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...]
General Hospital: Spencer Becomes a Burn Victim
March 3, 2015 by 6 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Who could have imagined there’d be an ongoing end of sweeps storyline that is so shocking it could practically upstage the mighty and controversial six month old Luke/Fluke story on General Hospital? But here it is: ten-year-old Spencer (Nicolas Bechtel) was severely burned on face and … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless and General Hospital: Unanswered Questions
June 30, 2014 by 6 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Soaps are often very logical, with storyline happenings and conclusions ironed out well in advance. Even so, for many veteran soap watchers it’s hard not to second guess the logic of soap writers. For example, we can see exactly why The Young and the Restless recently decided to make … [Read more...]
Should Children and Babies Be Killed off on Soap Operas?
June 15, 2014 by 8 Comments
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
May 3, 2014 by 12 Comments
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...]
General Hospital Reaches a Storyline and Ratings High
December 8, 2013 by 13 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Last week General Hospital reached a very admirable ratings high, scoring 3.3 million viewers, its highest numbers since 2007. The timing for this benchmark is something the show had long been leading up to: the revelation to Dr. Patrick Drake that his wife Dr. Robin is still … [Read more...]
The 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Nominations: Some Killer Choices!
May 5, 2013 by 12 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman What do you think of the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy nominees? The list is long and illustrative given the fact that there are only four soaps. Several categories are full of names that are most deserving. It would be very hard to cast a decisive vote should one have the … [Read more...]
Marlena’s Best of the Best, 2012
December 15, 2012 by 9 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix, a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman It’s the end of 2012, time for best and worst lists. Because soaps are in such danger and I’ve already recorded most of the worsts in the weekly column I’m choosing only to do the bests here. And Marlena being Marlena sometimes I have multiple choices in each category. Best Actress: … [Read more...]
General Hospital: Can This Show Be Saved?
March 2, 2012 by 14 Comments
By Ed Martin Watching General Hospital these last two weeks, as the energetic efforts of One Life to Live veterans Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati to save the show from almost certain doom begin to play out, it occurs to me that my time as a fan of this once-formidable serial has come full circle. I began watching GH in 1978, shortly … [Read more...]
