The one to watch is The Bold and the Beautiful as a scheming Amber continues laying traps to gain her very own piece of the Spencer pie. I’m hoping Liam and Hope see through the cracks of Amber’s charade before the sun sets on their happily ever after- but do you think this is the end for the star-crossed lovers?

Meanwhile in Neighbours, Jade is struggling with her feelings for Kyle, but he is smitten with Kate. She’s already proved she’s not afraid of playing dirty, but just what will Jade do, when Kyle asks her for advice in wooing Kate? 

And on Home and Away, Elijah begs Leah for another chance, forcing her to choose between him and her blossoming romance with Miles. 

So what do you think will happen? Can Amber succeed in stealing Liam away for good? Will Kyle discover Jade’s true intentions? And who will Leah choose? Post your answers below, or send an email to soap@next.com.au

Just letting you all know there are some errors on the crossword in the latest issue.

11 Down, 19 Down and 28 Across won’t fit the correct answers, so just leave them blank and fill out the rest and they will be counted! Sorry! Hope you all enjoy the issue!

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

DAYS OF OUR LIVES:

GENERAL HOSPITAL

PASSIONS

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Happy holidays, soap fans!

Gone… But Never Forgotten!

A couple of weeks ago, I was scouring the soap opera websites and I saw that Days’ Christie Clark was headed back to Salem to reprise the role of Carrie Brady. After recovering from my bout of Blastisius Pastitius (or “blast from the past” as it is more commonly known), I got to thinking about other absent characters that I would like to see back in Salem, and on the small screen in general…

B&Bs Deacon Sharpe: Sure, he’s fun on Y&R, but who wouldn’t want to see another hot hook-up between bad boy Deacon and Brooke Logan?!

B&B’s Sally Spectra: Although B&B has tried to reinvent Sally’s spunkiness in Jackie Marone, and more recently, Amber Moore, no-one can capture the indomitable spirit of the rambunctious redhead.

Days’ John Black and Marlena Evans: Salem just hasn’t been the same without it’s sweetest doc and sexiest cop. Come on, Days – bring back this smoking supercouple!

Desperate Housewives’ John Rowland (Gaby’s hunky gardener): Phwoar! Need I say more?!

Gossip Girl’s Jenny Humphrey: GG is in serious need of its sulkiest teen to provide a foil for the new (and annoying) perkiness of its resident Queen of Mean, Blair Waldorf

The Young and the Restless’ Patty Williams: It’s only been a few months, but we’re already missing GC’s favourite unhinged cat lady!

Who would you like to burst back into the television landscape? Post your answers below, or send an email to soap@next.com.au

Remember 1990?

The hair was bigger, the clothes were smaller and Sinead O’Connor was beseeching the world to believe that nothing compaaaaared to us.

Having debuted three years earlier, B&B was already a hit with daytime audiences. But, little did anyone know that a new character was about to arrive on the scene – a character that would irrevocably change the face of the show, and spark heated debates between viewers the world around.

I’m talking, of course, about Taylor Hayes Forrester Rashid Forrester Marone Forrester Jones III. From the day she swanned into Los Angeles wearing a crisp white lab coat and a perpetually winsome expression, the good doc set into motion the beginnings of B&B’s most enduring love triangle between her, designer man Ridge Forrester, and everyone’s favourite “slut from the valley”, Brooke Logan.

Whether you wanted Ridge to pick the blonde or the brunette babe (or, if you were like me and hoped that they would each ditch the philandering playboy, join forces and resources and start their own fabulous fashion business while he wallowed in pity and tried to figure out how to tie his own shoelaces without a woman to help him), there was no denying the fascination that their ever-shifting connection held for the watching world.

After two decades and a whole lotta marriages between the threesome, it seemed as if B&B was finally moving away from what was becoming an increasingly tired love triangle when Brooke and Ridge renewed their vows, and Taylor found love with PR star, Whip Jones. But, to paraphrase Michael Corleone in The Godfather, just when we thought we were out of this hot mess, they pull us right back in again. That’s right – B&B has ominously hinted at the reinvigoration of Brooke/Ridge/Taylor in an upcoming storyline that sees Taylor starting to pine for her ex-husband after he makes a throw away comment about returning to her if Brooke strays from him again. Ick. Gag.

Not only do I want to reach into the TV, give Taylor a good shake and tell her to show some respect for herself, I want to phone B&B’s head honchos and tell them to have some respect for us, the viewers who deserve a better class of storyline after sticking with them for twenty-odd years.

What do you think? Would you like to see Taylor, Ridge and Brooke hop back on the carousel of love, lust and lies? Post your comments below, or send them to: soap@next.com.au.

Recently, the cast and crew of Y&R took the show to the streets of beautiful New Orleans to shoot a series of dramatic scenes involving Phyllis, Michael, Sharon, Nick and the wily Adam Newman. Check out the behind-the-scenes action:

And don’t forget to pick up issue #213 of SOAP WORLD for all of the latest goss about this glamorous on-location shoot!

To celebrate the DVD release of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s hot, new TV4ME titles, on sale from all good retailers TODAY, December 1, SW has exclusive clips from Castle, Cougar Town and Scrubs.

Check them out:

CASTLE:

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1513&playerid=69&bitrateid=314&formatid=10&clipid=e70703&affiliateid=-1

COUGAR TOWN:

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1513&playerid=69&bitrateid=314&formatid=10&clipid=e69867&affiliateid=-1

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1513&playerid=69&bitrateid=314&formatid=10&clipid=e69865&affiliateid=-1

SCRUBS:

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=1513&playerid=69&bitrateid=310&formatid=10&clipid=e70081&affiliateid=-1

To celebrate the NOVEMBER 3 DVD release of Grey’s Anatomy: Season Six, we chatted exclusively to Chandra Wilson – the actress behind the fiery Dr Bailey – about what fans can expect from the veteran hospital drama’s sixth season and beyond!

What can you tell us about your character’s storyline in Season Six of Grey’s Anatomy?

CW- Dr. Miranda Bailey gets promoted at the start of Season Six, so she’s no longer a student; she’s an attending. That means she gets to wear the navy blue scrubs, which is a really good color for me. You will see a return of the determined Bailey in Season Six. She’s the functional, efficient Bailey – the one that doesn’t have time to cry about anything anymore. She’s tired of crying. There are bigger, better and more important things to do in life than sit around and cry all day.

Does Dr. Bailey get a love interest in Season Six?

CW- She needs a break, doesn’t she? She needs some sunshine in her life. Maybe she will find someone in the future, but her head isn’t in that place at the start of Season Six. However, who knows what will happen further down the line?

Do you still enjoy playing this character after six years on the show?

CW- I love playing Dr. Bailey because she brings something new to the table every season. I never feel like I know everything about her; there’s always something else coming out about her personality or her past. I have never got to the point where I feel like I have done everything possible with Bailey. I’m not at that place by a long shot, which is one of the reasons why I’m still having such fun on Grey’s Anatomy.

Is it true that you directed an episode in Season Six?

CW- That is true – and it was absolutely fabulous. I took my prep time very seriously and I tried my best to work as efficiently as possible as the director. I had a ball. Would I do it again? I would love to do it again if possible. It was just great on all levels and I’m so glad to have been able to exercise that part of my creative muscle.

Did you approach the producers about directing or did they come to you?

CW- I casually started talking about it with the executive producers about two seasons ago – and then I started to talk seriously about it during Season Five. I was eventually given the go ahead, which is when one of the directors gave me a book that he considered the Bible of cinematography. He handed it to me and he said, “Learn that.”

What is the book called?

CW- It’s called The Five C’s Of Cinematography and it was very helpful. After that, I just had to pick the right time to direct an episode, which hopefully would have been a light episode for Bailey. The problem was that Bailey was involved in a lot of the storylines of Season Five, especially in the lead up to Izzie’s cancer. I said to the producers, “Okay, let’s go for the beginning of Season Six instead of trying to squeeze it into Season Five.” And that’s exactly what I did.

Are there any new characters arriving in Season Six?

CW- There are a several new characters because our hospital merges with Mercy West in Season Six. There’s a lot of competitiveness with people wanting to hold onto their jobs and there’s a great new dynamic to the show, which has been fun to work on.

What was your most memorable scene to film in Season Six?

CW- In an odd way, I thought it was very interesting to film the scenes at the cemetery at the start of Season Six. We’re always on the hospital set, so it was like a field trip for us all to travel and shoot O’Malley’s funeral.

You have worked with T.R. Knight – who played O’Malley – ever since the show started. How cathartic was it to shoot the departure of his character at the beginning of Season Six?

CW- It was very cathartic for all of the characters on the show, but we all dealt with it in our own way. All of the actors in the cast still talk to T.R. and we all support him. When anybody ventures off and does something outside of the show, we all have absolute support for each other. He’s still in our lives; he’s just not on the show.

Do you think the death of O’Malley was handled well on the show?

CW- I thought it was handled appropriately for an original character on Grey’s Anatomy. The whole purpose of that episode was to talk about grieving and to look at how people deal with death differently. I think it worked really well.

Viewers know how Dr. Bailey reacts to these sad situations, but how do you personally handle such dark themes?

CW- Oh boy… I honestly don’t think you can know until you’re in the situation. Your human emotions catch you completely off guard.

Is it difficult to switch off from your character after working hard on set all day?

CW- It’s not hard at all. The show’s storylines open up conversations outside of work, but Dr. Bailey lives in the studio where we shoot the show and that is where I leave her every night. I close the door and I leave her behind. It’s as easy as that.

What makes Season Six stand out for you?

CW- I think that Season Six is a fantastic year for Grey’s Anatomy. We introduce some great new characters – some long-term and some short-term – and we’ve still got the core group of people that the audience is interested in. You’ll see Dr. Bailey on a new journey in Season Six – plus there’s a merger with Mercy West that takes us into a whole new set of experiences for the hospital. It’s definitely been a good year for the show.

Where do you see Grey’s heading in the future?

CW- I have no clue where we’re going, but I know that the producers and the writers have a plan for the future. They have a chart up on a wall somewhere that we can’t see, but I look forward to finding out about it. Bring it on…

GREYS ANATOMY: SEASON 6 WILL BE RELEASED ONTO DVD ON NOVEMBER 3^RD, 2010

I grew up with B&B’s Bridget Forrester. Not literally, of course – while she was living in her Beverly Hills mansion surrounded by the bold and the batty, I was falling off my bike and listening to The Spice Girls in Sydney. Plus – she’s fictional, where as by most accounts, I am real. Honest!

When Bridget was born, though, I was six years old, and like Brooke Logan, I had spent many months eagerly anticipating her arrival. From the moment that Ridge placed Bridget in Brooke’s arms after delivering her at the Big Bear cabin, I felt a kinship with this girl from a far-off land.

Thanks to the miracle of rapid aging, Bridget and I were soon the same age, and I marvelled at how exciting her life was compared to mine (because, to a soap-crazed six-year old, nothing says “excitement” like a paternity scandal and a kidnapping scare).

Although I continued to age at a normal rate, while Bridget suddenly turned eighteen mere weeks after her eleventh birthday, I was still fascinated by her frequently harrowing escapades. Over the space of a few years, Bridget grew up, attended medical school, found a husband, lost that husband to her mother, found another husband, lost that husband to her mother, became pregnant, gave birth to a stillborn child, entered the world of fashion design, and gave birth to her father-in-law’s baby, which pretty much takes us up to the present day.

Having invested so many hours in Bridget Forrester, it makes me sad to see that Ashley Jones (who has been my favourite of the nine Bridgets to grace the screen since 1992) has been taken off contract and dropped down to recurring status – the same fate that befell Winsor Harmon (Thorne) earlier this year.

While I understand that B&B wants to highlight previously underused players, or bring in new characters (as Ashley became a recurring player, newbie Kristolyn Lloyd (Dayzee) was signed to a permanent contract) I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness for more old TV gal pal, who I still feel has plenty of tragedy – and hopefully a little joy – left to give her fans.

Do you have a favourite character that has been put on the backburner? Post your comments below, or send a message to soap@next.com.au