VelekaCarruthers

Was this Jennifer scene in summer of 75 when O'Shea was head writer? I think O'Shea was hw from April for about 9mo. taking over for Ann Marcus.

I watched EON's original run from 1976 to the end. I disliked most of Henry's final 13 months; although I later learned that Sheldon's contract started before his name appeared on May 23rd. He was exec story consultant for the last several weeks of Henry's outlines and scripts. He heavily edited the last three weeks (when the show changed the writing credits from Story By: HS and Teleplays by HS/LK to Written by HS and LK). So I won't fault Henry for April and May of 1983 BUT I hated almost all of Sheldon's era with a passion. I cried upon watching the final episode with that monumentally stupid Wonderland land twist and the rotten dialog (particularly the Liz/Beth balcony scenes) Of course, Sandy Faison's acting was dubious too. Anywho, I've gone back and watched many Sheldon episodes. I grudgingly give him credit for humor, fun character names (paying homage to Henry), and a few plot twists that were mildly clever. But the whole production staff was failing and flailing those last few years. The final 9 months under Henry was dark and dank i.e. the lighting, costumes, sets. And let's not get started on the endless David Cameron phone books scenes. But Lee Sheldon's Sky/Raven turn into Nick and Nora Charles was so painful to watch. And the haunted Whitney plot with the Earls was embarrassingly bad. Casting was also a hindrance during Sheldon's term. The actresses hired to play Chris and Beth were awful in comparison to Edge's history of phenomenal casting. Miles' three week grief plot over Nicole's death then pursuing Chris and Beth was a slap to viewers who had invested in Miles/Nicole since 1977. Logan's murder had potential but Tom Tammie was a poor Joe Lambie replacement and having Geraldine be the shooter and not know it.....huh? to this day I can't explain that plot twist. The Jody/Welllington murder plot was slightly interesting but again the recast Jody was awful. And there's a reason Sheldon was never credited as a daytime HW again; although in an interview once he claimed that he was hired to watch and possibly take over ATWT I think by Calhoun who ended up picking Horgan for a year before Marland became available. Sheldon may have also consulted on AW uncredited. I'll also give Sheldon credit for creating Alicia Van Dyne. MAGA Chris Weatherhead should have been put on contract and the plots should have tied her to Geraldine's maternal side or something. How wicked would it have been if they had properly developed that plot with Geraldine in the mix. Shelly (who Sheldon brought on for 6 months) was capably played by the actress (name escapes me) and she could have been Alicia's daughter. BTW: My older sibling watched from 1968 so I have had access to his amazing memories of Henry's best plots; he feel Susan Martin murder and Jonah Lockwood identity were the best. (He hated the Sky is Jeff Brown, Jody in Eden and Smily dupes Raven all Slesar plots). I recall him freaking out the day Nancy and Geraldine went to the lighthouse where Jonah died and when the two ladies showed up Nancy didn't know whether the dead body was Laurie or Jonah. Geraldine looked up at Nancy and said something to the effect of: It's not yours; it's mine. Badumbummmmmm. I get chills still thinking about his description of the climax.

Edge of Night: I think it's been discussed elsewhere but Henry Slesar had a one year plot sketched out for Sky Whitney when the character first appeared. There were no plans to make him Jeff Brown and when you rewatch those early October 1980 episodes, it's pretty clear. Henry was forced to rewrite because of Larkin's popularity and his fiya coupling with Sharon Gabet as Raven. But from Feb 82 to May 83 (when Lee Sheldon took over as head writer) Henry really struggled. Admittedly, the spring 81 writers' strike (although replacement writers Laurie Durbrow and Lois Kibbee working from Henry's story bible did a spectacular job that summer and the ratings rose to new highs) and Larkin's bad car accident, subsequent absences for recovering and later surgery, really hurt the show. The characters of Jim Deidrickson, Val Bryson, Damian Tyler were all victims of this convoluted twist. And having Raven caught up with Frank Gorshin's Smiley plot was another nail in the coffin. But even Henry's worst (the final 13 months with that endless phone book plot) can't compare to the crap we've witnessed for the last three decades on other shows.

I wonder who wrote today's Days script and thank god the outline wasn't written by Giddens.

Thanks

Has Kate Culliton been added in alphabetical order to the script writers in closing credits?

Did we not know that Griffith would ruin this actor's presence on the show by saddling him with this character. OMG this is in the vein but worse than Billy Flynn as Cain. FIRE Steve Kent and Josh Griffith. My God, Brock.

Tragic and yet production companies continue to keep employed head writers and eps who need to go on all the shows. GH might have a fighting chance with a new EP and the current head writing team, but the Y&R, B&B and BTG are in terrible shape with Y&R the worst. B&B is saved by overseas popularity and royalty and BTG is safe for one more year but 1.5 million viewers for a daily soap is not sustainable. MVJ and company really dropped the ball in the first 3 months after weeks and months of buzz.

Broderick rebuilt some quality during her 18mo head writing stint that ended in Aug 99 when her team was replaced by cancelled Another World writers (Leah Laiman) who were boring but didn't do any damage until Hogan took over in summer 2000 and revitalized the show. People were polarized about it but it had buzz. I personally didn't like any of Passanante's run from 2006 on but they did keep the show in tact; it was slower, staid and a bit boring for my taste; but in reality, Passanante's ATWT was more like ATWT of the later Irna era and Soderberg/Somer period. I agree with you though the other soaps were often really bad in the 2000s. As for the Marland era, his strong period was October 85-87. His 90-to his death was high and low and muddled and sometimes great. But I will say his Susan/Bob affair story was top notch and I think that was spring summer 90?

The only twist(s) that would save this poorly conceived Ronni plot is to have her turn out to be a Vickie alter. And let me add that if James E. Reilly were writing this show, Martin would turn out to be Tad also with DID and he and Ronni met on skid row in Center City and came to PC to fleece a family as rich as the Lords.

Won't make a bit of difference as long as Kent/Griffith are calling the shots. How many names have they brought in behind the scenes and on screen and the ratings stink. B&B just beat them in an important demo. B&B! another horrible show. We see how Alexander Dumas/Billy Flynn helped the ratings long term NOT. Now we're supposed to get excited about recycled ABC actors who had their day in the last 25 or more years. I don't think so.

I always knew when she directed a SFT episode. That show desperately needed her touch. Too bad P&G didn't keep her but she was brillzzz on Y&R. Wonder why she left Y&R at age 60.

Wasn't there some gossip in 81 that the Dobsons left (not fired) before the 81 writers' strike because they wouldn't turn in long term story to P&G to be used during the strike? In any event, they were brought back later to finish, I think, their original contract. We know the Dobsons were not easy people to work with as we saw with Santa Barbara. Re: Chris/Nancy - we don't know what condition DM was in at the point he was released and Helen had a reputation for being grand dame; perhaps, P&G had had enough and/or I can imagine she hated the Dobson's vision and story execution for the show.

Solid choice. Years of experience on soaps. Unfortunately, she won't be able to mask Griffith's crap.

I didn't see her earliest writing on Edge and Where, but watched her period of The Doctors and Days. She was excellent on both shows. On AW/86 she took over after the show had been decimated a few times over; she did her best and created some lasting characters. Her Phelps run I wouldn't watch because I hated Phelps and I liked King/Carlson material just fine with Harding as consultant. I didn't watch her 9 month? AMC run but she had the benefit of collaborating with Broderick and Washam. Not so on OLTL where I think she lasted 6mo with Laiman and Carlson. Overall, her most memorable/iconic material IMHO was on Days where she was trained under Falken Smith,