A Discussion on Janice Ferri Esser

[YRBB]

During the last few weeks, I have read many differing opinions about JFE on here and it got me thinking. I decided to create this thread not for "I hate her!" or "I love her!" exclamations, but to have an open discussion on the woman for anyone who is interested to put their two cents in.

Personally, I watched some of her 2002 Y&R episodes and I have to admit that I find her to be a generally good writer, in the sense that she is better than 90% of the writers on daytime right now.... (not that that says much). HOWEVER, I always felt like her scripts were, for a lack of a better word, weird. For example, the opening credits would start playing on the weirdest moments, something that always bugged me. But, most importantly, I hated her emotional scenes. She tried. I really felt that she did her best to have good, emotional dialogue and she did manage it on a purely grammatical level. But, she was never, ever able to touch me--the dialogue was there, but the emotion wasn't. One example is when Raul confronts Brittany after the accident... damn, those actors tried, but something was amiss in the writing.

What do you guys think?

[brimike]

That's something Y&R's done for the last few years, and I don't understand it. It doesn't seem to matter who the head writer is, their opening teaser's never really been a teaser. For example, last week, they had Cane/Lily and the Crimson Lights kids before the opening credits... and then the NEWMANS didn't show up until after the opening credits. That seemed so backwards to me. Don't you want to open your show (pre-credits) on your A-players?

I've always liked Esser, and feel as though she is a strong proponent in keeping the Bell legacy alive. That being said., I don't think she's strong enough to be a head writer or co-head writer or even story consultant. Based off of YRBB's analysis, it sounds like she'd be a stronger breakdown writers than dialogue writer. I really feel like she should continue to have a place on the Bell shows, but one with less power and less say. And there's nothing wrong with that. Patrick Mulcahey has made quite an illustrious career in daytime of doing the same. I think some writers feel "script writer" is some "low man on the totem pole" that they should strive to move on from. But when you do it right, it makes or breaks the whole show.

[Cat]

^^ Agreed. I remember reading (separate) interviews with both Karen Harris and Claire Labine and both waxed lyrical about how much they loved being a script/dialogue writer. Harris expressed that it gave her incredible fulfillment and Labine suggested that while the HW was head honcho, the dialogue writer was in effect creating what we saw on the screen: mood, ambiance, nuance. They were shaping the feel of the show.

I don't know if JFE is talented in that sphere as I don't know exactly which episodes she has written (I'm just judging on what YRBB and yourself have posted).

OT, but I saw the creator of Heroes interviewed. He said the show did not have breakdown/script writers as such. Instead, each writer was in charge of working and scripting one SL arc each (as both breakdown and scripter) all through the length of a series. So in every episode, we might be seeing eight different peoples' work. It got me thinking as to whether that can be transferred to the daytime sphere but perhaps that is a question for another thread.

[brimike]

And sadly, that's why that show devolved into such a train wreck. Because it felt like you were watching about eight different shows that never gelled together. IMHO, it would completely destroy daytime if they even tried this.

[UKBoi]

Isn't that kind of what Guiding Light is doing now, though? Like on one day you have Reva/Josh/Cassie/Grady/Daisy/Cyrus, and then on the other you have Alan/Lizzie/Bill/Dinah/Mallet/Marina and the rest of the cast are just supporting players who are slotted in to the relevant grouping.

[MarkH]

Don't you think, with four headwriters, that this is likely what GL is doing now? I thought it would be...

If Esser is, in fact, coming on as the show historian, it seems to me that all the remaining soaps are so aged that EACH show should ALWAYS have a historian. This historian role could be just a consultant or an editor...but I think the published files/etc. the shows have regarding history are not enough.

Indeed, not to harp on it, but the Victor vasectomy debacle represented the failure of a headwriter who DID have a history with the show (MAB), a member of the writing team who was still present and had history with the show (Natalie Minardi-Slater), and multiple actors who LIVED those previous vasectomies. To me, beyond the complete system breakdown that implies to me, it says that there needs to be an empowered "historian" who can speak to problems like this.

That means the historian would actually review the HW's story projections, the BDW's outlines, AND the final scripts, and give notes at every level. I realize this is an expense the shows probably feel they cannot afford...but I feel they cannot afford NOT to have these. I feel that part of the problem with daytime today is the lack of historical context.

I'm not saying these shows need to stuck in history. But it sure would be nice to have someone say "Well, in 1992, Tad Martin did so and so" or "In 1971, Kim Hughes did such and such..." and let that INFORM the story or backstory we see now.

When Thom Racina spoke in a recent blog interview, he talked mostly about having been given recent scripts to read. While that can give him insight into current tone and structure, it doesn't give him backstory. And lo and behold, his scripts had a number of small historical mistakes. Without an adequate education mechanism for Thom, or an editor who could fix his (understandable) history mistakes...things go bad quickly. There is no point in having 70-year or 35-year histories if the vault of the past can't inform the present. Indeed, this history (often viewed as a burden or albatross) is the sole asset that daytime UNIQUELY possesses.

[Sylph]

This is how Lost works, too. Do you have the link, Cat?

She is not coming as a historian. She just likes to call the studio. Two different things.

[brimike]

I hear that's what they're doing, and I think it's silly. But then again, what do I know? For all I know, GL might skyrocket into the top third of the ratings. (Yeah...) How can you possibly have a cohesive community in Springfield with different people writing different stories. The mechanics of crossing people over would be a nightmare.

ROFLMAO!!!!! She ain't the only one at soaps these days pulling that cr@p... :lol:

[MarkH]

Please let me fantasize....

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Janice has always been a scriptwriter, I don't think she's ever written breakdowns. Wouldn't opening teasers be a breakdown issue? Even under Bill Bell, teasers would happen like that and sometimes main characters wouldn't show up on the show until the 30 minute mark or so and some would even show up in the last 10 minutes of the show or so. It's a Bell thing, I guess.

Janice is an average scriptwriter, and I've always sensed she really loves Y&R, B&B maybe not so much, but she's definitely a Y&R gal. She wrote Monday's US Y&R episode, and its laced with good Nikki/Victor history, something most recent scriptwriters to the Y&R fold probably couldn't have pulled off as well.

[MarkH]

Yes! I remember this. AND I remember liking it. Because it meant I could not judge the episode unless I watched the whole episode. Favorites could appear at any time. It was one of the many elements of minor surprise and minor suspense he used to keep me tuning and tuning and tuning in. Now, we have heard that some fans don't even want the "next time" previews to disappear, because they use it to judge whether to watch again. What we're missing is that Bill Bell element of surprise....they should stop basically releasing the breakdowns of each episode before we ever get to watch them.

I am looking forward to this.

[DaytimeFan]

I am pro Janice Ferri Esser. I've always enjoyed her scripts, at both Y&R and B&B. When I watch an episode JFE has written I feel that it was written, edited and vetted thoroughly. Her episodes feel polished, she actually seems to care about her work. Perhaps she's a Type A personality, a control freak or a raging bitch...frankly I don't care because her work is good, she sticks to history and appears to give a damn which I can't say for many soap writers.

[dm.]

Yeah, I'm glad to have her back too. Y&R needs its old writers back.

[Sylph]

As always , I think quite the opposite: it helps the show. Because everyone follows the story they have been assigned episode to episode and it helps the consistency. Yes, season 2 was terrible, especially with all the sappy romance and all and as I said, I think J. J. Show-killer Philbin must be fired.

The show is really entertaining to me, it has many flaws, but I don't care.

However, this wouldn't work in daytime. I believe in a single vision: one HW who dictates all story and helps develop it with a small number of writers.

[MarkH]

I can't speak knowledgeably about Heroes. I have tried to watch, but can't get into it.

But, really, on Lost different writers are responsible for different storylines? Because I wouldn't have noticed. Yes, different character groups are somewhat isolated, but all the plot lines are so interwoven, I have always felt like there was a tightly coordinated master vision. And that, I think, could work on daytime.