13 Questions With...Marlena De Lacroix

Marlena DeLacroix is a true legend in soap journalism, with more than 20 years of experience as a soap writer, editor, and, most importantly, soap fan. After wrapping up her most recent stint in conventional media at Soap Opera Weekly, Marlena boldly took on the Internet (and is thriving!) with her take-no-prisoners blog, "Savoring Soaps."

At Soappipe, we are flattered to have Marlena as a reader, and honored to have her tackle our 13 Questions With...Marlena DeLaCroix. Hi, Marlena!

What’s the name of your blog? "Savoring Soaps"

If I had to describe my blog in one sentence it would be...a continuation of my "Critical Condition" column, which I wrote weekly from 1989-2001 in SOW.

What appeals to you most about daytime soaps? Throughout all the phases of my life -- college, careers, graduate school -- I could always go back to soaps. They're home.

Do you have an all-time favorite storyline? "Alice-Steve-Rachel" (Jacquie Courtney, George Reinholdt, Robin Strasser) on ANOTHER WORLD circa 1969. Never has a heroine cried more tears, never has a villainess been more delicious, never has a hero's face been so perfectly chisled. All written to utter perfection by Agnes Nixon. Years later, I almost fainted when Reinholdt sent Marlena a tribute poem.

Do you have least favorite story? Anything with "Sonny and Carly" (Maurice Benard and Laura Wright) from GENERAL HOSPITAL. It is not romance, it is not love It's a sick never-ending obsession between two psychologically impaired people. Whoever writes them knows nothing about truth or real relationships.

Of the younger stars out there (say, 30 and under), who do you see as the future of soaps? If they're extraordinary they'll move on, as all young soaps actors always have. Examples: Jennifer Landon, Jeffrey Carlson, Bradford Anderson. What young actors of today will endure in soaps? Those that were cast because of the acting talent and training, not because of beauty or muscles.

Of today’s crop of actors, executives, writers, etc. who do you predict will be remembered as a future "great" in soap history? The crop of execs and writers that will be remembered are the greats I got to know in the 80's and 90's: Nixon, Mr. Bell Sr., Monty, Labine, Marland, Malone, Rauch, Reilly. No one from today soaps. Anyone who is still around is strictly in survival mode, not creative mode.

Do you watch any of the nighttime serials (Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, etc.)? Do you have a favorite? I watch the news, BBC-America programming and the games of my husband's favorite baseball team, The New York Yankees. The last truly good nighttime soap was KNOT'S LANDING.

“My readers get most riled up when…” I keep noticing that the ones who hate their soaps the most (General Hospital in particular) persist in continuing to watch them.

“My readers love it when…” I reminisce about someone or a show I got to deal with personally over my many years soap journalist. Do you know that the recently departed Larry "Bud" Melman (of the David Letterman show) was the world's biggest soap opera fan? I always used to see him (real name: Calvert De Forest) enjoying the free food at soap parties here in NYC . He had the WORST breath I have ever encountered!

“If I could bring one soap (daytime or nighttime) back from the dead, it would be…” EDGE OF NIGHT, the best, most integellent mystery soap ever. Its late headwriter, Henry Slesar, and exec producer Nick Nicholson were two of the classiest men I have ever met.

If you had to give soaps one piece of advice to stem ratings fall-offs, what would it be? Stay intelligent! Write stories solely from character! Let women characters have careers and brains! Ban catfights! Don't hire Megan McTavish ever again!

Finally, if Soappipe.com readers want to visit your blog, what’s the URL? http://blogs.mediavillage.com/savoring_soaps/

ABC & SoapNet Excite, Dissapoint Fans at Florida University (99% of whom were likely Demo viewers...)

ABC-Daytime drew largely-mixed (though some angry) reviews during one of their largest and most hyped promotional projects with sister network SoapNet, Rock the Quad, a contest win that had promised a visit by five ABC-Daytime stars and a series of promotional events, icluding the attendance of classes by the stars, with University of Florida freshman Meg Pabst. Pabst beat out several hundred other entrants--also students--in a contest challenging them to prove their love for their favorite ABC soap to SoapNet.

When the big day came for Pabst, a passionate GENERAL HOSPITAL fan, and the 500 "frenzied" ABC-Daytime fans in estimated to be in attendance, the actors arrived nearly 2 hours late, and included GH actors such as Bradford Anderson ("Damien Spinelli") and new recast Kiko Ellsworth ("Stan Johnson"), both supporting-of-supporting actors with problematic screentime (Anderson has been known to play nearly all 5 days a week despite tepid, sometimes hostile, fan reaction to his quirky character, while Ellsworth--and immensely popular soap star from his previous gig as former GH DA "Dara Jenson's" cousin "Jamal" on the now defunct GH spin-off PORT CHARLES--had not yet had any screen time to speak of and thus has not yet had a chance to become a fan favorite or not for GH fans).

According to an Independent Florida Alligator newspaper of the event, about 500 fans shivered in a cold wind Friday while they waited for the event, hosted by former-Bachelor Bob Guiney (stock photo from an unidentified fan event, right), but were kept entertained by ABC/SoapNet's advance team:

"While waiting for the event to begin, some students munched on hamburgers, hotdogs and cookies that were provided by ABC. Others received free makeovers and were sent to a photographer for headshots. Some of the more serious fans crowded the stage, afraid of losing their spots, which would put them within arm's reach of the celebrities.

Though Pabst remained positive the whole time, the paper noted the annoyance of her friends "that ABC representatives didn't fulfill a string of promises, [after]Pabst had spent dozens of hours filling out a questionnaire, throwing a General Hospital party and creating a scrapbook in order to win the contest."

ABC representative Mitch Messinger admitted to the Alligator that the stars did not tour campus or attend classes with Pabst as had promised, noting that the stars toured the school without Pabst.

Neither Messinger nor Brian Frons, President of ABC-Daytime, nor SoapNet GM Deborah Blackwell, have yet to respond to inquiries from Soappipe.

(read the whole article here)

SoapNet: Viewers will "interact with GH like never before"

SoapNet and GENERAL HOSPITAL are promising an unprecedented interactive experience this weekend as part of the show's weekly replay block. The net's promotional materials encourage viewers to "Talk about General Hospital with fans across the country...[and] text in questions, comments, and shout outs throughout the 5 hour marathon using your mobile phone."

The web advertisement has all the details and includes a video from the portrayer of GH's resident computer geek, Bradford Anderson ("Damien Spinelli"). Though NBC (PASSIONS, in particular) is the daytime leader in interactive content, SoapNet has been experimenting with a variety of new interactive tie-ins for its web visitors and viewers. If you haven't visited SoapNet's innovative "Fantasy Soap League" you can do so by clicking here.