THE DRAMA'S ALWAYS ON

...at my new job, if not on CBS Daytime. Will my soaps bring blessed relief from work stress?

I am completely fascinated by GUIDING LIGHT's Rob Bogue and Mandy Bruno. I watch their scenes as Mallet and Marina together, mumbling to myself "I can't believe they're an off-screen couple" and then seeing the evidence of their relationship play out before my eyes. The scene between them today as they discussed having a family of their own someday really had an extra resonance being played out by a real couple who, according to last week's SOAP OPERA DIGEST, "...have even talked about starting a family of their own." Plus, how nice is it to see a GL couple who are not boring and/or irritating? Bill/Lizzie and Reva/Jeffrey are the only other pairings exempt from the curse of Ellen Wheeler's Cameraphone (TM).

While I was watching GL, The Unemployed Boyfriend wandered by and asked why I wasn't looking at Spinelli. Ah, that is because when I turned on GENERAL HOSPITAL, all I saw were the Zaccharahs zaccharahing at each other. By 'zaccharahing' I refer to any scene where Trevor, Claudia and Anthony are all present, snarling and threatening meaninglessly. It's enough to send anyone to Peapack for the hour!

I watched some of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS on Soapnet tonight, and was pleased to see Michael Grazadiel back from his break. I was even more pleased to see him with his shirt off. Even the tattoo on his back is hot! Unfortunately, cold water was dumped on my fiery ardor when the endless scenes of RESTLESS STYLE staff meetings were trotted out. Ya know, I had a stressful day at work and the last thing I want to see is other people's stressful day at work when I get home. I may not work for a glossy magazine but whether it's retail or an office, work is work. I've never seen UGLY BETTY but I have an ugly feeling that someone on the Y&R writing staff said "Hey, that's a popular show and it's about a fashion mag! If we turn Y&R into a show about a fashion mag viewers and advertising revenue will be ours!" Maybe the Y&R staff should have an actual meeting about their show instead of endless meetings IN their show!