FAN FAVORITE, SCENE STEALING ORANGUTAN SAYS GOODBYE ON NBC’S PASSIONS

Sad News:

FAN FAVORITE, SCENE STEALING ORANGUTAN SAYS GOODBYE ON NBC’S PASSIONS

On Thursday, March 24th… Precious (played by BamBam) will say goodbye to Harmony and NBC’s Emmy Winning Daytime Drama Passions. BamBam made his debut on the soap in 2003 as a certified Nurse whom Beth Wallace (Kelli McCarty) hired to be a caretaker to her mother Mrs. Edna Wallce (Kathleen Noone).

Since his debut, BamBam has generated controversy and much discussion. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demanded BamBam’s immeadiate release from the show citing that the Orangutan was being abused and mistreated . NBC and the show denied those allegations and PETA dropped their charge. Last year, a Nurse’s association called for his release stating that Nurse Precious put down the job done by human nurses. NBC responded by saying that there are many orangutans who are specifically trained to serve as caretakers around the world and that Passions has not and will not put nurses in a bad light.

In fact, Precious has had a very eventful two and a half years on the show. Precious has become a hero, saving several lives from impending death (which include the show’s other heroine Sheridan Crane (MacKenzie Westmore)), not to mention saving the town’s Christmas two years in a row. BamBam performed in Passions‘ first musical, a satrical on the Oscar-winning movie Chicago. She performed as a part of the original song “I Ain’t Sorry,” which won the Emmy for Outstanding Original Song in 2004. Precious was also involved in an eventual love quadrangle where she was the third female vying for the attention of Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald (Galen Gering).

Last year, in all seriousness, Passions was actively trying to submit BamBam as one of the show’s Emmy Pre-Nominations in the category of Outstanding Younger Actor. While NBC was completely behind the show’s efforts with support, rival soaps on CBS and ABC complained that only “humans” are allowed to be nominated. Despite racism and discrimination from the competing networks, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said that there is no rule stating that an orangutan could not be submitted. Considering BamBam (a male Orangutan) played Nurse Precious (a female), he was able to stand out as one of the better actors on the show especially playing a character of the opposite sex.

BamBam’s exit from Passions is a result of the impending relocation of his trainer from Southern California (where Passions is filmed) to Florida. While BamBam shared a few episodes with a stand-in, Tango, she will not take over the role. BamBam recently appeared on another soap opera, CBS’ sub-par The Bold and the Beautiful.

He will be missed by both the fans and the cast and crew of the show.

By LJDB : ©2005 DB Corp.

Share your thoughts!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top