By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman I can barely remember a daytime soap week that had as much breaking news as this one. Here’s a peek into Marlena’s reporting notebook: Monday I am stunned that General Hospital (Frank Valentini, executive producer; Ron Carlivati, headwriter) has fired Ian Buchanan (Duke … [Read more...]
Isn’t Downton Abbey Just Like Daytime Soaps? Consider the Similarities …
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Name me a daytime soap fan who doesn’t watch and probably love Downton Abbey. Even though a lot happened this busy soap week (Genie’s coming back, Prospect Park made a deal with the Writers Guild) what everyone’s talking about is the megahit Masterpiece Theater miniseries. Downton’s third … [Read more...]
Sunday Reflections 18: Fiery Doings on The Young and the Restless … General Hospital’s Friday Cliffhanger Was Thrilling, Classic Soap Opera
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The Young and the Restless: As the weeks go by, Y&R’s plots are changing radically under its new headwriter, Josh Griffith. Here are some thoughts on the latest story twists: As I wrote in Sunday Reflections 15, there are plenty of presto chango plot revisions that a) make your … [Read more...]
Sunday Reflections 13: General Hospital and Young and the Restless — When Entertainment Value and Hot Sex, Respectively, Defy Logic
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a Connie Passalacqua Hayman General Hospital: Confluence, according to the dictionary, means when three things meet at a certain point (rivers, for example). And that’s exactly what happened on General Hospital early this week – confluence in Tuesday and Wednesday’s episodes when three great storylines in which one … [Read more...]
Kiboshing Kish: Betrayal and Malfeasance
By Marlena De Lacroix I've had a lot of problems with One Life to Live over the last two years, but Kish (Kyle and Fish) was never one of them. The shocking write-off of these characters is wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels. Of all the ways this failing soap could be improved, dumping Kish NOW isn't one of them. Goodbye Kish: Scott Evans … [Read more...]
Guiding Light’s Last Fade-out: Only Love Can Save the Soap World
By Marlena De Lacroix I thought Kim Zimmer looked absolutely gorgeous in her last scene on Guiding Light set a year after the action, when Reva and Josh pledged their love "always." Clad in a emerald gown, the top of her blond hair nicely swept back, she looked truly amazing. A goddess, indeed. Surprised I wrote this? Well, I m going to … [Read more...]
