Steve Fenn / ABC Actress Susan Lucci of ABC's All My Children appears with Warren Buffett in this network-provided photograph promoting Buffett's upcoming cameo on the program.

Just a few weeks after his star turn as 'Guest Host' with 'vixen' Becky Quick on CNBC's long-time daily staple Squawk Box, Warren Buffett returns to daytime television with a cameo appearance on another venerable soap opera, ABC's All My Children.

He plays himself (type casting!), making a jailhouse visit to that show's 'vixen', Erica Kane (played by Susan Lucci), who has been accused of insider trading.

Despite many years of run-ins with the authorities (as chronicled by the program's web site), we're told Erica's innocent this time around.  That's a relief, as we wouldn't want to see Buffett squander his hard-fought reputation for honesty by coming to the aid of a common crook.

Reuters provides this plot update:  "Lucci's character recently pleaded guilty to insider trading -- a crime she unintentionally committed -- but ended up a fugitive when another convict she was handcuffed to escaped en route to prison." 

After she is captured, Erica's wealthy friend and Glamourama Salon tycoon Opal Cortlandt (played by Jill Larson), asks "pal" Warren for help.  Buffett, however, appears to be a better investor than a lawyer/negotiator as "the outcome ... is not what Erica has intended."

ABC, part of the Walt Disney Company, says Buffett's episode will air in May during ratings sweeps, and will be previewed at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting early that month.

According to the network, Buffett appeared once before on All My Children back in 1992, after show creator Agnes Nixon became a fan of his annual letters to Berkshire shareholders.

But Sarah Gilbert of AOL's Blogging Stocks makes a solid argument that this is really Buffett's third time on the show, citing a New York Times report from 1991 on a four-minute AMC appearance that year with then-Capital Cities/ABC Chairman Thomas Murphy.  Gilbert says the two made a return appearance in 1993.  (While I must admit I wasn't watching the show then, or now, I will see if I can settle this burning issue with ABC's press department!)

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