Sometimes it's true that all's well that ends well. And sometimes to reach that happy ending, arms are twisted, feelings are hurt, and bad blood is spilled. In the case of The Young and the Restless and actor Eric Braeden, there was a good deal of acrimony on both sides. The fact that Braeden is back in the fold now and he will continue as Victor Newman for the foreseeable future, doesn't obscure the fact that it was a nasty situation.

If there's one thing about success in the entertainment business it's this: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That means if something is working on another show, steal/borrow the idea. As I've pointed out before, the soaps are inspired by movies and TV shows all the time, including Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada and 24 and anything else that the daytime dramas can adapt into the soap opera format.

The latest form of flattery will be on All My Children with the introduction of Beth Ehlers as a new character in Pine Valley, Lieutenant Taylor McBride, a U.S. Army vet who has recently been deployed in Iraq.

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It's with a big sigh of relief that I report that Michael Logan at TV Guide has confirmed that CBS has booked Guiding Light for one more year. That'll make it 72 years of continuous broadcasting -- radio and television. No program can match Guiding Light's longevity, and I would hate to see CBS cancel a show with this kind of legacy.

That said, Guiding Light needs to have a better year going forth than they've had looking back. In fact, since tying with The Young and the Restless last June as Outstanding Daytime Drama at the Emmys, the show has been going through major transitions. The new style of filming, shooting on locations in a New Jersey town that's being used as the fictional Springfield, began on February 29, and it hasn't been welcomed by the critics or viewers.

The waiting goes on. Kind of like that spinning planet that symbolizes As the World Turns. TV Squad reported recently that many fans of the soap are anxious to see the two gay lovers, Noah (Jake Silbermann) and Luke (Van Hansis), smooch on screen. There are web sites with a clock ticking, waiting for the next on screen kiss from the fellas. Now comes news that TV Guide's Michael Logan questioned Barbara Bloom, head of CBS Daytime, to find out if the show, the sponsor or the network is afraid to depict a homosexual teen love story in the same way they do a heterosexual one?

For the past two decades, give or take a year here and there, actress Martha Byrne has played the character of Lily Snyder on As the World Turns. That all ends next month. According the executive producer Christopher Goutman, "We made Martha an incredibly generous offer in hopes that she would remain. Unfortunately, Martha has decided to leave despite our best efforts to keep her." That's the show's side of the story. Michael Logan spoke with Martha Byrne to hear her side of the story.