Royal Recomends WipeOut For Nintendo DS

As has already been confessed by me, I love Wipeout: The Show. I crack up at the contestants falling and the comments made by hosts John Henson, John Anderson, and Jill Wagner. So it should be no surprise that when I learned that there was a Wipeout game for Nintendo DS I had to have the game. After searching high and low for it, I finally found it at the GameStop by my house. Once I got home, I had to start playing right away.

The TV course consists of 3 rounds the first one you have to have one of the top 4 scores during the five obstacles that are chose. If you are able to do that you move onto the 'sweeper' round, which you have to jump over a bar and be one of the top 2 contestants remaining on your perch. Then comes the wipeout course, which in real life is when the winner is crowned. In this case, you open a new obstacle. All of this sounds hard and maybe a tad boring but it's not.

Once you open the obstacles, they are challenging and at times frustrating. That's part of the joy though, everytime you get frustrated it gets you motivated to try, try again. Maybe thats just me but everytime I was so close to beating one, I had to try again to prove I could beat it. Once an obstacle is beat, you either win a new outfit for a character, a new character or a new obstacle is added to the TV mode.

If you're looking to kill a few hours, or enjoy the TV show then you will get some pleasure out of this game!!!

Soap Sense

Whodunit? Who cares is more like it. When was the last time any soap launched a good, solid murder mystery? I get wanting to write a good mystery, especially when everyone is a suspect. As a writer it is always fun to figure out how you're characters would react to such a situation. The problem is, none of the headwriters of the soaps these days do it right.

What brings this up, well AMC chose to kill off David Hayward. Vincent Irizarry is probably the biggest male star on the show currently, and is applauded regularly by both critics and fans. Plus his David is the pot stirrer of Pine Valley, now whose going to do that?

Every soap, every town needs a good villain, Y&R Has Phyllis (welcome back!), B&B has Stephanie and Bill, Days had Sami but she has been defanged, OLTL has Dorian and soon Echo, and GH has Lisa and Sonny (yes he's a villain). AMC mellowed Erica a but too much for her to return to vixenish ways. Like her mother Kendall has been mellowed beyond belief. Greenlee changes character from day to day.

So when was the last successful murder mystery? Many say Days Of Our Lives had it with their Salem Stalker storyline but then ruined it when all of the victims turned out to be alive. I almost agree with their assessment, even people who didn't watch, were tuning in. All of the victims were major, major characters and the murderer was Marlena Evans, arguably the biggest female star on the show. Then they undid it all by having everyone turn out to be alive.

My personal favorite was from All My Children, The Who Killed Michael Cambias story. Everyone had a motive to kill the man, most of them in character. In the end it was Bianca Montgomery who had killed him and blocked it out. Her sister Kendall had faked a pregnancy to protect her and even went on trial for the crime. This brought us the classic courtroom scene where Greenlee tore off Kendall dress revealing her fat suit.

Before you kill off a character make sure there is someone on the canvas already who can take the place of a character, beloved or love to hate because once you write the story there is no way to reverse what you have done. (Of course there is but we'll delve into that topic next week)

Crazy Soap Lady Talks Romantic Comedies

Hola Gossipers, I am readying to start preparing for my wedding. I know, I know I'll be such a lushing bride. Who can turn down a drink or 12 from asexy man. I was hoping that my Johnny McCain would try to talk me out of this wedding but he has yet to do so.

Maybe it'll be like one of those romantic comedies that Julia Bullock stars in. You know where she can't fall in love with anyone because well she's just too busy working on her career, and then she runs into a man naked. I did that once, unfortunately it was the cops locker room and I was arrested but not before I got an eye full of goodies. Talk about men in uniform YUM!!!

So I figure if this is going to be the case there are 2 women who could play to perfection and they are so similiar its crazy scary. Not like me, according to you know who but so what. Back to me, I don't know why I let her detrain me when I'm talking about me. I was thinking that either Beyonce orKatherine Helmond could play me. Don't know who they are? Click on their names and you'll be transported to pictures of them. See how similar they are. It's a toss up to see who should play me.

I hope all of your romantic comedy movies come true on this day of love...

Blind: Meet Busy Billy

Generation Gossip

So I'm going to try this Ted C style. I want you gossipers to meet Busy Billy. BB is known for some dramatic relationship which usually turn into hit songs on the radio, and trust he has made major moolah from doing that.

But thats not really blind worthy now is it? Nope what is, are the rumors and almost substantiated stories that are floating around about our boy. Now trust me I am working very hard on getting my hands on the proof that what I am about to tell you, I have seen it, it's just a matter of it being approved by my lawyer so I can break this story wide open.

See BB isn't what he seems. No this isn't your typical blind item where the 'hero' is gay, at least not quite. See BB has had some trouble in the past but put that all behind him, what he doesn't know is people are talking. While he was having his troubles, he would host wild orgies at his house.

Scandalous right? But theres more, see BB wouldn't be in his right state of mind and would almost always end up with a man. Now the man wants to talk but has signed a confidentiality agreement and legally can't say anything but can pass on other things that will tell the story for him.

And It's Not: Michael Buble, Nick Carter, Nick Lachey

Royal Rant: Oprahs Goodbye

I never cared much for Oprah. Yep I said it, Me and The Big O went together like Lindsay Lohan and sobriety. It was nothing personal, I just didn't get her, plus I had Rosie O'donnell to fill my "good" talk show quotient. All the older people that I talked to, just adored her. Everytime one of them brought her name up I had to stop my eyes from rolling.

Something happened last week though. During her final premier week, instead of grabbing the remote when General Hospital ended, I left Oprah on. While I don't remember much of the shows, one really stood out to me and effected me greatly.She returned to Williamson, West Virginia 23 years after her first visit to see how the town had changed.

A little back story. Michael Sisco was a gay man back in the 80's just as AIDS was just starting to spread. One hot day, he and his sisters decided to take a dip in the public pool. After Mike jumped in, the pool was closed as a precaution, while to many modern people this sounds really ignorant, keep in mind that this was the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and many didn't understand how AIDS was transmitted.

Enter Oprah, she brought her show to the town. It was her hope that she would be able to educate people on the topic. The show however turned into a town hall meeting with many of the residents blasting Michael, one went as far as to say that being gay and AIDS was "repulsive"

During her return to Williamson, she talked with Michaels family, some had used aliases during the first show. This time they all talked freely about their brother and what he meant to them. When she brought the man who had previously called their brother repulsive, the tension in the  air was thick. Finally the man admitted that he wished he hadn't said what he said, he just got caught up in the "mob mentality."

Here lies the power of Oprah. 23 years after the events and with all the knowledge that we have about AIDS now  the program was still engaging. What could have been just a follow up, turned into a moving tribute to a very brave man. The credit has to go to the host for that, it would have been an easy choice and a guaranteed ratings bonanza either way, but Oprah decided to go with class and dignity.

While I still roll my eyes at  O from time to time, I find myself being more objective with her. Maybe I will never be an 'ultimate' Oprah fan but at least I can watch some episodes with fresh eyes

Mandy’s Musings: Fall TV!

Mandy’s Musings: Fall TV!
By Mandy Bates

It’s time for Fall TV shows again!!! Usually this is a very happy time for someone who loves TV. But not for me, not this year. I have so many shows I want to watch, but not nearly enough time. I know, my problems could all be solved with a DVR, but I honestly can’t afford the nine bucks a month to get one. With going back to college this week, and my son already back in junior high, and with work and homework and housework and just plain old life, I’m just going to have to cut out a show or two.

I watch my soaps, All My Children and One Life to Live, on SoapNet starting at 8 weeknights. I used to record them and watch on my old fashioned VCR but it’s getting so old and tired that even with a brand newtape and the tape heads cleaned it’s all static-y. So it’s SoapNet for the soaps (until 2012, but by then, either the world will end or I’ll be out of school with a real job and can afford the nine bucks a month, lol).

Here’s a list of what I like to watch:

AMC – 8:00 weeknights
OLTL – 9:00 weeknights
Parenthood 10:00 Tuesdays, or 10:00 Saturdays
Life Unexpected 8:00 Tuesdays
America’s Next Top Model 8:00 Wednesdays
Project Runway 9:00 Thursdays

So, since I have to go to bed so early, I’m going to have to watch Parenthood on Saturdays, if I can remember. Which still leaves everything else overlapping. Now what to do with the other shows? Hmm… I love my soaps, but they’ve been kinda sucky lately. I love Lauren Graham, so there’s no way I can give up Parenthood. ANTM really does suck, but it’s like an addiction. Project Runway is great, I can’t give that up! Life Unexpected is good, as well. In addition to all this, I have to watch my Cincinnati Reds play! So what do I do?

Well, I’m going to have to dump a show. But how do I decide? Well, here’s what I think I’m gonna do:

Weeknights at 8 and 9 I watch my soaps, except on Wednesday when I’ll skip AMC unless Royal tells me it’s a must-see to watch ANTM. Thursdays I’ll skip OLTL unless again, it’s a good one to watch PR. That means I could still watch Parenthood on Saturdays and have time to catch Life Unexpected on Tuesdays, but then I’d be skipping a whole other day of AMC. I think I’m going to have to dump Life Unexpected. Because it kind of is expected. Lux treats everyone like shit and gets herself into trouble and then looks all hurt and wounded when she has to pay the consequences of her actions. As soon as you see the first few minutes of the show, you can really tell how it’s going to turn out. So I guess my mind is made up.

That will leave just barely enough time for homework and housework. And I guess I’ll just have to watch the Reds during commercials of my other shows. Guess my problem is solved!

Is It Worth It? Wait Just A Moment

Last month I needed a new phone, well not really but I really wanted one. So I consider that needing. In any case I bought a Samsung Moment, one of the new droids that Sprint offers. I had been wanting that phone, since I seen an advertisement for it. I even asked around but it seemed as though no one really had one. In the stores and online the phone costs $435.00, now I can't afford that so I turned to Ebay and ended up only paying a fraction of that cost.

Now before all the gloomy guses say, well you bought it from Ebay this can't be a true review, it can and shall be. I took it to the sprint store (I spend alot of time there!!) and they said it was a brand new phone and reset the factory settings for me just in case. So in essence this was/is a brand new phone.

  One of the greatest things about the Samsung Moment is that is gets signal just about anywhere. With my old phones, I had a hard time getting reception anywhere in my house. I was surprised and a tad happy (let's not talk to the neighbors about that)to see that not only do I get signal but its almost a full bar of it!!! And the sound is crisp, clear, and nearly perfect. Better than my roommates Blackberry!!!

Even more amazing to me was the fact that the phone keeps textmessages just like Instant messages. See my old phones usually deleted them after reaching a total of 200 messages, but not this one. Each contact you text gets about 200 messages before they start being erased. Many of you may roll your eyes but I send tens of thousands of texts each month so it's nice to be able to scroll up and see what was said and the way the conversation advanced.

One of the negative that goes along with this though is that the battery dies really fast. I'm talking its off the charger for 2 hours and the it's already dying. This gets annoying for someone like me who constantly uses their phone and may not always be able to recharge it. The operating system is always the biggest battery drainer there is, more so than any of the actual usage.

Another drawback to the phone is the operating system. Maybe this has just happened to me but I doubt it, because I have talked to other droid users and they say that it's happened to them too. What am I talking about?  The OS freezes, sometimes not allowing you to do anything with your phone. In fact most of the time it turns the screen completely black. This has happened more than once in the month I've had the phone.

I paid $140 for the phone and truth be told it's not worth that much. Yes i love the phone and hope it lasts for a good long time but Samsung and Sprint have overpriced this device, in my opinion it shouldn't be any more than $100

Royal Rant: Sex Education

Bristol Palin, baby mama to Levi Johnstons child, is now preaching abstinence. Just like her mother Sarah Palin does, as does most of the republican party. Theres a problem with the philosphy of telling kids not to do it and they won't, inevitably they do do it. Now before any conservatives get up in arms, I completely respect your views on sex, I just don't agree with them.

See not so long ago I was a teenager, and currently my sister and brothers are teens. So I know what teens are thinking, and when you say not to do something thats exactly what they are going to do. Thats issue one, another issue is you are making sex seem to be something nasty, something that is wrong and we all know none of that is true. If it were, we wouldn't endure sex scandals from top athletes to politicians.

Talking about sex, especially with a child can be embarrassing for both parties but it is something that needs to be done. The old saying "knowledge is power" is very applicable here, imagine a girl who doesn't have the knowledge that she can get pregnant her first time. She gives into her boyfriends advances (though it can certainly be the other way around) and ends up pregnant, which leads to a republicans worst nightmare, ateenage mother or a girl having an abortion.

What makes me mad is all it takes is a conversation!! If parents don't want to do it then let the teachers, the ones who are role models and spend the majority of the day with them. Teachers are a great resource because not only are they adults, trained in dealing with teens but they also happen to want to help, and shape the lives of our young ones.

Unlike movies and tv shows, teachers can make a difference. Yes I said it, it is beyond me how people can claim that watching a movie (like Juno) or a TV show (like Secret Life) makes kids want to have sex. I mean hello do you not remember being a teen, I do and I will confess that 90% of my thoughts were about sex. The other 10% you ask, was about soaps HAHAHA.

Let's stop hiding the facts of lives from our kids, and let them know the real facts.

Royal Rant: Nothings Forever

Once again a conversation with someone close to me has led me to write a column. at this point I should rename this feature, Royals Conversation, which isn't necessarily a bad idea for a spin off column but thats neither here nor there right now.

This time the conversation revolved around whether or not one person makes a show, and if anyone is recast-able. It all stemmed from the always present rumors that Kristen Alderson may leave One Life To Live. No one knows for sure if she will or not, but there is a certain segment of fans that insist there is no way she will ever leave. In fact one fan in particular accuses me and my source (read: Ravenbeauty) of lying when we say something.m We would never mislead anyone and it brings neither of us any pleasure to report the news that we are hearing. I've never been a big fan of One Life, until recently, I would tune in every once in a while, especially if Viki's alters were out but Kristen has been a favorite of mine.

In Ravens column where she first hinted that Kristen may be leaving I was shocked, shocked I tell you! I wrote the story with a heavy heart but news is news and it has always been my feeling that soaps, and soap stars should be given the same treatment as movie stars. If  I heard Lea Michele was leaving Glee I would write that story so i did so. The firestorm that came after that was amazing, and it got a little hurtful I won't lie to you. What was interesting to me is that these fans are so insistent that they are unwilling to believe that Kristen would automatically tell them if she were leave, which she could never do because she has been on the show for 14 years (or nearly so.)

I told my friend that I actually do understand where they are coming from, if someone told me Susan Lucci was leaving All My Children I wouldn't believe it. Even if every major news source reported it I would keep myself in the land of Denial. I may even attack the messenger though I would hope that I would realize that they are just reporting what they are hearing, and not be so venomous.

Do I know whats going to happen with Kristen? No, I would love to say that I knew 100% for sure one way or another. Do I trust what Raven out in her column, you can bet my boos cute butt I do. Knowing Raven and having been a fan of hers for the better part of the last decade, I know she wouldn't put something out there unless she was certain she was being told the truth. To the fans who are a bit unhappy with the Kristen stories, I say just remember this little bit of advice, all good things must come to an end, nothing is forever. 

Remember the original 90210? Me too, Grew up watching it, the storylines may have been a bit contrived but you went along with it. When Brenda's parents thought she shoplifted, you knew that mama and papa Walsh would find out the truth within the hour, so you sat back and enjoyed the ride. In todays version of 90210 Brenda would have shoplifted and not only that but she would be a kleptomaniac. In their bid to be shocking, producers of teen shows have lost their way.

Sex used to be a big deal, not just a plot point. When Brenda decided to have sex with Dylan on the original 90210, it played out for weeks, and every single beat was played in the story. In todays teen dramas the story is much different, I can't think of one character is a virgin. If they were that was quickly lost for a quick plot that is forgotten fairly quickly. Most of the dramas advertise the sex, Gossip Girl even went as far as to promote a menage a toi, which had no lasting effects on the show. When Joey Potter and Pacey Witter had sex for the first time on Dawsons Creek the end result was four episodes later, she thought she may be pregnant.

Maybe the reason the new crop of shows don't deal with that issue (except for Secret Life of An American Teenager) is that the actress' are way to thin. To many people this may have been a problem back in the day too, but from rewatching 4 of the 6 seasons of Dawsons Creek and the first few episodes of 90210, the girls then looked to be a healthy weight. This new crop of girls look like twigs who would break if any man or woman touches them. Half the time I'm not invested in the story because I'm busy making a cheeseburge to give to each of these actress' (thats a rant for another day I suppose)

Speaking of the way the actors look, can we please get a real life teenager here? I know that in the original set of teen dramas the actors were much older than their characters but it really sticks out with this group. Trevor Donovan is cute, slightly talented but he is no Luke Perry. They should have hired him to play a teacher who has an affair with a student. He looks so out of place working with the actors that sorta look like they could still be in high school.

Writers of the new crop of teen dramas, please feel free to use these ideas. Back in the day (this is how I know I've officially crossed the line over to old) the shows wove in socially relevant issues. Kelly Taylor, from the original 90210 was addicted to diet pills but it didn't come out in one episode, they built it and people flocked when Kelly passed out in the Peach Pit bathroom. Dawsons Creek took on student/teacher affairs with Miss Jacobs and Pacey. It was the first time a tv show, especially one aimed at teens took this issue on. They also tackled the effects of a parent cheating and divorce, among many more. The new shows could take a lesson from their predecessors.  What if one of the shows took on a gay couple who were denied going to prom? Have characters on both sides of the fence, present a fair and balanced, entertaining story. It could almost be an umbrella story, You have the gay couple, then you can have the most popular couple split on whether or not the gay couple should be allowed to go. Stretch it out for a few episodes we won't mind. Or the threat of violence at school is always prevalent. Have a character be picked on, feel isolated then one day snap and plan to kill his tormentors. Difficult to handle and probably watch yes, but maybe just maybe you can shed some light on why these tragedies happen.

If you are going to tell a social story please use the old English teacher saying: "Show us, don't tell us." We know drugs are bad already. Give teens and the older audience some credit. Have the heroine start taking pain pills because she was in bad car accident (no manslaughter needed for an interesting story), then as tome goes on and she feels better she notices that she doesn't want to stop taking them. Show the first high being the best, then descend her down that dark ugly path. Since she's your heroine you can put her in pretty much every story without much complaint.

Many, many writers can't write a good social issue story. That's fine, not every show needs to do them but make up for it. Tell entertaining stories, look at classic movies like Cruel Intentions for help with plotlines. Yes yes Cruel Intentions is a remake of Dangerous Liasons but the basic story could still work. Go back and frame your stories against Shakespearean plays like Romeo and Juliet ect.

The teen drama genre can make a comeback and be classic once again but its going to take brave, talented writers to reinvigorate it. As the famous movie saying goes "If You Build It They Will Come."

Royal Rant: Why Kish Was Fired

Last week was the firing heard around daytime. Beloved super couple Kyle and Fish (KISH to OLTL fans) were let go. But wait not really, Scott Evans (Oliver Fish) was never put on contract, and has been recurring with the show since his debut, so really only Brett Claywell (Kyle) was let go. 

Immediately fans were outraged and accused ABC of having an anti-gay agenda, yet Scott Clifton (Schulyer Jones) was fired and there was no outrage. I love KISH and want them to stay, however if the rumors are to be believed pat of the reason they were actually let go is because one (believed to be Brett) was partying to hard, held up taping and caused delays in the production schedule. I can see why they may let him go, truly if anyone was to show up to work drunk or cost your company a ton of money you would lose your job. If Brett was the problem then recast him, keep the character around have him in the other room, at the hospital until the role is able to be recast with someone as talented as Brett Claywell.

Of course there is the other half of KISH to think about. As it was stated Scott Evans was never offered a contact, and has been on recurring since he began on the show. While a lot has been of the KISH firings, it's simply not true of Scott, his status remains unchanged. The biggest reasoning behind his being involved in the "firing" is because he is not available and it was causing production issues, and massive rewriting of major story. A "source" said “[The other actor] was ‘not available’ on certain days, making for massive rewrites and rescheduling. One Life fought so hard to blaze this trail and now they’re being punished for it. Unlike Brett, Scott had no incentive to make himself available whenever the show choose to use him. He was not on contract when clearly he should have been, not only was part of a major story but he is one of the most popular actors on the show. If they had offered him a contract he would have been forced to show up and it would have shown the support to the ongoing story.

Why support, or make an argument for Scott but Brett? First and foremost Scott had no control over his situation and had no responsibility to OLTL because they refused to sign him to a contract. Brett clearly made bad choices and should be punished for his actions. While it needs not be said again, KISH is one major attraction to the show and they should salvage those characters as best they can. Put Scott on contract and have him play out a story with Dorian Lord (Robin Strasser) maybe Fish is a long lost Cramer male. This way fans still get to see a popular character and actor on the show. Of course this could all be moot seeing as how Scott is rumored to be up for a pilot, something he hinted at on his twitter account "I have some pretty big decisions to make. Things are definitely gonna change"  he then debunked the theory that he planned on leaving OLTL "I have no plans to leave OLTL everyone. It's not even really in my hands!" And he reiterated that again the day the news broke "Anyone who thought my tweets were foreshadowing, that is not the case. Tweets were for something completely different. This is news to me." 


At the end of the day neither Scott or Brett will have trouble securing work, and seeing as how Scott is still recurring it shouldn't be  too hard to convince him to sign a contract. OLTL owes it to the audience to see this "trailblazing" story to the end. What was and will be seen in the coming days is not the end of this story. Gay characters should be given the same respect as their straight counterparts. Affairs, amnesia, if they want to make a political statement, have Fish get shot in the line of duty and Kyle not be able to see him because they are not married. Or be honest with the audience and say one actor is a drunk and the other is not available, so they have to be written off for a bit until things can be worked out. 

Royal Rant: Wheres the Media Saturation When It Matters?

This week, Lt Dan Choi was arrested for 'failure to obey a lawful order' at the Human Rights Campaign protest to end Don't Ask Don't Tell. After a peaceful rally Choi walked to the White House and chained himself to the fence, the mainstream media didn't pick up the story for a while afterwards.

My problem with this whole thing is that if ti had been Kathy Griffin the MSM (Main Stream Media) would have picked up the story and broke into regular programming to inform the audience. Why not Lt Choi? Is he not famous enough? They could have covered it with the while thing going down at the White House. It's not as if they weren't there, they were for a press conference.

Many blogs including this one covered the events as they unfolded. Why didn't other media outlets devote as much time to this story? Probably because there were too many Sandra Bullock and/or Tiger Woods stories to cover this week. The whole Sandra story is almost impossible to resist, she and Jesse James seemed to have the perfect marriage, she was on top of the world having just won the Oscar less than 2 weeks ago. Then a tabloid, INTouch in this case paid a lot of money to an alleged mistress to have her reveal her affair with Americas Sweethearts husband. There were new stories by the hour in that story but in between posts of that real life soap why not cover something that matters?

Because another alleged mistress, this time one of Tiger Woods' 2 million other women decided that now was the time to show us what a skank he is. She of course is about 3 months too late, but none the less she decided that we needed to know that he has a very kinky side by revealing some text messages he sent her. This story had it's day, it was shocking at first then redudant by the time the last of the other women came forward.

Now a days it seems as though if you are not a celebrity, you don't get the same media coverage as you would if a sex tape was released. When supposed "journalists" can't take time out of their busy blogging days to report on a real news story, not only in the sense of an arrest being made at the White House but in the sense that this man is a Lt in the army and is protesting his inability to come out without being fired. In this time of war should we really be worried about who someone goes to bed with, rather than the fact that they want to step up and fight for our country?

Royal Rant: Kristins Shabby Treatment

I remember the first time I heard Kristin Chenoweth sing, a friend put on "Popular" from the Wicked soundtrack. I was entranced, who was it? I asked. When he replied I went out and bought the CD, and my love affair with Cheno has been in full swing ever since.

When she was on The West Wing, I thought she deserved an Emmy nomination, especially when she discovered her character's boss dead. She played that material for all it was worth. Then she did win the Emmy for Pushing Daisies and it was well deserved. Things really seemed to be going her way, except that Pushing Daisies was canceled. Even that though wasn't enough to stop the indomitable Kristin, she secured a guest star role on Glee. 

In her memoir "A Little Bit Wicked" Kristin says that Broadway power players are not happy that she has branched out into TV and movies. I was like OK Kristin, come on now, you didn't get a role and you're upset. Then I noticed that the producers of her newest show downplayed the fact that Kristin was in the show, instead trumpeting the fact that Sean Hayes signed on to the male lead role. Now I love Sean Hayes as much as the next Will and Grace fan but let's be honest Kristin and Sean have the same amount of fame. However Kristin does have a Tony award under her belt and was in the most successful musical of this generation, wheres the love?

Then in another slap in the face, producers of The Tony Awards selected Sean to host the upcoming telecast. Again I think theres nothing wrong with Sean but why not have them co-host together? Since they are in the same play it would make sense, and in case I haven't driven the point home yet, KRISTIN IS A TONY WINNER!!! Having her, even as a co-host would add so much to the show, not to mention a legitimacy to the actual awards itself.

Imagine if the Oscars had Pauly Shore host their telecast just because he was in the movies, especially if they were able to secure Meryl Streep as host or co-host. The analogy may seem to be awkward but it is not,  yes Sean is far more talented than Pauly Shore. But having Sean host the prestigious awards alone simply because he is in a play is ludicrous. Especially when Sean and Kristin proclaim that they are friends and enjoy working together.

In the final insult to Kristin, despite getting probably some of the best reviews of any nominated actress, she failed to secure a nomination. What?! How is it possible that an actress of Kristins caliber can't even get a nomination for a nearly flawless performance? How is it possible that the Television Academy recognizes a truly phenomenal performance but Broadway doesn't. It's such a tragedy.

Kristin, sweetheart if you are reading this, please know you're fans adore you and will follow you anywhere, why not leave the great white way and come to a medium that will appreciate you and your talent. Come to Glee full time or join the Desperate Housewives on Wisteria Lane.....

Royal Rant: To Kiss Or Not To Kiss

As a young gay boy, I looked for role models on TV, anyone to let me know that the feelings I was feeling for other boys weren't wrong, that it was normal. Eventually All My Children did a coming out story but since I was at school I didn't get a chance to watch it all the way through. There is one scene that sticks in my mind, a teacher Michael Delaney, was doing a lesson to his students about the holocaust and told them that he would have had to wear an upside pink triangle because he was gay. After that yet another character came out, alas the story was not a positive one but rather exposing the homophobia that is hidden in even the nicest of people.

Well of course this was no help to me. I already knew that people didn't like others that were different from them, and since I was the one who was different there was no need to remind myself. Just a few years later a little sitcom debuted that would sort of change my worldview, Will & Grace. The writing was sharp, the performances were phenomenal, and there was Karen Walker. I watched week after week laughing, enjoying the antics of the foursome.

Despite my growing fondness for the show, I realized that I had no desire to be Will, even though I should want to. He was successful, handsome, wealthy, and had dear friends. What was the problem? He was chaste, most of his stories revolved around Grace, Karen, and/or Jack. He had no love life to speak of, and his first kiss was to make a point to NBC executives and was shared with Jack. Well this just wouldn't do for me, I mean first I am not a logical person, if you anger or upset me, you know it. I am a creative, just like Jack, but I wasn't all the stereotypes (Ok I was and still am but thats not the point)

While my love affair with Will And Grace continued, my attention was pulled by another, more daring teen Drama. Yes I am talking about Dawson's Creek, I was hooked from the beginning but my interest was waning until they pulled out a surprise: Jack was gay!! This time the show did just about everything right, including letting the character have the character kiss, albeit a few seasons later.

After that almost every show had a gay character, whether openly or widely believed and 9 times out of 10 they were just supporting characters. What does this have to do with anything? I'm glad you asked, For a few years I have once again been frustrated with the lack of my life being reflected on TV. Sure we have Scotty and Kevin from Brothers and Sisters, but once they actually tied the knot their stories swerved away from the single life obviously.

With the exception of Brothers and Sisters, most of the shows don't show their gay characters being intimate. One Life To Live made a big to do about them allowing former gay supercouple KISH to make love, shortly after they were let go. Which leads to Modern Family, and their gay couple Cameron and Mitchell. This week a controversy was started when Ryan Murphy noted that even though the couple have adopted a baby together, they don't kiss.

This leads me to wonder: Is America, The World ready to see gay men and women kissing? The short answer is they should be. However i confess that PDA's annoy me, I don't want to see a couple pawing each other, so I can understand why others are reluctant to see it. However there is a difference between the shows and real life, the show is suppose to be showing their intimate life, we "hear" conversations that are between 2 people.

In other words what I am saying is let the gays kiss, let them reflect the lives of your audience, quit being ashamed.

Royal Rant: Mississippi Prom

My very first Royal Rant ever!!!! This is one of the pieces I am most proud of!!


I interrupt your regularly scheduled Gossip to bring you a Royal Rant. By now we have all heard about the Northern Mississippi school that has canceled the Prom because one girl wanted to bring another girl with her to the prom.  The districts policy is that in order to attend prom you must have a date of the opposite sex. What kind of nonsense is that? I mean really, what the hell is wrong with people???? There are of couse ways around it, the girl in question could have gotten a group of friends together and what not but she should not have to go that far. Why cant she go with whomever she wants? Would it really be the end of the world? No. The simple fact is that homophobia is alive and kicking, sadly the school is encouraging the hate and misunderstanding of gay people.

They have no clear reasoning for the policy, other than they feel it may make other students feel uncomfortable. You know what who cares. What if this Constance McMillen was uncomfortable with straight people, certainly they wouldn't be thrown out of the prom or the prom wouldn't be canceled for that. The school is reinforcing that homophobia is ok and sending themessage that if you dislike something you can get Rid of it. Do they really think that once these students enter the work force that if a person doesn't like someone at work then all they have to do is complain to their boss and that person will be gone.

The bottom line is homophobia is just as bad as racism and both need to come to an end. Using the bible as a weapon does not work for me. You can quote all the bible verses you want but one fact remains, none of know what God believes. My favorite verse is "Judge not, lest ye be judged" I think some folks in Mississippi needs to be reminded of that. On her facebook page Elizabeth Fogarty summed up the situation best "So they Cancelled prom... Ya know we had girls wear tuxs at our proms, we are alive, they are alive, and their tuxs did not influence others to be lesbians... WAke up Mississippi!

Royal Rant: Today!!!

With the Royal wedding today, I decided that we would have our very own Royal Day, today!! A day full of Royal Rants, both serious, and silly. Much like the big event itself, there is bound to be some drama but also happiness.  Sit back, enjoy the show that will be todays wedding, and then come and enjoy the show that we here at Generation Gossip are putting on for you :-)

I want to know why Mary Hart and Nancy O'Hell Dell aren't vying for coverage of this epic event. I'm calling my agent, OO wait......

Jamey Says Not So Fast

While I am still trying to get an answer as to whether or not there is truth to the rumors of Sony buying All My Children and One Life To Live, Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential and Pop Confidential fame says via twitter that there is nothing concrete as of yet. " I have no idea. It's a RUMOR. LOL I think we all have to let it play out." Jamey also goes on to say that for Disney its all about the almighty dollar "If Disney can make a buck off those shows, they will sell, but getting someone to buy will be very difficult." When asked about talks between Disney and DirectTV and the rumors head on Jamey had a very interesting, cryptic response "Got nothing. Sorry. :-( This doesn't mean it isn't true though. I'm not gonna run anything until I know it dead to rights."


Jamey also drops this little tid bit about NBC, basically saying that there may be hope yet
 I do know from my sources that "NBC wasn't as anxious to get out of soaps as CBS, they simply wanted to own their soaps." and he continues to say "I wouldn't be surprised if there is some truth to their being interest, I am just cautious after GL/ATWT." 

Will ABC Sink?

Think back to 2007, when Passions was cancelled. NBC may not have been on the best footing but they were weren't that far off either. Once they dropped the paranormal soap, their primetime ratings and reputation dropped. They fell so far that at times, even The CW outrated it.

Which brings me to my point. ABC is going to suffer the same fate as NBC did. Sure right now, they aren't feeling the pain much, mostly because our shows, All My Children and One Life To Live are still on the air. Once they go off, I can almost guarantee that there primetime shows will fall off the ratings map. NBC was right at the top of the heap and then suddenly they made soap fans mad, and that was just one soap, imagine what we will  happen because they stole two shows from us!!! As most people already know, Daytime, soap fans are the most passionate, the most loyal fans out there!

Breaking: Sony To Buy AMC/OLTL

Another day, another twist to the saga of the cancelled soaps. It seems like an eternity ago that ABC announced they were no longer going to be producing All My Children and One Life To Live. However it has only been a mere few weeks but since that time there have been twists and theories galore.

This is no exception, however there seems to be some truth to this rumor. As it goes the new found rumor is that Sony is interested in buying the soaps, marketing them internationally and placing them on the NBC daytime lineup. Now this was something that I had already heard but now seemingly a report by Daytime Confidential has given the rumor a lot more credence, in the report they say that stars have been approached by Sony to appear in soaps they produce. It appears as though stars such as Debbie Morgan, Susan Lucci, and Jacob Young have been in negotiations with Sony's production arm. IN the DC report it says it was for parts on Young And The Restless and Days Of Our Lives but insiders are saying no, thats not the case.

It is said that the price tag for the shows are running in the neighborhood of $200 million for both, and that profits were never an issue for either of the shows. Sony was very impressed with the financial records. This is a breaking and developing story, I have calls to make and will let you know as soon as I know anything.... 

Royal Rant: Reality Shows Killed The TV Star

When I was in high school, Thursday nights was tv night. My friends and I would rush home and hurry through our homework so that by 8pm we could be ready for the first notes of the FRIENDS theme song began. We would make phone calls during the show that followed but made sure that we hung up in enough time to be back in front of the tube or Will and Grace.

Following the Friends finale, something strange happened. The sitcoms were gone, Will and Grace could go weeks and weeks without airing but Donald Trump was always around firing someone. At first I was intrigued, Omarosa became my water cooler talk. Then I became frustrated, where was my Karen Walker? I missed my boozy, outrageous diva. I wanted to see what kind of trouble the title characters would get themselves into. Instead I would find supersized episodes of The Apprentice.

I took my troubles around the dial, on ABC I found 25 women sleeping with one man who claimed to be looking for true love, (insert eye roll and the promise of another rant on that in the future here), On Fox a poor construction worker telling women that he was a multimillionaire. What? I almost thought this was an episode of (the old) Melrose Place, but no it was yet another "reality" show. Frustrated I turned to the one place I swore I never would CBS. I find strangers stranded on an island together, I was intrigued the premise seemed interesting. Then I was assaulted with Elizabeth Hasselback. For the first time I found that TV was not going to entertain me.

A few years go by and my feelings towards "reality" shows are the same. I do not enjoy a nanny telling parents that they are horrible. Or a mean british guy making fun of people who can't sing (Ok I do kind of like that but he hasn't been funny since season 2). The reality show bubble has burst in a way, there is more scripted shows on the air but some networks, especially NBC still look to play with my emotions. They canceled a slew of scripted shows, including the superb SouthLAnd in favor of Jay Leno's self titled talk show. It failed, and now they are filling some of the holes is their schedule with "reality" shows. I beg networks give us one "Reality" show free network, bring back the funny sitcoms, Modern Family and Cougar Town are a great start, give us some good old fashioned drama. ER used to be the most prestigious drama on air, now you have to go to FX and watch the newly canceled Damages for that. Take a chance on what brought billions of ad revenues in for you in the past and don't go for cheap "reality."

Damon Agrees With Me

With beloved soaps being cancelled for stupid reality shows, the cancer that is eating TV is not going anywhere. However if Damon Wayans had his way, we would go back to scripted shows with characters that we adore. He told TVLine what he thought was wrong with TV nowadays "There are way too many reality shows. Reality TV is, first of all, not real, and second of all it dumbs down television." He continued to say that reality shows are not well put together or produced very well "There’s nothing like a well-crafted story with an interesting character that you want to see win, someone that inspires you. I can watch classic shows on Nick At Nite, and I’m always moved in some way. But when I watch reality TV, I get sick. The only emotion I have is I wish they would all [go away]!"

Recipe: Easter Leftover Crepe's

Don't for get to send recipes to Mandy at GenerationMandy@gmail.com for our first ever charity event!!! With that being said here's one to get you really excited about what we're trying to do. Originally the recipe was given to me by a dear friend of mine, and since that time I have played with it and made it my own.

Ingredients

Tortilla Shells
Ham
Broccoli
Carrots
Golden Mushroom Soup
Cheddar Cheese Soup
American Cheese
Swiss Cheese

Directions

Make soup as directed on the can.

Steam vegetables. You can also boil them but I prefer to steam them.

Lay out tortilla shell

Break up some ham place just a few "chunks" of ham on tortilla shell

Place a few carrots, and a few "pieces" of broccoli with the ham.

Drizzle a little golden mushroom soup. Repeat with the cheddar cheese soup.

Tear a piece of Swiss cheese in half, do the same for American Cheese

Fold tortilla shell, filled with the "stuffing" in half, place swiss cheese there.

Finish folding the shell and on top place the half piece of American Cheese.

After you have done this with all the crepes you are making, place them in a baking pan. Pour the rest of the Golden Mushroom and Cheddar Cheese soups over your crepes. Put in the oven, 350 degrees, until the soup on top caramelizes.

Enjoy!

Picture Of The Day: Bald, Sexy Cop Jake

Casting Couch: Soapnets Lineup

As we await to hear the final verdict, as to whether or not Soapnet will live on, I decided to take it upon myself to help the close to death network with its scheduling problem. The problem with the network the last few years in my very humble opinion is it didn't have a voice, nothing felt natural about it. My idea will change that, and hopefully help grow its brand a bit.

First things first, if Soapnet is given a reprieve they should definetly do the same thing for One Life To Live and All My Children. in fact I think those shows should be on at the same time that they are on right now; 1pm for AMC and 2pm for OLTL. I would follow that up with a repeat of The Young And The Restless, then Days Of Our Lives.

So we have  1-4 pm covered, lets talk about noon. I think we should have a Soap Opera News, kinda like the noon news but all about soaps, and I humbly suggest soap Goddesses Carolyn Hinsey and RavenBeauty as our anchors. Both women are kickass and they know their stuff, so this is a win/win situation.

Now onto primetime, the one thing I agree with Disney about is that playing soaps at not is not neccessary. So what I suggest is bring back the Monday night movie/miniseries. Instead of going after the "A list" stars though, go for soaps stars, you're bread and butter. Almost every soap fan I know would tune into the movie to see their favorite stars.

Tuesday nights should be more adult oriented since the kids will be watching Glee. Get the rights to Desperate Housewives reruns, and then debut your own show right after that. Something in the same vein as the Housewives, starring former soapers who are looking for work, there are plenty of them out there. end the night with a spin off of a soap that they produce. Maybe something with Susan Lucci/Erica Kane while shes on her summer vacation.

Wednesday nights again go for the adults but this time with procedurals and before anyone bashes me listen. Get Castle repeats starring Nathan Fillion a soaper vet!! Pair it with your own, maybe a John McBain led cop show that could also feature Scott Evans!! And Max Tapper!  Pair that with another spin off show starring Julia Barrs Brooke as managing Editor of Tempo Magazine and her protege Van Hansis. That would be a killer combination!!!

Thursday nights go for the teens. Get some Dawsons Creek for this night. Pair it with another oringal show, if you need ideas or pitches I have one that would be perfect! End the night with 90210, both the original and the remake fit perfectly with the theme for the evening.

Friday night feel free to so some reality shows. Bring back "I Want To Be A Soap Star" that was one of the best competition shows around, and made me not despise Cameron Mathison. Do a weekly Soap Talk again with stars that you are already associated with, and for the grand finale do a behind the scenes look at soap events like weddings, crashes etc.

So soapnet if you need an exec who cares, give me a call I will help you get your groove back and keep you alive for a good long time.

More From Chrishell

This drama is getting good. Yesterday we told you about the mysterious tweett Chrishell Stause put out, and now we have a follow up tweet. "@RyanBasford I wish I could say-but there are serious talks going on I found out for sure. I'm leaving anyway-but I want the show to go on!" There are rumors that NBC is considering picking up the shows and this could be in reference to that or maybe we have another savior coming in? Sound off gossipers, tell me what you think Chrishell is talking about

Generation Gossip’s first ever charity event!

Generation Gossip’s first ever charity event!

By Mandy Bates

Hola Gossipers!

I’m excited to announce that we’re putting together the first ever Generation Gossip cookbook! We want you to send in all your favoriterecipes so we can compile them into a great cookbook. You can even send in pictures or little stories about why you love your dishes. We’re working on getting the cookbooks published in a digital format as well as a paper copy. Once we get the cookbook all put together, they’ll go on sale, but one lucky gossiper will get theirs for free! And, all the proceeds from our cookbook sales will be donated to the local food bank of our winner, in their name! This is a great opportunity for you to help out, and get some fantastic recipes at the same time! So please, Gossipers, send all your submissions to generationmandy@gmail.com as soon as you can. One entry per recipe, no limit on submissions! We’ll get a price together for the cookbook as soon as we know just how big it’s going to be. In the meantime, 

Please send all entries to my gmail account! send as many as you want, each recipe counts as one entry, whether you put them all in one email or not! and if you send a recipe and find one later you want to send, please do! Help us make this first charity even for Generation Gossip a huge success! All it takes is a few minutes of your time, and sending in a recipe by no way obigates you to purchase a cookbook when they're ready :

Jayma On KChen: I Love Her

On Glee Jayma Mays' love interest may be Matthew Morrisons spanish teacher Will Schuster but in real life she wishes she were into girls. Not just any girls but the beautiful, luminous Kristin Chenoweth "First of all, I love this lady. I have such a crush on her. Even though she’s not and I’m not, I wish we were both lesbians. That’s what I wish."  Who doesn't have a crush on the Cheno, I can't think of one person who isn't charmed by her. Good choice Jayma 

Babymama Drama For Ryan

Ryan Phillippes life has turned into a soap opera. It started out when he cheated on ex-wife Reese Witherspoon with Abbie Cornish, then left Abbie for Amanda Seyfried. Somewhere in between Abbe and Amanda there was Alexis Knapp (I'm seeing a pattern of A names for Ryan, which reminds me to change my name to Aaron), who is now allegedly knocked up with his baby. 


Alexis it seems wanted to rekindle their lust love. According to a source she tried to woo him back but when that failed she decided he was not such a nice guy after all “When Ryan ignored her pleas, then started blowing off her calls, Alexis became enraged and bombarded Ryan with messages calling him every four-letter word under the sun.”

After all that drama the hottie said that he would make it impossible for her to get a hold of him  “I’m about to change my phone number!”

See this is why being gay works out, no baby mama's to drive you crazy. All I'm saying 

James Gives Driving Advice

So apparently some chick thought that my boo was trying to pick her up. The audacity, doesn't she know who I am? Doesn't she know that James Franco is my man? Anyways heres the story, recently James pulled into Ralphs, a grocery store on Sunset Boulevard behind a woman. He peeked out the window “Hey...pretty cool little car you’ve got there!”  the female preened thinking that the love of my life was trying to pick her up for an afternoon romp, so she let him know that it was a new car “Thanks. I just bought it. It’s really cool to drive.” 


This really made James mad ‘Well, too bad it didn’t come with any #*&%$ turn signals! I’ve been behind you for five minutes and you never once used your blinker in TEN turns!’” The shock and horror that must have played across as she realized that James did not want to play hide the cannoli with her, rather he wanted to give her a driving lesson. 


So now we have all learned our lesson right? We will use our blinkers, especially if James is behind us!!! Or I may just throw the car into reverse, so I can get his info

Picture Of The Day: OLTLs New Meaning!!!

At the Save Our Soaps rally!!!! Long Live All My Children and One Life To Live!!!!

Levi: I Want To Tell The Truth

Levi Johnston will do anything to stay in the spotlight. He was suppose to run for mayor of Wasalia, Alaska and have a reality show following him in that venture. Now the playgirl model is writing a tell all about his time in the Palin camp, because he wants to make sure we all know the truth. "I want to tell the truth about my close relationship with the Palins,My sense of Sarah and my perplexing fall from grace – how I feel and what I've learned." Perplexing fall from grace? Dude you knocked up your teenage girlfriend, dumped her, then bared your butt in a porno magazine. Gee why aren't you a saint. Sorry, sorry but sometimes statements just make me want to rip the hair out. Perplexing fall from grace. Alright I'll leave it alone, the book is said to be called Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs

GG Investigates: Will Soapnet Live?

It feels as though soap fans are being punked right about now. Last May Disney announced that cable network Soapnet would be going off the air in January 2012, but according to multiple reports including one from Deadline this is not the case. In fact insiders at Disney are now saying that Soapnet could go on for years and years, in conjunction with Disney Jr the network that was to take the place of the beloved place for soaps. Heres what one insider had to say "Over the last 6 months, our entire team has been under the impression that SOAPNet was going to shut down in January 2012 and be replaced with Disney Junior. Over the last few weeks, I have heard comments that Disney Junior is now having problems getting the cable contracts done. So Disney Junior's launch has been pushed from January to Spring 2012 and now SoapNet is not shutting down in January 2012. Both networks will be run at the same time it could be for several years, Disney Junior will only be in a few homes and a lot of money will be spent keeping both networks up. So now we are shutting down AMC in September and OLTL in January, and SOAPNet is still going to be on the air, we are going to run a network on General Hospital and some acquired soaps, it is embarrassing to all of us who had cared so much about our work." But wait theres more apparently Team Disney is not happy that they have been following a leader who had no clue as to what he was doing  "We are not just angry that they are shutting down AMC and OLTL, but over the last 3-4 years we have been following a leader and his head of strategy who have not been able to do anything right." 


But theres more, see Disney was being cavalier when they announced that Soapnet was going dark. They didn't think about having to re-negotiate the contracts that they have with cable and satellite providers and they can not legally get rid of a network without having discussions with those companies as there are signed deals in place. DirectTV says that as far as they know, their number one network, which would be the whole subject of this story, soapnet is not going anywhere ""We have had discussions with Disney on its new channel, but for now things are status quo (meaning SOAPnet stays up)," 


What does all this mean? Quite possibly that disney is feeling the heat, and may save the soaps by saving Soapnet. See what I think may happen is that they didn't expect us to rattle all the cages we have, which will lead them to say well we can't turn our backs on the contracts we have with The Chew and The Revoultion but All My Children and One Life To Live will live on, over at Soapnet. Then when things get disastrous over there at ABC Daytime, they can bring our soaps back to the network that launched them.


As always this is a developing story and we will bring any and all updates as soon as we have them