Wednesday, April 30, 2008

These soaps go on and on and on

I HAVE a confession. I'm hooked on The Soaps.
So bring on The Young and the Restless, General Hospital, Guiding Light, As The World Turns and even Days of Our Lives.
At one time I thought it wasn't the manly thing to do; that was until I heard a friend named Wayne Gretzky (that's right, The Great Gretzky) used to be glued to the TV set when the soaps were on. And what's more he even acted in TY&TR back in 1981 and 1983.
In addition, other Young & Restless alumni included Muhammad Ali (1999); baseball star David Justice (1992) and a (Dallas) Cowboy, Tony Dorsett.
So, suddenly, the guilt complex was swept away.
It's also the reason I can expand on the latest soaps, which you might not have heard of, namely, The Rocket and The Country Singer. It's now into Episode 2,468 and counting.
As in all soaps, characters slip in and out and even in recent months, it reached a peak as The Rocket (starring Roger Clemens) appeared before the Big Boys (the U.S. Congress).
Clemens turned on his accuser (played by The Trainer, Brian McNamee) in denying he (Clemens) had ever used steroids and human growth hormone.
The Rocket claimed The Trainer was trying to "save his own skin by making up lies."
Later on in one of the continuing episodes, Clemens spoke up and told the Congressional hearing that his best buddy and fellow Yankee pitcher (played by Andy Pettitte) had "misremembered" a conversation the two had about HGH.
Then there was a lull for a couple of months as the Other Big Boys (played by members of the FBI) started reviewing all the testimony and there were hints that The Rocket (Clemens) may have lied under oath.
A drum roll, please.
The next episode introduces us to The Country Singer (played by Mindy McCready), who apparently has known The Rocket since she was 15 years old and he was 28.
With Mindy's appearance, a little background certainly is needed; for there flashing on the soap opera screen is a picture of her with facial bruises and information about her past. In August 2004, she had been been arrested in Tennessee for using a fake prescription to buy the painkiller OxyContin and after pleading guilty, Mindy was fined $4,000 and sentenced to three years' probation.
Besides a number of charges hanging over her head in 2005, she also had boyfriend troubles. An ex named Billy McKnight allegedly broke into her house and beat and choked her.
Then in September 2007, Mindy landed in jail for violating probation. She was released in December.
During lulls in Mindy's legal wrangles she had managed to put together such super hits such as Guys Do It All The Time, Ten Thousand Angels and A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's' Gotta Do).
So what about the latest connection between The Rocket and The Country Singer?
Well, after The Rocket (Clemens) filed a defamation suit against The Trainer (McNamee), "revelations" now have surfaced about a supposed long-time romance between Clemens and McCready.
What's the problem in that situation? Well, during court testimony, Clemens had adamantly claimed he was a devoted and married family man.
His wife's name happens to be Debbie Clemens. In the tangled web, it was also learned that The Trainer (McNamee) had injected Mrs. Clemens with HGH before she posed for a SI swimsuit issue.
Stay tuned for the next dramatic episode of The Rocket and The Country Singer.
***
BILLY RAY, MILEY & ANNIE: In 1994, ace reporter Joe Warmington wrote a paperback, The Cyrus Virus, which I had the privilege of publishing about the meteoric rise of Billy Ray Cyrus from Flatwoods, Kentucky to super stardom. After hits such as Achy, Breaky Heart, Cyrus went on to become a fine dramatic actor in a number of TV series. However to this generation, he's the father of Miley Cyrus, known around the world as Hannah Montana.
In the past few days, Miley Cyrus has made the headlines after posing for Vanity Fair's famed photog, Annie Leibovitz, with both father Billy Ray and mother, Tish, apparently on the same set.
The most disturbing aspect of it all was the parents didn't protest about their daughter's "provocative" poses at the time, according to newspaper reports. After all, Miley is only 15 years old.).

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home