I couldn't disagree more with that opinion. I hold the ruination of NBC daytime squarely on his shoulders.

(he shares responsibility with Langan and Corday and all the IIC who let him have that power for so long).

His daytime was based on the laziest writing I have ever seen: Any 10 year old could have come up with his

plots....Any half asleep writer could have executed them in the same fashion he did...

His daytime is one based on sensationalistic gimmicks, dragged out (for eternity) and trite and redundant

storylines--you could watch one week and tune in 3 years later for the same conversation, superficial

relationships and conversations, characters talking to themselves in full conversation, the evil crutch of the Dimeras

were constantly a standby, we had endless triangles, flat and hokey dialogue (no one spoke like real people)...It was not relatable in the least. Days under Reilly was a completely plot driven mess: characters and their motivation and history did not matter in the least. They were used to move along the always silly and over the top plot (everything and

anyone was expendable toward that end...no matter how stupid the plot). There was no complexity at all,

in any story or any character. We had underwear models in

place of actors...but that was just fine, because it's not like you needed to act on Reilly's Days.

He destroyed the intregrity and "realness" of the show and its characters...the show lost its heart, soul...and characters lost their minds. I no longer recognized or felt anything for characters I had once loved and adored. They became completely mindless plot devices...complete imitations, skeletons and shells of their former selves.

Days (along with Passions) became the joke of the industry under Reilly.

If Hogan had 5 years (and he doesn't) to fix this show, he might still be having to repair the mess Reilly left behind.

Excellent post. ITA with that assessment of JER. His work was definitely hyped on DAYS, as some masterpiece. It was hokey stuff.

oh yes Depreist belongs there as well But Please teel me more about James Lipton And you are scaring beacuse Scoot Hamner is writing at Y&R along side LML

Leah Laiman wasn't THAT bad on AW's deathbed! Maybe Christopher Goutman had a lot to do with that too...And Brad Bell may have his campy moments, but always delivers when the time comes. Although I used to LOVE Jimmy Reilly, yeah, there's a special place in hell for him too.

My Picks:

James Lipton(Head-Writer of CAPITOL in its final years.)

Although I never SAW the show, the backstage gossip and synopsis on the CAPITOL Fansite were all I needed to hear.

Ellen Weston(Head-Writer of GUIDING LIGHT from 2003-2005(?))

Terrible, terrible writer. Maryanne Carruthers 20-Year Nonsensical Story, anyone?!

Scott Hamner(Head-Writer of PORT CHARLES with Lynn Marie Latham in 1998, Solo for part of 1999)

Was there a worse story on that show than Psychic Espionage and the Frank/Courtney/Joe/Karen quad? How uneven! And Lucy the AIDS activist having unprotected sex in the Everglades with Scotty(who f!#$ed wh*re Eve Lambert to high heaven)? Yeah, wasn't THAT just great!?

Margaret DePriest(Head Writer of ANOTHER WORLD, SUNSET BEACH) who refused to write Frankie Frame's death in a way where she could be resurrected, because "Cass should return to his playboy, roguish ways." WTF ever!

Excellent post. ITA with that assessment of JER. His work was definitely hyped on DAYS, as some masterpiece. It was hokey stuff.

I think only Corday and IIC at Days/NBC "hyped" Reilly as some great master "artist".

Everyone else in daytime saw him for what he was: a hack - a gimmick "writer"...Days became

a joke.

Edited January 22, 200718 yr by Sweetness

His daytime was based on the laziest writing I have ever seen: Any 10 year old could have come up with his

plots....Any half asleep writer could have executed them in the same fashion he did...

His daytime is one based on sensationalistic gimmicks, dragged out (for eternity) and trite and redundant

storylines--you could watch one week and tune in 3 years later for the same conversation, superficial

relationships and conversations, characters talking to themselves in full conversation, the evil crutch of the Dimeras

were constantly a standby, we had endless triangles, flat and hokey dialogue (no one spoke like real people)...It was not relatable in the least. Days under Reilly was a completely plot driven mess: characters and their motivation and history did not matter in the least. They were used to move along the always silly and over the top plot (everything and

anyone was expendable toward that end...no matter how stupid the plot). There was no complexity at all,

in any story or any character. We had underwear models in

place of actors...but that was just fine, because it's not like you needed to act on Reilly's Days.

He destroyed the intregrity and "realness" of the show and its characters...the show lost its heart, soul...and characters lost their minds. I no longer recognized or felt anything for characters I had once loved and adored. They became completely mindless plot devices...complete imitations, skeletons and shells of their former selves.

A lot... and I mean a lot of that stuff can be applied to Megan McTavish's AMC.

McTavish pulls out plot devices more than a magican pulls rabbits out of a hat. Expolsions. DNA. Rape. Comas. Long lost sibling... MURDER MYSTERIES!

I mean, she's on her second murder mystery plot device in six months -- THIRD in 3 1/2 years overall. Michael Cambias in fall 2003, Greg Madden in summer 2006, Satin Slayer winter 2006-2007

The paternity/DNA device just. Won't. Die... Miranda, Little Adam, Josh, Spike, Emma, Baby Girl Carey, Kate/Kathy... NONE of the children brought on to this show during her tenure have had a cut and dry geneology.

A lot... and I mean a lot of that stuff can be applied to Megan McTavish's AMC.

McTavish pulls out plot devices more than a magican pulls rabbits out of a hat. Expolsions. DNA. Rape. Comas. Long lost sibling... MURDER MYSTERIES!

I mean, she's on her second murder mystery plot device in six months -- THIRD in 3 1/2 years overall. Michael Cambias in fall 2003, Greg Madden in summer 2006, Satin Slayer winter 2006-2007

The paternity/DNA device just. Won't. Die... Miranda, Little Adam, Josh, Spike, Emma, Baby Girl Carey, Kate/Kathy... NONE of the children brought on to this show during her tenure have had a cut and dry geneology.

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?

Reilly's Days=a huge joke.

Edited January 22, 200718 yr by Sweetness

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?

It's hard to put Reilly on there because you can't just go by his second failure on DAYS and his entire run on PSNS. When he wrote DAYS in the 90s, he was a great success! Sure, his stories were purely plot-driven, but even then, the show was number 2 for years! Reilly made DAYS the soap that it is today, point blank.

As for SSM, I agree that 97-99 were very boring DAYS. The show was like a brokedown version of Y&R, and that doesn't work, not with DAYS. I think she wanted to go back with traditional soap stories, but since Corday was on the gothic/sci-fi high that he got from Reilly, he forced her to write stories such as the brainwashing storylines. Swamp Girl was a GREAT storyline. I remember watching that storyline and I loved it. It was so good. I remember at one point thinking, has the Hope we've been watching been the wrong person? I'm glad they didn't go that route, but the intrigue and mystery was definitely there.

And as for her hand in creating the Salem High gang, she only created Belle, Mimi and maybe Shawn and Philip. I don't recall when SSM was released and Langan came on, but Chloe was introduced in December, while Belle was introduced in August, Mimi in September, and Shawn in October, Philip in November. So while she was responsible for actually SORASing some of the kids, she probably had no intentions on making DAYS teen crazy. While she was writing, Belle wasn't on that much. I remember wanting to see Belle, because Kirsten Storms came on shorly after Zenon debuted on Disney and I had a crush on Kirsten

Langan's name should be set in stone on that list. SSM? Not really.

ROBERT SUCK ASS GUZA

Margaret DePriest(Head Writer of ANOTHER WORLD, SUNSET BEACH) who refused to write Frankie Frame's death in a way where she could be resurrected, because "Cass should return to his playboy, roguish ways." WTF ever!

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.

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?

Reilly's Days=a huge joke.

OMG!! It's laughable and sad all at once. I do think "the Magic Carpet Ride" you are refering to when Mike and Carrie flew over Las Vegas occured under SSM's toxic pen, but all others can be attributed to Reilly and his sick, twisted, simple mind.

The first run he was entertaining, in a mindless sort of way. It was kind of like watching a cartoon with lazy dialouge. I still can't believe what it did to the show though. I still can't accept the damage it has done.

Since Days turned into a gothic sensation in the mid-ninties, soaps have fallen by the wayside. Several soaps tried to copycat the madness, and gimmicks to improve ratings. This only made the ratings lower in the end, as devoted fans stopped recognizing their shows and favorite characters.

Quality was traded for a quick boost, and what goes up too quickly, comes down just as fast once the shock wears off and the reality of the damage it has done sinks in.

It started with Days and spread through Daytime like cancer, and now gimmicks are still being used to draw viewers instead of character driven and emotional drama.

THANKS JER!! As entertaining as you were, I would lock you in hell and throw away the key, cause I really feel, that you are to blame for this mess.

OMG!! It's laughable and sad all at once. I do think "the Magic Carpet Ride" you are refering to when Mike and Carrie flew over Las Vegas occured under SSM's toxic pen, but all others can be attributed to Reilly and his sick, twisted, simple mind.

I stand corrected...I guess I see all of the show since 93' as "Reilly's era". Reilly's formula set the stage/created a show where that kind of scene could happen though...the writers after him/before his return were all copying his style and trying to "match" what he did (not to mention what Passions was doing).

The first run he was entertaining, in a mindless sort of way. It was kind of like watching a cartoon with lazy dialouge. I still can't believe what it did to the show though. I still can't accept the damage it has done.

I thought it was mindless, but wasn't entertained

Since Days turned into a gothic sensation in the mid-ninties, soaps have fallen by the wayside. Several soaps tried to copycat the madness, and gimmicks to improve ratings. This only made the ratings lower in the end, as devoted fans stopped recognizing their shows and favorite characters.

Quality was traded for a quick boost, and what goes up too quickly, comes down just as fast once the shock wears off and the reality of the damage it has done sinks in.

It started with Days and spread through Daytime like cancer, and now gimmicks are still being used to draw viewers instead of character driven and emotional drama.

THANKS JER!! As entertaining as you were, I would lock you in hell and throw away the key, cause I really feel, that you are to blame for this mess.

ICAM with all of this. And the reason this "style" of writing spread so easy, is because it was so easy...

there was no need to tell interwoven, meaningful...substantial and deep storylines when you could just

come up with some silly plot gimmick and go to town in making it as ridiculous as can be.

The worst headwriters whose work I've seen:

AMC

Margaret DePriest

Megan McTavish, imo hands-down the worst headwriter ever, especially 1998-1999 and 2005-present

Jean Passanante

GL

Ellen Weston

Megan McTavish

ICAM with all of this. And the reason this "style" of writing spread so easy, is because it was so easy...

there was no need to tell interwoven, meaningful...substantial and deep storylines when you could just

come up with some silly plot gimmick and go to town in making it as ridiculous as can be.

Word.

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.

Edited January 22, 200718 yr by Sweetness

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