http://soapnet.go.com/news/soapnet_amc_headwriters.html

BARBARA J. ESENSTEN AND JAMES HARMON BROWN NAMED HEADWRITERS FOR ALL MY CHILDREN

Brian Frons, president, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group announced today that long-time writing partners Barbara J. Esensten and James Harmon Brown will join ABC's Emmy® Award-winning soap All My Children as headwriters.

"We're thrilled to welcome this talented team back to ABC," said Frons. "They're known for telling compelling stories that take characters and viewers on a great emotional ride, and their creative vision promises to continue the show's tradition of cutting-edge storylines. Fans can expect an exciting summer in Pine Valley and can look forward to even more of the romance and intrigue they have come to love and look for on All My Children."

"Combined with their ability to take creative and emotional risks, Barbara and Jim write with commitment to character integrity and honesty. I look forward to working with them again and welcome them to All My Children," said executive producer Julie Hanan Carruthers.

The Esensten-Brown Emmy® Award-winning writing team have written for the ABC dramas Dynasty, Port Charles and One Life to Live. In addition they wrote for Guiding Light, and most recently served as head writers for Days of our Lives.

Please, Jill is as bad or worse than Frons, depending on how you look at it. Phelps has been one of McTavish's biggest supporters, in fact the two have worked together on both OLTL and GH, and it wasn't JFP's decision to ax McTavish from GH, when her stint there was a disaster. Also, JFP is a big fan of plot-driven stories, which is probably why she'd actually like Higley.

I know you're a OLTL fan, didn't you think JFP's stint there was a complete and utter disaster? I mean the show is unwatchable now, but under JFP, the show was just as unrecognizable.

^ Yeah that

We arent talking about Jill the writer, or the EP. We are talking about Jill, the network Executive who would take her position very seriously and not screw it up. It's just what I believe. Hell yes, I am a OLTL fan and I may or have liked what she did then, but I think that especially in this business, no one should be judged by their previous mistakes. When you think about it, what did Jill do, but upset you? Lets take Genie Francis. Jill thought she was fat. She told her she was fat. Jill, in her own mind was looking out for the show. In our minds, she was putting down "Laura".

Edited June 3, 200718 yr by Jay

^Yes, but she keeps making the same mistakes on every show she's worked on. LOL!

I can honestly say the only show she was ever any good on was Santa Barbara. Though that show already had an exceptional creative team when she took over, Jill just helped to enable it all.

I'll never forgive this woman for driving GL, AW, OLTL, and GH into the ground. She's become poison and ends up screwing up the shows she's supposed to be helping.

The only thing I dont like about her is that she always fires the pregnant actresses. I always wondered if she had any kids.

IMO Phelps is a hack. She's so hacky she makes Higley and McTavish look good, and that's REALLY scary

Jill doesn't have a very good record when it comes to actresses. In fact, she was responsible for driving Robin Strasser off OLTL, when Robin complained about the direction the show was taking Dorian. After that, Strasser claimed she didn't feel welcome there and had no choice but to leave.

Anyway, JFP's biggest disaster has to be the Maureen Bauer debacle on GL. I won't even go into that mess now

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Alden was passed due to her more traditional outlook on soap opera and how they should be wrriten. I then just wonder why they even bothered to give her a consulting position in the first place? If she is gone from ABC Sony/CBS need to get off their duffs and fire Latham and beg her to come back to Y&R.

JFP is also a big fan of dark, depressing sturm und drang. If you think ABC soaps are bleak now, just let JFP have control over the whole daytime lineup.

We arent talking about Jill the writer, or the EP. We are talking about Jill, the network Executive who would take her position very seriously and not screw it up. It's just what I believe. Hell yes, I am a OLTL fan and I may or have liked what she did then, but I think that especially in this business, no one should be judged by their previous mistakes. When you think about it, what did Jill do, but upset you? Lets take Genie Francis. Jill thought she was fat. She told her she was fat. Jill, in her own mind was looking out for the show. In our minds, she was putting down "Laura".

Uh...okay.

JFP is a misogynist. Sad, because her goal is to target 18-49 year olds.

Not that Maureen Bauer's death was any less tragic, but having a long-term cast member chased through the woods, beaten, and strangled to death ALONE should be enough reason to NOT want JFP as head of ABC Daytime.

And the sad thing is that I could see it happening. She has won several Emmys over the span of the shows she produces. If Frons is promoted to a better job, I could see Hitler setting up her concentration camps.

The only thing I dont like about her is that she always fires the pregnant actresses. I always wondered if she had any kids.

I believe she has a grown daughter. She mentioned in TV Guide (the infamous article where she lied to Logan about McTavish coming to usurp Michele Val Jean and Elizabeth Korte as head writers) that her daughter thought GH was boring under the Riche regime, something along the lines of (and I'm paraphrasing) "My daughter told me that she usually takes a shower while GH is on." That was six years ago, so I'm thinking the "daughter" was college age or a little older (I was 21 going on 22 myself).

Anyway, it's funny how Brian Frons and Jill Phelps -- two people who I doubt will be winning any beauty pagents any time soon -- always feel they're the authority on who and/or what is attractive.

ABC Daytime needs someone who isn't afraid to kill of a major character. I'm not saying that Maureen's death was appreciated, because it obviously wasnt't but it took balls to kill her off. Taking chances is a good thing in Daytime.

^If you meant it took balls in the sense that GL has yet to recover from it, then you're right. LOL!

GL lost part of its heart and soul when Mo was killed off and there's no replacing that.

For years, after Bertha Bauer's death, they were grooming Maureen as the new matriarch-figure of the show. Of course, JFP desperate to create an impactful story had to ruin it all, by not thinking about the long-term effect of her actions. She later admitted it was the worst decision she's ever made in her career. Funny thing is, she keeps on making these stupid decision.

Every show Jill has laid her hands on has become overtly unrecognizable. I shudder to think what ABCD will look like if she has control over all the shows...

Edited June 3, 200718 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Yep, thats exactly what I mean. You have to take chances. You can either suceed of fail. It's all risk. You never hope to fail, you hope that the chance you take will go well. In her case, it didn't. It could have been sucessful just like it was a failure. You can never suceed in everything.

I had to agree with Jill's daughter. I tuned out during much of the Wendy Riche run because it WAS incredibly boring. Which is not to say it's been great since. Guza-Pratt destroyed the show with horrible junk that's much worse than the boring earlier stuff.

How do you figure? With Frons, newbie kids and actors we dont care about are brought in. The Friends of Jill are actors that we know and love, just bombarded onto our soaps in light of our favorites. I'd rather veteran actors like Larry Lau come in than Brandon Buddy. Jill Faren Phelps may be hard, but she knows what she is doing. Frons, does not.

Co-sign. Like Jill or Hate her, she's very good at what she does and she's absolutely committed to the genre. Quality is very important to her and while her shows have their ups and downs, when they're good, they're reallllly good.

I know you're a OLTL fan, didn't you think JFP's stint there was a complete and utter disaster? I mean the show is unwatchable now, but under JFP, the show was just as unrecognizable.

I LOVED JFP's OLTL. Max's Brain Tumor? The search for Asa & Renee's long lost son? Lindsey/Bo/Nora? Yeah, some of the behind the scenes stuff was nuts then, but OLTL was a high quality, entertaining, well-written show through much of her run. You couldn't help but watch it.

IMO Phelps is a hack. She's so hacky she makes Higley and McTavish look good, and that's REALLY scary

I don't see her that way. Look at her run on GL from 91-95ish. That was considered by many to be a glory period of the show and she contributed to that critical success. AW was a botched job, but much of that can be blamed on the writing and the dreadful decision to fire Anna Stuart.....and at the eleventh hour, fire Alice Barrett instead, underestimating AW viewers' attachment to both characters. F*cking Focus Groups.