titan1978

It was even more embarrassing for Rauch than that. He fired them, they didn’t leave. The end date was nearing and he had to ask them to stay on because they couldn’t find anyone who was willing to HW for the show. Labine described it as doing them a favor. Which to me was a sign back then- if nobody wants the job, is it because they don’t want to work with Rauch, P&G, CBS or all three?

It was a hot topic in the soap media at the time, the show was rumored to be soon cancelled several times. To make room for B&B going to an hour, a new Bell soap, or both at the same time. The soap press was especially brutal about this and the quality of the show during the period before Rauch arrived. CBS lost some of that soap dominance because Irna and her heirs/partners started working on projects that took off on those competing networks. Agnes first on Another World, then her ABC shows, Bill on DAYS. Ted Corday at DAYS as well. As controlling as Irna was, she did allow those people to flourish. With the Doctors and General Hospital we saw shows that were already more modern because they focused of working men and women more than traditional family structure (although Edge was already in that lane too before them). Lots of talent took what they learned on CBS daytime shows and made it work even better at times on other networks. Monty was at Secret Storm for along time before it was cancelled. The other networks scooped up the right people to counter the CBS dominance.

I watched GL off and on in the late 90’s- early 2000’s, so my perspective is skewed compared to a longtime fan of the show. But I did follow the soap mags at the time, so I know what the stories were. I think the show had one real chance at regaining its footing and that was the first year or so of Barbara Esenstein and James Harmon Brown. Which in itself was a miracle after the two years before then. The show had dimension again, it had an almost excellent and very watchable cast across the board, and an engine with Annie that was both attention getting and a proper story for the talents of Zimmer and Watros. Everything big they did after that to me just chipped away at the show- the Clone, San Cristobal, Nursery Rhyme Stalker, Harley as central heroine, etc. Labine was miscast as HW. I felt a few worthy sparks until Conboy, then it was truly a shell of a show, limping along until it was cancelled. P&G ended their time with soaps with two of the worst EP’s (GL’s being incompetent, ATWT’s being egotistical). I cannot blame Zimmer for sticking to her negotiated contract, no matter what that meant to the show’s budget woes. These people have lives too- they pay mortgages, college tuition for kids, and any agents/managers they have. That part of the country was expensive to live in, even back then. Even outside New York was still expensive because of the commuters to New York. Anyone that did take cuts mid cycle should have been looking for their exits- that was a huge sign to me that the show had limited time left. I feel this way about GH too, which is the show I have the most love for and have paid the most time from my own life keeping up on. Right now it feels very much like watching GL in those last few years felt- except better sets and more vets. But the stories just don’t build and the production doesn’t try to make any real emotion play out. And other than the vets, the cast is full of good looking people that all are just there. During COVID I watched almost all of the Curlee era of the show- and while it does take a wrong turn during JFP’s tenure, it was still very watchable and felt like a whole show. I now believe that Curlee/Reilly/Demorest when Calhoun was there through the Blackout is possibly the best soap I have ever seen when it comes to range and everyone having a place and purpose. I am glad I didn’t know that when I saw the show by 2000. And I can never rant about Conboy without mentioning that stupid baseball diamond set.

She was on PFS writing team at GH from 79-81, according to this quote the tail end of Marland through PFS’s first run as HW. ”I am also tremendously proud of the Luke and Laura story on General Hospital, where I was what would now be considered an associate head writer,” she said. “In that two-year time frame, from the time Laura married Scotty, to two months before she married Luke, I was assigned a lot of the romance episodes but I was also the dialogue writer who was handed the date rape show. I was reflecting on that recently because it was and still is so controversial. I’ve always supported this story, and still do because it was the first-time date rape was addressed on camera.” Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/sheri-anderson-thomas-talks-distinguished-career-in-daytime-tv/article/573258#ixzz89ccqcLhG

@Paul RavenI think what we have seen goes well beyond just an abrasive personality or a difficult boss. The sheer number of actors that signed the letter tells me that this was way more than that. Those types of things just do not happen often. The actions taken after the investigation and Corday’s handling of it by the cast kind of prove the seriousness of the allegations. What those women came forward with is more than a difficult boss. To me what we have here is the classic case of no one (Corday) managing issues before they become this systemic and problematic. If Alarr’s behavior had been addressed much earlier (as Farrah Faith claimed, he was gross all the way back to her first love scene), then maybe his talents would have prevailed and his behavior towards women could have been corrected in the working environment. Although personally I think disrespecting women in this way, or being racist or homophobic at any time with colleagues is worth termination. But I get HR departments try to mitigate firing immediately. Now the larger issue as pointed out by Alarr is worth noting as well- daytime soaps have a terrible track record with hiring people of color and moving them into leadership positions. Or onscreen.

As pointed out a few posts above, changes happen with guild memberships over many issues, not just during strikes. George Lucas famously resigned from the Director’s Guild during The Empire Strikes Back because the DGA was demanding Irvin Kershner have a credit at the beginning of the film, which is not how Lucas wanted Star Wars films to open. Star Wars: A New Hope was spared on the technicality of the Lucasfilm Limited title card after 20th Century Fox. But Lucas was not the director of Empire, so the DGA was making an issue of it. Even though Kershner agreed with Lucas. The large number of daytime writers on those lists just denotes how soaps work- produce new episodes over anything else. Wouldn’t it be a surprise if Sheri Anderson was at another soap right now? She did help create Luke & Laura at GH before taking that supercouple formula and running with it at DAYS.

Sad to see this. I was obsessed with everything Nina on Y&R, especially when they moved her into the Jill/Katherine orbit, and later with David. I loved the relationship they had onscreen.

Lesley and Monica’s iconic confrontation and slap is my favorite old school confrontation on GH. The closeups! Starts around the 6 minute mark.

I agree! Even if they didn’t feel safe enough to go to their union themselves, there is certainly no ignoring the story and issues now! Are none of the DAYS actors a union rep? I know way back in the day Francis Reed was. Another thing I hate for these folks is the idea that they may have kept silent to protect the show, especially as it declined in ratings and they were concerned about their jobs and those around them who were not abusing them. That’s Sony and Corday’s job.

If anything, at the time Eddie was the best parts of Ned, let loose from his suits and power struggles and at times underhanded practices to protect the family or make ELQ more rich. Wasn’t Ned involved in the incinerator project that was going to be built on the side of town with the Ward House? He was better than Edward or Tracy, but still capable of being underhanded and power hungry. Ned was the a$$hole, not Eddie (and both were awful for lying to Lois).

@carolinegBrenda would be so embarrassed for him right now.

What a terrible week for me to get rid of Twitter.

I don’t mind the idea, but we needed to see her humbled much more before being reborn as Coffee Carly. Maybe I’m just salty because she and Sonny ruled the show for so long and never really got brought down as far as they should have been. Now she’s pouring coffee and he’s carrying his new lady’s handbag and meddling like Amy Vinning in everyone’s business. It’s rough to watch for me. I have sat through many shaky soap storylines over the years where at least the characters were in character or going on an emotional journey. I actively hated a lot of Guza’s 2000’s work. But at least day to day there was strength!

And a direct result of the networks no longer investing in new talent not long after Riche arrived. I would say certainly by the end of the 90’s it was almost always people we have already heard of, except for Hogan Sheffer.

I will be so pissed if they update Kelly’s and it no longer feels like someplace Ruby would be. This is not supposed to be a fancy or modern location. Who is Carly supposed to be? Because it is wild watching her work at Kelly’s and not being devastated by her turn of events. And all of sudden, without any adjustment. What also doesn’t make sense is that Carly should be finding herself another rich man and blowing up personal relationships to get him. Which creates more story for her and is very in character. This would have required planning ahead and good casting.

The more that comes out and is confirmed the more outrageous I find this. Think how many of these actors have been treated as disposable, even though they are the show. At this point who is watching DAYS for the writing and production? They are watching out of loyalty to those characters and the actors that play them. And Corday still hasn’t addressed these issues appropriately!

Well you missed a lot around these parts then.

That is the question isn’t it? Where is Ken Corday? This is incredibly bad and he was content with making Alarr take some training courses. Ridiculous! Has anyone seen the list of actors that signed? I wonder which long term vet it was that said they had experienced this type of behavior so long in their career, and that it was remarkable that it was actually getting worse.

JFP and the Scabs did a terrible job on GH during the last strike. The completely out of left field Diego back and revealed as the text message killer. Guza’s real killer, Logan, was offed by Lulu not long after the strike was over. Not that it was a good story to begin with. JFP- always killing the wrong people.

Why not just let him die peacefully? Oh Ron.

This timeline of them reaching out to renew talks certainly sits in line with concerns about quarterly returns, considering we are getting really close to 100 days. It will be interesting to see what they are willing to move on. Especially with the actors also out and the public more often than not really hammering folks like Eisner for being out of touch. I think UPS getting a historic contract for themselves and the sheer amount of Starbucks locations unionizing is wonderful movement for workers across this country over corporate earnings and CEO over paying. And as history shows, we can always count on Stephen Amell to voice his opinions and receive backlash for them. From what else I have read he also broke the rules by discussing his acting work at his most recent appearance. I feel almost certain after all these years his favorite book (if he has one) is written by Ayn Rand.

I can’t imagine it being anyone not steeped in the current production model, so those two names and Gary Tomlin seem much more realistic than someone from the outside. And we already know Meng has good relationships with the cast. Corday needs to realize this is not going away, and time will not make it cool down. I wish I could say I was shocked that Alarr is still employed but this is Ken Corday we are talking about. The fact that it appears to be a cultural issue means others need to be out as well.

I keep seeing JFP being bandied about as his replacement. No fan of DAYS should want this. While she would certainly get rid of Ron, everything you love will be gone too. All those vets? Kiss them goodbye. Expect deaths, breakups, propping, and worse. Will the show look better? Probably. Will the quality of the acting go up? Probably. Will she gut everything? Yes.

Blame it on the power of the Twitter algorithm. As bare bones and broken as Twitter is now, it still lead to a combination of that article about ABC hiring temp writers for the show to meet noticeable scab comments by several striking actors and writers, and soap fans diving in to defend their shows. Y&R fired so many writers before the strike, which did get minor play from mainstream media outlets. What surprised me is that DAYS story about Alarr was not really bubbling under the mainstream before Deadline. Usually I see major soap news online before places like Deadline or Variety run anything.

The unfortunate side effect of most entertainment coverage being online these days- they have to generate clicks. And they need a constant influx of new material. Constant. That’s why places like Deadline cover so much soap stuff. We are nothing if not a loyal group of people when it comes to soaps. So it is getting more attention than it normally would. I was genuinely shocked at how much attention Jackie Zeman’s passing generated from media sources. It went on for several days. She deserved it! But 10 or 15 years ago I don’t think it would have been the same. But that’s the insatiable appetite people have now for nostalgia and media stories.