DUSTY! NELL! BUTT BUSTING!

AS THE WORLD TURNS has now become hugely enjoyable with the full-on return of Grayson McCouch as Dusty. He must be the coolest character in soaps -- just look at how he said "Hello gorgeous" to Lucinda. It's wonderful that his return is being explored at length, with juicy reaction scenes being given to everybody who has a history with Dusty. I loved the hell out of Elizabeth Hubbard today and it's a great surprise twist that Lucinda has been Dusty's cohort all along. My only fear is that Noah's fledgling father/son relationship with Dusty will be forgotten. The writers are doing such an excellent job with Dusty's return that I would hate for them to mess up on this.

Plus, INTURN winner Nell Mooney made her debut as Spencer today. I rank her as better than last year's winner, Ryan something who was just lousy as Evan Walsh, but not as good as last year's runner-up, Lauretta Vaughn. The face Spencer made at the sight of Brad's naked torso was very funny, so maybe Spencer will turn out to be a comedic character ala Elwood (who was played by the winner of the first INTURN competition.) I got a kick out of the reference to Katie's Butt Busting video. My boyfriend won a prop of that video at the ATWT Fan Club luncheon!

Another show that was shockingly good today was NIGHT SHIFT. Chad Allen's presence, like Grayson McCouch's in ATWT, just seems to energize everyone involved behind and in front of the camera. His scenes were Kyle were just heartbreaking. The Scorpio family reunion was very affecting, and the Epiphany subplot was compelling. It may have taken a bit of time, but NS is finally unmissable.