OLTL co-headwriter?

[Ridge]

Like Hogan said, those were JER doings not Dena. Dena is actually writing for these characters, I'm not really referring to storyline points/plots here because ultimately those can be trivial when you look at the bigger picture. Dena on DAYS was pointless drivel, lack of storyline and character disintegration/destruction. She did not write storylines there were random events mixed in with insane character destruction. She had the goop and worst of all she destroyed on of Bope's biggest memories by selling off The Fancy Face... for no reason. It's a different feel on OLTL, I can watch the show and still connect with the characters despite those storylines, which aren't as bad.

[allatwitter]

In behind the scenes news, Ron Carlivati has been promoted to co-head writer of ONE LIFE TO LIVE. "He has worked here over 10 years; he's great," praises Executive Producer Frank Valentini. "He's very loyal to ONE LIFE, and so creative." Dena Higley remains head writer.

[Ponz]

The decline only begun after Higley's material starting airing. In Jan of 2003, the show was still drawing ratings as high as 3.8. Higley's rewrites (eg. erasing Jennifer's pregnancy) were already on-screen by February. The decline co-incided almost exactly with her arrival. IMO, she wasn't taking over a show that needed help.

[Mason]

Exactly. In fact, I blame a good bit of DAYS's current predicament squarely on Higley. If it weren't for her and her crappy stories that led to DAYS's lowest ratings (at the time), NBC never would have forced JER back on the show, and we wouldn't be where we are today. For that, I will always hold a grudge against that woman.

[ZaraB]

I was aware those were JER's items, but they were low points for DOOL and comparable to the destruction DH has wreaked on OLTL. On Days, her writing was bizarre, pointless and inane, but harmless (goop, the gentlemen's club). Dena now doesn't just have pointless drivel, her tenure could be called unpalatable, shock orientated pointless drivel with character destruction. Todd bears little resemblance to RH's Todd, not necessarily bad unless one considers turning the complex, quick-witted antihero into a sniveling, snarky wimp an improvement. Nora was a fighter, yet handed over Spencer's prosecution to Evangeline? Blair cowering over the spectre of Mad Mags, then turning on Todd for killing her? David eluded Interpol for years, yet never even concocted one scheme to get out from under his brother's thumb.

Even after the Daniel reveal, all the characters harmed most by the fallout were ushered out or into other relationships within weeks (Riley, Nora, Lindsay, Bo, Rex) - so where was the point?. Then we get such items as 'Mags' dead body floating in the river for three weeks, only to find out it was a nameless corpse from Kentucky months later, the point being to get Todd falsely executed. Three days later, Spencer is still brandishing a needle threatening Todd. All Todd's vengeance consisted of was a lame kidnapping and a suspension of Spence's medical license, quickly revoked. There was a year and a half of Spencer's hatred of the Buchanans leading into....a scene where Spencer is not a Buchanan, and he takes Viki (who shouldn't even have been there) hostage in front of all the Buchanan men (and David, the likely Buchanan). We wait almost a year for the kiddie porn reveal that most of us guessed right from that summer only to have the villain be a newbie old geezer in an oxygen tent, beyond any meaningful vengeance any Lord,Buchanan or.Vega could take.

I've lost any connection to the characters I've felt. Soap can about shocking things, but the fallout needs to examined, not swept under the rug, and there has to be something, preferably a new story, rising from the ashes. Nora was an intense favorite, and I didn't even watch yesterday as her house was burning down - because no doubt it will end up to be all about John and Natalie. Everything else on the show has been.

No, I am not a Dena fan. Not a Valentini fan. Not a Frons fan. This new co-ead writer may have softened some of Dena's tendencies, but there's a way to go - especially with Frons, Valentini and Higley all still around.

[Scotty]

Thanks guys....I'm about to leave for class now, but I'll this report and the OLTL previews for you when I return tonight.

Thanks again!

[Lskreet]

LOL

But I will say the show has SLOWLY been improving. They are giving the vets more airtime and more of a story. It looks like they are going to shake things up and actually break up the boring couples and try something new. I know there wasn't a big event for this sweeps but the old stories are being wrapped up and new ones are beginning.

I'm hoping things continue to improve and if that's because of Ron then that's great.

[Ridge]

You're absolutely right... I guess I should say that Dena isn't as bad as she was on DAYS and that's the only good thing about it. The characters have suffered but hopefully the show is going in a good direction.