By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman We’ve written several times that the biggest challenge to changing The Young and the Restless is it’s static writing template, which has been in effect back to the days of co- creator/headwriter Bill Bell. The show is all about slow storytelling, dragging the storylines out and instead … [Read more...]
The Ho-Hum, Overly Violent Carly Kidnapping Denouement
February 15, 2014 by 4 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman We’ve already said that General Hospital’s Heather-kidnapping-Carly plot was a big ho-hum. Heather tried to blame it on Franco, her son, who had previously tried to kill Heather, his mother. No surprise, the accusation went nowhere and the outcome was predictable: Carly, a central GH … [Read more...]
General Hospital: Robin’s Reason to Leave Is Unbelievable
February 9, 2014 by 13 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman One of the bad things about General Hospital is that it grows so unbelievable at times. For example, how many would-be killer psychos can one town have at a time? Right now, we have four: Heather, Dr. Obrecht, Franco and Ava. But unbelievably, the unbelievability gets worse: there … [Read more...]
All Hail Friday Cliffhangers!
February 1, 2014 by 5 Comments
By Marlena Delacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman One of the most important and unique of all daytime soap opera conventions is the Friday cliffhanger. On Friday, at the end of a week’s worth of episodes, either a secret is exposed or something significant happens which creates big suspense, compelling the audience to want to tune in to … [Read more...]
Young and Restless Is Obsessed With Secrets
January 19, 2014 by 6 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Watching The Young and the Restless this month is one big wait for the other shoe to drop. Most of the big storylines on the show revolve around a big secret that if disclosed could have dire consequences for the characters involved. Was the confluence of so many secrets held at … [Read more...]
Is Bold and Beautiful Best Soap?
January 12, 2014 by 7 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman With only four daytime soaps left, it seems fruitless to name a Best Soap. It’s all a matter of personal preference anyway. If you like your soaps slow and full of character, you like The Young and the Restless. If you like your plots fast and full of surprises, General Hospital is … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless: Still the One
January 5, 2014 by 6 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman For the last month or so, The Young and the Restless has been carrying promotional spots celebrating the soap’s 25th anniversary as number one in the ratings. It is quite an achievement. How did Y&R do it? By being consistently different from other soaps, particularly in its very … [Read more...]
Happy New Year: Looking Ahead to 2014
December 29, 2013 by 7 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman The new year starts Wednesday, and I have many questions about what’s going to happen on our favorite shows next year. See if you might speculate on the answers, or pose some questions of your own: 1. How is The Young and the Restless going to fill the terrible holes left by the … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas, Thinking Fans!
December 22, 2013 by 10 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman There I was this week watching The Bold and the Beautiful and scratching my head. How many interrupted weddings can Hope and Liam have? After all, Steffy broke up the first wedding with news she was pregnant, and here she was back with the news for Liam that after her miscarriage, she … [Read more...]
The Young and the Restless’ Record-Breaking Stunt
November 3, 2013 by 8 Comments
By Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman Yet again … is it right or wrong for a soap to kill off a child? I led a column with this perennial question several weeks ago when Delia Abbott was killed on The Young and the Restless, reiterating my longstanding opposition to what I regard as a creepy plot device that exploits the … [Read more...]
