Exciting News for One Life to Live Fans!

For quite some time, fans of One Life to Live have been hoping for the return of Roger Howarth to the show. Well, now it's finally happening. Roger Howarth, the original Todd Manning, is coming back!

What does this exciting news mean for the the show, for Todd, and for the two actors who have played the role? There's a lot of speculation out there, and as someone who has watched the show for many years, I can speculate with the best of them. I pay attention to little details and always ask questions about what I see--and what I don't see. If you're interested in my thoughts, check out my article.

I'm looking forward to seeing Roger Howarth back on my TV screen. That doesn't mean I want Trevor St. John to go anywhere, though. Both are good actors who have brought something unique to their portrayals of Todd Manning.

The Borgias

This morning, I noticed that my friend Kenzy England had written a new article about The Borgias. She had mentioned this upcoming series to me a while back, but with everything else going on--including all my shows and their various premieres and hiatuses--I forgot all about it.

In anticipation of this new Showtime series, Kenzy wrote a cool character guide about Rodrigo Borgia. It's definitely worth reading, whether you plan to watch the series or not.

I'm going to have to pretend I have enough room in my schedule and add The Borgias. The way I see it, a few shows are ending for the season anyway, so I can probably handle it. It premieres tomorrow, April 3, at 10:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on Showtime. Check the official website for more information.

Arthurian Shows: Merlin and Camelot

If you're into Arthuriana, you've undoubtedly come across plenty of different versions of the legend of King Arthur and Camelot. Two current television series explore the legend, and each has its own take.

Merlin has been on Syfy for the past two seasons after completing its first season on NBC. As season three is about to wrap up, there's a new player ready to get our attention. Camelot is an original series from Starz that is scheduled to debut April 1 (today), although the network did offer a sneak peak earlier this year by airing the first episode.

As an unapologetic fan of Merlin, I wanted to see what Camelot would be like. I was curious to see how it would differ from the show I've already been watching for three seasons. Would it be worth my time?

After watching the sneak peak, I thought about different aspects of each series and wrote an article contrasting the two.

The verdict? I'll be watching both series, but they're quite different. Camelot officially premieres tonight at 10:00pm Eastern Daylight Time on Starz. It's a 2-hour premiere, so I'm guessing the sneak peak was the first half. Check the official website to see when the encore presentations will air.

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

After having to neglect all my blogs for several months, I've joined the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011.

On Mondays through Saturdays in April, I'll be posting on anywhere from one blog to all five of them.

I'm hoping this will help me get back in the swing of things.

Wizards and Earworms

A funny thing happened recently. I realized that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizards in Winter" was playing in my head, complete with the music video. I didn't mind, since I like both the song and the video. I had it for several days and didn't realize how much I was getting into it until my husband pointed it out. He'd caught me with my head going back and forth in time to some song he couldn't hear, and as he watched, I got more and more into it, doing a hilarious lip synch to the instrumental music. Suddenly, I noticed he was watching me with a combination of amusement and utter disbelief.

As a musician and music lover, I always have a song in my head. The problem is that it isn't necessarily one I want in there. When I can't take it anymore, I have a couple different ways of dealing with the unwanted tune. You can read about them here.

If you're not familiar with the "Wizards in Winter" video, I encourage you to check it out by following the link given above. Just don't blame me if it won't get out of your head.

Love in an Elevator

When SOAPnet first started advertising its What If web series, I really didn't plan to check them out, other than the snippets that would be shown on TV. Some of the crossovers looked interesting, but not enough for me to try to watch them online.

Then one day I found out about the one with OLTL's John McBain and GH's Sam McCall. These characters are portrayed by Michael Easton and Kelly Monaco, whose onscreen pairing as Caleb and Livvie on Port Charles made them one of my all-time favorite couples. I had to see their What If. I just had to.

Wow!!! Their chemistry is still there, as I knew it would be. This 5-minute webisode, titled Love in an Elevator, shows exactly why these two were a supercouple. Port Charles fans will love the inside jokes and should pay special attention to the poster on the elevator wall. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to click on the link above; it won't be available forever.

There are several other webisodes, involving characters from all three ABC soap operas. If you're a fan of ABC daytime, there's a good chance at least one of your favorites is featured.

Big Premiere Week

The upcoming week is going to be a doozy, considering all the season and series premieres.

My husband and I have several shows returning the week of September 20. Chuck, Glee, Fringe, Supernatural, and Medium will all be back. In addition, The Vampire Diaries has already started, and Rubicon has been on for a while now. The Gates will air its final two episodes of the season (and possibly of the series) on the 19th, just before this doozy of a premiere week begins.

As if that weren't enough, we're thinking about checking out The Event and Chase, which will really make Monday a full night.

This wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for one big problem: we're still behind from last season. I mean behind. We're going to have a busy weekend just trying to watch as many shows as we can. If we can't catch up in time, we'll have to delay watching the new episodes until we're ready.

There are a couple more new shows I'm interested in, but fortunately, they're not scheduled to start until late October and mid-November.

Pedigree: Write a Post and Help a Dog

Pedigree has some of the best television commercials around. Some are funny, and some bring tears to my eyes. If I'm in another room and hear one of their commercials come on, I make it a point to go back and watch it. I can't say that about many other ads!

I don't know the official titles of any of these commercials, but in my mind, some of my favorites are "We're For Dogs," "We're for Shelter Dogs," and "Oliver Goes Home."

The ones about Oliver really get to me. Oliver is an adorable terrier mix who's found himself at the shelter. Pedigree started off his story with a short commercial showing him looking so sad from his cage at the shelter. Later, another commercial started airing; it was Oliver's lucky day. He was adopted and got to go home, where we saw him playing and just having a ball. It's a happy ending that gets to me every single time I see it.

Now Pedigree has a new commercial about senior dogs, and as always, it's a good one. This ad goes with their new Healthy Longevity Food.

Why am I writing about this on an entertainment blog? Well, for one thing, the Pedigree commercials are entertaining. However, as you've probably guessed, that's not the main reason.

Pedigree is running a promotion, and this post is part of it. I'm not getting paid for it, but shelter dogs will benefit.

The sad fact is that about four million dogs find themselves in animal shelters and rescues every year in the United States. While they wait for their forever homes, Pedigree would like to help them. That's where we bloggers come in.

For every blog post about the Pedigree Adoption Drive that is published through Sunday, September 19, Pedigree will donate a 20-pound bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to a shelter. That's right; a shelter somewhere in the U.S. will receive 20 pounds of dog food because of this post. Isn't that great?

If you'd like to help, you can do the same thing. To make sure your blog post counts, include the following bullets and add the direct link to your post to the Blog Hop below. (Bulleted info courtesy of Boulder Dog)

* Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

* This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a "Fan" or "Likes" the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

* Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive through September 19, PEDIGREE will donate a bag of its new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It's simple: Write a post, help a dog.

* Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop to help raise awareness for the "Write a post, help a dog" effort.

Include the hashtag #dogsrule somewhere in the post; you should also use it as a tag or label. You'll also need to link to the Pedigree Adoption Drive Facebook fan page within your post. When you're ready to promote your post, tweet it using #dogsrule.

That's all there is to it! Just follow the guidelines, and a shelter will get a 20-pound bag of dog food.

You might have trouble fitting a post about the Pedigree Adoption Drive into your blog's theme, but please try. Somewhere in the U.S., an animal shelter and the dogs housed therein will be grateful that you did.