2008: The Directors and Writers Thread

[Sylph]

Well if Kay Alden is "as good as it's going to get" and even if she is tons better than Smith and Latham that doesn't make her a great writer in my book. I actually think she's a lousy student, 30 years learning with William J. Bell and all we get are "hits and misses". That is the only weak spot Bill Bell had – he wasn't an excellent teacher (something his mentor Irna Phillips was).

As for her AMC, I think she would be an excellent fit and I was talking about quite some time before she was canned from Y&R and considered for HW role for AMC. However, many things can look beautiful on paper, only to find the whole construction fall apart when it reaches the stage stage.

I know, too. And for me that is the problem, a big one. She had her chance, she's been with Y&R for 30 years. What more could she want? It's time for (semi- or permanent) retirement. Seriously, it's either AMC for her without Brian Frons or nothing.

I'm done with talking about her. At least, for now.

[Sylph]

That has very little to do with anything. The point is when you take over, you scratch and reduce all that sucked, not to continue it in any way. No matter how successful (because, actually, it will never be that).

She just needs to be more resolute and forceful. Get on with it, Maria!

[dm.]

Exactly. Except scratching that "Amber-Marina" storyline, everything else stays the same. She should have done more.

[heatherwebber]

I know I've said it before.

Lynn was NOT the only writer coming up with ideas & stories at Y&R. Josh WAS heavily involved and I would believe STILL IS. So much of what was being blamed entirely on Lynn was him.

Same goes for Scott Hamner and some other individuals, some of which are still there at the show.

Now, Maria is listed as head writer but again she is not the only writer there. Ideas & stories are not coming exclusively from her. Josh's vision is still there and others are also contributing.

So it's no surprise Josh & Maria didn't just wipe out a bunch of stuff he had conceived, worked on, and still wants going on. Yes they did change a few things and hasten some others out but I wouldn't say it seemed like all that much to me.

The one major change is the pacing seems to have been slowed way down. There are more character scenes as under Bill Bell. Otherwise it seems like business as usual.

I don't really have problems with Y&R but I think B&B has become a bit of a mess again. It does have more variety and isn't the Ridge & Brooke show but needs a lot of tweaking.

Now I did like the show when Lynn was writing but I do know enough about the process to know that she didn't write it all on her own. There was a team with these other people contributing to and devising stuff.

That said, I don't entirely "get" the Sabrina character, she seems too rushed for one thing so we don't really know her at all,.And I'm not wild about Adam either. I suspect it might not be the right casting for Adam but he's not a disaster like that fake Stephanie mess on Days. I also think it was an idiotic move to kill Hope off....

[Sylph]

The problem is – she (Maria) has the power to block those awful/boring stories. And she is not using it. In an ideal world, head writers have the complete control of stories (of course, everyone is free to pitch) and the EP is only there to make sure the HW's vision is fulfilled (among other things; even the title of the position says the person produces something). Occasionally, contributing to stories but not having the last word.

[DeeeDee]

LMAO. Please.

Kay's Y&R SMOKED all of her peers then & now.

[dragonflies]

Kay's short stint at AMC was infinitely better than McT and B&E's combined.......

[Dr. Jay S.W.]

I just want to know about this "stint" of her's at AMC.........What the heck was it? You mean her consulting gig where she didnt write....oh! Got it.

[Sylph]

[heatherwebber]

If Josh is the producer then he's probably still got lots of power over Maria, I would think. So what he says would still have lots of influence.

In the meantime how can any of us know Maria isn't thrilled with what she's writing? The whole bunch of people there might be thrilled. Or not. No way of knowing unless someone starts talking.

[JackPeyton]

IMHO, it is far too soon to judge MAB. She came into a show when it was at the woirst point its ever been. She has slowly started to bring it back to what makes it great. the chars we know and love are coming back as these pod people they had become are vanbishing. yes the newbies are stil all over the place, and the couples are all flat, asnd there are a ton of problems. but i will give her 6 months from the day the strike ended to judge.

[JackPeyton]

but how do we know thats actually happening? As you said, in the ideal world HW's have total controll, but i think must of us know they dont.. not now anyways.

[Sylph]

So far, she's been in the credits for 4 months and 15 days. One month and a half left for you to judge.

[Sylph]

Somehow, people would say that after the Bells lost control when Latham came on-board, now it is time for the Bells to regain that control again since Sony's intervention provided no results whatsoever (and was, of course, quite damaging). That is one possible stream of thought. À la Virginia Woolf (thank God, Jack, it's not Faulkner).

[MarkH]

I don't count the period starting 12/26/2007.

Until the writer's strike ended, and the WGA writers returned, we have no clue about what exigencies mandated story. At a minimum, she and Josh were writing in "crisis mode"--probably whole scripts at the beginning--so she really can't be judged on those products. The fact that the show was judged IMMEDIATELY improved...literally a different show within weeks...speaks well to her skills in crisis mode. This probably explains why she was asked to stick around after the WGA crisis was over.

We see Bennett/Gottesfield back March 19, and then the rest of the writers dribbling in starting April 1.

Maria starts as HW officiallly on April 22.

So, I'm going to date the start of her "non-crisis" regime on 4/1/08 or maybe 4/22/08. Following Marland's 6-month rule (which I realize is not sacrosanct, but I think it is a good common-sense interval), that means that Maria's contribution and changes must be strongly evaluated in October 2008.

But I'll say another thing. There is a hint that she may be SADDLED with LML's writers, and that at least some of them were brought back to burn off their contracts and avoid WGA action.

If that is the case, she may not have the kind of creative control of the show that we would expect even yet. But, realistically, I think October is a very good time to evaluate.