Jump to content

Would Agnes be a good Head Write for Y&R?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Y&R is its own animal. It's like a cross between a French art film and a Douglas Sirk melodrama. Stylized, cold, Gothic, moody, intimate, achingly slow, obsessive, fascinated with beautiful things, dry in its humor, seemingly old-fashioned, but yet timeless, with an ability to handle contemporary themes. It's a one-of-a-kind show, and I think only Bill Bell and maybe Kay Alden could really do it justice. Agnes has proven that she can do larger-than-life characters well, but the show she'd do just wouldn't be Y&R.

It's funny, though - I always thought a number of writers could do AMC well (Claire Labine being one of them).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah if Agnes did write Y&R, no doubt would it be good, but i don't think she would actually take that job....I wonder if she ever watched Y&R/B&B. Bill Bell said he only watched his soaps and never watched AMC/OLTL.

NOW her writing General Hospital might work out well in some way. If she were to become headwriter on that show, i almost wish Steve Burton didn't leave because you know the first thing he would say is that he hates how warm Jason has become.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I don't think so at all. Unpopular I know but her PSA stories bored me and I do like larger than life personalities of some of the characters and I just don't think CL would be able to write them. The original Edward Quartermaine was before my time but from the clips I've seen and stories I've heard she watered him down alot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

See, I think a lot of that has to do with John Ingle, he was just so teddy bearish and honey-voiced, not that gruff old coot David Lewis played. David Lewis' Edward was like Asa Buchanan's older cousin from back east.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I would have loved to see McTavish write for B&B. I always wished B&B took itself serious and started telling stories about real fashion and have characters that are models and reports and designers be a core part of the show. Not this endless Forrester/Logan crap. A daytime Ugly Betty, Devil Wears Prada, Paper Dolls. It still could have been Brookecentric but stop having her reproduce. Rick and Bridget should have been her only children.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

While I don't know whether I'm qualified to answer that question (I haven't watched enough of OLTL/AMC in AN years) but I definitely agree on the sentiment that Y&R had some great characters but I don't remember many of those great characters known for warmth.

I've written a couple spec scripts but have mostly created my own characters-- but for me personally, the characters are my entre into a story.

I wonder whether this is the case of Nixon or other writers in this genre. If that is the case, that I would argue that-- no, she would not be a good fit into the Bell style because their standout characters tend to come from different sides.

Although, Erica Kane, Victoria Lord (without the multiple personalities) and Adam Chandler would fit well into a Bell soap-- Angie and Jesse would never exist on Y&R, nor on B&B. Tad and Jack Abbott only have their playboy status in common but I would argue that while Tad evolved somewhat, we have seen Jack devolve (hopefully a new writing regime will reverse course on this).

I think the term 'warm character' is a brilliant description. For years, I've noticed the difference in characterization of characters between many of the P&G soaps characters (specifically ATWT/GL) versus the 'cooler characters' of the Bell Soaps. At the risk of using an even more divisive term, I've always thought of the Bell Soaps since I've watched as a kid in the 80s, anyway, as the epitome of 'California Cool' vs. that NYC/East Coast Heart of soaps like ATWT/GL.

But it's a very interesting question!

I'd like to think as a writer that I could fit into any writers room and mimic the style of the show's writing staff, if I had to, but would a headwriter want to do this? I'd see a headwriter with real clout eventually changing things to suit his or her strengths-- it's just inevitable. The show would end up being different, it would inevitably change to suit the head writer's style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Oh of course, I'm just saying that it wasn't as believable. He had plenty of stern-faced arguments and little schemes, but his big s/l was the Bradley Ward murder mystery and that really played up to JI's strengths showing Edward's sensitivity and humanity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy