There are many things the soaps do well. You know, things like lavish weddings, fancy dress balls, murder trials, even corporate boardroom shenanigans. On the other hand, there are more action-oriented story lines that just bring out the worst in soaps.

In the last few weeks, for instance, All My Children staged the worst looking motorcycle/car crash I've ever seen on TV. It was riotously funny, and that was not the desired effect. When a wedding gown-wearing Greenlee (sans helmet) careened off the road into a frozen river, the sight of her veil flying in the wind as the tires screeched, with the headlights blinking and the actors pretending to be tossed around, was a hoot. All I was thinking while watching the accident was: "Could this be executed any worse?" (Also, what a waste of Rebecca Budig's return.)

At the same time, General Hospital was in the midst of an action-packed crisis that included the entire hospital exploding and being engulfed in flames. Now, GH generally does a good job with action. There was a train wreck a few years ago, and last year they pulled off a hostage crisis in 24-style that was award-worthy. However, this year's Towering Inferno bit just seemed like too much of a stretch. The flames, out of necessity, were kept in the foreground, and there could only be so much smoke if we were intended to see the actors. Also, the rooftop helicopter rescue was totally unreal because they never actually showed the chopper.

In fact, the chopper not being shown reminded me of the glory days of GH's Luke Spencer when soaps had big enough budgets to go on location and film scenes like that. Do you remember when Luke and Laura had to jump from a plane into a river? Oh, the good old days.

The point of all this isn't to say that I'm unhappy with today's soaps. On the contrary, I just want them to stick with what they do best. If the budgets are so tight that you have to drop superstar talent -- hello, Days of Our Lives -- try keeping down production costs by doing things the old-fashioned way. Once upon a time, soaps thrived on staying in studio and telling dramatic stories that didn't require fires, explosions or helicopters. On One Life to Live, for instance, perhaps the most famous moment ever on the show involved Karen Wolek (Judith LIght) on the witness stand.

The Young and the Restless seems to have a pretty good handle on keeping the focus on the drama rather than the production. Victor facing off with Jack in a hallway is all they need to create a great scene. Today, there was a moment when Kevin was being forced into the trunk of a car, and his reaction was amazing. The focus was on the acting, see, not the production. The message is clear to me. Do what you do best: tell stories with strong characters, and don't worry about the big production values.

Other soap scoops:

All My Children: I'm really disappointed in the Reese-Bianca storyline. Reese has turned into the Anne Heche of soap love stories, bouncing from Bianca to Zach and back again.

As the World Turns: I think Grayson McCouch is great as Dusty, but I have a huge request. Get a haircut. That slicked back thing is really distracting.

The Bold & the Beautiful: Has Ridge Forrester turned into Jim Anderson in Father Knows Best? His reaction to Steffy making love to Rick was like something out of a Victorian melodrama.

Days of Our Lives: More older stars are being dumped. The latest to leave is Leann Hunley. She hasn't had much of a storyline, so I can't really complain too much.

Guiding Light: The Springfield High reunion was a chance for Mindy, Rick, Phillip and Beth to reminisce and reconnect, but the sparseness of the gym made it look like they were the only people who graduated in 1984!

One Life to Live: There's a new villainess in town, Gigi's sister, Stacy. I don't like her one bit, which means she's doing her job really well.

The Young & the Restless: Don Diamont is gone as Brad Carlton, but good news for Don. He's been cast on B&B as Bill Spencer, Jr. That's reason enough for me to check it out.