Okay you knew it was coming. Now that the Idiots In Charge of The-Soap-Opera-Formerly-Known-as-Days-of-Our-Lives have let the phenomenal Blake Berris go, I decided to start out doing a Wishful Casting about where Berris should end up, but it turned into more of an analysis of which soaps are managing to set things up for their next generation the right way, and which ones are getting it wrong, dead wrong.

Much of the daytime industry is experiencing a serious drought in terms of talented, young stars who can actually, you know, act. Save for The Young and the Restless, One Life to Live and General Hospital, the under 30 set at most soaps is pretty much comprised of rejects from the Pamela Anderson School of Acting and Pantomime.  I'll start with the soaps in most need of help and work my way up. READ MORE

Check out Kristen Alderson's One Life to Live video blog!

Note: If you can't view this in Internet Explorer you should be able to see it in Firefox.

One Life to Live's Ilene Kristen dropped by Daytime Confidential to discuss her upcoming appearance as ACME This Week's host on Saturday, October 18th at 8pm and an appearance at Cops for Causes on Thursday, October 16th.

During our visit we talk about Ilene's time on Ryan's Hope, what it was like to work with Claire Labine and whether or not "The Powers That Be" at ABC are interested in giving a wink to fans by having her and former Ryan's Hope co-star Ron Hale (General Hospital's Mike Corbin) reunite on One Life to Live or General Hospital.

Ilene reveals why Roxie and Max Holden's relationship was cut short and shares how she recently took Kristen Alderson (Starr, One Life to Live) to a Madonna concert. We discuss who Rex's father might be and Ilene talks about how September 11th affected her acting career.

To buy tickets for Saturday's ACME This Week CLICK HERE.

Related Links: Ilene Kristen on MySpace l ACME This Week l Cops for Causes

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Starr & Cole

Langston & Markko

Grumblings about post-40th anniversary writing on One Life to Live have been growing recently. Even Ron Carlivati's biggest fans and cheerleaders are scratching their heads about a perceived drop in quality, including some like our friend Nelson Branco and TV Guide's Michael Logan. Personally, I'm not 100% on board with that specific criticism. I think the day to day writing is pretty much OK and very entertaining, with some glaring missteps in plotting. Unfortunately, Carlivati has developed a tendency to Guza-fy it up a bit with endless repetition of some themes ("Who's your daddy?" indeed) and his Paul Rauch-era 80's fetish does get a bit tiring. But that's not my biggest gripe.

Why in Sam Hill are so many actors chewing scenery as if it were part of an all you can eat Red Lobster buffet? Seriously, ever since the 40th anniversary and the end of the Writers' Strike, every episode seems to have at least two or three actors who floated in on a lifeboat from the good ship SS Passions and docked in Llanview Harbor. But here is the thing: I don't really fault the actors. Bear with me and I'll tell you why. READ MORE

You know, we knew that Clint had a surprise in store for Dorian and Langston (Brittany Underwood) and even though A Martinez's run may only be a short stint I thought I'd see what everyone thinks of Langston becoming a "Cramer Woman?"

Personally, I love that this storyline brings out the softer side in Dorian (Robin Strasser). Too often we just see her as the larger than life, uber bitch, diva she is and we forget that she does have a softer side (anyone who watched the 40th Anniversary episode scenes between Dorian and Mel knows that).

What do you think of this storyline? I'd love to hear your thoughts.