By Marlena De Lacroix We've just passed New Year's, and a certain ennui has set in this week on soaps. This winter of Marlena's discontent is made worse by the arrival of scab-written scripts. Are they here so soon? On General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, this would seem to be the case. Are there more? Perhaps. I'm listening … [Read more...]
Happy New Year! Thinking Soap Fans Pick B&W of 2007
December 31, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Happy New Year, mes chers! Marlena toasts you with a glass of champagne, wishing only soaps that are good this year. Speaking of, so many of my Thinking Fans sent in their own Best and Worst picks for 2007, there's barely room to post them all! I love the intelligence of them and appreciate how discerning all of you are when writing about a … [Read more...]
Marlena to Thinking Fans: You Get the Last Word in 2007!
December 27, 2007 by Leave a Comment
By Marlena De Lacroix You've read my soaps "Bests" list for 2007 in the post immediately below this one. Now, it's your turn! Send moi your own picks for soaps Best and Worst 2007. Five choices total in any combination of Bests and Worsts, or 5 Bests or 5 Worsts would be about right. Try to have your say in 500 words or less. Submissions … [Read more...]
Marlena’s “Only the Bests” List 2007
December 26, 2007 by 4 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix I no longer do "Best" and "Worst" lists for soaps. After all, there have been so many "worsts" this year, why would I want to re-inflict the pain on you again? Moi loves mon readers. So, only the "bests" for you, darlings. … [Read more...]
As The World Turns’ Unique Christmas Gift to Us
December 24, 2007 by 3 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix On the very pre-Christmas Friday when ABC stabbed us in the eye with Georgie's funeral on General Hospital, As the World Turns showed us that it remembered what Christmas, family, hope -- and soaps -- are all about. The ATWT holiday show was purely a gift to us -- the fans! We, the people, who really count! It was a … [Read more...]
Marlena’s Hope: Merry Christmas!
December 21, 2007 by 8 Comments
Cher Thinking Fans: I wanted this Christmas message to be merrier, but alas, I've been sick for the last five days. Ever the trendsetter, I am the first among my friends and family to be downed by what the local newscasts have dubbed "Vicious Virus," a miserable stomach flu that is sweeping New York City just prior to Christmas. Isn't it … [Read more...]
Apocalypse Now: General Hospital’s Murder of Georgie
December 17, 2007 by 50 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix Today Georgie Jones becomes the victim of a serial killer on General Hospital. We mourn not just because we're losing a very intelligent, good-hearted teenager we've known from birth who could have grown to be a major heroine show anchor, like Jessie or Bobbie were in their day. We mourn because we're losing a delightful … [Read more...]
Marlena Vs. The Scabs: Solidarity Forever!
December 13, 2007 by 14 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix I am 100% behind the Writers Guild and their strike. I come from a union family -- my late grand-aunts spent just about every Sunday of the 1930s-60s freezing their tushs off in Union Square participating in rallies and demonstrations supporting organized labor, honoring the working man. Solidarity forever! … [Read more...]
Genie Francis Shows’em in The Note
December 9, 2007 by 10 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix For the first hour of the Hallmark Channel's Christmas movie The Note, I felt kind of bored and uncomfortable as Genie Francis played a frumpy (though definitely thinner) middle-aged newspaper columnist who seems to be in need of a stylish makeover or at least a spiked eggnog. Did I really want to watch a slow-paced … [Read more...]
One Life To Live: Don’t Anoint It Best Yet, Part 2
December 7, 2007 by 22 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix As I said in Part 1, an earlier post, the bravura scripts of One Life To Live's new head writer Ron Carlivati have made OLTL the soap to watch for thinking soap fans who enjoy sophisticated writing. Whether it's because so many of other soaps are abysmal right now, or because we're all so desperate for a soap to love, some … [Read more...]
