EricMontreal22

I'm about to watch that--but how interesting. I know from talking to people who were involved, quite a bit about the ABC writing program but not about ones at other networks (I wasn't even aware CBS had one.)

Bad ratings aside, how was Laibson as an EP? Did he have a strong vision at all?

So many great points. Well, McTavish's bizarre autobiography almost entirely ignores her writing work at any show but AMC (I think she mentions a bit about GH and maybe that's all? I should give it a re-read.) So I agree, her affinity really does seem to be for AMC. Part of that too seems to be that she appreciated the legacy (even if she shat on it sometimes with stories like the un-abortion) While her memoir has a lot of grumpy/mean comments about Agnes Nixon, it also makes clear that she has respect for her and seems to revere her and want to please her (so many contradictions I know) and so maybe she also liked that aspect of working at AMC that, at least after Bill Bell was too sick to work at Y&R, you wouldn't have working with the other soaps (well aside from Loving back then--hrmm McTavish at Loving...) I have to say, rewatching now I am much more impressed with the Erica pill story than I remember being (not that I wasn't impressed when it first aired, but... And as much as I revere Lorraine Broderick, it sure looks great compared to the follow up story with Baby Maddie.) That said, of course, most of the exposition for the pill storyline is the work of Corley and his team and then Broderick and not McTavish (it always interests me in transition periods just how much is playing out stories put in place by the earlier team.) I had totally forgotten about the Rauch component and that, given his time at OLTL, it may have been him who pushed B/E to do more outlandish stories. Certainly if he was still there for the time travel painting, that wouldn't be so far removed from his time travel OLTL storyline. @Paul Raven is right to correct me, it looks like maybe it was the work of Lloyd Gold (it's from 2001 which according to Wiki Clarie Labine wrote until July of that year, but then Gold took over.

I guess. I don't think B&B has been good for a VERY long time. But I will grant that it has been VERY consistent (something Y&R has not been) and I suspect that's a big reason for its success. (I also wonder if a 30 minute soap is simply more appealing now to people than an hour one--even if, if you watch without commercials, that's just 20 v. 40.)

Check your messages. I had forgotten how many fascinating details it has (although being a long dissertation a huge chunk of it is filled with methodology and maybe a bit too many minute details...)

Thanks both of you for such a detailed rundown. We do know that McTavish needs a strong EP to do her best work (I mean that;s usually true but is especially true for her...) I wonder if she was hired on the strength of her AMC alone, or if she actually "auditioned" by pitching the Brent/Marian storyline as is sometimes the case when new HWs are hired, especially when they have a compelling initial major storyline and then afterwards everything peters out.

I dunno, in this current network landscape, that's not so impressive.

They then talk a bit about Sam Hall's role as associate HW (he shares an office with Gordon Russell but only comes in a couple of times a week, working mostly from home) They do spit take conversations about overall story, but Sam's main job is to then do the detailed outline which Gordon heavily edits before sending to script writers. About Doris Quinlan there's this: Headwriter-Producer Relationship Gordon was not hired by Doris Quinlan nor does he consider himself accountable to her. When Gordon accepted the offer from the ABC Vice President of Programming to headwrite "One Life to Live", it was unofficially stipulated that he would not be working for Doris Quinlan but rather with her. Since she has more direct access to information concerning occurrences which transpire relative to directing, costume designing, scenic designing, tape scheduling and ratings, Gordon is inclined to take his producer's . 99 input quite seriously. However Gordon's interest in Doris's perceptions and observations should not suggest a subordinate relationship. To Gordon, Doris is an important liason, a feedback mechanism supplying him with information pertinent to the production, financial and aesthetic aspect of the show. Doris will criticize but will not chastise. She will recommend but will not insist. Gordon's insistance that he and Doris are on an equal footing appears, within a hierarchial context, theoretically true. However, Quinlan holds an important advantage of vantage point. The producer's position allows her an overview crucial to the functioning of the show as a whole. She is the hub of a synchronization process dealing with, amongst other elements of the production machine — writing. Producer-headwriter conversations ensue at no scheduled intervals. On occasion Gordon will personally deliver edited scripts to Doris (the producer's office is located at the ABC studios about five blocks from Gordon's office) in order to keep a finger on what's going on by talking to Doris, the directors and actors. Gordon explained "when I take them myself, I know they’ll get there". More often than conversing in person, Gordon and Doris speak via telephone. A portion of one such conversation which according to Gordon was fairly typical may be seen below: Doris: She can't go because she hasn't got a man to take her is rather un-Cathy Gordon: Oh Doris: Isn't it? Well, I think...what to comment on it or not. You know. Gordon: Oh, all right. Doris: I don't know...it's trivial Gordon: Yeah, Okay. I mean, I think she'd like to go with someone you know Doris: Yes, of course. Now she's well, Paul has invited her and if she's the lady she says she is, it should not concern her that she does not have an escort. Gordon: Yeah, all right, fine. Doris: I don't understnad page 4— why Cathy has a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. Nor do I understand what tl;t means when Pat proposes a toast to Tony's place on Cathy's reaction we go to black. What reaction? Gordon: Ah Doris: If Pat has brought a bottle of booze and all that...I don't quite understand why Cathy would be celebrating the opening of Tony's...we use it and she says: "I planned a celebration this way”. Gordon: That might be a good idea. Yeah. Doris: That would be more likely Gordon: Yeah, okay. We could make that note. Although Doris' approach to this communication is more interrogatory and clarification oriented than declarative and edification oriented, she accomplishes change. Gordon's yeahs, o.k.'s and all rights sprinkled throughout 101 this portion of the conversation seem to be representative of the head writer's attitude toward his producer's observations in relation to his script. That which she brings up is often not worth arguing or acclaiming. On occasion Doris has an idea which Gordon deems valuable — innovative. Such an idea was forthcoming in this particular phone conversation : Doris: All right, I'm also gonna see if there's any way I can get us a guest star for the opening [of Tony's Club]. Gordon: Fine, I'd love it. Also considered in headwriter-producer discussions are actors' schedules and availability. Because some performers are obligated to work only three or four shows a week script content and taping schedules must be accomodating ly arranged. Content and tape schedules may be altered due to actor illness or producer brainstorm. Whether rescheduling is necessitated by a performer's week long migraine or a guest star's need to work on a certain day, the maneuver is never accomplished without prior consultation between Doris and Gordon. The moment Doris receives scripts from Gordon they become joint property. No longer is Gordon's say final. All is subject to discussion, reevaluation and alteration. Gordon as headwriter is ultimately responsible for scripts submitted to Doris. Though Doris is uninvolved in social and/or work activity associated with the actual writing of "One Life to Live’s" scripts and outlines, she participates in final judgment of them. The process by which scripts are created, the focus of Chapter IV, would be of little interest to Doris. Her primary concern is the final product.

I thought I didn't have my copy of the 1976 dissertation on OLTL and how it is written but I found some of the excerpts (this is badly copied from an old photo copy so all errors are due to copy and paste.) Gordon's predecessor and mentor, Agnes Nixon, created the bible for "One Life to Live." When Mrs. Nixon sold "Life" to ABC, Gordon was hired in her place. One of Gordon's first obligations to the network and the show was to create a six month summary. This summary, drawing from the bible, entails specific long range events scheduled ot occur. The events are scheduled with approval of the producer and the network. Decisions are made in relation to the six month summary primarily by Gordon. However determinations are subject to alterations based upon ratings (viewer mail, which trickles in, seems to have little effect on the course of the show). Mrs. Nixon, though officially unassociated with the show (except for an obligation to consult with the writing personnel in times of rating decline) still has important and valued input regarding future events as reflected in the six month summary. A recent Agnes Nixon intervention resulted in changing an already completed six month summary. Ratings were dropping drastically; in a two month period they had fallen from a share of 29 to 19. Mrs. Nixon called Gordon offering advice. "When Aggie speaks," Gordon explained, "you listen." Gordon's six years with "Life" and two years with another soap called "Dark Shadows" by no means equals Mrs. Nixon's 25 years of experience as a soap opera writer. Aggie recommended the demise of Victor, a patriarchial figure who had been with the show since its inception. Nixon claimed the show was dragging, stuck in the past — inundated with the old. Victor, a thoroughly ingrained part of the Llanview community would have to go. Heeding Aggie's advice, Gordon prepared for Victor’s death by sharing the idea with his producer and then changing the six month summary. A six month summary does not necessarily include circumstantial exactitudes. For example, Victor, dying as a result of a stroke, may or may not be a circumstance mentioned in the six month summary. That Victor will die and his death will facilitate organizational changes in the social and emotional lives of the remaining Llanviewites, would be included in the six month summary. Mention of events which could potentially cause character metamorphoses are made in the six month summary with the aid of qualifiers, e.g. possibly Victor will have to adjust his will leaving money to his estranged son instead of Dorian, the deceptive wife.

This is my thought too. In that 1976 dissertation that was archived online about how a soap is written which covers OLTL at the time (and includes a script) either Sam Hall or Gordon Russell actually say that they still phone Agnes Nixon for advice (she told them to kill Victor lol) and that it's still in the show's contract that if ratings drop below a certain number, Nixon will return as HW. So just how far did the numbers have to fall? But yes, from a modern POV all those 75-76 episodes we got are pretty compelling I think. It does seem though that it wasn't until Stuart took over that the writing really started on its trajectory to the peaks of 1979 (and I don't just mean Karen Wolek.)

Time travel painting was also under B/E, right?

As others have said, do sweeps months really matter whatsoever anymore (with daytime programming, but even primetime programming?) I assumed, with the huge erosion of network tv in general that they had become irrelevant.

Interesting, as I have it on good authority that AMC's Erica Kane's pill addiction story WAS instigated by McTavish (at least the setup/concept) even though her name was off the end credits literally a few episodes before Erica had her fall. What you say about the tone of the show (and how much the Marian storyline dominated and despite its offensiveness, probably offered most of the compelling material) jives with the episodes from this era that I've seen. Thanks for more details! Was Amish Reva McTavish or right before her? It's interesting that while McTavish's three runs at AMC all ended up being unrelentingly dark (especially her later runs,) at her best she did seem to have the facility to provide AMC with lighter moments and some heart (Agnes Nixon's involvement as "exec head writer" or whatever the first go around notwithstanding.) and yet, she never seemed to have any of this at her other stints, at least from what I remember of her 18 months at OLTL and what I've read at her similarly brief GH run (of course in both instances she was probably essentially doing what JFP wanted.) I also find it interesting that, despite a brief break with other writers, pretty soon after GL hired Brown/Esensten hot off The City (which I still think in its final months was a pretty strong soap, so it made some sort of sense to use them,) another ABC writing team known for some outlandish stories (although it wasn't until GL that they started to go sci fi/supernatural as they would on PC...)

Is that really you, DRW50?

Most of my GL knowledge is from the history of the show--pre mid 1980s (some years back now I listened to tons of episodes from the radio days--mostly the early 1950s focusing on Meta, and have seen most of the old Youtube episodes.) So I apologize for this question which probably was addressed at some point here. Watching 90s AMC again, I had forgotten that when Megan McTavish was fired from AMC in 1995, she was pretty much scooped up straight away by GL (given how highly rated most of her early 90s AMC run was, I'm sure that was seen as a coup.) I think she only stuck around for a year and a half before she was dropped--I know that she wrote the infamous Marian Crane/Brent storyline but what are the general thoughts about her run overall? Was there anything good she brought to the show? Her final stories on AMC at that popint were seen as relying too much on gimmicks (doubles, etc)--was this the kind of storytelling she brought to GL as well? (Knowing McTavish and how quickly she switched between shows, I have to wonder if she brought any ideas for AMC over to GL)