Eva Longoria, 'Desparate Housewives', Phillis (Michelle Stafford) 'Y&R'., Fox (Justin Hartley) 'Passions'.,Siren (Brandi Burkhardt) 'Passions'.IT'S ALWAYS exciting to see a soap actor 'graduate' to prime-time TV, but at the same time, we want our favourites to stay in daytime, continuing to play the heroine who fights organised crime by day and tucks her kids into bed at night, or the spiky-haired rebel who fixes cars by day and mends broken hearts at night.
Well, as of now, none of the pilot series with daytime stars attached was picked up by any of the major networks for the new fall season. Secrets of a Small Town is not on ABC's fall schedule which is surprising, considering it starred the tabloids' latest favourite cover girl, Denise Richards, and was created by Charles Pratt Jr., who is a consulting producer on the ABC hit Desperate Housewives. It was also
supposed to be the big break for Tyler Christopher (Nikolas on General Hospital), a very
talented actor who will now have to wait a little longer before
non-soap-watchers know him as anything more than Eva Longoria's ex-husband.
Then there's Michelle Stafford, whose pilot Southern Comfort is not on the fall
schedule either. As much as it would be a delight to see Stafford in a drama about the Memphis mob, The Young and the Restless just wouldn't be the same without Phyllis Abbott, who is in the midst of a front-burner "Who's the daddy?"
storyline that's just heating up.
Two other promising shows that are not on the fall schedule, but could get a second chance in early 2007 are Mercy Reef and Split Decision. Zach Roerig (Casey on As the World Turns) won't be leaving his daytime gig anytime soon, since the Aaron Spelling teen drama Split Decision was not given the green light, but it might be given a chance after some other shows inevitably fail.
Probably the biggest omission from the CW network's fall schedule was Mercy Reef, the much-anticipated spin-off of Smallville, about another superhero, Aquaman. Justin Hartley was cast in the lead in what seemed like minutes after taping his final scene as Fox Crane on Passions, but alas, the network decided to bring back 7th Heaven and One Tree Hill instead of rolling the dice on what seemed like a sure bet. However, as with Split Decision, there is the possibility that it could surface as a mid-season replacement. There is even an online petition posted by fans who want their Aquaman. For those who hope Hartley will come back to Passions, maybe he could, and could bring his amphibious character to Harmony to splash around with Siren the mermaid (Brandi Burkhardt)? Seriously, though, let's hope the CW has a change of heart.
