2008: The Directors and Writers Thread

[JONNYSBRO]

I noticed one thing is adding Paul Rauch and Hogan Sheffer were the missing puzzle pieces. Rauch is very old school soap and fits perfect with Y&R. His production values always very high and the show has gotten better since they arrived. When it was just Bell with Griffith it did not work.

[MarkH]

You seem to be right. The show has been "on track" since August 2008. So, right now, I'm waiting to see if they can sustain 6 months of that. So far, IMO, they have sustained 4 months. So far, so good.

I was nervous about both of these additions, in part because of what happened on some of their last shows. It teaches me a lesson about prejudging.

It also would seem to show...again, only time will tell....that it is all about matching the right people with the right environment. I wonder, too, if the people you mention felt that they had "something to prove" or "reputations to restore"...and if that means they have really focused on this opportunity.

Regardless, at this point, I find myself not trusting that this "good" stuff will last. Each day that passes, I guess my trust is built just a little.

[brimike]

I stand by what I said back when Sheffer was hired. The best work he's ever done in his WHOLE CAREER was when he was co-head with Carolyn Culliton that first year at ATWT. Because CC is a total character-driven writer, and Hogan churns out story like nobody's business.

Based on Maria's work in her first six months solo, she was BRILLIANT at character, but sorely lacking in plot. I knew that as long as they got along on a personal level, chances were it would be similar to HS and CC at ATWT.

Jean Passanante is way too plot-oriented to work with a co-head that's just as plot-oriented like Sheffer. But HS and CC were fantastic, and I feel the same about HS and MAB.

Just my two cents though...

[Khan]

Simple. It was by process of elimination.

According to one of your earlier posts, Toups, the incoming DAYS writer was someone who (as far as you knew) had never written for the show before, and who hadn't worked in the industry during the past three-or-so years. Well, in my mind, that eliminated Jane Atkins, David A. Levinson (who's working now at WT), Michelle Poteet Lisanti and Courtney Simon. (That also leaves out Jeanne Glynn, since she's no longer with us.)

We'd already established, too, that Meg Bennett was not "the guy," so that left (IMO) Daniel S. Griffin, Millee Taggart and Cherrill. Thing is, Griffin, from what I have "heard" in the past, is out of the business completely; and although I'd like to see Taggart back on daytime in some capacity, I just didn't see that happening. Ergo, I guessed David Cherrill.

[Khan]

And I think Cherrill will be. Only problem is, I don't watch any show just for the dialogue alone. To me, the stories and actors have to be "clicking," or I'm just not interested.

[MarkH]

I didn't follow ATWT writers at that the time. You say HS was fantastic "that first year".

What about in the second year? What happened then? Did CC leave?

[Khan]

Is "David Cherrill" also "C. David Colson", who used to play ATWT's Tom Hughes? That question has bugged me for years.

Have nothing to say about Dianne Messina Stanley joining the Y&R staff.

[Toups]

His second year was still good, but not as good as his first year. When Jean Passanante arrived and Carolyn Culliton was demoted, along with MADD's firing of Stephen Demorest, Hal Corley, Richard J. Allen (I think it was something about having too many male writers), you could tell the quality of the show started to go downhill. It was very noticeable.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

ATWT lost a certain element after Carolyn went over to GL to Co-HW with Millee Taggart. Hogan has a tendency to be a little out there, but I thought Carolyn helped him settle things a bit more realistically - she really helped ground a lot of his work. After she left and it was Hogan and Jean, things got a little too over the top, the plotting was all over the place, and the pacing was a bit too rushed in some aspects.

Also, let me just say, Hogan and Carloyn had an AMAZING writing team those first two years. It was great afterwards too, but after MADD had that ridiculous mandate to get rid of some male writers, the show lost a certain luster. I really loved the breakdown team they had with writers like Stephen Demorest, Hal Corley, Tom Casiello, and Susan Dansby (she writes scripts now at ATWT).

The script writing was also great at the time with people like Courtney Simon (she's the Script Editor there presently), Judy Tate, Judith Donato, etc.

But, it's still a mystery to me how Craig Heller managed to secure a spot on that team and at GH in the late 90's, but that's a whole other topic.

[Toups]

Yup, I agree.

Interesting process of elimination. LOL With the clues I gave and cross referencinng Tomlin's credits, I would've guessed Tom King, Samuel D. Ratcliffe, Judith Pinsker and of course David Cherrill (who would've been my #1 guess since he's with Tomlin both in 1985 at AW, and 2001-2002 at OLTL).

[brimike]

Cherrill is Colson, yes. Although I never knew about the Tom Hughes connection. But yes - it's similar to the Courtney Sherman/Courtney Simon thing.

Agreed re: Hogan's first year vs. second year completely. He had a lot of hits after the first year, don't get me wrong. But he had a lot more misses. IN his first year, he had the island and Cooley, and the Lily/Rose reveal - BOTH of which could have ended up soap-opera cliches and completely ridiculous because of their content. Yet, somehow, they both worked. A year later, it was tougher for him to gain any footing in reality. Not that he didn't have some good moments. I still love Rose's murder mystery and thought it played out very well. But there were a lot more hits than misses. When I think how the first go-round with Cooley and the Rose reveal could have played out, I cringe.

They were a good fit. When CC returned as a breakdown writer from GL (after JP was co-head), it got a little better, but it was never the same. That first year was magical.

[Toups]

Cherrill is Colson? They were both listed in the Emmy in 1985 for AW.

ANOTHER WORLD

Gary Tomlin

Samuel D. Ratcliffe

Judith Donato

David Cherrill

Richard Culliton

Judith Pinsker

Francis Myers

Roger Newman

Carolyn Culliton

David Colson

Lloyd Gold

Cynthia Saltzman

Why did he change it to Colson and then back to Cherrill?

[brimike]

^^^ Am I crazy? Maybe I take it all back. I was under the belief they were one and the same, but perhaps I've been misled?

HELP! Somebody who knows better than I, please jump in! I could be TOTALLY wrong here.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

According to IMDB, they're two different people with different credits. They have a birth date listed for C. David Colson, and none listed for David Cherrill.

However, C. David Colson did write for OLTL in the 90's under Malone/Griffith. He was apart of the 1994 Emmy winning team.

I know IMDB can be inaccurate, but I don't believe they're the same person.

[Toups]

Hmm.....Colson is listed in the WGA awards in 2003, but not Cherrill, yet Cherrill was definitely in the credits in 2003!

For 2003 Season/56th

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

Josh Griffith, Michael Malone, Shelly Altman, Lorraine Broderick, Richard Backus, Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, David Colson, Leslie Nipkow, Michelle Poteet Lisanti, Becky Cole, James Fryman, Katherine Schock, Ginger Redmon, Daniel Griffin

May 2003

Created By

Agnes Nixon

Executive Producer

Frank Valentini

Directed by

Robert Scinto

Written By

Michael Malone

Josh Griffith

Lorraine Broderick

Ron Carlivati

Shelly Altman

Richard Backus

David Cherrill

Katherine Schock

Leslie Nipkow

Michelle Poteet Lisanti

James Fryman

Daniel S. Griffin

I'm so confused.

I'll figure this out!!