By Emily Mitchell

The explosive daytime soap opera features a shouting judge, a snide attorney and a spurned lover seeking $5 million from her ex. It stars William Hurt, on location in a Manhattan courtroom, as the defendant in a real-life melodrama of misalliance. Sandra Jennings, a former ballet dancer and the mother of Hurt's six-year-old son, wants half of the $10 million the actor has earned since 1982. She claims they were wed under common law; "a spiritual marriage" was reportedly his term for their 2 1/2-year relationship. Playing to a packed gallery, Hurt hasn't generated so many emotional BTUs since Body Heat: he snarled at her lawyer, whined to the judge and forced a recess by refusing to answer questions.