General Hospital: Cupid may have to get a score card to see which of his longtime couplings will still be on-scene on General Hospital come new year.
Just when everyone was prepared to see Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Carly (now played by Laura Wright) make their way back to each other, and Emily and Nikolas (Natalia Livingston and Tyler Christopher) kiss and make up, the honchos at GH have decided to do a little mixing of the matings, and we'll soon be seeing Emily and Sonny becoming more than friends.
Emily has been close to both Sonny and Carly for years. But what with Carly's mental state still iffy, Emily can provide a strong maternal figure for the Corinthos children, whom she had cared for many times in the past. And it's not unusual for men to be attracted to their kids' nannies, especially when they look like Emily.
The pairing has some merit: Sonny needs a quieter romantic respite from the hyper-charged physical and mental relationship he's shared with Carly. And Emily needs some sexual stability after being raped by a man who looks so much like Nikolas.
Also from GH: Contrary to reports that the soap NEVER asked Tamara Braun, the second Carly (she followed Sarah Brown), to replace her replacement, Jennifer Bransford, Braun said they did approach her. But she left the show to do other things and didn't feel she should go back, at least at this time. And Alicia Leigh Willis will not renew her contract as Courtney, but will be setting her sights on pilot season instead. Courtney will be recast, and they're already taking meetings with several candidates.
The Young and the Restless: Susan Seaforth Hayes will be returning to The Young and the Restless some time in December to reprise her role as Joanna Manning, Lauren Fenmore's (Tracey E. Bregman) mother.
Seaforth Hayes and her husband, Bill Hayes (they created the super-soap couple Doug and Julie Williams on Days of Our Lives 30 years ago), are getting kudos for their beautifully written book, Like Sands Through the Hour Glass (published by the Penguin division of NAL). It's a good read.
Days of Our Lives: Bueno for Cedeno. Matt Cedeno (ex-Brandon, Days) is finally getting out of a low period and back to doing some good work. For a while, he pitched for a chain of Tex-Mex eateries to keep up with the high cost of L.A. living. But his luck has turned, and he's landing some good gigs, like his new romantic romp in Romancing the Bride, airing on the Oxygen Network, December 3.
The two-hour Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again will air on CBS on December 2. That's a Friday, folks, which means it won't have the same audience problem Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork had when it aired on a Sunday opposite 'Desperate Housewives'.
Seli Groves
