DAYS: Ed Scott FIRED! Gary Tomlin HIRED!

[Sylph]

But that interview cannot be taken seriously - of course you're going to say nice things about your boss, you HW, your actors. Everything is just divine, the world is at peace, DOOL is doing great etc.

But reality is so much different.

And you know it.

[MarkH]

Ah, but reading between the lines there is much...which is what I tried to highlight. Consider this more "forensic psychology" than accepting at face value.

"improved creatively" directly implies a story connection for Scott

"to hell with" behind the scenes stuff - he was talking about NBC/Corday, but really, it shows that mutinous, renegade spirit even there

He mentions again his unique affinity for actors (not writers), and talks about the "team" advancing the creative product. In my view, this establishes in part his vision of how these shows run that boundaries are blurred...everyone on the team contributes to the final product. I think because he was raised at the feet of Bill Bell, who did all the roles, I think he has come to seen these narrow functional boundaries as limiting, anti-team. I realize I am reading a lot into this.

That said, because Scott seems to be a "straight shooter", I am surprised by his explicit expressions of love for Corday and Higley. He didn't need to go that far. Which makes me wonder what changed so quickly. (This was published 7/1, right after the Emmys)

Finally, I do think the emphasis on "character driven story" is what was at the core of his conflict with Higley. He needed stories to make sense...

[Cat]

It was this interview which actually cemented my respect for Ed Scott!

I'm so sorry he messed it up because I loved what he gave to both Y&R and Days in terms of technical expertise. And now he's just f*ed it up for Days. Out of all the shows, this one badly needed the TLC and professionalism to offer it a second chance. A second wind!

As for the interview itself, we know now he was fibbing when he said "Dena Higley is writing good story." I'll bet the "Ken is so great" stuff is now being re-assessed, too.

But I think he's being truthful here:

There’s a thing about actors… I just get along with them very well. And I respect their craft highly. And luckily, the Days actors are the same. It’s been challenging this past year, but I believe we’ve all come together as a team to produce something we’re all proud of.

And here:

We’re grounded into character-driven storylines. Listen, that’s what daytime soap opera does best. Once we do that, we win. If we try to compete with prime time and their tricks, we lose. It’s as simple as that....

It has to be good drama, good writing, character-driven storylines, emotional performances, and suspense! That’s what the fans want. There’s no reason to re-invent the wheel…

^^ I mean, as a fan, how can I not respond positively to this? Or to his talk of a team united in creating a good product? I like the idea of both front-of-camera and behind-the-scenes crew invested emotionally in their show.

I suspect Ed Scott is a Brad Bell manqué -- an EP with HWing powers.

[Sylph]

See, I knew it you were going to go this way. I knew what you were going to write before you wrote it.

Which is where your whole edifice you've just constructed falls. All that talk and then he goes on to praise Higley and Scott even though he was probably at the climax of the clash with them then.

Well, they sure did under him...

[Sylph]

Well, it was extreeeemely professional of him to re-write the HW stories. I cannot understand how can you still like the guy after all that's been said and done. I just cannot. In what world are you living? You should be praising people like, say, Shaughnessy or Riche or something like that...

That just shows how much of a character he is.

I wonder the opposite, actually.

[JackPeyton]

IMHO 'reading between the lines' in an interview is finding whatever youw ant to find. I am not slamming anyone, its just the way it is. Thats why i *hate* print interviews. You dont know the tone or the entire context of the question or the answer. even tv/radio interviews i dont put faith in. these people work in hollywood - its all about the spin. and at the end of the day at least for me none of that matters. i dont care who works well with who and that xx actor wont work with yy actor because they had an affair. i dont care who is writing, eping, or anything else. i care about what i watch. whats on the screen.

and IMHO, Sylph, thats how people can not hate ed scott. because a lot of people are show fans first. emaning they dont give a f*** about whos being professional. they care about what the show is at the end of the day. it may be good, it may be a bad, it may be wrong to view it thatw ay but that is how a lot of people view it.

90% of 'offline' fans i talk to dont know who ed scott is. dont care about any of this [!@#$%^&*]. they care about watching a simi-good if not great show for an hour a day 5 days a week.

and i know i just dug myself into a hole. oh well.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

LOL! This entry from Soapdom.com is quite hilarious in the way it makes Corday out to be a hypocrite.

http://www.soapdom.com/content/view/161737/59/

[Cat]

You misunderstand. It was precisely his lack of professionalism which has ruined everything. I said that Days badly needed TLC and professionalism -- which it did not get here.

And I have always praised Shaughnessy and Riche! I don't know how you can say that. When I used to watch GH, I was singing Wendy Riche's praises the whole time on this site. For me, she represented an amazing golden era for the show.

Why? Because I like the idea of people working together to produce a professional product? Because I like the idea of character-based story-telling?

Unlike you and others here, I don't have all this insider knowledge or a background in writing soaps. It has been fascinating reading all your posts and I learn something every time I come here. But I cannot contribute in the same vein. Why pretend I am somebody "in the know" when I am so clearly not? Therefore, I can only respond to what I see on my screen. As a viewer, that is all.

Perhaps I should piss off and find another board suitable to my inferior level of soap discussion, but I like it here and still believe I have something to contribute, even if it is only a personal opinion, nothing more.

[JackPeyton]

Cat = so much

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Word.

I enjoy Cat's opinions, she doesn't pretend to be something or know more than she does. It's the reaction from a fan first, which is what this community is built upon.

[Cat]

Right back atcha, JP and Y&RWorldTurner. *cue mutual love-fest*

And I Sylph. I like that you force me to justify my opinions. Just one favour (note correct British spelling) to ask you. You wrote "In what world are you living?" and it seemed quite a personal statement. That's why I got het up in my response. Answer: I live in the real world, just one that happens not to be connected with Daytime. So please just try to give me a little leeway and patience if/when you read my posts.

FTR, I absolutely support the writers that struck and their reasons for doing so. I 100% understand their need to be recompensed justly. I am sickened by the hypocrisy of an industry that fires writers who go on strike and replaces them with scabs or Fi-Core. And producers absolutely should not change the writing without explicit permission from the writers themselves. That interference is absolutely wrong. And illegal.

But ask me about LML getting fired from Y&R at the start of the strike, and I cannot honestly say I was shedding tears over that. She should have been fired for being crap. And if I am disappointed about Ed Scott, it is over the potential of the show he squandered and his own reputation he ruined. It is all just a big waste.

[MarkH]

I don't think I know anything that lets me comment on his professionalism.

If he met with stonewalling by his HW, was unable to contact his vacationing EP...for all we know, Sony said "do what you have to do".

I don't know the internal processes there, and the allegations (let's even accept them) that some level of script altering occurred (again, I personally have no knowledge about how much) in no way speaks to professionalism.

The other "legal" standard that really has to apply is "usual and typical". In other words, Sara Bibel seems to imply that this stuff HAPPENS ALL THE TIME; ergo, it is part of the "professional" conduct. It is an implicit process of collaboration that occurs across guild lines.

The difference, I take her to say, is that this time someone called the cops.

Not working through the internal channels, but calling the cops...that doesn't smack of professionalism to me.

Again, I have no claim to truth here...so I could well be blowing smoke. I just can't go straight to judgment without facts.

[Sylph]

I am a fan, too. And I don't want my soap to be the mockery of the whole industry. I don't want my HW - no matter how bad - to be re-written. I want things to be done according to some rules, rules that have been made up because if there weren't any, things would fall a part in a blink of an eye.

That's why the guy doesn't deserve any sort of sympathy (and besides, he's not a poor, misunderstood Ed - he knew very well what he was doing). And he doesn't deserve to be snatched by some other show.

I am for all that, too. But by the rules. Not by re-writing your HW behind his or her back. Or in right in front of him or her but without consent.

[Sylph]

Your level is more than fine, it is superior and you should stay here. I like you a lot! A lot.

[Sylph]

* DOUBLE POST *