If you’re not familiar with Coastal Dreams, it’s a scripted soap opera in a similar vein as MTV’s hugely popular unscripted series The Hills. The story, which unfolds in two-to-three minute webisodes that premiere twice a week, opens with twenty-something Zoe (Danica Stewart) moving into her rich cousin April’s (Kam Heskin) gorgeous beachside home, accompanied by her best friend Stacey (McCall). Zoe’s stalker ex-boyfriend Sebastian tried to kill her during her senior year in college, prompting the summer-long respite from her hometown in Texas with Stacey, who provides emotional support while also working to earn money for law school.

Both friends have the run of the house most of the time as businesswoman April travels around the world, giving them nearly unlimited freedom to tangle with April’s handyman sort-of boyfriend Christian (Charlie Koznick) and local lawman Will (Ken Luckey). Suspense comes in the form of frequent hints that Zoe’s past may eventually interrupt her summer sojourn, and interactive elements allow fans to receive messages on their cell phones related to the show.

Coastal Dreams is now up to Episode 22, which leaves two more installments before the season comes to an end. Continue reading for the Q&A with Tanee McCall, who was gracious enough to participate during the busiest holiday season of the year, and learn more about her background and how the series has caught on with its many fans.

Question: When you accepted the role as Stacey on Coastal Dreams, were you aware that the show was a completely online series? What was your first reaction when you learned about the unique format?

Tanee: I did know that it was going to be an online series, and my first reaction was intrigue. I had never heard of anything like an online soap opera, so I was really interested to see how everything was going to turn out.

Question: You’ve already experienced what it’s like to film a traditional TV show during your appearances on such series as The Shield. What are some of the differences between working in that type of environment and performing on an online series like Coastal Dreams?

Tanee: Compared to movie sets, TV films much faster in my experience so far. But Coastal Dreams was lighting fast. We had such a short amount of time to film a lot of material. It kept everyone on their A game, though, so I didn’t mind it. You really had to stay focused all day because there was not a lot of room for error.

Question: What’s it like to play Stacey, a smart young woman who lucks out with this dream residence during the last summer before she’s about to go to law school?

Tanee: I love Stacey personally. She is driven, but likes to have fun. She is smart, but not dorky. And she is in this really interesting time in her life where she wants to explore the world and where she fits in it. She loves this beach house that she is living in, but I know she is much happier about the fact that she gets to be with her best friend, Zoe.

Question: What would fans of Stacey be surprised to learn about the character? Are there any hidden motivations or personality traits that haven’t come across yet in the episodes that have already aired?

Tanee: Right now Stacey is an open book. If we come back for a second season, then I am sure that she will blossom, and there are some things that happen to her this season that have definitely reshaped her views on certain things in life, therefore, making her a lot less naïve and green to certain situations. So yea, she could have some tricks up her sleeve!

Question: Can you reveal anything about what’s ahead for fans of “Coastal Dreams”? Are there plans for a second season or is there a huge surprise in store down the road?

Tanee: There are a few more plot twists in this season that the audience still has to enjoy. As for another season, the cast and everyone involved are keeping their fingers crosses on that one. The viewers have spoken and they seem to want more. The biggest complaint is that the episodes just aren’t long enough, so maybe if we come back they can extend the length to keep our audience happy.

Question: Would you participate in another completely online series again? What were some of the pluses and minuses of the format that you would take into consideration when deciding?

Tanee: I would consider doing another one again. I loved working on this one so I don’t really have any minuses about the experience.

Question: How does Stacey compare to some of the characters you’ve played in the past? Is there anything in particular that you’ll take away from the experience long after Coastal Dreams has ended?

Tanee: I seem to play the wholesome girl a lot. The innocent, open book type, so Stacey wasn’t a stretch for me. And I always take away new things from every job that I do. As an actor you would be silly not to be a sponge on every single set you are on. Life is a learning experience, so I try and take something away from everything I do, and every experience I have. Life is too short!!!!

I agree 100 percent. If you’re not already following the series, you can watch every episode of Coastal Dreams that has aired thus far on the NBC website.

Tags: Coastal Dreams, Internet television, interviews, NBC, Tanee McCall, television, tv

Apparently, I’m not the only one either, since actor Johnny Depp has long professed his admiration of the series and one of its central characters, vampire Barnabas Collins (also a favorite of mine), originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid. In the wake of creator Dan Curtis‘ 2006 death and a rights deal just closed with his estate, Depp is now poised to develop and star in a feature film based on the series.

A Depp-ishly good-looking Barnabas? Well, I won’t complain as long as the future film does the former soap justice. Now I’m off to buy those DVDs at Amazon so I can relive the magic.

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The original run of Dark Shadows featured assorted actors who each played several distinct and major roles. Located in the fictional town of Collinsport, Maine, the classically eerie Collinwood mansion was the setting for 1225 half-hour episodes revolving around the centuries-old Collins family saga. Innocent Victoria Winters (Swedish actress Alexandra Isles) heads to the mansion when she is hired as the governess for young David Collins (David Henesy).

Nearly a year in real time after her arrival, a cousin named Barnabas Collins visits from England. Unbeknownst to Victoria, however, Barnabas is an almost two-hundred-year-old vampire bent on getting his way at any cost. Other familiar monsters and creatures followed in his wake, including the always indispensable ghosts, witches, and werewolves, making for a truly unique and addictive series. If you search hard enough, you can even find every last single episode on VHS and, soon, DVD. Happy hunting to the interested.

Johnny Depp photo courtesy of WireImage.com
Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins photo courtesy of ABC

Tags: Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Frid, television, tv

The forbidden romance seems finished almost as soon as it starts, however, when Roman is accused of murdering Julia’s father. Although he’s eventually acquitted, during his legal struggles, Julia becomes involved with the son of a deceitful businessman who ultimately plans to bring down both families in order to establish his own supremacy over the region’s profitable hotel industry. Throw into the mix the questionable priest who infiltrates the Martin family, as well as Robin Givens‘ performance as a prominent interior designer unafraid of pursuing any man she wants, and the stage is set for much intense drama.

Now that MyNetworkTV has pared its individual telenovela schedules down to a more manageable and practical weekly two-hour episode, fans have every incentive to catch the last of a dying breed on U.S. television that never really had the chance to flourish in the face of anemic ratings. The one consolation for dispirited telenovela enthusiasts is MyNetworkTV’s commendable commitment to airing Saints & Sinners‘ entire 65-episode répertoire, which was completed before the network’s decision to phase out prime-time soaps, resulting in a projected September finish. [On TV: Wednesday, 14 March 2007, MyNetworkTV, 8pm EST]

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Other Good Stuff on TV Tonight

• Blue Planet: Seas of Life—MAKING WAVES: This episode of the nature series gives viewers a front-row peek at how filmmakers and marine scientists collaborate to produce each segment. [Animal Planet/8:00]
• Bones—BODIES IN THE BOOK: Life copycats art when it appears that two murders are identical to their fictional counterparts in Brennan’s (Emily Deschanel) latest novel, causing our brainy forensic anthropologist major worry since there’s a third murder in the book, too. [Fox/8:00]
• Conversations with Michael Eisner: In his latest one-hour group interview, former Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney honcho Eisner talks shop with film and television executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who’s been involved with just about every crime procedural on CBS, including all three CSIs, Cold Case, and Without a Trace), writer Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post political weblog, and former AOL/Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin. [CNBC/9:00]
• Halfway Home—HALFWAY NARC: Nobody ever said the life of a former jailbird is easy, as the five ex-con characters in this new improvised half-hour comedy clearly demonstrate while residing at Crenshaw House, courtesy of the Los Angeles Bureau of Prisons. [Series Debut/Comedy Central/10:30]
• Most Shocking—HIGH SPEED CHASES: While this installment might not live up to the shocking claim in the title, it will most definitely prove exhilarating to watch three idiots, I mean criminals, flee from the law enforcement personnel chasing them. [Court TV/8:00]
• Sit Down Comedy With David Steinberg—JON STEWART: The Daily Show‘s head talking head occupies the hot seat in host Steinberg’s newest one-hour chatfest. [TV Land/10:00]
• ‘Til Death—CLAY DATE: Some actors sure do get around. First, Frasier‘s Dan Butler, better known to viewers as Bulldog, showed up in Monk‘s season finale on March 2, and now he returns for another essential guest appearance in ‘Til Death‘s first episode following its recent hiatus. Nice. [Back from Hiatus/Fox/9:30]

All times are PM and EST/Eastern Standard Time
Saints & Sinners photo courtesy of MyNetworkTV

As a result, MyNetworkTV is currently offering two prime-time soap operas with a distinctly novela twist—defined by a plot with a distinct beginning, middle, and end (not the open-ended, ongoing storylines that American soaps have historically had), they will air six nights a week over the course of thirteen weeks, with no repeats (except for same-night replays in some markets), for a total of 65 sudsy episodes, not counting the hour-long Saturday weekly recaps. And when they finish in December, two new titles will immediately follow: Art of Betrayal, starring Rescue Me‘s Tatum O’Neal, and Watch Over Me, with Catherine Oxenberg, Casper Van Dien, and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres. Both of the present series are based on previous Spanish-language telenovelas, as well: Desire is adapted from Colombia’s Mesa para tres (Table for Three) and Fashion House from Salir de noche (Out in the Night), a popular telenovela two decades ago.

The first of the two debut soaps is Desire, an unexpectedly interesting treat about the young, good-looking (of course!) Thomas brothers, chef Alex (Zack Silva) and manager Louis (Nate Haden), who both work in the restaurant business and both fall in love with the same woman. The opening scenes in New Jersey introduce them near the opening of their own restaurant. Deceptively clean-cut older brother Louis, who looks like a well-mannered businessman, makes the deadly decision to bed the nubile daughter of a Mafioso (Chris DeRose) hellbent on maintaining her good reputation. When the gangster learns from his henchmen that the two are together one night, things get dangerous quickly, forcing the brothers to flee to California with their mother (Eliana Alexander) after their restaurant is burned down. There, they begin working in another upscale food establishment where, unbeknownst to them, their father is also employed. They each stumble upon the owner’s pretty and independent daughter, Andrea Zavatti (Michelle Belegrin), during their first day on the job helping out at her birthday party and immediately declare their love.

What most makes Desire appealing is the natural, melodrama-free performances of the three lead actors, Belegrin, Haden, and Silva, in addition to the sense of urgency imparted by the fact that the Mafia man back in New Jersey not only knows the Thomas family survived the restaurant fire, but now believes that Louis raped his daughter after she lied to protect herself from his rabid anger. Another asset is the presence of CSI: Miami alumna Sofia Milos (she played Detective Yelina Salas, the wife of Horatio Caine’s absent brother, from 2003 to 2005) as the scheming sister of Andrea’s scheming ex-boyfriend. How the story will unfold is truly anyone’s best guess, and if I had the time and urge to watch a daily soap opera, whether daytime or prime time, this one would definitely be it.

Fashion House initially seems to have two things going for it, as well—namely, the headliners, Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild. Yet, in spite of Derek’s definitive presence in the premiere episode, the show never came anywhere near the compelling level of Desire. A large part of the problem is that, with the exception of model-actress Natalie Martinez’ engaging portrayal of the talented-but-desperate housewife Michelle Miller, who is married to an overbearing, cheating accountant named Lance (Mike Begovich), the acting and plotlines in the soap seem more tailored to cheesiness than provocativeness.

Derek plays Maria Gianni, the no-nonsense matriarch of Gianni, Inc., a well-known and seemingly successful fashion company. As we learn over the course of the first episode, however, things aren’t as rosy in her business as she would have others believe. Aside from financial problems, she has to cope with an unproductive artist son, Luke (Taylor Kinney), and a conniving blackmailer threatening to steal her business right from under her. Fairchild was absent from the premiere, but will make her grand entrance later as a bitter rival who is comparably ruthless and—dare I say?—bitchy.

Filled with familiar clichéd dialogue along the lines of “You’re such a bitch/Takes one to know one,” and with the promise of scores of petulant face slaps hanging tackily in the air, Fashion House comes across as downright corny and amateurish in comparison to Desire … and most other soaps. All is good if you like your sudsers high on the immature froth and low on the adult drama, but I’ll take Desire over Fashion House any day, divas be damned.

The Verdict: Desire gets a B for actually being interesting, while Fashion House merits a C, despite the welcome presence of Natalie Martinez

Desire currently airs Monday through Friday at 8pm EST and Fashion House at 9pm EST on MyNetworkTV, with weekly recaps on Saturday at the same times

Desire and Fashion House photos courtesy of MyNetworkTV