Because, look at what he has to work with (says the Patrick Mulcahey apologist, lol). Put aside the fact that, for the most part, B&B's cast is one of the weaker ones right now. As unfocused as SANTA BARBARA could be sometimes, the show still possessed amazing, multi-layered characters, like Mason, Julia, Gina, Keith, CC and Sophia, Lionel and Augusta, and so forth. With the exceptions of Stephanie and Pam, B&B's characters are bland and insipid by comparison.

And on GH he had the Quatermains and the Cassadines. Now he's writing scripts for the B&B characters? What a waste!

There's only so much good scripwriting can go when you're dealing with B&B stories and characters.

Yeah, I gotta agree with WorldTurner and Khan here. Those B&B characters, with the exception of a few, really are circling the drain in terms of nuance. And since it's only a half-hour show, you don't have a whole lot of time to explore their depths.

However, I do think it's been years since we've really seen PM shine the way he used to.

The GH script writers should be head-writing that show. I'll never understand why say Michele Val Jean settles for writing scripts to Guza's shitty stories.

Or Karen Harris. Those two should be Head Writing GH.

Also, Mulcahey has no say at all with the stories at B&B.

At GL, Nancy Curlee listened to him and she gave him more creative say in stories. He's mentioned that and has a great deal of respect for people like her.

The same with Guza at GH (surprise!), and Pratt at SB.

Most definitely, Toups! Karen Harris and Michele Val Jean for GH...and Patrick Mulcahey for AMC.

Most definitely, Toups! Karen Harris and Michele Val Jean for GH...and Patrick Mulcahey for AMC.

Speaking of...

Not sure if somebody already posted this or not, but Nikki Finke posted about StrikeTV last week, and gave a shout-out to Karen's new internet series.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/watc...rike-gets-real/

However, I do think it's been years since we've really seen PM shine the way he used to.

There is something to be said for taking the money and relaxing in "the autumn of one's years".

Just finished listening to the Thom Racina interview....he sounds fantastic. It almost sounds as if TIIC at Y&R are attempting to get back to basics and renew the show. The fact that he said Jill appears to be gaining traction and prominence is GREAT! I really hope August/September pans out!

Who am I gonna have to sleep with to get Guza canned? I mean I know he's got pictures of Frons with goats and all, but seriously? What's a little public embarrassment if you win the undying loyalty of the General Hospital fans?

Brian Frons.

Who am I gonna have to sleep with to get Guza canned?

To paraphrase Amanda L. Beall... Open your bed, insert ME!

Now, whether or not I can get Guza canned is another question.

Why set your standards too high considering the state the soaps and daytime in general is in? I know I'm mostly watching these shows out of loyalty at the moment, and that's wearing thin, so...

Because it can be done. If asswipes can just get the hell out of the way, daytime dramas can become phenoms again. I know you didn't address this question to me, directly, but I KNOW that soaps can achieve greatness if given the chance. Instead of Frons et al turning the medium into cheap primetime knockoffs, the executives should look back 20-25 years and see what was making daytime, well, DAYTIME! It's the networks' fault for hiring people who don't appreciate the genre for what it is. Fine, Angela Shapiro (Frons' predecessor at ABCD) did the whole "Shop the Soaps" thing... but I'd rather be "forced" to see a character wear a plastic ring and have a plug during the 30 minute bumper than see AMC turned into a cheap SATC knock off. If I want to watch Sex and the City, I'll watch Sex and the City. DVDs are all over the place. I want to watch ALL MY CHILDREN because of the simplest fact that it's ALL MY CHILDREN.

If you set your expectations too high you're guaranteed to be disappointed. For me, I take the soaps one day at a time. I refuse to get excited about anything until there's consistent growth and progress on a specific show. Once that happens, I can begin to get excited about things again.

It's my sorriest hope that one of these days, these precious focus groups Frons loves so much start to consist of DAYTIME ENTHUSIASTS. But it's my personal belief that these focus groups are "coincidentally" consisting of people who don't "get" or watch daytime television and only watch primetime television.

I see, for now, as much as I'd love scriptwriters and breakdown writers with better reputations, if the storylines suck, there's no need for me to watch a soap. If the dialogue and structure are average, that's fine, but there has to be something about the storylines that will keep me watching.

I seriously doubt most of these people will last at Y&R for very long. Y&R seems to be like how the other soaps were a few years ago, you know constant hirings and firings. While the other soaps are trying to be cheap and keep all writers they have now, instead of firing them and hiring new writers.

It's simply Y&R's turn. CBS is being run by a woman who used to work at ABC -- a network that, WOW, lives by the same philosophy: If it ain't broke, fix it anyway.

Edited July 11, 200817 yr by R Sinclair

The problem is that then you spend a whole lot of time rewriting other people. I'd say that if you hate several scripts a writer has handed to you - fire him or her and find a replacement. Your creative energy could be spent devising stories.

I mean - three people editing scripts and adding notes? And three very, very different people (Hamner, Milstein and Sheffer). When you get the notes, it must be a mess.

I love Beth M. I think she did great work on DAYS and B&B. Everyone in daytime likes her, too. But I still question her promotion to script editor after being with Y&R for such a short time. Y&R is a show rich in backstory and history, lots of very subtle things BM can't possibly know. It's the same problem I see with Y&R hiring non-Bell writers. I think the show would be much better served bringing back some or most of the old guard.

The GH scriptwriters should be head-writing that show. I'll never understand why say Michele Val Jean settles for writing scripts to Guza's shitty stories.

JFP should've given Val Jean and Korte more time before firing them in favour of bringing McTavish to GH.

From what I've gathered over the years, behind the scenes, Guza and MVJ have true friendship. I think, sometimes, you're able to "forgive" a friend's faults easier than you're able to forgive someone you don't like... because MVJ bolted the minute JFP brought Megan McTavish in as head writer. As soon as she was fired and Guza was rehired, MVJ came back to work.

I strongly believe McTavish was canned because Maurice Benard had issues with her writing and even publicly said that when Labine or Guza wrote for Sonny, the words just flowed from the page. But when McTavish was writing, there was always something he had to go upstairs and talk to them about.

From what I've gathered over the years, behind the scenes, Guza and MVJ have true friendship. I think, sometimes, you're able to "forgive" a friend's faults easier than you're able to forgive someone you don't like... because MVJ bolted the minute JFP brought Megan McTavish in as head writer. As soon as she was fired and Guza was rehired, MVJ came back to work.

Yup, Guza and Val Jean are close. Guza even let her write a storyline (Liz's rape/the rape visited).

I strongly believe McTavish was canned because Maurice Benard had issues with her writing and even publicly said that when Labine or Guza wrote for Sonny, the words just flowed from the page. But when McTavish was writing, there was always something he had to go upstairs and talk to them about.

Yeah, Maurice wasn't happy about the whole Angel Boris thing. The funny thing is, Megan's material got Maurice his emmy.

One of the reasons why I think Guza has stayed so long is because he doesn't piss off the big 3: Benard, Burton, Geary.

One of the reasons why I think Guza has stayed so long is because he doesn't piss off the big 3: Benard, Burton, Geary.

And don't forget the fourth...Michael Logan.

The two times I saw him on the warpath were when Richard Culliton and Megan McTavish were HW of GH. (I'm not dreaming, am I? Culliton was HW of GH for a spell, and helped created PC, right?).

I remember this was around the time Michael Logan was getting TV Guide's online soap stuff off the ground (he was doing weekly chats AND internet-specific columns...it was a sad day when he left). But he just PUMMELLED Culliton. This would have been 1996-1997.

And later, when McTavish was on (around 2002, I guess)... I seem to recall more pumelling...but that may be my projecting.

It's simply Y&R's turn. CBS is being run by a woman who used to work at ABC -- a network that, WOW, lives by the same philosophy: If it ain't broke, fix it anyway.

ANd on this date, folks... right here in this thread... R Sinclair said in one simple sentence what the rest of us have been wasting pages and pages of posts on (and Nelson Branco wasted a whole interview on), without being able to find the perfectly concise words to sum it all up at its core.

Thank you, sir.

ETA: I know it's always weird with posts, so in case there's any debate of my tone, this was NOT sarcastic at ALL. Seriously.)

Edited July 11, 200817 yr by brimike