View" which came post-Rosie during the summer. Bracco has that terrifically distinct voice and I like how she wasn't shy about expressing her opinions about whatever "hot topic" was on the table.
I wanted to know what she thought about the new line-up of co-hosts which now includes Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepard: “I have a lot of fun with those ladies. I caught a little of it the other day. I’m great pals with Whoopi who is really smart and hip and cool. How bad could it be?”
Then I wondered what she thought of the staunch conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck whose on-air showdown with Rosie O'Donnell led to Rosie leaving the show three weeks early: “I think Elisabeth is a smart little cookie. Listen, this is America and we are all allowed to our opinions, thank God, and we’re not gonna be chastised and killed if we voice them.”

Bracco makes a good point and it resonates even more in light of Barry Manilow's refusal to appear on "The View" with Hasselbeck. Post-911, saying anything against the administration was considered non-patriotic and it was a scary time. So to have Hasselbeck say her piece each day - as much as it iannoys me - is her right. As long as she works on the show, she HAS to be able to speak out as much as any of the other ladies.

Related post: The View on Paris' early release

Sheesh. I thought Susan Sarandon's chilly attitude toward Elisabeth Hasselbeck on "The View" last week was newsworthy but this sure trumps that: TMZ.com is reporting that Barry Manilow's scxheduled appearance on the show was cancelled by producers because the singer demanded that Hasselbeck not be present.
Said Manilow in a statement to TMZ: "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her."

Here is a terrific YouTube video of the Luke/Noah/Maddie storyline from Friday's "As the World Turns." My favorite line comes from Maddie to Noah: "I know you have feelings for Luke that you wish you didn't...and that you wish you had feelings for me that you don't."

Here is the latest:

Boy, Noah's daddy is creeeeeeeeeeeepy!

It looks like Whoopi Goldberg is as big a ratings draw for "The View" as the controversial Rosie O'Donnell was - at least in her first week. The Oscar winner's debut week as moderator nearly tied Rosie's debut week a year ago. An average of 3.5 million viewers tuned in each day, just 2 percent less than fall 2006 premiere week.
I'm digging Whoopi in the job and wish her continued success...

If you've been following the superb love triangle of Luke-Noah-Maddie on "As the World Turns," tomorrow would be a good time to tune in. Below is a clip of an intense scene between the two guys that just rings so true. I am amazed at the quality of this storyline, and so, so heartened by it.
AfterElton.com, which has been leading the coverage of this, will be live-blogging about the episode beginning at 2 p.m. ET. I know I'll be reading!

Kathy Griffin was on "The Ellen DeGenres Show" yesterday and Ellen wondered what would happen if the D-lister would do if she ever ran into any of her targets. AfterElton.com has posted a transcript of the exchange which includes Ellen saying: "After I came out, I was the butt of everybody's joke. So I know what it feels like to be talked about all the time."
Repiled Kathy: "... I don't make fun of people who have a sense of humor about themselves, I don't make fun of people — honestly, what I do is I make fun of people who created a situation. I don't say about Star Jones, 'Uhm, she's fat. Goodnight everybody!' I say 'I worked with her and my experience was she was a [censored].' That's my experience with her, we all know it. Don't act like I'm the first one to say that ... but, also, if you were puking all over in nightclubs or get out of the car without the panties that's a different story because that's something you're controlling ... and it's fun. Honestly, I make fun of people's behavior more than I make fun of how they look. And I've been that person too, I've had the nasty pictures and had the 'worst dressed' and all that too."

Click over to AfterElton.com for some YouTube clips of the appearance...