RavenWhitney

4 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

 

 

 

Here's the episode that aired the day before Cass showed up.  I didn't realize Corrine Jacker created Cass character.

Why is Ron Carlivati still employed as a soap head writer? I mean all the exec producers needed to be fired, not just Meng, but what evidence does Corday and NBC/Sony need that Carlivati has driven the show 6 feet under when the ratings dropped further even though it's the only soap airing original episodes and millions are home in front of tv....

I'm trying to figure out who's tied for worst head writer, Higley or Ron.

Michael can revive his career by creating a profile on OnlyFans and letting us see his real talents.

When is Alan going to get another writers group together. I'd love to see McTavish on at the same time as Curlee. Krystal and Alexis!

2 hours ago, Faulkner said:

I thought she was a LOT better on OLTL. But the voice is still grating. So nasal...

She was the worst possible actor to play this role when the show was suffering.  Reminded me of Felicia on GH or Bobbie on GH in later years. Completely annoying with that nasal, mousey voice.  The other GL actress that completely ruined every scene was the one who played Olivia's daughter in the last year or two.  OMG.  And of course every cute male Conboy hired was god awful!

Carolyn Culliton confirmed on her twitter feed last night that she and her husband are returning to the writing team when production resumes.

25 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Here's a question I've had for a long time and perhaps one of you soapstorians might be able to answer. Why did GL replace the 2002 opening with an even worse one in Spring 2003? When I started watching GL in 2003, they had just switched over to the new opening (the sliding images with Guiding Light running across) and I only became aware of the previous one on some website at the time. I mean the flying Bingo chips wasn't amazing, but the one that followed was pretty sad. I remember thinking that anyone in my HS graphic design class at the time could probably manage to create that opening. Why was Bingo chips opening replaced when it was in use for such a short time? I'm not sure how soap openings are changed or how that decision is made as they are such long running shows, whether it's arbitrary or when new producers come on or something else. Days has essentially maintained the same opening it started with, others maintained the same theme over the course of their run, and then GL the lighthouse or variations of it and them others did not.  

I just came across this very moving article by the wife of Denny Albee on the suicide of their son Hunter. So tragic.

https://autismspectrumnews.org/a-parents-plea-for-reform-of-school-safety-and-mental-health-programming/

Denny and wife Laura in 2013

She quit? Nah...The show is slashing the budget. More will go in front and behind the scenes. Her salary along with Meng should help the bottom line.  I think Ron is staying, unfortunately. He wouldn't be promoting the show and posting fun tweets if he had been canned in this latest budget purge.  I would expect the writing team to be smaller as well.

Hope's character should have left when Peter came back to wrap up his plot. Griffith ruined their love story by killing Bo off and destroyed Hope by having her kill Stefano.

I always wondered what the story was behind Marland losing 'created by" credit after he departed when his contract was up. Aggie must have insisted in their initial contract with him that his name be removed upon departure.  it doesn't seem like a successful collaboration. Marland never collaborated well with anyone really.  He was always sole head writer and wrote breakdowns. On GL he wrote all the breakdowns and had 2 or 3 script writers for most of his 3.5 years. In the early ATWT years he kept 2 or 3 break down writers and boasted in articles about how he wrote outlines and was the script editor. Control freak but I understand it. The best shows were the ones written by a creative force who maintained control.  Henry Slesar is a great example (on Edge at least). 

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Can't remember whether I've actually seen this episode where the police burst into Bob and Kim's wedding reception. Has this episode been posted before?

 

What a bloated writing staff. They had no confidence in Horgan and kept rotating consultants and co-heads.  Luckily, they got Marland from Loving.  Her co heads during her 1 year were: Klein/Wasserman, Benjamin, Sowards/Stamfl, Laibson/Bogard.  Lemay/Consultant, Gross/Consultant. Not to mention all the various breakdown and script writers who cycled through.

2 hours ago, robbwolff said:

 

If I remember correctly, around April or May 1986, they started showing scenes involving the mystery man who owned Liberty House, the apartment building that because the central focus during the last months of Search. It was implied he knew Jo and may have been a man from her past. The storyline was quickly dropped and then Jack Betts' David Glenn showed up.

That was a Gary Tomlin story.  Long/Walsh stories started airing soon after through end of show.

Damian Scheller

8 hours ago, MichaelGL said:

What’s the overall opinion of Jeanne Glyn and Caroline Franz tenure on Search with Ellen Barrett at the helm? Recent uploads of the Cagney/Suzi/Warren/Wendy quad with Justine mixed in has me glued to my screen. 

Jeanne Glynn was a creative writer who loved soaps.  She was with SFT for nearly two years and most of that time was head writer either alone, with CF or briefly with Madelyn David.  Her head writing tenure turned out to be the longest of anyone who came after her most of whom lasted under a year.  The problem was some of the casting and Ellen Barrett who seemed to want to turn SFT into Ryan's Hope.  Too many red heads running around, some bad casting (started by Joanna Lee who cast Kevin Conroy as a straight leading man and he was obviously neither) and supplanting Jo with Kate McCleary.  Not sure why Barrett couldn't get a little more creative and NOT center the show around an Irish family.  

The last year on the show was just awful and that final episode with the gorilla. I heard that was the work of the Cullitons.  Embarrassing.  

All the writers in this interview revealed and/or implied that the more outlandish plot points and controversial story decisions were mandates from network execs and producers.

Jim Brown revealed what's already known that he was told to tell the clone story (Wendy Fischman concocted it). He was told to bring Jesse back from the dead on AMC.

Millee said she never resurrected a dead character. I remember her second short GL stint. The show was getting good but Rauch left and Conboy fired her for Weston. I loved her stories about bringing Ed back. She tried.  Network and P&G and EP interference killed the show.

Dave was too young and inexperienced to head write a troubled show. Dave seemed to value and appreciate the history of the show but he took over after Weston, Labine, McTavish.  The three worst periods for the show. He was also forced to work with Swajeski who had petered out after four years on AW and again was not a writer; she had been a network hack.  But P&G was hiring to pay minimum salaries for those positions. Why do you think they replaced expensive Conboy with actress Wheeler. Do you think she was earning his salary? Nope.  

What was clear from comments: Paul Rauch was a hot mess with a lot of power.

Millee Taggart confirmed in a recent interview that her writing career started on Search when she ghost wrote scenes for her character, Janet.  She said it started during Ann Marcus's writing tenure in 1974.  She implied that she later continued to write the show during Ellis/Hunt stint using a male name, possibly Jackson Chase.

In the same interview, Courtney Simon (who played Kathy) revealed that Ellis/Hunt hired her as script writer on the doctors and she used the pen name Kate Brooks (named after her kids). Millee also wrote scripts at the same time as Heather Matthews, I believe.  Courtney recounted that when Ellis/Hunt were replaced by Lawrence and Ronnie Konnor, Lawrence called Courtney's house and when Peter Simon answered, Lawrence asked to speak with Kate which confused Peter who didn't know Courtney was using an alias. Peter thought Lawerence was calling about 3 year hold Kate Simon Hall (who's now a script writer on GH).

While Millee didn't reveal the following I believe she initially wrote ATWT under a pen name (KC Collier?)

1 hour ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

When did she write for SB? 

At least from July to October 1989.

5 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Did Millie marry writer Samuel D. Ratcliff?

As Maude would say God is going to get you for that..

Sam Ratcliffe was gay and died of Aids. Millee was involved with Tom King for some years.

17 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

 This episode has more of Eve's stalker story.  I think this was Eve's last big story. After that she just babysat Samantha Marler. For the next two yrs. I also liked the actress. She had a good sisterly chemistry with Rita. I like how Vanessa, Amanda and Jennifer are used as red herrings. In this episode.

 

Interesting to note that this episode aired during the writer's strike and it was 16 months into Marland's tenure as head writer and I counted at least 11 new characters and two recasts (Andy and Jackie).  Doug definitely cleaned house from the Dobson era.

1 hour ago, Efulton said:

I agree.  Soderberg and Purser improved the show significantly and quickly.  

But then P&G ruined it by firing them and Potter for Schenkel who'd never EP a daytime show and Culliton/Tomlin who had some interesting take but lasted less than a year before we had no head writer then the Sam Hall and Gillian Spenser. Ugh. P&G ruined their own shows at every turn.

One of my favorite times on AW was starting late 1982 to end of 1983 under Allen Potter with Robert Soderberg and Dorthea Purser. They stabilized the show and brought in so many great characters.  

39 minutes ago, KMan101 said:

 

I have to agree with you on this. Quite a few bad recasts, newbies who couldn't act. Almost every year it felt like a slew of new characters. I thought Marland had a lot of bland leading men that left me puzzled to what the vibrant and lively women saw in them, LOL.

 

I loved Casey and Lyla but I have to agree on the chemistry. I didn't see. I LOVE Casey as a character though and Lyla as well. Both actors are so good that they just make it work.

The story should have been that Casey was gay and couldn't handle his sexuality and married his mommy/armpiece.  

Ultimately, the Corringtons were a flash in the pan. They were best on SFT with some laughable plots; but they did revive the show.  Network execs thought they were brilliant but Texas was a bomb, never should have been made. Unoriginal, unfit for a setting for Beverly; and they were fired after six months.. They failed on Capitol after six months, failed on OLTL after six months, failed on GH after three months.  Joyce was hired on GL during Phelps/Doug Anderson time but was fired after several weeks.  She also was on the Santa Barbara writing team for a few months before being fired. They ended up writing Superior Court.

That 1989 Xmas episode displayed all that was starting to go wrong with Marland's version of ATWT: bloated cast, too many (bad) recasts, a bunch of newbies who couldn't act (Caleb, Duke).  I never got the Casey/Lila story. He was so hot but there was no chemistry there.  I liked this Frannie though.  The sets, costumes, directing were amazing if not a bit hyper. Everyone was so hyped up.  Kim's house was one of my favorite sets of that era.