Can any AMC watchers tell me who was responsible for psychic Mateo and that whole Joy Hawkins/carnival storyline where Hayley was kidnapped and tattooed? Was that MMT?

That was around 1998. Yep, that was McTravesty.

^^^^ Yes, that story kicked off the first six months of 1998 -- which climaxed in one of Megan's favorite devices... an EXPLOSION at Holidays on the Fourth of July.

DePreist, as much as it hurts me to say this because my Sam died under her, does not deserve to be on that list. She wrote some really good stuff.

Neither does LML. Even though she has her faults she does what needs to be done and does not worry about what the fans reaction will be.

Here's my list:

James Reilly

Megan Mctavish

Dena Highly

Tom Langan

Jean Passanate

Bob Guza

There are more....I just can't think of them right now, lol.

I never knew a lot of this Steve, thanks frame!

I hated that decision that DePriest made but I think overall DePreist's record in daytime is enough to save her from that list. I think she works better as a co-writer esp. when she was teamed with Pat Falken Smith and Sherri Anderson, but I even liked some of her stuff alone. She was responsible for one of Antoher World's last great storylines that I thoroughly enjoyed and that was the return of Mary McKinnon as the wife of Reginald Love. Taht was an exciting time in Another World.

The Love-McKinnon feud was stirred up and played out wonderfully. And Denise Alexander's acting was great. There was also the introduction of Scott LaSalle and it was hinted that he might be the brother of Marly & Victoria putting a twist in the Donna/Michael story. I have never figured out why that was dropped. It conincided with Anna Stuart's departure as Donna. It showed her have her breakdown about the babies, and we saw Donna wheeled off hugging 3 pillows to her representing the babies. But when Donna returned the 3 pillows was forgotten and never mentioned.

Also DePriest is co-responsible for much of the great Luke & Laura years on GH having served as co-headwriter from 1979-1982 before she and Pat Falken Smith moved to Days of Our Lives where they rejuvanated the show with the introduction of the Brady family and getting rid of much of the dead rubble stories of the past 2 years on the show. When Smith left again it was DePriest who continued the Salem Strangler story alone and pulled Days some of it's best ratings in 2 years and made it the talk of the nation at the time when she wrote the death of Marlena Evans. It ended up not being Marlena but her twin Samantha that was the victim.

Under DePriest she further cemented the shows transformation into the supercouple show.

So I say all this to say that even though DePriest is not one of the best writers in daytime, she doesn't deserve to be in the list of worst either. Like many other writers she has a habit of making some bad decisions but overall I think she has a very good record.

her run was ok. JER was a tough act to follow at that point in time. Why did she leave any way?

Am I the only one who actually enjoyed SSM's tenure on DAYS? It wasn't as good as JER's first run by any means, but I thought it was pretty good.

Margaret DePriest, IMO, doesn't deserve to be on this list either. She did some great stuff on DAYS, and from what I've seen of her work in AW reruns, she was pretty good there too.

Anyway, here's who I would put on this list.

Megan McTavish

Dena Higley

Ellen Weston

James E. Reilly (post-90s)

Jean Passanante

David Kreizman

Robert Guza, Jr.

Charles Pratt, Jr.

Tom Langan

Leah Laiman

Henry Stern

I thought DePriest and -- was it Whitesell? -- did a good job with AMC from 1988-1990, I think? I know DePriest wrote the Billy Clyde Tuggle/Tad Martin/Bomb on the Lockport Bridge story.

I know exactly who deleted my answer to amlcproduction's question as to why I was suspended. So, can't handle the truth can ya?

Jesus, when did this board turn into 1984?

Edited January 25, 200718 yr by HoganStaysAtDAYS1

Hogan i saw ur post about death htreats and I did respond. It seems a lot of krazy is goings on right now.

I know exactly who deleted my answer to amlcproduction's question as to why I was suspended. So, can't handle the truth can ya?

Jesus, when did this board turn into 1984?

Days had a similar obsession with Who's The Daddy storylines under Reilly

I don't know McTavish's work very well ..but I have to ask...

Have dolls come to life and chimpanzees started talking?

Seen any swamp things roaming around?

Have any of these characters levitated over beds while possessed by the devil?

Has a couple floated away on their flying bed while making love?

Compared to the living, breathing, walking fetus that MMT has stuck AMC with, that stuff doesn't sound half bad. We'll gladly give you the fetus for a talking chimp.

I have to get going to class but there's something I have to add to the

discussion of Days under Reilly...

I had a discussion about his style of writing with a friend of mine

in the mid or late 90s. At the time the focus on the teens was especially

strong, as well as the Reilly sensationalism. I believe Sunset Beach

had just started as well.

I wondered how daytime had gotten to *that* level...and I do mean

sensationalistic Days drivel and a focus on dull teen storylines.

My friend's theory? She blamed it all on Aaron Spelling's

Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place (particularly sensationalistic

and over the top in plot centered-ness at the time)

I know those shows had a lot of fans...but I can see why she made the

connection. They were extremely popular night time soaps and the daytime

soaps clamored to imitate them. And yes, they were better written than

Days under Reilly....but I can certainly agree with her that there seemed to

be a connection between daytime's sudden youth obsession and

the popularity of Spelling's shows.

Reilly took that "style", ran with it, and took it to its furthest extreme...adding his

own gimmicks. The sensationalism kicked up a notch.

I can see where you're coming from, and those who say that JER's influence on (and ultimately damage to) the way shows are done. But weren't some soaps also doing far-out things even BEFORE Reilly took over at Days? Some believe the adventure, plot-heavy, couple-heavy formula pushed by GH and Days in the 80s was counter-productive in the long run, and that soaps reap what they sow. And wasn't it the case during Paul Rauch's time on OLTL, that they had a couple of ridiculous storylines in the latter half of the 80s- a time, mind you, when they were doing really well in the ratings?

We've had discussions before on the merits of Reilly and McTavish's first stints on their shows, and we could conclude they just got really lucky. Especially McTavish, because she had the saving grace of working under FMB.

I would agree with the inclusion of McTavish, Higley, Passanante, Reilly, Laiman, Black, Stern and Langan. And, sadly, Brad Bell too. SSM I'm not so sure- her tenure wasn't brilliant, but does it compare favourably to JER Mark II, Higley or Langan? I'm not sure on Margaret DePriest- wasn't the whole thing on Frankie's death blamed on JFP? A lot of the time, EPs and network execs above and the script and breakdown writers below can have a BIG impact on the quality of work under any given HW. It may have been the case with SSM, and also why Broderick didn't last long on Days.

Which is also why I disagree, quite strongly, with the inclusion of Richard Culliton on the list. Culliton is a capable writer, whether as a script or HW, but some of his HW stints- especially recent ones- have tended to be interfered with from above. He did co-write with Pam Long on GL in the 80s before going to Another World where IIRC characters like Marley, Felicia, Cass and Wallingford all came to the fore- this was also the time (1984-85 I think) when AW's ratings made something of a recovery and stabilisation, albeit off the back of Days' own resurgence. His one year or so on ATWT, I think most acknowledge, compared favourably to the garbage that followed right after- especially the John/Lisa storyline.

As for the Days teen scene, my understanding is that SSM and then Broderick wanted a gradual phasing in, as opposed to Corday and Langan wanting to jump right in, which they did.

they should have lisnted to SSm and Boderick because when those teens invavded the ratings dropped as well. I like the current teen scene on Days now.

I can see where you're coming from, and those who say that JER's influence on (and ultimately damage to) the way shows are done. But weren't some soaps also doing far-out things even BEFORE Reilly took over at Days? Some believe the adventure, plot-heavy, couple-heavy formula pushed by GH and Days in the 80s was counter-productive in the long run, and that soaps reap what they sow. And wasn't it the case during Paul Rauch's time on OLTL, that they had a couple of ridiculous storylines in the latter half of the 80s- a time, mind you, when they were doing really well in the ratings?

We've had discussions before on the merits of Reilly and McTavish's first stints on their shows, and we could conclude they just got really lucky. Especially McTavish, because she had the saving grace of working under FMB.

I would agree with the inclusion of McTavish, Higley, Passanante, Reilly, Laiman, Black, Stern and Langan. And, sadly, Brad Bell too. SSM I'm not so sure- her tenure wasn't brilliant, but does it compare favourably to JER Mark II, Higley or Langan? I'm not sure on Margaret DePriest- wasn't the whole thing on Frankie's death blamed on JFP? A lot of the time, EPs and network execs above and the script and breakdown writers below can have a BIG impact on the quality of work under any given HW. It may have been the case with SSM, and also why Broderick didn't last long on Days.

Which is also why I disagree, quite strongly, with the inclusion of Richard Culliton on the list. Culliton is a capable writer, whether as a script or HW, but some of his HW stints- especially recent ones- have tended to be interfered with from above. He did co-write with Pam Long on GL in the 80s before going to Another World where IIRC characters like Marley, Felicia, Cass and Wallingford all came to the fore- this was also the time (1984-85 I think) when AW's ratings made something of a recovery and stabilisation, albeit off the back of Days' own resurgence. His one year or so on ATWT, I think most acknowledge, compared favourably to the garbage that followed right after- especially the John/Lisa storyline.

As for the Days teen scene, my understanding is that SSM and then Broderick wanted a gradual phasing in, as opposed to Corday and Langan wanting to jump right in, which they did.

Jesus, when did this board turn into 1984?

:lol:

they should have lisnted to SSm and Boderick because when those teens invavded the ratings dropped as well. I like the current teen scene on Days now.

IIRC, Days' was still in the top 3 ratings-wise during SSM's tenure.

The real big divers in the ratings the previous year was ABC. GH saw its numbers fall back from vying with Days and B&B for 2nd, but AMC and OLTL tanked big time. Especially considering AMC had been a top 5 soap for most of the previous 20 years, under McTavish's second stint its ratings fell below even ATWT and GL!

Jean Passanante

Scott Hamner PORT CHARLES