Remembered: A Day With the Late, Great Larry Haines

Thinking Fans Comment Update July 22:  pjs praises Search for Tomorrow's man of yesterday ... Cherry Ames remembers Stu and Jo ... DS0816 wishes the young'ns could have seen Mr. Haines ... and more. See Comments below. _________________________ By Marlena De Lacroix Larry Haines passed away July 17 at 89 in Delray Beach, Fla.  How sad that … [Read more...]

The Bold and the Beautiful: Sadism in the Afternoon

Thinking Fans Comment Update July 19: Purple Haze questions Bridget's sanity ... Levi says the whole story is unrealistic ... renee has a new definition of B&B ... and more.  See Comments below. ____________ By Marlena De Lacroix In college or on DVD,  did you seen the cult movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)?  There's a … [Read more...]

Point-Counterpoint: The Infuriating Holden/Carly Romance on As the World Turns

What is daytime's most unpopular romance? Judging from fan complaints, I'd say it's Holden and Carly on As the World Turns.  Here are two characters -- wed not to each other -- who are or were partners in two separate long-running supercouples. Well, so what?  Since partner switch -- and adultery -- are staples of soaps, I can't quite understand … [Read more...]

One Life To Live at 40: How Has One Life Changed Your Life?

By Marlena De Lacroix One Life to Live's 40th anniversary is next week.  I've watched the show for 39 of those forty years, so it's been a big part of my life!  And it has meant a tremendous amount to me.  Thinking Fans, I'm interested in how OLTL has affected your life, what it has meant to you, your evaluations and memories of the storylines … [Read more...]

Is One Life to Live Daytime’s Lifeboat? And a Word About Addie …

By Marlena De Lacroix Have you boarded the One Life to Live lifeboat yet?  Judging from the letters I've received in the last three weeks from readers like Esther, Cherry, Marilyn and DSO, even the most discerning and stubborn of Marlena's Thinking Fans seem to be boarding.  They're in hope it's the one show that can keep their long-term love of … [Read more...]

Say What? The 2008 Emmys Had No Class

By Marlena De Lacroix The star of the 2008 Emmys was a body part your mother blushingly called your "backside."  Stars couldn't stop talking about derrieres, and wound up acting a lot like them. "Oh, oh, I love your butt,  what a cute little butt, I'd take that cute little butt," All My Children's Rebecca Budig (Greenlee) squealed as she … [Read more...]

Marlena’s Emmy Picks in 2008’s Humpty Dumpty Soap World

By Marlena De Lacroix I'm not overly excited about this week's Daytime Emmys. I could be fluffy and say it's because they moved the ceremony  to L.A. several years ago and I don't get to go and to buy a dress, and to me (I attended here in New York 23 years in a row) the Daytime Emmys was always about The Dress.  But the truth is, daytime drama, … [Read more...]

All Hail La Strasser: She’s the “Alexis of Daytime” — Again!

  By Marlena De Lacroix About 1984 or so, when the primetime world was at the height of Dynasty-mania, all the daytime soaps were hustling to introduce characters, all costumed in big-brimmed hats,  who were supposed to be the "Alexis of Daytime."  Elizabeth Hubbard, new as Lucinda on As the World Turns, was supposed to be the Alexis of … [Read more...]

I’ll Take Manhattan(ites)

By Marlena De Lacroix My friend Roger Newcomb, who is the editor of  We Love Soaps, invited Moose and me to attend a Tribeca screening of Manhattanites, the film he co-produced with Lyle Kaminer. We really enjoyed  it, and I think you'll like it too, especially if you are a soap fan. Manhattanites tells the story of a group of young people … [Read more...]

General Hospital’s Monstrous Lies, All My Children’s Truthful Memories

By Marlena De Lacroix Yesterday, I was trying to write my long promised column against the most perversely inhuman, possibly most disturbing soap storyline of all time, but the words just would not come out.  I'm talking about the General Hospital storyline written by Bob Guza that began with 12-year-old Michael getting shot in the head and … [Read more...]