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Soap Opera Update
Excerpt from a Cover Story entitled, "Sami's In For The Fight Of Her Life!"
Since Sami and Lucas are related in one way or another to nearly everyone in Salem, the dramatic ripples of what's going on between them should reach far and wide. But those caught most directly in the crossfire are bound, as usual, to be Austin and Carrie, whose year-old marriage already seems to be fraying at the seams… thanks to Mike Horton and Carrie's own maternal instincts!
At the same moment that Sami is planning to sign guardianship of Will over to Austin, Carrie is for the first time seriously considering having a child. However, with the responsibility of caring for a vulnerable, possibly motherless Will looming on the horizon, Austin might now be the one to back away from the notion of parenthood. Will Carrie be relieved by this - or will Austin's devotion to Sami drive yet another wedge into their marriage, pushing Carrie and Austin still further apart… and Carrie into the arms of Mike Horton?
Soap Opera Update
VCR DATES
Wed, September 30 - Craig and Nancy decide to enlist Nurse Ali's assistance to overthrow Mike's regime at the hospital.
Fri, October 2 - Ali asks Mike back to her place for an intimate birthday surprise.
Soap Opera Update
SPOTLIGHT - DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Roark Critchlow loves his at-home role….Playing Daddy
Critchlow
and his wife Maria are looking forward to the release of their new film and
the birth of their new child.
Who wouldn't want to play doctor with DAYS OF OUR LIVES' dashing Mike Horton, the new Chief of Staff at Salem's University Hospital? As played by Roark Critchlow, the character has lately developed into a bonafide heartthrob. Meanwhile, Mike's own heart is aching, given his more-than-friendly feelings for the very married Carrie Reed.
Mike is deeply torn over what to do about Carrie. Critchlow, however, is torn about the way Mike is handling his predicament.
"I really hate the way Mike is lying to Ali," the actor admits. He's referring, of course, to the nurse with whom Mike is feebly attempting a courtship.
"I know Mike is trying to convince himself that he could fall for Ali," Critchlow says. "But when he's talking to her, he's usually looking at Carrie!"
Once the director yells "cut!" Critchlow turns off the inner torment and heads home. But his workday isn't necessarily over; he and his wife Maria have joined forces to make movies.
The couple's latest creation, however, is not of the cinematic variety: Brewer is expecting their third child and they already know it's going to be a boy, and their two daughters, Jara, 6, and Reign, 4, can't wait to be big sisters. According to Dad, "They think it's fantastic."
Soap Opera Update
Soap Weddings - Why do soaps do wedding better than anyone else?
If you think putting together a real-life wedding is an incredible project, consider soaps. They not only stage them with one-tenth of the preparation time, but they have to contend with the unpredictable behavior of their characters. From the trends to the glamour to the laughs, here's our one-stop alphabetical guide to the splendor of soap weddings!
Here are the ones that apply to Days….
Double weddings: On Valentine's Day 1985, DAYS' Mickey and Maggie said their own vows while their adopted daughter Melissa married Pete.
Foreign exchange: DAYS' Sami fell hard for Italian Stallion Franco, unaware that he was only after her for his green card. But in August, moments before walking down the aisle, Sami called a halt to the proceedings after learning that her groom had a sweet tooth for a stripper named Candy.
Gowns: Every time a gal walks down the aisle, a gorgeous gown has to go with her. Most often, a dress is fashioned specifically for the actress who will wear it. DAYS' costume designer Richard Bloore, for one, enjoys the bridal challenge. "That's when I have some fun," says Bloore, who worked on Sami's wedding confection. "I usually spend a couple of weeks thinking about the design and talking to the actress. Alison Sweeney (Sami) wanted her dress to be very simple." After nine years of fashioning "more wedding gowns than I could count," does Bloore have an all-time favorite? "I loved the dress I did for Jennifer and Jack's 1991 wedding," he says of the memorable nuptials that wound up turning into a rodeo-type show. "And we had to make three of them, because it started out as a wedding, then became a big stunt event."
Interrupted ceremonies: If you really, really, really want to make sure to tie the knot, don't hold your ceremony in Salem. Practically every wedding on DAYS OF OUR LIVES is a ceremonious interruptus. Recent non-nuptial couples include Austin and Carrie, 1995: Their big day was halted when Sami showed up and announced that she was pregnant with Austin's child. Austin and Sami, 1997: Their ceremony shut down when Carrie showed up and announced the baby was Lucas'. Bo and Hope, 1996: They never made it to the altar after Hope isunderstood a scene she saw between Bo and Billie. Sami and Franco, 1998: The fact that she shot him did them in!
Objections: It's a soap-wedding tradition that you can practically hear a pin drop for a few seconds after the minister says, "Speak now or forever hold your peace." Almost always, there's a brokenhearted lover waiting to sing his or her sorrows to a church full of well-wishers. One of soapdom's loudest protests came last year from DAYS' Carrie, whole longtime love Austin was set to marry her sister-from-hell Sami. The wedding was shut down - and Sami shut up - after Carrie cold-cocked her with a strong right hook.
Tacky, tacky, tacky: Who could ever forget last year's Elvis-inspired almost-wedding between DAYS' Susan and John? But it wasn't just the Elvis element. It's not every ceremony that comes to a screeching halt because the bride's false teeth have shot across the room. And Susan's way-over-the-top dress (another Richard Bloore design) was such a hoot that it's been handed over for posterity to Planet Hollywood.
A chuckle: For the category of Virgin brides, all it said was, "We're thinking… we're thinking…"
Soap Opera Update
FAMILY PORTRAITS
Sure, OUR brothers and sisters look different over time - but on soap operas, looks AND behavior change dramatically!
Sami and Carrie
(There's a past picture of Sami and Carrie together, both with light blonde hair. And then there's a more recent picture of them together, both with darker hair.)
Now for the sibling rivalry award! DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Sami (Alison Sweeney) seemed innocent enough when she came to town with her wide eyes and Barbie-doll looks. However, her older sister Carrie (Christie Clark) soon learned (well, arguably not as soon as she should have!) that Sami was out for blood - and Carrie's true love Austin!
Soaps In Depth
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Back-from-the-dead husbands… marriage vows… underhanded deals… Nothing could keep these couples apart! If these intrepid couples had any common sense, they probably wouldn't be as devoted as they are. For, ordinarily, when fate dishes out obstacles that rival biblical catastrophes - you know, everything from house fires to contractual fine print - pairs part company. There's no fighting destiny, right? Apparently, wrong. Because these daring duos have challenged fate, and as a result, they either have achieved - or have come close to - the happily ever after about which we all dream.
(The article talks about three couples: Joe & Paulina from Another World, Gregory & Annie from Sunset Beach, and Mike & Carrie from Days Of Our Lives.)
The Single Guy and the Married Woman - Mike & Carrie
Mike and Carrie are discovering that they are the perfect couple in every respect except one: She's married! Their victory over Craig prompted them to surrender to a passionate kiss. Now, Austin's loyalty to Sami is adding fuel to Mike and Carrie's fire. She has nowhere to turn but to Mike!
He was: One of Salem's most gifted doctors and most eligible doctors.
She was: Titan's beautiful and very married public relations director.
But together, they were: A dynamite team. Mike was dedicated to saving lives, and lifelong friend Carrie was committed to saving his career. And during the race for the chief-of-staff post at University Hospital, she had her work cut out for her. Nonetheless, she thwarted Nancy and Craig's nasty schemes to push Mike out of the race. ("So what if Mike's mother's a nutjob," she argued. "You'd be crazy not to hire him!") Even when Mike was manipulated into a compromising position with blonde bombshell Shelly, Carrie stood by her man. She played Sherlock Holmes, tracked down the tart, and implored her to come clean. And surprise, surprise: Her impassioned speech - which came straight from the heart - worked. Mike not only got back his sterling rep, he got that cush job, too. Finally, the couple's joy at overcoming all of the obstacles in their path spilled over into a passionate kiss at the Horton/Brady Fourth Of July barbecue.
And in the end: The two may be working closely together, but they refuse - perhaps futilely - to let their personal feelings get in the middle of their professional relationship. Mike certainly doesn't want to play homewrecker and undermine Carrie's marriage to Austin. And, she has vowed to stay true to her vows. For now, the pals must be content with casting longing glances across the room at each other… and to remember the physical fireworks they experienced on Independence Day.
Soaps In Depth
EVIL CUPIDS - Will Nancy and Craig drive Carrie and Austin apart?
Craig and Nancy's willingness to break every other commandment on record to entice Mike and Carrie into committing adultery is paying off: Austin or no Austin, the "just pals" seem awfully curious to know each other in the biblical sense. But while maliciously matchmaking, Nancy and Craig might want to pay heed to Salem history. They aren't the only ones who have tried to snip the heartstrings of a supercouple.
(The article goes on to talk about Stefano messing with John, Marlena and Roman; Tony being jealous of Kristen and John; Kristen trying to keep John from Marlena; and Billie coming between Bo and Hope.)
Unfortunately for Austin, Nancy and Craig are determined to use his wife in their scheme to push Mike out of his coveted chief-of-staff position. Also unfortunately for Austin, they haven't had to push too hard to get Carrie and Mike together. After all, when Nancy plotted to have her hired as the hospital's PR director, Carrie didn't even ask her hubby before she said yes. When Craig schemed to get the two closer by cranking up the air conditioner, Mike and Carrie didn't think twice about huddling together. At the rate Craig and Nancy are going, Austin may soon be the one out in the cold.
Soaps In Depth
Drop Dead Gorgeous! These fearsome femmes fatales are pretty and witty and… armed and dangerous!
In psychological circles, these kittens are what degree-bearing doctors usually term "slightly unbalanced," "mildly schizophrenic," or "lobotomically challenged." But, for us insiders, they're simply mad, bad and/or dangerous to know. What drives these vicious vixens to the edge, propels them to commit crimes and jump-starts their tirades? Generally only two things: a tall, handsome man with a heart of gold or a tall, handsome man with a pot of gold. But after targeting their prey and taking the plunge, do these rabid hellcats always land on their feet? Doesn't matter. They've still got eight lives left.
Pool Little Witch Girl - Sami Brady
The Bad Girl: They say that blood is thicker than water, but when it comes to nasty Sami and her sweet half-sister, Carrie, that old rule doesn't apply. Why not? Simple. Sami's got nothing but vinegar running through her veins. Nonetheless, her heart pumps on - it just so happens that it pumps a wee bit harder whenever Carrie's husband, Austin, walks into the room.
Her Worst Stunt: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride? Ha! Not according to Sami. On Carrie and Austin's big day, this vixen wasn't content with catching the bouquet - she wanted to throw the wedding itself. And so she did, by making sure to reveal that she had a bun in her oven that came courtesy of some hot cooking with the groom.
Reaping What She Sows: Despite the pound of lies and pinch of deceit that Sami served up, her story didn't mix. Carrie eventually discovered that the little love child wasn't Austin's, but rather, Austin's half-brother Lucas'. It was like deja vu when Carrie strode up the aisle at Sami and Austin's wedding to make her vow-halting declaration. However, this sister did more than upset the wedding; she decked Sami as well. Today, the junior vamp is even worse off than she was then, and stands accused of murdering her two-timing con artist-fiance, Franco Kelly!
In Sickness And In Hell - Nancy Wesley
The Bad Girl: Mrs. Wesley is a special sort of schemer. Instead of cheating, stealing and lying for herself, she does it all for her man, Craig, the would-be chief of staff at Univeristy Memorial Hospital.
Her Worst Stunt: Nancy convinced a down-on-her-luck mom to enjoy a little extra healthcare for her asthmatic son - provided that she play prostitute to Craig's rival, Dr. Mike. The foolish femme fatale did as Nancy asked, luring Mike to her hotel room under the most innocent of pretenses, then proceeding to drug and disrobe him. It was just an act, but it looked like the real thing to the board members who, thanks to Nancy, walked in on the scandalous scene just minutes before they were to announce the new chief of staff.
Reaping What She Sows: Nancy's scam was a success, but not for long. Carrie-Do-Right got wind of Nancy's trickery and convinced the lady of the evening to come clean to the board about the set-up. She did, and unfortunately for the Wesley's, her testimonial won Mike the chief of staff gig.
Soaps In Depth
STAR TALK
Question: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Roark Critchlow (Mike, DAYS) - "Watching sports, which I do way too avidly. Any kind of sport, any kind of competition. I really like the idea of humans triumphing through sheer effort."
Austin Peck (Austin, DAYS) - "Snickers Bars. They're deadly."
Soaps In Depth
Speak Out! - AUSTIN'S ATTITUDE
Things are tense in the Reed household these days, and viewers think Austin should watch his step, or he might push Carrie right into Mike's arms! "Carrie works very hard, but comes home to a house full of tension and fighting, not the sanctuary she should come home to," says a reader from New York City. "Who would have thought a doctor would have more time than Austin, a man who seems to spend very little time at the office!"
Soaps In Depth
Let SID know what's on your mind…
Write: Speak Out!
C/O Soaps In Depth
270 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
E-mail: SOAPSID@COMPUSERVE.COM
Soaps In Depth
Readers' Poll
TOP 5 COUPLES: #2 - Carrie Brady & Mike Horton (Carrie & Austin aren't listed)
TOP 5 ACTORS: #1 - Roark Critchlow
TOP 5 ACTRESSES: #2 - Christie Clark
This issue's question: Can Austin help Sami without doing permanent damage to his marriage?
To respond to this question, and vote for your favorite couple, actor and actress, send a letter or email. Please send your responses by October 8.
Write:
Readers' Poll
c/o Soaps In Depth
270 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
E-mail: SOAPSID@COMPUSERVE.COM
Soaps In Depth
INDEPTH ANSWERS
Q. In 1994, DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Mike Horton was being blackmailed about his involvement with bombings in the Middle East. Was the blackmailer's identity ever revealted? -- Bobbi Dolbin, Martinsburgh, Penn.
A. Yes. It was Stefano who anonymously phoned Mike, threatening to expose the doctor's inadvertent part in terrorist activities. Desperate to mollify his mysterious harasser, Mike agreed to provide him with the security code to Marlena's penthouse.
Q. Who is Carrie's mom on DAYS? Also, who is Lucas' father? -- Maggie McDowell, Garden Valley, Calif.
A. Carrie's mother is Anna Brady DiMera, who was divorced from Roman in 1983. After her subsequent marriage to Tony DiMera also failed, Anna left Salem for Europe. Lucas Roberts is the product of Bill Horton's long ago extramarital affair with Kate. Bill currently is doing medical research in Africa.
Q. Didn't DAYS' Renee Jones (Lexie) and Kevin Spirtas (Craig) appear in the Friday The 13th films? -- Les Mathison, Cranbury, NJ
A. Before these actors won their current roles on DAYS, they spent some sleepless nights attempting to elude the series' infamous hockey-masked killer! Jones screamed in Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, and Spirtas - then using the surname Blair - did his own bloodletting in Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood.
Soaps In Depth
SNEAK PREVIEW
Ali and Mike continue to grow closer while Carrie watches from the sidelines.
Soaps Opera Weekly
DARBO TALKS
Patrika Darbo on her scene-stealing DAYS role, and what it’s like to be a big, beautiful woman in a field of Reed-thin models.
Nancy Wesley, Craig’s conniving wife on Days Of Our Lives, took Salem and University Hospital by storm when Patrika Darbo debuted in the role this summer. Although viewers would not have known it by the way Nancy seemed so sure of herself, Darbo - who has numerous film and television credits - was nervous about making her daytime debut. "The first day everyone said, ‘What is that noise?’ It was my knees knocking together!" the actress says, laughing.
Playing such a fun role helped ease her fears. "It’s wonderful to play evil because usually I am the neighbor next door who is scatterbrained, or the mother or sister who is scatterbrained. Nancy has that element where she is insulting you while at the same time she is smiling and being ever so sweet. And it is my Southern upbringing where I can say, ‘Oh, darling, your hair looks just fabulous. Isn’t it wonderful what Clairol is doing today?’"
Nancy says exactly what’s on her mind, no matter how insensitive it may be. "All of us can turn on a dime if we are allowed to speak our feelings," Darbo explains. "Since I have been brought up with, ‘You don’t say that,’ this is an opportunity to say what I want or to be conniving. We all have that ability and we suppress it, but this character doesn’t. Nancy had one line, ‘My daddy told me it didn’t matter how I played the game as long as I won.’ "
Craig and Nancy’s relationship is like few others on daytime, with Nancy calling most of the shots. "They have one of those marriages where she loves him a great deal and he loves her, but she understands what his flirting is all about. He treats her like a queen ‘cause her daddy has the money. But there is an attraction between them."
Darbo also has some theories on whether there are Wesley children lurking about somewhere. "We don’t know yet if we have children or not. Kevin (Spirtas, who plays Craig) thinks Craig shows everyone a picture and says, ‘This is my family,’ then thinks to himself: I’ve paid them to sit," Darbo says, nothing that she wouldn’t put it past Craig and Nancy to approach unsuspecting parents and ask them, " ‘Can we borrow your children for the afternoon? You can have them back at 5.’ "
Some viewers may have been surprised to see that Craig’s wife isn’t played by a model-type. "I am a big, beautiful woman, not a normal soap opera woman," Darbo says. "I spent the first few days thinking: Any second they are going to come in and say, ‘You are not the one we want.’ "
According to Darbo, being a plus-size woman has its challenges in an industry that places importance on an actor’s appearance. "Camryn Manheim (Ellenor on The Practice) opened the door for big, beautiful women for nighttime. She is not the ditzy neighbor next door; she is an attorney, a smart woman. She had a relationship. And now for daytime, the producers of Days Of Our Lives have been so wonderful to open this door. Because I do exist; I am not just a one-dimensional creature. I am a sexual person, as all big, beautiful women are.
"The industry is tough," she continues. "The last part I lost was to an actress - I am not going to name names - that they padded to a size 18. I can’t tell you how many people will say, ‘You have such a pretty face, why don’t you lose weight?’ And you want to just say to them, ‘Who the hell do you think you are? Yeah, I have a pretty face, but you’re rude.’
"If this opens the door for other people or makes another overweight woman think: Screw this starving myself. I am going to eat sensibly and not worry about it. Or, I am not going to eat sensibly and not worry about it, if your doctor says your blood pressure is OK, your heart is beating fine, your cholesterol is good and you’re exercising. We have children on diets who haven’t even reached puberty yet; or those who eat a hamburger and then go in the bathroom and bring it back. We are looking at the surface, and there is a lot more to all of us. However, I don’t want to sound bitter, because I’m not; I have a very good career, and it’s only getting better."
Born in Jacksonville, Fla., Darbo was encouraged by her parents to become an actress; she studied at Georgia Southern College and performed with Theatre Atlanta. After moving to California, Darbo took a brief detour; working as a credit manager. Soon after quitting the restrictive 9-to-5 job to concentrate full-time on acting, Darbo met writer/producer Del Shores and was cast in his play Cheatin’, which led to a role in both his play and the feature film Daddy’s Dyin’... Who’s Got the Will? She then played Penny Baker for one season on the sitcom Step by Step. One of Darbo’s most memorable roles was playing Roseanne Arnold in the TV-movie Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes. Her feature film credit include Leaving Normal, In the Line of Fire, Speed 2: Cruise Control and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Darbo and her husband, Rolf, met during a production of Anything Goes; he was the stage manager and she was in the chorus. Playing tribute to their theatrical beginning, the couple exchanged vows in a most appropriate place - "on state at the Golden Mill Playhouse in Burbank (Calif.). It was a production called To Tie a Knot, starring me as the bride, Rolf as the groom, introducing the judge," Darbo explains. "Cast of characters were the people putting the thing together; original story conceived by our parents. We gave programs out as people came into the theater. Theater was the thing that brought us together, and without a strong religious prospect at that time, and my husband having been married before, this meant more to us."
Preparing for her career also gave Darbo some practical training for a good marriage and home. "I always tease my husband that he married me because I could work any power tool," Darbo jokes. "I took a ‘How to Build a Set’ class in school, and you learn how to do it all. When we did the addition to our house, my husband and I and two other guys did it. I got all the crap work. They did the first couple of nails, and I had to go back and put the rest of them in. When you have a sledgehammer in your hand and you’re tearing off plaster, you get rid of all your pent-up ugliness!
"I also recently took a class called "Tool Time For Women’ and I had a great time," says Darbo, who adds that the class was a great investment. "When it costs $65 for the plumber to walk in, screw a bolt and put a washer in, it pays to take the class."
Darbo partly attributes her strong do-it-herself beliefs to the Church of Religious Science, "a Christian-based science of mind, by Ernest Holmes. If you don’t like the way things are going, then change them. Nothing says you have to be cemented in. If you don’t like your job, change it. If you don’t like your marriage, maybe this was not the person you were supposed to be with. The only thing that stops you is you."
Soaps Opera Weekly
SNEAK PEEKS - Week of September 28
Carrie is moved by Mike's words.
Craig and Nancy decide to enlist Ali in their effort to oust Mike from his hospital position. Ali plans an intimate surprise for Mike.
Soaps Opera Weekly
VIEWERS' VOICE - Poll Results....
Days of Our Lives: Do you agree with Austin's opinion of kissing?
"It's like potato chips; you can never have just one," quipped a fan who agrees with Austin. Other Days devotees drew a sketchy line between right and wrong. "Yes [I agree], but not if it's somebody as cute as Mike," exclaimed a viewer. Many readers were thrilled at a Mike/Carrie pairing, but felt the lip locks should be postponed until AFTER a Reed marriage meltdown.
What is your storyline scenario for wildest dreams?
"Austin divorces Carrie and falls madly in love with Sami," suggested one dedicated Days viewer. Other Salem supporters think a spouse swap would be "hysterical: How about Nancy/Stefano and Craig/Celeste?"
Soaps Opera Digest
EDITORS' CHOICE - Digest Salutes The Best In Daytime
A Wedding To Die For, DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Since soap wedding hardly ever come off as planned, it wasn't exactly a shock that Sami and Franco didn't make it to the "I do's" on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. But the way these nuptials crashed and burned turned out to be far more entertaining than we had imagined, offering edge-of-your-seat storytelling for a full week.
Under the deft guidance of Head Writer Sally Sussman-Morina, all the pieces of the puzzle came together just before the scheduled nuptials: Austin figured out that Franco has been cheating with Candy the stripper, while Kate learned that Franco was marrying Sami only to avoid deportation. As the clueless guests chatted and danced in the garden, pandemonium erupted in the house. Lucas lurked around Will's room, waiting to kidnap his son. In the library, Kate confronted Franco about his true reasons for marrying Sami. While she called an INS agent, Franco grabbed a fireplace poker, ready to kill. In the guest house, Austin had the unfortunate task of telling the blissful bride that Franco had been cheating on her. "I'm going to kill that bastard," Sami vowed, then left for the main house.
Uh-oh.
Before Sami even got her chance, Lucas pumped a bullet into Franco's back to save his mom. "Lucas, you killed him!" Kate cried, then ushered her son out of the house, wondering how she was going to keep him out of jail. Just then, Sami made her way into the room, and promptly passed out at the sight of her gruesome groom. Quicker than you could say cover-up, Kate hauled Sami's body over to where Lucas had shot Franco, wiped the prints off the gun and placed it in Sami's hands.
While those developments might have been enough on other shows, DAYS didn't stop there. A drunken Lucas, already on probation for drinking and driving, got into a car accident with Will in the back seat. At the hospital later, the injured Lucas found himself on the receiving end of Sami's wrath. But while Will was on the operating table, Abe arrested Sami on murder charges.
Alison Sweeney (Sami) did an impressive job, playing confusion with whether or not she actually shot Franco, outrage that Lucas would put their son in danger and tears of grief for her poor son, who battled for his life. It's hard to pull off that seesaw of emotions convincingly, but Sweeney put forth some of her best work yet. And in the end, she did the unthinkable: She made us feel sorry for Sami.
Austin felt sorry for Sami, too, which provided a fascinating subplot. While Carrie painfully watched Austin comfort Sami, Mike stepped in yet again to give Carrie a shoulder to cry on. "It's so good to be in your arms," Carrie sighed. Uh, happy anniversary to you, too, Mrs. Reed. The gulf between Carrie and Austin seemed to widen as the one between him and Sami narrowed.
We're not saying that DAYS doesn't deliver every day of the week, but some payoffs are more satisfying than others (remember Kristen?). It's only a matter of time before Sami wises up and realizes that she's been had. And we'll be glued to the set for that reveal, too.
Soaps Opera Weekly
WHAT WILL HAPPEN
Carrie organizes a birthday party for Mike, but Ali takes all the credit.
Soaps Opera News
CAST PERFECT
DAYS casting director Fran Bascom is responsible for hiring Salem's sexiest and smartest actors. What's her secret?
Fran Bascom is not a name that many Days of Our Lives fans will be familiar with - but every actor on the show knows who she is. That's because Bascom has been the casting director for the popular daytime drama for the past five years.
Bascom worked for MTM (Mary Tyler Moore's company) and Columbia Television before entering the world of daytime, "But of all the shows I've done, I really, really like daytime," she says. "I think it can be very creative. There are so many different parts to cast, so many different types, and it's a much more creative process. Sometimes you're limited because usually you have to go for the 'beautiful people,' but not always."
Of course, the decision of who gets a part isn't exclusively hers - Bascom works closely with Executive Producers Ken Corday and Tom Langan. "We keep in touch constantly, and we seem to be on the same wavelength about actors," she notes. "I understant them, and I think they like what I've been doing."
Whilel Bascom has many times told the legendary tale of how Kevin Costner had once been brought in for the soap and not selected, she is happy to talk about some of the proud few who actually did make it onto DAYS.
"My second hire was Roark Critchlow (Mike), and I thought he was just wonderful," she says. "He was an interesting actor, and I looked at some film on him. I could see the progress he had made from when he first started, and I thought, 'I think he's quite wonderful.' "
More recently, Bascom cast Jensen Ackles (Eric). "Isn't he darling?" she coos. "I'm so delighted with him. He came into read, and I desperately wanted him for the show."
And two auditions still stand out in her head: Victor Alfieri (Franco) and Tanya Boyd (Celeste). "Victor's manager asked if we could please meet him and I agreed," Bascom recalls. Whenthe young Italian actor came in, she gave him a generic scene to read. "Only this one happened to be very complicated with an attorney interrogating someone. Of course, his English wasn't too good at the time, and he went stumbling over all those words and everything. I felt so sorry for him, but he's such a sweet guy. And he's very good-natured and has a wonderful sense of humor. We laugh about it now."
Bascom had known the stunning Boyd as an actor for years before bringing her in. "I said they were looking for someone with a Mediterranean accent or something, and she said, 'Well, I'll work on it.' " Boyd remembers coming up with an accent that blended Natasha from The Bullwinkle Show with a Caribbean flair. "She came back and read for me, and I said, 'Yeah, that will do,' " Bascom recalls. "She really is gorgeous and such a good actress."
Originally from Buffalo, New York, Bascom moved to Los Angeles with her mother. One day while driving by Universal Studios, she noticed the personnel sign on the door. "I decided to go in an dput in my application, and I wound up in the stenographic pool," she says.
After working for years as a secretary and assistant, moving from production company to production company, she ended up working for the casting director of MTM. "I was her assistant for a while, and then she put me on Lou Grant. " At the time, the drama's ratings were in the gutter and Bascom was not permitted to bring in "big names" to guest star on the show because of economics. So she went to her first love: the theater. "I brought in Ed Harris for a couple of episodes," she remembers. "He was doing a lot of theater in those days. He was fabulous. And we used people like Danny Glover, who had done theater in San Francisco, and then later on we even used Michael J. Fox. I think he played an 18-year old boy who was trying to divorce his parents, if my memory serves me correctly."
After a successful stint at Lou Grant, Bascom moved to Columbia Television and ended up working with producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason, creators of Designing Women, Evening Shade and Hearts Afire. In 1993, Bascom was asked to fill in temporarily for the DAYS casting director, who was going on vacation. "I said, 'I'd be delighted.' And then she decided that she wasn't coming back, and that's how I inherited the job."
At the time, she was not a dedicated DAYS fan. "I didn't have time to watch because I was always working," she explains. "When I started, I did a crash course in watching the shows and tried to get caught up on the characters."
So what does Bascom look for in an actor? "Well, I love to see theater on a resume," she states. "At one time, it didn't seem to be as important. When I was working at Universal as a secretary, people came in from New York, and the casting director would say, 'Oh, you haven't done any film.' They said, 'Well, no.' But they had this wonderful resume with Broadway theater. He said, 'Sorry, we can't use you.' But with the advent of half-hour comedy, I think a theater-trained actor is very important because you are working in front of a live audience. And there are constant changes being made, you have to really think on your feet. Same thing with soap operas. It's all very fast. You really have to be able to deliver."
While Bascom uses agent submissions in the casting process, she remains steadfast in her determination to find unknown talent by going to theater and showcases as well as looking through the hundreds of headshots and resumes she receives each week from hopefuls.
"I try to see as much theater as possible - it's impossible to keep up with it all, but I try," she says with a smile. "And we bring people in from a resume or a picture. I always feel very bad because we get so many photos and resumes that you can't really keep them all, and I really feel bad for the actors spending all that money on pictures."
When she does bring in an actor, she always tries to make them comfortable. "Most of the time people come in and they are rather nervous," she notes. "We try to put them at ease. You know, it's nerve-wracking. We want desperately for them to be good."
(There are comments from Jensen Ackles, Krista Allen-Morrit, Arianne Zuker, and the following from Kevin Spirtas.)
Kevin Spirtas (Craig)
"Since I've been on the show for six months now, people will come up to me and ask how they can get work on a soap. I tell them, 'Just send Fran a notice when you're working.' She's an avid theatergoer. Fran is someone who takes her job seriously and she's very thorough. She called me in because she knew who I was. We've know each other for almost ten years, and she's watched me grow up and mature as an actor. In the casting files in her mind, she retains that information and she sought me out. I was without an agent when she found me this time around. She retains the knowledge, and she knows when to bring it up. As a result, here I am on the show. She takes her work and her job very seriously. As far as I'm concerned, she's the angel of all casting directors."
Soaps Opera Weekly
DAYS Preview - Week of October 5
Mike convinces Carrie to think about having a baby - with Austin.
Soaps Opera Magazine
VIEWERS' GUIDE
Friday, Oct 2: Ali invites Mike back to her place for an intimate birthday surprise.
Week of Oct 5 to Oct 9: Mike convinces Carrie to consider having a baby with Austin.
Soaps Opera Weekly
PERSONAL APPEARANCES
Roark Critchlow (Mike) appears at the Funny Farm Comedy Club, Holiday Inn, Youngstown, Ohio, Oct 10, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Information: (330) 759-4242.
Soaps Opera Weekly
BACKSTAGE NEWS & GOSSIP
Islands In The Stream - Clark and her beau, Kent, escaped L.A. for a Caribbean getaway.
Christie Clark (Carrie) and her beau, Kent, recently returned from Jamaica, where they enjoyed a fun-filled getaway. "We took a 30-foot dive," Clark shares. "We saw barracuda, lots of stingrays and squid, which are so weird because they're translucent, so you can see their insides."
On land, too, Clark was amused by the wildlife. "It's mostly national forest, so there are wild burros all over, and it's very lush... kind of like in Jurassic Park. There were huge trees that looked like a dinosaur about to fall."
The couple also went to St. John's and St. Thomas. "It was all very low-key," says Clark, "but there were lots of women who quietly recognized me on St. Thomas. The show is very popular there."
Soaps Opera Weekly
STAR STATS - DAYS' PATRIKA DARBO
Character: Nancy Wesley
Height: 5-foot-3
Hair: Red
Eyes: Hazel
Birthdate/astrological sign: April 6 / Aries, "the stubborn ram"
Birthplace: Jacksonville, Fla.
Family: I have my mom, sister, brother, four nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.
Education: Briarcliff High School in Atlanta, Ga., and Georgia Southern College in Stateboro, Ga.
Love Status: Married to husband Rolf
Pets: Two dogs: Shooter, a shepherd-chow-Akita, and Rocky, a cairn terrier
Hobbies: I like to sew, knit and crochet.
Favorite actor/actress: Spencer Tracy / Katherine Hepburn
Favorite movies: Pat and Mike, Gone with the Wind
Favorite singer: John Gary. My mom had his albums, and I remember his three-octave voice. Now I'm a country fan, so Garth Brooks is a current favorite.
Favorite book: Jane Eyre. As a kid, I read it in one night.
Favorite author: Geneen Roth (Feeding the Hungry Heart)
Last book read: Brain Droppings, by George Carlin
Favorite TV show: Law & Order. It makes you think, because so much of it is based on real cases. It makes me sometimes want to put my foot through the screen in frustration over the legal system.
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite piece of jewelry: My wedding rings. My husband designed them with three stones his mother gave us for my ring, and his matches, with one off-set brown diamond.
Favorite item of clothing: Any old cotton nightgown
Dream car: A baby blue Mercedes 450SL with two tops and dark blue leather interior
Biggest extravagance: Shoes
Most treasured possession: My grandmother's ring, which my dad wore as a pinky ring until he passed away
Favorite pal on the set: Kevin Spirtas (Craig)
Favorite fun: Shopping
Favorite rainy-day project: Watch old movies, pop popcorn and cry
Favorite sport: Baseball. I won a trophy as a pitcher while on a company team.
Favorite team: I grew up with the Atlanta Braves, and then my dad went to work for the Houston Astros.
Favorite junk food: Ice cream
Favorite ethnic food: Barrone's pizza
Favorite pizza topping: Eggplant
One thing that's always in my refrigerator: Diet-Rite soda
Favorite time of year: Fall. I like the colors and clothes - I'm not bare and not bundled up.
Favorite charity: Any AIDS project and the Special Olympics
Favorite period in history: The Civil War period
Favorite TV show as a kid: Flash Gordon
Favorite cartoon character: Mickey Mouse
Favorite TV parents: Roseanne and John Goodman
Best childhood memory: My eighth-grade graduation. My mom made me a special dress, and my mom and dad and I had a special dinner, just the three of us, at a fancy local restaurant. It was my special night.
Earliest memory: Picnics on the Jacksonville beach with my mom, dad and grandmom. Swimming, too.
Worst vices: Ice cream and shoes
What makes me angry: Government bureaucracy
I never leave the house without: A credit card
Regrets: None. I don't like to think coulda, woulda, shoulda. I'm where I'm supposed to be, with no regrets.
Greatest fantasy: No fantasy, a goal! I want to win the Academy Award, the Emmy and the Tony, like Rita Moreno. Having your peers say you're the best at something.
Favorite saying: "If you can dream it, you can be it!"
Breakfast cereal that best describes my personality: Rice Krispies. Snap! Crackle! Pop!
Best trait: Making people feel good about themselves; I like everyone.
Most embarrassing moment: At 14, in Wisconsin, I was walking to school in the winter, wearing red pettipants under a wool skirt. Suddenly the pettipants had worked their way down, and there I was with my pants around my ankles. I was mortified!
What I'd like to change about myself: Sometimes I speak too soon, before the other person is finished talking. Thoughts just pop into my head, and I have to get th em out. - Lorraine Zenka