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These are the news bites, rumors and gossip bits that I collect from sources both on and off the net.  I hope you enjoy them!

For the Week of August 4, 2008

Happy August to everyone!  I can't believe the summer is already halfway over!  It definitely went fast.  Although the info has been slow coming in lately, there are still a few interesting tidbits to share, so let's get right to it.

GH

Rumors are flying that Rick Hearst is on the verge of being let go from GH.  His character hasn't gone anywhere or done anything literally in years and it looks as though the GH execs have lost interest in writing for Sonny's angry brother.  His recent cozying up to Claudia Zacchara could well be his undoing, as could Sonny's connection to the Russian mafia.  Either way, it is unlikely that GH would completely close the door, so I feel a faked death or quiet exit coming.

Is anyone else sick to damned death of the whole "Johnny and Lulu on the run" story already?  My FF button actually fell off this week when I was watching GH and sailing past anything with GH's newest "super couple" in it. 

Speaking of the whole "Lulu's crazy" story, Bob Guza (Head Writer) said that Genie Francis' return is for "around 2 months."  That's a lot of visioning.  She shows up on August 26th, so a while to go yet.  Her appearance will not be 100% confined to visions, but she will still be catatonic except for a few fleeting moments.

Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore is set to jump into a recurring role as Mr. Giambatti, Milo and Max's father.  He is a big time mob guy who thinks his boys are running Port Charles.  When he comes to town, the guys have to scramble to maintain the illusion.  This should be a hoot.  Here's the promo.

AMC

I have to confess that I did not expect to see any major changes with Charles Pratt, Jr coming into the Head Writer seat at AMC, but stop the presses.  Apparently since the quieter half of the previous Head Writing Comedy Team of Guza and Pratt (GH) came on the scene, some intense casting and recasting meetings have been going on.  Although Aidan and Greenlee will tie the knot this week, don't count Ryan as out of the picture because there is a strong push to reunite this former couple, which could leave Aidan out in the cold.  That idea does not thrill the character's portrayer, Aiden Turner, who for a long time now has suffered through his character only being defined in terms of which woman he is sleeping with at the time.  I will be very surprised to see his stick around much longer.

Another AMC issue being heatedly discussed is yet another recast of Colby.

With the budget of all of the 3 shows becoming quite an issue, don't be surprised to see a lot of the "dead weight"  being trimmed away and the cast condensed down to the bare minimum.  When an actor is on contract, they are paid whether they are used or not, so expect to see several others follow down the path of Colin Egglefield (Josh), being busted down from contract status to recurring, which means "don't call us, we'll call you."

Someone recently wrote to me and asked if Jacob Young had "gotten married or something" because he was looking a little plump onscreen.  Since *I* myself got married a couple of years ago, I suspected that mayhaps I should hop onto the scale in case it is general knowledge I missed that men gain weight after the matrimony comes.  I was surprised to find that I have actually lost 5 pounds and I fear I am seconds away from the "gaunt old man" look.  Young, on the other hand, is indeed married (as of May 2007) and he and his wife Christen are expecting a little bundle of baby in November.  Maybe that's why he's a bit paunchy. 

Although Annie completely jades out Ryan to the point that he asks her to renew their vows and tells Aidan to stop investigating her, both Aidan and Zach are highly suspicious of the once again Mrs Lavery.  Maybe there's hope yet.