NBC Drops the Soap, Quells Its Passions

Talk about a bad week for soaps. First, the inimitable Darlene Conley — The Bold and the Beautiful's sassy, brassy Sally Spectra — passed away on Sunday. Now comes word that NBC is pulling the plug on its seven-year-old supernatural sudser, Passions, to make room for the new four-hour Today — or as I tend to call it, "That Irritating Filler Between Commercials." Even worse, NBC entertainment prez Kevin Reilly is saying that the net's remaining sudser, Days of our Lives, will stay on the air only "until '09." For more on how the Peacock is cooking its own goose, check out Daniel R. Coleridge's Soaps News.