Archives for 2013

Happy New Year: Looking Ahead to 2014

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The new year starts Wednesday, and I have many questions about what’s going to happen on our favorite shows next year. See if you might speculate on the answers, or pose some questions of your own: 1.  How is The Young and the Restless going to fill the terrible holes left by the … [Read more...]

Merry Christmas, Thinking Fans!

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman There I was this week watching The Bold and the Beautiful and scratching my head.  How many interrupted weddings can Hope and Liam have?  After all, Steffy broke up the first wedding with news she was pregnant, and here she was back with the news for Liam that after her miscarriage, she … [Read more...]

General Hospital: Surprise! A Soap Full of Great Surprises!

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman One of the great strengths of the soap opera form is the element of surprise.  Since we have long lived in a world of spoilers, surprises are few and far between today’s soaps.  Thus we rejoice that General Hospital of late has managed to steer around the obligatory spoilers and give us … [Read more...]

General Hospital Reaches a Storyline and Ratings High

  By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Last week General Hospital reached a very admirable ratings high, scoring 3.3 million viewers, its highest numbers since 2007. The timing for this benchmark is something the show had long been leading up to: the revelation to Dr.  Patrick Drake that his wife Dr.  Robin is still … [Read more...]

Happy 24th Anniversary, Marlena!

By  Connie Passalacqua Hayman This week marks the 24th anniversary of the debut of my alter ego, Marlena De Lacroix. My first column with that byline under the standing headline Critical Condition debuted in the second issue of Soap Opera Weekly the last week of November 1989.  Weekly was an immediate success and Marlena became very popular very … [Read more...]

General Hospital: Jam-Packed November Sweeps

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It’s traditional for a soap presents its strongest stories during sweeps, and this November hasn’t been a disappointment on General Hospital. Au contraire, the month isn’t over yet. To paraphrase Bette Davis in All About Eve: “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy 30 days.” The … [Read more...]

The Bold and the Beautiful Scores a Ratings High

  By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacaqua Hayman In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly, judging the parade of men through her life, distinguishes between regular rats and super rats. She could have been talking about The Bold and the Beautiful’s odious Bill Spencer. In the past two weeks, he’s clearly … [Read more...]

The Bold and the Beautiful: Bill’s Balderdash

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It may be the strangest game changer in soap history.  While The Bold and the Beautiful’s Bill Spencer was climbing to a mountain top in Aspen, he slipped and fell. Not that far, thanks to his safety line. But far enough, he said, to frighten him into an epiphany. According to Bill, … [Read more...]

The Young and the Restless’ Record-Breaking Stunt

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman      Yet again … is it right or wrong for a soap to kill off a child?  I led a column with this perennial question several weeks ago when Delia Abbott was killed on The Young and the Restless, reiterating my longstanding opposition to what I regard as a creepy plot device that exploits the … [Read more...]

Four More Who Make My Day

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Even when the plots of our soap operas drag or are otherwise unsatisfying, there are always actors who make our day.  I named some of my favorites here a while back. Now, here are some more, all on General Hospital: Anders Hove plays Faison, a classic villain who has been in and out … [Read more...]