By Seli Groves, Contributor
Matthew Ashford (Jack, Days of Our Lives).
Ex-Reese accuses 'General Hospital' of bumping her over her 'bump'
Shades of Hunter Tylo (Taylor, The Bold and the Beautiful), who sued uberproducer Aaron Spelling for firing her from Melrose Place without her appearing even once on the sudser after she told him she was pregnant. Now we have Kari Wuhrer, formerly Reese on General Hospital, who is suing her former series for firing her when they learned she was expecting a child.
Wuhrer might win (as Tylo did) on the merits of her case, or lose on the grounds that producers usually have a right to determine what their characters should look like. In any event, I like that Wuhrer has called attention to the 'pandemic' of the television culture favoring skinny women characters. Fortunately, shows like B&B can feature supermodel types and still have room for those zaftig super actresses Susan Flannery and Darlene Conley neither of whose characters (Stephanie and Sally) has allowed age to dilute her attractiveness as a real woman.
GH has, as I write this, not yet commented on Wuhrer's lawsuit. But the show is beating the drum for the return of Tristan Rogers, who brought us Australian male power before Mel Gibson made his way into American cinema. Rodgers/Scorpio should be on your screen now or very soon.
For whom the Bell tolls: Drew Tyler Bell (Thomas Forrester) is still with B&B, but he's been dropped from contract to recurring status. The explanation is the usual: "It's storyline dictated."
Former Guiding Light (Annie) and current Lost (Libby) star Cynthia Watros was fined US$370 and had her license suspended for 90 days in connection with a drunk-driving charge last December. She's also required to attend 14 hours of counseling sessions.
SOAP SCRAPS: David Hasselhoff (ex-Snapper Foster, The Young and the Restless, and Baywatch) has split with his wife of 16 years, Pamela Hasselhoff. Some are predicting a nasty divorce, especially over the custody issue for their two daughters.
Paolo Seganti, who played Damian Grimaldi, Lily's (Martha Byrne) former husband, on As the World Turns, could be back in Oakdale just about the time you read this.
The gay-bashing story on GH in which Lucas (Ben Hogestyn) is brutally attacked after coming out has a lot of my readers claiming it's too violent. But other readers say it's an important story since it shows that so many gay teens live under constant threat from goons whose brains have barely evolved beyond the reptilian stage.
As I write this, Y&R and multi-Image Award nominee Kristoff St. John (Neil) have yet to sign a contract extension.
You can still catch Matthew Ashford (Jack, Days of Our Lives) starring in Deceit on the boards at the El Portal Forum Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Performances are on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The show will run through February 19.
