Who do you want to replace Jean Passanante as HW of ATWT?

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

We aren't arguing over them. We're just joking. Cculliton has been at OLTL for 2 going on three years now. Yes they're infamous for jumping from soap to soap, so what? what's that gotta do with me? As of this moment, she is at OLTL which promts me to say the things I do, no arguments.

[juppiter]

God no! B&B is not supposed to be like the other soaps. Labine would ruin B&B! It's supposed to be a mile-a-minute, change-direction-in-a-heartbeat camp fest. No, I would not want Brad Bell writing any other soap, but at the same time I wouldn't want anyone but Brad Bell for B&B.

If I wanted to watch Ryan's Hope, I'd watch Ryan's Hope on SoapNet. B&B ain't Ryan's Hope. It's a horrible thing for a soap to lose its identity, and Brad Bell is part of B&B's identity.

And I really don't see how he doesn't do a "30-minute show properly." B&B is the most family-oriented of ANY US soap, it frequently has only one storyline per episode, it has strongly defined characters, it has tight direction and some great actors, it has great music cues, it emphasizes tradition and resists change, it always remembers holidays &c. &c.

While B&B is supposed to be different than the other soaps, it is also in many ways a lot more like classic soaps than the other soaps.

[buttoneer]

I say keep JP and give her the support she needs. Which means changing the budgets around so she can use the oldtimers she'd like to write, put back up the familiar sets, and fill the shows with more than a very limited number of characters per day. She's a lot more inventive than anyone gives her credit for, but I suspect her hands are tied.

[Sylph]

Being inventive means being able to write fantastic stuff (I emphasize fantastic) with a limited budget.

[Adam]

I keep having this recurring thought that they'll fire Jean Passanante and hire Megan McTavish

Which is worse?

With all these changes behind the scenes at ATWT this year, one has to hope the other shoe is going to drop, right square on Jeanie's head.

[JenC]

Oh, God, bite your tongue.

[buttoneer]

What changes? JP and Goutman are constants. That's what really matters, in the end.

[kelly1142]

I just don't get what the show is waiting for. The show lost .4 ratings from the same week last year (and last year wasn't exactly Shakespeare either but still).

Other than Nuke, which is new and different, the same. stories. have been going on for months and judging from the fall previews, aren't going to be different anytime soon (and I realize the fall previews are really just the next few weeks but still.)

You know, I'll also give her some credit for putting Lily and Dusty in scenes, that's what the show needs more of, those kinds of longstanding relationships being involved every once in a while.

[leevo64]

Some of you may roll your eyes, because I tend to pimp the pair whenever one of these threads comes up, but Brash and Cwickly would be a GREAT match for ATWT. With DAYS they really hit the nail on the head until the network and Corday started getting involved, and they really knew how to emphasize human emotion. There's no dialogue, but go to YouTube and type in "say goodnight, not goodbye" and toward the end of the first page there's a clip of the end of the baby switch story that is FANTASTIC.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Both of them have also written for ATWT, at one point or another.

[JenC]

Brash and Cwikly are great, but honestly, I'd rather have them back at DAYS.

[buttoneer]

Brash is at ATWT right now. He came in as a result of a recent overhaul.

[Khan]

>> I keep having this recurring thought that they'll fire Jean Passanante and hire Megan McTavish. Which is worse?

Actually, my recurring nightmare (that MMT might fail upwards, so to speak, and get promoted to an executive position at one of the networks) kind of trumps yours.

[leevo64]

I have actually been faxed Megan McTavish's six month outline for ATWT. Some good stuff awaits:

-Luke is sexually assaulted by a vengeful Kevin and shuts Noah out of his life. Luke then becomes the first man to be impregnated on a soap and has the baby during a freak ice storm in the middle of July.

-A wannabe southern belle comes to Oakdale named Sue Ellen, sets her sights on Will, and her mother, Pamela, comes to town to do battle with Barbara. James Stenbeck returns to town and romances a funny Pamela but then Pamela sleeps with Holden and it all goes downhill from there.

-A serial killer stalks Oakdale, killing off Rosanna (who just awoke from her coma) after she ate some poisoned pancakes. The next to die is Meg, who figures out the killer. Finally, it's revealed that Rose never died and is exacting revenge on the town of Oakdale for no apparent reason after Gwen is attacked. Enraged, Holden buries Rose alive, and then she escapes only to be murdered moments later.

I've also heard rumors that Lily had an abortion but John James' character raised the kid as his own, which is revealed to be Elwood.

</end sarcasm>

[JenC]

LMAO leevo!