Wild rumours follow ABC Daytime's 'No Show' announcement
Breaking news: Patricia Heaton, who co-starred on the CBS series Everybody Loves Raymond, has set her sights on a daytime show much like ABC's The View to debut in 2007.
Buena Vista, which is part of Disney, which owns ABC, will produce Heaton's show, which will probably run on ABC. The question is: Could the network sustain both The View with its unique format and the Heaton series, with its reportedly copycat style?
UnBroken news: ABC was said to have readied an important announcement to air in early April. As it turned out, ABC indicated that no such announcement was planned and that that report was false. However, fans wondering what it might have been came up with a variety of possibilities, including: merging All My Children with One Life to Live, which has been having its problems; taking over the NBC series Days of Our Lives, which has also been fighting to break out of the ratings doldrums; Susan Lucci (Erica Kane) retiring from daytime; the return of Genie Francis (Laura Spencer) to General Hospital; the return of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) to GH; the return of both Francis and Hughes; and the cancellation of ABC soaps.
Needless to say, only the return of Francis and/or Hughes would be credible at this time, and, perhaps, down the line, merging AMC and OLTL into a super soap.
Meanwhile, AMC has released Natalia Cigliuti, who played Anita Santos. Santos' romance with Aidan Devane (Aiden Turner) was put on hold when Cigliuti went on maternity leave, and was not picked up when she returned. It's reported that the network is a bit antsy about commenting on Cigliuti's release because they're currently being sued by former GH star Kari Wuhrer (ex-Reese), who said she was let go when the show learned she was pregnant and implied the network doesn't treat enceinte actresses well.
Paolo Seganti says he agreed to reprise his role as Damian Grimaldi, Lily's (Martha Byrne) ex-husband, because he learned their son, Luke (Van Hansis), is gay and said he thought the story line was 'cool'. Look for him to bow in for May sweeps.
SUDS TO STAGE: AMC's Jacob Young (J.R. Chandler) debuts in the long-running Broadway hit Beauty and the Beast on May 9 for a 10-week run. ... Robert Cuccioli (ex-Franklin, Guiding Light) stars in a new production of the classic musical "Jacques Brel is alive and well and living in Paris."
