I will miss James Mitchell, along with his many other fans and colleagues. Mitchell was best-known for his acidly funny portrayal of ALL MY CHILDREN's Palmer Cortlandt, but was a prominent figure in the dance world, and scored on stage and in films, as well. He died January 22 at the age of 89 of complications from pneumonia, in Los Angeles. Mitchell had moved there and quietly retired, but was given one last hurrah on AMC's 40th anniversary episode (which aired January 5), in which he was one of many longtime cast members interviewed (as Palmer) about what life was like in Pine Valley.

After several years of losing its way, ALL MY CHILDREN finally found its footing (appropriately, on its 40th birthday) with a salute to Pine Valley, as represented by many of its citizens, past and present.

Recently, I've had the pleasure of talking to some of the ALL MY CHILDREN actors and actresses who are returning for the show's 40th anniversary in January. One of them was Eva La Rue, who played Maria on AMC from 1993-'98 and 2002-'05 (and is currently playing Natalia on prime time's CSI: MIAMI). La Rue made it clear her heart is with AMC; after all these years, she said, 80 percent of the time she gets called out on the street, it's people wanting to tell her how much they loved her as Maria Santos.

What do you do when your favorite soap, the one you've been watching for more than 25 years, does some silly, out-of-character stuff that makes you want to scream? You pretty much grit your teeth, let some of those feelings out, and enjoy whatever little bits and pieces you can. Life is all about change, and soap operas, which reflect our lives in an outsized, often outrageous way, are no different. Cast members come and go, as do behind-the-scenes personnel.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES continues to dazzle with over-the-top brilliance, proving that executive producer Marc Cherry's decision to jump ahead five years was the spark the show needed to kick-start its engine. There are simply no other prime-time soaps currently running that offer the viewer such a tightly written and well-conceived mix of comedy and tragedy, often at the same time. Since September, we've seen:

Wow…Chuck Pratt, ALL MY CHILDREN's controversial head writer since June 2008, has been let go. This has already made lots of AMC fans deliriously happy, those who have been upset with such questionable plot directions as:

Soap Opera Weekly put The CW's hit series THE VAMPIRE DIARIES on the cover of our 20th Anniversary issue (dated Nov. 24, 2009 and hitting the stands on Nov. 13), and for those of you who think that's stretching the definition of soap opera, read on. Weekly has a grand tradition of covering prime-time soaps. Some of those shows that have graced our covers include THE O.C., 24, NYPD BLUE, HEROES, SURVIVOR, THE SOPRANOS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Yes, we even have a precedent for putting a prime-time series about vampires on the cover. Not to mention a reality show.

I spoke with Vincent Irizarry (David, ALL MY CHILDREN) for Weekly. Here are some tidbits we didn't have room for in print. The recent Daytime Emmy winner talked about his character's motivations and what he would like to see in David's future.

Now that we know Aiden Turner (Aidan) has been let go from ALL MY CHILDREN, it's bittersweet to see him more active than he's been on the show in six months. Whether Aidan's needling Adam about his own past ties to Annie, or sticking it to Annie herself, or helping Zach and Kendall hatch their plan to keep Kendall safe and Annie in play, Turner makes it clear that AMC dropped the ball with his character. Given half a chance, he always rose to the challenge and delivered. Although it's too late to do anything in Turner's case — or in the case of another fine actor, Beth Ehlers (Taylor), who was brought on with much fanfare and left in a black hole with nothing to do — maybe AMC, and the soaps in general, might think a bit harder about the talent they have, and what it will cost them in viewers to ignore it, get rid of it, and pursue plots and characters (Hello, Cougar Kane!) that have a huge ICK factor.

The news this season is good for those of us who like our soaps tinged with the paranormal.
Fox's premiere of FRINGE stood up to the series' first season. And that's saying a lot. FRINGE picks up where it left off, with FBI agent Olivia (Anna Torv) returning from her visit to another universe (similar to ours but, for example, one where the World Trade Center still stands) in a dramatic way, via a car crash. She doesn't remember what she saw in the parallel world once she wakes up, but does remember (she thinks) that she's supposed to find something. She does not remember who told her this, or what or where the "thing" resides.