Primetime Soaps

[Paul Raven]

One of the things I hope someone can explain, is the chain of command in primetime soaps i.e who actually decides the storylines for the season.

There seems to be so many producers and other titles involved unlike daytime where the headwriter and EP seem to be the main decision makers for plots.

Hope someone can shed some light.

[Khan]

One thing you have to remember, @Paul Raven, is that a lot of those titles - Supervising Producer, Producer, Executive Story Editor/Consultant, Story Editor, etc. - are just that.  With the exception of non-writing producers, such as Lee Rich and Philip Capice (DALLAS), Michael Filerman (KL and FC) and, to a certain extent, Aaron Spelling (DYNASTY), all producers are writers.

On DALLAS, Leonard Katzman pretty much controlled all the storylines for each season he worked there (save, of course, for the "dream season," when he was listed nominally as "Creative Consultant").  He would sit with the other writers - Arthur Bernard Lewis, Camille Marchetta, David Paulsen - and write out the "bible" for that year, which the others would then divvy up and turn into individual episodes.

KNOTS and, I suspect, FC used a similar method.

In KNOTS' earliest years, David Jacobs was definitely the showrunner, with Diana Gould his right-hand man (or woman) as Executive Story Consultant.  When Peter Dunne joined as Producer in '82, he became, in essence, the head writer, working alongside Gould, Richard Gollance, Joel J. Feigenbaum and others.  (Many who have worked on the show, and many who have watched it, say those years w/ Dunne - when the show achieved its' highest ratings - were also its' best).  Once Dunne exited, David Paulsen moved over from DALLAS (and Dunne moved over *to* DALLAS) and became showrunner/head writer; but, as Jacobs himself has said, each KNOTS script still passed through his typewriter (meaning, he provided the final polish/rewrite).

When Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick were named producers in '88, Jacobs, and Mike Filerman, adopted a hands-off approach.  From what I understand, the two would still sit in at conferences and such, but otherwise, the Lechowicks were in charge.  And that approach continued after the Lechowicks (and Jim and Dianne Messina Stanley) left to work on "Homefront," until things became so bad under new Co-EP/HW/Showrunner John Romano that Jacobs had to step in, halt production and ask Ann Marcus, who hadn't worked on the show since S3, to return and fix things.  (In her Television Academy interview, Marcus laughs about being given the title "Senior Producer" at the tail end of S13, because it was a title that made no sense to her.)

Lawrence Kasha and Joe Hardy also worked on KNOTS - hired, I suspect, because of Filerman's ties to the theater community (and, in Hardy's case, to daytime TV) - but I think they worked more on the production side of things than on the writing.

Similarly, Earl Hamner was FC's de facto showrunner/HW for its' first five years.  However, because Hamner himself was never comfortable writing or producing a melodrama like FC - his original vision was more homespun, for lack of a better word - I think the bulk of the plotting and writing was handed off to others: Greg Strangis, Bob McCullough, E.F. Wallengren, Ann Marcus (during the latter part of S3, before backstage skulduggery forced her out of the show) and especially, Rod Peterson and Claire Whitaker, who had also worked closely with Hamner on "The Waltons."

Then, at the start of S6, Hamner retired from FC and Jeff Freilich took over as EP/Showrunner.  By all the accounts that I've read, Freilich was very hands-on, revamping virtually aspect of FC's production, including lighting, music and sets; and providing a detailed story bible for each of the two seasons he worked on the show.  I *think* McCullough and Strangis stayed on for awhile to help with the transition, but it was otherwise Freilich working with his own squad of writers (James Fritzhand, Richard Gollance, Howard Lakin, Lisa Seidman).

FC was critically acclaimed during Freilich's years as showrunner and head writer - even Jane Wyman said the show had never been better! lost viewers during Freilich's tenure and - but it was also becoming very expensive to produce, so Freilich was basically shown the door before S8.  Michael Filerman, who had had an EP credit on FC from the beginning, but who hadn't been directly involved with the show since the second or third season, exerted more day-to-day control over the series, along with new EP (and DALLAS/DYNASTY vet) Camille Marchetta.  (Stephen Black and Henry Stern, who had been staff writers during S3, returned as Co-Producers.)

Of course, as we all know, FC's eighth season was a disaster.  Ratings plummeted even further.  Filerman later admitted he'd made a mistake in returning full-time to FC and attempting to fill the void left by Hamner and Freilich.  So, in a last-ditch effort to save the show, Lorimar brought in a new production team, including director Jerry Thorpe ("Kung Fu") as EP; Joel Surnow ("24") as Co-EP and head writer; former DAYS/GH writer Sheri Anderson as Co-Producer; and Cyrus Nowrasteh and Bob Cochran as Story Editors.  Filerman retained his EP credit, but I don't think he had any hand in its' doomed, final season.

As for DYNASTY...sigh, lol.  For better, and most definitely for worse, Richard and Esther Shapiro were in control of their show.  They, along with Edward De Blasio and Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock, were DYNASTY's brain trust.  Even when they had proven soap and non-soap writers writing for them - Dennis Turner, Susan Baskin, Camille Marchetta (who took the show to number one with the idea for the Moldavian Massacre), Diana Gould, Scott Hamner, Laurence Heath, Jeff Ryder - it was still the Shapiros and Pollocks' story, through and through (with Aaron Spelling on hand, of course, to provide his customary meddling).

In fact, the *only* time when the Shapiros or the Pollocks took an active step back from the storytelling was during its' final season, when DALLAS/KL vet David Paulsen was brought in, as Executive Supervising Producer (another way of saying Showrunner and Head Writer), to save the show (and bring it in under budget).  The Shapiros stayed on as EP's, but neither the Pollocks nor De Blasio would return until the reunion miniseries two years later.  Aside from the Shapiros, the only holdovers from the previous season, I think, were James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten, who'd been promoted to Executive Story Editors under Paulsen.

I know the Shapiros, and particularly Dame Joan Collins, maintain that David Paulsen was the final nail in DYNASTY's coffin - and if you watch the reunion, too, you can see it's basically the Shapiros, along with De Blasio and the Pollocks, reclaiming the narrative (again, for better...and for worse, lol).  But, if you ask me, I think Paulsen's only problem was that he arrived about three seasons too late.  He and the writers who joined the show under his watch - Tita Bell, Robert Wolfe, Ron Renauld, Roberto Loiederman - freshened up the series in many ways and proved how (much more) entertaining the past seven years could have been had they contained a modicum of substance.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Khan

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for the detailed rundown.

I've never paid much attention to primetime credits. Interesting to see a few daytime names pop up, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of crossover.

[Chris 2]

Falcon Crest was never critically acclaimed to begin with, but certainly not the Jeff Frielich years, which were campy and over-the-top, filled with stunt casting. And most of the stunt casting didn’t exactly involve genuine stars like Lana Turner. More like Buck Henry and Ed Mariano from “Sisters”. Bob McCullough was long gone by Frielich’s tenure; Frielich essentially had McCullough’s old job. Frielich had his defenders, but calling his work critically acclaimed is a stretch. 

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I remember that quote from Jane Wyman saying that the show had never been better, but I think she was just happy that Foxworth was off the show and she could be the sole focus.

Frielich was shown the door not only because of the budget but also because the ratings plummeted under his watch - the show shed over 20% of its viewers during his tenure, and more during his last year. Frielich went on the produce Lorimar’s syndicated “Freddy’s Nightmares” series, a job more suited to his style.

I get what Michael Filerman was trying to do - return the show to its roots: a father moves his family back to the valley (Ben Agretti rather than Chase) and a family that works the vineyards (the Ortegas instead of the Nunezs). But it was awfully slow moving, and too different from what immediately came before it.

[Khan]

Hey, I never claimed to have enjoyed the Freilich-produced seasons, lol.

[Soapsuds]

CM was great in ever soap she did which was all minus The Colbys but the Moldavian Massacre was Dynasty downfall. How do you top it? The Massacre never hit #1 though.

Interesting that Dynasty, Knots and the ending of FC was brought back to its roots and season 1 after all the madness in each show but it was a little bit too late.

[Khan]

Wasn't that the season when DYNASTY topped the ratings, though?

I tend to agree with Gordon Thomson.  The "massacre" itself wasn't the downfall; it was the fact that it ultimately had no real impact on the show.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Khan

[Soapsuds]

Yes, that season 1984-1985 Dynasty was #1 beating Dallas by only .03 

The Massacre itself ranked #2  25.9 rating behind Dallas and Bobby's death.

The conclusion/season premiere of the following season it ranked #3  28.1 rating....the numbers actually increased.

 

 

[Khan]

Ah, my mistake.  Thanks, @Soapsuds! 

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[Soapsuds]

Joan Collins didn't even appear in the season opener. She was still in contract disputes. Yet, the show did very good ratings wise. After that episode the ratings dropped even with Joan return.

Thank you for the producers/writers rundown... Lol...that's a lot of movements....hoping around

[Khan]

As iconic as Joan and Alexis were, not even they could keep viewers tuned into the hot, bubbling mess that DYNASTY had become.  I mean, how do you gun down the majority of your cast and only a few, minor, inconsequential characters end up going to the boneyard?

Edited March 8, 2022 by Khan

[AMCOLTLLover]

Shame there was no season 3 of The Colby’s 

Edited March 8, 2022 by AMCOLTLLover

[kalbir]

Dynasty is a different beast than the CBS big three. That show blew up once Joan Collins arrived and Alexis was the breakout character that became a pop culture phenomenon on the level with JR. Season 2 was the only year where the writing and acting were on point. After that it was as though Aaron Spelling's entire goal was to have Dynasty be bigger and better than Dallas and all storytelling logic and acting ability went out the window. 

[Khan]

Agree.

[Soapsuds]

Dynasty became a phenomenon but still only hit #1 for one season and it never broke the 30 mark in HH. Ironically it's highest HH number was the premiere episode of the 1985-1986 season.