Now I'm wondering if this could be Claire Labine? She is definitely a "much loved" HW, and she did write GL in the recent past. True, that's not a top-rated soap, but as I mentioned above, that part could just be hyperbole. Claire has often spoken of Nixon with admiration, and certainly having been in the business together for years, they must be at least somewhat friendly. I know Claire is up there in age, but maybe Agnes wants her just to temporarily step in and get things into shape before handing off the reins to someone else. Just a thought! Claire's writing has depth, warmth, and lots of intergenerational interaction, which are three qualities AMC is sorely lacking at the moment. I know her stint as GL was uneven, and her short time at OLTL a disaster, those two stints marred by interfering and/or inept EPs, but I think she's an excellent writer and perfect for AMC. Yes, she'd have Carruthers to deal with, but she seems so inept and visionless that Claire might actually be able to get her own vision across. All just a thought.

I wish Washam would have came back to AMC in the late 90's instead of McTavish. There is no telling where the show would be now if that had happened.

Yea her late 90s stint sucked....well it was good from December/1997 to April/1998 but then it got really bad. Something tells me it tanked due to Jean Dadario Burke.

Washam can at least spin some magic with a horrid EP

Now I'm wondering if this could be Claire Labine? She is definitely a "much loved" HW, and she did write GL in the recent past.

The thing is she sucked at GL. But she wrote GH a little over ten years ago and made her mark on that show. I thought GH was at its best under her watch and Wendy Riche....it was better, IMO, than 80s GH

I would love for it the be Claire Labine (and maybe her kids helping her) Ryans Hope was great and her time at GH will always be may favorite era of the show. Plus she worked with Julie Carruthers at GH, but I have a feeling that it wont be Claire.

Labine can be a mixed bag....she has worked well at some shows (Ryan's Hope, General Hospital) but bad on others (One Life To Live, Guiding Light)

I do think it may be Kay Alden. I always thought that Alden, Addie Walsh and Stephen Demorest would be an AWESOME head writing trio for AMC. In April when Alden was consulting and Walsh and Demorest were writing...well to me that was some of the best AMC episodes we had seen in a long, long time. Their was balance among the cast and some of the newer characters/performers were allowed to let their true talents shine through. It just got a feel of the old AMC for those few months before B&E came aboard and started writing. I also think that Broderick, Walsh and Demorest would be an awesome writing trio as well.

I had heard that Kay Alden had a storyline "bible" for the AMC and the characters. Even though I know the whole transgender storyline got mixed reactions, I think that perhaps if Alden had been given a chance and moved it along then it might have ended up being well written. Also, I know that Hogan Sheffer is a fan of AMC and when he first took over at Days the ratings went through the roof....so it could be Hogan as well. I thought Frons was interested in Hogan before he went to Days, but maybe I am wrong about that one.

On a side note, SoapTown USA has been credible and at times ALL sites get information wrong and people are given the wrong info. Besides how do you know that they are not reading this post right now?????

Sylph, have to disagree there. Wisner could be wonderful while Agnes was largely involved (appr. 1977-1984; 1990-1992), but left on his own, he is a mixed bag. The years he wrote the show solo (1984-1986) while Agnes was nurturing and concentrating on Loving were not AMC's best years. Lots of short-term pointless silly plots that went nowhere, isolated characters, disregard for the vets, lack of multigenerational stories, teen overload. Sound familiar? Of course, looking back, this stuff was miles ahead of the dreck we have on screen today. I'm not sure how much of that was his doing, or how much EP Jackie Babbin was responsible for that (she tried to DAYS-ify the show a bit, with more action-adventure plots and quicker scenes, as DAYS was regaining popularity with that style of writing at the time). I have to say the show improved tons in the fall of 1986 when Babbin left and was replaced by former EP Jorn Winther, which is around the same time that Broderick joined Washam as headwriter. So I'd say, Washam is a good writer, even better paired with Broderick, and superior when overseen by Nixon. I think a Washam/Broderick team with Agnes as consultant would ideal. But alas!

Sometimes, it is quite hard to point towards the real culprit. You just cannot write a long philippic against a head writer when you don't really know whether it was him or the producer or the network executive who pushed a certain story.

However, there is an equal probability those stories were either Wisham's or Babbin's because, according to one of SON's members, when Wisner head-wrote - all the stories came from him. Whereas, Lorraine Broderick's stories were often pitched by her co-writers (the AMC gay storyline came from Corley, Johnson and Beldner, for example).

The fact that Wisner invented most of the stories himself is one of the main reasons I like him and all the similar writers. Like Bill Bell or Douglas Marland, e.g. I just strongly believe in precision, detailedness, sense of purpose etc. As a storyteller, you want to be fully in control of your stories (or at least believe that you are), you want to write your stories, those you care the most, and not someone else's. Often that can be lost when the stories comes from one writer, gets rewritten by an HW and then again changed by the producer.

Sure, if I were a head writer, most of the stories would come from me. But that does not mean I wouldn't allow my writers to pitch story ideas.

In the end, Wisner as AMC's HW is just an utopian ideal, like I said in one of my previous posts. Unfortunately.

And P. S. it was Babbin.

Edited March 30, 200817 yr by Sylph

I do think it may be Kay Alden. I always thought that Alden, Addie Walsh and Stephen Demorest would be an AWESOME head writing trio for AMC.

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I also think that Broderick, Walsh and Demorest would be an awesome writing trio as well.

No, no, no, no, no. Those bloated writing teams serve to nothing. Too many visions, too many clashing egos. The only time it worked was the golden age of GL when Curlee, Demorest, Broderick and yes - Jim Reilly wrote the show. However, even then I believe the majority of the stories were invented by one person. And that would be Nancy Curlee.

The GH formula is the best: one head writer, 3 breakdown writers, 1 story editor and 5 dialogue writers. Or the Marland's ATWT formula: one head writer, 2 + 1 breakdown writers (with 2 outlines written by the HW, that is why + 1) and again 5 dialogue writers.

So - keep it cohesive, keep it tight.

Edited March 30, 200817 yr by Sylph

Alll we need is Broderick back!

And new executive producer

Of course this is from SoapTownUSA so maybe we shouldn't take this too seriously.

Thank you!!! Everyone is taking this as gospel or something.

Seriously, assuming B&E are on the way out and Frons already has a replacement does it really make sense that among the chosen few who know (and this stuff is kept highly under wraps) what's happening is some online "scoopster".

Two words: Burton. Armus.

Edited March 30, 200817 yr by LeClerc

I doubt it would be Kay Alden if this is even true. She already pitched stuff and Frons hated it. I doubt she'd want to deal with him again

If not Kay Alden we can get any past writer from AMC EXCEPT Megan McTavish/Jean

I doubt it would be Kay Alden if this is even true. She already pitched stuff and Frons hated it. I doubt she'd want to deal with him again

You're right. It's not Alden. She even said in that college interview thing that was posted here last year that the ABC way of doing things is much different than what she'd experienced at Y&R...something along the lines that Frons has a different vision for his soaps than her mentor Bill Bell had. Plus, Frons rejected her bible outright, and I doubt she would compromise her principles and adapt her writing style to suit Frons. Yep, unfortunately, the Alden/ABC bridge has burned. I still have a hunch that ,if the soaptown item is true, it's Labine. I can't think of any other very popular, beloved writer who's been HW of a show in the recent past. That soaptown item has got our imaginations running wild. Sadly, when all is said and done, it's more than likely that Jim & Babs are staying put for now and that Agnes is happily retired with very little clout and very little, if any, say about who gets to headwrite the show.

Nah I don't see B&E staying very much longer. Just too many things make me believe this....