[FrenchFan]

Hey guys, I was very lucky today. I could ask a few questions to Nancy Curlee Demorest, whose involvement with GL in the 80s' and 90s' is well-known. Here for you, the transcript of the interview (CZ is me, Cedric Zayonnet / NCD: Nancy Curlee Demorest) :

CZ: Dear Mrs Curlee, you headwrote « Guiding Light » from 1990 to 1993, was it a good ride?

NCD: I joined the show in 1984 as a scriptwriter, and before becoming part of the headwriting team with Pam Long in 1989, wore many different hats: script editor, breakdown writer, associate headwriter. All of those positions were instructive and I think prepared me for the rigors of managing the show and executing my own stories. I knew the characters and actors so well, and chose to do idiosyncratic, character driven stories. Because of the wealth of talent on the show, it was enormously satisfying. We hired dramatists out of Yale Drama school, and a lot of actors who were experienced on the American stage. It was a joy to give them good material and to see them flourish.

CZ : What was your favorite storyline writing? Is there a specific scene that sticks out in your head that you loved?

NCD: I loved all of the Fifth Street stories, featuring Harley and Mallet and Buzz and Nadine Cooper. The Bauers, Ed and Maureen and their errant niece, Bridget. The Lewis Family, particularly Billy and Vanessa. The Spaulding/Roger Thorpe stories, which tracked the breakup of Roger and Alex's affair, Roger's affair with Mindy and the later Alex/Mindy Lewis struggle for Alex's son, Nick McHenry. Frank Cooper and Eleni, the triangle with Alan Michael Spaulding. Hamp's daughter Kat, and her relationship with David, Gilly's brother...
My favorite sequence of shows were perhaps the most controversial during my tenure: the death of Maureen Bauer shortly after discovering her husband's affair with their good family friend, Lillian Raines. Lillian had discovered she had breast cancer, but was reluctant to let people in town know, so she decided to pursue treatment in a nearby town. Her only confidant was Ed, who agreed to chauffeur her to radiation sessions at a hospital. While Ed wasn't attracted to Lillian in a sexual way, her vulnerability and damaged self esteem made her situation extremely poignant to him. Their one night stand, however, had far reaching, catastrophic consequences for Ed's marriage and for his family, and ultimately led his distraught wife's car accident. The aftermath of that story, Ed's guilt and the deep tear in the fabric of his family, including his adolescent daughter's depression, was beautifully written, beautifully acted, and resulted in some of the best work ever done on American television.

CZ: Who were some of your favourte characters?

NCD: Alexandra Spaulding, portrayed by Beverlee McKinsey, the iron fist in the velvet glove matriarch of the influential Spaulding family. Beverlee's nuanced performances were a joy.
Billy Lewis, the big talking, big dealing, charming but deeply flawed scion of the Lewis Oil family. Jordan Clarke, who played Billy, was vastly talented, and again, played all of the character's dimensions with great humor, sensitivity, and heartbreaking empathy.
Roger Thorpe, the duplicitous villain who so believed he was the hero of all of his own dramas. He was so self-sabotaging, never quite able to trust the benevolence of fate enough, so that he was constantly meddling with the truth in order to effect an outcome.

CZ: Most fans think your run was the last golden era for the show (the ratings went from 5.2 to 5.4 with even a peak at 5.6 and you won the Emmy Award for Best Writing in 1993). What do you think made the show special back then?

NCD: The ratings actually came up from a good deal lower from 5.2. I think we were at something like a 4.6 when the show began to gather momentum. Mainly due to a burgeoning sense that we all had, writers, actors, producers alike, that we had our hands on something rare. There was a palpable sense of enthusiasm in the studio...people started stopped in their tracks to watch fellow actors taping scenes that were funny and real and moving. The dialogue was crisp, and the scenes well constructed. And those veteran actors knew it. It was thrilling and we all felt a part of it.

CZ: Is there any writing decision you wish you didn’t take?

NCD: Although Maureen's death was a lynchpin in a carefully conceived and well-executed story, Ellen Parker was so fine, and so well loved, that her absence left a hole in the show that was later hard to fill.

CZ: Have you watched GL after your departure? Do you feel the show could have been fixed and rebounded?

NCD: Aside from checking in on the work of friends and actors who were still involved, it was difficult to watch for me -- rather like watching someone cook a meal in one's own kitchen. I was irritated that characters weren't behaving in a way that made sense, and that most of the subtleties of the stories and characters were gone. I really found it hard to watch, so I didn't.
What is prevalent in the entire industry, not just daytime, is this terrible reliance on marketing and focus groups. People can only tell us what they liked before, not what they wish they could see. That's the artist's job, to create stories and lead people to conclusions that they aren't equipped to anticipate until they see the scenes. It's like a mother taking dictation from a child about how he'd like to be reared... backwards. It has never worked, never will, yet it's the rare executive who understands this.

CZ: Do you see a future for American daytime dramas?

NCD: Our future, I think, is what you now see being played out in successful evening dramas, which I think borrowed much of their formatting and storytelling from the old soaps. The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, etc. are much more recognizable to me than current daytime dramas. Although the time increments are different, and the production values far superior, and they have far more latitude in what they can show, they share the same values. Oddly enough, the television execs in daytime seemed to want to do seventies action adventure shows, even as the rest of the industry was evolving into what we used to do best -- stories that emanate from full throated, individual characters. The daytime execs were amazingly shortsighted, and ultimately killing for those daytime shows.

CZ: Would you like to return to daytime soap someday?

NCD: Friends who are still involved assure me that I would lose my mind in the current scene. I also think the quality of what we did was impossible to sustain, due to the unrelenting pace of the daytime shows. I think if I ever returned to television, which frankly is unlikely, it would be to do a weekly serial.



Am I not a lucky guy? Scott McKinsey, son of late beloved Beverlee McKinsey (ex-Alex) and director of General Hospital, will be the next to be interviewed. If you have any questions you'd like me to ask, please tell me. I hope you've enjoyed it.

[CSF]

Nobody but her could describe perfectly the kind of stories she told on GL in the early 90s.

God, this makes a bit sad, bc I would give anyting to relive the experience of watching the Guiding Light of the early 90s even more.

Great interview Frenchfan. You have a real knack of giving us SONers gifts such as these. I'm very proud of you. Your interview was outstanding.

It always made me wonder what GL would have been like today if Robert Calhoun (who gave us that beautiful Hold onto Love sequence) wasn't replaced with JFP. I always believed that with Calhoun remaining as EP well into the 90s and Nancy as Head Writer, the show could have really thrived and we would have never had the mess that began in late 1994 early 1995.

BTW, does anyone know was RC was replaced with JFP?

This post has been edited by ClassicSoapFan: 04 April 2009 - 05:43 PM

[MichaelGL]

It always made me wonder what GL would have been like today if Robert Calhoun (who gave us that beautiful Hold onto Love sequence) wasn't replaced by JFP. I always believed that with Calhoun remaining at EP well into the 90s and Nancy as Head Writer, the show could have really thrived and we would have never had the mess that began in late 1994 early 1995.

I honestly think there would have been only minor differences. When Calhoun was the EP of ATWT, he didn't really indulge as much as JFP did as EP. I don't think GL would have had those special episodes like Ross's Election Day dream or the special episode featuring Eleni and Frank's wedding, and who knows, we probably wouldn't have gotten Justin Deas at all, nor Ellen Parker's departure. I think that maybe, GL would have had a better 50th Anniversary episode under him than JFP too (I've heard from many people who say that the one under JFP sucked). Other than those few nitpicks, when you get right down to it, I think the production quality would have probably remained the same.

BTW, does anyone know was RC was replaced with JFP?

I don't know where I heard this from, but didn't he step down as EP?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

BTW, does anyone know was RC was replaced with JFP?

He stepped down in mid 1991 and was replaced by JFP.

Calhoun is the reason why we had Nancy as HW, he faught for her and had her promoted. What a legend he was and is, RIP Robert Calhoun, he really understood both ATWT and GL.

BTW, he and Pam Long clashed like hell at GL, they couldn't stand one another.

This post has been edited by Y&RWorldTurner: 04 April 2009 - 11:32 PM

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I love that she listed her favorite characters. You can tell in much of her tenure that she so adored those three, yet managed to make a very balanced show. JC, BM, and MZ were indeed the leads of GL back then. I hated how JC and his character has been reduced to such a minor and at times comical role.

Kim Zimmer's departure in 1990 was a damn blessing for this show. It allowed them to grow and focus on a variety of characters, which Nancy did so very well.

[Sylph]

I am sad I didn't tell FrenchFan to ask her about Trent Jones and Lorraine Broderick and about who was really in charge. Also, I bet Toups would've been interested to know what she had to say about James E. Reilly.

[CSF]

He stepped down in mid 1991 and was replaced by JFP.

Calhoun is the reason why we ahad Nancy as HW, he faught for her and had her promoted. What a legend he was and is, RIP Robert Calhoun, he really understood both ATWT and GL.

BTW, he and Pam Long clashed like hell at GL, they couldn't stand one another.

But does anyone know why exactly he stepped down?

I remember reading before that he and Pam didn't get along. It's a good thing they didn't because we would have never had Nancy as HW then.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But does anyone know why exactly he stepped down?

I guess retirement from the industry, he never worked again in daytime after leaving GL.

[CSF]

I guess retirement from the industry, he never worked again in daytime after leaving GL.

What a loss for us. He really was a great EP who understood GL and ATWT.

[Ruxton Hills]

CZ: Most fans think your run was the last golden era for the show (the ratings went from 5.2 to 5.4 with even a peak at 5.6 and you won the Emmy Award for Best Writing in 1993). What do you think made the show special back then?

NCD: The ratings actually came up from a good deal lower from 5.2. I think we were at something like a 4.6 when the show began to gather momentum. Mainly due to a burgeoning sense that we all had, writers, actors, producers alike, that we had our hands on something rare. There was a palpable sense of enthusiasm in the studio...people started stopped in their tracks to watch fellow actors taping scenes that were funny and real and moving. The dialogue was crisp, and the scenes well constructed. And those veteran actors knew it. It was thrilling and we all felt a part of it.

I remember GL hitting a high of #4 in the ratings ahead of ATWT. I was shocked because Douglas Marland was still writing ATWT at the time.

This woman needs to be back in daytime in some form. I would love to see her HW ATWT possible last year. I would love to see what she would do to ATWT.

[brimike]

I remember GL hitting a high of #4 in the ratings ahead of ATWT. I was shocked because Douglas Marland was still writing ATWT at the time.

This woman needs to be back in daytime in some form. I would love to see her HW ATWT possible last year. I would love to see what she would do to ATWT.

Sadly, I think she'd have about 6 hours (if that much) of tolerance for the Bloom/Goutman bullsh!t. And then we'd be saying farewell to Ms. Curlee all over again. Which is unfortunate. These are the people who need to be wooed back, not pushed away.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It's so common for me to build up images of people I admire in my head and think they'd say and be something completely different in interviews, when they're not. I can read this little interview over and over again and agree with everything she said. I can't speak enough about Nancy's brilliance as a writer from the work I saw her accomplish on GL in the early 90's.

Frankly, we were lucky to have someone like her who loved GL and respected what is was. There's not enough Nancy Curlee's in daytime anymore, which is a sad, sad thing.

[rangethatrover]

We should all be thankful that we got watch so many excellent writers work when they were still allowed to write these shows without network interference. Quinn Redeker (Rex Sterling Y&R) who was one of the screenwriters for The Deer Hunter, always said that daytime was a "writers medium". Wish that was still the case.

[Adam]

Very good interview with an excellent woman. As others have stated, she truly cared about Guiding Light and the medium as a whole. I love her sheer honesty, especially regarding the state of the industry today. I never saw any of her Guiding Light, but it sounds as if she was the last great head writer this show had.

Great job French Fan!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Sadly, I think she'd have about 6 hours (if that much) of tolerance for the Bloom/Goutman bullsh!t. And then we'd be saying farewell to Ms. Curlee all over again. Which is unfortunate. These are the people who need to be wooed back, not pushed away.

Yes, it is kind of disturbing the kind of talent daytime has pushed away and continues to push away. I don't get it, even primetime doesn't seem this restricted.

Nancy wasn't kidding when she said this:

NCD: Friends who are still involved assure me that I would lose my mind in the current scene.

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for the interview French Fan.

How did you manage to arrange it?

[FrenchFan]

Thanks for the interview French Fan.

How did you manage to arrange it?

Very easily. I just sent her a message on facebook yesterday. She answered very very quickly. She was very nice.

[brimike]

Very easily. I just sent her a message on facebook yesterday. She answered very very quickly. She was very nice.

LOL! Good for you! Alvin is freaking out right now. :-( Hugs to you, buddy!

[MichaelGL]

OMG facebook. Eeeeeekk!

[brimike]

OMG facebook. Eeeeeekk!

It is truly the key to the new world.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

LOL! Good for you! Alvin is freaking out right now. :-( Hugs to you, buddy!

LOL! I have an inferiority complex approaching people I admire.