Thinking Fans Comment Update July 31: How to repeat soap histories? Melanie counts the ways ... James cheers the Reva/Josh movie wedding ... while esther is generally unimpressed by retreads ... and more. See Comments below. ____________By Patrick Erwin Each of the eight daytime soaps on American network TV these days has a … [Read more...]
On the Soap Shrink’s Couch: The Young and the Restless’ Kevin Fisher
July 6, 2008 by 1 Comment
By Damon L. JacobsKevin Fisher came blazing into The Young and the Restless' Genoa City five years ago with rage in his heart, fire in his eyes, violence in his fists, and chlamydia in his ... well, you know. He spent a significant portion of his time chasing after Lily, lying, manipulating, setting fires, breaking mirrors. As his violence … [Read more...]
Say What? The 2008 Emmys Had No Class
June 23, 2008 by 19 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixThe star of the 2008 Emmys was a body part your mother blushingly called your "backside." Stars couldn't stop talking about derrieres, and wound up acting a lot like them."Oh, oh, I love your butt, what a cute little butt, I'd take that cute little butt," All My Children's Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) squealed as she … [Read more...]
Marlena’s Emmy Picks in 2008’s Humpty Dumpty Soap World
June 18, 2008 by 11 Comments
By Marlena De LacroixI'm not overly excited about this week's Daytime Emmys. I could be fluffy and say it's because they moved the ceremony to L.A. several years ago and I don't get to go and to buy a dress, and to me (I attended here in New York 23 years in a row) the Daytime Emmys was always about The Dress. But the truth is, daytime drama, … [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...]
The Young and the Restless: How Latham Tried But Failed to Reinvent the Wheel
March 20, 2008 by 9 Comments
By Patrick ErwinI confess I was glued to my TV last week for the soap opera that was The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. The governor, once praised as a smart, brave man, was stripped of his title in a very public and humiliating way. And the reaction reminded me of "schadenfreude" -- a German word that describes when someone is joyous and … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless: Katherine Chancellor, Always!
January 31, 2008 by 5 Comments
By Patrick ErwinThe Young and the Restless has a long history of being a solid hour of soap, mostly unmoved by trends or the fleeting fancies that other shows have lived (or died) by. But in the last few years, Y&R has undergone some substantial changes -- changes in writers, in producers, and in the pace the story unfolds on screen. Fans … [Read more...]
