I'm also Very Pro Janice Ferri Esser. She might be crafty, she might be a bitch, she might be the devil incarnate...but Janice Ferri Esser is my favorite scriptwriter, ever.

Head Writer

Natalie Minardi Slater

Josh McCaffrey

Associate Head Writer

Sally Sussman Morina

Writers

Janice Ferri Esser

Rex M Best

Jim Houghton

Sara A Bibel

Creative Consultant

Kay Alden (Of Course!)

I'm also Very Pro Janice Ferri Esser. She might be crafty, she might be a bitch, she might be the devil incarnate...but Janice Ferri Esser is my favorite scriptwriter, ever.

Once more, with feeling (don't you just love Buffy episode titles ): no Esser!

Damn it, Sylph! I'm all set with my pro-Janice speech, and then you go and quote Buffy titles to me, and I get all week in the knees.

Edited May 22, 200817 yr by brimike

So Sue Me! I don't get the love for GH's dialog...I find it 'meh'...give me the overblown theatrical (call it stilted or dull if you wish) dialog of Y&R's past.

He's very particular about his likes/dislikes when it comes to the writing pool.

Do you have any idea what type of things he likes/dislikes? Any people he's turned down?

Meanwhile, Janice Ferri Esser, ousted by Lynn, is positively itching to get back to Y&R and has a deal whereby she can write for both B&B and Y&R.

I don't pay attention close enough to know if she in particular is great, but on B&B she's story consultant right? If so, I'd say I enjoy her work. I've enjoyed B&B more consistantly since the Y&R people came on than before, so I tend to give them credit for that. I highly doubt she was the one pitching Constantine's ridiculous story with Phoebe. I love that someone passionate about Y&R is trying to find a place on the show. That's what they need and simply don't have. It's sad that she has to jump through so many hoops to return.

BTW rain1, thanks for all the great scoops! I look forward to hearing more from you. Do you have any knowledge on how things were with Lynn Marie Latham? How did the cast (please name names) feel about her? What about her fellow writers? Was anyone upset when she left? Does anyone know how Lynn feels and what SHE is up to? Honestly, I'm shocked Frons didn't see her "success" at Y&R and have her take over AMC!

Co-Headwriters

Ellen Weston

Megan McTavish

Breakdowns by

Lee Sheldon

Henry Stern

Stephen Black

Scripts by

Lynn Latham

Courtney Bulger

Doug Anderson

So for fun, someone should post the kinds of stories this illustrious team would come up with! And with which characters.

Executive Producer

Josh Griffith

Head Writer

Maria Arena Bell

Co-Head Writers

John F. Smith

Lynn Marie Latham (*ducks for cover*)

Breakdown/Script Writers

Not familiar enough with any of them

Executive Producer

Josh Griffith

Head Writer

Maria Arena Bell

Co-Head Writers

John F. Smith

Lynn Marie Latham (*ducks for cover*)

Breakdown/Script Writers

Not familiar enough with any of them

Barbara Bloom! Is that YOU?! JK!

Sylph, what do you think of Valerie Ahern and Christian McLaughlin?

Edited May 23, 200817 yr by JackPeyton

Delete... my question just got answered!

Edited May 23, 200817 yr by Cat

I'd like to see Janice back at Y&R too.

It's just my assumption: she might already be.

The scripts on Y&R these days are just too good: characters talking true to character, nods to history, overall uniform quality and sound. Either Maria Arena Bell is doing heavy polishing or Esser is doing uncredited script editing...

JMO, but I was right with Jack Smith on B&B two months before he officially choose Fi-Co-status this spring...

In response to the very first question of the thread, I really don't know who to add as the HW, but the Assoc-HW I'd like to see on the team would be:

Natalie Minardi Slater (thankfully she's sticking to the show)

Trent Jones

James Houghton

Rex M. Best

Michael Minnis

Janice Ferri Esser

So Sue Me! I don't get the love for GH's dialog...I find it 'meh'...give me the overblown theatrical (call it stilted or dull if you wish) dialog of Y&R's past.

The problem is soaps are not theatre! And they're not comic books (Hogan Sheffer)! What I want to hear is people in soaps talking like real people. Notice that I emphasised like because it is an illusion promoted by cr*ppy screenwriting books that your dialogue should actually be the way people talk in real life! Such an awful suggestion!

The dialogue has to be polished, no silly interruptions, pauses, sentences that go nowhere and make no sense, without ehm's, err's, ooh's and such, it should just flow. To quote a famous screenwriter: "To me, movie dialogue is what real people would say if they could take a few seconds to think between lines. It’s faster, more direct, with much less filler than normal speech."

That is what GH achieves very well. There's absolutely no one on that scriptwriting team I don't like.

The only thing related to dialogue soap operas and theatre share (partly!) is that they tell action (plot) through it! Dialogue advances action.

Delete... my question just got answered!

What question!? I want to know the answer, too!

Damn it, Sylph! I'm all set with my pro-Janice speech, and then you go and quote Buffy titles to me, and I get all week in the knees.

So I'm not getting your pro-Janice speech? I want to hear it. I really do.

I'm absolutely stunned how many fans she has. And Chris B's statement that she improved B&B makes absolutely no sense to me!!!

Sylph, why are you so allergic to Janice? The woman worked on Y&R from 1989 to 2007. It can't all be that bad.

The problem is soaps are not theatre! And they're not comic books (Hogan Sheffer)! What I want to hear is people in soaps talking like real people. Notice that I emphasised like because it is an illusion promoted by cr*ppy screenwriting books that your dialogue should actually be the way people talk in real life! Such an awful suggestion!

The dialogue has to be polished, no silly interruptions, pauses, sentences that go nowhere and make no sense, without ehm's, err's, ooh's and such, it should just flow. To quote a famous screenwriter: "To me, movie dialogue is what real people would say if they could take a few seconds to think between lines. It’s faster, more direct, with much less filler than normal speech."

That is what GH achieves very well. There's absolutely no one on that scriptwriting team I don't like.

The only thing related to dialogue soap operas and theatre share (partly!) is that they tell action (plot) through it! Dialogue advances action.

ITA. GH's dialogue writers spin sows' ears into silk purses daily. The show is absolutely dependant on their script-writers to carry the show. They -- and not Guza/Pratt -- are the reason why GH won that Emmy for Best Show a few year's ago.

What question!? I want to know the answer, too!

So I'm not getting your pro-Janice speech? I want to hear it. I really do.

I'm absolutely stunned how many fans she has. And Chris B's statement that she improved B&B makes absolutely no sense to me!!!

BWAH! And you just answered the question again for me.

Given how plugged in people seem to be about the movers-and-shakers in Y&R/B&B's writing teams (which I absolutely admit I am clueless about -- B&B is one soap where I never pay attention to the day's script-writer).. I wanted to know if opinion on Janice Ferri Esser was based on her abilities (or lack thereof) as a writer or as a person.

I'm not judging one way or another. I was just curious. Reading back on this thread, I can see it's a mixture of both. It was a redundant question anyway.