By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman General Hospital: “No one ever dies in this town,” exclaimed Luke and Tracy together as they talked about the wounded and missing Joe Scully Jr. on Friday’s episode. Don’t you just adore when soaps make fun of themselves? Because back from the dead has certainly been endemic lately on GH. … [Read more...]
Sunday Reflections 14: General Hospital’s Non-Stop Storyline Excitement … Bold and Beautiful — Sobbing for the Forthcoming Death of Stephanie
October 13, 2012 by 8 Comments
Sunday Reflections 7: Central Actors’ Leave-takings on Days of Our Lives, Bold & Beautiful and General Hospital; Headlocks and Diction on B&B and GH; One Strange Interview from B&B
August 25, 2012 by 6 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital: When I used to work on newspapers it was journalistic thinking that a list of three of anything -- three sightings of groovy over-the-knee boots on the subway, three Hollywood divorces, three murders in a Queens … [Read more...]
Sunday Reflections: General Hospital, Bold and Beautiful and Marlena’s Radio Days
July 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman General Hospital: Heather! Heather! Heather! That’s practically all the GH audience is seeing this summer. Last month I praised multi-soap veteran actress Robin Mattson to the sky, placing her very much toward the top of the Soap Villains Hall of Fame (which I made up.) Now it’s time … [Read more...]
B&B: Does One Show-Eating Storyline Work?
July 8, 2012 by 5 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Bradley Bell has been trying a bold soap experiment the last three quarters of a year on The Bold and Beautiful, featuring one storyline, the Hope-Liam-Steffy triangle, almost to the exclusion of most others. And he's been succeeding -- the ratings are still comparatively healthy. So I ask … [Read more...]
The Mega-successful, Classy World of Bill Bell
July 5, 2012 by 2 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passlacqua Hayman When I was a girl soap reporter, I called him "Mr. Bell" during interviews because of Bill Bell's exalted status in the soap industry. And Bill Bell (1927-2005) would just laugh and go ahead to speak about what one always talked to him about: the work. He was the only person I ever … [Read more...]
What’s a Daytime Emmy Year Without Complaining? Or Even Watching?
June 30, 2010 by 10 Comments
For a full report on the Viva Las Vegas Daytime Emmys, read the post following this one by Marlena's friend, TV columnist Ed Martin. But first ... ____________________________________ By Marlena De Lacroix Due to a car malfunction, Moose, Nigel and I had to stay away an extra day this past Sunday, (delightfully) stranded in … [Read more...]
The Downward Soap Spiral Accelerates
October 10, 2009 by 20 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix Bonjour, everyone. This November will mark 20th anniversary of my becoming Marlena De Lacroix, soap critic. Marlena's mission has always been to write the truth as I see it, no matter how impolitic. But now, for me -- I repeat, for me -- it's clear that we've reached the end stage of network daytime soap opera, a … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmys 2009: The Beginning of the End?
August 31, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Ed Martin Watching the 36th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on The CW during the dog days of August confirmed what I already knew: These are dark days indeed for the daypart overall and for soap operas in particular. It's not that the telecast was all bad: I actually prefer smaller venues for the Daytime Emmy celebration (the Orpheum Theater … [Read more...]
