Gays of our Lives (March 23, 2009)

Three years later, Damian is back, having mysteriously shown up after rescuing Luke when the gay teen was struck by a car in a hit and run accident. Of course, everyone is suspicious and thinks that Damian had something to do with it. However, the actor says that while Damian is going to cause trouble, it’s not as bad as it seems.

“I was happy to find out — and I can’t tell you everything, but it was nice to know that Damian was coming back to do some good,” Seganti told Soap Opera Digest. “Not just to mess around with everyone’s minds, although he is doing that, but it’s for a good cause.”

Seganti says that Damian is being sincere about his desire to reconnect with Luke. He’s not here to de-gay Luke, nor break up his relationship with Noah. And while everyone else is suspicious of Damian and his motives, the one person who does believe the mysterious Mr. Grimaldi is Noah as the two men hit it off.

The meeting a lot of Nuke fans have been waiting for….

“Noah is the only one from the ‘get-go’ who thinks he is sincere,” Seganti said in an interview with Micheal Fairman On Soaps. “All he wants to do is to get closer, and make amends for the past and how he behaved. Noah is actually on Damian’s side."

So Noah is going to try and convince Luke that Damian is telling the truth, is not a bad guy and only wants to be close to his son. Seganti also adds that Luke will be torn between wanting to work things out with his father to get some answers about the past andstill  being angry about Damian’s actions.

How long will Damian stick around? Seganti says he will be stirring things up in Oakdale at least through summer and probably longer than that.

In other ATWT news, Alexandra Chando, who played Noah Mayer’s girlfriend on the show before he got Nuked, recently revealed in Soap Opera Digest that she had been asked to return to the show over the Christmas holiday last year to play out the mini-arc that led to Luke kissing his step-grandpa, but couldn’t get away from taping her new online series Rockville, CA. Instead the role was recast with Kelli Barrett.

Nicholas Galbraith

Finally, in news that breaks this columnist’s heart, Nicholas Galbraith, who will play Zac on As The World Turns, and is rumored to be the possible third leg in alove  triangle with Luke and Noah, will initially only be appearing in just 10 episodes starting April 1st. More will depend on audience reaction. So react positively, damn it!

I mentioned in a previous GOOL the criticism many U.K. soaps have received regarding their depictions of characters smoking and drinking. And now a new study has brought fresh heat to those same sudsers already scrambling to defend themselves against accusations of sending out harmful messages to children. The Mirror did a one-week study of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale. They found that over a week’s time, Emmerdale contained 21 scenes of people drinking, Coronation Street and EastEnders each had 16, and Hollyoaks featured 11.

“Alcohol Concern” spokesman Don Shenker told The Mirror that the results were “shocking,” adding, "Children learn to familiarize themselves with alcohol as another commodity, like bread or milk, rather than a potentially harmful substance. Alcohol on film and television often leaves out the possible harm it can cause - binge-drinking may be glamorised and humorised. If young people in particular see their favourite characters and role models drinking heavily, we need to think about what kind of message that puts across."

The shows, by and large, defended themselves by saying that the use of booze is always in context with the script and not in a gratuitous manner, adding their shows fit the guidelines set by television watchdog groups.