Sara A. Bibel's Blog

[MarkH]

I was relying on memory, not Wikipedia. I don't know what to say. You said Scott "preserved" the look, and so I tried to think about who generated it.

I do think Ed Scott took it further...it was more than preservation. The move to surround sound, and then HD...that is all Ed.

As young as I was (i.e., late teens or early 20s, I guess), I remember being struck by how the show changed after Kenney joined. I guess this was around the time they went to an hour. He brought on some Days' favorites...some non-sequitur families (like April Stevens' clan). I sort of missed Conboy.

I didn't know it. So, Sylph, you need to make less use of the royal we . What was the reason for the hatred? Strong personalities and creative geniuses often conflict...just look at Ed Scott and Dena Higley .

Seriously, back to the point of this thread. Am I the only one who reads Sara's blog to say "Look, this kind of boundary blurring happens all the time. But historically it got worked out without calling the cops (WGA)." Does she tacitly acknowledge that one cannot be too guild-centric on these shows? Because that is what I believe. All the outrage expressed here that Ed Scott might dare to make creative changes...it seems to me that on an effectively functioning team the HW and EP should be doing this together all the time!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Bill Bell was asked in an interview, I think it was the 1998 interview with the Museum of Radio & Television about Conboy, and he said somthing to the effect that he was taught that if you didn't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say it at all.

What he really means is, Conboy tried to oust Bell from his own show in the early 80's. Conboy allegedly went to executives at CBS and Columbia Tri-Star (now Sony of course) and pleaded with them to replace Bell. He thought Bill's vision wasn't right and his (Conboy's) artistic influence was being compromised because of it. The two fought over many things.

Needless to say, Bill found out, and Conboy was either fired or quit soon afterwards. However, CBS trusted Conboy enough to greenlight his soap, Capitol, which was ironically replaced by Bell's B&B.

Personally, I think H. Wes Kenney probably had the greatest impact on modern Y&R. Conboy's final year was considerd by some to be stale. It was during Kenney's tenure did Bell introduce the Newman's and Abbott's, which is credited with revitalising the show. Kenney allegedly had a lot to do with it, and Bill knew him from their time at DAYS, so when Kennedy left DAYS and Conboy was gone, Bill hired Kenney very soon.

[Sylph]

No, I meant the other stuff I asked in Sara's blog. No comment on that?

The HD thing would have happened even if Scott weren't there.

[Cat]

Wow. I'm getting a real history lesson here. Thank you.

At the risk of sounding stupid, is H. Wes Kenney still around?

Re: Sara A. Bibel's blog -- another pertinent and intelligent entry. It has been a tough, mean year for soaps. I am hoping against hope, though, that this shakes the industry into making positive changes for the future. As opposed to hastening its death.

*fingers very much crossed*

[Sylph]

But he wasn't doing it together!! That's the problem! He was going solo!

Plus, the fact that you accept that these things happen doesn't mean it's right! It's so wrong, on so many levels!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

He's retired now. Here's a little fact, Kenney was supposed to be the original Executive Producer of Sunset Beach, but he left before production began out of creative differences with Spelling and I think Guza at the time, so Gary Tomlin was hired as his replacement.

[Sylph]

So you're another one who doesn't notice the contradictions present?

[Cat]

Spell it out for me, Sylph. I'm slow this morning.

(Is it with regards to JG rewriting MAB's work during the strike -- but then stopping after, right around the time Y&R apparently got boring?)

[Cat]

Wow. Fascinating (I was a SuBe fan from beginning to end)! Shame it didn't work out. I would have liked to see what Kenney would make of the extensive outdoor shoots in particular.

[MarkH]

You think? No other soap has gone HD. I guess you are saying it was a Sony or CBS mandate?

[JackPeyton]

I agree that Y&R would have went HD without Scott.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

That was very close to the time David Shughnessy took over as EP, and I remember the inital article, where Shaughnessy spoke about it, not Scott.

It appears to be a CBS decision though.

In fact here is the initial article I read about the move, from 2001:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/C...=Special+Report

Read the article I posted in the above post, it was clearly a CBS decision.

[brimike]

Ya just. Couldn't. Resist. Could you, Sylph?

I don't think she's saying it's Lynn's fault Ed had to rewrite Dena, although I could see how you interpreted that. I think all she's saying is that Lynn firing Ed set off a chain of events that led to this. But it's no different than saying if Carolyn Culliton hadn't gone to GL from ATWT in the early 00's, than Jean Passanante wouldn't be head writer of ATWT now, which is ia pretty big stretch.

All Sara's saying is that if Lynn had let Ed EP the show from the control room, Corday/Sheffer would have hired Gary last year (since it was between Ed and Gary), and chances are, Gary would have just head written the show himself during the strike, with a team of scabs, and Dena wouldn't be anywhere near it.

Then again, Dena was forced on Scott and Co by Corday, so maybe the whole thing would have played out the same, just with Tomlin in the driver's seat. And maybe Tomlin would be fired now and Ed Scott would be HIS replacement.,

It's all just a big game of What If...? but I didn't take Sara's meaning to be that this is all LML's fault. (Although the thought makes me laugh)

[MarkH]

Maybe you know more about the situation than I do.

First of all, all reports are that he DID NOT go solo. He at the least collaborated with actors (which is apparently his penchant).

There was clearly SOMETHING actionable, given the alleged photo evidence, the WGA cease-and-desist, and the subsequent termination (with a sh*tty press release from Corday...but I think we can assume Corday never really wanted him).

Based on my knowledge (which is nil), I could imagine a million scenarios where what Ed did is NOT wrong. It is NOT wrong if he tried and tried and tried to work with his HW to fix things. It is NOT wrong if he tried and tried and tried to work with Corday. It is NOT wrong if something urgently needed fixing, Dena wouldn't take his calls, and Corday was on a cruise .

(It might have been wrong by WGA, but it was not wrong in the universe. My opinion, but there we have it).

All my speculations may be fanciful and far from the truth...I make no claims. But this absolutism doesn't work with me...basically not on any moral or legal issue.

[Sylph]

I. Had. To. Get. You. Out. Of. Your. Shell.

Yes, but it's a redundant statement. Too obvious to be written down. I see no point in her pointing that out.

Would there be any good in this? Under Tomlin would the viewership slide as much as it did under Sheffer?

I like Sara Bibel a lot. And I like her blog and style of writing: it's not juvenile and naive, it is very professional and it just flows. I really like it.

And as I said some time ago: she shouldn't try to get back in daytime in the state it is now - while it's not too late she should try to get a primetime gig.