I don't have too much to say about the Emmy Pre-Nominees this year. Overall it's a really good bunch. The Younger Categories are laughably nonsensical, though (why are 26 year-olds competing in a separate category with children and teens?!?). Here is the run down, in case you haven't seen them:

Lead Actor:  Bob Woods and Jerry Ver Dorn  Hallelujah! I didn't think they would put Jerry Ver Dorn in the leading category, but I'm happy they did. He deserves this and for once, I don't have to cringe at the thought of a certain gum-chewing actor putting together an Emmy reel. Of course, Trevor St. John should be on this list, but he declined to participate - which makes him a total bad ass in my opinion.  Nominee Prediction:  None.

Lead Actress:  Erika Slezak and Hillary Smith  I can live with this, and both women are deserving; however, Florencia Lozano was shafted here. She deserves to be here more than either Slezak or Smith. Lozano carried OLTL in 2009 and this was her year. Smith deserves it as well but in my opinion, Slezak belongs in Supporting this year. This should have been Lozano and Smith. But whatever category she's in, Slezak can put together a reel that knocks everyone else out of the water.  Nomination Prediction:  Erika Slezak.

Supporting Actor:  Brian Kerwin, Mark Lawson, and Brett Claywell  First of all, I do not understand why some shows have three entries in certain categories. Secondly, I don't understand how Claywell could possibly be viewed as on par with Brian Kerwin or even Mark Lawson. Claywell is appealing, but his acting is simply not in the same league. I don't want to sound mean, but his most dramatic scenes consist of shouting. Lots and lots of shouting. He has had some stronger, softer moments - particularly with Ilene Kristen. But this is where the politics of pre-nominations must come into play. The gay storyline has to be rewarded at all costs, and that's probably what the show will be submitting for "Best Show" even though the strongest stuff from '09 was Bess/Viki and Todd/Tea. I'm actually glad though that Mark Lawson made it in there over Roscoe Born. Everyone knows Born is a genius, but it's nice to see Lawson's hard work and improved skills acknowledged. He had some really great scenes especially with Bree Williamson after Brody was speared. Kerwin is the strongest nominee and I think he will get an Emmy Nomination out of this.  Nomination Prediction:  Brian Kerwin.

Supporting Actress:  Bree Williamson and Ilene Kristen  What a pleasant surprise to see Kristen put in there! I was very surprised though because I don't think Roxy had much airtime or storyline last year. That just goes to show you how good she is. But I'm surprised her peers voted her in over Tika Sumpter (again, with the gay storyline needing to be "rewarded" and Sumpter's strong work when Fish came out) and over Melissa Archer. I predicted Williamson and Erika Slezak in this category. But if you take Slezak out, my next pick for 2009 would have been Archer. I'm not complaining because I think Ilene Kristen is one of the absolute best things about OLTL and she makes the show better with each and every one of her scenes. I am surprised though that she was voted in for this particular year. Nomination Prediction:  Bree Williamson, and never count previous winner Kristen out. We could have two in this category! 

Younger Actor:  Scott Clifton and Scott Evans  Umm... huh? Scott Clifton is 25 years old. Scott Evans is a whopping 26. So that's practically twice the age of the true "younger" performers like Eddie Alderson. That either of these gents would be in a separate category from people like Mark Lawson and Brett Claywell is freaking ludicrous. I will not even dignify this laughable category with further acknowledgement other than to comment that Clifton is very talented but plays a nondescript character who had no Emmy-worthy storyline to speak of, and Scott Evans' reel will most likely consist of fake crying and pouting.  Sorry, but that's how I see it. Eddie Alderson was ROBBED.  

Younger Actress:  Farah Fath and Crystal Hunt  These girls are 25 and 24, respectively. Why are they not considered adults yet? Can we please institute some sort of soap opera bar/bat mitzvah so that 20-something actors can be held to the same standards as their fellow adult peers?  

The Younger Category either needs to be strictly for teens and children (under 20 years of age), or abolished. Right now it's just a sad joke. But Congrats to all the OLTL nominees, and Congratulations to Trevor St. John and Florencia Lozano, the true Acting MVP's for 2009! 

KIM POSSIBLE RECAST:  Still no word here on what TPTB are doing to cope with the loss of Amanda Setton. I have heard that Kim and Clint do get married and that is already taped. I don't know if she was written out or if she left smack in the middle of the storyline. But after thinking about it for a week or so, I do think the show should recast the role. It's not absolutely necessary, but the character is popular, connected to the canvas in interesting ways, and more entertaining than most in her age group. Perhaps most importantly, she is the only character in the 20-something age group on the show that is likeable. She is really needed in the Rex/Gigi/Schuyler group because without her, they are basically unwatchable. Furthermore, Kim's relationship with Clint is endlessly interesting and puts her into the core mix of Buchanan's and those who visit the mansion. 

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of actresses who might be able and available to fill Amanda Setton's shoes. Of course the part could be given to a deserving unknown, but one actress with previous daytime experience has come to mind. I was a HUGE fan of hers on Days of Our Lives where she played a highly entertaining, albeit psycho, character. I'm not sure what she's up to or if she's exactly right for Kim. No doubt her portrayal would be different than Setton's, but that's okay. I am speaking of Heather Lindell who played crazy Jan Spears. She is a sexy brunette, a highly skilled actress, and about the right age. She has experience carrying front burner storylines in daytime's fast-paced world. I'd love to see her in Llanview. 

Do you have other ideas for a Kim recast?  Send them my way!

Monday, 2/22

-  Nice to see some animosity-filled John/Todd scenes. It's been way too long.  John is far more interesting with Todd or David (or practically any dude) than he is with Natalie or Marty. Although I'll be the first to admit his scenes with those two ladies are going much better lately than I ever thought they could. 

-  Young Bree is already going utterly crazy, and she is only three years old or so. "WHERE IS MY MOMMY!?!? I WANT TO SEE MY MOMMY!" Soon her head will start rotating 360-degrees and her eyes will turn red. Now - unlike cousin Starr who turned out totally normal - let's see Bree grow up to be the most screwed up character ever on soaps. 

-  My biggest guilty pleasure in life has to now be Teenaged Jessica. I'm still not sure WHY this storyline is happening, but it is making me smile and making me laugh, so I'm not going to complain about it (at least, not yet). "Who is Bree," she asks. Viki: "Bree is your daughter." LOOK OF CRAZED SHOCK!!! Hilarious.

-  Why is the writing for Shane always so awful? His dialogue is so freaking cheesy and annoying.

-  What an interesting bit of writing to portray Fish as internally homophobic ("the baby needs NORMAL parents!"). That was a great issue to bring up, but then it was dropped.

-  Once again, Kyle is shouting all of his lines. I don't enjoy listening to people when they are shouting. 

-  Why is Sky even attempting to get out of this doghouse he's created for himself? He is acting like a freaking baby. Just man up to what you did and stop with the "woe is me" routine. It's repulsive.

-  I know he's just a lowly pre-teen, but Shane is an awful character. It's time to ship him off to boarding school somewhere.

-  Brody is rubbing Natalie's leg! Wow, that didn't take long! I am VERY intrigued by both Brody/Natalie and Brody/Marty. Let Crazy Jessica mess with Cris/Layla and bring Brody into Jolie/Marty STAT!!!

-  What if Schuyler becomes so obsessed with wanting to raise that baby that he tries to hook up with FISH once he finds out Fish is the real Father? Now that would be funny!

-  Today, Schuyler officially became LOATHSOME. Get him off my screen. Now.

-  Jessica's attempt to make Bree sane by pretending to remember her was sweet; but would a teenaged Jessica really have the wherewithal to do that? Or, as one of my readers suggested to me this week, is it possible this is actually a new alter PRETENDING to have memory loss? Food for thought...

Tuesday, 2/23

-  Did you hear they're supposedly giving Todd to NuDumbKelly? May I ask then, what is the point of having Tea on the show? Gina Tognoni is fierce, but Florencia Lozano is the fiercest bitch in town. Use her well or let her go. 

-  The Sky/Gigi scenes are just awful. Why do TPTB think we will care about either one of these people? Sky is a complete loser. TPTB ruined him in order to make a Gigi/Rex reunion seem more desirable (gross). I get that. But listening to him whine like a little bitch through while Gigi lets her oversized shirt hang down exposing her shoulder, does not entertainment make. 

-  TPTB should have had Gigi refuse to even talk to Sky, and had Sky respect that and give her space. They could have let the Sierra crisis pass and THEN she could have told him off. The way Sky is being a little bitch is just awful, and once again Gigi is getting way too much airtime and not filling it with anything watchable other than extra crazy hairdo's and inappropriate outfits. If Gigi is going to be written as a financially struggling single mother, than why don't they EVER attempt to make her look like one?   

-  LOVED Clint catching Kim's bitchery toward Nigel and telling her off. Jerry Ver Dorn ROCKED this!!! And the writing was very smart. But this highlights my previous point about Amanda Setton: She is good but NOT THAT GOOD YET. She fake cried in this scene, people. I wish her well but I'm sick of people acting like she's the second coming of Ilene Kristen. Give me a BREAK.

-  Roxy burst right into Gigi's house and exposed Kyle's secret without thinking twice! But that's Roxy for you.

-  NO!!!!!!!  What the hell? Why is Todd kissing Blair? I am seriously about to SHUT THIS SHOW OFF. Todd is not even remotely entertaining anymore. Nor is he recognizable as Todd. Who is this guy who wants to have casual sex? The writers need to do some research on Todd Manning because they clearly don't get him at all. 

-  Ilene Kristen and Jerry Ver Dorn are the only saving graces of this entire episode. They were both just SO stellar. Now here's an idea for TPTB: Why not put these vets in a story TOGETHER? These two vets kept me awake while the vapid, soulless characters created during Ron Carlivati's tenure had scene after scene of whining and modeling off expensive hair do's. 

-  Now here's something to ponder: Suddenly, Rachel is going behind people's backs to try and protect the asshole named Schuyler. It's the first interesting thing Rachel has done since she last put down the crack pipe! There is something interesting here, and I can see my idea for a Rachel/Sky marriage coming to fruition for this custody battle. Except... they just fired Daphne Duplaix. Can someone explain the timing of that to me? And why on earth would they get rid of Rachel at this juncture (but not Greg)? I'm telling you right now - if they put Rachel and Sky together, make them invest everything into getting that baby, let them have the baby for awhile, take the baby away from them when the truth comes out, have Sky fall off the wagon, have Rachel try to save him but then slip off the wagon herself, then let them be crazy druggies for awhile but completely in love with one another, have both of their careers and lives ruined by drugs, then follow them on the road to rehab, one at a time, and then let them find their way back together....I don't know about you, but that sounds far more entertaining to me than anything those characters (or actors) have been allowed to do thus far.  

-  Why did Blair dip the ends of her hair into black ink?

-  Another thing to ponder: All My Children has a commercial running right now advertising Brooke vs. Annie and Erica vs. Greenlee. Enticing rivalries (pairing vets with younger rivals) that make me want to tune in. OLTL, on the other hand, has a commercial running about...Gigi. Just imagine if it were a Dorian vs. Kim commercial. You do the math.

-  During Kim's monologue to Clint about Stacy's death, I felt like Amanda Setton was good but should have gone much, much further emotionally. It came off as whiny. I know I'm probably being hard on her because she is leaving, but I really do see so much potential in her and I think it's unfortunate that other people in the press have put her on such a high pedestal because she is NOT that good yet. Now we'll never know how good she might have become. 

-  After two days of really terrible Gigi/Schuyler scenes, they finally got watchable when Gigi realized Sky was responsible for Mitch going after Stacy and therefore, indirectly, for Stacy's death. I liked how she hit him and screamed at him. But seriously, they should have cut all the rest of their scenes and only put that one in. 

-  Kim: "Sometimes 'Stace' was a total bitch, but there was more to her than that. Anybody who took more than two minutes to see past her pasties and g-string knew that." SERIOUSLY??? I still don't know if this was supposed to be funny or not! I think it was unintentionally hilarious. Again, Kim has so much potential as a character, but then she says something like this and reminds the audience that she is just as vacuous as Stacy.

-  Sky just insinuated that his relationship with Gigi "saved him" and is the reason he's sober. Umm...Sky came onto the show with his sh*t totally together, with teaching career in tact, and sober. THEN he met Gigi.

-  Again with the awful Gigi/Sky story, there is still NO explanation as to why Sky  upon learning he was the baby's "father" - didn't immediately tell Gigi what Stacy had told him, and then demanded a paternity test. Sky would have said, "She did drug me, but there was no evidence we had sex and I do not remember having sex, which I think I would!" He would probably still be with Gigi at this moment.  And if not, at least the Rex/Gigi/Sky triangle would have been on a level playing field and a true triangle with the person in the middle torn between two options.  This whole triangle is about making one guy into an asshole, then turning it around and making the other one into an asshole while redeeming the other asshole. No thanks.

-  How great to see Tea volunteering to do shady, illegal things for Rachel. This is the Tea I haven't seen in MONTHS!

-  I have to break it down for TPTB: You are RUINING Todd Manning. Slowly but surely. He doesn't even resemble himself anymore. Watching him try to screw Blair after she confirmed she is sleeping with Eli is SO opposite from anything Todd would ever do. Writing Todd as a horny teenager desperate for a lay from the nearest available woman is a crime against the Soap Gods!!! If Todd makes comments and jokes about his sex life, it should be because of his deep sense of shame and discomfort with sex. Todd has very, VERY deeply disturbing sexual issues and the current TPTB completely ignore it and act like Todd is a regular guy. I thought the current TPTB were around during the 90's??? There seems to be either a complete denial of who Todd really is or ignorance about it.  Either way, it needs to be fixed. 

-  Dani is extremely mentally deranged. Her attempt at having sex with Matthew was disturbing (not only as a character beat, but also because Tea would have walked in on them which means Dani is not very smart or sneaky). Seeing how disturbed Dani is makes her unfit for Matthew.

-  The Clint/Kim scenes became really tender and good. Too bad.

Wednesday, 2/24

-  Layla has the flu for Snoop Dogg? Poor Tika!

-  Let's get real: Ford and Cris should have sex. If that doesn't spike the ratings, then nothing will. 

-  Why did Tea put the oxytocin in her safe? I thought the whole point was to throw that stuff out? Why do I have the feeling Dani is going to use that oxytocin somehow? 

-  Loved how Jack showed up at Tea's door to tell Dani off. 

-  Are Nora and Matthew seriously living in Bo's old apartment? It's so tiny!

-  Did you see Bo smiling behind Nora when she found lipstick on Matthew's cheek!? LOL.

-  Snoop Dogg:  "This town has always had some find sceneries."  LOL! 

-  But not having Roxy interact with Snoop was a damn crime.

-  Am I right in surmising then that Langston is the new Elizabeth Webber? The sad, guilt-ridden slut who just can't help herself from screwing whomever comes onto her, then begging her boyfriend not to dump her? YAWN.

-  Awww, look. Cole and Starr are going to have sex for the third time. How sweet!

-  I enjoyed Destiny being sassy toward Greg and Rachel. 

-  Tea: "Jack! What are you doing here?" Jack: "Wasting my time. I came here to meet my sister, but I could be doing some more fun things at home - like putting my head down the garbage disposal." Priceless.

-  Shaun is with Vivian now? Umm, okay then.

-  The Evans family is so obnoxious. 

-  Snoop Dogg: "Don't say no, NO-ra!" HAH!!! Hilarious!!!

-  Good. Dani is back to telling off Todd instead of whining about Todd. This is an improvement.

-  !!! Snoop just made a weed reference on-air! I love it. For those who don't know, the actress who plays Felicia Evans also plays a marijuana dealer on Showtime's Weeds. I guess Snoop is a fan ;)

-  Rachel is getting interesting for the first time. Are you listening, TPTB?

-  Did you see Carmen LoPorto busting a move to Snoop Dogg!?!? The kid is funky! So is Eddie Alderson!!! As for the rest of the white folk....tee hee, no comment.

-  This was the first musical guest in a long, long time that I enjoyed. 

Thurs, 2/25

- Is it me, or is Langston orgasiming on screen every time Ford gets within an inch of her? Note to Langston: You clearly want to be sexually liberated, so do us all a favor and dump poor Markko! 

-  It seems to me that Viki and the rest of Jessica's peeps should be a little more PISSED OFF that Mitch gave her electro shock treatments!

-  Gigi is sure showing some skin for a hospital crisis in the middle of winter. And she obviously took plenty of time on her hair.

-  Rachel/Sky scenes are ten times more interesting than the Gigi/Rex scenes today.

-  I just realized: After more than a year of crappy Stacy Morasco, we are right back where we started: Rex and Gigi. Remember them? Worst. Couple. Ever.  Sigh.

-  If being hot is the most interesting thing about Ford, then guess what? He's not interesting at all. Writing 101: Develop your characters! Sigh again.

-  Note to Tika Sumpter: Be worried, girl. Be very worried. Your best bet is to make sparks fly with Random Hot Guy...I mean, Ford.

-  Wow, John said, "Nice dress," to Marty today Now in my book, his usual compliment of "You look real pretty" to Natalie is a step above the "nice dress" bit. 

-  Marty to John: "She doesn't even remember her sister...and apparently Natalie is hard to forget." DAYUM! I love when Marty gets catty!

-  Ford had a condom in his back pocket, which means he knew he was gettin' some. By the way, you're not supposed to keep them in pockets like that!

-  Has anyone told Teenage Jessica that her twin sister already married and divorced her boyfriend Cristian?

-  Markko is looking like such a clueless fool. Langston is the worst liar I've seen this side of Jessica Nutbag.

-  It's not that I mind Langston being a slut; I mind her being a lying bitch.

Friday, 2/26

-  Roxy/Mitch - well, it's about damn time!

-  Ah!!!  What a breath of fresh air to see Dorian Lord looking like herself again! 

-  But WHY is Dorian magically no longer worried about Mitch? That makes no sense.

-  LOVED the Clint/Jessica scenes today!!!!! I was wondering how TPTB would handle Jessica finding out about Asa and I think they did it complete justice!  Bravo!

-  Well, they dragged Tika Sumpter out for one last happy Layla/Cris moment.  And DAYUM, she looked HAWT.

-  OMG. I could not stop laughing when Jessica called Cristian and acted like a giggly, googly little girl. She is SO crazy that I just can't help myself. This storyline is HILARIOUS.

-  Another relief: Seeing Gina Tognoni in the same scene with Robin Strasser and Kassie DePaivia. This is how it should have started off.

-  The Starr/Cole scenes today were so much better than anything they've had in ages. Starr was being sassy and teasing Cole in a way that was believable and adult. 

-  The bitchery between Kelly and Blair was awesome. I didn't know how TPTB would write their relationship but clearly they're going old school with it. And that's a good thing.

-  Langston slapping Ford - nice! But I hope Markko slaps Langston soon.

-  Jessica/Cris: I don't know what to say, folks. I LOVED it. I know some of you are writing to me hating it, and I get that. But... I can't help it, I think it is just preciously hilarious and entertaining to see Jessica acting this outrageously nuts. When she kissed him, I think I spat out my coffee.

-  Okay, not sure at all what those Mitch/Roxy scenes were about. When he called her "Roxanne..." and dragged out her name like that, that's when she freaked out. I took this to mean that Roxanne is NOT her real name. This also took me back to the whole "Is Roxy really a man" storyline idea. Not sure if that's it, but there is definitely another HUGE secret Roxy is keeping. 

-  ALLISON PERKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my Lord, I had no idea she was going to be on this soon. How f'n GREAT!!!

-  Best episode of the month of February, BY FAR.   Look at which characters were on, TPTB, and which characters were NOT on. Hello! 

* Next week I will have a guest columnist filling in for me, but I will be back the following week! *