OLTL: What Parts did Agnes have a hand in?

[yr9190]

I know that Agnes has always been devoted to AMC it's entire run, even though OLTL went on the air first and she head wrote it for it's first few years, but I wanted to know if she ever gave her input into some of the bigger stories that were going on during OLTL at the time or even wrote some outlines with the writers. I'm talking about things like the Karen Wolek trial confession, Viki discovering that Tina is her sister and Viki's personalities all coming out in the 90's?.

I'm mostly wondering however when the soap was in it's heyday in the late 70's/early to mid 80's.

[DRW50]

Apparently Malone and SBH claimed they consulted Agnes about the molestation/DID story in the 90s.

I'm not sure when Agnes moved away from a more direct role. I was surprised to see her posing for photos with George Reinholt when he joined OLTL in 1975/76. I know they had AW history together, but I thought she'd moved away from any public role with OLTL by this time.

[Vee]

They did claim that, and Horgan said she was all for it. Agnes later said in a recent interview for that OLTL book that she wasn't too keen on "the sex angle". I tend to believe a lot of her more latter-day involvement with OLTL was distant at best, and that she simply came in and nodded her head, though maybe that's not fair.

[yr9190]

Thanks for giving some info you guys! I was just curious because It seems like even though Agnes created this great soap opera (I have watched a lot of old OLTL clips recently) For the most part you never really hear about her opinions regarding her successors who mostly shaped the show into being what it was during the early years. It just seems like even though other people were headwriting the show at that time when Agnes became more attentive at AMC, a lot of stuff still seems like it would come from Agnes herself.

Didn't she also help them cast Robin Strasser as Dorian in 1979?

[Vee]

Yes. She was originally intent on getting Robin to take over the role of Cathy Craig in the mid-'70s, so as to reenact the Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle from AW - Jacquie Courtney was playing Pat Ashley, Tony Lord's true love, and Tony was involved with Cathy at the time - but Robin didn't find the role meaty enough and passed. So AMC created Christina Karras for her, a role Robin hated. Then came OLTL and Dorian.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah it's hard to know--she was official ABC Daytime creative consultant for a few chunks too, so could have had some input (and may have had casting input anyway--didn't she recommend Marland for GH?). In the 1987 Paley Center seminar she gives, someone in the audience raves about Nicki coming back on OLTL but asks why she's now a redhead, and Agnes says she loves the story but can't comment because she's not currently involved at all--or something similar.

I believe she was headwriter from 1968-1973 and then consultantor even co-HW with Gordon Russell who she "groomed" for the job till '75--but like all these things, you often hear slightly differenbt years and names--nothing seems to be ever too fully official (even when it comes to how involved AN was with what eras of AMC, although we know that Pratt had her forced out of ever sitting in on the writer's room lol.)

[EricMontreal22]

I sauppose Agnes' book is on hold--and we could never expect anything TOO tell-all from her, but I was hoping we'd get a bit more opinion from her on things like this at some point...

[yr9190]

Yeah even during her first AMC headwriting stint, it lists different years, some say she first headwrote the show from 1970-1981 then some say till 82 or 83, but even when I watched those 2 Palmer Masquerade Ball episodes from 1980 Winser Washam was listen as headwriter for those episodes when I thought Agnes was still writing then, unless she and Washam alternated getting headwriting credits during the end of each episode.

Slightly off topic but was there a CBS/NBC creative consultant for daytime? I would think that Bill Bell would hold a job like that.

[EricMontreal22]

I posted those Masquerade episodes I believe often writers would get official HW credit even when Agnes was still chief HW--if that makes sense, but this is all conjecture. Maybe she did it out of courtesy when she was less involved or had a co-HW. (Lorraine Broderick's 80s work has similar conflicting credits.) Of course in most of her 90s Emmy wins Agnes was still listed as chief HW on the submission ballots (and the WGA ones) even if she wasn't in the credits. So it's all kinda confusing (made more so because the best soap books, like Schemering's Encyclopedia have basic HW lists for shows up to when the book came out, but don't give dates and seem to be basic--it always annoyed me that the beautiful 90s coffee table books for individual soaps didn't seem to think fans would care for a HW or EP list.)

In that interview with her recently posted, from when The Mannions of America or whatever came out in 81 or 82 she did say she was going to be taking a bit of a step back from AMC (and then of course Loving started--which has a messed up story as well, with Marland leaving after a year and apparently asking for his name to be removed as co-creator, or the fact that originally it was announced as being a collaborator between her and novelis Dan Wakefield who wqas a huge fan--he wrote All Her Children--and had done the shortlived primetime teen drama James at 15 which apparently was a huge inspiration for Dawson's Creek.) For about 20 years I've tried to pin done dates for things like this, but the info just always conflicts too much (and Wiki as good as it is, just goes by what fans think and enter--I've seen years for the various OLTL writers switch around there a few times, from when people write in new info.)

One Life to Live always gives conflicting credits, not just for when Agnes was there (though over the years and info, it seems pretty certain to me that Nixon stayed involved with story after Russell came on through to about '75), but also about when Sam Hall took over from Gordon Russell (I think part of this is due to, like on Dark Shadows, they in many ways worked as co-HWs before Russell's death.)

I think NBC, anyway, has had creative consultants for their network (well JER I guess was when they just had Days and Passions at least for a while, but I think even before then.) But the creative consultant thing always seems hard to pin down--it often isn't credited, and can mean anything from actually coming up with the basic top storylines, to just sitting in on some story meetings the way Nixon often apparently did do in later years of AMC.

[EricMontreal22]

(For whatever it's worth, Wiki's Nixon page says that she started writing OLTL with Russell from 1971-75 not 73.)

[yr9190]

Haha it's all very confusing at times. I think all the soaps give an inconclusive HW list, so it's really hard to know for sure (except there is that great Days website of Jason 47's that seems to list all the correct dates....if only each soap had a website like that LOL)

What also makes it confusing is that during Agnes' second HW stint, the episodes from 1990-1992 seem to always list her as HW then everyone else. I wonder if that was network decision then, if they have influence.

It makes you wonder if even like on Y&R if some stories back then were actually an idea of Kay Alden or Jack Smith, but Bill had to get first credit at the end of the show.

I know it's been a while but thanks for those episodes!, You wouldn't happen to have the OLTL episodes from those same dates by any chance? I'm curious to see them as by watching the promos during those episodes it looks like Carla and Ed were featured.

[EricMontreal22]

I'll have to check it out. I believe one of the DAYS books has a pretty thorough list too--but I don't own it and it's been a while since I've checked it out of the library

Yeah, that was when I started watching--I remember being shocked when her name was replaced by McTavish. I do believe she came in full time after DePriest's brief stint and then slowly more and more power went to McTavish.

Right, exactly. Hal Corley apparently came up with some major story points during the 90s Broderick run (like the initial gay story)-though I believe officially he was "just" an associate HW. So I'm sure that actually happens a fair amount--particularly depending on how the writing room is handled.

Welcome--I'm glad people enjoy them. No, I don't--I just have four from 1980 AMC that a kind person sent me, fairly randomly, on DVD some time back. I believe there's some OLTL from 1980 online, but not much Carla and Ed...