First I have to ask, Chris - what is that in your avatar?

Second, Tom is one of the few writers that I've consistently heard from thanks to his openness and while I'm sure he is referring to Lynn Latham as the cause of the delays, I really like how it is alluded to.

I had two job opportunities facing me - one where I could stay in New York City (my longtime home) and work at the Number-One rated show on daytime (oh, the pressure!),

Ryan this is like what we were talking about, why would he write for Y&R in NYC when it is based in L.A.? (and no that isnt a dig at tom, on mon nights ITZ we discussed writers writing from places not where the show is)

there was a mandate to move the show into the next generation

Note to CBS/Sony-

If it aint broke, dont fix it. And why would you want to shake up and change the top drama? idiots.

While the fan in me wondered why you'd want to fix something that's not broken

see.

And I did. But then production fell behind... the writers fell behind... sometimes we'd have LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS to write an episode. Whatever was going on at the top trickled its way down to all of us, and we were under a gun, blindfolded and typing madly in the pitch black. Sometimes completely left to our own devices. I spent most of my week sitting around waiting to find out what I was supposed to do while I read up on fan history pages, and the last few remaining hours doing more research than I've ever done -- but NOT on Y&R! On deafness, on epilepsy, on Judaism. Everything BUT the characters and emotional content in my episodes. I'm not foolish or arrogant enough to be able to say I know what caused this behind the scenes, but whatever it was, it led to me ripping out handfuls of hair on many a Saturday night at three o'clock in the morning.

and now we all know why Y&R failed.

and were on the team that wrote Tony Jones laying his head on Maxie's chest and hearing his daughter's heart beat!

tear ;(

Sara has become a victim of a post-writers' strike world, much like I have. Neither one of us have given up. We're bound and determined to get back in the game, and prove there's a future in this daytime world. And she's joined me in voicing her thoughts and opinions on this "Collection of Tubes" called the Internet.

Noe to exec's - fire a HW and hire them as co-hw's? please!!!!!

Ryan this is like what we were talking about, why would he write for Y&R in NYC when it is based in L.A.? (and no that isnt a dig at tom, on mon nights ITZ we discussed writers writing from places not where the show is)

That's the way soaps have always been. At least a few members of each writing team tends to not live in the same state/city where the soap he/she is writing for is produced.

Hell, Irna Philips lived in Chicago, and her soaps were produced in NYC. Bill Bell also lived in Chicago for years and didn't move to LA until 1987, the year B&B premiered.

Edited June 4, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

That's the way soaps have always been. At least a few members of each writing teams tend to not live in the same state/city where the soap he/she is writing for.

Hell, Irna Philips lived in Chicago, and her soaps were produced in NYC. Bill Bell also lived in Chicago for years and didn't move to LA until 1987, the year B&B premiered.

I know, thats what i told Ryan. lol.

I just find it... interesting. I mean, i really don't have an issue with it for the most part, however i do think when shows are going through these huge epic changes and transitional phases they should all come together more often than be in diff states. I do think it use to work 'back in the day' but i also think it could be an issue of why things never match up all the way anymore.

Errol allow me to answer for Chris--cuz I'm a bit of a Kylie obssessee--the clip in Chris' avatar was from a for fans web video Kylie made with one of her main tour dancers (She's on tour right now) the much lusted after Marco da Silva for her (flop sadly) US single a few months back All I See. It can be easily found online

One thing about writers not livingwhere a show is shot is I get the sense reading older soap books that often EProducers enjoyed NOT having the writers often come down in person to "interfere". Of course this was back when EPs and not network heads had the vision for the soap (one they often shared with the EP). There were exceptions--irna would watch every day and immediately call and say something afte rlike one scene like "fire him". Agnes Nixon owned her soaps at first and would play a huge role in casting, talking to actors, too.

I do think soaps used to move slower as a whole but it's nto that simple. Agnes Nixon;'s soaps, at least when she wrote them used to move faster than Bill Bell's as she sometimes commented. In the 90s I can't think of any soaps that moved slower than Reilly's...

E

i dont thunk the writers need to be at the studio the show is at, but i do think that if they all came together more often than not things might flow better.

Steve, you said a mouthful here.

Head writers wrote their own breakdowns - which means you weren't dealing with FIVE sets of personalities, FIVE egos to note in a weekly meeting, FIVE different people trying to all be on the same page when a note in one breakdown affects EVERYONE'S breakdowns.

So when the network interfered with a note, the head writer could EASILY just carry it through, because s/he was the only person writing the breakdowns. (They also weren't twenty pages, but only six or seven pages, so a "heavy rewrite" wasn't nearly as heavy because there was less to revise).

If you DON'T have a breakdown team that thinks like one person (and they do exist out there... they're rare, but they do exist), then you have a lot of dissonant voices. And network interference takes on the illusion of being much worse because five different people are experiencing the same note five different ways.

Great debate. It's certainly making ME think. Thanks for posting, man! :-)

WEll just look at DAys for instance last year. Often times you could look at teh show from day to day and it seemed that some characters changed from one day to the next. It was all in the perception of how the particular breakdown or script writer viewed something.

One day for instance the show seemed like it treated Sami/EJ as rape and then they would turn around the next day and all the stuff they said would be reversed.

You had all these people who just didn't seem to be on the same page and it showed onscreen.

Apologies for bumping this up, but it's seemingly for a good cause. :-)

AND HE MAKES THE PITCH...!!!!!!!

Current mood: nervous

Right. So... here's the deal.

This is going to be a VERY strange blog entry.

Not to mention extremely self-centered and presumptuous....

I am NOT a religious person. (Spiritual? Yes. Religious? No.) If you understand THAT reasoning, than I won't have to explain how I'm not religious, but still believe in prayer.

Remember that project I hinted at EONS ago that I was working on?

This is D-Day.

Thursday (tomorrow) at 1 PM Eastern Standard Time, I'm pitching my prime-time show to Soapnet.

I wrote it with two partners I met at the ABC Writers' Development Program. And I kinda love it. It started as a Made-For-TV movie a few years ago, and at some point, morphed into a prime-time series. And I kinda think it's great. Any writer will tell you that sometimes, you write things you KNOW are mediocre. And other times, something takes over your body when you're typing, and you write something kinda monumental.

This is how I feel about this pitch. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

So please... if you're a religious person, say a prayer for me at 1 PM NYC time tomorrow.

If you're not a religious person, send some good vibes my way.

If you think I'm a hack and completely worthless as a television writer (which is TOTALLY cool, FYI), send some good vibes anyway. Because chances are if I land this gig, I won't be allowd to blog, ergo you'll be totally rid of me, and any post relating to my blog on the message board you frequent. So even those who don't like me win in this scenario.

This is a huge turning point. In case you're not aware (and by "you", I mean the specific "you" reading this), this blog has been as VITAL to this writer, as it's been interesting and controversial to you (as fans) since the strike began.

I can't tell you how many times I've felt completely worthless, and totally stuck in a rut since November 1st of last year... first with the strike, then with the firing from Days, and then from unemployment. In so many ways, this ongoing blog has kept me sane, in touch with what's important, and continuously given me perspective re: my current state.

And I have YOU... yes, YOU to thank for it. My fans, my opponents, my debators, my friends, my fellow daytime viewers. THANK YOU for your comments, your responses, your e-mails and your posts.

This one's for you guys. If tomorrow brings a major turning point in my career, I have no one else to thank for it but you. Because it's all of YOU who got me through these last eight months of uncertainty. (Well, to be blunt, it's YOU and the beau... and he already knows how much he's appreciated. Plus, he's dealt with more psychoses than you guys have, if that's possible) And if this pitch is successful? I'll be writing it with all of YOU as my dedication.

All my love,

--Tom

SOURCE: www.myspace.com/tommiecas

Edited June 4, 200817 yr by brimike

Aw, best of luck to Tom!

::Sending my positive vibes his way:::

Man, after his horrible year, he deserves something good for once. LOL

Good luck, Tom!!!

I'd like to echo that. Best of luck Tom!

I haven't commented much on his blog entries but I will say he comes across as "one of us" (and I don't mean the TCs)

Best wishes, Tom! I'll be thinking of ya!

Good Luck Tom

Most definitely Good Luck to Tom! Also, I totally understand the religious vs spiritual thing. All good thoughts to you Tom!

I'm sending all good vibes Tom's way. Good Luck!