Who are the BEST Writers of all time?

[MTSRocks]

Irna Phillips

William J. Bell

Agnes Nixon

Douglas Marland

The first three are definite legends for daytime television IMHO.

[DeeeDee]

Amen.

[Sylph]

I think the level of sophistication Harding achieved is still unmatched. And will be for long.

[AddictedToSoaps]

Lynn Marie Latham, Megan McTavish, Ellen Weston and David Kriezman are the new Bell, Nixon, Marland's etc.

Such talent those people have!

Here's my picks: Agnes Nixon, William J. Bell, Douglas Marland, Claire Labine, Kay Alden, Wisner Washam, Irna Phillips, and Nancy Curlee. I would put Ron Carlivati on that list, but he needs more time to prove himself IMO.

[Noel]

Lynn Marie Latham, Megan McTavish, Ellen Weston and David Kriezman are the new Bell, Nixon, Marland's etc.

Chris B, you are such a smart-ass I LOVE IT! I kind of miss David Kreizman's letters to the Guiding Light fans. He'll bring up Irna Phillips, the longeivty of Guiding Light, and the brotherhood of man. But when you watch the show, it's like watching Hannah Montana smoking crack with aluminum foil.

[DevotedToAMC]

Well you would know through experience, Noel

[LoyaltoAMC]

Agnes Nixon, Bill Bell, Doug Marland, Pat Falken Smith, Wisner Washam, Pam Long, Harding LeMay, Lorraine Broderick, Nancy Curlee, Claire Labine, and Paul Avila Mayer are the first names that come immediately to mind.

[DeeeDee]

Yep.

He was ahead of his time.

[sungrey]

Bell, Nixon, Marland, Lemay, all agreed on.

Pat Falken Smith should be a rung below the four. Her version of Days in the 1970s was just pure magic.

And NO ONE could top Slesar's way of doing mystery stories.

[leevo64]

I never saw Marland's work, so I'll do the ones I know:

Agnes Nixon

Claire Labine

Michele Val Jean

Patrick Mulcahey

Lorraine Broderick

Ron Carlivati

[juppiter]

Since no-one has mentioned him yet, I'm going to say James E. Reilly. He invented a new approach to doing soaps during the 90s at DAYS. He absolutely revitalized that show and it's the last time a) any soap's ratings have gone consistently UP, and a soap was part of mainstream Americana. I think JER definitely deserves mention.

[EastMA2]

Bill Bell, Douglas Marland, Pam Long, Nancy Curlee, Claire Labine.

[Toups]

I love you the way you think.

DAYS from 1993-1997 is my all time favorite era. It was soap opera perfection. If I owned a soap, I would set up my stories the way Jim did for those 5 years of brilliance.

[MTSRocks]

Oh hell no lol

[quartermainefan]

Has anyone mentioned the great Henry Slesar? Henry wrote The Edge Of Night for many years and wrote what was one of the most logical and well written soaps, maybe the most, to ever hit the screen.

According to wikipedia

supposedly at one time 50% of its audience was male, a feat never accomplished again by any soap.