Jess I don't even begin to know what to think after reading the fall preview stuff. It certainly doesn't inspire hope or interest. I do find some of the stuff rather contradictory however both from the prespective of what is playing out now and from concrete stuff on the net. That does make me question if there are some changes somewhere. I don't know what to say at this point. I did have to laugh after reading the SOD stuff because the focus of that article was where I thought the show should be even if the content make me want to disconnect my TV. It is obvious that someone gets it even if they don't want to admit it.

Forget my last comments the show is done stick a fork in it.

B&E weren't simply script writers they were also billed as story consultants. They were supposedly the bridge writers between Dena and Malone and stayed on to write for ME. That's why I hold them responsible for the BBQ.

If that's true then wouldn't they deserve a lot of the positive credit people gave Dena during her early months?

If that's true then wouldn't they deserve a lot of the positive credit people gave Dena during her early months?

Yes and while I find nothing at all positive about Higley's reign of terror, it doesn't escape my notice that the ratings while BE were part of the team are higher than Hackely has ever achieved on her own. Says a lot doesn't it.

If that's true then wouldn't they deserve a lot of the positive credit people gave Dena during her early months?

I guess you could say that but I never gave it any positive credit.

To me they only know how to do a couple kinds of stories anymore and the way they ended up seemingly killing or ruining half the characters on PC is disgraceful. Cartoonish writing and even if it was only those Holly and Reva clone stories, that would still be too much for me to ever want them near a show again. Except it isn't, you also have the Avatar, the werewolf, the angels, Karen dying, Kevin Collins getting the shaft, the vampire club on PC...

I admit I never paid much attention to PC--I had a biase against it from the start as I was really loving the last few months of City. But from what I remember most people kinda liked the early B&E work at PC and it was only that they got trapped in a rut of doing more and more of the same stuff with the same characters etc that it really fell apart--I can'

t help thinking that someone from up above was instructing them to do this as it seems very much ABCDaytime's M.O. the last 5 years.

I admit B&E dont' sound like an ideal mix on the show especiallyw ith Frons there (it seems like they'd be as willing as Higley or McT at AMC to conform to Frons' every whim) but I can't think that their 4 years at Loving and City (which they largely created with just a bit of help from Agnes Nixon) was a total fluke.

E

I was a fan of Port Charles, and the passing years since the cancellation have given me plenty of time to think about why Brown and Esensten failed to keep the show on track...at least during that last six months they were on the air. By that point, there was so much pressure on them to get up the ratings (even if almost 20% of the ABC affiliates weren't airing the show on the normal schedule) that they jumped at any gimmick to pick up those ratings. Vampires had won over a lot of fans and critics in 2001, so they went with that. Also, Barbara Bloom (who had been listed as a co-headwriter) left her post to take over as head at CBS Daytime. Still, looking back at some of the storylines before April, 2003...this show did entertain and storylines were wrapped up much more quickly than any we've seen on OLTL lately.

Brown and Esensten could work as co-headwriters at OLTL, but the pairing would benefit from a third co-headwriter, and you might think I'm crazy for suggesting this, but I think John Loprieno would be great at it. He's been there as a writer as well as an actor who was loved by a lot of fans, and he definitely knows the show's history. Get rid of Higley and hire that trio, but don't forget that there are two more rotten apples up that tree that need to be removed...and I have no idea who to suggest to replace them!

Loretta

I watched PC for just about half of its life, and was conversant enough with GH. Ironcially, the soap left with perhaps its strongest story, but it really involved only 4 characters -- and the same four characters who dominated most of the last two years. Did no one at ABC Daytime even think about what went wrong? From what I've seen on OLTL, they seem determined to recreate history. Like others, until production is changed, a writing change is only a temporary reprieve, a bandaid on a severed artery -- and Dena has boxed in so much of the stories a new writer's hands would be tied for at least six months even if she were fired today.

At this point I don't think it matters who is the writer. FV's concept of the show is the problem. Family, Viki, the Buchanans have no place in Llanview. Mental illness, sterility, rape are all funny rather than serious. Talent isn't valued. The concept of multigenerational and complex and compelling stories and characters isn't valued. All they want is Mikey. That vision is one that has been routinely rejected by the viewers starting with Al's death and yet they continue to repeat the same mistakes again and again. Until they get rid of production this show will continue to sink.