Introducing “Sunday Reflections”: General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a Connie Passalacqua Hayman

Sunday is a great time to reflect on what’s happened during the week on soaps. So Marlena happily presents the first of a feature called “Sunday Reflections.

General Hospital: Leave it to this regime at GH to bring in a GQ mobster, Joe Scully Jr., as played by the mighty fine looking Richard Steinmetz (ex-Santa Barbara, Sunset Beach) He’s no Paulie Walnuts or Bobby “Bacalla” from The Sopranos.  I dig Joe’s artfully clipped hair. But what I really like about Joe is that he’s definitely a Brooklyn “des,” “dems” and “does” guy withoutrichart steinmetxhaving to say the actual words “des,” “dems” and “does.” Joe’s is a master liar who usually got away with everything in the past (sound familiar?)  I can hardly wait to see the super melodramatic prison reunion this week between Joe and Kate, the woman he raped long ago. This rape produced a son, obviously Trey, played by slick looker Erik Valdez, an actor I don’t especially like. So that makes a show with how many rapists? Todd, Joe, Luke. And how many murderers walking around? Sonny, Jason, Heather, Johnny. That’s exactly double the number of such criminals GH had under Guza. Sopranos creator David Chase could hardly dreamed up this line-up, no?  Ladies and gents, please no letters on the good looks of Maurice Benard and Steve Burton. I already know.

The Young and the Restless: When a friend tweeted two weeks ago “I can’t believe that I’d be so glad to see Christine again,” I just laughed. Now I agree. Lauralee Bell is demonstrating a wonderful maturity and great passion as she now plays a lawyer who is out to prosecute Phyllis for her long ago hit and run involving herself and Paul on their almost wedding day. Speaking [Read more...]

Two Tone GHers

By Marlena De Lacroix. a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman

What’s with the dip-dye hair on General Hospital?  When I first saw that Finola Hughes’ (heroine  Anna Devane)  usual dark hair was blond in the lowest regions when she first came back to the show, I thought it was unusual as a hairstyle   But I chalked it up to the fact that super-intelligent Finolafinola Hughes really is the coolest of the cool  hip urbanite.  I like it!  Now Robin Mattson’s (vilest villainess Heather Webber) hair has the opposite color scheme:  The lower region of her blonde hair is suddenly brown.

Now I ask you, mes cool amies, is this dip dye hair a widespread trend right now?  I’ve never seen it before and Marlena lives in Manhattan, teaches college students (who start all the fads) and reads women’s magazines at the hairdresser’s.  Is it an LA thing?  Marlena’s trademark red locks wouldn’t look bad with a touch of blonde or brunette at the tips. Which would work better do you think?

Speaking of GH, why oh why am I falling for the man I now call Todd Lite?  I’m being brainwashed!   As I’ve written a million times, I have always hated Todd the rapist and now the unpunished murderer (of his twin, Victor.)   But the [Read more...]

Review: Day One of Good Afternoon America

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a Connie Passalacqua Hayman

I watched the premiere of Good Afternoon America today with cold fear in my heart:  Will this show be good enough to replace (and thus cancel) General Hospital if it really catches on this summer after this nine-week experiment?

I got the heebee jeebees right away.   Hosts Josh Elliot and Lara Spencer (who also are on this show’s progenitor, Good Morning America) introduced themselves and immediately showed us photos of their kids and families.  It wasn’t two minutes until the words “Fifty Shades of Grey” came out of their mouths and the first guests were a sexologist and (okay), and a comedian. The next segment was on coupon shopping.

Sure, the daytime audience is overwhelmingly female.  But why does this afternoon show have to insist on treating all of us as girls?  I have [Read more...]

B&B: Does One Show-Eating Storyline Work?

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman

Bradley Bell has been trying a bold soap experiment the last three quarters of a year on The Bold and Beautiful, featuring one storyline, the Hope-Liam-Steffy triangle, almost to the exclusion of most others.  And he’s been succeeding — the ratings are still comparatively healthy. So I ask B&B viewers: are you smothered by this storyline?

I’ve always said you can watch this story with the sound turned off, the soap “types” are so obvious. There’s the blond heroine, Hope (Kim Matula); the dark (and sexy) villainess, Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), and the boy, er, I mean man they
both love — LiamScott Clifton(Scott Clifton).  Does anyone ever remember a soap character who has been more of a wuss?  (Write in, darlings.)  It’s too bad, because while  Clifton delivers nicely here, he’s an excellent actor who is capable of so much more.

Of course Liam has to be a wuss to swing back and forth between the two women so easily.  But Bell has also done some nice things with this story — the recent beautiful Italian remote, and Steffy’s  scenes full of hot vibes with Liam’s scheming, villainous father (and future lover?)  Bill Spencer. Jr.  (Don Diamont).  Veteran B&B viewers, do you [Read more...]

The Mega-successful, Classy World of Bill Bell

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passlacqua Hayman

When I was a girl soap reporter, I called him “Mr. Bell” during interviews because of Bill Bell’s exalted status in the soap industry.  And Bill Bell (1927-2005) would just laugh and go ahead to speak about Bill Bellwhat one always talked to him about: the work.  He was the only person I ever interviewed who hardly ever promoted himself personally.  And he was in show business!   Bell, a true gentleman, preferred to have his work speak for itself.

So I’m glad there’s a new biography that both examines Bell’s personal life story and takes a comprehensive look at his always top-rated soaps. The book, published by Sourcebooks, is titled The Young and Restless Life of William J. Bell, Creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful and written by veteran soap journalist Michael Maloney and Lee Phillip Bell, Bell’s wife, who also co-created both soaps.

Bill Bell had a wonderful life, told in this book with same kind of class that helped make him such a remarkable person in life and in television history.

There was never a day in his 40-plus years in the soaps when Bell’s writing wasn’t excellent and his soaps engrossing and entertainingly and intelligently done.. He, his soaps, his family and his organization were  always all about class — and success.  And on top of all this, he was a genuinely nice man.

Bill Bell really was the prototypical American success story of a man who started humbly and worked his way to the top.  He came from a Midwest middle class family, served stateside during World War II, and [Read more...]

The Young and the Restless: When a Good Cliffhanger is Far From Enough

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman

I just finished watching Friday’s episode of The Young and the Restless.  Paul discovered  Ricky holding  Eden in his bathroom, his son’s bloody knife held firmly to her throat.  She had  passed out due to hitting her head on the bathtub. When Ricky wouldn’t drop the knife, a shocked  P.I. Paul tearfully aimed his gun at his son, as Ricky

Y&R has been rudderless and boring since Paul Rauch left as co-executive producer. It’s been stuck with an uncreative writing team that should have been sent packing long ago.   Does the perpetual number one soap really have to be so bad, especially now that the death of soaps is in the air?

confessed also to the recent murder of Daisy. Rotten Ricky carried on that Paul was never there for him when he was growing up.  The episode ended as a conflicted-to- the-core Paul was ready to fire.

Pretty good suspense and not bad for a Friday cliffhanger, no? Will the guilt-ridden perpetual good guy Paul really shoot his own son?

But, I know already Paul is going to blow Ricky away, as a cautionary shot to his shoulder accidentally sends Ricky tumbling out the window to his death. You see, last night I read the detailed spoiler for this [Read more...]

Daytime Emmys 2012: Respect Was Surprisingly Shown

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a Connie Passalacqua Hayman

Today I’m going to use a word I’ve never used in a decade of viewing the Daytime Emmys (but nearly always used when I attended the 22 years previously).  I actually “enjoyed” Saturday night’s Daytime Emmys on HLN.Don’t freak out — there are “excepts” which I’ll get into later.  You see, Marlena is a great admirer of the traditional award show format on TV.

“Marlena,” Moose exclaimed during the show, “this show really knows how to play to its own community, like the Tonys (and theater).  And you’d never even know that soaps were dying!”  He didn’t even seem to mind forgoing the competing Yankee-Mets baseball game, clicking over only during commercials.

Yup, the Daytime Emmys 2012, were very up.  No more tacky Las Vegas promotion, as in the last two years. The show felt like it was aimed at me, a soap viewer, despite the myriad of other categories (game, talk shows, etc.), Plus, it was done with — gasp — actual respect for [Read more...]

A Shout Out to Hollywood Heights

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a.  Connie Passalacqua Hayman 

Although I am decades older than the target audience, I enjoyed the first four episodes of the new Hollywood Heights.  It’s the new teen soap on Nick at Nite, created, written, produced and acted by several daytime veterans.  What I really admire about this show is that it has good soap bones.

Hollywood Heights is a multi-generation show based on relationships, not on the shock and schlock plots we are so used to in daytime.  The kids and their parents actually seem to care about and even love one another, as daytime characters did in days of old.  Brittany Underwood (ex-Langston, One Life to Live) stars as high school senior and young aspiring songwriter Loren, who, along with her close friend Melissa (Ashley Holliday), really digs rock star Eddie Duran (Cody Longo), a very cute nice guy who comes to town to do a concert, and later sponsors a song-writing contest.  We meet Loren’s mom, Nora (Jama Williamson), Melissa’s family and Cody’s girlfriend, bad girl Chloe (Melissa Ordway) as they prepare for the big event.  The hour long daily show has [Read more...]

More General Hospital: Outrageously the “M” Word

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman

When Moose came home from work yesterday, he thought he’d have to dump a bucket of cold water over my head.  I couldn’t stop yelling, over and over again,”No, they really didn’t do this!”  General Hospital had a scene where Carly and Todd flirted/talked, and Todd was bare-chested. 

But … but … he’s a rapist!

I’m not making a personal comment on Roger Howarth, roger howarthwho is buff enough (great arms). But to feature the man who infamously gang raped Marty Saybrooke on One Life to Live  in 1994 (and “re-raped” her again two years ago when Todd and Marty “made love”) in the semi-nude was just outrageously misogynistic.

Sure, it’s been a tradition on soaps for more than 25 years that boys/men show off their pecs in the summer heat.  And I really think Todd and Carly, who are in the beginning of their “‘courtship,” make a great couple.  Les miserables deserve each other!  But still, do I really have to [Read more...]

General Hospital: Cuddly but Problematic

By Marlena De Lacroix  a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman

With all the cancellations these past few years, this old soap enthusiast  is thankful to have at least one soap to look forward to, and yes, cuddle up to in my afternoons. That soap is General Hospital, a doomed show I really want to see live on.  I watch

The biggest soap opera of all is the on-going cliffhanger of what will become of GH itself. I still want to have one involving  soap to look forward to every day, no matter how much I bitch about it.

every day, basically liking the day to day writing and production of the  episodes and the  performances . But of course as a critic, I still have objections to some of the overall stories.

For example:  Maxie is impulsive (such as when she slept with Franco) but she is not stupid.  She’s way too shrewd to have gone to trial and to jail for any man, let alone Matt the amnesiac killer of the long dead Lisa Niles. Except for the wonderful Spinelli-ness (fighting to clear Maxie’s name) of our adored Bradford Anderson, this story was a big, drawn out waste.  I’m so glad it’s over. Then we have Jason staying emotionally away so long and being separated  from the pregnant wife Sam, in effect blaming her for rape by his twin-brother Franco.

Do I detect misogyny in that part of the Sam pregnancy story?  Sure, I knew the separation was a plot device to give Sam more time to bond with John McBain.sam and john  And even though Jason eventually came around and told Sam he could accept the baby (after the baby was delivered and “died”) Jason distancing himself emotionally from his wife for so long  because she conceived the child (supposedly!) of his nemesis Franco, via rape, was essentially a whiff of something I never wanted to smell on an ABC soap again.

For a change, Jason is at least paying for something (as of this writing) by losing Sam after she found out that his thugs beat up McBain just after the delivery, causing, as Sam believes, the death of “her” baby. But will Jason ever be punished for his insensitivity to his pregnant wife? How long will Sam and Jason be apart?  Also, do you really think Jason will ever pay for the death of Franco?

Oh well, I can’t help asking this question even in the middle of a friendly review: Think about it — has GH really changed at its core since Guza left? Oui, mes amies, it’s better written, more entertaining and less blatantly offensive.  But Guza still casts a long shadow: witness more misogyny and the same old [Read more...]