Higley Quit DAYS?

[boldfan01]

That might have made more sense. Although MAB had written for the Bell soaps before, it had been years before, and she'd never been a HW or co-HW. So keeping Griffith as HW would have lent his experience in that area to the less experienced MAB, much like Hogan Sheffer is doing now.

I always wondered how JG got pegged as co-EP to begin with back when LML came on, since I thought his previous soap experience was in writing. I also used to wonder how involved JG was in what direction Y&R went in. I remember Adrienne Frantz saying JG was there at the meeting when LML approached Frantz about bringing Amber to Y&R, so I thought he might be involved in some aspect of the writing, but as time went on, it was typically LML or Scott Hamner who acted as spokesperson for Y&R.

[boldfan01]

Yeah, having his former Y&R partner Alden there, especially with her as co-HW now, is probably icing on the cake for Smith, who always had a strong relationship with B&B to begin with going back to the beginning and was Bradley's #2 man during Brad's tenure in the top spot. I often wondered why it took so long after his Y&R ouster for him to come back to B&B. I remember Brad offered him a job after Y&R canned him that Smith called "very generous," but then he opted, like Alden, to give the ABC consulting gig a try. Yet Alden was the one who went to Brad when the ABC gig died out, while Smith wasn't heard from until he resurfaced as a script writer at B&B this year.

I'm not really a DAYS fan and mostly follow what's going on there because of connections to shows I do watch. But I have yet to hear of any HW who hasn't been held back by Corday's influence. But some put up with it better than others, I guess; maybe Higley's more willing, hence Corday's wanting to hold onto her?

And that would be a good way for SONY to show that they want to mend fences with him. So what's keeping them from bringing him back? B&B has enough script writers that they could do without him if he wanted to go back to Y&R. Do you think it's JG being in the EP seat that's keeping him away from Y&R?

I just mentioned, in my reply to Khan, that I wondered how JG first got pegged as co-EP at Y&R when all his prior experience was in writing.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

There seems to be an unwritten rule to never hire people again who had long term history with Y&R, and it's weird.

I think John F. Smith should be in contention for Y&R's Executive Producer position. For one thing, he's EP-ed the show before, and he can help Maria and Hogan with the storylines and the history of the show. He might have burnt out when he was acting as both EP and HW of Y&R, but I think he could handle the EP position by himself. Unlike Griffith, he has credible credentials in both prodcung and writing.

That's a mystery we've all been trying to figure out. Latham severely mismanaged that show, so I wouldn't put it passed her to hire a Co-EP with no producing experience. He only got his job because they fired her and promoted him to the main EP position anyway.

Another thing, Smith is under suspicion for scabbing for B&B during the strike and he's now a Fi-Core writer, would Corday and DAYS want to mess with a situation like that AGAIN?

[Skin]

I think this is the reason for Days being in trouble. It has numerous head writers coming in and leaving in such a small amount of time. It's like the show doesn't even know where it once to go. JER/Hogan/Highley/NuWriter. That's alot of changes.

[Tishy]

I hate to see if so many writing changes occur, what this could mean to the future of Days

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Apparently, Nelson has more on this and is going to reveal it on Monday. He says it involves Y&R and it's nasty.

[boldfan01]

Very weird. When LML was around, it was obvious she wanted to strip the show of almost everyone associated with the Bell era. And there are enough of those former "Y&R Lifers" around that it's odd that none of them are being brought back.

I remember one interview in SOD after LML let him go where he said something about being relieved at first when LML initially came on, since he was feeling a bit burnt out by the pressure of having two top jobs at the show. From the way it sounded, he would have been content to be just her co-HW, but he started to see the writing on the wall over time that she didn't plan to keep him around long term. Along the same lines, he probably would do well as just the EP without the pressures of being HW, and he'd still have some input into the overall direction of the show as EP.

Yeah, I remember reading the posts here during the strike of dialog in some episodes that sounded like Smith's, and it was also odd that he, like Higley, wasn't named as being Fi-Core until after the strike was over. And JG is also fi-core. I know Y&R is getting away with a fi-core head writing team with MAB and Hogan, but the WGA didn't have any grounds to go after them like they did at DAYS. So Y&R can tell the WGA where to go if they bitch about the HW and co-HW both being fi-core, but DAYS might not want to go there.

[MarkH]

can you source this?

[Ann_SS]

Just a reminder: Nelson Blanco... HUGE pinch of salt.

[AddictedToSoaps]

I don't trust anything he says, but I'm very curious as to what he has.

[Sylph]

What? For a higher salary, he will leave whomever. He is not a fit for DOOL in my opinion, but at least he doesn't write these godawful, stupid stories. He's just not my type of writer: lazy, heads for a really good start then leaves the stories halfway finished dissolve into nothing.

Skip him.

P. S. How many consecutive posts with the same message can you write, Y&RWorldTurner?

[brimike]

Sylph, the post policeman, is back!

No, seriously - I absolutely totally completely agree with you re: Jack Smith. He would absolutely leave anybody for the right price. And he's not a good fit for DOOL. But who is a good fit? Frankly? Nobody. I'm ready for this horse to just be put down already. Sheri Anderson is a ridiculous choice based on an imaginary time period in Days' history that was just as riddled with PROBLEMS as it was with good moments. Nostalgia seems to make a lot of old-school fans forget the bad stuff. Reilly just needs a long vacation. He may still have that spark in him deep deep DEEP down, I have no idea. But if by some chance he does, we're not going to see it if he just jumps back from Passions to Days, that much is clear (And I think even Toups can agree with me on that). Casiello is way too idealistic, and they'll walk all over him worse than any other writer. Post-ers wants to make him DOOL's Carlivati because he knows and loves the show, but they forget that Carlivati had a decade at OLTL playing the game and earning respect, and Casiello had only a year at Days. Draughon may be fine and unoffensive, but he's certainly not bold enough to get people talking about the show again (check out Coastal Dreams - people weren't exactly unable to tear themselves away from their monitors).

I realize this is the most negative post I've ever made, but honestly, I'm at a loss with this freakin' show. If they can't even pull their sh!t together in the MIDDLE OF A RE-NEGOTIATION WITH THEIR NETWORK, then what hope is there? What will we get? Another year or two of endless transitions, until it fizzles out on some lame photo of MacDonald Carey at Max and Stephanie's wedding? No thanks.

I would love to be proven wrong here. I hope somebody does prove me wrong. But I'm starting to have higher hopes for a GL renaissance than a Days renaissance.

[Ryan]

I wonder what it is.

[sungrey]

I'll join you on the protest line. I will not tolerate a third go-round of JER. The first was all right, the second was utter and total crap.

[MarkH]

That reminds me, I still owe Sylph a rebuttal to his latest LML-destroyed-Y&R post .

On this note, I think brimike helped me realize what one of the proximal causes of the alleged Higley resignation might be: impending cuts due to the renegotiation! She already complained that her story ideas were getting trounced.

With cost-cutting negotiations, she's going to have enven more constraints in terms of who she can use, how much, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if some of her long-story ideas are getting killed because the contract durations of many of her players are in doubt.

With that level of frustration, when you're getting it from all sides (network/EP constantly says "no", family challenges are constant per her blog, and the internet is KILLING her)...nothing, not even a paycheck, is worth that.

Oooh...how about LML goes to DOOL?