Jump to content

Good Writers... Bad Stories


Recommended Posts

  • Members

It seems to be generally accepted on the board that there are certain writers who consistently delivered the goods.

Agnes Nixon

Bill Bell

Douglas Marland

Claire Labine etc

And some who divide opinions

James Reilly

Pam Long

Hogan Sheffer etc

and some that are pretty much disliked

Dena Higley

Jean Passanate

What I am asking you in this thread is to objectively look at your favorite writers, past and present, and identify the clunkers.

Conversely be gracious and acknowledge something one of your least favorite writers did well!

First up

Bill Bell - Lisa locks Brad in a cage. A never before mentioned ex wife turns up ,does nothing much and locks hubby in a cage.

Also,hires Rich Little(!)to impersonate Brad's voice.

- Joshua's crazy ex .Wearing world's most obvious wig and (gasp)glasses,Veronica romances Miguel and ends up

impaled on a pitchfork.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 17
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Claire Labine at Guiding Light.

She is a legend and I was happy when she took over Guiding Light but her tenure there was a dud.

There are some that say she had network interference and the same from Paul Rauch. The only thing I really liked was how she formed a friendship between Frank and Rick,even if they were mooning over the cigarette girl!

I can't believe she couldn't have done better despite the interfernce.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I liked May once she was Mary Murto, the sexy FBI agent who SMOKES. I also liked that this storyline brought in Gus.

Anyway, Who was the AMC writer that killed Gillian Andrassy-Lavery and brought that stupid girl swinging under the clock heaven? I liked the other stories from him or her except that one. Although, I like that he or she brought back the characters that died including Natalie, Ray, Jeremy and Jesse, who assist her on Earth to say goodbye.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Claire Labine's tenure at GL, like oakdale said, is a great example of a good writer writing bad stories. She was a legend from her work on various shows, but she had just recently come off a particularly mediocre stint at OLTL. Of course, she also really did not want to be there. She was shipped to OLTL after her GH spinoff fell through. Then she went to GL and she had a pretty schizophrenic tenure there as well. I still say alot of it had to do with the stinky triumverate of Paul Rauch, Mary Alice Dwyber Dobbin, and Lucy Johnson. However, by her own admission, Claire really didn't know much about GL history. So it's hard to say how good she would have been even without the network and sponsor interference. Millee Taggart, two years later, dealt with the same people, yet pulled out some pretty darn good soap opera regardless.

Throughout Claire's tenure, there were sparks of the old Claire Labine. Jim's death at Christmas time is probably the best example of the Labine touch on GL. It was a classic soap tragedy that brought family to the forefront. But the biggest problem with the show at this time was the twin albatrosses of the mob and San Cristobel. Neither story was really what GL was about. San Cristobel, in particular, really tore up the show and split it between two locales, which is never a good thing. Add in the fantasy kingdom elements, and you have one hot mess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Brash and Cwickly

The Gemini Twins - I remember being excited about the meteor shower storyline, just because DAYS hadn't had a natural disaster storyline in years. However, when I found out that Rex and Cassie would arrive as "aliens" during the catastrophe, I was no longer interested. I thought it was stupid. I'm glad they quickly fixed that up and explaine what really happened. Rolf was flying the twins somewhere and a meteor hit them, and that's how they crashed into Salem. Still stupid, but better than being aliens. After that was explained, I loved the story. I loved them being Tony and Marlena's children until Dena Hilgey came in and ruined everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Michele Val Jean on GH... began some interesting stuff but the whole Deception Cosmetics plot was just filler and took up way too much time.

Brash and Cwickly on DAYS... Colin's murder comes to mind.

Michael Malone on OLTL... The second stint. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Definitely Claire Labine on GL. What a mess that was. I hated GL during her tenure. Hated it! Mobsters, fantasy island, more mobsters, May Mursi, Reva the immigrant savior, Blake and Ross in snoozeville, the storyline involving the teens, Josh and Olivia's sexcapades, Reva and her boy toy, that anticlimatic storyline for David and Vicky, her plans to have Reva run for mayor, it just goes on and on. Ugh. The only positive was Rick and Frank's friendship. By the way so I didn't know Labine killed Jim off, totally thought B&E did that. Well that's the second thing I liked written by her.

Other notable mentions would be...

Pat Falken Smith and her tenure at GL.

Sheri Anderson and her tenure at GL.

Curlee and Demorest had a few clunks like the whole Eve/Nick/Mindy thing. Julie Camelotti was also a WTF.

Millee Taggart introduced that god awful character by the name of Eden August.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Lorraine Broderick wrote pretty much gems for AMC, but the voo doo arc she did in Jamaica with Noah/Julia.... big miss.

But I think that was more network driven.

Wow Michael... was their any writer at GL in the last 20 years that you actually thought did a good job? :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

OMG NOAH!!!! I remember how he left. "Oh Reva wants to be with Josh. I just figure that out when everybody else knew for a long time. Ok I'll leave." Wasn't he played by the guy who was Nora's lover who turned out to be gay and killed Jennifer on OLTL?

I'm sure that was Jean P. That's around the time I first started watching.

Wow! That was Jean P? What is she SMOKING now on ATWT (or the Gwen Norbeck and Friends Hour)? Probably the same stuff that got her the heaven creation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah Jean Passanante wrote some god awful stuff on AMC that has been discussed at great length here. ATWT is bad, but that stuff overall does not touch the crap she put out on AMC....

Ok Cleo Babbit comes pretty close to matching it :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yep the same actor portrayed both roles, Mark Dobbies was his name I think.

I agree about how he exited. Lackluster would be a understatement.

I also remember Labine introducing a character from across the pond by the name of Perdita. I liked her, but she was only on for a matter of weeks.

Haha Curlee and Demorest did do a good job, they just made like two mistakes over a span of four years. That's pretty good. Taggart and Culliton were good too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I agree but don't forget L.Virginia Browne,a writer who followed Smith,I believe. One of these writers did the Mona Enright~Rebecca story. It might have been both.

The diference in Guiding Light was so jarring after Douglas Marland left it was unbelievable. You could tell that'Marland had definitely left the building'.

I didn't like Jeff Ryder who was Pam Long's co-writer when he took over either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • That's a name I haven't heard in a minute. Thanks! 
    • Well, since I'm still up unexpected past my growing-into-it bedtime. lol.   I finally got to rewatch Monday's. I even rewatched Friday's to take it all in. Now that we got the reveal and hit the climax of the SilkPress Sheila storyline, now we get to watch the aftermath and/or turns that come with its climax. So far, so good. Friday left us with three cliffhangers. And what I found surprising was how I felt about them over a rewatch.    I know some of you all felt a way about the dialogue during Kat vs Eva. I remember liking it more the first time around and it was nice for them to have these scenes to establish more of a frenemy vibe for them going forward. That still held up. But I found myself agreeing with you all about that dialogue. lol. Still, it was nice to have both of their POVs.   Second up was Silk Press Sheila vs the Duprees. And I was happy to get a brief spat with Dani in there. But the rest standouts for me was Anita and Martin. Haters can hate and given the tail end of the episode, I will agree to a fault, but Brandon has impressed and he was on fire on Monday and had great subtle work on Friday. And that subtle work made it all the better. Like I believe I said when I was watching...BC has a much better grip on his character and seems to be realizing what his tics are so has started to be able to know when to turn it up and when to dial it down. And for the most part (emphasis on most), he got that. Meanwhile, TT was giving fierceness, and I was here for every minute of it. Her reading SilkPress. Her being quip about it. Her 'BE STILL.' Ooooo she had a chokehold on me as Anita gave what I was expecting her to SilkPress. WORTH THE WAIT. I also loved Vernon's CHOOSE SILENCE. I wonder though if SilkPress will figure out Martin's condition from her observing Anita and Vernon with him.   And speaking of worth it...Oooo YES Nicole vs Ted was worth totally worth it. Oooooo I knew DD would nail it, and it was all so well done. The fight between the part of Nicole who is a therapist vs Nicole as a woman who wants to express how she feels. And being so angry. And how there would be moments when it would shoot out of her. And how she would restrain herself. But how she felt she should not be restrain. Just the levels of processing and layers. And DD played it all so well. I do wish Maurice gave just a little bit more, but overall, I thought he did a good job even if it was just Ted coming across as a deadbeat and not at all redeemable. And Kat being there for her mother was so beautiful.   Minority, but I love the montage though yes, it did run a little long. Given how the Duprees like to bond (and also as I mentioned from my own very recent family experiences), it did not seem out of place to me.     That said...let's see how the aftermath worked in today's episode. Overall. Cuz RC can be hit or miss. 
    • I wonder whose brilliant (

      Please register in order to view this content

      ) idea it was to do an almost complete rip-off of the "who killed Tom King"-storyline. That's some quality style writing right there.....  
    • The show is done. It got canceled at the end of January. https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2025/02/fox-first-run-cancels-dish-nation-person-place-or-thing-pictionary-759232
    • I believe it. ESPECIALLY that last one. 
    • Aristotle Dumas. Just thought I'd throw that out there!  
    • Lol is that like an AI type of thing that popped up?

      Please register in order to view this content

    • Upton introduced a slew of new characters which must have had viewers heads spinning. And then Jean Holloway wrote all of them out. No wonder viewers switched off. And now we return to Love of Life... Charles, after a long period of refusing to admit he’s paralyzed, has had to accept his new life in a wheelchair, but insists that only Felicia care for him. Despite her growing exhaustion, he refuses to consider hiring a nurse, and Felicia, under the weight of her self imposed guilt forfeits her art work to accede to Charles’s demands and devote herself entirely tohis needs. She tells herself that being a prisoner in this house is her punishment and refuses to allow her mind to drift to Eddie, who had opened her mind to new levels. Despite Dr. Cusack’s insistence on additional help after Felicia’s first collapse, Charles continues to insist that only she can administer to him. But Felicia collapses again, this time with viral pneumonia, and a nurse is brought in. Felicia’s condition worsens instead of improving, causing Joe to speculate that it’s due to Charles’s subtle encouragement of Felicia’s guilt feelings and her own self-punishment. Eddie visits her, even though they decided not to see each other any more because of the emotional pull between them. In the delirium of a spiking fever Felicia calls out for Eddie. Joe feels she has reached a crisis and wants her in the hospital, but Charles is still clinging to her. When Felicia finally passes the crisis point and recovers, Sara warns her that she called for Eddie and must be more careful in the future.  The district attorney charges Ben with fraud and conspiracy. Meg puts up his bail. As Arlene, terrified of jail, is taken into custody, Carrie has an attack of chest pain. Ben continues to try to prove to Betsy that he loves her and has grown up, but circumstances continue to make her question his motives, and she rejects his overtures. Arlene, questioned by the court officer preparing the court report, cynically states that the rich, like the Harpers, always get away with everything and she will take the rap. She accidentally slips and mentions the forged divorce papers, and the officer notes this.Carrie is hospitalized. Joe suspects a dangerous thoracic aneurism, but then, all heart involvements are dangerous. Arlene wants to stay, but has to go to court for the sentencing. Ben, at his own insistence, makes a statement absolving Arlene of all responsibility, saying her only crime was loving him too much. The judge takes this into consideration and sentences Arlene to six months probation. However, when sentencing Ben, he explains that new evidence has turned up—the forgeries—and Ben is sentenced to one to four years. Ben asks to begin serving his sentence immediately. As Ben tried to arrange financial aid for Betsy through Jamie, she visits him in jail, saying the offer was “decent” but this is her baby. When he insists the baby was conceived in love, Betsy claims he was only pretending love. When Ben tells her to tell the baby that “there was a father who would have really welcomed him into this world,” Betsy rushes out in tears, and Ben starts to cry. Jamie, having waited patiently for Diana to recover from her emotional depressionn,now tells her he can no longer live with her as brother and sister. Diana replies that they have good memories and have taught each other how deep a relationship can be, but now it is time for them to go their separate ways. Meg, learning that the child of an annulled marriage is legitimate and the father has rights, sets up a trust fund for Betsy’s baby. Betsy doesn’t want her child ruined by money. Arlene is having trouble holding a job, despite help from her parole officer, and is under the twin pressures of having to repay Ray’s bail loan and the stunning news that Carrie’s necessary surgery will cost over ten thousand dollars. Carrie, discovering this, checks herself out of the hospital. Joe and Dr. Tom Crawford explain to Arlene that the money end of the surgery can be handled through the free clinic, but Carrie must have the surgery now. But Carrie’s past due hospital bill has been turned over to a collection agency, and Arlene is out of work again, so she goes to Ray for help. He would like to turn her down, as he has discovered that she was informing Rick of Ray’s attempts to muscle in on Skylar Mountain, but when his influential customer, Mr. Ian Russell, tells Ray he wants to meet that girl, Ray lets Arlene know he has a job for her. Meg asks Rick if they can start over together, but Rick has had it and is clearing out his desk. Learning that Ray has withdrawn his backing offer to Rick and that Rick has no available cash, Meg calls his bluff. She sets a price on her share so high that Rick can’t touch it, and sets her price for buying him out so low that he would have nothing left. Rick and Cal decide to elope and tell everyone afterward. But Meg gets wind of the plans and confronts them in Rick’s office. She blurts out that Cal is not the only one who loves Rick and that she and Rick were lovers as recently as a month ago. Rick tries to explain to Cal, but she is revolted and takes off in her car. When she runs it off the road, she takes off on foot, and is found, exhausted, by a hunter, who calls the highway patrol. When Rick arrives with Joe,. she refuses to let Rick anywhere near her. Cal refuses to believe Rick’s assurances that he’s really through with Meg, and makes plans to go to San Francisco. Meg, learning from Jamie .that Rick is severing their partnership, informs her lawyer that she wants all monies in both Beaver Ridge and Skylar _ Mountain tied up, and she wants Rick ruined. Rick follows Cal to California and tells her he has given up everything to prove that Meg means nothing to him. Cal insists that she feels nothing, but relents when Betsy calls, confirming everything Rick has said. She then admits that she loves him but says it won’t work. But Meg has followed them and confronts them in Cal’s hotel room. She informs Rick she’s bringing a suit against him for breaking up their partnership and this will ruin him. Rick quickly points out that Meg just defeated herself rather than him, because Cal had refused to marry him, thinking her mother loved him. Seeing what Meg’s “love” is, there is no reason for Cal to deny her own love for him.  
    • fyi. there is some discussion of the views of the new Pope Leo on the "politics thread". (Link) 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy