Taking Charge of A Soap

[R Sinclair]

I've become immune to the film look.

Hmm... speaking of which... maybe I should bring back the steadicam...?

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Guiding Light

Executive Producer

Jean Dadario Burke

Co- Executive Producer

Susan Bedsow Horgan

Supervising Producer

Alexandra Johnson

Coordinating Producer

Maria Macina

Associate Producer

Jan Conklin

Consulting Producer

Deborah Joy Levine

Written by

Nancy Curlee (head writer) (focusing on 1937-1969; 1990-1994)

Trent Jones (head writer) (focusing on 1970-1989; 2000-2004)

Hal Corley (head writer) (focusing on 1990-1999)

Millee Taggert (co-head writer) (focusing on 2001-present)

Christopher Dunn (story editor)

Jill Lorie Hurst (script editor)

Pamela Long (story consultant)

Michael Hollinger (breakdown consultant)

Craig Carlson (script consultant)

Emily Squires (creative consultant)

John Rajewski (story/script coordinator)

Nidhi Mehta (writer’s assistant)

Rebecca Sils (writer’s assistant)

Breakdowns by

Leslie Esdaile Banks

Gary Tomlin

Roger Newman

Jeff Ryder

David Rupel

David Smilow

Scripts by

David Kreizman

Ron Renauld

Jay Hammer

Tita Bell

Joyce Brotman

Kimberly Hamilton

Penelope Koechl

Danielle Paige

Rebecca Hanover

Directed by

Tracey Bryggman

Matthew Lagle

Brian Mertes

Robert Scinto

Jo Anne Sedwick

Joe Cotugno

Adam Reist

Bruce S. Barry

Casting Director

Mikie Heilbrun

Co-Casting Director

Rob Decina

Joan D'Incecco

Associate Casting Director

Alison Goodman

Acting Coach

Susan Strickler

Ellen Wheeler

Production Designer

Rick Dennis

[Toups]

I think I'm going to blow my brains out.

[brimike]

Could you imagine the cluster&#% that these shows would turn into with 2 head writers, 3 co-head writers, 4 consultants, 2 editors, 7 breakdown writers, and 9 script writers?

And people think character continuity is wacky now...

[Toups]

My DAYS Team:

Executive Producer

Toups

Head Writers

1. Gary Tomlin

2. Michelle Poteet-Lisanti

3. Margaret DePriest

4. Sheri Anderson

5. Thom Racina

6. Leah Laiman

7. Richard J. Allen

8. Anne Schoettle

9. Gene Palumbo

10. Beth Milstein

11. James E. Reilly

12. Sally Sussman Morina

13. Lorraine Broderick

14. Tom Langan

15. Peter Brash

16. Paula Cwikly

17. Dena Higley

18. Hogan Sheffer

19. Meg Kelly

My Head Writing team will consists of every head writer (who's alive) from the past 27 years. There's no way they're going to fack up the history now!

Associate Head Writers

1. Frederick Johnson

2. Gordon Rayfield

3. Tom Casiello

4. Hannah Shearer

5. Victor Gialanella

6. Rick Draughon

7. Maura Penders

8. Dorothy Ann Purser

9. Randy Holland

10. Meredith Post

11. Marlene Clark Poulter

12. Katherine Penders

13. Shawn Morrison

14. Ethyl M. Brez

15. Mel Brez

Script Writers

1. Mike Cohen

2. Bettina F. Bradbury

3. Cydney Kelley

4. Judith Donato

5. Jodie Scholz

6. Sofia Landon Geier

7. Bruce Neckles

8. Michael Slade

9. Susan Kirshenbaum

10. Gillian Spencer

11. Edwin Klein

12. Maralyn Thoma

12. Christopher Whitesell

13. Richard Culliton

14. Renee Godelia

Script Editors

1. Barbara Esesten

2. James Harmon Brown

3. Jeanne Marie Ford

4. Peggy Schibi

Story Consultants

William J. Bell

Pat Falken Smith

Bill and Pat will come to the writers and consult them when they are dreaming.

So my writing team with consist of 52 writers and 2 ghosts.

With the writers taking up the entire budget, the cast will be:

1. Rawlings

2. Dr. Rebert

3. Lisa the waitress

4. Dr. Bader

5. John's eyebrow

and the star of the show

6. The Parrot man from Aremid

[MichaelGL]

Jean Dadario Burke at GL?? No, no, no.

[stenbeck212]

I'm missing the intent of the original post...

[Khan]

Seriously, Ru....!

>> 23 people on your writing team? Is AMC expanding to 3 hours?

LMAO.

(Now, for the sad-but-true part: if Frons had his way, AMC and OLTL would be cancelled, and GH would be the one expanding to 3 hrs. Or at least two.)

I chose GL.

Firings

Murray Bartlett (Cyrus Foley)

Tita Bell (Associate/Breakdown Writer)

E.J. Bonilla (Rafael "Rafe" Rivera)

David Brandon (Producer)

Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper)

Orlagh Cassidy (Doris Wolfe)

Beth Chamberlain (Beth Raines Bauer)

Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer)

Jordan Clarke (Billy Lewis)

Bradley Cole (Prince Rich...er, Jeffrey O'Neill)

Jan Conklin (Producer)

Bonnie Dennison (Susan "Daisy" Lemay)

John Driscoll (Coop Bradshaw)

Christopher Dunn (Associate/Breakdown Writer)

Marj Dusay (Alexandra Spaulding Foley)

Beth Ehlers (Harley Cooper Aitoro)

Nicole Forester (Cassie Lewis)

Brian Gaskill (Dylan Lewis)

Lloyd Gold (Associate/Script Writer)

Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus Aitoro)

Kimberly Hamilton (Associate/Script Writer)

Rebecca Hanover (Associate/Script Writer)

Jill Lorie Hurst (Story Producer)

Alexandra Johnson (Producer)

David Kreizman (de facto Head Writer)

Matt Lagle (Director)

Jessica Leccia (Natalia Rivera)

Kurt McKinney (Matt Reardon)

Brian Mertes (Director)

Robert Newman (Josh Lewis)

Michael O'Leary (Dr. Rick Bauer)

Arielle Renwart (Leah Bauer)

David Rupel (Associate/Script Writer)

Lawrence Saint-Victor (Remy Boudreau)

JoAnne Sedwick (Director)

Michelle Ray Smith (Ava Peralta)

Susan Strickler (Director)

Donna Swajeski (Co-Head Writer)

Caitlin Van Zandt (Ashlee Wolfe)

Ellen Wheeler (EP/Director)

Yvonna Wright (Dr. Mel Bauer, Attn. at Law)

Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne)

Promotions

Liz Keifer (back on contract)

Demotions

Justin Deas (dropped to off-contract/recurring)

Frank Dicopoulos (dropped to off-contract/recurring)

Re-Hirings

Mary Kay Adams (returning as India von Halkein; off-contract/recurring)

Bruce S. Barry (returning as Producer/Occasional Director)

Lisa Connor (returning as Writer)

Susan Dansby (returning as Writer)

Harry Eggart (returning as Director)

Maureen Garrett (returning as Holly Reade; off-contract/recurring)

Leslie Kwartin (returning as Producer)

Jill Mitwell (returning as Director)

Tom O'Rourke (returning as Dr. Justin Marler; off-contract/recurring)

Recasts (All On-Contract)

Chris Beetem (ex-Tate, OLTL; ex-Jordan, ATWT) as Alan-Michael Spaulding

David Forsyth (ex-John, ANOTHER WORLD; et al) as Andy Norris

Nancy Lee Grahn (ex-Julia, SANTA BARBARA; currently, Alexis, GH) as Amanda Spaulding Thorpe

Marcia McCabe (ex-Sunny, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW; ex-Alicia Grande, OLTL) as Hope Bauer

Cady McClain (ex-Dixie, AMC; currently Rosanna, ATWT) as Samantha Marler

Susan Sullivan (ex-Maggie, FALCON CREST; ex-Lenore, AW) as Elizabeth Spaulding Mitchell

* I'd also recast Lizzie (henceforth known as Liz) Spaulding with someone along the lines of VERONICA MARS's Kristen Bell.

SORASings

Matthew Evans, Amanda's half-brother, now early 30's, played by Andrew Kavovit (ex-Paul, ATWT).

Clarissa, Jason and Kevin Marler, now 13 and 18, respectively.

New Crew Members

Harley Jane Kozak (Writer, ex-Annabelle, GL; ex-Mary, SB; now an acclaimed mystery novelist)

Gregory Lehane (Director, veteran of EDGE OF NIGHT and SFT)

Remaining with the Show (Status Unchanged)

Rob Bogue (A.C. Mallet)

Daniel Cosgrove (Bill Lewis)

Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa Chamberlain)

Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding)

Tina Sloan (Lillian Raines, R.N.)

Gina Tognoni (Dinah Marler)

New Characters

Mike Duffy: Played by Philip Brown (ex-Buck, LOVING/THE CITY). Mike, an ex-Marine who was discharged under very dubious circumstances, is a Chicago-based private investigator, whom Blake hires when new and startling information about Ross's death surfaces. However, during the course of their investigation -- which reveals, among other things, that Ross was forced at gunpoint to board that fateful (and fatal) flight; that "Nicole Landers" was, in fact, Natalia Rivera, posing as the real Nicole; that Natalia had been in cahoots with none other than Sebastian Hulce, who had arranged the entire scheme (and murdered the real Nicole) to exact more revenge against Roger Thorpe's perceived enemies; and that Sebastian, posing as Phillip (or, putting him up to it), was the one who called Rick and told him to prevent the plane from taking off -- Blake and Mike form a close bond, as Mike helps Blake cope with residual grief over Ross's death, and Blake gets the normally tight-lipped Mike to open up about the death of his wife, Grace, from complications from childbirth. In time, Blake and Mike's friendship turns into something more; but, will that something more survive Blake's disapproving children, as well as lingering questions from Mike's days as a gunrunner and black marketeer?

Harry Duffy: Mike's uncle, whom Mike eventually came to live with, after being abandoned on the streets by his father, an alcoholic prizefighter, and mother. Retired from his job as a construction foreman, blue-collar, stalwart Harry has also helped raise Mike's daughter, Grace, whom she sees more as a grandfather than a great-uncle. Thanks to Sebastian Hulce, however, Harry, and the rest of the Duffy clan, loses his home in a fire. But, rather than rebuild, Harry (reluctantly) accepts an offer to move to Springfield, and live with Mike, who has relocated his agency there, and Grace, who will continue to commute to Northwestern, where she is a freshman pre-med student. Eventually, Harry will go to work for Buzz, helping him manage Company and the newly reopened boardinghouse.

Grace Duffy: Named after her late mother, Grace is first introduced as Jason's friend from Northwestern. She's sweet, but she isn't a pushover. (This comes from being raised by her father and grandfather, two equally strong, no-nonsense men). She's what you'd call "salt-of-the-earth." Becomes a close friend and surrogate sister to Clarissa, who is initially OBSESSED with being popular at school -- to the point where it'll get her in deep trouble. Grace is easily being groomed as GL's next central heroine. This is helped by the fact that she'll be mentored at work by Justin, now Chief of Service at Cedars Memorial. Her achilles heel, though, if she has one, is her star-crossed romance w/ Kevin Marler, who, unlike his brother, chose to drop out of school (due to undiagnosed dyslexia) and work as a cook at Company. Kevin's sullenness and reserved (read: shy) nature, in fact, reminds Grace greatly of her father.

Jennifer Mitchell: Elizabeth's stepdaughter, from her marriage to Lord Brian, a much-married, Rupert Murdoch-esque tycoon, who successfully stages a leveraged buyout of Spaulding Enterprises. Arrives shortly after her father, a race-car enthusiast, is killed in an auto accident. (Lord Mitchell's last will and testament leaves Elizabeth in complete charge of Spaulding.) She has an older half-brother, Scott, who might be introduced down the road. A classic "bitch goddess" in the mold of Lisa Miller and Erica Kane, she quickly sets her sights on Jason Marler, and this has Blake VERY nervous.

Sample End-of-Episode Credits Crawl:

GUIDING LIGHT

Executive Producer

Head Writer

Michael Khan

Directors

Harry Eggart

Gregory Lehane

Jill Mitwell

Writers

Lisa Connor

Susan Dansby

Harley Jane Kozak

Producers

Bruce S. Barry

Maria Macina

Recorded at the

CBS Production Center

in New York City

A Procter & Gamble Production

(Yes, I'm assuming EP & HW'ing duties. I'm taking charge, aren't I?)

[R Sinclair]

If you're dissatisfied with a soap, take charge and make changes you think will bring it back to satisfaction.

[EricMontreal22]

HAHAH it's SORTA there still isn't it? They certianly ahven;'t fully returned to the old 3 camera look.

I like a lot of your choices--I don't think the original Derek would come back--he left on his own when they wanted him in more scenes. And I'd defeintely keep Addie Walsh on the writing team--she's worked so closely so long with Agnes Nixona dn I think really gets her feel--but amen to bringing back Lorraine B--I would hire in a dream world Minei Behr back as EP though...

I'm all for the 1997 teens--Kevin, Kelsey especially. Everyone else, sure (what's the Bobby from that era doing right now?) except not the Scott from that era who I hated.

E

[EricMontreal22]

AGreed actually...

Adrian was one of the few right moves Mctavish made in her second era as sillya s his "reveal" as Opal's was--when Agnes Nixon returned in 1999 to help save the show she had some cute scene swith him and Belinda (who I *LOVED*--and was quite upset when she ended up on Passions) but then both seemed forgotten and quickly written out (the actor who played Adrian got Six Feet Under pretty soon after of course so... )

[Sylph]

Because Julie Hanan Carruthers is still there, the devious mind behind all of it.

[EricMontreal22]

What's ironic is this look was really started with The City (well Sunset Beach tried it aroudn the same time but dropped it quickly). While some people complained, by the last 6 months of the City I thought they had the Steadicam and processed film look down (I never really got the appeal fo the "film" look but for The City anyway, I liked the camerawork even if for much of the first few months it was way too crazy and dizzy) Then of course they bring that show's producer Burke to AMC and she does virtually nothign to AMC and certianly doesn't even try to bring a small few of her City innovations (I woulda loved for instance more location shots like the City always did for outdoor park scenes)

E

[brimike]

Dude... I can't stop laughing... I smell a new fan fic....

[brimike]

the reason it worked so well on "the city" is because they didn't have a soundstage set that required cameras to be on the "fourth wall". they actually shot in a real 360-degree loft in New York City, as well as the streets and parks of New York. So it was actually easier to shoot with a Steadicam in the 360-degree space. Actually, it played NYC as a character long before Sex and the City did it.

I always said the City would have worked better following GH at 4 (ESt), than kicking off the line-up at 12:30. their audience was much younger and would have appreciated the NYC stuff more than the 12:30 Loving/Y&R audience.