Daytime's Greatest Weddings

There's something a little bit scary about this showcase of daytime soaps at their most outrageously soapy. Maybe it's the fashion-bomb of ridiculous wedding dresses and bizarre veils. Maybe it's the actors talking about their characters as if they're real people. Maybe it's the hosts of the General Hospital segment, Jackie Zeman and Brad Maule--who look rather terrifyingly like a blow-dried evangelical couple pleading for your money on late-night TV--talking up soaps with near-ecumenical-level fervor. Or, maybe it's just the sheer crassness of ABC's attempt to take the money of daytime-TV fans. Daytime's Greatest Weddings features an amalgam of clips from--and giddy interviews with--some cast members of All My Children, One Life to Live, and the aforementioned GH, and while grainy black-and-white footage (dug up from the era of the Johnson administration) will be mildly amusing for fans of retro kitsch, most of the material here seems to date from the glitzy, over-the-top ‘80s. Yes, it's Cliff and Nina, Frisco and Felicia, Shaun and Tiffany, and--of course--Luke and Laura, whose nuptials were witness by viewers in the most watched episode in the history of soaps. Removed from the larger context of ongoing stories, however, this disc (which also includes a “Backstage with the Stars” featurette) is strictly for fans only. Optional. Aud: P. (M. Johanson)