In season 2, Crystal says she will be spending more time behind the camera. “I do like directing. I love it. Hopefully I use both sides of my brain. [Laughs] I do love working with the actors. The best situation is when you have great talent, which we did. I like telling a story with pictures and putting it together. There is something very exciting about being on the other side of the camera.” But with every new project comes unexpected twists and turns. Many recall the Venice website server issues, when fans were clamoring to see the new episodes and could not get on the website. Chappell shared her takeaway from all of that mess. “I have a more clear perspective now, and as I go into preproduction next week for season 2, I think I have a better handle on what is needed in terms of the technical aspects of things, i.e. the website. There is always going to be a glitch here and there. I definitely know the capacity that I need to carry the show to the audience. The main thing for me is I am really going to be looking closely at story for next season — and longer episodes and expand them. This whole adventure was a trial-and-error experience. The production end of things was easy for me, since I have been doing this for 20 years. It was really the technical end and the Internet that was a new frontier.”

Now with awards season ramping up, Chappell has been nominated for a Streamy Award for Best Female Actor in a Drama Series for Venice and has just received a pre-nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for the Daytime Emmys for her role as Olivia on Guiding Light. So what does she think of all the accolades starting to roll in? “It was very nice being nominated for a Streamy. I would love to attend. Was I even invited? [Laughs] You give me an invitation and I will show up! [Laughs] This is all new and exciting for me. This is where I want to be and go in the future. So it’s exciting to be honored like this. In regards to the Daytime Emmys, I have narrowed it down to two shows to consider for submitting for the competition. The week that stood out to me was the week on Guiding Light of Frank and Natalia’s wedding and obviously the graveyard scene. So we shall see.”

In the meantime Crystal is nominated in multiple categories for this year’s TV Guide Canada Soap Opera Spirit Awards, to be dolled out next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Pacific/10 p.m. Eastern exclusively on my website. Join me and my co-hosts, La Chappell and her Venice and Days hottie costar, Galen Gering, as we announce the winners along with our special guest, TV Guide Canada’s Nelson Branco. It’s all on my new bimonthly On-Air On-Soaps podcast!

Llanview’s Parental Pickle ... Fish a Father?

I recently returned from a trip to New York to visit the new digs of One Life to Live. (The show has moved into All My Children’s old home). Once there, I got the opportunity to reconnect with a cast I seldom see, since I live in Los Angeles. I am happy to report my visit to Llanview was incredible, and it afforded me the chance to do a sitdown, one-on-one interview with Scott Evans (Fish). You can see Scott, Brett Claywell (Kyle), and Robin Strasser (Dorian) in video interviews on my website being rolled out throughout the month of March, beginning next week.

During our chat Scott filled me in on his thoughts on the Baby Sierra Rose drama, which has everybody talking! Is Fish the biological father of Stacy’s baby girl? All indications are that he is, and now that Stacy has died in a deep-freeze and a custody battle looks to be on the horizon, what does this mean for our gay hero? Will we see a same-sex couple fighting in the courtroom for a child? “We know collectively that it appears that Fish is the father, but I don’t know how it’s going to play out,” he said. “I hope we do deal with it, and the issue does not get pushed aside. This situation is true to life. So, it’s something that would be very important to tell.”