Tribute to Pine Valley Dish!

Ahh well, dish might be a little strong.  There really wasn't much of that but it was fun anyway!  I went to the event at Town Hall in NYC on Tuesday, October 25 with PVB friend, Kelli.  And what a great time we had!!  It started out with each of the guys being introduced one by one and coming out to the stage.... Walt Willey (Jack), Vincent Irizarry (David), Jacob Young (JR), Cameron Mathison (Ryan), Darnell Williams (Jesse) and Michael E. Knight (Tad).  Walt and Cameron were given microphones to go out into the audience so fans can ask questions.  There were some about the finale, general questions about this and that... nothing too memorable or that we haven't heard already.  But one thing I do remember very clearly was that Jacob said that his contract with Bold & Beautiful is short term!  So if/when the Prospect Park version of AMC gets off the ground, Jacob is not completely out of the picture to return as JR.  One of the funniest things, to me anyway, was that whenever a question was directed to Jacob, Vincent (who was sitting right next to him) would say, "Oh you mean Rick Forrester?" referencing Jacob's B&B character.  I think Jacob might have been getting a little irritated by it by the end of the Q&A!  

Check it out, I'm sitting next to Rick Forrester!

Someone did thank Darnell for signing and he seemed still so unsure of how it will work or if it will ever get off the ground.  Cameron chimed in as a Prospect Park cheerleader, assuring fans that it will happen.  After fans asked questions, the guys then asked us questions, about the show for prizes (the "Who Did JR Shoot?" t-shirt autographed by all the guys).  And then fans got to stump the actors for the same prize.  


The best part of the night, for me anyway, was when the guys got to tell behind the scenes stories.   Both Walt and Michael had hilarious stories about Ruth Warrick (Phoebe), with Walt's being my favorite story of the night.  Of course I'm paraphrasing here and going by memory, but the gist of it was that during Cliff and Nina's wedding, on location.  Walt was just an extra at the time.  The venue was very strict and had a ton of rules about what they could and could not do and the director of the venue gave a big speech about no smoking, no eating, no drinking etc...  Ruth Warrick looked at the venue representative and said, "If the sofa's have slipcovers can we f**k on them?"  Oh to have been there to hear that!   

Michael's story about Ruth was much different.  Apparently she was a notorious, um, well I can't really say this delicately so I'll just say it, farter.  Everyone knew it, everyone ignored it.  It was just Ruth being Ruth.  But when there were visitors to the set, they didn't know how to handle it!  Case in point, Ian Buchanan (ex-Dr. Madden) was visiting Finola Hughes (ex-Anna) on the set one day and Ruth went by tooting her way along.  Michael recalls the hilarious look of absolute confusion that Ian experienced seeing the legendary Ruth Warrick farting her way across the stage!  Years later when Ian returned, this time as Dr. Madden, Michael asked him if he remembered that visit to the set, and he did... oh boy did he ever!   


Vincent recalled a not so pleasant first meeting with James Mitchell (Palmer) while Vincent was still on Guiding Light.  They were sharing a car to take them to an event and Vincent was very late, making James wait in the car for however long it was.  Years later when Vincent joined AMC he asked James if he remembered him, and James very distinctly said to him, "Oh yes, I remember you."  But they did become great friends after that.  

Michael and Walt recalled the trouble James Mitchell and Ruth Warrick had once teleprompters were taken out.  Michael said that Ruth still always looked in the spot where they were, even years after they were taken out, even though she knew her lines.   James on the other hand would write his lines on index cards and hide them all over the set that he would be filming in.   To mess with him, Michael and others, would take the cards and mix them up and change their locations.  Then James would be wondering around and muttering... "no, that's not right" until he found the correct card!


Michael also told a funny story about Eileen Herlie (Myrtle).  During a Crystal Ball scene, which took many many hours to film and often went well into the night, Michael was in the background with Eileen for part of the shoot.  She kept pointing to his teeth very casually and subtly.  Michael assumed that he had something in his teeth and kept trying to get it out and then showing her.  She just kept pointing back at his teeth.   At the end of the scene he asked her what was wrong and she replied, "Oh nothing, I was just bored so I thought I'd f**k with you."  

All of the actors had the utmost respect for the elder statesmen of the show.  Especially Jacob for David Canary.  He spoke of how much he absolutely loved working with him.   They all loved hearing the stories they had to tell of old Hollywood.


Once the first part of night was over, there was a short intermission and then we were ushered back in for the meet and greet.  Unfortunately this part didn't go as well.  It was chaotic and disorganized.  Having been to my share of events, I took it in stride.  They promised everyone would get their chance to meet each of the stars, so you have to trust that it will happen.  It did.   It may not have been the dream meeting some had in mind, but it did happen nonetheless.  The night went well over the time it was scheduled to end.  It was the first of the events, and as always there are problems that need to be ironed out.   


If you'd like to see all of my photos, check them out on Facebook.  I have made the album public so everyone should be able to check them out!

On Newstands NOW!

Be sure to pick up the latest issue of People Magazine, on newstands now.  AMC's own JR Martinez (Brot) is on the cover feature!

Happy Birthday Finn Wittrock!

Happy Birthday wishes to Finn Wittrock!   Finn celebrates his 27th birthday today.

Tribute to Pine Valley is This Week!!

This week is A Tribute to Pine Valley week!   The big event is being held on Tuesday, October 25 at Town Hall in NYC.  On Wednesday, October 26 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.  And on October 27 at The Theatre in Westbury in Long Island, NY.  Attending from AMC are Walt Willey (Jack), Cameron Mathison (Ryan), Jacob Young (JR), Vincent Irizarry (David), Michael E. Knight (Tad) and Darnell Williams (Jesse).  For more information, check out the Tribute to Pine Valley website.

I will be attending the one at Town Hall in NYC, so if you want to meet up, drop me a line!  

Another Actor Signs with Prospect Park!!

Finally! Prospect Park has signed another actor for the continuation of AMC on the internet and it's a biggie! Darnell Williams (Jesse) joins the already signed Lindsay Hartley (Cara) and Cameron Mathison (Ryan). Jesse will unfortunately be going on without Angie though since Debbi Morgan is now on Young and the Restless. 

Susan Lucci to Guest on Army Wives!!

It will be a mini AMC reunion of sorts, when Susan Lucci (Erica) guest stars on the Lifetime drama, Army Wives.  Susan will play the role of a retired general's wife who gives Claudia (Kim Delaney ex-Jenny Gardner) some advice on how to deal with a rival.  She is set to appear in two episodes of the shows upcoming sixth season set to air sometime this spring.

Pics from Chicago Event!!

On September 23, the day AMC ended it's run on ABC, an event was held in Chicago for fans to watch the show together at Sidetrack Bar.  Some special guests were invited to attend Chrishell Stause (Amanda), Matt Borlenghi (ex-Brian Bodine), Brian Gaskill (ex-Bobby Warner), Terri Ivens (ex-Simone Torres) and Jeffrey Carlson (ex-Zarf/Zoe).  Thanks to Jason Spitzer for the event information and Bren Coombs for the great pics!  Pick up the October 31 issue ABC Soaps in Depth for even more on this great event!

Matt Borlenghi (ex-Brian)

Brian Gaskill (ex-Bobby)

Terri Ivens (ex-Simone)

Jeffrey Carlson (ex-Zarf/Zoe)

Weepy Chrishell (Amanda) watching finale

Whole group with Jason Spitzer (left), organizer of the event

New Interview with Jacob Young!!

Check out the new interview Michael Fairman has with Jacob Young (ex-JR).  Jacob is very candid and voices a lot of the same concerns I know many AMC fans have (myself included) and discusses the show finale.  Click HERE for the On Air/On Soaps interview.

Happy Birthday Mark LaMura!!

Happy Birthday wishes to Mark LaMura!!!   As AMC's Mark Dalton, he ran the gamut from an almost romance with this sister Erica (before they knew they were siblings!) to cocaine addiction and one of the first interventions.  Mark celebrates his 63rd birthday today.

JR Martinez on Ellen!

Tune in to Ellen tomorrow, Monday October 17 to see JR Martinez with his Dancing with the Stars dance partner Karina!   Ellen is syndicated, please check local listings.  And of course, tune into Dancing with the Stars Monday night (ABC at 8:00 pm EST) to cheer JR on!

JR Martinez on Leno!!

Unfortunately I didn't find out about this until it was too late to post last night, so in case you missed it, JR Martinez (Brot) was on Leno last night!

Melissa Claire Egan Joins Y & R!!

Seriously, they need to rename that show!  Yet another AMC alum is heading over to Young and the Restless.  Entertainment Weekly reports that Melissa Claire Egan (ex-Annie) will be joining the cast in the contract role of Chelsea beginning on November 11.   She will be connected to Billy (played by Billy Miller, who played Annie's psycho brother Richie!) arrest.  Y&R also snagged AMC's award winning Casting Director, Judy Blye Wilson.

Moving Right Along... More on TOLN

Announced today, The Online Network (TOLN) has partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG) to license music exclusively from UMG's record and publishing companies to new episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live.  This deal will allow cross promotion of music and the shows to new audiences, giving it all a wider scope.   To read all the nitty gritty on the deal, click HERE.

Happy Birthday Jill Larson!!

Happy Birthday wishes to Jill Larson!!!  AMC's Opal celebrates her 64th birthday today!!

New York Times Interviews PP Founder!

Yesterday's New York Times had a very interesting article with Jeff Kwatinetz, founder of Prospect Park.  Quite an interesting read about his background in the industry and where he plans to go in the future.  Check out HERE.

Little PP Updates

There hasn't been any major news from Prospect Park lately regarding AMC.  But what I do have is some encouraging words from Cameron Mathison (Ryan) and Lindsay Hartley (Cara).   When asked on his FB page about where AMC will be filming when it heads to the internet and that they were surprised more names hadn't been announced yet, Cameron replied:  "We will shoot in LA. More AMC actors coming!!" 

And this morning Lindsay Hartley posted via her Twitter,  "Morning everyone! Met with prospect park yesterday and discussed AMC. It's really happening baby! And soon!"

Happy Birthday Kelly Ripa!!

Happy Birthday wishes to Kelly Ripa!!!  Besides her co-hosting duties at Live with Regis and Kelly, you can catch Kelly on the season premiere of Say Yes to the Dress on TLC this Friday at 9:00 pm EST.  She celebrates her 41st birthday today.