By Ed MartinOne Life to Live showed me something last week that I haven't seen in 30 years of soap viewing: A mass wedding of two dozen gay couples. This show has pushed the envelope in a number of crazy ways since the ‘70s, sending its characters to heaven, to an underground city and careening through time. What a pleasure it was OLTL's … [Read more...]
General Hospital: Making Michael a Monster
November 9, 2009 by 20 Comments
By Ed MartinEverything about General Hospital that I have come to loathe during the last ten years was on proud, pungent display last week, to such a degree of extreme outrageousness I could not look away.I must admit that there was an infectious lunatic energy to it all, which could account for my deep fascination with what I was watching. … [Read more...]
JJ and the Rehabilitation of General Hospital
November 1, 2009 by 13 Comments
By Marilyn HenryThere already have been big discussions on the internet about Jonathan Jackson returning to his role as Lucky on General Hospital. Newer viewers who don’t know his work are jolted; other long-time viewers are thrilled. I don’t know whose bad In the last few weeks, the show seems to have turned a corner. Good grief, did … [Read more...]
The Downward Soap Spiral Accelerates
October 10, 2009 by 20 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixBonjour, everyone. This November will mark 20th anniversary of my becoming Marlena De Lacroix, soap critic. Marlena's mission has always been to write the truth as I see it, no matter how impolitic. But now, for me -- I repeat, for me -- it's clear that we've reached the end stage of network daytime soap opera, a … [Read more...]
James Franco to General Hospital? Marlena’s Top 10!
October 1, 2009 by 16 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixJames Franco to guest star for two months on General Hospital has to be the biggest bombshell news in the decades I've watched and written about soaps. I just heard, and it's fabulous! As much as I love soaps, my mind jumped to wise guy remarks, a la David Letterman's nightly Top 10.And I have no shame: here's my … [Read more...]
Guiding Light’s Last Fade-out: Only Love Can Save the Soap World
September 21, 2009 by 9 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI thought Kim Zimmer looked absolutely gorgeous in her last scene on Guiding Light set a year after the action, when Reva and Josh pledged their love "always." Clad in a emerald gown, the top of her blond hair nicely swept back, she looked truly amazing. A goddess, indeed.Surprised I wrote this? Well, I m going to … [Read more...]
Celebrating the Glorious Life of Guiding Light: From 1992, Marlena’s Analysis of GL at its Peak
September 15, 2009 by 23 Comments
Don't miss Marlena's farewell to Guiding Light on blogtalkradio's Brandon's Buzz at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 or later on the network's archive.____________________________________________________ By Marlena De LacroixIn March 1992, Guiding Light reached the apex of soap quality, that perfect blend of excellence in writing, acting … [Read more...]
ABC’s Misguided “Sweeps” Tries to Feed Off of Guiding Light’s Death
September 11, 2009 by 12 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI usually don't read a lot of previews or spoilers. But what I've seen this week and what I've read for the rest of the month of September alarms me. The ABC soaps seem to think its sweeps month, staging stunts and attention-getting storylines that are de rigueur in crucial ratings-measuring months. September isn't one … [Read more...]
