I just learned something new today, and I don't like it at all, when I was looking through some of the achieves here on SON I found out that when Another World went off the air, it was Chris G. and Jean P. running the show. This has me very scared because I did not know this fact. Why would CBS hire this duo to take over a show when another show was cancelled partially due to them.

Edited December 25, 200619 yr by winterguy125

Yeah, I already knew this. I wasnt sure if Jean Passanante was writing at the time. The lastest episodes of ATWT look just like AW did at its end.

Edited December 25, 200619 yr by Soapsuds

I just learned something new today, and I don't like it at all, when I was looking through some of the achieves here on SON I found out that when Another World went off the air, it was Chris G. and Jean P. running the show. This has me very scared because I did not know this fact.

Chris G. has been EP of ATWT since shortly after AW went off the air. I believe he has been in charge for a little over seven years at ATWT. And AW/P&G, Chris G, and whoever was HW at the time of AW's cancellation wasn't the problem. NBC and their need to make room for Passions was what did AW in. I put the cancellation all on NBC because they were just dying for a reason to get rid of AW and they got it in Passions.

I forgot to mention though it was Leah L. and Jean P writing at the end there, but Leah is still on contract with ATWT so this does not change my scary thought at all.

And to this day PSNS does not compare to the superior soaps before it. But that's debateable.

I forgot to mention though it was Leah L. and Jean P writing at the end there, but Leah is still on contract with ATWT so this does not change my scary thought at all.

Yup, and now they are ATWT. As for Goutman I thought he was a great Executive Producer but now I think he is one of the worst. I still think he does a decent job at directing some shows.

I still think CG isn't that bad as an EP, although I wish he would start being more hands-on. JP is what is really the problem at ATWT.

Most think that "Another World" was on an upswing when they were cancelled.

There are a lot of talented, well at least I think they are talented, people who have written shows into the ground. Claire Labine wrote two shows into the grave. Pam Long was the final headwriter at three soaps.

There is also Brown & Essensten, who I think did great work with Dena Higley at "One Life to Live", but crapped out elsewhere. I believe "Guiding Light" hired James Harmon Brown and Barbara Essensten right after the wrote "Loving" and "The City" off the air. They went on to be the final headwriters who revamped "Port Charles".

I think Chris Goutman is okay, but ATWT needs to go back to their roots and get someone traditional and old fashioned to write the show. Right now it is very bizarre with all these evil characters running around doing bad things while being portrayed as heros. Paul, Meg and Dusty are great examples. There is no balance, no focus, no originality and no family. We didn't even get a Christmas episode for heavens sake!

Even with Hogan it was all about throwing things to the wall and seeing what sticks. ATWT is in dire need of someone who knows and cares about the history and what the show is supposed to be about. Hogan wrote an entertaining show, but it absolutely wasn't ATWT, IMO.

Claire Labine wrote two shows into the grave. Pam Long was the final headwriter at three soaps.

That is incorrect about Labine. Where the Heart Is was cancelled to make room for Y&R and when Labine joined this show (and Love of Life), the ratings rose. Ryan's Hope was killed when ABC fired her and tried to turn it into GH. Then they moved the timeslot, but when Labine returned the show was excellent once again and she continued to win a Writers Guild Award every year she wrote the show. I know Pam Long also wrote for Texas when it was cancelled and many think the show was better than ever with her. Just because someone is the headwriter at the end doesn't make it their fault.

There is also Brown & Essensten, who I think did great work with Dena Higley at "One Life to Live", but crapped out elsewhere. I believe "Guiding Light" hired James Harmon Brown and Barbara Essensten right after the wrote "Loving" and "The City" off the air. They went on to be the final headwriters who revamped "Port Charles".

Most people hate their writing, but I loved what they did with Port Charles (though the arcs could be hit or miss) and their work in the brilliant final season of Dynasty was excellent. Along with famous Dallas scribe David Paulsen, they delivered the best season of Dynasty since the second one.

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Chris B @ Dec 25 2006, 07:30 AM) </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That is incorrect about Labine. Where the Heart Is was cancelled to make room for Y&R and when Labine joined this show (and Love of Life), the ratings rose. Ryan's Hope was killed when ABC fired her and tried to turn it into GH. Then they moved the timeslot, but when Labine returned the show was excellent once again and she continued to win a Writers Guild Award every year she wrote the show. I know Pam Long also wrote for Texas when it was cancelled and many think the show was better than ever with her. Just because someone is the headwriter at the end doesn't make it their fault.

My point was Claire Labine and Pam Long are both very good headwriters and were with shows when they died. Claire Labine specifically jokes that she and Paul Avila Mayer wrote "Where the Heart Is" off the air. Claire Labine also knew when she came back to "Ryan's Hope" that they were going to cancel it eventually. I wasn't criticizing them at all or Pam Long for that matter. The fact is though that they were the final headwriters when the shows ended and because of that I completely agree with your final statement.

EDIT: sorry Chris, I looked back at what I originally wrote and realized that what I originally wrote does sound like I thought Labine and Long were churning out terrible work when the shows ended. I didn't intend that at all.

Edited December 25, 200619 yr by dc11786

Jean P is horrible and should not have been hired and especially left on her own once Hogan left. But Goutman has continually ignored holidays, anniversaries and the show's history and he has lost my respect. On AW, he ignored the show's 35th (and ultimately last) anniversary for the same reasons he ignores holidays on ATWT (can't stop the momentum of the GREAT stories). Well, ATWT isn't telling any great stories right now. Not a single one IMO. In years past, even in bad times, there was one story I could hang my hat on. With Hogan, he had some stinkers, but never a whole show full of them at the same time. But compared to the Marland years and many years before that, Goutman's ATWT is far inferior.

How many shows have four generations of one family (Nancy, Bob, Tom, Casey) with over 50 years of history and NEVER even show those generations together. New viewers probably think Nancy is Katie's grandma. What else are they supposed to think?

I'm so sad about how they are running this TV legend into the ground. ATWT is unlike GL in that many of these long-time vets haven't died in real life. They are alive and well and even on contract. I applaud ATWT for doing that (with some dubious exceptions like Larry Bryggman). But geez, what is the point, if we never see them or see them together. Nancy Hughes is homeless. That is TERRIBLE. ATWT needs a complete regime change.

I like Goutman.

He seems to be loyal to the show and is constantly pushing for innovation and ways to make things better, IMO.

Passanante is pissing all over the show. It appears she's been given a little too much free reign and it's showing onscreen.

Thankfully, there hasn't been any backstage drama. Anyone know when contracts are up?

I used to think Goutman was good, but now...I'm really starting to have my doubts. Ever since he's been EP, the vets have been backburnered. Just think about it: before Laiman took over, Tom and Margo consistently got storylines (maybe they weren't always good storylines, but they were still featured), and in the past 7 years, they've gotten what...?? 2, maybe 3 storylines??

I used to just blame the HW at the time, but Laiman, Sheffer, and Passanante have been HWs under him, and they've all been less-than-stellar IMO. Laiman was definitely the worst out of the three, and it's beyond-stupid that she still has a job on the show at all. Sheffer was supposedly the saving grace of the show. I don't believe that. I think he made the show into an Emmy-darling, which is good and all. But after a year or so, the stunts started becoming too much. Passanante started off OK actually. Up until July, I would have said that she was doing a decent job...but now, I think she needs to go. The show is in really bad condition. I can't believe how much the quality of the show has fallen in 6 short months.

Goutman also must be anti-holidays and anniversaries. I remember, maybe this was during Laiman or the beginning of Sheffer's tenure, that they did an anniversary special for Kim and Bob. There was also a tribute to EF and DH a few years back...this was before Hogan came on, I believe. I think that might have been the last time that the show actually did a legit anniversary show. Ever since then, the anniversary and holiday shows have all been spoofs and/or fantasy episodes...or not even worth mentioning (ie. all of the Christmas episodes in the past few years).

It's true that AW was on the up-swing before it got cancelled. I really have no idea why AW got cancelled. Up until 1997-1998, I would have bet anything that ATWT was going to be the P&G soap that was going to get the axe. IMO, Broderick saved the show from getting canned. Even if people didn't like her storylines, (which I loved IMO), during her time on the show, things started returning to their roots: there was a much better focus on the families and long-time characters on the show. Of course, when Laiman came on, that was all ruined. So maybe AW's cancellation had something to do w/ NBC. So that might have been why P&G decided to send Goutman over to ATWT. I really don't know.

I think that anyone who has been on the show as long as he has is going to have a lot of problems figuring out what's actually right for the show. Maybe 4 years ago, the kind of stuff he's doing now was good. But we're all sick of it. The stuff that we've been complaining about has been happening (or not happening) for ages now.

Edited December 25, 200619 yr by Ms. Walsh

I'm so sad about how they are running this TV legend into the ground. ATWT is unlike GL in that many of these long-time vets haven't died in real life. They are alive and well and even on contract. I applaud ATWT for doing that (with some dubious exceptions like Larry Bryggman). But geez, what is the point, if we never see them or see them together. Nancy Hughes is homeless. That is TERRIBLE. ATWT needs a complete regime change.

This has never made sense to me either. The show has all the vets it needs and most are on contract, but they still don't use them! Not even to prop the characters they do use. Where are Bob and Kim? And BTW, I did think Katie was Nancy's Granddaughter. So they're just girlfriends? If so Nancy needs to snatch up Henry and kick her to the curb. Katie is such a user!

You also mention the uber fierce Larry Bryggman who I'm just discovering through some classic episodes I have. How anyone can praise Sheffer after what he did to him is beyond me. Like Julia Barr on AMC, Bryggman is a 30+ year vet who didn't recieve a final episode, cake or even a mention all these years later! His daughter (Margo) and son (Dusty) are still on the show as well as love interests Kim, Susan and Lucinda, but still nothing.

Hogan, Goutman and all the rest are demons.

It really bothers me that the show just let LB leave like that. I'm sure that, if anything, LB just walked out and the show couldn't write him off. But still...10 years ago, the show would have done anything to let him stay. I remember in 1999, when Liz Hubbard left b/c she disagreed w/ her storyline, the show kept trying to get her to come back, and eventually she did. But do you think that the same thing would happen now? First off, she never even gets a storyline. But if she did and walked out now, the show would just not even mention Lucinda ever again. They would just make references to her being at a conference, and eventually nobody would care.

At the time, when LB left, I thought that he'd eventually come back. But now I realize that the show just didn't give a damn, and that makes me really upset that the show just let him leave and turned their back. They never made any mention of John again, yet on the 50th anniversary show, they featured him a lot?? It didn't make sense at all. It was such a slap in the face to the viewers IMO.