By Marlena De Lccroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It’s way too early to judge the work of The Young and the Restless’ new executive producer Charles Pratt Jr. We’re familiar with his resume (head writer/executive/producer of All My Children, General Hospital, Santa Barbara and Sunset Beach, primetime producer of Melrose Place et al.) But … [Read more...]
General Hospital: The Ginormous Furor over Fluke
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman In many, many years, there hasn’t been a soap controversy of the magnitude of the furor over the year-old “Fluke” storyline on General Hospital. While some love it (I gave it a rave in two prior columns, but more on that later) many really hate it. Just look at all the negative remarks … [Read more...]
The Bold and the Beautiful: Inconsistencies and Smokin’ Seduction
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Storyline inconsistencies bother soap viewers who want their storylines to be thoroughly believable and linear (not to mention being true to a soap’s actual history). We’ve seen plenty of them in the unfinished (as of this writing) Fluke story on General Hospital. Now I’d like to … [Read more...]
Divine Suspense Plots on General Hospital, Currently Must See TV — Part 2
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I’ve said some negative things about General Hospital headwriter Ron Carlivati (particularly when he was writing One Life to Live) but in the last few months he has proven he knows well how to write soap opera. As discussed last week in my rave over the “Fluke” storyline, he knows how … [Read more...]
General Hospital’s Divine Suspense Plots Are Must See TV — Part 1
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I screamed at the end of General Hospital on Friday! There, sitting in the old Spencer house basement in the same chair in which “Fluke” had tied the real Luke, was a figure with a dead skeletal face -- just like dead Mrs. Bates, Norman’s mom in the classic movie Psycho! This was just … [Read more...]
The Bold and the Beautiful’s Most Excellent 7000th Episode Celebration
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I remember it well. It was in early March 1987 and I was visiting the office of the late Bill Bell Senior, the stupendously successful executive producer/headwriter of the The Young and the Restless at CBS Television City in Hollywood. Mr. Bell (“call me Bill”) was gloating because the … [Read more...]
The Bold and the Beautiful: A Rare Magnificent Storyline
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman In decades, I’ve rarely raved about a single storyline. But the Rick-Maya-Caroline imbroglio that has played out over the last month or so has just been superb. It’s a can’t-miss-a-day tale of betrayal, ambition, narcissism and, above all, surprise. Eric Forrester decided he … [Read more...]
Heavenly November Sweeps Performances on The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It’s been quite an eventful November sweeps so far. Stories built over the course of a year or more usually reach their apexes if not their conclusions over sweeps months (February, May, November) and writers plot their most dramatic action to stretch over these months. This November’s … [Read more...]