Kelli McCarty, Faithless
As Passions' Beth, Kelli McCarty pretty much experienced it all — a love triangle with an orangutan, dressing up as a clown, and getting wooed by her own father. Still, McCarty has found new territory to explore, as the star of her first-ever adult film, Vivid's Faithless.
"Doing an adult film was never in the back of my head," McCarty says of her unexpected professional segue. "I just sat on the idea [and] approached Vivid, and they said, 'Yeah, let's make a movie.'"
Learn more about and then watch-and-discuss our video Q&A with McCarty ater the jump.
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James E. Reilly, a sometimes controversial soap scribe who twice served as Days of Our Lives' headwriter and created the supernatural-themed Passions, passed away over the weekend, at age 60, Soap Opera Digest reports. Reilly was recovering in the hospital from cardiac surgery when he died.
Read more about Reilly's passing and his daytime legacy, after the jump.
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Juliet Mills by John Paschal/JPI/NBC Universal
Zany witchcraft. Sordid violence. Cheese-tastic monsters. Gratuitously naked men. Has there ever been a show like Passions? Created in 1999 by the certifiably insane suds legend James E. Reilly, the NBC-DirecTV soap signs off this week (Thursday at 2 pm/ET, DirecTV channel 101). Here's a look back at its most twisted plots. — Michael LoganTo Di For: Passions rewrote history — and p.o.'d Princess Diana fans — when it revealed that Diana and Dodi had been on their way to see socialite Sheridan Crane (McKenzie Westmore) when they crashed in that Paris tunnel. Later, Di contacted Sheridan from heaven.Whole Lotta Shakin': The quaint little town of Harmony survived countless disasters — earthquakes, a tsunami, an avalanche, a volcano eruption, even an asteroid. Then there was the real-estate crisis: The Bennett home started oozing blood and sank into the bowels of hell. Dynamic Duo: Let's raise a Martimmy glass to Juliet Mills and Josh Ryan Evans, the wildest couple in...
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Jeanne Cooper by Robert Voets, Peter Bergman by Robert Voets, Tracey Bregman by Tony Esparza/CBS
Nominations for the 35th annual Daytime Emmy awards were announced Wednesday, and CBS' daytime lineup has the early lead with 51 total nods — or for comparison purposes 12.75 nominations per soap. ABC netted 27 noms for its three sudsers, while NBC's Days of Our Lives and Passions amassed 10 bids between 'em.Among the noteworthy tallies, The Young and the Restless collected 11 acting nods, including at least one contender in every race, while Days made an atypically strong showing, scoring four acting nominees. Kudoscast host ABC, meanwhile, may want to instead broadcast a test pattern, as All My Children, General Hospital and One Life to Live netted just three acting nods combined. That said, both GH and OLTL are vying in both the outstanding drama series and writing contests.The major races:Lead ActressMaura West (Carly, ATWT)Crystal Chappell (Olivia, GL)Nicole Forester (Cassie, GL)Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, Y&R)Jeanne Cooper (Katherine, Y&R)Lead ActorDavid Canary (A...
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Drake Hogestyn by Chris Haston/NBC
I knew we were in for a bumpy ride when All My Children started the year by murdering Dixie — the show's heart and soul — with a plate of poisoned pancakes. But hey, that meant more airtime for Zarf, a rude, suffocatingly hammy, penis-flashing transgender rock star who fell in love with Pine Valley's saintly lesbian Bianca. Appropriately, fans on the Internet named the couple "Barf." In a pathetic attempt to boost ratings, Days of our Lives pretended to kill its most popular male character, John, played by Drake Hogestyn. Even the cast was fooled. But with the Nielsens staying flat, Hogestyn is now back at work and we're left to wonder: How the hell can we ever invest in Days again?General Hospital viewers had a fit and threatened to stop watching when heartthrob Jax was held hostage and forced into sex by a loony Russian chick. Meanwhile, they didn't seem to mind when a Port Charles strangler killed three women.Things that made me cringe: Constantine Maroulis on The Bold ...
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Juliet Mills by Chris Haston/NBC
DirecTV has informed NBC that it won't be ordering a second season of Passions, which moved to the sat service in September, Variety reports. In order to keep Passions alive through at least August, DirecTV has ordered 52 additional episodes which starting in early to mid-January will air just three days a week (versus the current four).Passions, which will resume production for another month in February following a holiday hiatus, could possibly new life on, say, Oxygen or as an Internet-based sudser, now that its production budget has been streamlined so. — Matt Webb MitovichWhat's your take? Do the residents of Harmony have more story to tell? Would you want to see Passions demoted to an online existence? Or is it time to bid Sheridan, Luis et al a finale adieu?
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Natalia Livingston and Tyler Christopher by Ron Tom/ABC
As the World Turns: And Baby Makes Five Paul (Roger Howarth) and Rosanna (Cady McClain) get hitched, but Paul may have impregnated Craig's gal Meg. Naturally, somebody will mess with the paternity test. Holden and Lily head for divorce court. Nutty moms Barbara and Iris team up for villainy. General Hospital: Murder at the Ball Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) throws a black-and-white ball climaxing in the death of a top character. The story rewinds 11 hours, then each episode moves forward one hour — à la 24 — to reveal what really happened. Who's going bye-bye? There's much buzz that it's Nik's ex-wife Emily (Emmy winner Natalia Livingston), but ABC is strictly mum. One Life to Live: What a Drag Baby snatcher Marcie (Kathy Brier) evades the law via an offbeat underground railroad that finds her performing with drag queens in Georgia and getting help from a Katrina family in New Orleans. Plus, Tuc Watkins, briefly sprung from his gay-neighbor gig on Desperate Housewives, ...
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Jeff Van Atta, Erin Cardillo by Sean Smith/JPI Studios.com
Entourage did it. So did CSI. Now DirecTV's Passions is getting into the oh-so-bizarro world of furry sex. On Oct. 2, druggie socialite Esme Vanderheusen (played by the pee-your-pants funny Erin Cardillo) will go out clubbing and pick up a guy named Pete (Jeff Van Atta). When she goes back to his place, he slips into a pussycat costume — only to be killed before the loving can commence. "The neighbor's mean dog comes in and tears Pete to bits," Cardillo reports. "It's supposed to be tragic, I guess, but it's really pretty funny. Suddenly I'm the black widow of Harmony."Just a couple of weeks ago, Esme's boyfriend, Fox (Mark Wystrach), was shot to death when he stepped near the bedroom window right after they had sex. "As a comedic character, it was very weird to play grief," Cardillo says. "I was like, 'Cry? Esme doesn't cry! She's too doped up to cry!' But the mourning for Fox only lasted a couple of episodes. Now we're back to full-on crazy." — Reporting by Michael Logan
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McKenzie Westmore and Galen Gering by Chris Haston/NBC Photo
How will Passions' mad-dog creator Jim Reilly make sure we follow his show from NBC to DirecTV? By staging a killer cliff-hanger — literally. "A major character from a core family will be murdered in the final NBC episode [airing Sept. 7]," reveals Reilly, who's been on quite a death spree lately. (Another key character gets whacked Aug. 28.) The NBC finale also has big twists that'll impact the she-male plot and the Luis/Fancy/Sheridan love triangle. "And we'll pay off the audience by having Ethan finally meet his son," Reilly reports, "but even that ends on a huge shock." Expect more insanity when the soap hits DirecTV Sept. 17. "There will be three killings during the first month or two, and we find out one of the most stable, beloved citizens in Harmony is a murderer," Reilly says. The Lopez- Fitzgerald clan becomes the target of a new villain who'll make badass Alistair look like a choirboy. Reformed witch Tabitha will return to the dark side. And, notes Reilly, "If given ...
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As first teased a month ago by TVGuide.com's Soaps News, NBC is close to inking a deal that will keep the supernatural sudser Passions alive on DirecTV. Two caveats, per Variety: The show will air only four days a week, and further slash its acting tutor production budget.... Disney Channel this month starts production on Twitches Too, starring real-life sisters Tia and Tamera Mowry. The sequel finds the twin princesses threatened by an "evil darkness" and learning that their father may be alive.... Court TV begins live coverage of the Phil Spector trial today at noon/ET.... Starting next year, the Screen Actors Guild Awards will honor outstanding performances by stunt performers and coordinators.Matt (that's me) is back from vacay, rested and relaxed. If I got any more sun, Don Imus would start calling me names.
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