More snide sarcasm coming soon. We interrupt today’s broadcast for this special announcement…..

When Guiding Light ended in September, I shared some of the local Chicago points of interest that were part of Irna Phillips’ life, and of GL’s beginnings.

Around the same time, I was lucky to be one of the people who landed a new job after months of post-layoff unemployment. As I’d promised in September, I sent a donation to the same church that Phillips found comfort in during a rough time – the one that eventually inspired her to create GL.

I’m hoping to inspire GL fans, as well as ATWT fans and fans of other Phillips creations, to donate to 2 Li’l Fishes, the church’s food pantry. And to make it fun, I’m recommending that you do what I did – donate an amount equal to the number of years you’ve been watching.

I’d love to have you post in the comments here the number of years and dollars you donated! It’s a great way to honor something that entertained me for so many years, and to speak to the message that we directly affect the lives of others every day – that our actions speak louder than words and dialogue.

The Web site for 2 Li’l Fishes, which includes their mailing address, can be found here.

About a year ago, I talked about some of the prime-time serials, and wished that their daytime counterparts would copy from them. My contention was that the prime-time shows were doing a much better job at portraying romance, family and the fine points of relationships.

I may have spoken too soon.

I’ve been puzzled and disappointed in some of my nighttime favorites. Here’s a rundown on what’s happening – and what I wish was happening.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: DH is in its sixth season, and it’s not that DH is bad this year. It hums along nicely, and no season has been as bad and off-kilter as Season 2. The show got a boost from its five-year fast forward last year, which enabled it to tell a number of new stories.

The problem with DH is that it’s become utterly predictable. The new neighbors have a secret! Please, we’ve seen that before. We’d be more shocked if they didn’t. (Perhaps that’s a story Marc Cherry should tell. New neighbors who are utterly normal – and who are so hounded by Wisteria Lane denizens about what they might be hiding that they flee in fear!)

The other problem with DH is not a new one, but it’s compounded and grown over time. Nothing ever really happens or changes. No one ever pays for their mistakes. Orson going to jail for running over Mike was a rare exception – but so many other things have happened (Andrew killing Mama Solis, Katherine killing her ex) that have either never been resolved or have been all but forgotten.

I like Drea de Matteo and her handsome husband and son, but why should I care about what their secret is? Chances are it will be forgotten by the next episode.

BROTHERS & SISTERS: I still like B&S, but it also seems to be treading water. (I understand there was recently a change at the top, so hopefully the show will become energized.)  Getting rid of Tommy was a wise move – he’s best as a recurring, occasional character – but so many other stories are at a standstill.

As one might suspect, B&S’s strongest area is family relationships. Its weakest is romance. The two lead couples – Kitty and Robert, and Justin and Rebecca – are uninspiring. Kitty and Robert, in particular, are dreadfully boring and mismatched and come across as siblings instead of spouses. Justin and Rebecca, who thought they were siblings for a time, just seem so mismatched. Kevin and Scotty are the strongest couple on the show, but since they can’t actually express their affection on-screen, they, too, often come across as siblings.

The biggest negative for B&S is the fact that they’ve almost completely wasted Sally Field. After a promising start where Nora faced massive changes in her life, she’s been reduced to a talk-to for her children. I was encouraged by Sunday’s episode, where she met the insanely sexy Jon Tenney. Let’s hope he stays in the picture.

The story I was most dreading – the appearance by Dancing With The Stars alum Gilles Marini – has actually been refreshing and sweet. Not only is Marini beautiful to look at (the Kitty/Rebecca fist bump and gawking session at Luc’s emergence from the pool was hysterical) but he indeed can also act. He has a warm presence and he’s been a great match for Rachel Griffiths’ Sarah.

GREY’S ANATOMY: Oh, Grey’s. How I loved thee. Being a Grey’s fan is like being with an old boyfriend. You remember the reasons you fell in love, but sometimes they annoy you or bore you to tears.

Fellow soap blogger Sara Bibel has a great analysis of Grey’s in her Fancast column. I agree with many of her points. I’m not quite as anti-Lexie as Sara is; I think Lexie is valuable as Meredith’s sister. But the story sags and sinks every time the show tries to put her front and center – which is too often. And her “romance” with Mark is a complete, utter epic fail. (Mark Sloan has, in my eyes, outlived his usefulness.)

I also am not quite as down on the Mercy West merger as Sara is, although I thought it was a lazy way to copy House (which shook up its cast and introduced several new doctors a few years back). I like some of the newbies, but they seem like such carbon copies of characters that already exist. Charlie is, clearly, George 2.0. Jackson is the scrappy guy a la Alex, and April was a combination of Lexie and Izzie. (Can’t tell you how glad I am that she was fired!) Reed seems to be a character with possibilities and a brain, though she’s already moping around Alex.

For a show that built its reputation on the swoonworthy Mer/Der combo, Grey’s is sadly lacking in romance. Cristina and Owen have inexplicably come to a screeching halt. Alex and Izzie are on shaky ground, and their marriage wasn’t quite made of passion (they married when Izzie wasn’t sure she’d survive cancer).

And though I individually love the characters of Callie and Arizona, and respect Sara Ramirez’s immense talents (I loved the “you can’t pray away the gay” scenes), I don’t buy Callie as a lesbian one bit. Sorry, Sara – when you’re in a scene with Arizona (or Erica Hahn), I just don’t buy one look, one line or one action. That’s a shame, because these two women are great to watch. (Jessica Capshaw’s Arizona is definitely my favorite character at the moment.)

The most baffling move? Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang was, hands down, the best reason to watch the show (aside from the star-crossed Mer/Der). But Grey’s seems to be at a loss as to how to write for her. Outside of her romances with Burke and Hunt, Yang has been maddeningly inconsistent. Yang was once a strong, uncompromising character. Her most prominent character trait these days is utter paralysis – not going back, not leaping forward and not taking charge.

With George dead, Izzie gone and Meredith on temporary leave, the show has been low on characters and relationship material, so the plot has been ratcheted up, General Hospital style. Everyone’s doing a forbidden, life-changing surgery! First Derek, then Cristina and Arizona.

I wish the show would return to its roots of relationships and romance. And the best possible plot twist? I wish Preston Burke would return.

Yes, you read right. I know Isaiah Washington was let go after his remarks about fellow cast member TR Knight became public. Washington may have been guilty of being a challenging actor, and an ineloquent one, but I don’t believe he was a homophobe, and I think he’s paid dearly for his error. Aside from all of those technicalities, Grey’s could use a dose of Burke’s heart and his strong, solid presence.

Failing that, I hope Grey’s stops treading water and develops an exciting plan to take us to the end of next season – which I hope is the show’s natural conclusion. (Because let me tell ya, Shonda: If all of this shuffling and all these new characters is your way of telegraphing Grey’s Anatomy, starring Lexie Grey as Grey, then it is SO not happening. Sorry.)

UGLY BETTY: Actually, I have precious little to bitch about here. After a wobbly third season, Betty is firing on all cylinders this year.

Stories are consistent and focused on the Mode team, which is great – the ensemble works much better bouncing off of each other, vs. the story islands Betty often wanders into for its characters. And after a long stretch where Betty was either made to look like a fool or a shrew, she’s been allowed some personal growth, as well as a change in appearance that’s sleeker without compromising who she is.

The Betty/Amanda/Matt story is intriguing, not only because it’s a wrench in the Betty/Matt romance, but because Becki Newton, who’s always hysterical as Amanda, is getting to bring more levels and colors to Amanda.

It’s all utterly fabulous. And it’s a shame, because not a damn soul is watching, and it will be a miracle if it survives the season. It’s a doomed time slot – call it Guiding Light syndrome.

No matter what big, splashy storyline you might be watching onscreen these days – Carly returning to Salem? Tea and Todd getting married? Who really killed Stuart Chandler? – that story can only pale when compared to the high drama and the twists and turns provided by the story of Eric Braeden and his job status as Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless.

The story reached its climax on Friday when it was announced Braeden would be returning to the role of Victor. It was a culmination of a series of events worthy of Victor Newman. Braeden gave a slew of “exclusive” interviews and played hardball.

According to Sara Bibel’s Deep Soap, the tide appears to have turned when entertainment news sites like Entertainment Weekly reported that the salary that Braeden claimed was a “lowball” salary was still in the neighborhood of a million dollars. When Sony played those PR cards, Braeden’s camp appeared to be in a more conciliatory mood.

All personal feelings about the character and the actor aside, I think the whole Braeden story is a fascinating study in office politics and the power of public relations.

And it clears up one mystery that both We Love Soaps‘ Roger Newcomb and I had been puzzling about for so long. Namely: why the HELL does Eric Braeden get so many Soap Opera Digest covers?  It’s been no secret that Braeden’s publicist has for years maintained a sweetheart deal for Braeden – if he talks to you about story, Eric is on the cover. Period.

Was it ego? Perhaps. But in light of his now-temporary departure, I see it as solid insurance for a man working in a genre that has pushed many other actors in his age range and pay range down the elevator shaft.  This all hit me when I read Michael Logan’s interview (an “exclusive” one) with Braeden earlier this month. Logan’s interview with Braeden included this very telling comment:

ERIC BRAEDEN: It’s not that I’m not cognizant of these difficult economic times. One has to be stupid not to be aware. I’m also aware of certain decreases in the [Y&R] license fee that took place recently, but now it’s sledgehammer time, you know? [And that’s wrong] when you put your ass on the line for this show for 30 years, and have done as much publicity as I have. I still sell more [daytime] magazines than anyone in this medium, as you know. And I am very proud of that association.

Braeden’s insistence on being a cover boy could be called a lot of things – but stupid isn’t one of them. Those covers came in handy in the public relations battle that followed.

I’ll admit that, from a creative perspective, I’m not a huge Victor Newman fan. And whether it’s the character of Victor, or Braeden’s acting skills, I’ve felt that Victor was a pretty limited character. For years, I thought he was the Ridge Forrester of Y&R, a wooden character who’s more of a figurehead than anything else.

But while Braeden may be no Olivier or Branagh, it occurred to me the other day who he IS – daytime’s Clint Eastwood. Eastwood doesn’t have an A to Z acting range, either. But he plays the hell out of the few letters he does have in his range, and he’s smart and thoughtful about trying to make those characters more than one-dimensional stick figures.

In any event, the band playing the sad ballad of Hans Gudegast (Braeden’s real name) has left the rathskeller, and that ominous violin music is back, heralding his return. The Mustache, Father Time, The Great Victor Newman (TGVN) – whatever you call him, he may have been down, but he’s definitely not out.

You got that?

You have no idea how much I’d like to write a glowingly positive review of As The World Turns. I’ve been watching the show since 1985 – almost 25 years – and I’ll be writing a lot more about it in the next few weeks.

Speculation about ATWT’s future has been fast and furious since sister show Guiding Light was cancelled. P&G shows, which once numbered in the dozens, are down to one, and rumors persist this is the end of the road for ATWT, now daytime’s lowest rated soap.

I’ve been trying to understand where the show is headed by watching the last few weeks and months. But I’m still not clear what story ATWT is trying to tell.

For example, let’s take Jack and Carly. They’re the show’s most popular couple, and certainly one that drives a lot of story and a lot of viewer interest. These characters are popular whether they’re together or apart.

The upcoming Jack-road-trip story sounds intriguing, and a natural way to have some of the characters slated to return to ATWT come back and interact with the canvas. But instead of ATWT continuing to build on their leading couple, they’ve cut two characters who were connected to them – Brad and Rosanna.

There have been other positive developments – the interminable Paul/Meg story seems to have, well, terminated (or is taking a long rest), and the intense push behind Alison and Casey has been toned down as well.

But there hasn’t been anything eye catching to take up the slack. Teri, Janet’s sister, is interesting enough, but we’re still getting used to seeing her around. We’ve seen only hints of Hunter (and a promising chemistry with Maddie).

I wish the show would jettison Meg and Alison. Neither character has worked in their most recent incarnations, and as unpleasant as saying that is, there’s no time to tiptoe. There’s a slew of interesting female characters that ATWT could bring on to stir things up.

If the Synder farm needs a new young troublemaker, it’s time Abigail (Holden and Molly’s daughter) came back to Oakdale with a big secret. Or better yet, age Faith Snyder, bring back Hope Dixon (Andy and Denise’s daughter, involved in the Hope/Faith baby swap), and have Hope stay with Bob and Kim, so that we have a natural reason to see them that doesn’t involve death, cancer, heart attacks or a piano falling on their head.

Adam’s return was a one-step-forward-one-step-back moment. It was great that the show finally addressed the enormous mistake that was made (by the same creative team, mind you) and rectified the out-of-character actions that Adam made a few years ago. But it did so by compromising Maddie, who was made to look like a fool and who was almost apologetic towards Adam – who attacked her and Gwen and attempted to rape them. And it compromised Margo, as well. No matter how much Margo wanted to save Adam, it flies in the face of logic that margo – a rape victim – would have excused Adam’s actions.

As for the recent influx of characters, especially General Hospital vets Stuart Damon and Lynn Herring, I’m also torn. Damon and Herring are both fabulous, and I enjoyed their performances. But at the end of their stories, I didn’t feel like their characters made a difference on the canvas. It was a shame to have Damon play such a throwaway character; Herring’s Audrey would be so much more effective if she stuck around and gave Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara) a worthy foil.

I am concerned that with David Kreizman on board, we’ll see more of the kinds of stories that were his hallmark at Guiding Light. Kreizman’s stories were often attention-getting; to be fair, I thought his GL stories usually had an interesting premise and a very strong start to them, but they’d usually fall apart or derail. What was left behind was a lot of tabloid flashiness, but little connectivity to history or even to other stories on canvas.

Connectivity has been missing from many of the recent, blink-and-you-miss-them stories. I’m looking forward to seeing Tom Pelphrey’s Mick on canvas, but wish he’d be connected to someone already in Oakdale. (I think he’s just the right age to be Scott Eldridge’s son – and Lisa’s grandson.)

Simply being connected to an existing character isn’t enough, though. Let’s call that the Daisy Lemay theory. It’s connections + history + actor + story. Which is why GL’s Daisy didn’t work (parts of that equation were missing) and why GL’s James did (it all added up).

And yes, this is about ATWT, but it should learn from GL’s mistakes. GL waited too late (February) to focus on vets and bring back a missing favorite. It did so fabulously, but entirely too late to gain the audience and sustain its interest. ATWT needs to be fearless and up its game.

And ATWT has an advantage over GL, a show that had lost a lot of its veterans or had to move them to the back burner. I’m watching this opening from five years ago, and I see so many characters that are still on canvas – and still full of story.

It’s just a matter of keeping them connected, creating the feeling of a community, and making the story shine. There have been promising moves lately; let’s hope ATWT has the resources – and the TIME – to keep making the show better.

And a note to Nancy Tellem and Barbara Bloom: You need to give ATWT the chance to shine and the resources – including TIME – to do so. And more to the point, ladies: If you have no intention of doing so, and are intending to pull the plug on ATWT as well, please be HONEST to the people who work there and to the FANS – your viewers are your bread and butter. Please give the show the respect and the time you have GL so that it can address its substantial history before it ends.

Halloween isn’t for a few more weeks, but I swear we’ve been living in some parallel soap universe overrun by zombies.

We’ve all become accustomed to very shocking news – with the industry shrinking and budgets disappearing, we’ve experienced our share of  ”oh no they didn’t!” moments in the comings and goings department.

But the last few weeks have been truly astonishing.

Let’s take a look at these bombshells, one by one.

JAMES FRANCO COMES TO GENERAL HOSPITAL

Sure, GH had a number of high-profile celebrities on back in its 80s heyday (Elizabeth Taylor and Sammy Davis Jr to name just two) and it’s never been afraid to stunt cast (hello, Roseanne!).

But to have Franco – a quote, “serious actor,” unquote – play a character on GH is truly mind-melting.

Franco does have a TV background, coming to prominence in the short-lived Judd Apatow series “Freaks and Geeks.”  One wonders if a Bob Guza script will pack as much of a punch for Franco.

Based on this photo of Franco, I think he’d be a shoo-in for a recast Decker Moss, don’t you?

ERIC BRAEDEN WRITTEN OUT OF Y&R

It’s been a summer of blockbusters. First, there was part one: Jess Walton Walks. Then there was the sequel, Melody Thomas Scott Bolts. Of course, those two had a happy ending. It remains to be seen if the latest masterpiece from Paul Rauch Productions will have the staying power of the first two – or if Braeden will keep walking.

A view available only in the rearview mirror

I know that this is a minority opinion, but I am so over Victor Newman as a character. I am all for featuring vets and putting them into front-burner stories, but Victor is the Ridge Forrester of Y&R – an indecisive playboy who happens to be pushing seventy.

Victor, like Ridge, has bounced between women for decades now. He’s damaged Ashley and given Nikki nothing but grief (though apparently Nikki is a masochist).

Victor worked as a ruthless businessman (it can be said that Victor’s most combustible chemistry is with Jack) but business stories on soaps are unpopular and widely unsuccessful these days. And that makes Victor’s vendetta against Jack seem less about business or competition and more about some creepy, criminal urge on Victor’s part.

Yet the show continues to position him as The Great Victor Newman. (I prefer another Internet nickname for Victor: Father Time.)

I realize he’s got a lot of history, but I think a Victor-less Y&R would be a positive. I’d much rather see something new than have them repeat the same cycle of Victor-is-God-and-a-total-stud stories that have been running for thirty years. How they’d ever bring him back from the unforgivable place he is now (re: Patty and Colleen) is a mystery.

Personally, I’d like to see the show focus on Newmans: The Next Generation. Nick vs. Adam is a rivalry that should get more focus and that could go on for years. And a more viable Victoria than the one in place now could be a real boost to the show.

JONATHAN JACKSON BACK TO GH

Another big splash by GH. On paper, this looks fantastic. Jackson was the original Lucky, and a fan favorite. But his return begs a few questions.

Two actors have played Lucky in the interim – will he be able to pick up where they left off?  When Jackson was on GH in the 90s, he was blessed with words and scripts by Claire Labine. Will his Lucky shine in a Guza-led GH?

And, when the hell is Genie Francis coming back? Make no mistake, GH – putting Geary, Francis and Jackson together again on screen is your Triple Crown. Just do it, already.

ALL MY CHILDREN ANNOUNCES L.A. CAST LIST

This one wasn’t too surprising. The biggest shock is that AMC appears to be losing its biggest supercouple, Zach and Kendall. Thorsten Kaye is definitely staying in New York, and although nothing has been confirmed, it appears that new mom Alicia Minshew is as well.

Ray McDonnell is retiring, which means we’ve likely seen the last of Joe and Ruth Martin. And Jill Larson is apparently not part of the list, so we may also have seen the last of Opal and Palmer (since James Mitchell is apparently ill). That’s a huge chunk of AMC history that’s being left behind.

I’ve only been an occasional AMC viewer for the last decade or so, and only a handful of stories (Leo and Greenlee, early Bianca) have really captured my attention.

A big chunk of “classic” AMC walked out the door with Julia Barr, and most of the original, quirky Agnes Nixon touches have long since been replaced by hair models and baby-swapping narcissists.

The saddest part for me to read was that Beth Ehlers was let go. This was big news, but fell under the radar with all of the other cataclysmic changes this week.

It wasn’t completely unexpected – Taylor simply hasn’t caught fire – but it’s sad that Ehlers wasn’t around for Guiding Light’s end. I don’t blame Ehlers or co-star Ricky Paull Goldin for jumping ship when said ship looked like it was about to sink. But we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to Harley, and now Ehlers will be out of work.

A recent promotional photo had Ehlers wearing a T-shirt reading “Harley Davidson.”  That makes me think Ehlers was feeling a bit melancholy about her old role.  Here’s hoping we’ll see Ehlers again soon. I know Y&R was interested in her last year (I suspect it was for Patty/Mary Jane); perhaps there’s a place for her there under Paul Rauch, who was her GL boss for many years?

HEATHER LOCKLEAR RETURNS TO NEW “MELROSE PLACE”

Watch your back, bitches!

SARAH BROWN SOAP HOPS

Sarah Brown’s dissatisfaction with her role as GH’s Claudia led to GH agreeing to let her go and to release her from the rest of her contract, which originally ran until January.

Brown quickly landed a role at Bold and the Beautiful. The role kinda sounds like Morgan and/or Sheila, take 2. But congrats to Brown for landing the new gig!

SOAP VETS ON THE WEB

That sneaky Crystal Chappell is quite the trendsetter. The deafening buzz around her upcoming Web soap Venice has opened the market for other Web soaps.

Martha Byrne announced Gotham, her upcoming Web soap. As The World Turns fans will be happy to know that the actress who played Rose’s best friend Mitzi (Anne Sayre) will have a leading role on Gotham, as well as current ATWT star Michael Park (Jack).

And GH star Tristan Rogers is also launching a soap, Reality Bytes. The show’s lead, Trevor Rains, seems to be tailor-made for Rogers to play.

In the last few weeks, I’ve become addicted to a fantastic new soap.

It’s a soap with engaging characters that leap off of the screen, as well as a great sense of humor. Even though half the characters are in high school, they’re still so well developed that I actually care about what happens to them. And my new favorite soap has already launched into a few sudsy storylines.

I am, of course, talking about Glee.

Glee is getting a lot of buzz, and rightfully so. It’s an unusual hybrid of a comedy (creator Ryan Murphy is well known for his previous comedies Nip/Tuck and Popular) and a variety show, of sorts – most of the actors also sing and/or dance.

The core of the show is Will Schuester, a kind soul who’s a teacher at a high school in Ohio. He’s feeling stifled, but he finds an outlet when he becomes the director of the school’s glee club. Will is played by Matthew Morrison, who appeared on As The World Turns a while back as Adam Hughes.  Morrison is a heartthrob in the making. His good looks, easygoing nature and musical chops make Will a perfect “tentpole” character.

What makes this show so fun to watch, for me, are the characters. They’re a quirky bunch that remind me of characters from a Christopher Guest movie. Glee has done a nice job of positioning a wide range of characters and letting them have at each other. And the stories are getting increasingly soapy; last night Glee launched into a big umbrella story (hint: the episode was called “Preggers”) that will probably drive the narrative for the rest of the season.

The can’t-miss performance is Jane Lynch, who’s always fun to watch in everything she does. Here she plays cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, a tyrant at Will’s school who’s determined to take the glee club down. Lynch is a master of biting one-liners, and Sue is clearly in charge of her small fiefdom.

The music is the added bonus element – as well as the dealbreaking one: either you love that the songs are part of the narrative, or you run screaming for the exits.

This is definitely my favorite new show of the fall. There’s a few things I’d tweak, of course (what, you think I’d refrain from an opinion?) I think Glee needed a few more episodes of the glee club together to bond; so far, almost everyone (including Will) has left glee club at least once. It would be nice if the show allowed some alliances to gel and bonds to form so we’re actually invested.

Terri, Will’s wife, is definitely the weak link amongst the characters. Of course, Glee needs conflict, but Terri’s such a vapid schemer it’s hard to enjoy her scenes. She is the Stacy Morasco of Glee.

As a music aficionado, I hope Glee keeps up the quality of music selections. The song at the end of the pilot (Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’) was perfect: it told the story so well, it was well done, and it was a great “eleven o’clock number” in the theatrical tradition. (It’s a happy song that had me in tears.) A few songs have been more of a stretch matching plot to character; last week’s whole Kurt/Mercedes bit seemed to be created just to let Mercedes sing “Bust Your Windows.”  As with daytime soaps, it’s more enjoyable when the story (or the song) bleeds out of the character in a very organic way.

Oh yes, I AM going there.

It may seem too soon – since Guiding Light only ended about 48 hours ago – but time is of the essence.

Yes, I loved Guiding Light. And I love As The World Turns, too. I was disillusioned with it for much of 2008 and 2009, and I had focused much of my energy in this blog on GL. But now Oakdale has my undivided attention! Lucky for them.

I’ve been watching ATWT since 1986, and I’m very worried – as many of us are – that it might be next to go. I think GL suffered from bad timing – it made necessary changes way too late in the game – so I’m hoping ATWT will learn from some of the lessons that GL had to learn the hard way.

Here’s some things ATWT should learn from its older – and unfortunately dearly departed – sibling.

Bring out the hook. The hook. As in, the big metal hook they had in vaudeville for performers who just weren’t clicking with the audience.

Time is of the essence, folks. If something, or someone, is not working, it’s time to cut those losses and move on. And the show already has six-to-thirteen week plot thrusts, so it’s not like there’s already a time interval where you can tell whether something’s working with the audience or not.

GL did NOT do this with some of its more unpopular characters and pairings (Hello, Grady! Goodbye, nuCassie!)  and it waited far too long to make those changes when they were needed. Or it didn’t make them at all (yes, you, Rafe).

I’m not pointing out any particular ATWT performers, but there are a few that haven’t been working, either because of the way that they’re written or an utter lack of chemistry with their partners. Bring out the hook, get ‘em off the canvas, and introduce new or returning characters with a better connection.

Make friends with the Web. ATWT still hasn’t quite managed to take advantage of the fact that millions of fans are watching Luke and Noah on the Web. They are, in fact, experiencing the show almost completely via Luke and Noah scenes.

If ATWT was wise, they’d create additional Web content. (Hey, they have handheld cameras. This could be done in nearly real time at a very low cost, especially if those Webisodes were under 10 minutes.) A Web series with short episodes featuring Luke and Noah would not only be bonus content to engage the fans, but could also build a bridge where those fans might be willing to sample ATWT on a larger scale. A single episode could have the boys engaging with a single Oakdale character in a fun and interesting way – and perhaps in a way that could make those Web fans care about more than just two characters on the canvas.

And, y’know, on the Web you might have a LITTLE more flexibility with what the characters do than on CBS. Jus’ sayin’.

Remember your vets. The returns of Lesli Kay (Molly), Peter Parros (Ben), Paul Leyden (Simon) and Mark Collier (Mike) are all good news, but they represent only a portion of ATWT’s history. (I’m a little concerned that Mike and Simon’s return means we have a Mike/Katie/Simon triangle redux.)

Oakdale really needs to remember its vets, involve them in story, and use them to spin off new story and new characters.

This is vitally important no matter WHAT pathway the show takes. If it survives its next renewal, it will benefit the show because newer characters rooted in history will be accepted by the audience, who will also love to see those familiar faces.

If it does NOT survive, it would be a payoff for fans who have invested decades in watching ATWT to have characters they know and care about be part of those final days. (This is something GL did fairly well, and that ATWT needs to keep in mind – especially since the core Hughes family is still somewhat intact.)

I loved Kim and Bob’s recent brief forays to the front burner, but I wish that every story that’s being told about anyone over 50 wasn’t about illness. In the last several years, Bob, Kim, Lucinda and Barbara have all had major health issues. These are all engaging, exciting people (characters and actors) and there could be so much more for them to do.

There are SO many ways to entwine these characters into a story. Barbara is looking fabulous at fiftysomething, and is long overdue for a romance. She needs a Mark Derwin-esque guy that can challenge her – someone who’s different from Hal and James.

And Lisa has been criminally ignored. She has a wayward son (Scott) who’s probably old enough to have a family of his own. She needs to be engaged and challenged. And Lisa is a social butterfly, so she should be involved in the lives of others, not trotted out only on holidays.

ATWT has a wealth of choices if they’d like to add to the canvas. Two newer characters that are taking root (the recast Adam and Hunter) are doing so because they are connected to characters we care about, and ATWT has more in the pipeline.

For example, Kim and Bob could reconnect with some of their offspring. Jamey Giddens at Daytime Confidential had a great idea to cast Elizabeth Keifer (GL’s Blake) as Frannie Hughes. Kim’s granddaughter Hope would both bring in a younger character as well as an African-American one. (Yes, you’d have to age Faith too, but it can be done.)

Here’s hoping ATWT also remembers to tie its brand-new characters (like Tom Pelphrey’s Mick) to existing characters.

Respect the past. OK, ATWT, you had a really cute thing going for a while where you rebooted old Oakdale characters with new faces. And kinda reinvented them. Kinda worked with several characters for a while. More recently, Jon Lindstrom’s working well as Craig.

Please don’t do it anymore, though. Pay attention to what fans and, yes, bloggers have to say about some of those existing characters. Don’t drastically change a character so that the similarities between version 1.0 and version 2.0 are in name only. (I’m looking at you, Dusty and Meg.)

I know that 53 years of story gets awfully convoluted, and it’s impossible to touch on every twist and turn. But there’s some beautiful stuff that happened, yes, more than 10 years ago. And yes, some of us from the pre-glacier era are still watching. Drawing on that history, or using it to feed new ideas, isn’t a bad thing. Don’t fear the past! Honest, it won’t bite.

Make any production changes gradually. Self-explanatory. The changes at GL were all-encompassing, and perhaps it was too much all at once. ATWT actually seems to be doing this already – easing into hand-held camera use.

I’m all about making production cheaper – it’s quite frankly the best chance ATWT has for survival. Hopefully it can maintain a balance between the traditional look and the handhelds.

Get a great umbrella story and promote the hell out of it. The short thrust stories are certainly engaging, but there needs to be something that involves a cross-section of the cast. Hopefully that story is in the pipeline.

Once it launches, promote the hell out of it in every way possible. Print ads, radio, blogs, everywhere.

Soaps are in the public eye with the loss of GL and the changes to AMC. Jump into that conversation.

I’ve received e-mails (tens of them!) from readers who asked me for my take on the last episode of Guiding Light.

I have to admit, I’m reluctant to revisit the topic.

It’s been a looooong five months since we learned about GL’s fate, and I’m beginning to feel like it’s really time to take a deep breath and let go.

But I can’t resist an opportunity to add my two cents in, so here’s what I thought about the last days of Springfield.

Was I satisfied with what happened?

Well, it depends. If you’re talking about the last few weeks, and especially much of the last week, then yes, I was very satisfied.

Many of the characters that I knew and loved over the years were in play, and their actions were in character. These were not utter strangers. And I have to emphasize, strongly, that this is the positive part of the recent era of GL I’ve been trying to emphasize since last winter.

Because if GL had ended a year and a half ago, it would have been just as likely that I’d have walked away with my hands in the air saying “good riddance.” We had Josh/Cassie, Grady, and a whole lot of bizarre and stupid story. I don’t care if the whole damn thing was filmed in the parking lot of an IHOP, these episodes were about people that I knew. So I was, in a larger sense, happy.

I have to say that I felt the biggest emotional impact hit earlier in the week, with Monday and Tuesday’s episodes. The double wedding, and the death of Alan Spaulding, was intensely sweet payoff for all of the characters we knew and loved.

By Friday, most of the stories had been wrapped up in some sense, and the rest of the show was exposition for the future. It was sweet to know where everyone was headed in a year, but in a way, it lessened the impact, because these twists and turns were, in some cases, very new for the characters, and we hadn’t had time to invest in what happened a year down the line…which for the most part was love, love, love and a case of the BABIES! for everyone.

There were some nice surprises (Rick finally got the girl – Mindy) and the last scene with Josh and Reva was sweet. (I had to laugh that the last bit of dialogue was Reva saying “always” to her Bud.)

I do wish the newer characters and supporting characters (Daisy, Ashlee, Remy, Christina, Mel and Cyrus) had experienced their resolutions earlier. I think the emotional impact of the last few episodes would have been greater if there would have been a focus on characters we had a deeper connection to.

My biggest thumbs down is reserved for the Jeffrey/Edmund nonsense. I’ve complained about it before over the last few months, and for the show to take it as far as it did and then leave it unresolved was a completely puzzling move. I’ve admittedly never been a Jeffrey fan, but I’d be equally annoyed if I had been.

The whole plot islanded Jeffrey as a character in an odd way. (Though from a production perspective, it really made me believe Jeffrey’s departure, and Bradley Cole’s, was actually dictated by financial necessity. Perhaps the Jeffrey storyline was pretaped to allow him to depart early – and open up some salary dollars for the returnees?) I was also unwilling to believe that Jonathan would let Reva believe Jeffrey was dead for that long, not even for the collective safety of Colin, Henry and Sarah.

I feel somewhat schizophrenic about the ending for Otalia. I’m very disappointed that they didn’t kiss, and I was disappointed to see that their final scenes focused largely around making sure Frank was happy. But I’ve come to really feel that the Otalia story was still a magnificent one. I still believe their romance was realistic, despite the imperfections and shortfalls. It was nice to experience two characters as people falling in love, versus something that made you feel like you were watching an after-school special.

I loved the opening credits on the final episode, and wish we’d have seen some kind of historical bookend at the end as well – a sense that the Light was going out. As nice as the Josh/Reva scene was, I wish they’d have been perhaps the penultimate scene of the show. I would have preferred that the final scene been with the Bauers, or a montage of some of the faces of Springfield we’ve seen over the years.

At the end of the day, however, no one was shot by a firing squad, or encountered a dancing gorilla. And no cigars were extinguished on the front porch of the Peapack-Gladstone Tavern. After a few viewings, I understood that Ellen Wheeler and Jill Lorie Hurst wanted to leave the impression that these people’s lives would continue even if we weren’t watching. And in that goal, they succeeded.

See more of A Thousand Other Worlds here.

A phone call reminded of something this morning, and it’s been on my mind since.

As you watch today’s final Guiding Light episode, remember that in addition to the cast of characters you saw on your screen every day, there were many, many people behind the curtain at Oz.

We may not have always agreed 100% with their ideas or decisions, but these actors, writers, directors, producers and administrative folks worked very hard and were very invested in making GL be the best it could be, every day.

Invested, folks. Deeply, deeply invested in the show, and its survival.

There are a lot of people who lost their jobs and their livelihoods, as well as the joy of working on a project that they loved. They’re on my mind today.

Here’s a recap of the coverage I’ve featured here as part of the end of Guiding Light.

Ten old friends

An elegy for Springfield

The lion and the cobra

The hardest working woman in show business

Family reunion

Enter Vanessa Chamberlain

The curious case of Otalia

Here’s where the story ends

Reva and the red dress

Holly: Woman of heart and mind

We may never pass this way again

The end (and the beginning)