Soap Opera Network is reporting former Passions writers Marlene Clark Poulter and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr. have been hired as head writers of Days of Our Lives. Poulter was associate head writer for NBC's wacky-but-popular cult sudser from 1999-2008. Before that she wrote for DAYS from 1991-1999. Thomas wrote for Passions during its entire run. READ MORE

Former Passions and Days of our Lives star Lindsay Hartley makes her All My Children debut as Cara Finn on December 9. Since AMC introduced Jordi Vilasuso as Dr. Griffin Castillo, the man who stole Cara from Jake (Ricky Paull Goldin) in Africa, fans have wanted to know more about Cara. Like Vilasuso's webisode, AMC has released Cara The Back Story Part 1. Watch it after the jump! READ MORE

Be sure to check out former soap stud-turned-Hunky Handyman, Rib Hillis when he returns to ACME Comedy Theatre this Friday, Aug. 13 at 9 pm PST to host Unscripted Hollywood Dream Role. Hillis, who currently stars in A&E's home improvement series $100 Makeover, recently hosted ACME Saturday Night. Tickets for Unscripted Hollywood Dream Role are $8 online and $12 at the door. ACME Comedy Theatre is located at 135 N. La Brea Ave in Hollywood.

Today, The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) released its third annual Network Responsibility Index, a report measuring gay, lesbian, and trangender representation on television on various major networks including broadcast & cable covering the broadcast period from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. From the report:

Of the broadcast networks, ABC and the CW received "Good" scores, Fox was marked "Adequate," and NBC and CBS were marked "Failing." While the report takes into account the substance of portrayals up to a point, much of a network's score is based on the simple visibility of characters...On the cable side, HBO was the clear winner (vampires count!), emerging as "Good" (as did Showtime, though with a lower score), while networks including Lifetime and FX were "Adequate" and A&E and TBS were "Failing."

Oddly, daytime serials were not included.

My Take: I find it extraordinarily curious that GLAAD, which has several representatives and bloggers speak and write about As The World Turns' Luke (Van Hansis) & Noah (Jake Silbermann), Guiding Light's Olivia (Crystal Chapell) & Natalia (Jessica Leccia) or All My Children's Bianca (Eden Riegel) & Reese (Tamara Braun) in many interviews or on its website did not include soaps in its survey. If their goal is to track LGBT representation, how do these characters, including Passions' Simone (Cathy Jeneene Doe) — all of which aired during the period covered in their survey — not merit inclusion in the study? Yes, the study only covers prime time but that in and of itself reveals the flaw of it. READ MORE

Ever thought about sailing away with your favorite soap hottie?

Well now's your chance!!

A friend of mine heard about this event and, of course, knowing my Naughty Nicki-ness knew that it would be perfect for me. What's this perfect event you ask? Well it's called non other than the Soap Hunks Cruise.

Carnival cruise line will be hosting this 4-day Baja, Mexico cruise starting October 25th and returning October 29th, 2009!! Prices run from around $649 to $1400 per person depending on the type of suite you choose and how soon you register.

So far the only star to confirm attendance is Eric Martsolf but I'm sure there will be plenty more to confirm in the near future. There is a place to sign up for updates on attendees and other details but I will keep you up to date on here as well.

To see more on this event and to sign up for updates just visit the website.

On this website you can view what the rooms look like and also see the other amenities on board the cruise such as food and entertainment. It looks like great fun and I for one am going to try to go....but we will see!!

So for now enjoy and I will be back with updates as they come!