NEWS: Stephen Nichols, Ron Carlivati, EASTENDERS

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Stephen Nichols (soon to be Tucker)
"I’m not going to watch the other guy and see what he did, and nobody at Y&R asked me to do that, but I will tell you this: William Russ is a prince. When I went to my dressing room for the first time I found a note he’d left for me on top of the television, telling me to have a great time in the role and hoping that everything goes well for me. I had some great scenes today with Jess Walton (Jill) and Jeanne Cooper (Kay) and Daniel Goddard (Cane). Tucker is coming in to take away everybody’s toys. I really like this guy. He did not come from money but rather he’s a self-made success, a regular guy who can tend bar and shoot pool and talk shit with anybody. He’s very unassuming in many ways."

INTERVIEW: OLTL head writer Ron Carlivati
Carlivati appears on the latest DC podcast. On Kyle and Fish: "My goal was if this couple got together, they should get the same payoff as any other couple. For a soap opera couple, it usually culminates in, 'when will this couple make love?' and when they do we usually pay it off with a very nice love scene. My goal was if we are going to do that, if we're going to go there with Kyle and Fish, and they're ultimately going to overcome all their little obstacles and get together, then we should just show at least as much as we show with any other couple. Frank [Valentini] agreed and the network agreed and that's what we've done."

How can EASTENDERS be any grimmer this Christmas? Wait and see
With Albert Square already mired in misery, EASTENDERS will have to pull out all the stops for its traditional bleak Christmas episode.

What town is the basis for Collinsport in the Gothic horror soap opera DARK SHADOWS?
Bar Harbor.

Lifetime developing criminal justice drama
The project, from Sony TV and studio-based Apostle, centers on a team of victim witness advocates.

NBC Universal starts Comcast transition
"This team will focus on planning all aspects of how the two programming and digital groups will operate together after the deal closes," NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker wrote. "We will look to Salil and his team to develop an overall schedule, identify programming and marketing opportunities, recommend organizational structures, etc."