In continuation of my full disclosure of guilty TV habits, I've been an avid viewer of "Days of our Lives" since I was a wee Z Cavaricci clad teen in Ohio. Yes, I am a Bo and Hope fan. I remember the primetime DOOL specials (that's Days of our Lives, for those of us in the know), where we saw our favorite characters light up the night screen. I, too, was distraught when John and Marlena finally left the show, after leaving at least 4 times each prior.

One of my favorite characters was Dr. Carly Manning, played by Crystal Chappell. This woman stole Bo away from Hope, was buried alive (and survived), and ended up being aristocracy. She left in the 90s, during my tear-enduced haze (though that might have been puberty). Imagine my glee when I read that Chappell would be returning to DOOL to play the same character, something like 15 years later!!

What has my favorite buried-alive doc been up to, you ask? This is where she gets even more fabulous– she's been playing the Olivia part of the same-sex couple "Otalia" (Olivia and Natalia) on "Guiding Light." Now for those who follow soap opera news, Guiding Light has been canceled, hence Chappell's return to DOOL. But, the fan base for "Otalia" has been like nothing Chappell has experienced in Soap-dom. According to an interview with the New York Times, Chappel said that she "never had this experience with a fan base before. It struck a nerve. I love this story line because it is about universal love and acceptance.”

So what's her plan to keep in touch with the loyal LGBT audience? Create her own web series. According to the Times, she will try to keep the spirit of "Otalia" alive by starting a Web series in November called “Venice.” While it won’t have Olivia and Natalia — those characters are the property of Procter & Gamble — the show will feature Ms. Chappell as a single, gay career woman, and follow other fictional inhabitants of Venice Beach, in Los Angeles. Her leading lady on “Guiding Light,” Jessica Leccia, has agreed to join the cast without pay. One big difference from Otalia: “In the first 30 seconds you see these two women kiss,” Chappell said.

Chappell is, in my humble fan adoration opinion, a genius. She is grateful for the fact that the LGBT audience accepted her as a straight woman portraying a real, loving same-sex relationship, and she brought a new level of inclusion to daytime television. Instead of leaving "Otalia" in the past, she wants to continue to showcase the lives, and loves, of the LGBT community for her fanbase. That's commitment. But, that's also recognition that we are an incredibly loyal audience (hence my cyber-stalking of her since the 1990s). I'd love to see "Guiding Light's" parent company, Procter & Gamble, give Chappell the rights to the "Otalia" characters so that we could continue to follow that specific story. Imagine the LGBT loyalty P&G would earn from those of us who DVR our "stories" every day…