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Marcia and Philip were true finds and, in fact, much of Whitney's recurring casting was fierce. James Douglas (Grant/ATWT), Elaine Stritch (Mrs. DeGroot), Jason Zimbler as Jamie Swift (best kid actor in decades who saved the Logan plot from mediocrity), Christopher Holder (from Y&R but miscast as Peter Love on AW) who couldn't act but was so pretty to gaze upon, Jerry Zacks, Judith Barcroft (fierce), Amanda Blake, J Kenneth Campbell to name some! (I don't know if Whitney chose cringy Willie Aimes who was god awful as Robby or if ABC/P&G dug him up).

Oh I can't forget Mark as Chad. I was focusing on Sheldon era issues. But Henry started to loose his polish after he returned from the 81 writers' strike particularly starting in February 82 after the dramatic (let down) Jeff shooting and the Libby angle. It was a perfect storm I believe: pressure from ABC and/or P&G to mirror Monty's GH, the decision to bring back Larkin after the Jeff Brown plot as the real Sky (which included Larkin's absence from the canvas and Raven's misadventures with Smiley/Frank Gorshin (Henry's second worst plot) and Larkin's car accident. This included Whitney's third worst casting of the early 80s, Chris Jarrett as Damien. The Eden plot was Henry's worst for sure capped by poor, poor Chad casting. It's hard to assess the never ending phone book plot because Henry was probably being told to extend it while they prepared Sheldon even if he wasn't aware he was going to be fired. Also, Larkin had additional surgeries during the phone book plot which interfered with the story. Casting Norm Parker as Mr. Cameron was also a mistake given how pivotal he was to the entire story. They needed a charismatic actor for that role. I think Erwin is to blame for much of what we've been discussing. I read an interview with Henry after he was fired and he said he was never told to speed up the plots or make shorter scenes. The sets were already drab and tired and there was no guidance given to Henry. He was writing the entire storylines, all breakdowns and three scripts a week. Kibbee did two a week. They needed to tell him to add another script writer and P&G / ABC needed to demand Erwin buy some paint a sherwin Williams! PS: it's ironic P&G hired Erwin to take over SFT and paired him with veteran and award winner Paul Avila Mayer (who was way passed his prime). P&G made a lot of mistakes. Erwin plus Jeanne Glynn who had found her groove and needed fine tuning over at Search would have worked I think but I believe Erwin was finishing out his P&G contract there.

I can't compliment Sheldon on any of his plots. The Logan murder mystery was but a shadow of Edge's best and Tom Tammi had non of Joe Lambie's appeal. Joe probably refused to return once he watched an episode or two (or talked to Sharon Gabet) even though he took a contract role not long after at replacement SFT Lloyd. Sheldon poorly handled the aftermath of Nicole's death by having Miles get the hots for Chris (triangle with Derek). Jennifer again was a poor imitation of Frances Fisher/Deborah. When Sheldon developed the Beth story it was about a 40 year old woman virgin. It was juvenile. Erwin said what he said in the interview but the fact was that EON had severe budget cuts starting months before Henry left and Henry was being paid top dollar and you can be sure Sheldon was getting close to minimum for a daytime head writer at the time. This move was about budget in the final few years. At the time Henry was fired, the show also went from 17-19 contract players to 14 or 15. They lost Mark Arnold and Lori Loughlin within Sheldon's first six months. I remember watching during the final 18 months and screaming at the television. And I was young (in college). Each day I saw ways the stories could have played/characters connected etc. Imagine if Sheldon had tied Shelly and the Van Dynes to the Whitneys. Perhaps Alicia could have been Geraldine's daughter that she gave up for adoption and Shelly was Alicia's daughter who she gave up. Shelly and Alicia could have wreaked havoc on Sky/Raven and Jody/Preacher. I always thought the actress who played Shelly had potential as a vixen. She was a bit green but by far the best contract hire by Whitney Burnett (casting director who had done a phenomenal job over the years with the exception of the first gay Kelly oh Lord that child!). As far as head writers, it is difficult to know who could have replaced Henry. Perhaps, if Sheldon was the best selection at the time they needed to promote Kibbee to story consultant or co-head (or bring in a former P&G head writer to train Sheldon on plotting and story arcs) and bring in qualified script writers. But ultimately Erwin Nicholson failed IMO; he was so used to Henry's sheer brilliance that he didn't know how to limit, advise and direct Sheldon. He also needed to update some of the key sets by hiring a new set designer. He tried with some sets but the main locations (police station, penthouse, Karr house were 70s) were drab. And don't get me started on the new opening/closing. That was the true sign that Erwin had lost his way, getting rid of the skyline for that ridiculous color splash and the sunset scene over the closing. Tragic but indicative of a show that had lost its soul.

Lee Sheldon was a tragedy for EON. The combination of Henry's legendary 15 year run, Erwin's tired approach to production and sets, severe budget cuts and Sheldon's inexperience plunged the show into hell for its final 18 months; and it was evident from his first episode (which I'll never forget) on May 23 1983 (although he (uncredited) edited Henry's outlines for the last four weeks Henry was listed as the HW). It was surreal watching the show go into the toilet day after day, month after month. The only saving grace was the cast (minus Sandy Faison and Jennifer Taylor who were put under contract immediately after Sheldon took over and were pretty much cringey to watch). The first and biggest nail in the coffin (and the thing that should have gotten Sheldon fired after the first 13 weeks) was turning Raven/Sky into Nick and Nora Charles. And I have rewatched select Sheldon episodes including the final week of the show with its horrible dialog and still cry all the way through. Please rewatch Beth/Liz penthouse balcony scenes in final episode (not to mention the Alice in Wonderland insane and dumb cliffhanger) to know that after 18 months Sheldon was still not qualified to write scripts let alone head write (which is why no soap ever hired him afterwards although he claimed he was supposed to take over ATWT and may have consulted on AW or at least I have a memory of reading this in interviews with him later). I do admit some of his ideas were interesting (the Van Dyne stories had some glimmer of talent i.e. Louis/Monticello mind control and plastics formula) and his best character creation was Alicia who should have been put under contract and given major story throughout. I could go on.....

Does anyone know the full story of Henry's arrival at Edge. I believe I read somewhere that he was brought in for three months in late 1967 to sub for the head writer (Lou Scofield or James Lipton?) who was on sick leave then went under contract as HW in March 1968.

These writers come cheap. These are entry level salaries and in many cases on Days they are freelance which means no insurance or other benefits I believe. Simone is under contract as of March 2025 so her name should start appearing every day with the other break down writers if that's the position she has under contract. I noticed on GH they have mostly unknown writers and they added a six script writer and seem to have cut back scripts by the vets (Sickles and Gibson). Wow. Loved her directing at Y&R and was happy when Ed Scott brought her to Days. Now replace the head writers.

If Noel Maxam approved this story, it's his first huge fail. If he didn't but terminated the story after a few months, then there's hope for him as EP. If he doesn't get rid of Rolf, Susan/Kristin and insist the writers not bring anyone back from the dead through potions and other James Reilly bs (that ultimately killed the show IMO) then this show will continue to be a shadow of itself and largely unwatchable.

Sounds like Don Chastain was ahead of the curve of what was to come with James E Reilly on Days and Hogan Sheffer on ATWT/Y&R. Perhaps with a visionary producer Chastain could have succeeded. I know that Taggart/Simon wrote scripts for the Ellises on the doctors under pen names. What were their pen names in the SFT credits. I believe when the Ellises were rehired at SFT it was to transition the show to NBC and they stayed under a year and mentored David Cherrill who replaced them with Cherrill using a pen name (Jackson Chase?) for a while.

I seem to remember a summer 1981 Don Chastain plot about a wrestler. It seemed to have queer undertones. I remember it was a lot different in tone from the prior few years but the clips I've seen recently it looked well lit, produced and acted. Don had never written a soap and Bunim was crazy to put him in charge. The other issue is that Harding Lemay's material had only been airing a few weeks when the strike material started in spring/early summer 81. SFT suffered from a series of head writers similar to The Doctors and I've wondered this before: was Mary Stuart behind many of the writer changes? I think all the shows lost their footing during the 1981 strike. But Chastain's SFT had some high ratings but the show did start to slip.

Don was doing what most soaps at the time were doing - trying to copy cat in some fashion Monty's GH particularly her Thom Racina strike craziness storyline (freeze the world) and general Luke and Laura adventures

Don Chastain was the head writer who decided to blow up HH under Bunim's final few months as EP before she moved to ATWT

I think this aired during Peggy O'Shea's 18mo stint as HW

I met RKK outside a bakery in my town in the last 1980s. Which ever wife he had then was inside a bakery or coffee shop and he stood outside in a "notice me" pose, waiting to be recognized. I smiled and he lit up. He struck me as supremely narcissistic. My "repressed gay gaydar" went off in like a four alarm fire bell but only my "in the moment" personal read as I'm sure (Jan) that he's straight...... He also had a crazed look behind his eyes. Stunningly handsome though. Dressed in the tightest jeans, leather jacket, open collar shirt, cowboy boots. His "package" was prominent to one side and very visible. I got the vapors. I believe he moved to MO and became a flight instructor. His linkedin is showing on a google search but his actual profile has been deleted from Linkedin. Lisa is getting her revenge.

I wonder why he left or was fired; he lost his home in the LA wildfires last year. He has been working since early 80s

Here's her linkedin bio. She mentions in the narrative that she "wrote" for Days with scripts starting to air in February. I'd assume she freelanced and didn't get a contract. Great to see Days trying out new writers who aren't the Cullitons children. https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-martinez-905ab69/