http://community.tvguide.com/blog/TVGuide-...-News/800054969

Shakeup in Salem: Was Days' Boss Fired to Save Show?

It's been a year since Ed Scott took over as show-runner of Days of Our Lives, and the NBC serial is far better looking, much better acted and infinitely more involving than when he arrived. In fact, the last few weeks have been killer. So why is he out on his ass? Scott, who helmed the top-rated soap The Young and the Restless before coming to Days, was fired on Aug. 15 and replaced by former One Life to Live exec producer Gary Tomlin.

Days owner/executive producer Ken Corday tells TV Guide he axed Scott because he clashed with head writer Dena Higley. "For me to deny there was friction between Dena and Ed would be a lie," Corday says. "There was friction and that's not a good thing for a network to perceive. It's not a good thing for the cast and crew, and it's not a good thing for the owner of the show to see." He adds that Scott's ouster "was important to the pick-up of the show." NBC has yet to renew Days after months of budget and licensing talks, but Corday says he now expects a new deal to be announced right after Labor Day.

Here, in a TV Guide exclusive, is Scott's take on the situation. — Michael Logan

TVGuide.com: Your firing came as a shock to the soap world. Word is, you were surprised, too.

Ed Scott: You can usually sense when something like this is going to happen, but I was blindsided. One year ago, Ken Corday called me and said "I want to make a change" and offered me the job. One year later, Ken called me and said "I want to make a change."

TVGuide.com: So what the heck happened?

Scott: You know what? I'm not sure. But when I'm out, I'm out. If someone tells me they want a change, I'm not the type to sit there and argue or ask questions.

TVGuide.com: What about the charges that you were at odds with Dena Higley, and that you were rewriting her scripts to the extent that she took her grievance to the Writers Guild of America?

Scott: That is nonsense, a bunch of blown-up nothing. I gave notes on Dena's outlines. That's it. Take 'em or don't take 'em. That's what producer-writer meetings are about. You haggle about things, you suggest stuff, but always in the end, you let the writer do what the writer wants to do. There were never any screaming matches. Daytime drama is all about passion and purpose — there will always be disagreements. I love Days and all the people there. It was a wonderful place to work and a wonderful company — there's nobody there who doesn't want that show to succeed. The cast is always ready to work. There is no one big star, no divas.

TVGuide.com: Were you fired so Corday could get out of hot water with the WGA?

Scott: Maybe. I don't know.

TVGuide.com: Have you heard from the WGA?

Scott: I haven't heard anything personally. I know they [contacted] Corday.

TVGuide.com: Is there bad blood between you guys?

Scott: Whatever happened, it's not because he and I had hassles. I have nothing but respect for the guy. He has a tough job and a tremendous burden over there. The whole feeling on that set is because of him. He had to tell Frank Parker, who had just had bypass surgery, that they were killing off his character [shawn Brady], and I've never seen a [termination] handled with such warmth, sensitivity and sincerity — no bulls---. It made me respect Ken more than ever.

TVGuide.com: Under your watch, Days improved vastly on every level and you finally got the show some Emmy love. Higley's rep, on the other hand, is pretty spotty. Her run at OLTL was calamitous. She's big on the gimmicks, while characters and relationships often go to hell. So something doesn't smell right.

Scott: I am very proud of those seven nominations. I was trying to get the show to a place where we were listening to the heartbeat of the characters. It's halfway there, I think, and I'm really sorry I didn't complete the job. A soap must be character-driven. When it's right, the characters will lead you down a path of great drama. It's basic stuff. You've heard it a billion times. I just don't think people are committed to writing [about] family and real feelings and emotions. I care passionately about what I do, and Dena is passionate about the medium too. I like her very much. She's a very talented woman — she's written some scenes that are probably some of the best writing I've ever seen.

TVGuide.com: Were you a sacrificial lamb here? I'm hearing there's more to this story — that Sony, which distributes Days, wants greater creative involvement and that your ouster was part of that.

Scott: I'm not going to comment. You will have to do your own research on that. On one hand, I want to know what's really behind all this. On the other hand, I'll never know, so why get worked up over it? I'm getting old enough! I'm going to move on.

TVGuide.com: So what's to be learned from this hot mess?

Scott: I don't know. There was blood on the walls sometimes with [Y&R creator] Bill Bell. It happens when you care deeply. But I will tell you this: Bill Bell never compromised on quality ever. I learned that lesson sitting at the feet of the master, and I will carry it with me always.

Edited August 23, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I don't even know what to say.

Good grief. Seriously, hammers and nails all the way around for these people to nail themselves to crosses. All this behind the scenes drama is ridiculous. You would think that soap operas are important in the scheme of human existence and not just entertainment.

Michael Logan

Ed Scott

Interesting, tactful interview on Scott's part. He wasn't willing to dish the dirt. He complimented Higley for God's sake, it's ridiculous. Corday, as always, has his head firmly wedged up his ass. Talk about a moron.

I think Ed Scott knows that he's probably 'over' as far as soaps go. JFP is firmly in place at GH, Y&R will not be getting him back because he appears to be persona non grata at Sony...based in the West Coast with MTS and the kiddos it appears that Ed will be enjoying a well deserved retirement.

Yeah, he'll most likely retire. I can't see him back at Y&R, and Frons won't hire him at GH, since EP's have no power at ABC. He won't be going to an East Coast soap, because he, Melody, and the kids are LA based.

Edited August 23, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Good grief. Seriously, hammers and nails all the way around for these people to nail themselves to crosses.

:lol: Couldn't have said it better myself, Ann!

Wow Just wow. I know COrday is knee deep right now. It really sounds like a power struggle behind the scenes. It's so sad Ed is leaving. Days never looked or felt better. Some one needs to hire him. I have lots of respect for him.

Ed Scott will always be a classy man to me. Wish this never happened, but hopefully the dark DAYS are over and we can have happier news coming our way.

They should tape the behind the scenes stuff and put it on tv. It would get higher ratings that any soap on the air.

Ed Scott will always be a classy man to me. Wish this never happened, but hopefully the dark DAYS are over and we can have happier news coming our way.

I agree.

For me this article was very sad to read. I feel for the guy. He made a tremendous change with the show, even the actors spoke about the much improved atmosphere on set.

Grrr, I'm really upset he got the boot and Higley got to stay. I've liked her stuff this far, but I MUCH rather have Ed around then her to be honest. I trusted him, I don't trust her.

Btw. It's so funny how things get turned up on internet forums. People talked about how he and a certain actress changed Higley's scripts. Talk about blow out of proportion. lol Makes me want to take things said around the net with a grain of salt until it's confirmed with the source itself.

Edited August 23, 200817 yr by Cheyenne

Btw. It's so funny how things get turned up on internet forums. People talked about how he and a certain actress changed Higley's scripts. Talk about blow out of proportion. lol Makes me want to take things said around the net with a grain of salt until it's confirmed with the source itself.

That still stays. You can't possibly believe he would go on to admit it in Michael Logan's interview, can you? 

Of course he is going to say "No, I didn't re-write it, I only gave notes on outlines." Yeah.

That still stays. You can't possibly believe he would go on to admit it in Michael Logan's interview, can you? 

Of course he is going to say "No, I didn't re-write it, I only gave notes on outlines." Yeah.

The WGA should release the "photographic" evidence. "Notes" will look different from "re-writes". In addition, again, I'd like to know what is usual and customary in this role, and what the WGA will customarily tolerate. All this is relevant, and until that is known (which, as Scott implies, it may never be), none of us can judge what happened here.

As I said when this all broke, I find it hard to believe that a seasoned master of the genre would commit fatal errors. I think he has also acknowledged that he can be bullheaded (blood on the walls), and that he puts the quality of the show first (in his opinion). I can imagine this meaning he DID strong-arm the creative direction of the show...and that then is open to interpretation whether he overstepped his bounds or not.

What is concerning to me is that there are so many discrepant stories about what happened:

- Higley threatened to quit unless Scott was removed

- Corday wanted a change, ostensibly to back Higley and ostensibly to reduce evidence of friction...because the show HAS NOT been renewed by NBC!! (That is a new confirmation, and that may be the biggest news).

- Removal of Scott to satisfy the WGA may have been done to ease up the WGA's pressure for in-strike firings and in-strike scabbings

- The head scratcher for me: SONY may want Scott gone. How does this make sense, since the earlier rumors were that Sony imposed him in the first place??

The Sony part of this is the part that makes no sense to me.

Ironically, I think this little Olympic ratings bump may work in DOOL's favor vis-a-vis renewal, because it IS evidence that there are viewers to be had out there.

Maybe they need to move Leno to daytime (since they're looking for stuff for him), to give Days a better lead-in?

The WGA should release the "photographic" evidence.

Of course they will! That's never going to happen, Mark. This is a court case, the documentation is confidential. Until it's over, I believe.

Edited August 23, 200817 yr by Sylph

Of course they will! That's never going to happen, Mark. This is a court case, the documentation is confidential. Until it's over, I believe.

I'll bet it is never released. It won't go to court. There will be union-level mediation or arbitration, an agreed upon course of action, all kept private...and we will never know.

The good part is that, for me, it lets me cling to my belief that Ed Scott never did anything seriously wrong, but that other agendas were behind his dismissal. It lets me believe that he may yet come to help save my show.