One thing's for sure, Lauren actually believing that this Janet Greenesque Phyllis clone is actually Sheila is the funniest [!@#$%^&*] ever and proves her stupidity even more.

LMAO! That is so true!

For that matter, anyone who honestly believes this is the way Sheila is gonna go out is stupid.

For that matter, anyone who honestly believes this is the way Sheila is gonna go out is stupid.

I may be stupid but I am enjoying it.

As someone who was very opposed to this storyline in the beginning, I'm eating my fair share of crow after this past week. I freaking loved today's show!

Well, this way over rated actress, Kimberlin Brown, is not on the show anymore now is she?

So the only Sheila I know is this one. Played by Michelle whatever her last name is.

I don't care about Sheila's journey over the years to becoming the complete crazy [!@#$%^&*] that she is today.

And I don't care at all about what happened with Sheila in 1996 or whatever.

Seriously.

"Oh poor misunderstood psycho"...boo hoo.

So she just killed extras so that makes her crimes ok?

Murder is murder.

She has tried to kill how many people now? Lauren,Taylor,Stephanie,Maggie,...

Either she needs locked up or needs to be killed off once and for all...or what? She slips into the night until she returns with another new face?...

How about Dru's face?

Maybe she gets a sex change so she can look like Victor?...lol

Some act like KB wrote her own storylines or something.

I've seen her act on two other soaps and she was not all that.

This woman will never be in a league with the other soap legends, IMO.

She is no Reva, She is no Viki, She's no Luke.

No matter how much you wave your freak flag.

But go ahead and insult people because you're not getting your own way...

Get all cranky if ya want.

It's ok...my son gets like that too when it's past his nap time.

I have some extra binkies if you need something to suck on.

Wait...that sounds [!@#$%^&*]y-ish.

Not my goal here...

Just lay off the insults...Just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view does not make them wrong or stupid.

Well, this way over rated actress, Kimberlin Brown, is not on the show anymore now is she?

So the only Sheila I know is this one. Played by Michelle whatever her last name is.

I don't care about Sheila's journey over the years to becoming the complete crazy [!@#$%^&*] that she is today.

And I don't care at all about what happened with Sheila in 1996 or whatever.

Seriously.

"Oh poor misunderstood psycho"...boo hoo.

So she just killed extras so that makes her crimes ok?

Murder is murder.

She has tried to kill how many people now? Lauren,Taylor,Stephanie,Maggie,...

Either she needs locked up or needs to be killed off once and for all...or what? She slips into the night until she returns with another new face?...

How about Dru's face?

Maybe she gets a sex change so she can look like Victor?...lol

Some act like KB wrote her own storylines or something.

I've seen her act on two other soaps and she was not all that.

This woman will never be in a league with the other soap legends, IMO.

She is no Reva, She is no Viki, She's no Luke.

No matter how much you wave your freak flag.

But go ahead and insult people because you're not getting your own way...

Get all cranky if ya want.

It's ok...my son gets like that too when it's past his nap time.

I have some extra binkies if you need something to suck on.

Wait...that sounds [!@#$%^&*]y-ish.

Not my goal here...

Just lay off the insults...Just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view does not make them wrong or stupid.

All I'm going to say is that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you're babbling about. So come back when you have something to say that's actually backed up with FACTS.

Ok.

Let's be respectful and pull it back in. No need to get riled up on either side.

But go ahead and insult people because you're not getting your own way...

Get all cranky if ya want.

It's ok...my son gets like that too when it's past his nap time.

I have some extra binkies if you need something to suck on.

Wait...that sounds [!@#$%^&*]y-ish.

Not my goal here...

Just lay off the insults...Just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view does not make them wrong or stupid.

I pity your son ... what a drag having such an [!@#$%^&*]/bully for a dad.

^Was that really neccessary?

But to the topic on hand, LML has basically went against every single one of Marland's Rules. But it's not because of what she did to Sheila (who isn't really a stable of Y&R) but moreso of what she did to the show as a whole. It's sad and pathetic.

Okay Roman has already warned and asked every one to back off from the insults.

Any more name calling such as the one in the last post by anyone in this thread will result in warnings being handed out.

As Roman said:

Let's be respectful and pull it back in. No need to get riled up on either side.

Okay Roman has already warned and asked every one to back off from the insults.

Any more name calling such as the one in the last post by anyone in this thread will result in warnings being handed out.

Steve I forgot you were a mod now. If I haven't told you before, congrats.

Steve I forgot you were a mod now. If I haven't told you before, congrats.

Thanks Dru.

1) Watch the show.

Point to Latham, she watched.

2) Learn the history of the show. You would be surprised at the ideas that you can get from the back story of your characters.

Half a point, she tried but clearly didn't understand.

3) Read the fan mail. The very characters that are not thrilling to you may be the audience's favorites.

No points.

4) Be objective. When I came to ATWT, the first thing I said was, what is pleasing the audience? You have to put your own personal likes and dislikes aside and develop the characters that the audience wants to see.

Ha! Latham clearly has favorites (Phyllis, Dru, Brad, Amber) and begrudgingly writes for those who aren't her favs (Kay and Jill).

5) Talk to everyone: writers and actors especially. There may be something in a character's history that will work beautifully for you, and who would know better than the actor who has been playing the role?

She has done this but to what great effect? None from what I've seen.

6) Don't change a core character. You can certainly give them edges they didn't have before, or give them a logical reason to change their behavior. But when the audience says, "He would never do that," then you have failed.

This has been more than covered here.

7) Build new characters slowly. Everyone knows that it takes six months to a year for an audience to care about a new character. Tie them in to existing characters. Don't shove them down the viewers' throats.

This rule has been broken and beaten and raped and mangled and tortured for the past year. AMBER, Korbel, Cane, David Chow Wong Foo, Carmen, Jana, Maggie, Bardwell...

8) If you feel staff changes are in order, look within the organization first. P&G (Proctor and Gamble) does a lot of promoting from within. Almost all of our producers worked their way up from staff positions, and that means they know the show.

Latham's brought in her own team, dropping long time writers. She's brought on people she's failed with in primetime, people who have failed spectacularly on other soaps, and those who managed to keep Y&R at the top have been let go.

9) Don't fire anyone for six months. I feel very deeply that you should look at the show's canvas before you do anything.

Jerry Douglas was gone in 2 months.

10) Good soap opera is good storytelling. It's very simple.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! No points.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! No points.

RoFL! I literally burst into laughter reading that.

Point to Latham, she watched.

Half a point, she tried but clearly didn't understand.

No points.

Ha! Latham clearly has favorites (Phyllis, Dru, Brad, Amber) and begrudgingly writes for those who aren't her favs (Kay and Jill).

She has done this but to what great effect? None from what I've seen.

This has been more than covered here.

This rule has been broken and beaten and raped and mangled and tortured for the past year. AMBER, Korbel, Cane, David Chow Wong Foo, Carmen, Jana, Maggie, Bardwell...

Latham's brought in her own team, dropping long time writers. She's brought on people she's failed with in primetime, people who have failed spectacularly on other soaps, and those who managed to keep Y&R at the top have been let go.

Jerry Douglas was gone in 2 months.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! No points.

Great commentary Darn.

Sadly just about everything you said is true. But even sadder is that every bit of it applies to every new writer that has taken over a show in the last 2 years to 3 years.

Let's see:

Passanante (ATWT) - yes broke them all

McTavish (AMC) - yes broke them all

Higley (OLTL) - broke them all and then some more

Sheffer (Days) - some will say no but yes he has - he has broken every one of them at times - some might not necessarily be his fault but they fall under his tenure and his decisions have been made more glaring because of some of them

Kriezman (GL) - yes broke them all

Technically Latham is no worse than any of the others. Sadly that is not saying much.

Soaps seem to be run differently behind the scenes nowadays in comparison to the days of soap production when this list of rules was written. Of course, headwriters do deserve alot of the blame, but I also think that alot of things are out of their control in today's world where everything is run by committee.