OK - who are the best of the best in daytime EVER? Writers, producers, actors, set caterers

People like Irna Philips, Agnes Nixon, Bill Bell, Douglas Marland, Gloria Monty, Beverlee McKinsey, Erika Slezak, Justin Deas, Tony Geary, Genie Francis... the list goes on and on and on!

Bill Bell

Beverlee McKinsey

Douglas Watson

Kathy Foster

More off the top of my head; Melody Thomas Scott, Tonya Lee Williams, Constance Ford, Ana Holbrook, Michael Zaslow, Fiona Hutchinson, Erika Slezak, Jeanne Cooper, Peter Bergman, Tricia Cast, Meave Kinkead, Nancy Lee Grahn, Jane Elliot, Heather Tom, Colleen Zink Pinter.

In the past I used to consider Christian Leblanc, Deidre Hall, Susan Flannery, Michelle Stafford, Roger Howarth, Jackie Zeman, Anthony Geary, Debbi Morgan, Kimberlin Brown etc to be excellent too.

Edited June 26, 200817 yr by MTSRocks

Bill Bell

Beverlee McKinsey

Douglas Watson

Kathy Foster

More off the top of my head; Melody Thomas Scott, Tonya Lee Williams, Constance Ford, Ana Holbrook, Michael Zaslow, Fiona Hutchinson, Erika Slezak, Jeanne Cooper, Peter Bergman, Tricia Cast, Meave Kinkead, Nancy Lee Grahn, Jane Elliot, Heather Tom, Colleen Zink Pinter.

In the past I used to consider Christian Leblanc, Deidre Hall, Susan Flannery, Michelle Stafford, Roger Howarth, Jackie Zeman, Anthony Geary, Debbi Morgan, Kimberlin Brown etc to be excellent too.

MTS, I FLOVE YOU for putting Holbrook in that list.

Can't argue with any other name on there. Just thrilled you thought of her in such esteemed company.

Irna, Agnes, and Bill are the holy trinity of soaps to me. GH is the only soap on the air that was never touched by any of them (*cough* and it shows). Unsung hero would be Roy Winsor, who also created three successful, long-running shows.

MTS, I FLOVE YOU for putting Holbrook in that list.

Can't argue with any other name on there. Just thrilled you thought of her in such esteemed company.

Holbrook was a genius. It's a shame that she retired from acting. Hell, the cast of Another World was a tour-de-france back then!

From what I've seen of Ford, she was consistently great but never received recognition.

Other's who fill this category are:

Victoria Wyndham

Julia Barr

Suzanne Rogers (GROSSLY misused, but I've always had a soft spot for her)

Anna Stuart

Writers

Bill Bell

Kay Alden

Jack Smith

Actors

Eric Braeden

Christian LeBlanc

Winsor Harmon

Sean Kanan

Roscoe Born

Actresses

Michelle Stafford

Jess Walton

Melody Thomas Scott

Judith Chapman

Victoria Rowell

Amelia Heinle

Kimberlin Brown

Heather Tom

Katherine Kelly Lang

Susan Flannery

Hunter Tylo

Alley Mills

Jennifer Finnigan

Adrienne Frantz

Younger Actors

Michael Graziadei

Greg Rikaart

David Tom

Thad Luckinbill

Younger Actresses

Christel Khalil

Tammin Sursok

Emily O'Brien

Rachel Kimsey

Jacqueline MacInnes Wood

MacKenzie Mauzy

Adrianne Leon

In the past I used to consider Christian Leblanc, Deidre Hall, Susan Flannery, Michelle Stafford, Roger Howarth, Jackie Zeman, Anthony Geary, Debbi Morgan, Kimberlin Brown etc to be excellent too.

I'm just curious - why do you say you used to consider them to be excellent? What happened since then?

Edited June 26, 200817 yr by y&r_fan

WRITERS

William J Bell

Agnes Nixon

Irna Phillips

Wisner Washam

Kay Alden

Nancy Curlee

Bridget and Jerome Dobson

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

William J Bell

Felicia Minei Behr

Wendy Riche

Edward J Scott

David Shaugnessy

ACTORS

David Canary

Eric Braeden

Brad Maule

Peter Bergman

Tony Geary

Bob Woods

Charles Keating

Michael Zaszlow

ACTRESSES

Linda Dano

Anna Stuart

Anna Katherine Holbrook

Jeanne Cooper

Jess Walton

Erika Slezak

Robin Strasser

Jackie Zeman

Lynn Herring

Susan Flannery

Suzanne Rogers

Tonya Lee Williams

Heather Tom

SHOWSTOPPERS

Susan Lucci

Darlene Conley

Jennifer Bassey

Carmen Duncan

Winsor Harmon

Louise Sorel

Joe Mascolo

Victoria Rowell

Mark Pinter

Stephen Schnetzer

Kimberlin Brown

Andrea Evans

Jane Elliot

Eileen Davidson

Sarah Buxton

Kathleen Noone

MUSIC

Jack Allocco and David Kurtz

Mike Dobson

It's always fascinated me that soaps really came from that trinity of Irna Phillips and then her two biggest associates/assistants/protoges--Bill Bell (who helped co create Another World with her, HW ATWT early on, helped save and HWDAYS and then went on his own) and Agnes Nixon (who helped co create As the World Turns, HW GL for year sin the 60s, HW and helped save Another World and then SHE went out on her own). And you can see how both took elements of Irna's style, added their own and did different but complementary styles tha thave kinda ruled daytime in the tv age.

I'm just curious - why do you say you used to consider them to be excellent? What happened since then?

They've been so stale, boring, robotic, repetitive, or pretty much "off their game." When I watch these actors I can pretty much expect the same thing from there. Little nuance in their performances, and most of them are beginning to ham it up. Hall had a brief resurgence with John's death, but then quickly went back to zombie mode. Pretty much, I don't consider them the best today, but at one point they were.

Best (Head) Writers: 1) (tie) Bill Bell & Agnes Nixon, 3) Douglas Marland

Best (Executive) Producers: 1) Robert Calhoun, 2) Erwin "Nick" Nicholson, 3) Gloria Monty

Best Directors: 1) Larry Auerbach, 2) David Pressman, 3) Ira Cirker

Best Actresses: 1) Beverlee McKinsey, 2) Susan Flannery, 3) Elizabeth Hubbard

Best Actors: 1) Michael Zaslow, 2) Larry Bryggman, 3) Christopher Bernau

Best Characters (Female): 1) Lisa (ATWT), 2) Iris Carrington Wheeler (ANOTHER WORLD/TEXAS), 3) Karen Wolek (OLTL)

Best Characters (Male): 1) Roger Thorpe (GL), 2) Dr. John Dixon (ATWT), 3) Victor Newman (Y&R)

Edited June 26, 200817 yr by Khan

I was going to make a list from OLTL, since that is the show I watch regularly.

Instead, I will just say that if this was an OVERALL soap list, Erika Slezak and Robin Strasser should unquestionably be included, and I would put forth Robert S. Woods as well.

I think that Erika Slezak and Robin Strasser would both be in the top 10 of ALL TIME when it comes to actresses. I don't have a definitive list, although I'm sure I would also include Beverly McKinsey, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Susan Flannery.

There is a part of me that thinks Slezak and Flannery would duke it out for the #1 slot, but then again, there are times I think Strasser is every bit Slezak's equal.

Writers:

Bill Bell

Agnes Nixon

Kay Alden

Ron Carlivati

EP's

Bill Bell

Ed Scott

Actors:

David Canary

Eric Braeden

Peter Bergman

Anthony Geary

Jerry Ver Dorn

Joe Mascolo

Actress:

Robin Strasser

Erika Slezak

Susan Flannery

Kimberlin Brown

Heather Tom

Andrea Evans

Victoria Rowell

Darlene Conley

Gina Tognoni

Jess Walton

Melody Thomas Scott

Tonya Lee Williams

Jane Elliot

Leslie Charleson

Hilary B Smith

Katherine Kelly Lang

Nancy Lee Grahn

Constance Towers

Genie Francis

Michelle Stafford

Younger Actor:

David Tom

Greg Rikaart

Young Actress

Kristen Alderson

Adrienne Leon

Kirsten Storms

I'd say Jill Farren Phelps as Executive Producer. (Unpopular opinion, I know!) She has 6 producing Emmys and at least 1 Music Emmy that I know of, and she should have won at least 1 Emmy for GL, for 1992.

For Headwriter, I'd say Pam Long.

I would add Judith Light to the list of actresses based on one performance and one performance only. Everyone should know what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen it, you have to. You have to! It's a true testament to what an actress can do when she's so invested with her character and so deep inside who that character is.

WRITERS

Agnes Nixon

Douglas Marland

Bill Bell

Irna Phillips

Lorraine Broderick

Bridget and Jerome Dobson

and Harding Lemay the best of them all

ACTORS

Douglass Watson

David Canary

Larry Haines

Larry Bryggman

Darnell Williams

Michael Zaslow

Charles Keating

ACTRESSES

Mary Fickett

Victoria Wyndham

Beverleee McKinsey

Kimberlin Brown

Kathleen Noone

Debbi Morgan

Jackie Zeman

Jess Walton

Mary Stuart

Audrey Peters

Julia Barr