I really think it is far to early to tell. This Crash storyline, while phenomenal emotional storytelling at its best IMO, shouldn't be the focus everyday for 3 weeks.... I don't like that. I hope once they start branching out therew can be more balance. I love Zendall but it gets repetitive when they are on everyday.

ANd remember how nearly everyone (yes even you I seem to remember) was praising McT's turnaroudn when she first came back to AMC in 2003 and refocused everything on families etc

I did like how McT restructured the show around the core families, but that hardly speaks to her writing talent. It wasn't long before I was complaining about several of her plots including the dragged-out babyswitch, which became the sole storyline; Erica's unaborted fetus, which destroyed the very fabric of the show; making Tad a coldblooded killer; bringing on AMC's first serial-killer story to kill off Dixie instead of writing her & Tad's reunion; and the overuse of Babe & Ryan who were supposed to be heroic no matter how horrible their behavior.

You also might remember how upset I was when McT was hired back in 2003 because I've always been vocal that I despised her second stint and consider her AMC's worst headwriter ever based on that (and on everything she wrote from 2004 on).

I I think I would be more positive if I knew they were going to bring back key, core characters and vets. The fact that their first priority is the teen scene scares me. I think that there is a little improvement but not enough to get me to continue to watch AMC again.

I completely agree with you once again! Bringing on a teen rock band and Wes the bartender just isn't going to do it in terms of bringing back any lapsed viewers to the show. Focus should really be on bringing back key, core characters (as you said) i.e, Jake, Liza, etc. who mean something to the audience and writing good stories around them utilizing history. JMHO!