Updated 5/4
(5/4) Sydney Penny's run as Nurse Julia Keefer is coming to an end. With the reveal that Kathy is really Tad and Dixie's long lost daugther Kate, Julia will have to give up the child she's called daughter for more than a year. Missed opportunities abound with Sydney Penny's return. She had a short lived relationship with Jamie that fizzled. She had a flirtation with Jack that went nowhere. And she has mostly been relegated to hospital scenes. As one of my personal faves, I would have loved to see her paired with Tad and make the transition for this child, who's adoptive parents were killed at Christmastime 2006, shortly followed by the death of her biological mother (whom she never knew). I also secretly hoped she would hook up with Josh. Hopefully Julia leaves Pine Valley to start over and isn't another casuality this child's life. No final airdate has yet been given.
(4/27) Grammy winning R&B artist, Ne-Yo will be appearing on AMC as himself to perform at Angie and Jesse's wedding. He is scheduled to air on May 21 and 22. Ne-Yo, a Las Vegas Native, is a singer/songwriter and in addition to writing songs for himself, has also written songs for Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion and Beyonce. All this and only 26 years old!
(4/20) On May 7, Colby will have a new face, that of soap newcomer Brianne Moncrief. Ambyr Childers has been let go. AMC is going with the same song and dance of "storyline dictated" for the reason. Translation... Ambyr's Colby is too young to be paired with Frankie. It's unfortunate that AMC continues to miss the boat. Brent Weber was let go as Sean Montgomery faded into the background and his relationship with Colby was ignored. Colby's flirtation with Dre (Sterling Sulieman) never went anywhere and now, instead of doing a cute story on Colby's crush and unrequited love for Frankie, the show decides to age up a character again who is supposed to be eight years old! Ambyr's entry into AMC was shaky, but she came into her own as the show matured Colby and made her a very integral part of both the Chandler and Martin stories.
(4/13) AMC is bringing back another familiar blast from the past!!! This time Laurence Lau will be reprising his role of Greg Nelson!! Beginning May 20, Greg will return to Pine Valley and reunite with his old friends Angie and Jesse, as well as his now deceased wife's brother, Tad, for a few episodes. I smell another poll. Three characters in the last PVB "who would you like to see return" poll are now making their way back. Two originals Cady McClain as Dixie - albeit in ghost form, and Laurence Lau as Greg. As well as Ricky Paull Goldin as the newly recasted Jake Martin). So I put it you again readers....
(4/6) AMC has cast America's Next Top Model contestant YaYa Dacosta in the contract role of Cassandra Foster, the adopted daughter of Angie with former husband and Jesse look alike, Jacob Foster. Cassandra was first seen on the now defunct show, The City and arrives in Pine Valley on April 25, all grown up. Look for Cassandra to be pulled into Robert's plot to destroy Jesse and enjoy the company eligible teen, Dre Woods (played by Sterling Sulieman).
(3/23) Looks like some AMC fans wish came true. Cady McClain will be returning to AMC in early May as the ghost of Dixie leading Tad to his daughter Kate. Dixie fell victim to the Satin Slayer a little over a year ago and was last seen as a ghost, realizing that Kathy was indeed her and Tad's missing daughter Kate. Tad never has found out where his daughter is, but his nemesis Adam Chandler knows and has kept the information to himself. In a previous poll conducted on the PVB, Cady received 16% of the votes when asked who fans would like to see return, coming in third after landslide winner Julia Barr (Brooke) and Alexa Havins (Babe) - presumably Vincent Irizarry (David) would have been up there in the votes if I hadn't inadvertently left him off the poll (oops!). Sounds like it's time for another poll...
(3/9 - updated 3/16) Hot off his exit after 7 years from Guiding
Light, Ricky Paull Goldin joins the cast of
AMC in the role of Jake Martin! He will make his AMC debut in late April. Jake,
last played by J. Eddie Peck, left Pine Valley
in 2003 and has since been working in Africa for Doctors without Borders. Last
year, nephew Jamie (played by Justin Bruening)
went to join him. So, will Jake be bringing Jamie back with him or is he going
to leave him in Africa!? Justin Bruening is busy
with the success of Knight Rider with a strong possibility of the show
being picked up. I guess will find out what happens to Jamie when Jake returns!
In a recent PVB poll, readers were asked who they would like to see return to
the show. J. Eddie Peck as Jake Martin garnered
4% of the voting while Justin Bruening as Jamie
received only 2% (the landslide was Julia Barr
as Brooke with 26% of the votes). 
To hear what Ricky himself thinks of his new role, check out his blog!
(2/17)
In a poll conducted on the PVB, 65% of PVB readers voted that Jeff
Branson (Jonathan) would be the next to leave the show. It was a landslide
of a vote, with the next highest votes going only getting 10%!! AMC fans are
savvy fans, and you guys were right. ABC has confirmed that Jeff
will be leaving the show in the Spring when his contract is up. It remains to
be seen if he will actually get an exit then or if he has already left. Considering
Jonathan was nowhere to be found when his brother was shot or now through his
amnesia, it's a good bet that he's going to fade into oblivion the way that
Del (Alec Musser) and Sean (Brent
Weber) have. Hopefully not! Jeff joined AMC in June of 2004 and grew
in popularity so much that even when he was completely evil and supposedly dead,
AMC found a way to bring the talented actor back. As his airtime shrunk and
shrunk and Jonathan's romance with his ex-wife's half sister Ava fizzled, it
became apparent that the end was near.