Jean is out, he's been riting the show for a few months now.

I heard he was pretty much dictating story....it just has not yet been announced that she is gone I assume?

It hasn't been announced. They have to find a replacement first.

Ok, Cameron, but when something happens at ATWT, I'm going to be the one rolling my eyes. And I do recognize that I said Goutman in reference to the outs, but as Sylph said..........

Edited October 3, 200718 yr by Dr. Jay S.W.

And second of all, why the hell would I even start an ATWT thread, when I don't watch the show?? And it is not to give false hope.

So Jean's out, eh?

Every move is risky with switching HWs, but is my sincere hope that they at least hire from within this time around and let those who have history and experience with this show control and dictate the story. While ATWT still has a decent amount of recognizable cast members.

If anyone's wondering where I got the rumour, here's where (I have posted this already in TDAWT):

Speaking of JP, I heard a rumor today that because of the show's falling ratings (though they did get a tiny bump because of the gay storyline last week — we'll see if it lasts), she's been largely stripped of her duties and is HW in name only until they find a new one. The story is that EP Goutman is in charge of the writing these days (particuarly the Noah/Luke plot which apparently was his idea). But it's just a rumor, I dunno if there's any truth to it. I must say that overall, the show was more interesting than it has been in awhile and the show pulled out all the stops on Friday (Gwen's losing her baby!, Dusty wakes up next to a dead body! and Paul and Ro return! — just one cliffhanger would be enough for most shows). I wouldn't be watching if it weren't for Noah/Luke, but on the two days they weren't on, I was mildly entertained.

—Anthony D. Langford

And I believe the rumour is true.

Every move is risky with switching HWs, but is my sincere hope that they at least hire from within this time around and let those who have history and experience with this show control and dictate the story.

I hope they hire from without and let Goutman steer the writer toward history and character development. It would be nice to know what a total outsider like Hogan Sheffer could have done without Passanante being his chaperone.

I hope they hire from without and let Goutman steer the writer toward history and character development. It would be nice to know what a total outsider like Hogan Sheffer could have done without Passanante being his chaperone.

Why can't someone from within do the same thing? Someone who has history with the writing staff and knows the show inside and out?!

And I'm not talking about promoting a scripwriter without a bible not knowing his credentials. Some are just better at breakdowns and dialogue. But I believe that those who want the job who have an excellent, character driven vision for the soap shouldn't be overlooked by someone who has had no prior experience with the soap in question(or daytime).

I'm not saying an outsider can't write for a soap opera, but with a new Head-Writer immediately comes the risk of things being worse off than they were already.

And while you do speak of Hogan Sheffer, look what he has done to DAYS. Some people like what he's done, whereas the ratings and some of the vocal fanbase says otherwise. Same could be said about Dena Higley.

I think Goutman is a good EP if he has the RIGHT headwriter. However, I do think the reason Goutman is keeping JP as HW goes beyond business. I think he's actually putting friendship before business. I'll never understand why though.

Goutman burnt out last year; he needs to leave. As for Passanante, how did she HW so many shows? OLTL (best stint/don't think she'll ever top this- not saying much), AW, AMC, ATWT (worst stint to date).