Susan Haskell

My absence from Daytime Confidential lately has not been due to the usual business of family and work taking up a lot of my time, but rather a certain lack energy to post about practically any of the daytime serials that clog up my DVR from day to day. This is neither a positive nor a negative thing because there are frequent periods throughout the year when shows kind of coast along and do their their thing, usually between sweeps.

At these times, there is little for the viewer — if that viewer is me — to get all worked up about this plot twist, that character's action, some couple or another or even a whole show's direction. Normally, this state of affairs hits one or two shows at a time. Every once in a while like the last couple of weeks, the stars align and all the serials get caught in the same momentum of drift. All that is required of us is to watch and see where it all goes.

In that spirit, my brain plays a little game of soap opera hopscotch, taking in odds and ends big and small. There is no great elaboration on anything here, just a quick rundown of things I like and not like so much. Your mileage may vary... READ MORE

AUTHOR'S DISCLAIMER: The title of this blog entry is solely a reference to the writing styles of the shows mentioned and nothing more.

"The effect of drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick." — The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

That description of what is known as the best fictional alcoholic drink in the known universe is exactly how I feel watching a few of my favorite daytime dramas these days. Unlike that improbable drinky drink, this is hardly a compliment. There is something really odd going on all over the soap dial with the ham fisted lack of subtlety and general narrative blundering going on.

In a couple of recent entries, I pointed out how All My Children's "Who Killed Stuart (Not Adam) Chandler?" murder mystery has been marred by a lack of, well, mystery. As I said, what had the potential to be a great whodunit has been turned into the soap opera equivalent of Clue, one which is losing my interest very rapidly, especially when compared to increasingly delicious and twisted "Who Killed Edmund Winslow?" whodunit concurrently airing on Guiding Light. The latter show is peeling back layers and layers of motive and opportunity, while the former is peeling like an onion: it is making me cry. As it happens, AMC isn't the only egregious offender of hitting us over the head with the narrative equivalent of a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick these days: the other two are As the World Turns and, shockingly and in some circles blasphemously, One Life to Live. READ MORE

I'm back, gentle readers, and not a moment too soon. Since we were last together, real life has provided more plot twists than an episode of Lost, but I've still managed to faithfully watch the stories day in and day out. While there are a few larger topics that I'll be addressing in the next few days and weeks, it turns out a little time and distance provides the opportunity for a bit of clarity and perspective on issues that one might have been previously too close to appreciate. In that spirit, here are a few completely random observations about the five soaps I normally watch that I've noticed in the little over a month since I last posted. These observations generally are not a part of the usual list of talking points, but just a number of things that have popped in my head. Without further ado... READ MORE

To say that One Life to Live is on fire these days is making a declaration verging on cliche. Each and every episode is a marvel of writing, acting and storyline integration. It is a shame that its ratings don't reflect the awesomeness of its writing and ensemble.

If OLTL has two weak links story-wise, one is the Vanessa/Ray/Cristian black widow/revenge story and the teen drug plot. I agree that the former is very undeveloped at this point, with characters that few seem to find interesting on an already crowded canvas. The latter, the drug storyline, has suffered from a different sort of problem: despite some solid acting, the interactions and dialogue among most of the teen set (not to mention the unrealistic shock of the school principal) is rather unbelievable. At times it sounds as if the teens are in a very bad ABC Afterschool Special and we're waiting for the inevitable overdose, a crisis of conscience and a moral to the story that "drugs are bad."

However, I'm beginning to think the story is not about completely about the teens. I think there are two drug stories going on at the same time and the second one is about the adults. The drug isn't marijuana or cocaine. The drug is alcohol. READ MORE

Tea

Marty

John has the bigger knife.

Wes has the bigger knife.

Take your best Caption This shot at One Life to Live's two drowned rats.

Color me all shades of confused. This week's Soap Opera Weekly reveals that it isn't Stephanie (Susan Flannery), or Thorne (Winsor Harmon) or Felicia (Lesli Kay) who has been secretly emailing Forrester Creations sketches to the competition, it's Rick (Kyle Lowder)!

I have to give it to Brad Bell and Co., I certainly didn't see this one coming. Why on earth would Rick, who Eric (John McCook) and Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) dote on and make excuses for ad nauseum feel slighted enough to sabotage the family fashion firm? Three words: His horny niece. READ MORE

While The Young and the Restless and One Life to Live are the two must see soaps on daytime right now, our schizophrenic As the World Turns is firing on most of the right cylinders and can't be counted out of the fight. The last time I posted about ATWT, I had a great many concerns about the direction of the show and it's storylines given the supersonic speed by which they are told. In the last week however, the show has made me sit up and take notice with some interesting developments. READ MORE

Susan Haskell has been "shooting" it out of the park the last couple of days. Take your best shot at this Caption This. I say One Life to Live is arming itself to do battle with General Hospital for title of the show the best Annie Oakley impression.