Lust4Life76

Pretty much everything you said, that's why I put it out there earlier, but got ignored - that with all this criticism, why don't people create their own shows? Podcasts can be created... Web Serials if you raise enough $... I would think we'd all be in good company if we partnered up and created.

Why the undue condescension, it's not like it was a bad idea.

I read a lot of criticism about these writers... Do any of you think maybe you could partner together to create and write a podcast or web serial? It might be more fulfilling for you at this point.

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this. I guess... when I was creating my podcast/soap opera "send up", 'Lust for Life', as a creator who loves soap opera, I wanted to share it with the soap community. Twice I reached out to "Daytime Confidential" to share it... but never heard back. So, I am still a nobody, lol HOWEVER, no matter who you are, a lot of your blood, sweat and tears and time goes into creating/writing a soap. I don't know Jamey at all, except for what he has posted on Daytime Confidential, but as a fellow creator... I can only presume under pressure when writing a network soap vs. if he was writing his own independent show, it's still equally hard. There's a lot of thinking involved, and I don't mean that to be funny - but you're trying to write to an esteemed voice (like Deirdre Hall, Suzanne Rogers, etc.,), while keeping an audience in mind. You're trying to make sure for both character and audience that you're giving everyone on the canvas a special moment. And sometimes just in how you begin to construct your scene, and you're finally putting down those pieces of dialogue, you're probably getting notes from the network or the production that influence your work. Not to mention meetings (that are probably stressful as our job because while some of us get badgered about "metrics", "ratings" are probably being mercilessly imposed upon soap scribes). And just when the writer has gotten a few edits in - it's time to print what you've got for the upcoming show so the cast and director can work with what you wrote. I am sure even Jamey would agree if there was any more time to be had, he'd totally refine his dialogue. Every writer wants more time, lol So, even if we come to the conclusion, it's not the best for now... he's definitely got a job where he can get better? Thoughts?

Hmmm... the Hollywood "Golden Era" classics that "AMC" decided to emulate in my opinion actually complimented those storylines - given that most of them orbited around Erica's character, whom if I recall LOVED celebrity and yearned to be in the movies. But not in a way that "GL"'s Nola Reardon, or "LOVING"'s Ava Rescott fantasized. For Erica, her life was the movies? But going back to your original question, as soaps advanced into the 90's, I feel like each show still tried to emulate pop culture in a sense but maybe in the vein of what was popular and not a total crib - say a movie like "Basic Instinct" became the rage - you almost saw some kind of film noir/diabolical plot on "Y&R"; or wasn't the affair Duke had on Anna with Olivia on "GH" based on the popularity of "Fatal Attraction"? I do remember one homage, was given the popularity of "The Fabulous Baker Boys" Leanna on "Y&R" got on top of a piano and crooned like she was Michelle Pfeiffer. And who could forget "Ryan's Hope" attempt at "King Kong" with an escaped gorilla coming for antagonist Delia Reid Ryan Coleridge :)

Thank you, J, for answering in more detail. I tried to search and find the discussion but couldn't. I been watching "Mama's Family" all last month into this month (now since Betty White passed), and this just sort of crossed my mind. I hadn't started watching "All My Children" regularly until I learned Jill Larson, who was so wickedly fun in her work as Ursula Blackwell on "One Life to Live", was to be cast as Opal. Shortly after I started watching Larson's debut in November, "AMC" was embracing it's 20-year mark, and they showed a brief glimpse of Lyman's work - I always adored her as Naomi Harper, but the more and more I saw of Lyman as Opal, I fell in love with what she did.

QUESTION - does anyone know why Opal was recast back in 1989? I feel like "Mama's Family" had wrapped up by then, Dorothy Lyman would have been available...

I felt like Victor Lord being sexually abusive to Viki was a risk, and it sort of depends who you ask as to whether it paid off or not... for me personally, not quite. I will not deny the story was well-written or articulate, as it occurred during the Malone era that was touted as the most literate of daytime. But I couldn't see Victor Lord, as Agnes Nixon intended, as a pedophile or a rapist. I could see a business associate, an 'uncle' or close friend of the Lord family (maybe with a little stunt casting) as the offender, but Victor? He was already so many things - overbearing, aristocratic, opposing his own moral standards in lieu of his own weaknesses, and yes... he bankrolled an underground commune (which was another story risk in itself). But to make him commit the ugliest sin a parent can inflict on a child? I felt like Erika Slezak (Viki) had inferred in interviews, ruined that character, irrevocably and would have devastated some of the previous actors who played Victor Lord... And though I can appreciate the opportunity to tell more story arose from Victor Lord reimagined as the ultimate evil, bringing him back from the dead in cahoots with Mitch Laurence to kidnap both his granddaughters Jessica and Natalie and harvesting their organs to save him from from heart illness... That was just off the rails, insanity.

I feel like this was ATWT's head writer Douglas Marland's continuation of Lily's story from "LOVING", but we'll never know because ABC couldn't support it's new soap long enough for it to be successful.

Oh, I don't know, I thought by asking I was 'discussing the soaps', sorry. I anticipate it will be moved. Good Night!

I feel like the risk of all risks, was the Corinth Serial Killer on LOVING killing off the entire Alden family... and then the LOVING's revamp to becoming THE CITY, a soap which exercised more diversity, innovation and always had a very Aaron Spelling vibe. It ended way too soon.

For the most part yes... but I always feel there was a storyline pre-Barnabas, that was instrumental in going that direction. There was the supernatural tale of Roger Collins' estranged wife Laura (aka 'The Phoenix'. Hers was an eerie story of reincarnation and I firmly believe, with the show closer to the axe, the writers gave it a try to see if the ratings would improve and if they could do something bolder in what was to follow, which was that in our friend Barnabas Collins.

I totally agree with you... I am watching the first season of "Bold and the Beautiful" right now, and it opens as you may or may not know with several stories depicting violence towards women with the character of Brooke Logan getting attacked, but then Caroline Spencer being raped. And though it's an earnest story, the work Michael Malone put out there depicting Marty's experience was something unparalleled by any show before or since. Poor Marty could not get a break, and it was months after her attack that she would even be believed without all the other characters basing their presumptions on her given a bad reputation that preceded her. My only issue with the storyline was Marty was a character that came out of the blue with no connection to anyone or any family on the canvas except for having lupus the same time fan favorite Megan Gordon Harrison did... There was that same bone of contention I had with the revisiting of the DID storyline. The story was beyond compelling, but the fact it was done to our heroine Viki at the hand of a well-established, legacy character like Viki's father, Victor Lord? I could see it being a business associate or close family friend and that Victor's betrayal of Viki would have been to believe the associate/friend over his own daughter (but maybe that was too much like Erica's rape on "All My Children"?) I also felt though the teen-age homosexuality on "One Life" was an incredible story of outreach - I wish they would have kept it centric to the core Buchanan family, and that Joey, or even Kevin, had been the gay child. I wanted to see it impact Viki and Clint directly, though Clint as the homophobic parent never ever jived with me, or for that matter: the actor, or the audience! I would have rather seen Phil Carey's Asa show his bigotry which that character was more prone to do, than the more worldly Clint ever would have... As for the character of Todd Manning... I just never cared for him from the privileged frat boy, to the anti-hero he became, at least no more than some cared for the conflicted Luke Spencer of yesteryear. But while Luke was redeemable, I thought Todd initiated so many gross inhumanities against characters, that I never felt comfortable having him around. There was no redemption found in him, even when he secretly was revealed to be a Lord heir, and there was no poetic justice like there had been with "One Life's" characters from the past (ex. Brad Vernon raped sister-in-law Karen Wolek, went to prison where off screen, but alluded to, Brad was raped by an inmate). Unless you count the Margaret Cochran story as Todd's retribution, but even that was somewhat campy, with emotional beats few and far between...

I am watching the first season as it is continuously made available on YouTube, and it's fun to see B&B's genesis... but question about Beth Logan... The character was originally played by Judith Baldwin, known for replacing Tina Louise as Ginger on a "Gilligan's Island" reunion movie. Ms. Baldwin was featured for all of three weeks? Was there a reason she left so early? Was it unexpected as Ms. Baldwin's vanity shot in the opening continued to be shown well into her replacement's Nancy Burnett (the actress most associated with the role...) debut?

Hi there, With the sporadic uncovering's of Classic OLTL episodes from the late 70's and 80's, I am very intrigued with Llanview's local landlady Ina Hopkins and her haven for some of the show's beloved characters. I know Ina lived/owned the property, but who else lived there? I know Karen Wolek did, after she broke up with Larry given her secret life turning tricks... Katrina Karr... Karen's hooker friend lived there, and was Ina's business partner in a local restaurant... Ed Hall, after his divorce from Carla... Did Marco Dane when he masqueraded as his twin brother Mario? Did Herb Callison when he separated from Dorian? I think Faith Kipling, Johnny Drummond, and Cassie(almost?) As well as Melinda? and Becky Lee? How was Ina written out of the story? Did she move with Kat to be a live-in babysitter to Kat's daughter Mary? I wish she, Ina, would have stayed in Llanview throughout the 80's and 90's... I liked the boarding house motif and the surrogate families it created... Thanks, Erik

I wish they would just go back to 30 minutes. People would make time for multiple shows. Even an hour is overly generous and nowadays you have to burn a lot of story where typically you build towards most things (my friend Daniel helped me figure that one out )

@ironlion I know, despite their criticisms Frank and Ron, I feel, do better when together...and a lot of actors admire their ethic. But I've never worked with them, so I don't know what it would be like... Sometimes, I fantasize about being a soap writer, professionally, outside what I have done personally and performed locally. But honestly, I fuss with my work A LOT, just because I want it to be perfect. In Daytime, you have such a short time to get your episode written and ready for review and record. I am sure they are doing the best they can in today's era...where back in the day if you wanted soaps you had to watch the big 3 networks...Now, you have choices x infinity, plus reruns of golden eras if you want.

Because for ABC it came down to money. Wendy Riche probably was expensive, and I think people were telling me networks were looking at downsizing (even in the late 90's), and who should take the first cut in spite of it all? Management...and with Riche gone, all the usual suspects took her place, and "General Hospital" began to go downhill...same with "One Life" and "Children"... When a friend told me in 2001 that in 5 years only a few soaps would be left I couldn't believe it - but slowly but surely, of ten shows..."Port Charles", "Passions", "Guiding Light", "As The World Turns", "All My Children", and "One Life to Live" were cancelled, leaving...as predicted...a few soaps

How about the premiere cast of characters for LOVING? A newscaster with a liberal media bias...a progressive priest...and a nurse who works with AIDS patients...and not one storyline that involved any one of them or their respective topics? Let alone the compelling incest story that masterfully executed but then dropped all for the network's sake of marketing a movie of the week that dealt with the same topic... Was 20 characters too much for a 30 minute program?

Oh God yes, the fact itself that Michael Cambias had this obsession with sexing Bianca, which only led to her rejecting him because of who she was, and his grudge for not having her and then the act of rape itself, is a testimony of toxic masculinity. That could have been a character study (no for anti-heroism) rather than a catapult for the usual soap opera conventions.

You say it perfectly. I never understood his mania. Like Camron/Ryan showed up in Pine Valley one day and it was like "Oh, he's interesting..." but then he began to dominate the show that had been an ensemble cast, a community, for 25 years. I resented that.

Yes, THANK YOU!! There was no "full circle" with Erica. She went through a period of emotional, hard Life experiences that led up to immense recovery and her sobriety as a metamorphosis. Only months later, for her to go into stealing a baby to punish her husband and sister-in-law for having an affair, and tricking a mentally disabled woman into aiding her? And then FINALLY giving Jackson, who had waited patiently for her despite all her previous snubs and inability to commit to him. It was sad. Because Susan Lucci deserved more adult 'treatment'... I will say this, the work Susan Lucci did, when she said good-bye to Kendall the first time (when Kendall was Sarah Michele Gellar), was Erica at her most adult. It was raw, it was sad...I don't care what was going on behind the scenes with the actresses - it was like Erica was becoming stronger.

After all was said and done with Ellen Holly's original storyline...what prevented Agnes Nixon, or Gordon Russell/Sam Hall from approaching her and asking her (or even Lillian Hayman) about themselves that they could draw story from? On another note, isn't that why Victoria Rowell esteemed Bill Bell for just talking to her which in turn helped add credibility to the stories he was trying to tell about Dru? I seem to remember in the 90s a lot of soap publications heralding the arrival of a promising new black presence on any number of shows...only for that character (characters) to show up, and then be phased out within a year...l mean, on "One Life" Troy Nichols showed up in Llanview with his son Kerry, along the same time Shelia Price showed up with her sister Rika...and within no time three out of the four were written out with Sheila becoming involved with Hank Gannon, and those two languishing on some serious backburner. Can I ask, what people thought about the writing for Diahann Carroll's "Dominique" on DYNASTY? What about the people of color on the reboot of DYNASTY?

That's a great articulation on how I felt, as others have suggested, about Erica Kane in the mid-90s! It was like would she just stop marrying everyone for a moment and enjoy her sobriety and enjoy herself without having to revert to antics she had literally outgrown in the 70s and 80s...?! Regarding Sean and Tiffany of "General Hospital" fame, I believe Claire Labine did know how to write for them, she just called them "Kevin" and "Lucy"... Michael Malone did write Tina-esque antics, like it would be totally plausible for Tina to fall in love with her illegitimate brother, find out he an imposter and then still love him anyways, lol...But her most recent almost "incestuous" subplot was all during this odd "VC Andrews" period of the show where incest was already being told center stage between Viki and her father Victor; with intermezzos of Viki's own alter Niki Smith making odd plays towards her own son Joey and illegitimate brother Todd. The one character I feel Michael Malone did malign during his tenure, was Clint Ritchie's "Clint Buchanan", by making him a homophobe in what was a break through coming out story. That one hurt because Clint Buchanan was the "Every Dad" with how he loved his children, and now you had him taking a stance that if the character translated into real life, would have broke my heart that he did not have my back. I thought that was careless.

That the world within the world Irna Phillips is creating is a nuanced representation of the world she lived in. And that the Hughes family is her "seed", and that despite the problems of the day "ATWT" was created, she is providing an escape, a celebration of the home, to take the viewers mind off of the problems of the day. What do you all draw from it?