Venice is a hit! In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Crystal Chappell shared that fan response to Venice has been overwhelmingly fabulous! Sales at the online Venice store were able to fund the first season and viewership of the first episode alone will be able to fund the whole second season! Even more exciting is that people are contacting Ms. Chappell for sponsorship as well! If you haven’t already, check out the first episode here. Epsiode two comes out this week and is available through the Venice subscrption service. Also be sure to pick up the latest issue of Go! where not only will you find an exclusive on Venice, but you will also find our favorite ladies gracing the cover!
Otalia fans can rejoice as Crystal Chappell’s (ex-Olivia, Guiding Light) webseries Venice will debut this week at www.venicetheseries.com! There will be a number of familiar daytime faces donating their talents to the web series, including sizzling hot sexpot Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe, DAYS). Nadia will play Lara who will be giving Crystal a run for her money as they both vie for the attention of Jessica Leccia’s (ex-Natalia, Guiding Light) character, Ani. The preview for Venice is back up on Youtube (below) after being mysteriously pulled off for a few weeks, and if the series can produce the same quality that is present in the preview than we have good things to look forward to. With their limited budget and the cheesey potential at an ultra high, Venice could easily turn out to be a queer bust. Luckily, with Ms. Chappell’s resourcefulness and attention to her fanbase it seems Otalia fans are in for a treat and Venice may well be paving the way for new and innovative approaches to keep the soap opera genre alive! Kudos to Soap Opera Digest for showing their support for Venice as they featured an inside scoop on the series this week, and voted Otalia as best couple in their annual Best and Worst issue! Show some love this week and take a trip to Venice!
Ok so Otalia got the happy ending they deserved…minus the televised kiss the couple and the fans deserved! After Guiding Light’s demise, we hear that there was a kiss taped but was cut out due to “time constraints”!? Digging deeper into the back story of Otalia it turns out that Executive producer Ellen Wheeler’s Mormon background and her reliance on her Mormon’s community’s thoughts played a major role in throwing shade on Otalia’s spotlight — everything from the story’s conception to its bitter end. Fortunately, the story of Otalia motivated Crystal Chappell (ex-Olivia half of supercouple Otalia) to seek out other outlets to continue Otalia’s story. When Chappell was shot down for trying to spin off Otalia to sister show As the World Turns, or to continue Otalia as a web series, she decided to create a queer story of her own. That story will be showcased through Venice! Venice is a web series co-created by Chapell and not only stars herself but also includes her ex-Otalia super couple co-star Jessica Leccia as well as a cast of familiar daytime faces all donating their creative talents for free!!!! Chappell will play queer designer Gina and the story will follow her dramatic life in Venice, CA. The first episode features a big fat juicy kiss between Crystal and Jessica’s characters! Take that Ellen Wheeler! No word yet on any dates for Venice’s debut but you can follow Venice the series on Facebook and Twitter for further updates! See you in Venice!
As Guiding Light fades off the air this week, we Otalia fans are on the edge of our seats!! Guiding Light has been lacking for years now and the only compelling love story playing out as of late has been this refreshing tale of two adult women battling the odds to be with each other. Classic soap story with a lesbian twist! Unfortunately as much as this story has been entertaining it’s still missing essential components of realism. Longing looks and warm hugs are cute but come on now! Can we get a juicy Otalia kiss?!?!? Of course some sexual relations for Otalia would be ideal but with the clock ticking and the fact that they haven’t even shared a kiss yet, sex is doubtful. All the investment put into this story will seem moot if Otalia isn’t given that one smooch. Guiding Light was already robbed of any future, here’s to hoping Otalia isn’t robbed of their last chance to be portrayed just as equally as all the heterosexual couples that have filled our daytime screens for years now!
How fantabulous was it to watch Olivia admit her love, then to have Natalia run off on Frank and then to have Otalia find each other at the gazebo, where Natalia finally admitted her love to Olivia?! Watching this organic relationship come to fruition was well worth the wait. Natalia’s struggle with her faith, and Olivia’s uncharacteristic selflessness (let’s face it people, Olivia’s always been a self-serving manipulative bitch) proved that love is never predictable. Olivia and Natalia may be now sorting out their feelings, but the rest of us know that we want some happily ever after for Otalia! It’s a shame that Guiding Light stepped up it’s game right before the curtains came tumbling down. Had GL focused on such a natural, realistic love story (NO MATTER THE SEX) rather than gimmicks then the doom of cancellation could’ve been avoided. At least we have a few more months to root for a happy ending for Otalia!!!
P.S. Kudos to having Guiding Light’s in the closet lesbian mayor, Doris, volunteer to officiate at the wedding…as she egged Olivia on to stop it from happening!
As we all lament the cancellation of Guiding Light after 72 years, we can at least look forward to an exciting week for Otalia! After months of will they/won’t they, Natalia and Olivia reach a pivotal point in their story: Olivia declares her love for Natalia, just as Natalia is set to walk down the aisle with Frank! Will Natalia put a stop the wedding and succumb to her true feelings? Will Otalia fans get what they’ve been longing for? Will Guiding Light finally go all out now that their days are numbered? Yours truly will definitely be tuning in to Guiding Light next week to see! Let’s celebrate Otalia while we can!
