Most Memorable Soap Death

One topic keeps creeping its way onto message boards and blogs around the soapnation. That topic is Soap Deaths.

Now obviously deaths happen all the time on our favorite suders, but what makes a soap death that you will always remember?

Two of the biggest soap deaths that I will always remember come from UK soaps.

First we have Danielle Mitchell on the BBC1 soap EastEnders.

After months of story building we found out that Danielle was actually Ronnie's long lost, and believed to be dead, daughter. But when Danielle finally told Ronnie the truth her mother didn't believe the news and sent her away. Thankfully Ronnie found out the truth, so she ran after Danielle and well you can see how it ended in the clip bellow.



*Tear*

The next death came from Hollyoaks.

Max Cunningham had been an essential part to Hollyoaks for most of the shows run, but when the actor decided to venture out they decided to send Max off in style.

On his wedding day Max is leaves the reception with his little brother Tom and best friend O.B. to get a present for his new wife. But while trying to move it his brother is playing in the street. So Max does what any big brother would do and...well lets just let the clip talk for it self.




So those are some of my favorite and most memorable deaths, what are yours?

What Makes A Good Promo?

Hey Gang! The name's John and I am the resident soap-wiki and newest blogger for Denial Island! YAY! So let's kick things off with a bang shall we?

For my first post I thought what better subject to take on then what makes a good soap promo?

#1. A good story:

Not even the best promo in the world can salvage a horrible story! It's just not doable.

#2. Good ACTING!

#1 and #2 go hand and hand together don't you think?

And finally #3. GOOD MUSIC

The best promo's (in my opinion) are those that have THE BEST music. I don't mean the simplistic kind that you kinda rock out to every now and again, but the kind that makes you rush out to iTunes to buy the single! Those songs are what make or break a good promo.

So that's enough yapping, let's look at some examples shall we?

First up we have the UK promo for Home and Away.




As you can see the promo shows all three of the qualities i discussed above. From the 'killer' story with Belle's (Jessica Tovey) cancer, to the hit song "Untouched" by The Veronica's this promo had it all.

Another amazing example given by Home and Away aired during the early part of 2009.



Again we have an amazing song performed by the shows (then) newest star Axel Whitehead, and amazing storyline's and performances promoted.

But then again not all promo's need amazing "vocal" music, a bit of light background noise can completely set the tone as shown in Neighbours 2010 promo




So what do you think makes a good promo? And what are some of your favorite soap promos? Post the links and I may make a post just highlighting some of your favorites!

The Great Melanie Debate

This weekend something unique is happening.   SoapOperaBabble (Melanie S) and I do not see eye-to-eye about the character of Melanie Layton (portrayed by Molly Burnett) on Days of our Lives.

When Melanie L first came onto our screens in 2008, neither Melanie S nor myself were fans.  In fact, we wished Melanie L had been killed instead of her "then" father Trent Robbins (Roscoe Born).  Slowly over time (and I, unlike Melanie S, watch DOOL regularly), I have come to appreciate Melanie L's wit and charm; putting simply, I like her more and don't grit my teeth when she's onscreen.  Melanie S on the other hand, quite simply, can't stand her.  Needless to say, we have quite interesting (read: hilarious) discussions about her when we skype chat/IM/email.

Now that we have the blog, we've decided to have a debate about Melanie L and then post (some) it on here. Only now a few of our Twitter friends are planning to join us.  On the pro-Melanie L side is myself (Denial Island), 411 on Soaps' Peter and Soap Opera Source's William; joining Melanie S on the anti- side is 411 on Soaps' Gigi (Gigi4462).  On the fence is our good friend over at One View on Llanview who also watches DOOL, Nicole (Disneysoapfan).

Stay tuned for the debate - you wont have to wait long, last I heard we were holding it this coming weekend (March 6-7)!  So until then, please post any comments or YouTube clips you think may help either argument, and lookout for some pre-debate tweets by searching #GreatMelanieDebate on Twitter!

PS. Isn't it annoying when the soap characters you *hate* share the same name as you? :P Mel!!

Daytime Emmy Pre-Noms 2010: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Hey All! Miss Denial Island was nice enough to let me post my thoughts on the Daytime Emmy Pre-Noms. I'd love to read your comments about them too! Oh and if anyone knows which actors declined to submit themselves let me know. I keep hearing conflicting info...

For a complete list of the pre-noms, click here (Michael Fairman's site)

Here we go:

THE GOOD

Nice to see Alicia Minshew and Alison Sweeney in the Lead category, where they belong!

Terri Colombino is a shoe-in for the nod. She kicked ass in ATWT’s Brad’s Death storyline and she even appeared on camera without make-up *gasp* (daytime actresses equivalent to Robert De Niro gaining 500 pounds for Raging Bull.)

Battle of The Carlys (GH): Laura W and Sarah B are two of daytime’s best actresses so I’m glad to see them on the list. The Academy (or whoever the hell judges these things) has been notoriously unkind to Laura over the years and both actresses failed to get nominations last year, but I’m putting my money on Sarah B. Yes, the character of Claudia was a hot mess, but Sarah gave it her all and she’s got some great scenes to submit. How cool would it be for her to win Emmys for two different roles on the same show? (Has that ever been done before?)

Phick vs. Shick Round 575: Thrilled to see Sharon Case on the list! Plus, this gives Phyllis and Sharon fanbases another reason to verbally assault each other – what more could you want?

The Sound of A Million Moss Maidens/Ronnettes Weeping: Not only do I like Don Diamont (he’s come a long way since his beefcake days on Y&R), but his pre-nom is cause for celebration just for the simple fact that it means Ronn Moss doesn’t get a pre-nom.

Next Soap Opera Digest cover: Eric Braeden reacts to not being Pre-Nominated! Eric Braeden and Christian LeBlanc aren’t pre-nominated, but Doug Davidson IS?? Proof that there is a Soap God!

Can we just give the award to Drew Garrett (Michael, GH) now? GH does a lot of things wrong, but they've proven that it's possible to find younger actors that can actually act!

Pleasant surprises: Betty White, Ilene Kristen, Stacy Haiduk, Hilary B Smith get pre-noms.

THE BAD

Memo to Tony Geary: Yes, you are an Icon, but you are not a Leading Man. Stop putting yourself in the running for an award you don’t deserve (even though you’ll probably get it anyway.) Managing to show up to work 6 months out of the year is not a good enough reason to be nominated for anything. Put your ego aside, show some class and submit yourself for Supporting from now on.

Someone please tell me why Rebecca Herbst is on this list? She hasn’t given a pre-nom worthy performance since Liz’s rape story 10+ years ago, yet she continues to pop up on here. Admittedly, she’s perfected the art of the Snarkabrow and the breathy whine over the years, but this spot should be given to someone who deserves it (*cough* Nancy Lee Grahn *cough*)

WTF Pre-Noms: DAYS’ Nadia Bjorlin (I love her but…really?), GH’s Nathan Parsons, AMC’s Daniel Kennedy & JR Martinez, Y&R’s Bryton James (Again?? Seriously??)

THE UGLY

Justin Deas (GL) not being on the pre-nom list is an utter travesty! I don’t know what happened…did he not submit himself or what?? His performance last year during Coop’s death was the best stuff I’ve seen on television (daytime or primetime) in years. How did one of the most praised actors on daytime become one of the most underrated, overlooked actors over the past several years?

No Lead Actor Pre-Noms for Guiding Light. WHAT?? I don’t get it. Am I missing something? Can someone explain this to me??

People are glad Jonathan Jackson is back. I get it. And next year he sooo deserves a nomination. But what did he do in the two months he was on in 2009 that warranted a pre-nom?? Perhaps it was his inappropriate teary-eyed-ness in every scene. Why am I putting this on The Ugly list instead of The Bad? Because this is yet another (and thank goodness final) slap in the face to Greg Vaughan. A team player with a large fanbase, Vaughan was unceremoniously dumped to bring back the original “Cowboy.” Talented and charming Vaughan was wasted on GH for years, yet when he was given the meaty drug addiction storyline he stepped up to the plate and proved to be a worthy leading man. He was rewarded with…no pre-nom (for that year). Yet JJ gets a pre-nom for 5 minutes of screen time? I call bullsh*t!

Making good on his pact with Molly Burnett (Melanie, DAYS), the Devil has arranged for her to be pre-nominated.

More proof that the Devil runs Daytime: Jacqueline Macinnes Wood (B&B), Brittany Allen (AMC), Crystal Hunt, & Farah Fath (OLTL’s not so dynamic duo) all get pre-noms for Outstanding Younger Actress.

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Well that's about it for now. What do you guys think? Are you happy with the pre-noms? Were you surprised? Do you think anyone was unfairly overlooked? Let us know! -Melanie/daisyclover1938/SoapOperaBabble (and various other aliases)