GL Stars Bring Full Hearts, Willing Hands to Norfolk, Virginia

GUIDING LIGHT stars Frank Dicopoulos ("Frank Cooper"), John Driscoll ("Henry 'Coop' Bradshaw") and Nicole Forester ("Cassie Winslow," pictured), will be in Norfolk, Virginia, this morning to donate their efforts as volunteers at Haven House, a local homeless shelter. The appearance will coincide (and hopefully help to promote) a major renovation for the shelter where volunteers will include painting, cleaning, landscaping and restoration of common areas.

The appearance is the latest in a series of public and community service efforts by GL stars in support of the GL "Find Your Light" initiative which encourages good works as a means of celebrating GL's 70th year of radio and television broadcast. For more information on "Find Your Light" and the milestone anniversary, visit www.findyourlight.net.

Videos, pictures, and a description of the GL cast's recent "Find Your Light" efforts to help rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area, click here (it starts about 1/3 of the way down the page).

ABC & SoapNet Excite, Dissapoint Fans at Florida University (99% of whom were likely Demo viewers...)

ABC-Daytime drew largely-mixed (though some angry) reviews during one of their largest and most hyped promotional projects with sister network SoapNet, Rock the Quad, a contest win that had promised a visit by five ABC-Daytime stars and a series of promotional events, icluding the attendance of classes by the stars, with University of Florida freshman Meg Pabst. Pabst beat out several hundred other entrants--also students--in a contest challenging them to prove their love for their favorite ABC soap to SoapNet.

When the big day came for Pabst, a passionate GENERAL HOSPITAL fan, and the 500 "frenzied" ABC-Daytime fans in estimated to be in attendance, the actors arrived nearly 2 hours late, and included GH actors such as Bradford Anderson ("Damien Spinelli") and new recast Kiko Ellsworth ("Stan Johnson"), both supporting-of-supporting actors with problematic screentime (Anderson has been known to play nearly all 5 days a week despite tepid, sometimes hostile, fan reaction to his quirky character, while Ellsworth--and immensely popular soap star from his previous gig as former GH DA "Dara Jenson's" cousin "Jamal" on the now defunct GH spin-off PORT CHARLES--had not yet had any screen time to speak of and thus has not yet had a chance to become a fan favorite or not for GH fans).

According to an Independent Florida Alligator newspaper of the event, about 500 fans shivered in a cold wind Friday while they waited for the event, hosted by former-Bachelor Bob Guiney (stock photo from an unidentified fan event, right), but were kept entertained by ABC/SoapNet's advance team:

"While waiting for the event to begin, some students munched on hamburgers, hotdogs and cookies that were provided by ABC. Others received free makeovers and were sent to a photographer for headshots. Some of the more serious fans crowded the stage, afraid of losing their spots, which would put them within arm's reach of the celebrities.

Though Pabst remained positive the whole time, the paper noted the annoyance of her friends "that ABC representatives didn't fulfill a string of promises, [after]Pabst had spent dozens of hours filling out a questionnaire, throwing a General Hospital party and creating a scrapbook in order to win the contest."

ABC representative Mitch Messinger admitted to the Alligator that the stars did not tour campus or attend classes with Pabst as had promised, noting that the stars toured the school without Pabst.

Neither Messinger nor Brian Frons, President of ABC-Daytime, nor SoapNet GM Deborah Blackwell, have yet to respond to inquiries from Soappipe.

(read the whole article here)

Martha Said Knock You Out? ATWT's Byrne as You've Never Thought of Her Before

CBS's AS THE WORLD TURNS star Martha Byrne ("Lily Walsh Snyder) is known for the many hats she wears, but those who know her as a power-mother, St. Jude's Children's Hospital fund-raiser, or even remember her short stint as a women's ciggarette pitchwoman (and lead songstres), may have raised an eyebrow at this press release published online at the Boxing Insider.

An innovative and ambitious way to help mothers and young people? Perhaps it's not at all far off from the always gloves-off (when it comes to helping others) Martha Byrne we're used to. (Read all about Martha's latest project here.)