When All My Children snared veteran head writer Chuck Pratt Jr. to take the reins and "write" the S.S. Pine Valley, the scribe promised swift action. With a look toward kicking up the soap's ratings more than a notch or two. Pratt, whose credits include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Melrose Place, Life Goes On and Santa Barbara, among others is certainly capable.

I liked ABC drafting Chuck for All My Children, but I'm thinking that the announcement yesterday, an open casting call for an Iraq war veteran to play an Iraq war veteran, is a publicity stunt. The executive producer, Julie Hanan Carruthers, said in a press release that casting a real life soldier will heighten the experience for viewers. Excuse me, but I think that's utter hogwash. All My Children doesn't need an actual veteran of the war in Iraq to create a great soap opera storyline. That's why they brought in Chuck Pratt, Jr.

When you do a new show five days a week, all year long, it's got to be tough to keep coming up with original stories. That's just the problem they were facing over at ABC's All My Children. In an effort to keep things original they are adding their first transgender character. According to Executive Producer Julie Hanan Carruthers, "After 36 years, you start rehashing. It's inevitable. We didn't want to fall back on the baby-switch story again." The character, Zarf, will be played by Jeffrey Carlson (pictured).

I'm not familiar enough with the demographics of the daytime soap audience to have any idea how this is going to play out. Given the subject matter, it's reasonable to expect that there could be some backlash from fans who are turned off by the idea. On the other hand, there has been some absolutely bizarre stuff on soap operas over the last few years (vampires, witches, a superhero), so who knows? It could be just the rating boost All My Children is looking for. Whichever way it goes, I applaud them for taking a chance and doing something different.

[ via Yahoo! News ]