Soap News and Notes: Week of March 2 

Soap News and Notes is a new column that celebrates all things soap opera — daytime, primetime and beyond.

-Julianne Moore wins Oscar

Real quick — I want to congratulate Julianne Moore. The actress finally won an Oscar and it was for Still Alice. In the movie, she plays a woman diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. In the ’80s, Moore was incredible on As the World Turns as Frannie and Sabrina and she received a Daytime Emmy for her great work. What I love about her is she remembers her daytime soap roots. When she won a SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) Award earlier this year for Outstanding Performance by a female actor for Still Alice, she gave ATWT a bit of a shout out:

Julianne Moore: “When I was on As the World Turns, I was so excited when they wrote two parts for me, the classic twin sister role, the good and the evil one … and then I realized it was super boring to act by myself. And what I really loved, what I really craved, was being with another actor.”

I’m even more of a fan of the recently crowned SAG and Oscar winner after this speech.

-A new home for the Daytime Emmys

Hallelujah, the Daytime Emmys has a new place to call home. Last year, the show didn’t air on a broadcast or cable network. It aired online. On April 26, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences along with the recently rebranded network known simply as Pop, team up to broadcast the annual awards show. The celebration will be televised from a famed soundstage on the Warner Bros. Studio lot.

Bob Mauro, President, NATAS: “Our new partnership with the Pop network is an ideal platform to present our signature gala. With the Warner Bros Studios as our venue, where so many great films and television shows have been made, this promises to be a very special telecast of the 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy® Awards.”

The event honors the best in daytime, which includes soaps, talk, game and judge shows, educational programming and more.

–Suits star Gabriel Macht talks about working with General Hospital‘s Billy Miller (Jake/Jason Morgan)

Now if you’re a fan of USA Network’s Suits like I am, you already know that GH‘s Billy Miller is set to play Harvey Specter’s brother in the season four finale. I’m very intrigued by the addition of Harvey’s brother to the landscape because it’s almost always a good thing when we learn more about a character we’ve been watching for several seasons.

TV Goodness recently took part in a Suits finale press call that featured the man who so awesomely plays one of our favorite TV lawyers, Gabriel Macht. Macht talked about working with Daytime Emmy winner.

Gabriel Macht: Billy was just great. He was a good match for me. And he’s got…I would just say like he’s got a little bit of that tough guy that we’ve created with Harvey. And so I think there’s going to be some good stuff for us to play together in the coming years. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how it turns out.

Macht also talked about the storyline that brings Marcus Specter to the Suits canvas.

Gabriel: What I remember is that Marcus has had some gambling issues. Harvey feels super responsible for influencing him in sort of betting and gambling and…Harvey is definitely Marcus’ older brother and what I imagine is that they started betting on everything when they were kids and it just sort of got out of hand. And it became a problem. I think a problem that Harvey was able to work out and deal with but for Marcus I think it became a really big problem. And what you’ll see is Harvey makes some sacrifices for, some moral sacrifices and gets involved with [Charles] Forstman (Eric Roberts).

The Suits season four finale premieres tonight at 10/9c on USA Network. And the show will return for a fifth season.

–Days of our Lives‘ Christopher Sean Talks Paul and his breakout storyline

Right now my favorite storyline on NBC’s Days of Our Lives is the one featuring Will, Paul and Sonny. Talk about turbulent. The secret is out. Sonny knows that Will and Paul slept together. And now I’m enjoying the drama that erupted from this scandalous act. Sonny recently announced his decision that he was going to leave town. He needs some space. Will’s not too happy about it but he really can’t put up too much of a fight, can he? Meanwhile, I can’t help but think that Paul’s encouraged by this rift between Sonny and Will. Maybe that means there’s some room for him to step in. It’s clear he still loves Sonny.

Paul Narita is a character I instantly liked and that doesn’t always happen with new characters. In a press call, Christopher Sean, the actor who charmingly and winningly plays Paul, said he loves “the fact that the role is bigger than me. I’ve become an ally of the LGBT community and that, for me, is huge.” He also admitted to being worried about playing a character that was going to cause trouble for a popular couple.

Christopher Sean: I was extremely worried. I remember seeing [Guy Wilson and Freddie Smith] and saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ when I first came to set. I was nervous because them being the first gay marriage on television — it was groundbreaking. And for me to come in within the year of their marriage before their first anniversary and to screw with this it was definitely one of those things where man…I hope I properly portray this story. And these are some big shoes to fill in the 50th anniversary of Days of Our Lives. So I was nervous. I was extremely nervous.

He doesn’t need to be too worried. He’s getting some good feedback from the fans.

Christopher: The positive feedback has been an immense wave and I just am so happy that, in some way, I’ve tricked them into liking me.

Sean talked about what’s ahead for his character now that the article — and his character — are out.

Christopher: It really comes down to everyone involved with the families and their opinions and their ideas and how they all either accept and or reject what’s happened with Will and Will’s marriage, as well as what’s happening with Paul and his intervention. And his – not intervention – I wouldn’t say that exactly.  It’s his coming in between them and the situation.  So it’s really just about him playing between all the characters, really.

Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC — check your local listings for times.

Soap Alum Tracker

-I loved James Scott on Days of our Lives. Now that he’s no longer playing E.J. DiMera I can’t wait to see where he pops up next. For example, did you know that he is in a music video? He appears alongside up and coming singer, Roxanna, in the stylish video for her song, “Here with Me.” Take a look:

-Sundays on CBS, Josh Duhamel (ex-Leo du Pres, All My Children) stars with Oz‘s Dean Winters on a new series called Battle Creek. A synopsis of the series:

BATTLE CREEK stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters in a drama about two mismatched law enforcement officers whose polar opposite views of the world and crime-solving breed frustration, disdain, humor and possibly a grudging respect as they clean up the hardscrabble streets of Battle Creek, Mich. Det. Russ Agnew, a good but gruff, hard-boiled detective, has his world upended when strikingly handsome, charismatic Special Agent Milton Chamberlain opens an FBI field office at the police station and chooses Russ to be his partner. Milt’s polished sophistication and access to unlimited state-of-the-art equipment is impressive to his new co-workers in the absurdly underfunded department. As Russ and Milt work long hours together in the economically distressed city of Battle Creek, the question is: will it be Milt’s charm and endless supply of high-end resources or Russ’s old-fashioned cynicism, guile and deception that prove to be the keys to catching the bad guys in his beloved hometown? Janet McTeer, Kal Penn, Edward Fordham, Jr. and Aubrey Dollar also star.

Battle Creek airs Sundays at 10/9c on CBS.