'All My Children' casino guy Zach puts chips on the table

By CAROLYN HINSEY

Friday, August 22nd 2008, 4:00 AM

"All My Children" fans finally get the moment they've been waiting for next week when Zach lays down the law to Kendall about their marriage.

"He takes her away to a beach house and confronts her," says Thorsten Kaye, who plays the wealthy casino owner. "Of course, she turns it around: 'You're the one who always walks away!' That's not true. Zach is just trying to be a family man. That's a new thing for him. But Kendall is all, 'Ryan this, Aidan that,' and that is not working for Zach."

In fact, the more Kendall brings up her former lovers, the angrier Zach gets.

"With Kendall, it's always what Ryan needs. Zach says, 'Well, what about what we need as a family?' It's not an ultimatum. It's just getting to the point where he's going to have to say, 'If you need to be with all these other people, then maybe we have to take a harder look at you and me. Why do you have to be the one to fix all these people?'"

Good question.

"Kendall's problem is that she wants everyone to like her," answers Kaye. "I don't think she really wants to be with Ryan, but she can't handle the fact that Ryan has moved on from her."

He's juggling Annie and Greenlee, and keeping Kendall at arm's length.

"Ryan needs to make a decision," scoffs Kaye. "'If you want to be with Greenlee, go be with Greenlee. If you want to be with Annie, be with Annie. You're not in high school anymore. You've got kids.' There's a lot to think about."

Zach is done thinking, and decides to convince Kendall in bed.

"Sex is always good, but it doesn't fix the problems. Zach is tired of just being Kendall's husband. It's not enough. He used to have casinos and big companies.

By the end of the week, though, Kendall comes around to Zach's way of thinking.

"Zach says to her, 'It's only us. That's all we have," says Kaye, adding with a laugh, 'We're not 18 anymore. We're 23."

Executive sweet: "Days of Our Lives" co-executive producer Ed Scott is out, replaced by former "One Life to Live" executive producer Gary Tomlin. The move reunites Tomlin with former "OLTL" head writer Dena Higley.

Who's in? Who's out? Eve Plumb (Jan, "The Brady Bunch") appears on "Days of Our Lives" Aug. 29 as a woman who seeks counseling from Marlena. ... Vincent Irizarry is back on "AMC" this fall as evil David.

Don't touch that dial: Stephanie's return leads to good news for the Forrester family on "The Bold and the Beautiful" next week (CBS, 1:30 p.m.) - but bad news for Donna.

SODopinion@aol.com

---