TVG's 2007 15 Most Influential People on Soaps

[Tishy]

Van and Jake on that list is stupid. Where was Susan Lucci, Eric Braeden or Anthony Geary? THey have more power than those two.

[AMCGio83]

Yup. On another note. Frons? LML? Bloom? Phelps? No wonder Daytime is in trouble. Each is more terrible than the last. Plus it is very telling that Frons in #1. People. THAT'S the future of soaps.

[JackPeyton]

Soap Power 2007: The 15 Most Influential Players in Daytime!

Influential, not Powerful is what this list is.

[AMCGio83]

If you can underline influental then I can underline power: While I think power and influence go hand in hand I wouldn't call Frons influential. NOBODY is following his lead. Powerful yes, influential..not so much.

[EastMA2]

>Van and Jake on that list is stupid. Where was Susan Lucci, Eric Braeden or Anthony Geary? THey have more power than those two.>

Gee, ya think?

Van Hansis ought to demand more spot light than Lucci or Geary because he has a gay storyline. LOL.

(Just trying to be funny folks). Hansis should NOT be mentioned in the same breath as these power folks. Hansis is nary a blip on the radar.

[Khan]

Two weeks, and already, Ron Carlivati's the messiah?

GMAB.

[ZaraB]

15 is a lot of names when there are only 8 soaps, and the list seems uneven - and momentary. I can understand some of the names: Barbara Bloom, Brian Frons, Bob Bell, Lynn Latham, Bob Guza, and Susan Flannery are people who certainly have influence and power. But if Susan Flannery made it, what about Maurice Bernard or Tony Geary (who practically wrote all the last Stefan/Luke story?) It's giving a writer who has only been headwriter for a few months, even if turning the soap around, a lot more influence than he might really have under Frons and Valentini. And if ATWT is doing well with the Luke/Noah story, again, it is one story, with one actor very new to the show.

[Jonathan]

What a pathetic list. Whoever came up with this list was trying to kiss a little ass (make that 15 asses).

[DaytimeFan]

Here's how the power structure works at Y&R, it's all based on ownership:

1- SONY is the top dog. It owns the majority of the show. When Bill Bell was alive it was well known that HE was in charge, end of story. If SONY (which up until 6 years ago was known as Columbia Pictures Television) didn't like it Bill made it clear that it was too damn bad and that he could pull the plug whenever he saw fit. SONY had no problems with Bell because he made the show a money making hit. If it ain't broke don't fix it was SONY's position for a long time.

2- BELL DRAMATIC SERIAL COMPANY is second on the totem pole. Bill and Lee Phillip Bell created it, enough said. The company is run by Bill Bell Jr. Lee, Brad and Lauralee all have ownership of it as well. It makes a LOT of $.

3- CORDAY PRODUCTIONS owns a minority share of the show. When Bill Bell quit DAYS to start Y&R the Corday's wanted in on the action at Y&R and ponied up some cash for Papa Bell. Betty Corday was a consultant on Y&R right up until her death. Since then Ken Corday has happily accepted his royalty cheques.

Now, what I THINK happened was when Bill died in 2005 SONY saw it's chance to take over the show and run it as they see fit. Thus came in LML and her band of hacks. Steve Kent, the head of SONY's Daytime division, is an old pal of Jill Farren Phelps from her 'Santa Barbara' days. She and Barbara Bloom are quite friendly from Jill's time at OLTL when Barbara was a VP at ABCD and therefore the chain between Barbara Bloom (CBS) and Steve Kent (SONY) is met. I think CBS realized that with Bill gone they could have more say about Y&R because when Bill was alive he didn't let CBS have any input, period. Bill Bell didn't give a damn about what CBS wanted and they knew it. Of course, they didn't really mind because Y&R is a huge moneymaker for them and is the anchor of their soap lineup. Bill Bell was a passionate man who was also tough. He protected Y&R like it was his favorite child. Bill was very aware that after his death the fate of Y&R was not certain which is why he created B&B, a show the Bells own outright and will always have complete control over. CBS has absolutely no input in regards to B&B which is how Bill Bell wanted it.

And now we come to Kay Alden who was never supposed to be off Y&R, someone at SONY (likely longtime Columbia/SONY executive Steve Mosko who had worked well with Bill Bell for many years) realized that she had immense worth to the show and so she was always meant to stick around (which is why when Jack Smith was fired Kay was not). Unfortunately, SONY didn't realize that Kay wouldn't let her name be attached to the crap that LML insisted on churning out, so she quit. It was certainly not the Bells who wanted Kay out...far from it. The Bells are like family to her and so it wasn't a surprise that she came back to the Bell fold at B&B.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^DaytimeFan, the Steve Kent connection is exactly why I believe the only soap left for Jill Farren Phelps to move to is Y&R, if Frons finally lets her go. P&G hates her, NBC has only one soap and Sony just sent Ed Scott there, and if she's canned from GH, she'll never working for an ABC soap again. Damn, I hate Latham, but JFP at Y&R is another scary thought. Though, I think big glam type soaps like Y&R, is her forte (see her only real success story - Santa Barbara).

[stenbeck212]

Anthony Geary a powerful soap player? As this column stated, he's off the GH canvas for 4 months out of the year! Just for guilt-free drug use in Amsterdam? He couldn't be on a show I ran pulling that crap. Luke has been rendered irrelevant by Sonny and Jason anyway.

As evidenced by AMC and ATWT, the only way to get significant press outside of the soap world is to do a story with gay characters. That would explain the Luke & Noah craze. But are we also seeing that the soaps should acknowledge their obviously large gay audience? Maybe stories reflecting viewers' lives are a better fix than making a cast build houses or doing internet casting stunts.

[YRBB]

I don't get it. I really don't.

Did you people actually read the reasons given by the author or did you just look at the names, searching for names from YOUR soaps and/or your favorite characters/actors and that was it?

For example: Susan Flannery IS B&B. Every storyline in the show passes through her and has more or less to do with her. Susan Lucci? She's barely even on! I like her, but people keep mentioning their favorite actors. GH can make it 4 months a year without Geary. AMC barely uses Lucci. Slezak has been gone for months and, yet, her abscence is not ALL that bad. Flannery is gone and all people say is: "Where is Flannery? When is she coming back?"

Barbara Bloom is in charge of FOUR out of eight soaps. Doesn't that seem as if she has some kind of power? Brian Frons is in charge of THREE. Don't like him, but he DOES have a BIG say on what's going on the ABC soaps.

Sure, Carlivati could turn out to be a terrible HW in the shortest of times--he could burn out. Even LML wasn't bad at the beginning. BUT, for now, for what we see now, Carlivati is doing an EXQUISITE job and he IS head-writing the best soap on air. I've said it before: B&B is my FAVORITE soap, but OLTL is the BEST one.

I don't know about Hansis and Silberman. Their storyline is definitely influential. I think it might be a major turning point for gay characters on soaps.

[Vee]

Thanks for the scoop, much appreciated. Makes a lot more sense now. Where did Latham come from, though, for her to be given all that by Sony?

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Corday Productions owns 1% of Y&R. Is Ken Corday a lucky man or what? Being an awful producer in the entertainment industry really pays off. It is all about commercial appeal, while talent comes second.

JFP had success at Santa Barbara & GL (for the most part). She was awful at OLTL.

B&B will never see significant changes because The Bells own it. Bill Bell Jr. will never fire his brother.

Sony Pictures Television had every right to be much more involved with Y&R in 2005; they own the vast majority of the show.

[sactownfan]

Wow. Call me an optimist, but I'm gonna focus on the GOOD of this list. Ron Carlavati - a daytime vet - in his first headwriting gig - who has been writing a lot of history and giving fans what they want...

Isn't that cause for celebration? There are 15 slots on this list. To include someone so new, but so respectful to the genre -- it gives me hope for the future.

Keep up the good work, Ron!