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2009: The Directors and Writers Thread

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I think if GUza would have been given time he and the show would have found its groove He left after 6 months. THat was SUBE problem. Too many HW's in a span of 3 years, they had i think 4 HW's, Guza, Bennet and Whitsell, and Depriest

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It would've still been canceled and never found its groove...

Yeah, NBC just wanted to kill it. I was a big SuBe fan...it was like any of Aaron Spelling's great prime time soap fests but 5 days a week.

Lesley Anne Down, Sarah Buxton, Eddie Cibrian, Kathleen Noone....terrific fun cast.

And I agree, I thought Meg Bennett was the best HW.

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SuBe never found its groove to me, I don't think it ever quite knew what it was supposed to be. Was it supposed to be a daytime version of Melrose Please? Was it supposed to be a late 90's version of Santa Barbara? Was it supposed to follow the pattern set up by JER's DAYS? The show never quite knew what it was to me.

SuBe was strangely popular in the UK though, and received unusually high ratings for airing in the daytime. But I always thought UK audiences saw the show as more of a sitcom than an actual soap.

I also always thought it was a poor man's Santa Barbara without the core family aspect.

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SuBe never found its groove to me, I don't think it ever quite knew what it was supposed to be. Was it supposed to be a daytime version of Melrose Please? Was it supposed to be a late 90's version of Santa Barbara? Was it supposed to follow the pattern set up by JER's DAYS? The show never quite knew what it was to me.

SuBe was strangely popular in the UK though, and received unusually high ratings for airing in the daytime. But I always thought UK audiences saw the show as more of a sitcom than an actual soap.

I also always thought it was a poor man's Santa Barbara without the core family aspect.

I'd agree with that assessment. It didn't find it's groove...but I think it was like, as you say, a poor man's Santa Barbara. Basically, Santa Barbara according to Aaron Spelling.

I have an old pal who lived in London from the late 90s till 2003 and she said that SuBe was definitely viewed as being 'ridiculous and hilarious' and that it was still must see TV. LAD experienced a renaissance of publicity thanks to the show.

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SuBe never found its groove to me, I don't think it ever quite knew what it was supposed to be. Was it supposed to be a daytime version of Melrose Please? Was it supposed to be a late 90's version of Santa Barbara? Was it supposed to follow the pattern set up by JER's DAYS? The show never quite knew what it was to me.

I agree. I loved SuBe but the show never had an identity and didn't know what it wanted to me. It had no vision. I also think having no big family hurt the show - daytime soaps are suppose to have big families. "Melrose Place for daytime" - yeah, I can see why it only lasted 3 years.

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I have some really basic questions about breakdown vs script writing. How can one tell who writes the show breakdowns and script? Don't some writers pen scenes for certain characters?

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How can one tell who writes the show breakdowns and script?

Some shows, like Y&R, specify the breakdown writer and scriptwriter in the credits. Some shows just list the script writer for a particular episode, like ABC does (though they list all of their breakdown writers together).

Don't some writers pen scenes for certain characters?

No, where did you hear this? :huh:

One breakdown writer is usually assigned to craft an outline for a specific episode, and the scriptwriters take that outline and writes the dialogue for the characters. In very rare cases, breakdown writing can be a collaboration though, as can scriptwriting.

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Until JHC eliminated the breakdown position in 2008, AMC used to credit that day's breakdown writer and script writer.

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I LOVE MEG BENNET!!! SHe was the best HW SUBE ever had. Besides Guza. I wonder what would of come of SUBE had Guza stayed. Why was he let go anyway?

He left to write GH that December.

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I have some really basic questions about breakdown vs script writing. How can one tell who writes the show breakdowns and script?

GL: no episode SW listed (boooooo Ellen Wheeler!!)

ATWT: last writer listed is the episode SW

B&B: last writer listed is the episode SW

DAYS: last writer listed is the episode SW

GH: name above Elizabeth Korte is the episode SW

OLTL: name above Carolyn Culliton is the episode SW

AMC: writer who's listed by themselves is the episode SW

Y&R: (this is a bit trickier) After the Kanelos/Minardi Slater/Milstein list:

- if there's a name under Amanda Beall, it means Amanda wrote the episode breakdown ,and the writer underneath Amanda is the episode script writer

- if there is a name above Amanda Beall, it means Amanda wrote the episode script, and the writer above her wrote the episode breakdown

- if there is only one writer listed, they wrote the episode script, and either Kanelos/Minardi Slater/Sheffer wrote the episode breakdown

- if there are two writers listed, the top writer wrote the episode breakdown and the bottom writer wrote the episode script (note: Eric Freiwald & Linda Schreiber are always listed together; they only write scripts)

If I had it my way, every soap would list their episode breakdown and script writer. <_<

Don't some writers pen scenes for certain characters?

They get their assignments and then go off and write the episode. They don't get to pick and choose what characters they write for. But sometimes writers do get assigned to specific characters if "they get" the characters better.

Thanks Sinclair. Why ould he leave a show he help create? Was it his sole decision or what?

I believe Guza was fired about 6 months in....not 100% sure though since I was "newbie" to behind-the-scenes movements back then.

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(boooooo Ellen Wheeler!!)

I know that Ellen had all the time in the world to change it (and that Conboy for a time DID change it, even if he didn't do so in the end credits), but the person to blame is Paul Rauch. The show credited each script writer for YEARS until 1997 when Rauch first came on.

(boooooo Ellen Wheeler!!)

I know that Ellen had all the time in the world to change it (and that Conboy for a time DID change it, even if he didn't do so in the end credits), but the person to blame is Paul Rauch. The show credited each script writer for YEARS until 1997 when Rauch first came on.

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I know that Ellen had all the time in the world to change it (and that Conboy for a time DID change it, even if he didn't do so in the end credits), but the person to blame is Paul Rauch. The show credited each script writer for YEARS until 1997 when Rauch first came on.

But c'mon, Wheeler doesn't even have proper end credits for her show. She relies on those squeeze credits provided by CBS and when the shows are put on the net, they usually end with the title card and never anything crediting the actors/writers/directors/producers. Surely to God it can't be difficult to credit your own BTS staffers(and stars) incase the shows are ever rerun in syndication. I mean, she makes everything else in Final Cut.

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I just noticed that Kathryn Foster directed today's episode of B&B. Is this the first work she's done since leaving DAYS?

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But c'mon, Wheeler doesn't even have proper end credits for her show. She relies on those squeeze credits provided by CBS and when the shows are put on the net, they usually end with the title card and never anything crediting the actors/writers/directors/producers. Surely to God it can't be difficult to credit your own BTS staffers(and stars) incase the shows are ever rerun in syndication. I mean, she makes everything else in Final Cut.

I noticed that the online credits never appear. I do believe it is a cost saving issue. While it might only be a little $$ each day (to keep track of everyone and type up the title cards), obviously it is an expense they have chosen to save. It does make me wonder if they have discounted online viewership, and if they have given up on ever being a viable international commodity again.

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