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Soaps.com talks to Ellen Wheeler, Poolside! Tuesday, June 19 2007

On our trip to the 34th annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Chrissi and I stayed at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel across from the Kodak Theater. The night before we had attended the SOAPnet party (which was a total blast) and the Creative Arts Awards Ceremony, obviously we had a lot of things to type up from that night. As luck would have it, I was unable to obtain a solid wireless internet connection in my room. So in order for me to be able to access the web, I would work out by the pool at a shaded table.

Now, the Roosevelt Hotel is a happening place. The pool area was packed, the sun shining and the music pumping. I take a look around and notice a lady across the way that looked extremely familiar. Within a few seconds she walked by my table and it hit me that she was almost certainly Ellen Wheeler (the executive producer of Guiding Light). Chrissi came out to join me for lunch, I told her my theory and we agreed that we should wish Ellen well for the Emmy Awards later that night. She walked by once more and we decided to take a chance and see if it was her.

We politely intercepted her, and once she confirmed that she was indeed Ellen Wheeler, Chrissi and I introduced ourselves and personally congratulated her on the exciting things going on at Guiding Light. Ellen was extremely kind and had this to say about the 70th anniversary of the show. “No-one knows what television is going to be like 5 years from now. Not just for daytime, but for television in general. Ratings are certainly down across the board. For daytime dramas to have survived for this many years is a tremendous achievement! The fans are so loyal and these shows are like family to them.” Of course, Guiding Light was also the most nominated daytime drama this year for the Emmy Awards and that was certainly worth mentioning. Ellen said “I work with such amazing people on a daily basis. We are certainly thrilled about our nomination for outstanding daytime drama, but honestly we would be happy for any show that wins because it is all about having that caliber of talent in daytime.” We thanked Ellen for speaking with us, wished her and the GL team good luck at the Emmy’s and extended a future invitation for her to do an interview with SOAPS.com.

If you watched the Daytime Emmy Awards Ceremony, then you already know that Guiding Light won the award for Outstanding Writing in a drama series and tied with The Young and the Restless for Outstanding Daytime Drama! In the media room following their big win, Ellen Wheeler told us that the Emmy Award will be sent to seven lucky people at their homes so that they can experience this with the show! Ellen stressed that the coveted "Will not be shipped. It would be packaged very carefully, put on a plane with producers and a camera crew so that they could all see what the Emmy is able to do traveling to the home of fans!” Go to Find Your Light if you would like details on how to get your hands on the Emmy!

Shannon Burrell
Journalist
Soaps.com