By Marlena Delacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman For any soap opera, a “love to hate” character is money in the bank. Fascinated by their endless power to manipulate other characters and instigate interesting plots, these diabolical characters are adored by audiences who avidly follow all that they do. “Love to hate” characters … [Read more...]
Should Children and Babies Be Killed off on Soap Operas?
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Back in the day … way back, actually … it was unheard of to kill off children, especially babies, on soaps. The traditional audience was, after all, stay at home moms who watched or listened to their soaps while rolling out pie crust or ironing the family laundry. Today, the taboo has … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmy Nominations – Marlena Still Cares
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The Daytime Emmy nominations for 2014 have been announced. Do you care? After all these years, Marlena still does. So let’s discuss: Best Actor: Aside from Jason Thompson (Patrick, General Hospital) the other four nominees all come from The Young and the Restless: Peter Bergman … [Read more...]
A Negative Vote on This Year’s Daytime Emmys
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Last year I praised HLN’s first production of the Daytime Emmys because it was straightforward and lean. This year’s show was exactly the opposite -- overlong (almost three hours) and full of things that just shouldn’t have been included. Boring! How about that couch? I’m talking … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmys next — stay tuned
It’s time again for the Daytime Emmys. Do you care? Soap opera loyalist that I am, I still do. I’ll be watching the broadcast Sunday night, June 16, at 8 on the HLN Network. I’ll bet many Thinking Fans will, too. So let’s meet back here on Monday to discuss the winners, the losers, and the whole show. -- MARLENA … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless: Time and Patience Needed
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I’m on school vacation and have plenty of time on my hands. So I’ve been watching a lot of The Young and the Restless. It’s pretty good soap, if time and patience are your strengths as a soap viewer. Y&R, as is its custom, is much slower than other soaps. A storyline -- take Jack … [Read more...]
Daytime Emmys 2012: Respect Was Surprisingly Shown
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a Connie Passalacqua Hayman Today I'm going to use a word I've never used in a decade of viewing the Daytime Emmys (but nearly always used when I attended the 22 years previously). I actually "enjoyed" Saturday night's Daytime Emmys on HLN.Don't freak out -- there are "excepts" which I'll get into later. You see, … [Read more...]
What’s a Daytime Emmy Year Without Complaining? Or Even Watching?
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...]
Daytime Emmys Downplay Soaps, Celebrate Las Vegas
By Ed Martin One could find worse ways to spend a lazy summer evening than watching a live awards show from Las Vegas featuring many current top acts from shows along the strip. But when I sat down to watch CBS' presentation of the 37th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Sunday I was looking for a celebration of daytime programming -- and I didn't … [Read more...]