Appreciating Three Wise Decisions – In Soap Land, No Less

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Soap critics never miss a chance to bash all they dislike.  But credit should always be given where credit is due. So this week, Marlena would like to give kudos to three significant decisions: 1.  OWN, the Oprah network, picked up the first 40 episodes of All My Children and One Life to … [Read more...]

The Bold and the Beautiful: Three Into Two Won’t Go

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The Bold and the Beautiful is just past its 25th birthday and carries on doing  what it does best:   love triangles.  The show’s  theme might as well be, Three Into Two Won’t Go, which was the title  of an English movie I remember from 1969. Apart from the nifty title, it was a fairly … [Read more...]

A Negative Vote on This Year’s Daytime Emmys

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman  Last year I praised HLN’s first production of the Daytime Emmys because it was straightforward and lean.  This year’s show was exactly the opposite -- overlong (almost three hours) and full of things that just shouldn’t have been included.  Boring! How about that couch?  I’m talking … [Read more...]

Daytime Emmys next — stay tuned

It’s time again for the Daytime Emmys. Do you care? Soap opera loyalist that I am, I still do. I’ll be watching the broadcast Sunday night, June 16, at 8 on the HLN Network. I’ll bet many Thinking Fans will, too. So let’s meet back here on Monday to discuss the winners, the losers, and the whole show. -- MARLENA   … [Read more...]

The Young and the Restless: Time and Patience Needed

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I’m on school vacation and have plenty of time on my hands.  So I’ve been watching a lot of The Young and the Restless.  It’s pretty good soap, if time and patience are your strengths as a soap viewer. Y&R, as is its custom, is much slower than other soaps.  A storyline -- take Jack … [Read more...]

Franco: Make or Break for General Hospital?

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman So let’s take a survey.  How many Thinking Fans think Roger Howarth’s great charm as an actor can overcome the unbelievable maneuvers that have been made to bring back evil Franco as a viable everyday character?  Erasing Franco’s responsibility for the  rapes of Sam and Michael has taken … [Read more...]

Port Charles is Frustration City

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman As noted last week and confirmed by the passionate reaction in the letters section, there seems to be massive dissatisfaction with General Hospital right now.   And it’s not only the appearance of three new characters with too-familiar faces (played by Kristin Alderson, Michael Easton and … [Read more...]

General Hospital Has Identity and Condiment Problems

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The core of watching soap operas is to believe.  Unfortunately, General Hospital viewers had to put that value behind them this week when the show introduced new characters played by oh-so-familiar faces, all with new hair-dos to signify their new personae.  Michael Easton, who played John, … [Read more...]

Jeanne Cooper: An Appreciation

  By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman This week daytime television lost a great icon and a great lady:  Jeanne Cooper, who played Mrs. Katherine Chancellor on The Young and the Restless for more than forty years, passed away on Tuesday at 84. There was no character like Mrs. Chancellor.  She was brought on six … [Read more...]

The 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Nominations: Some Killer Choices!

By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman What do you think of the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy nominees?  The list is long and illustrative given the fact that there are only four soaps.  Several categories are full of names that are most deserving. It would be very hard to cast a decisive vote should one have the … [Read more...]