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19 Stories

She Was a General Hospital Staple for Nearly Half-Century

Actor Jacklyn Zeman, who played nurse Bobbie Spencer on ABC soap, dies at 70 of cancer

(Newser) - Jacklyn Zeman, who became one of the most recognizable actors on daytime television during 45 years of playing Bobbie Spencer on ABC's General Hospital, has died. She was 70. Zeman died after a short battle with cancer, her family confirmed Wednesday, per the AP . News of her death was...

Mishap Leaves Anderson Guest in Coma

Cooper 'distraught' after producer prods teen into 'crazy stuff'

(Newser) - Anderson Cooper's evening persona would not be pleased with his daytime self. Seems a teenager is in a coma after an Anderson producer coaxed the boy into careless behavior for an episode on the "teenage mind," Gawker reports. A source says the producer "encouraged [the] kid...

Anderson Gets Spray Tanned With Snooki

Yes, viewers at home, he does take off his shirt

(Newser) - Anderson Cooper, who has braved angry mobs in Egypt, faced potential radiation poisoning in Japan, and rescued a bloodied child in Haiti, shows a decidedly less hard-hitting side on his new daytime show . Case in point: On the second episode of Anderson yesterday, Coop went for a spray tan with—...

Judge Judy Rakes In More Than You Think

TV judge works 5 days a month, makes $865K per day

(Newser) - Law pays well, but syndicated TV pays better—way, way better. Judge Judy works only five days per month, but makes $45 million per year, which translates to $865,000 per work day, according to a New York Times interview with the feisty daytime TV icon. Her big haul is...

Katie Couric Will Own Her ABC Show

She's close to deal on program expected in 2012

(Newser) - Katie Couric will have a syndicated daytime show on ABC sometime around the fall of 2012, the Wall Street Journal reports. The two sides are expected to announce the deal as early as Monday. A source tells the newspaper it will be "Oprah-esque," though the exact format is...

Hoover Pulls ABC Ads Over Canceled Soaps

'We were as disappointed as you are,' vacuum maker says

(Newser) - Hoover is furious about ABC’s daytime soaps cancellations —so much so that it’s decided to pull its ads from the network, the Consumerist notes. The vacuum company has long advertised with ABC, but no more, a VP writes on the firm’s Facebook page : “To all...

ABC Cancels All My Children, One Life to Live

Long-running soaps go off the air in September and January

(Newser) - Oh, the indignity for Erica Kane: Not only is ABC pulling the plug on All My Children, it's replacing it with something called The Chew. The network also is canceling One Life to Live, though General Hospital survives for now. Exact dates aren't set, but AMC—which first aired in...

What Killed the Soap Opera
 What Killed the 
 Soap Opera 
Aug 9, 2010 6:48 PM CDT

What Killed the Soap Opera

Working women, reality TV, and 24-hour news, among other things

(Newser) - With the Sept. 17 finale of As the World Turns looming—and View clone The Talk ready to replace it—only six soap operas are still on the air. The genre is weak and possibly headed for extinction, largely because ad spending is in freefall. Advertising Age tries to figure...

The View Becomes Go-to Show for Politicians

Barbara Walters mixing in more politics with the lighter fare

(Newser) - The View has evolved into a coveted seat of honor for politicians, writes Amy Chozick in the Wall Street Journal . Barbara Walters and crew are mixing in weightier issues amid the fluff, and politicians love its demographic of middle-aged women. Everyone from Joe Biden to Evan Bayh to Mitt Romney...

RIP, Daytime Talk Shows
 RIP, Daytime 
 Talk Shows 
Jun 2, 2010 10:08 AM CDT

RIP, Daytime Talk Shows

Tyra Banks' exit marks end of an era

(Newser) - Why did Tyra Banks pull the plug on The Tyra Banks Show even though its ratings were still steady? Probably because she sensed that daytime talk shows in the confessional Oprah-inspired mold are dead, writes Jessica Grose of Slate . Fifteen years ago, daytime TV was full of these shows, from...

Barbara Walters: I'm Having Heart Surgery

Octogenarian has 'never missed a day's work'

(Newser) - Most octogenarians have been playing bridge in Sarasota for years by now, but ABC reports that Barbara Walters is taking a mere month off to have heart-valve surgery. Walters has known of her condition "for a while," the 80-year-old co-host announced on The View today, and now with...

Oprah Ditches Daytime for New Evening Show

Winfrey promises to take viewers 'around the world'

(Newser) - The Queen of daytime television is planning an evening show. Oprah Winfrey will announce today her plan to launch a new show called Oprah's Next Chapter on her cable network. The hour-long series, to debut next year, will take Oprah out of the studio and around the world. "I'm...

Judge Judy, Not Oprah, Owns Daytime TV
 Judge Judy, 
 Not Oprah, 
 Owns Daytime TV 
and she's no fan of wapner
Mar 4, 2010 8:58 AM CST

Judge Judy, Not Oprah, Owns Daytime TV

How Judith Sheindlin became our most beloved judge

(Newser) - Think Oprah Winfrey is the queen of daytime television? Think again. Judith Sheindlin, otherwise known as Judge Judy, routinely beats Winfrey in the ratings—and she does it with a distinctively different style from the feel-good talk show host. “If I call someone an idiot, they're an idiot,”...

CBS Axes As the World Turns
 CBS Axes As the World Turns 
Dec 8, 2009 2:02 PM CST

CBS Axes As the World Turns

Soap ends 54-year run in September

(Newser) - CBS is canceling As the World Turns, ending a soap saga that has run for more than half a century. The last episode will air in September. The network's move, coming 3 months after the cancellation of Guiding Light, will leave just six soap operas on the air—and ABC's...

Who Will Be the Next Oprah?
 Who Will Be the Next Oprah? 
6 contenders
Nov 20, 2009 1:49 PM CST

Who Will Be the Next Oprah?

Rachael Ray, Sarah Palin, and other potential replacements

(Newser) - Who will fill the Oprah vacuum on daytime TV when the Queen of All Media leaves for her cable network in 2011? Mike Hess weighs the pros and cons of six candidates on PopEater .
  • Ellen DeGeneres: "Talked her way onto the cover of Winfrey's O Magazine ... coincidence or a
...

General Hospital More Sopranos Than Soap Opera

 General Hospital 
 More Sopranos 
 Than Soap Opera 
why, james franco, why?
Nov 19, 2009 12:05 PM CST

General Hospital More Sopranos Than Soap Opera

James Franco's guest stint highlights shows thuggery

(Newser) - Sure, it’s weird that James Franco is guest starring on General Hospital—but what’s weirder is that the soap is one of the small screen’s most violent creations, even by daytime television’s dubious standards. It stopped being a show about a hospital long ago, writes Willa...

Bobby Brown 'Spit on Me,' Houston Tells Oprah

Singer enjoyed mixing pot, cocaine, she confides in interview

(Newser) - Emotional abuse and drug addiction marked Whitney Houston’s marriage to Bobby Brown, the singer says. “He spit on me,” Houston recalled in the first part of a tell-all interview with Oprah, broadcast today. She described their intense drug habits: Brown a full-blown, “mean” alcoholic, and Houston...

Talk Show Host Grills Blago
 Talk Show Host Grills Blago 
Sep 11, 2009 4:20 PM CDT

Talk Show Host Grills Blago

Bonnie Hunt tells former governor to take responsibility

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich got unexpectedly tough treatment from Bonnie Hunt on her talk show today, the Chicago Tribune reports. In what was probably supposed to be a routine stop on the former governor’s book tour, Hunt, an Illinois native, instead pressed Blago on why he doesn’t take responsibility for...

After 72 Years, CBS Axes Guiding Light

After 72 years, show canceled for ratings decline

(Newser) - Guiding Light, the CBS soap that began on radio 72 years ago, will air for the last time Sept. 18, the New York Post reports. Like many daytime serials, Guiding Light has been battling falling ratings. It has been on the chopping block since last year, when its revamp as...

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