By Marlena De LacroixMy friend Roger Newcomb, who is the editor of We Love Soaps, invited Moose and me to attend a Tribeca screening of Manhattanites, the film he co-produced with Lyle Kaminer. We really enjoyed it, and I think you'll like it too, especially if you are a soap fan.Manhattanites tells the story of a group of young people … [Read more...]
10 Merry Mid-Month of May Questions
May 14, 2008 by 13 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix and Patrick Erwin1. When you saw John-Paul Lavoisier as Rex in his recent pre-wedding scenes on One Life to Live, wandering around a bar drunk, shirtless, and disheveled with a wild head of hair, didn't he remind you just a little of Bamm-Bamm from The Flintstones?2. Have you been lost in the maze of brunettes on As … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmy Noms 2008: The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same
May 1, 2008 by 20 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI first attended and wrote about the Daytime Emmys in 1980 and I should be over them by now. But I continue, year after year, to be exasperated by the fact that two things never change. 1) No matter how many times they have been revised or have been updated over the years, the nomination and award processes are still … [Read more...]
More Emmy Noms 2008: How ‘bout a Little Self-Respect?
April 30, 2008 by 5 Comments
By Patrick ErwinBasketball may have its March Madness, but the soap world has its own spring madness ritual -- the Daytime Emmy nominations. The discussions about this year's nominations have come fast and furious since they were announced yesterday. Marlena gave her take on the whole process, and I had a few thoughts of my own I thought I'd … [Read more...]
When Cliché Stories Go Startlingly … Right!
April 15, 2008 by 5 Comments
By Patrick ErwinSoap fans and critics alike complain loudly when we encounter the overused soap plotline. We can see most of them coming from a mile away!We know, for example, that one woman, plus two men, multiplied by a short period of time = "Who's the daddy" story. It seems like a good third of all soap characters have discovered … [Read more...]
Marlena to One Life to Live: “I Hate Todd”
March 11, 2008 by 33 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI never liked the character of Todd Manning on One Life to Live. I never understood him. After he was introduced in 1992 as one of three gang rapists of college coed Marty Saybrooke, the character skyrocketed to become one of most popular characters on OLTL, if not all of soaps, and has stayed that way until … [Read more...]
10 Sweet and Soapy Valentine’s Day Questions
February 10, 2008 by 11 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix1. Is it my imagination or did bravura actress Sarah Brown return to General Hospital (as Claudia Zacchara) with a little something extra under the signature slutty red wrap dress? And isn't fierce mob princess Claudia very similar to Maerose Prizzi (Oscar winner Anjelica Huston) the fierce mob princess who wants to take … [Read more...]
On Soaps, Multiple Suspect Murder Mysteries are So-o-o Done!
January 28, 2008 by 21 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix I have grown so tired of the soap opera convention known as the multiple-suspect murder mystery storyline. Of late, they've become meaningless, predictable or, even worse, totally incomprehensible. The multiple-suspect murder plot was only done to perfection on the old full-time soap mystery show Edge of Night. But the … [Read more...]
Marcie Surrenders Her Son on One Life to Live: A Rare Soap Opera Grand Slam
January 20, 2008 by 21 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixWhile we were all bitching and moaning about Budig, I for one almost missed the soap opera story of the year. This is the denouement of that Marcie-on-the-run story on One Life to Live, in which Marcie had fled Llanview with her "adopted" son (newly handed over by the court to Tommy's biological father, rapist Todd), … [Read more...]
Marlena’s “Only the Bests” List 2007
December 26, 2007 by 4 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI 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...]
