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.

Keeping Up With Wisteria Lane
In its sixth season, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is better than ever, and how many series can you say that about (especially ones that specialize in soapy goodness)? Within the first minute of episode one this season, we found out it was Susan (Teri Hatcher) marrying Mike (James Denton), not Katherine (Dana Delany).

I was pretty sure it was going to be Susan; I spoke with executive producer Bob Daily last May, and he noted, "For [Mike and Susan], it's always one of the unanswered questions of the series … where will those two end up? It was such an integral part of the first season. The trick is balancing the fans' desire to get them back together again, with the dramatic need of keeping some tension in that relationship…[but] their relationship will always be important to the show."

Daily also mentioned that Delany will "absolutely" have more to do, since one of the major characters, Edie (Nicollette Sheridan), was killed off last season. Which is great news, because Mike and Susan's wedding made Katherine, er, angry: Susan had never ventured across the street to talk about it or about her stealing Mike back from Katherine. This has set the stage for Katherine to hop on the crazy train, and if there's one thing I love, it's watching a great actress like Delany chew the scenery.

Bree (Marcia Cross) is proceeding full-steaminess-ahead in her affair with Susan's ex, Carl (Richard Burgi) — but keeping it a secret from her hubby Orson (Kyle MacLachlan) and Susan might be a problem. And finally, there's a new, mysterious family living on Wisteria Lane, headed by Drea De Matteo (ex-Adriana, THE SOPRANOS) and Jeffrey Nordling (ex-Larry, 24) as Angie and Nick Bolen. Their son, Danny (Beau Mirchoff), has some anger issues, and he was dating nice girl Julie (Andrea Bowen), Susan's and Carl's kid, who was also tutoring him. Problem: Someone strangled Julie, and almost succeeded in killing her. Danny should worry: Mrs. McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) is on to him. P.S. Anyone who thinks Hatcher isn't a powerful actress hasn't seen her scenes at the hospital after Julie was attacked.

The men of Wisteria Lane are talking about setting up a neighborhood watch. If you've never watched the show, this is the perfect time to start, and if you used to watch it, but let it fall off your TiVo list, start recording it. It's the best soap currently on prime time.