By Connie Passalacqua Hayman This week marks the 24th anniversary of the debut of my alter ego, Marlena De Lacroix. My first column with that byline under the standing headline Critical Condition debuted in the second issue of Soap Opera Weekly the last week of November 1989. Weekly was an immediate success and Marlena became very popular very … [Read more...]
General Hospital: Jam-Packed November Sweeps
November 24, 2013 by 9 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It’s traditional for a soap presents its strongest stories during sweeps, and this November hasn’t been a disappointment on General Hospital. Au contraire, the month isn’t over yet. To paraphrase Bette Davis in All About Eve: “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy 30 days.” The … [Read more...]
The Bold and the Beautiful: Bill’s Balderdash
November 9, 2013 by 1 Comment
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It may be the strangest game changer in soap history. While The Bold and the Beautiful’s Bill Spencer was climbing to a mountain top in Aspen, he slipped and fell. Not that far, thanks to his safety line. But far enough, he said, to frighten him into an epiphany. According to Bill, … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless’ Record-Breaking Stunt
November 3, 2013 by 8 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Yet again … is it right or wrong for a soap to kill off a child? I led a column with this perennial question several weeks ago when Delia Abbott was killed on The Young and the Restless, reiterating my longstanding opposition to what I regard as a creepy plot device that exploits the … [Read more...]
Four More Who Make My Day
October 27, 2013 by 8 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Even when the plots of our soap operas drag or are otherwise unsatisfying, there are always actors who make our day. I named some of my favorites here a while back. Now, here are some more, all on General Hospital: Anders Hove plays Faison, a classic villain who has been in and out … [Read more...]
The Bold and the Beautiful’s Most Excellent Recast
October 20, 2013 by 14 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Cheers to The Bold and the Beautiful for the most exciting soap recast of this or any other year: Soap superstar Thorsten Kaye has been signed to played Ridge Forrester, the show’s lead character, who was played from the show’s 1987 debut until last year by Ronn Moss. Kaye, of course, … [Read more...]
An Excruciating Episode of The Young and the Restless
October 12, 2013 by 117 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Is it right or wrong for a daytime soap opera to kill off a baby or a child? After all, a large part of the viewing audience is young mothers, and they could find such a sequence unbearable to watch. After watching little Delia Abbott get hit by a car on Friday’s episode of The … [Read more...]
General Hospital: The Ugly Denouement of the Baby Connie True Parentage Plot
October 5, 2013 by 19 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Wasn’t it ugly? Incredibly, the denouement of General Hospital‘s Maxie admitting she is the biological mother of Connie plot was even worse than could have been predicted. The fact that Maxie – who supposedly mothered the baby as a surrogate for Lulu and Dante -- is the baby’s biological … [Read more...]
General Hospital: Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson
September 29, 2013 by 11 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Last week we condemned an Eric and Quinn romance on The Bold and the Beautiful because of the thirty- plus-years age difference. But this week I’m going to be a tremendous hypocrite and give a compliment to the fact that forty-something Ava slept with 19 year old Morgan on General Hospital … [Read more...]
