Gays of our Lives (December 9, 2008)

Organized by the members of vanhansis.net, the program was begun in honor of Van Hansis (Luke) and Jake Silbermann (Noah) last year with the goal of raising $500 to donate to the charity in the actors’ names. However, the program was wildly successful and they wound up raising more than $6000. This year’s campaign kicked off on Dec. 1, 2008, World AIDS Day. Campaign organizers would like to raise more money than last year and thus far have garnered more than $2000 for the charity.

Maddie’s Back! Kelly Barrett (pictured above right) has been cast as Maddie Coleman, Noah’s ex-girlfriend. Last played by Alexandra Chando, Maddie left town with a slightly broken heart after she got Nuked. But why is she back? Well, Maddie is in town to spend the holidays with her brother Henry (Trent Dawson). But will she cross paths with Noah? Or will Noah have bigger problems to deal with than his ex-girlfriend being back in town? The answer is yes (but I won’t say which question I’m answering!). Barrett’s first airdate is Dec. 22^nd.

And for those who can appreciate a hot guy (and unless I’m on a different website, I’m sure we all do), Eric William Morris (pictured above left) is returning to the show as Matt O’Connor. Fans will remember Matt as Casey’s cellmate/bed bud. Matt is out of the slammer and will be back in Oakdale in January. Oh, why the pics of Matt and Luke together? Just my New Year’s wish is all.

Wow, talk about coal in your Christmas stocking! The folks over at Soap Opera Digest put out the Best and Worst for this year and they named ATWT’s coffee-making cutie-pie Noah Mayer as the Most Boring Character of 2008. The magazine says: “Since arriving in Oakdale, Noah has realized he's gay, come out, fallen in love, learned his mother was a madam, that his father was a murderous psycho and entered into a marriage of convenience with an Iraqi refugee. Sounds like soap opera gold, right? Yet despite all the crazy, chaotic events that have occurred during Noah's tenure in Oakdale, he remains as bland as white bread. Though the "Nuke" duo has a wide fan following, we find it hard to believe that someone as lively as Luke would fall for such a wet noodle.”