I first started watching soaps as a lonely teenager while I was waiting for my parents to come home from work, circa the late ’60s and early ’70s. Soap characters became my ersatz family. One of the first shows I fell in love with was “Days of Our Lives,” which was written by Bill Bell. (This was before he created “The Young and the Restless.”) … [Read more...]
Luke and Laura’s Wedding on “General Hospital”: The Day the Earth Stood Still
November 12, 2024 by 4 Comments
Where were you on November 16 and 17, 1981? If you were alive, chances are you were one of the record 30 million Americans who watched the wedding of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer (played by Anthony Geary) and Laura Webber Baldwin (played by Genie Francis) on ABC’s General Hospital. Featured on the covers of both People and Newsweek, the wedding marked the … [Read more...]
Welcome Home, “All My Children”
October 18, 2024 by 2 Comments
Not long ago, Lifetime announced that it would bring back “All My Children” in the form of two made-for-TV movies, one for a future holiday season. Both are in early stages of development. I’m ecstatic. Ever since I started watching “AMC” at its premiere in 1970, it was and continued to be my favorite soap until its cancelation in 2013 – an … [Read more...]
The Mother of Soaps In Her Own Words
September 30, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Marlena says: My colleague Michael Poirer is an ace researcher, a treasure in the world of soap opera journalism. Ever thorough and tireless, his contributions to these columns are deeply appreciated. Here he weighs in on our ongoing discussions of the state of soap opera with a collection of quotes from some of the many interviews granted to … [Read more...]
Memo to “The Bold and the Beautiful”: Try Harder
September 13, 2024 by Leave a Comment
I’ve been an avid (70 columns and counting) follower of “The Bold and the Beautiful” since it premiered in 1987. I’m still proud that I wrote the very first story on the show. The headline in Soap Opera Weekly correctly predicted the soap’s future: “B&B Is a Camp Classic.” Well, the ’80s were a long time ago. Today, being comfortably fun and … [Read more...]
Looking Back: The AIDS Quilt Comes to OLTL in 1992
August 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment
It has been my privilege over the last 40 years to cover the daytime drama industry. For many of those years, soap creators and head writers used the medium not just to entertain but to deal with important social issues—in other words to encourage viewers to think. In the late ’80s, the AIDS epidemic hit the soap scene hard. Many members of the … [Read more...]
The Joys of Summer Redux
August 7, 2024 by 5 Comments
In 1989 when the real world was still paying attention to soaps, TV Guide asked me to do a cover story called “The Joys of Summer.” My mother, who had kept every issue of the magazine since its debut — just as George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) did on Seinfeld — kept a copy of that particular issue on top of her TV for the rest of her … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmys: Some Afterthoughts
June 22, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The day after this year’s Daytime Emmys, I wrote on my Marlena Current and Classic Facebook Group site that I thought the show was refreshing. Replied my old colleague Brian, “I’m not with you on this, Marlena.” Added Esther, “The death roll left me cold.” And of course, there was an array of opinions about and objections to the winners. Well, … [Read more...]
The 2024 Daytime Emmys: Marlena’s Picks
May 29, 2024 by 2 Comments
Unfortunately, 2024 was a lackluster soap year overall, disrupted as it was by a pesky writer’s strike. Even so, there were some shining moments, thanks as always to the good work of the professionals we like to think of as “our people” — those who produce, write and act in the shows that are still hanging in there, no matter what is going on, or … [Read more...]
Happy 60th Anniversary, Another World
May 8, 2024 by 4 Comments
I’d like to dedicate this column to my hard-working friend Karen McKenny, who spent the past few months organizing a 60th birthday party for our beloved NBC soap Another World, so sadly missed since it went off the air in 1999. The anniversary tribute took place in Tarrytown, N.Y., and was attended by many of the soap’s stars. I’m so sorry I wasn’t … [Read more...]
