Network television might not be the safest place for daily serialzed dramas—or their fans— anymore, but it looks like our dreams of cable stepping up to the plate to save our suds may finally be starting to come true. New York Daily News is reporting TeenNick will be trying out the telenovela format for the upcoming 10th season of Degrassi: The Next Generation.

The network will air half-hour versions of the teen drama 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday for six weeks, Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami told the Daily News Thursday.

"We're making additional episodes, a little more in the telenovela format, a little bit faster, cheaper and more efficient," Zarghami said. "It will be, I think, a big success."

Hollywood's biggest night gifted America's Sweetheart Sandra Bullock and comedian Mo'Nique with the coveted Oscar for their roles inThe Blind Side and Precious. The two evening's eventual winners were joined on the red carpet by some of film's newest starlets Kristen Stewart, Amanda Seyfried and Miley Cyrus and veterans Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver and Demi Moore. See more photos from the 82nd Annual Academy Awards after the jump and check out Mel's Oscars Live Blog for anything you may have missed!

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Shout out to All My Children's Debbi Morgan and Cornelius Smith, Jr. who took home NAACP Image Awards this past Friday. Morgan and Smith, Jr. were in the company of Gabourey Sidibe who won Best Lead Actress for Precious and Shonda Rimes, who won for Best Writing in Drama Series for Grey's Anatomy. See more pics from the event after the jump.

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In 2009 Yanni Gellman's boyishly-handsome face was splashed all over the pages of the gay press and online blogs (like this one) once it was spoiled Rafe Torres, the earnest, young attorney he portrays on daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, was set  to be involved in a gay storyline on the sudser. Now it's primetime Gellman hopes to make his mark on. 

On tonight's episode of ABC Family's hit dramedy Greek (10/9c), Gellman reprises the role of Pete, a nice, rich kid frat boy, who sparked an attraction with Ashleigh (Amber Stevens) in last week's installment of the serial. I recently caught up with Gellman, who shares what it's like woring with Stevens, as well as fellow daytime alum Spencer Grammer (ex-Lucy, As The World Turns), who plays Casey on the college soap. We also talk about his controversial Y&R storyline, and whether or not Rafe still has feelings for the dastardly Adam Newman (Michael Muhney).
  
Daytime Confidential: Tell me about your role on tonight's episode of Greek?

Yani Gellman: I play the character of Pete, who is from a rather well-to-do family, but he's pretty humble and doesn't like to show that off. He's a member of the Omega Chi fraternity, and in last week's episode he happened to meet the one and only Ashleigh, played Amber Stevens, at an interfraternity baseball game where sparks flew. Tonight's episode picks up from there. READ MORE

The forbidden love of Christian and Olli, from German sudser Verbotene Liebe is coming to America. According to The Hollywood Reporter,  former HBO vice-president Sam Martin has secured the rights to the storyline revolving around a gay couple in Dusseldorf. Martin plans to Americanize Christian and Olli  with a setting in Portland, Oregon. READ MORE

The most soaptastic novelist since God wrote the bible, Jackie Collins is releasing her 27th book in the United States today, and to say I am a little excited would be like saying CBS is a little trigger happy when it comes to cancelling soap operas! 

Collins' latest bonkbuster, hilariously-entitled Poor Little Bitch Girl, revisits the world of the unstoppable Santangelo crime family. Only this time it isn't lady boss Lucky Santangelo—my favorite female fiction character ever—who's the center of attention, it's Lucky's son Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, son of late billionaire shipping magnate Dimitri Stanislopolous, and Lucky's wild child daughter Maria "Max" Golden, who sex and scandalize their way through the pages of what is sure to be another raunchy Collins scorcher.

Poor Little Bitch Girl introduces three new characters into the Santangelo universe—Annabelle, the daughter of Hollywood royalty, who runs a high-priced call-girl ring in New York with her cokehead boyfriend; Denver, a nymphomaniac attorney, who defends Annabelle's father when he is charged with the murder of Annabelle's mother and Carolyn, who's carrying on with a married senator. All three girls grew up with Lucky's son Bobby and share sordid pasts with the sex god. 

A friend bought the novel for me on pre-order, so it should be waiting on my doorstep when I get home. Let's just say if you hear about anyone getting mowed down on a dark, Southern street tonight it's because they got in my way on the drive home! After the jump, check out the splashy, retro opening from the hit 80's NBC miniseries Lucky Chances (which combined Collins' first two Santangelo novels), starring Nicollette Sheridan as Lucky, Vincent Irizarry as Gino, Eric Braeden as Dimitri, Leanne Hunley as Eden, Michael Nader as Enzio, Phil Morris as Steven, Grant Show as Marco and a young Sandra Bullock as Maria Santangelo. If Fronsie buys the distribution rights to Lucky Chances and puts it on SOAPnet I promise I will never break another ABC Daytime scandal again! (Fingers, toes and all other crossable parts crossed). READ MORE

Melrose Place is as good as canned, but could One Tree Hill be headed for SOAPnet if The CW doesn't renew it? According to Spoiler TV it may just happen.

One Tree Hill: There are some messy contracts and negotiations and it could go either way but even if renewed it will likely have budget cuts and maybe lose more cast members and producers. SOAPnet has the option of renewing it if the CW were to cancel it.

Fans can reportedly expect official renewal announcements for Gossip Girl, 90210, Smallville, Supernatural, America's Next Top Model and The Vampire Diaries later this month.

Photo Credit: The CW

It looks like we're one step closer to finding out whether or not the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be seen on television. Associated Television International's James Romanovich revealed to On Air On Soap's Michael Fairman he has an offer to televise the telecast nationally! READ MORE

Prolific, radio soap queen Irna Phillips bravely entered the world of an uncharted, new medium called television 61 years ago today. On Jan. 31, 1949, These Are My Children, the first-ever, daily television soap opera, made its debut. The 15-minute NBC sudser revolved around the Henehan family, an Irish Catholic clan headed up by a strong, widowed matriarch. The soap, which was similar in nature to Phillips' popular radio dramas, Painted Dreams and Today's Children, only lasted four weeks.  A critic for Television World said this about Phillips' poorly received premiered effort to take her brand of serialized radio dramas to TV:

There is no place on television for this type of program, a blank screen is preferable.

I hope no one ever took that critic with them to Atlantic City. The future will be webivised!

Is former The Young and the Restless star Victoria Rowell about to be diagnosing some ghostly murders? Rowell— who gltized up Genoa City as Drucilla Barber Winters for the better part of two decades on Y&R, in addition to starring for eight seasons on the hit, primetime series Diagnosis Murder— is returning to her old CBS primetime stomping grounds tonight. 

The actress is guest starring on an episode of The Ghost Whisperer, opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt. Never one who likes to wait and see, I contacted the multitasking star (her first novel, Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva is on presale at Amazon.com) to get the skinny!

'It's art imitating art," Rowell teases. "Remember the fabulous actress who played Devon's social worker on The Young and the Restless? Well I'm basically playing that role on Ghost Whisperer tonight! Watch and see!"

I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to see Rowell back on the screen tonight where she belongs! Check your local listings, but before you do that, take a look at the sneak peek below, courtesy of CBS Digital:
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