JP, I know you're a huge Degrassi fan, and I've always thought that you'd enjoy UK soap, Hollyoaks, if you got to see it. It's similar in that it's more youth-centric, but it's more serialized (than Degrassi) since it airs 5 days a week and also has interesting older characters as well. If you have a Joost account (it's free) and you've installed the Joost player, you can watch full episodes, it's only available to American Joost members though.

I'd recommend Coronation Street and EastEnders, but Corrie's not easily available to those in America and they're more older skewing, but good nonetheless.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

JP, I know you're a huge Degrassi fan, and I've always thought that you'd enjoy UK soap, Hollyoaks, if you got to see it. It's similar in that it's more youth-centric, but it's more serialized (than Degrassi) since it airs 5 days a week and also has interesting older characters as well. If you have a Joost account (it's free) and you've installed the Joost player, you can watch full episodes, it's only available to American Joost members though.

I'd recommend Coronation Street and EastEnders, but Corrie's not easily available to those in America and they're more older skewing, but good nonetheless.

I tried so hard to get into Hollyoaks and hated it. I just never found anyone i was able to root for.

But id love to see Corrie and EE. I wish BBCAmerica would play them. BBCAmerica did play... i forget the name now. It was about a fancy hotel. I loved it. It was a primetime soap, but amazing.

an aww Degrassi. I miss my DegrassiFan87 name.

I also have seen bits off Emerdale and kinda loved it. And another soap.. but i think its from Ausie.. Home & Away, far & Away? summen like that. TS from Y&R was on it and i loved her.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by JackPeyton

As much as I adore Tom and Sara for sharing their blogs with the public, I don't think how well they'd do as HW's.

I think Sara would do well (emphasis on think). However, I'm surprised at your recent posts. At times it looks like you hate Ron Carlivati, or find his writing nothing special, but are afraid to admit it because of avalanche of negative feedback you might receive.

Same for Tom Casiello. Your posts are not definitive as they once were, it's just "I guess", "I think", always some sort of synopsis/mix of what other people (and you) already said.

I think Sara would do well (emphasis on think). However, I'm surprised at your recent posts. At times it looks like you hate Ron Carlivati, or find his writing nothing special, but are afraid to admit it because of avalanche of negative feedback you might receive.

Same for Tom Casiello. Your posts are not definitive as they once were, it's just "I guess", "I think", always some sort of synopsis/mix of what other people (and you) already said.

Sylph, you must hate trying to figure out where i stand with everyone.. because i change my mind all the time. lol.

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?

Simply, I would write the damn thing the way I think it should be written. If she doesn't like it, she can re-write it. I mean, I would do exactly what J. Michael Straczynski did when his head writer gave him a one-line note on his script. JMS didn't understand the note, but just re-wrote the script in the way JMS thought the HW would want the script to be re-written. End of story.

Which is precisely what Patrick did with Robert.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by Sylph

Sylph, you must hate trying to figure out where i stand with everyone.. because i change my mind all the time. lol.

Actually, no. I adore your posts. And funnily enough, one would think I would hate you because you enjoy Higley's writing, but since it's you, I don't mind at all. I cannot stand the woman and if it were anyone else, I'd skip his/her posts altogether. But I like that you're going against the current, that you like (or hate) what other people hate (or love) and you're not afraid to admit it.

Y&RWorldTurner is one of my favourite posters ever, who I adooore and think is absolute love, and he will remain that, it's just that I don't understand the need for him to write the same thing in three separate threads. I might try doing that. And most importantly, I don't believe he likes Tom Casiello and Ron Carlivati all that much.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by Sylph

Actually, no. I adore your posts. And funnily enough, one would think I would hate you because you enjoy Higley's writing, but since it's you, I don't mind at all. I cannot stand the woman and if it were anyone else, I'd skip his/her posts altogether. But I like that you're going against the current, that you like (or hate) what other people hate (or love) and you're not afraid to admit it.

Y&RWorldTurner is one of my favourite posters ever, who I adooore and think is absolute love, and he will remain that, it's just that I don't understand the need for him to write the same thing in three separate threads. I might try doing that. And most importantly, I don't believe he likes Tom Casiello and Ron Carlivati all that much.

LOL. Well, Thank you.

And in my defense re Dena, i do hate her first Days run, and her OLTL run. This time around tho i do think it is better. Idk why, or what really.. and it very well could be that she has repaired almost every single char that Hogan hacked apart. In a way Dena reminds me of MAB at Y&R... both are not great HW's by any emans.. but they have repaired char;s that previous HW's hacked to almost death. But other than the great char's we get boring storylines and an all around bore of a show. But then again i am not board when i watch days - but that could be because i dont expect anything but awful when i watch it - and its been okay, as well as some suprise couplings. Dena is great at cleanup, i will give her that. When she took over OLTL she did great for about 2 months, IMHO. Same at Days. Except so far she has stayed ok at days. I have always said i would take good storylines over good dialoge, and i stand by that.

also, i hope (and know) most people know i honestly feel that way and dont just say it. i *hate* that. disagree sure - but disagree because thats how you feel not so you can 'stand out' because its obvious most of the time and you are do stand out... but not in the way you want.

Y&RWorldTurner is love. One of the few posters i actually make sure i read all the posts by. Idk about him with TC & RC, but i like them both. TC, going off days epsiodes i know he wrote a large chuck of, is great IMHO. RC is good in terms of he gives fans what they want, but i dont think he is the Nixon/Bell/ETC... off the Y2K+ like some do.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by JackPeyton

LOL. Well, Thank you.

And in my defense re Dena, i do hate her first Days run, and her OLTL run.

I hate all her runs. And after all the things she did during the strike, there is just no way for me to tolerate her. There is just no redemption for Dena Higley.

Y&RWorldTurner is love. One of the few posters i actually make sure i read all the posts by.

I totally agree.

I hate all her runs. And after all the things she did during the strike, there is just no way for me to tolerate her. There is just no redemption for Dena Higley.

understandable.

To be honest.. anyone could have come in and repaired Sami Brady and id love them for that alone. She *is* the reason i am a soap opera fan, and after what Hogan did to her my inner soap opera spirit was broken.

And as much as i ahte to say this - i dont care about the strike (i mean, dont get me wrong i 100% believe in what theyw ere stirking for... but.. well...). And lot more popele scabbed than we know.

This thread has been annoyingly and obnoxiously preoccupied with Y&R drivel. Since I don't watch that show, I have no opinions to add -- I just like seeing people get their knickers in a knot over that 56 member writing staff over there at Y&R. I'm still confused about it all. People like the dialog and the pacing but hate the storylines?

Yes, I have to admit it — it has really become "annoyingly and obnoxiously" preoccupied with Y&R. It's because people had high hopes in Maria Arena Bell; when she first came, people liked how she cleaned some of the mess Lynn Marie Latham left behind. But now... The show has become dull, dull, dull, here-and-there you find an excellent moment or two, but that is just it. Sure, the show is still miles better than many currently airing, but that's not really a compliment, no?

Apart from not introducing any new exciting storylines (that will reportedly come in August (finally!)), she just stopped cleaning the mess (e.g. not getting rid of Gloria). And she kept the Gargantuan writing staff, so heterogenous and all over the place that it's just unbelievable.

The dialogue is better than it used to be, but it's not consistent. One day you like it, then you hate it. There's a lot of work to be done and people are abandoning the show as we speak (I will do it, too, I'm just waiting to see the (in)famous Sheffer at work).

I enjoy the dialog and the pacing moves to the point where I'm not still watching the same day for two weeks.

See, I do, too (like the pacing; the dialogue is splendid as always). Only... I wish he slowed down a bit, I mean diminsh the number of scenes in an episode, this is just bordering on pacing-on-steroids.

I don't know about the PiRoman thing. I'm kinda wishy-washy when it comes to him... the same way I am with Bettina Bradbury. Off Days and On Days. Definitely no Michelle Patrick, Kate Hall, Michele Val Jean or Mary Sue Price.

Well... Pratt will have to make some changes, and I'm pretty sure he will. I just think the show needs some solid male dialogue writers. Just to add a different perspective. And no Beall - if she cannot be fired, then at least demote her.

While it might seem I may suffer from Mimi Leahey Love, I don't. Let me clarify. The dialog under her editing was a LOT more tolerable than the dialog under Jeff Beldner's red pen. I assume that's because she was a previous journalist before she started writing soaps (during/after the '88 strike, or so I've read). So she has more of an "eye" for being succinct and precise with the dialog that gets thrown into her inbox.

Frankly, I couldn't say so directly who did what on which show. Especially since these recent goings on. Who edits what is beyond me, but I would love it if, for example, rain1 told us if indeed Mimi Leahey edited the scripts and if indeed Jeff Beldner is doing that now.

Edited June 30, 200817 yr by Sylph

I believe there is an interview coming up with new writer Thom Racina, as well the supposed interview with Maria Arena Bell coming up- both this week. Maybe from those interviews (if the right questions are asked) people can guage any 'writer activity' on Y&R. Maybe then this thread could spread itself out across the other soaps.

What was Pratt's first airdate? I forgot.

What was Pratt's first airdate? I forgot.

I don't remember we even got the first airdate. It's still an unknown date.

Simply, I would write the damn thing the way I think it should be written. If she doesn't like it, she can re-write it.

Good point. However, as you, yourself, have pointed out, there are a lot of demands on the HW's time. Would that HW look favorably upon having to rewrite an associate writer's material? Maybe once, maybe twice. But if it gets to be a habit, for lack of a better word, with that writer, then one of two things will happen: either the HW will believe you can't do your job, or he/she will think you don't respect them in theirs. And either way, you'll probably end up canned.

Harding Lemay, in the beginning, had a full writing staff at ANOTHER WORLD; eventually, though, he wound up letting most of them go (and not replacing them) because he found it much easier to write the scripts himself than to rewrite others'.

I don't remember we even got the first airdate. It's still an unknown date.

In the AMC thread, everything circles around August 5th.