Showbiz411

CBS has renewed its whole daytime schedule, ensuring more “Young and the Restless” and “Bold and the Beautiful,” as well as “The Talk” and “The Price is Right.” CBS killed two soaps — “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light”– after owner Procter and Gamble strangled them like villains on…a soap! “B&B” is unwatchable, and “Y&R” is glaringly missing Jess Walton, but life goes on. The soaps are safe. At NBC, “Days of Our Lives” continues to be the Karen Ann Quinlan of soaps. On ABC, “General Hospital” is a miracle reborn. The two ABC soaps that were snuffed during a moment of madness– “All My Children” and “One Life to Live”– will return in April online, on Hulu, and other places in reconstituted form. So far still no word on Susan Lucci. In the end, the lesson learned here is that audiences are loyal to soaps, and that there are only so many discussions of rutabaga to be had before even shut ins lose their minds.

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.