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Writing for Soaps: An Interview with General Hospital's Charles Pratt Jr. and Bob Guza Jr.

Author: Debra L. Eckerling

February 11, 2004

Columnist Debra Eckerling discusses the serious business of soap writing with General Hospital scribes Charles Pratt Jr. and Bob Guza Jr.

Writing for a soap opera requires a special talent. Writers must be able to handle the pace and the volume, while keeping track of the storylines. They also have to be able to write the voices of up to 30 different characters. Charles Pratt Jr. and Bob Guza Jr. are experts when it comes to daytime dramas. They are co-head writers for ABC's General Hospital, and have been in the business for 20 years.

Pratt and Guza met in the film school editing room at University of Southern California, and in the early 1980s started writing together on General Hospital.

"Gloria Monty brought us together again as young 25-year-old scriptwriters," Pratt explains. "That's really how we became soap writers. Ultimately ... I went off to primetime and was there for 10 years, and now I'm back with Bob and couldn't be happier. (Guza served as head writer of General Hospital from December of 1995 until June of 1996, and again from September of 1997 to December of 2000.) We're like a couple of soap characters——we drift in and out of each other's lives."

Pratt and Guza have a long history of collaboration in primetime, as well as daytime. Pratt served as executive producer, writer and director of Melrose Place and creator and executive producer on Models, Inc. Guza was executive story editor for both of those programs. The two co-created Sunset Beach, where Guza served as head writer and Pratt was consultant. Pratt and Guza worked together on Santa Barbara, as well. They each earned Emmy®® awards for their work on General Hospital and Santa Barbara, and were honored by the WGA.

"If Bob and I have any contribution to all the shows we work on, it's that we see them in our heads as wide screen, $30,000,000-motion pictures when we write," Pratt explains. "We don't see it as a soap opera. So, the pacing tends to be lightning-quick and the scenes tend to not end in the usual clichéé way. We do a fair amount of rewards for the audience, as far as montages and beautiful pictures and great clothes and that stuff, because that's a staple in the genre.

"In soaps, probably more than in any other kind of writing, you really are writing for the audience," Pratt continues. "It's their characters, their show. Some of them have been with this show longer than we have."

Guza adds, "I would have to say it feels to me like the characters are the ones who have the power. We'll put [characters] in a situation, they'll have an encounter and we'll know what they will do off of that because of who they are and the way they would act. So, I really think the characters are the ones who generate the stories, particularly in daytime. That's a good thing."

"The fun thing about daytime is the characters get richer and richer over the years," Pratt says, "because the characters, like real life, have gone through changes."

Pratt and Guza's work on General Hospital is the ultimate in multitasking: "Essentially we start out the week with a notes meeting from the network, in which we get notes on the previous week's outline," Guza explains. "Then, Chuck and I sit down and lay out a week, and that usually means coming up with five shows, breaking it down into acts, coming up with a fair amount of the content. Then we will either pitch it to a breakdown writer [the outline writer], or sometimes give the breakdown writer notes. That takes the bulk of the week.

"At the same time, we are reading the scripts that had been written off the outline and giving notes on them and also trying to be involved in what they're doing down in the studios," he continues. "Somewhere in all of this——and that's the thing that always gets you——is you have to figure out long stories, because you are gobbling up an hour's worth of material every day without any hiatus, without any time off. Somewhere, you have to know where you're going with six, seven, eight different stories ..."

"... Over the next six months," Pratt jumps in, "and building to the all-important sweeps period. As head writers, 90 percent of what we do is the so-called drudgery, though we have a great time doing it of what's going to happen next, literally act-to-act. In soaps, it's so important, how you hang each episode, whether it's a cliffhanger or you're ending on an emotional cliffhanger——all of those kinds of things——to propel the audience into the next day. You don't have a week for people to talk about the last episode before you get to the next episode. Knowing that many people are taping and fast-forwarding, you've got to hook them every single day, five-days a week, all year long. It just never stops.

"The thing we've learned is the great thing in daytime is that the story can never end. And that's also the worst thing about daytime," Pratt continues. "It's as much about endurance as it is about creativity," explains Pratt.

"Soaps are really a first-draft medium," Guza says. "In a sense, you are working so much on adrenaline all the time. It's also a lot of fun. There isn't time for second-guessing. There isn't time for going back. We've been lucky," he continues. "We get a lot of freedom, and we have a lot of fun, and we have a lot of respect for each other and the people we work with. It's about as good as it gets in this business."

Pratt adds, "As you go along, sometimes it's not the experience of the job; the people you work becomes almost as important as the final product."

General Hospital airs Monday through Friday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific on the ABC Television Network.

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Deb Eckerling is a freelance writer currently writing for Venice Magazine and Latin Style. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

CHARLES PRATT, JR. AND ROBERT GUZA, JR. TO HEAD GENERAL HOSPITAL WRITING TEAM

Emmy Award-winning writers Charles Pratt, Jr. and Robert Guza, Jr. will head the "General Hospital" writing team, effective Monday, April 8, 2002, it's been announced by Angela Shapiro, president, ABC Daytime. Megan McTavish will be stepping down from her current post as head writer.

"Bob and Chuck have a long list of successes working on so many award-winning shows," said Ms. Shapiro, "and it's with great pleasure that I welcome this incredible team to 'General Hospital.'"

"We had a fabulous collaboration on 'Santa Barbara,'" commented Jill Farren Phelps, executive producer, "General Hospital." "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with these talented writers again." Ms. Phelps served as executive producer on "Santa Barbara," where Pratt and Guza worked together on the head writing team. She also added: "Megan is one of the most talented writers I have worked with, and I want to thank her for her hard work during her time at 'General Hospital.'"

Charles Pratt, Jr. and Robert Guza, Jr. began their collaboration as script writers for "General Hospital" under then executive producer Gloria Monty, in the early 1980's. They also worked together on "Santa Barbara," "Melrose Place," "Models Inc." and "Sunset Beach." They graduated from USC Film School together in 1978.

Charles Pratt, Jr. served as executive producer, writer and director of the popular primetime series "Melrose Place." He was creator and executive producer of the primetime series "Titans," co-creator and consultant on "Sunset Beach," consultant on "Pacific Palisades," creator and executive producer on Models, Inc.," co-producer on "Life Goes On" and head writer on "Santa Barbara," during which time he won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing on a Daytime Drama Series and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for "Santa Barbara."

Robert Guza, Jr. served as head writer of "General Hospital" from December, 1995, until June, 1996. He left to co-create "Sunset Beach" with Mr. Pratt, where he also served as head writer. He returned to "General Hospital" and served as head writer from September, 1997, until December, 2000, during which time he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing on a Daytime Drama Series and was twice nominated, in 1997 and 2000. He also received two Emmy Awards for his work on the Daytime drama "Santa Barbara," and four WGA Award nominations for the Daytime dramas "Sunset Beach," "Santa Barbara" and "Loving." Among other writing credits, Mr. Guza was executive story editor for "Melrose Place" and "Models Inc."

"General Hospital" premiered on April 1, 1963, and will air its 10,000th episode on April 17, 2002. The program consistently ranks as the highest-rated Daytime drama among the key demographic of Women 18-49. In May of 2000 "General Hospital" made Daytime Emmy history as the only Daytime drama ever to receive the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series a record seven times. "General Hospital" airs MONDAY-FRIDAY from 3:00-4:00 p.m., ET/2:00-3:00 p.m., PT, on the ABC Television Network. Jill Farren Phelps is executive producer.

Los Angeles Daily News

Week of March 29, 1998

Plot surgery on `General Hospital' takes soap off critical list by Carol Bidwell

Never before has a soap opera turned on a dime so publicly. "From now on, every damn thing around here is gonna be different!" proclaimed Luke Spencer as the Dec. 8 episode of "General Hospital" opened with a raucous party at his nightclub. Before the smoke from Luke's cigar had wafted into the rafters, viewers saw a wild boogie contest, a drive-by shooting, a mobster's attempted murder, a supermodel's mental meltdown, and heroic lifesaving attempts -- events that sent months of story line in motion. "Bam! We were off and running," exulted "GH" head writer Bob Guza, who announced in that script his intent to shake things up after a year's hiatus. The venerable soap opera, which had limped through its 34th year, hitting fifth place in the ratings among the 11 daytime series last November, was suddenly back in business. In the four months since Guza's new stories started airing, "GH" -- which from 1979 to 1987 was the No. 1-rated daytime drama -- has bounced between the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the ratings, picking up nearly 400,000 viewers along the way. And Guza hopes "GH" will celebrate its 35th year on top once more. "I love this show," the writer enthused. "This is like coming home for me. I couldn't wait to come back." Guza left for a year to develop NBC's new "Sunset Beach" soap for Aaron Spelling.

During his absence, ratings dipped, many viewers wrote to complain about boring stories, and tales Guza had carefully plotted went awry under the manipulations of three other head writers in succession. "They took characters in directions I wouldn't have taken them," Guza said. "But there are other things that I'm eternally grateful for, that I can build on." Whatever comes now, the "GH" cast is ready for it. When word of Guza's return became public, some actors who had reportedly been considering moving on when their contracts were up began to purr with content. Steve Burton, who plays the pivotal role of young mob chieftain Jason Morgan, signed a new multiyear contract. And Anthony Geary, who has played volatile Luke Spencer for 20 years, is a happy man again. "Bob Guza is my hero," Geary said. On the set Dec. 8, as the writer hovered behind the cameras, Geary asked him how to deliver the crucial line. "He said, 'Just tell the truth. Every damn thing is going to change around here.' So when I said that, I was speaking for the writer, and I was speaking for the character, and I was speaking for the fans," Geary said. But is Guza the reason for the show's renewed success? "The show's gone up to No. 2 since he's been back. He had to have something to do with that," Kimberly McCullough, who's played Robin Scorpio for 12 of her 19 years, said matter-of-factly.

The oldest soap produced on the West Coast, it debuted April 1, 1963, in black and white, with action centering around General Hospital in the fictional upstate New York waterfront town of Port Charles. Those first stories centered around three characters: dedicated Dr. Steve Hardy, loyal nurse Jessie Brewer and her philandering and much-younger husband, Dr. Phil Brewer. "No one expected us to last very long," John Beradino, who played Steve Hardy until his death in 1996, told Seli Groves, author of "The Ultimate Soap Opera Guide."

"GH" was the first soap to concentrate on making medical maladies seem real; they even hired a real doctor to coach the actors on their performances. And while other soaps centered around chats over the kitchen table, "GH" broke new ground with story lines on rape and infertility, and over the years, its characters dealt with the effects of breast cancer, AIDS, alcoholism, drug addiction, domestic abuse and other social issues. But its popularity waned, and by 1976, it had sunk to No. 10 among the 15 soaps then on the air. Enter executive producer Gloria Monty, determined to put a younger face on Port Charles with a handful of teen-age actors -- among them the young Genie Francis, who was hired to play Laura Webber.

The beautiful daughter of Dr. Leslie Weber was accused of a murder she didn't commit, married law student Scotty Baldwin (played by Kin Shriner) and went to work in the campus disco, where she met mob hit man Luke Spencer. Luke, lusting after the teen-ager and believing he would be murdered the next day, raped Laura. Under the unwritten soap opera law that decrees that evildoers must be punished, Luke should have ended up in jail or been murdered. But viewers had fallen in love with the couple, so the writers quickly rewrote history, characterizing the sexual attack as a seduction. Laura fell in love with her rapist, and Luke and Laura became soapdom's first "supercouple." As "GH" expanded from a half-hour to an hour in 1978, college students scheduled their classes around the show. Luke and Laura were pictured on the cover of Newsweek magazine, and their November 1981 wedding -- which drew more than 30 million viewers -- still ranks as daytime's most-watched episode. Neither Francis nor Geary, who were busy in the studio taping four or five shows a day during Luke and Laura's heyday, had any idea their characters had made such an impression on America's consciousness.

"I think it was the cover of Newsweek when we went, 'Wow, what's going on here?' " Geary said.

Once wed, the couple rode off into the sunset, but returned in 1993. Since then, Francis has left to give birth to two children, and is currently on extended maternity leave. Ostensibly, Laura is hiding from the Cassadines -- her two-decades-ago kidnappers -- but viewers are growing impatient for her return.

If Francis opts to remain a full-time mom, leaving Luke solo, maybe mobster Jason and sweet, HIV-positive Robin can make it as the next supercouple, Guza said. But you can't just wave a magic wand and declare two people a soap supercouple.

"It's the chemistry between two people that makes a supercouple, and it's not necessarily ignition at first sight," Guza said. In the 12 years daytime shows have competed for their own Emmys, the series and its cast members have won 26 statuettes, including Best Daytime Drama in 1981, '84, '95, '96 and '97. It's nominated for more than a dozen Emmys this year; awards will be handed out May 15. It's Guza's longtime link with the show -- he started as a scriptwriter in 1982 -- that has everyone expecting that the awards will continue to roll in.

But Guza is always mindful that a writer is just as good as his latest hit story line, an interlocking web of tales and intrigues and love affairs that he plans and plots as far in advance as two years. "I think the fans want what I do," Guza said. "Good, intriguing stories. Love stories. Fans always want their favorite couples together, but when everything's going fine, that makes a very dull story. You have to focus on their struggle to be together. That's what makes a good story that keeps people watching."

1997/09/21

HOSPITAL UNDERGOES SURGERY

Call it a case of Excellence Interruptus: General Hospital, which has gone from divine to dreadful in less than a year (and lost more than a million viewers in the process) is now back in the hands of Bob Guza. Here the revered head writer -- who left the ABC soap in mid-1996 to help launch NBC's Sunset Beach -- offers a preview.

TV Guide: GH almost immediately went to hell in your absence. How will you fix it and how quickly?

Bob Guza: The show was written into late October when I returned, but I'm going full tilt to turn some things around by November. GH has got to be big: I don't want to see my life on the screen. I want to see characters who love deeper, crash harder, and soar higher than I do. And we must put the titans back together -- the Cassadines and the Spencers, Brenda and Jax, that sort of thing.

TVG: Stefan Cassadine [stephen Nichols], easily your most brilliant creation, has become a toy villain, trying to take over the world with his laptop.

BG: I want Stefan back in Luke's face. His romantic power over Laura is much more important than his quest for global power, which is silly and hard to buy. And I can't wait to get my hooks into Alexis. I'd love to reteam Nancy Lee Grahn with Lane Davies [her Santa Barbara love interest]. Alexis will become the truest of the Cassadines. In about eight months, she's going to turn on Stefan.

TVG: Speaking of reunions, many fans resent the forced pairing of Nichols and his Days of Our Lives costar Mary Beth Evans [Katherine].

BG: It was rushed. I thought there were years to be milked with Stefan and Bobbie. I want to get back to that.

TVG: When will Bobbie finally realize Carly is her daughter? The crowd's getting antsy.

BG: I will jump on that immediately.

TVG: How will you lure back Genie Francis from maternity leave?

BG: I'm going to knock on her door with flowers and candy and throw myself prostrate at her feet. I'm serious. I'll do anything necessary to get her back.

TVG: What about those god-awful Webber sisters? They've turned Lucky and Nikolas into pointless dweebs.

BG: The dynamic with those four is wrong. Lucky and Nikolas should not be played as ordinary teens. They are much more interesting than that.

TVG: So you'll write out the girls?

BG: No, but they won't drive story.

TVG: Printed reports say Vanessa Marcil [brenda] is leaving in December.

BG: That is absolutely not true. She is very prominent in at least the next year's worth of story.