Executive Musical Chairs & The Risky Business Of Rumor Mongering: Junk Food At Its Best

Experience has taught us that where there is smoke, there is fire. Unfortunately, all that smoke can make it difficult to ascertain the exact truth. Then, there is the dilemma of deciding when to share what info we receive and how much of it, because information can be inaccurate, incomplete, or the timing of said event can be off a bit. We take the risk of being called uninformed, having agendas, or simply labeled as outright liars. It is an especially risky business when only PART of a story is confirmed in the public, when the timing is off, and/or when certain forces are determined to keep things hush, hush. You know what I mean: That old, 'if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?'. Yet, soap fans keep clamoring for something yummy to munch on, they crave and love their junk food (old fashioned gossip), but want to sue the manufactures when it makes them fat. No matter that the junk food may not be full of nutrients (facts), and that it comes with warnings (rumor, spolier!), or that it is not particularly good for you, it has its own appeal. With that in mind, I have finally decided to proceed with caution, and let our readers in on what I am hearing. Just keep in mind that everything I am telling you is unconfirmed....got that? Unconfirmed. If you only want accurate facts, skip this and find something else to do. All that said, I am willing to go out on a limb and provide some of the stuff you crave.

Something big may be happening over at ABC Daytime. I've been in contact with multiple sources (TVGuide, SoapZone, NYDailyNews, SoapOperaDigest, About etc) and we've put our heads and info together over the last several months, trying to pin down the details. And we are seeing several versions of similar stories, some of which contradict the others. At this point, if I were to take a bet on what I am hearing, these are the scenarios:

1. Michele Val Jean or Mary Sue Price may take over head writing duties
2. Robert Guza Jr. will retain his consulting producer position, and possibly become a script writer
3. Brian Frons' position as ABC Daytime President is going to be given to someone else
4. Jill Farren Phelps is exiting her position as Executive Producer of GH. Based on what we know, we guess this may, (along with other factors) have a lot to do with certain actors on GH refusing to sign new contracts unless she had no say-so over them (think Jacklyn Zeman (BOBBIE) who almost did not re-sign with the show over issues with JFP; Anthony Geary (LUKE) who we hear may have gone to bat for Jackie.)
5. Wendy Riche may return to ABC Daytime in some capacity. More likely as EP of GH, but OLTL is a possibility
6. GH's Nurses Ball as an annual summer event (then expect a slew of former GH actors)
7. Kristina Wagner may return as Felicia Cummings Jones
8. Wally Kurth (Ned) may be offered a contract
9. Jaime Ray Newman may have a guest role as Kristina Cassadine
10. ABC/NBC Daytime Casting Wars: ABC has approached Robert Kelker-Kelly (ex-Bo), Roark Critchlow (ex-Dr. Mike), Jason Brooks (ex-Peter), Michael T. Weiss (ex-Dr. Mike), Christie Clark (ex-Carrie), Renee Jones (ex-Lexie) about joining their shows
11. Beth Ehlers (Harley on GL) spent an hour with GH's casting director in May 2006 at the Daytime Emmys. This may mean something.
12. Gone From AMC: Walt Willey, Jacob Young, Kelli Giddish, Alec Musser
13. Consultant Kay Alden is leaning towards AMC
14. John F. Smith might only stay on as GH's consultant
15. Burton Armus has no interest in head writing OLTL
16. Dena Higley is on her way out
17. Megan McTavish is getting one LAST chance on AMC with the DISGUSTING storyline!
18. Agnes Nixon wants AMC to be cancelled

It is also possible that this is all just a bad case of junk food poisoning. So, here is your dish, take your chances with it, or not. You can choose to pick out the best of the morsels to savor or turn your nose up at, or swallow it whole, or simply heave the whole thing into the garbage disposal- your junk food has been served.