Members Khan Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 Co-sign! (BTW, MarkH, thank you. As someone who's been called to the carpet for making snarky remarks about others, I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught the rudeness of brimike's remark.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 For a decade, I have felt SOD and SOW are just WRONG. Their tabloid presentation and screaming headlines further cheapen the genre. And because almost all us go by supermarket checkouts and can't miss those things--even if one doesn't read or watch--all the world gets this cheap, sick picture. Now, I admit I subscribe to SOD, and I buy SOW on occasion. (Well, lots of occasions). And almost always it feels like cheap sex. Good for a brief while, but no substance, no feeling. I always wanted a "Vanity Fair" for daytime. Really. So, how does this relate to Tom Casiello? Well, he's not writing Vanity Fair length pieces yet :-). But he's trying to go INSIDE, to explain, to account. He's writing with feeling and passion. He is clearly NOT trying to appease the networks and their PR departments. I'm told that back in the day Michael Kape did that kind of analysis. And Lynn Liccardo this week put up a scan of an old SOW piece she wrote with a detailed demographic analysis of soaps. That was AS GOOD as anything I'd read in a mainstream New York Times or Washington Post. I do believe, as has happened with mainstream newspapers, that the blogosphere is opening up some incredible, unique, analytic voices like Tom and Sara and Lynn. Surely there is no money in it yet...but maybe someday.... We love our Tommy :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brimike Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll go sit in the corner for a few hours. With no dessert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 I knew you had a dark side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 We live on different planets, I guess. I didn't say he was a fool, as your post implies, I sad you made him look like one. And I believe it is idiotic to ask LML for help. That's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 And I wasn't trying to make him look like one. So, you're right: we do live on different planets. Then, here's a question for you: what would you do? Let's pretend you are TC - notice, I said pretend, not insinuating anything - and you are crafting your latest breakdown for LML. However, you are having trouble with her notes, or "thrust," for your particular episode. (It could be where a character contradicts him or herself, based on their prior history, without any explanation or motivation...or it could be that you think this-or-that scene or sequence doesn't jibe with what you know about the tenets of dramatic/soap writing...whatever.) You're unsure over what LML's intentions are and whether you can execute them faithfully, so what do you do? Who do you consult, if not the HW? Do you consult anyone at all, or do you just "write the damn thing" as you see fit and hope 1) it's what she wants, 2) if it isn't, she'll be so blown away with what you've turned in, she won't care, or 3) if it's not what she wants, and she isn't impressed, then she won't mind doing a "page-one rewrite" herself? According to his interview w/ Daytime Dial (I think it was Daytime Dial; could be wrong), Patrick Mulcahey initially had difficulties envisioning the "Clink/Boom" sequence on GH. He told Bob Guza, in effect, that he thought it was too "amped-up" and "mechanical," and that he wasn't sure if he could write the script as Guza had it mapped out. Knowing Guza had been working for months precisely to get the stories to that exact moment, Mulcahey was impressed enough with his response - "Then write it as you see fit" - that he went back, worked with Guza's plans a bit more, and eventually came up with a solution which more-or-less adhered to his vision (with some tweaking, of course). Now, Guza trusted Mulcahey enough to write "Clink/Boom" in a way that felt comfortable to Mulcahey...but the point is, Mulcahey, as the associate writer, had a problem, so he went to his headwriter for advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brimike Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 This is kind of off track, but does anyone know how much longer Mulcahey lasted at GH after this? I'm serious. I'm very curious, after hearing stories of what the climate is like now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Khan Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 According to soapcentral.com, "Clink/Boom" occurred on May 31, 1996. Mulcahey, however, wrote for GH until October 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 It boggles my mind that after Santa Barbara, and after this famous Clink/Boom (which even I have seen) that he is now.... ...at.... B&B! How can such a bright writer live, day after day, with the insipid plotting and turgid dialog? What makes it worse is that when he DOES try to infuse something richer (like Stephanie and Eric's "farewell" conversation, "the autumn of my years"), it just sounds out of place and showy. I'm just not seeing how this relationship is lasting...how Mulcahey can call himself a "lifer" on B&B...when the show seems such a poor fit to his formidable talents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brimike Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 Glad to see there was a time talent won out over pettiness. Ah, the good old days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Toups Posted June 28, 2008 Author Administrator Share Posted June 28, 2008 Damn, I missed out on this discussion too!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brimike Posted June 28, 2008 Members Share Posted June 28, 2008 We missed you, Toups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SOAPSFOREVER Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 I believe Bell called Mulcahey a "lifer" on B&B (along with Tracey Kelly and Rex M. Best), not Mulcahey labeling himself that. There's a big difference. I agree that Mulcahey's talents are sorely wasted where he is. He should be a headwriter at any soap that would have him. Some network or show should snap him up. Maybe he doesn't want that kind of stress in his life now. But from everything I've read about the guy, he knows what makes a soap tick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 Patrick Mulcahey. I saw some of his work on SB, but I really grew fond of him at GL. He REALLY LOVED GL, and especially adored my girl, Nancy Curlee. I loved how he said one of the things wrong with daytime is the fact that she's not on it. I notice that he wrote some of favourite GL episodes from that era as well, like that special Ross Election Day Episode, Maureen's funeral episode, Frank and Eleni's wedding, and much more. God, those were the good days of GL... I heard he got along quite well with Guza, but left GH because a network executive wanted him to "dumb down the dialogue." I think Toups posted an article here last year where he was quoted saying that. He left SB and GL for similar reasons. As for Mulcahey as HW, I don't think he wants to do that. His time as a HW for GL isn't looked upon too fondly, but I hear he and JFP didn't get along at the time. They also tried to unsuccessfully create a HW team again, but GL fell apart without Nancy Curlee. I say that without fan-wanking, OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dan Posted June 29, 2008 Members Share Posted June 29, 2008 God, that was such a weird episode, lol. Multiple Rogers, Nadine giving birth to a cat, naked Alan-Michael and Blake in the hottub, Holly bathing in a bathtub of dirty water with a dress on. That Mulchahey has a weird side sometimes, doesn't he lol? But Maureen's funeral was brilliant. Not to mention that heartbreaking scene with Bridget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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