VelekaCarruthers

I watched it live and was turned off but I had been spoiled because I loved, loved, loved the Curlee/Demorest era and even some of Long's material. I knew McTavish would be a disaster. No one cared about Brent/Marian especially killing off Nadine. There were brief, and I mean brief moments where some episodes had a Marland or Long flavor but it never lasted. She was a complete disaster on GL.

Another reason Megan dissed Conforti in her book: he was on GL staff when she was HW there and he and Miller replaced her as co heads for five months while they waited for Brown/Esensten to finish up The City. Megan never discusses in her book that fact. I wonder how she and Conforti got along in the GL writers' room. He probably saw the handwriting on the wall with her stories. Zach, Brent/Marion were not GL. But she couldn't come up with a plot for Amanda or Nola out of the gate, only her James E Reilly crap National Enquirer stories.

I watched all of Henry's run as head writer (as I was a die hard EON/Henry fan from when the show switched to ABC) and it was boring at times but made sense and had some good elements. It was a bit old fashioned; but agree with others the issue was desperate Conboy who knew Bill Bell was in the wings. Conboy's first mistake was collaborating with the Karpfs who knew nothing about daytime soaps, then hiring the Corringtons who failed at everything daytime except the first year on SFT. O'Shea had the most promise and I wonder why OLTL was able to snag her back. Conboy's other (repeated) mistake was hiring the men he deemed hot. Most couldn't act. Remember Dane Witherspoon...one of the worst. Lipton was their worst head writer though. Awful.

I'm not planning to buy or read the book. I'm curious what was written about Rader/Flescher as they were brought in (suspiciously) three months after the end 1981 writers' strike (probably when Pursuer/Radcliffe's contract was up). Never heard of them. Rader stayed as a breakdown/scriptwriter until cancellation. I think Pam was only head writer (officially) for about 8 weeks at the end.

Celena Cipriaso's last GH breakdown was 20 episodes ago, Feb 19. I think she's been canned.

A March 1985 episode on Youtube although the announcer says 1984... The episode shows that Conboy couldn't cast high quality performers consistently across the canvass. He hired many pretty (especially) male hair models making the show less than. He was no Paul Rauch in the casting dept.

Monday/Episode 16 had the most cringy moments of any episode so far. Terrible dialogue by Davis. Hard to assess Dunn's outline because the story turns were uninspired but his scene breakdowns didn't work either. Mostly terrible acting by all except Daphne/Nicole and Sean/Andre. What the hell was Cady doing with her mannered voice. So obvious and put on...Marquita's Haley needs more actor coaching; her performance was rough. But worst of all: Everything Dani and the Smitty family living room scenes. Both show the rookie head writer mistakes in full view. In this episode Dani is really slap stick and stupid on top of the dumb premise that the security guard would let her in. Unless they're planning to write a DID story, the character is all over the place and her actions just don't make sense or further a compelling story. I couldn't with the Smitty family scenes. Even masterful director Phideau couldn't make it work; in fact, his staging made it worse. I felt like I was watching a bad episode of Dr. Phil who had the family sitting around in group therapy. And why are we sitting through a Nicole/Andre heart to heart. Isn't she busy. Isn't Martin her son? Have they had one scene together, just the two of them? All in all C-

Gary Tomlin was doing a very admirable job during his first stint on SFT. His last episode is March 16, 1984 and Jeanne Glynn shares co head duties with Madeline David for three months before Caroline Franz comes in to replace Madeline (then Franz and Glynn are fired with Franz leaving mid February and Glynn writing five more weeks before Mayer/Braxton are brought in with Nicholson as producer at end of March). And they constantly rotated script writers. P&G did the opposite with Edge in 83 when they should have fired Sheldon and/or Nicholson but kept Sheldon for 18 months. I now think Gary was moved by P&G and/or NBC to assist Culliton on AW. Gary was near his one year (May) anniversary when he was moved. What a mistake. Richard and Gary didn't last on AW even though they had some high points. I also appreciate Ellen Barrett who came in after Joanna Lee's disastrous six month run (I think Joanna got fired for the live episode stunt?). Ellen was working well with Gary for five months although I don't like her next several months with Glynn/Franz but it wasn't totally awful. I don't understand how they let Sue Scannell go; they should have made her a long lost McCleary instead of bringing in Adair and Justine (who I couldn't stand; such bad casting). We always blame writers for the upheavals etc, but the networks and owners effed with these shows constantly as we read with McTavish's book on another thread.

Yes, the Conforti dirt is so surprising; he never had any media presence but made a great career as outline/associate head writer after Pam Long (Pam launched many soap careers) hired him as script writer on GL. He just got canned or retired after 34 years of steady soap writing employment. I knew Jill brought him to OLTL but it was so brief then he turned up as Passanante's AMC co-head writer for a few weeks before settling at GH for years followed by his long stints at Y&R. But it all makes sense. Jill got. him the AMC gig but he wasn't cutting it as a co head and then Jill brought him over to GH I think.

Fascinating read. She really skewers Geary and Richard Culliton and all that she writes seems totally in line with how things played out for each. Culliton was never a successful head writer but desperately wanted to be one (fired from AMC after a year or so, fired twice from AW, fired after some months on ATWT and Carolyn moved around the dial as well, not to mention their terrible Port Charles stories i.e. Audrey needing brain surgery with a drill). I find it interesting that (if Megan is to be believed) they contacted her about being interim story teller after Pratt which she turned down. They got Broderick instead to come out of soap writing retirement to pen three months before Swajeski/Kreizman came aboard then Broderick stayed on till the end. Megan must have watched the end of AMC (which she never really goes into) with bitterness and self satisfaction because the end was terrible with all the dead people coming back to life. One of the worst soap endings ever (other than Love of Life with a bunch of bad actors featured in the last episode and Lee Sheldon's final EON cliff hanger with the Alice in Wonderland b.s.). She's particularly bitter and mean about Hal Corley but he had a long and successful career as an outline writer and story contributor on AMC and ATWT.

Ashley is MVJ's Elizabeth Webber.

On McTavish: we have Pamela K. Long to thank for unleashing her on soap writing rooms. Pam hired her on GL where she wrote both breakdowns and outlines from Dec 84-Dec 86 (fired or quit during Sheri Anderson's stint). Then, Wisner Washam/Lorraine Broderick hired her in early 87 as outline writer on AMC. The rest is history.

I just found in my collection six consecutive breakdowns as shown in the photos. This was the first week or two of Walsh/Ryder as head writers. Youtube has the 1/3192 closing credits and Fran Sears is still EP but the writing team is Addie Walsh/Jeff Ryder Matt Labine/Laurie McCarthy/Paul Balido and Kirk Aanes/Lewis Arlt/Kathleen Tolan. Not sure if Grainger was EP during these episodes or if Sears was in her final week or so. Well written outlines, especially Matt's.

I think Megan's head writing tenures are as follows (I don't believe she returned briefly in 2002) Three years/May 92-April 95 18 months from Dec 97 to June 99 And her painful four year stint that really ruined the show July 2003 to April 2007 with April to July supervised by Jeff Beldner/probably off of some of her longterm story projections. Is the above not correct?

Agree. The most compelling narrative on the show right now is about how Nicole's world is about to be blown up by a "have not" in society. Although MVJ is bordering on campy with Dana/Leslie's cheesy revenge it's fun to watch and resonates a little deeper than camp because Dana has lost out, not had great luck etc. etc. and we want to see how far her bitterness will go or will she ever reform. Not to mention the excellent Ms. Mann's excellent acting chops. And you can have a stuck up, wealthy prick like Martin shooting for the presidency which can also be compelling (as long as you have a performer who can act). Balance, tension, diversity all make for a more compelling show.

Agree with others that Episode 14 has been the best written and directed of all, thus far. Phideau's directing was great. Tate's dialogue was also great as was the pacing of Dunn's outline. Bill and Ted should have been brothers; think of the years of story (back story too). Nice twist at the end re Eva... The flashbacks and fantasy sequences reminded me of Jim Reilly and Bill Bell style. Other episodes feel like The City or Ron's OLTL. I like the former although not too many flashbacks please.

Episode 13 The bad: The actor playing Martin needs to go. When Smitty mentioned "the dream" I knew we were in for some bad "acting." The choice to give this couple teen kids was a mistake even though both actors seem capable (with some potential). And the writing for Martin's approach to Smitty going back to work is weird. He's being written like Smitty's father giving him permission for one assignment. I'm getting Days vibes from some of the sets and lighting, and not in a good way. MVJ is making some rookie head writer mistakes. I'm not getting the sense that she's a natural as head writer. I could name several areas but my overall impression has to do with what happens when I'm watching: creative ideas pop into my head that I'm not seeing on the screen which often means I'm uninspired by what I'm seeing and/or it's lacking something additional or compelling. The good: Derek is really growing on me. The big lug needs a back rub! I'm wondering if they are going to have him experience personality changes from the concussion (ala Jason Morgan). (Side note: They need more tantalizing beefcake in each show. We needed Smitty in a muscle tank top, not LLB long sleeve, Ward Cleaver, pajamas. We needed Derek shirtless in that hospital bed. Where are the queer directors and producers on set!) Daphnee/Nicole is the star, just love her. Andre's clothing is inspired. I want his last Friday/Monday outfit and today's too! The actor playing Tyrell. He's got Darnell Williams acting potential. I liked how he handled his scenes even though the whole set up (being twins of this couple) doesn't work for me. Also good: we didn't need to sit through Naomi and Jacob's conflict about the Dani arrest (rookie head writer plot turn IMO). I'm on the fence after this 12 episodes about extending my 1 week free paramount subscription into annual. I'm hoping Thursday/Friday episodes start to gel more but it's going to be months before they fix some of this issues. Overall, I like a lot of what I'm seeing.

Episode 12: messy/sloppy. Jacob/Naomi not working for me. They should have made Bill and Ted brothers. The episode felt disjointed. Still feel Zimmerman/Brown are a winning script combo but Dani's character is still a mess of contradictions. They got some work to do with some of the actors (Ted, Jacob in particular in this episode). I liked Anita/Vernon scenes. Some of the pop culture and historical references in the script are a bit heavy handed but I like the realism they are bringing to some of the plots/characters.

Days just finished taping Xmas week through 12/30/2025 episode. My gut tells me this show will be cancelled by Peacock for Sept 2026 final episode.

Episode 11: The actors playing Martin and Jacob might be problems. They didn't come through with the material in this episode. I still like Derek/Ash and the actors. Nicole is my favorite (character and actress) Daphnee did a great job with the material. And wow, Trisha Mann-Grant as Leslie. She's amazing. She made the Cruella campy plot and dialogue work. I still feel Dani's story and character are messy (feels like more than one cook in the kitchen deciding about the character). The Dupree living room scenes were good but not yet at the level of the best of the Quartermaines or Abbots. I would have had Anita point out Bill's possible motive in dropping the charges (that he still wants Dani in some way) instead of having Dani be so observant/astute about it. In a few days, Dani has shot up the country club and had sex with Andre in addition to her other antics and she's suddenly clearheaded about all the chaos she created? This would have given Tamara more to work with as Anita. I'm still waiting for MVJ to give Anita more strength, opinions and definition. I need to count how many of the male characters have goatees. The outline was well done by Bibel. Paige's script was better than Friday but still had some stale lines. Overall, the show was entertaining and as a veteran soap watcher of the best (Slesar, Marland, Nixon etc.) I'm surprised I'm still tuning in.

Thanks

Who wrote the outline? I believe Danielle Page said she wrote today's script.

Celena Cipriaso may be gone as outline writer after 16 episodes as she hasn't written any in the last 12 or so. May explain why she has "open to work" on her linkedin profile. We shall see. But with them testing Will and bringing on Ryan, someone has to go.....

With 33 Ron episodes left, these shows (starting with 3/4) were filmed in July after a three week hiatus in June (according to Jason47 prod schedule website). I think Ron was out the door at end of June. But, no matter, I would think Paula/Jean and the producers edited out Ron crap they didn't want to play. Just my guess.

Ms. Veleka binged watched the first 10 episodes in a 24 hour period this weekend and she has opinions, of course. She's been watching soaps since 1969 and saw the live premiers of (Loving, Passions, B&B, Y&R, Capitol, Santa Barbara, Sunset Beach, The City, PC) First, congrats to the entire team for putting on a (generally) fabulous first two weeks. I won't quibble about the lighting or some of the stiff acting because all of the actors did a great job and so many of them had chemistry together. Stand-outs in order of my personal star power rating! Daphnee Duplaix (Nicole) is a star. She nails every scene and I want more. She's classic soap. I bet she will carry major storylines and bring in audience (while they're trying to fix the Dani mess/more on that later). The show needs to revolve around her. She reminds me of several of daytime's best: Julia Barr, young Tamara Tunie, Crystal Chappel. I'm glued to the screen when she's on. And the writing has been consistent for her (as opposed to Dani/more on that later LOL) Sean Freeman (Andre): he improved (and was pretty good from the start) over the ten episodes but really was fantastic from the start. He reminds me of young Taye Diggs when he appeared on GL. He's going places. Sexy as hell. Chemistry for days with Ash and Dani. Trisha Mann-Grant/Dana Leslie: love, love, love her. She's a grand dame. This may be controversial but while watching I kept wondering how things would have been if she had been cast as Anita (and I love Tamara but not so much the writing for Anita in the first ten episodes which may contribute to my wandering thoughts) Mike Manning/Smitty: just wow. Sexy as hell. Nails every scene even when the dialogue is a bit stilted. Not a surprise as I watched his stellar work on Days. Ambyr Michelle/Eva: I'm not sold on the plot with her Mom but she is wonderful. Timon Durrett/Bill: Outstanding. Reminds me of a younger Ron Raines as Alan Spaulding. Runners-up. Marquita as Haley: very good and improving with each episode. Jen Jacob/Ash: I like her; she's got presence and spunk and plays the scenes so well with whomever is opposite her. Ben Gavin/Derek: I think many on this board have trashed him, but I think he's fine. Every soap has to have a dumb but lovable muscle dude who sounds a little wooden and seems stiff. He has some gay vibes too. I want him to have a one night stand with Smitty. Colby Mohammed/Kat: class act; handled lots of dialogue with creativity and skill. Lauren/Vanessa: great character and the actress will chew the scenery in a good way. Classic soap nympho. Love her. Needs work: Maurice Johnson Ted (I'm ambivalent about him but the character is one note so far). Brandon Clayton/Martin: he is stiff but it mostly plays okay because Martin seems to be a stuck up douchebag. Writing Team: Here's what stood out for me: Scripts that struck me as less than: Danielle Paige (Episode 10) stilted/uninspired; Lynn Martin (Episode 5) gimmicky lines that didn't land . Stand out script and outline: Episode 8: Jazmen/Teresa. This was my favorite episode of the ten. It felt like the show had been on for years. I loved the B and C plots being fleshed out. I felt Jazmen knew how to write for the younger group. I thought all the outlines were mostly well paced. Plots: My biggest issue is with Dani's plot. I have whiplash trying to make sense of it. Huge problem for me is casting a 43 year old beauty who looks 33 as a 49 year old mother of two grown daughters who supposedly gave up her modeling career (she was 19 when she married Bill 30 years ago). I groaned with the wedding/gun scenes. Episodes 6 (wedding) and 7 (press conference) had some major cringy elements for me (and I don't blame Ron C for Monday). First, Dani's meltdown and Dana Leslie's revenge plot are too similar and too extreme without building more foundation. Re Dani: it felt like the writers needed a huge first Friday tag but didn't think how it would play out. I won't go into the details as you all watched it unfold but the whole thing just didn't work and by this Friday, she's normal but being arrested. I could go on. My second gripe but all in good fun because I think the show is great is Anita. Love me some Tamara but MVJ dropped the ball IMO not establishing Anita's relationship and influence over Dani more clearly. Ditto for background on Dani/Bill. I would have maybe started the first episode with a flashback of when Dani discovers the affair and have Dani connect clearly with her daughters and mother over the betrayal with flashbacks of their happy times in the first four episodes, not late in the second week. As I look back on the ten episodes this is what surprises me the most. Classic soap is mother and daughter. I felt more detail went into Leslie/Eva. In short, Dani is a mess of a character in two weeks partly because Karla is too young for the role and partly the inconsistent writing. So Dani loved Bill so much, gave up everything but was willing to pull a gun, endangering her family, because Bill slept with a family friend who's so young. Meanwhile, she goes and screws Andre who is at least 20 years younger than she. I can't even with the wedding/gun scenes with everyone standing around. More nuanced writing might have had Dani pull the gun and point it at them then turn it on herself as a threat. It would then make sense that no one would want to approach her physically. But of course, they're using the suicide threat this week with Dana. Karla was great through it all even the bug eyed / no blink scenes that we all know she can do (and it is annoying). Runner up gripes: not into Naomi and the husband. I felt that Kat/Naomi/Chelsea/Eva need work to set each apart. I have a free paramount plus week through Saturday and will watch week 3 then determine if I pay the annual. Overall: A- PS: I want more of Shanice and Mona.