Well, I have to say that I feel Pratt's done a decent job in giving James Khan and Kimberly Hamilton assignments. I didn't hate either of their works.

Well, I have to say that I feel Pratt's done a decent job in giving James Khan and Kimberly Hamilton assignments. I didn't hate either of their works.

He's definitely hiring writers who have long-term breakdown experience, as well as scripts. That's a very good thing for AMC right now.

It definitely wasn't like Courtney Bugler or Lynsey Darfur who both sucked right out the gate.

It definitely wasn't like Courtney Bugler or Lynsey Darfur who both sucked right out the gate.

Exactly. It's a smart move, as Guiding Light is the only other show that worked off the "no breakdown" template. They've been doing it for years, so when these writers went to AMC, there's no "learning on the fly", like there was for the previously established AMC script team.

Exactly. It's a smart move, as Guiding Light is the only other show that worked off the "no breakdown" template. They've been doing it for years, so when these writers went to AMC, there's no "learning on the fly", like there was for the previously established AMC script team.

Y'all saw the Rex M. Best interview (link courtesy of WLS today)? Very cool spin on the Guiding Light story...talk about the fear in the surving writers. He looks so different from the previous pictures I posted here ( http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/23892-the-directors-and-writers-thread/page__view__findpost__p__617286 ).

Here is the interview source, and the text of it:

http://www.newsobser...ry/1692709.html

While others toil at mundane jobs, Rex M. Best titillates as he works.

He cozies up to the three Emmys in his Greensboro home and dreams up ways for the Newmans, Abbotts, and Forresters to fall or jump into or out of love or mayhem.

The Stantonsburg native has been a scriptwriter for 2009 Emmy-winning daytime drama, "The Bold and The Beautiful" for the past seven years, after 15 years with "The Young and the Restless."

"We don't get paid as much as they do in nighttime," Best says. "But I've had a great job I love for over 20 years."

He may not make it to 30. When "Guiding Light," the longest-running soap opera in TV history at 72 years, including its radio run, airs its final episode at 3 p.m. Friday, seven soaps will remain.

"Honestly, all of us fear for our jobs," says Best, 53.

Started with a spoof

The thing that attracted viewers in the past, "the long continuous middle" of a serial, hooked Best in college. While Best was co-editor of The Hilltop at Mars Hill College, he and his friends stole an idea from the San Francisco Chronicle and began writing their own soap opera.

"We had so much fun coming up with these crazy characters and antics about a college paper," Best says. "It was based on the Norman Lear show 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.' We called it 'Pauline Pratt, Pauline Pratt.' It was a shameless rip-off. We had a lot of fun."

Best, who also has a graduate degree from Appalachian State, was teaching at a special education school in Greensboro and following shows such as "The Edge of Night" when he was introduced to Kay Alden. Alden became a co-head writer at "Y&R" in 1998, the same position she now holds at "B&B."

"No one knew I [wrote soaps] on the side," Best says. "[Alden] would send me old outlines of shows that had already aired, and I'd write scripts and send them to her for feedback."

Best did that for 18 months. Then "B&B" began airing on CBS in 1987. Writing slots opened up at "Y&R," and Best got a six-month trial and his foot in the door.

Money is the key

When Best started, soaps made buckets of money and bankrolled prime time. Now an overhauled version of "Let's Make a Deal," cheaper to make than a soap, will replace "Guiding Light" starting Oct. 5. (Watch "Price is Right" reruns until then.)

Ratings for daytime serials have been declining for years, and advertisers are losing interest. When Best started at "Y&R" in 1987, "General Hospital" had the best Nielsen rating with an 8.3 share. "Y&R," the ratings champ for years, pulled in a 3 in 2008.

"If I had the solution to bringing in new viewers, I'd tell you," Best says. "I don't think anyone really knows at this point. In a way, I think [the crisis] has taken people by surprise. Networks have been in a never-ending quest to bring in new viewers, and they tried a lot of different things that I don't necessarily think were well thought out."

Money is still driving the daytime bus, albeit in the wrong direction. NBC's "Days of Our Lives" is signed through September 2010 only. ABC is moving "All My Children" production to Los Angeles to save money.

"Networks just aren't going out on a limb," Best says. "Everyone is cutting. We have to adapt and change."

Soaps run five days a week, 52 weeks a year, with no reruns. For those who work in the industry, that has meant job security that peers in prime time and movies could only dream about.

The sheer amount of work can also feel like a trap, but Best thinks soaps can break out of it.

"I think the solution will always be good storytelling," he says. "I hate to see this uniquely American art form die out. It would be sad and sort of tragic."

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by MarkH

Thanks for bringing this to attention.

Interesting read - Best is a great writer, old-school Y&R style, wo doesn't shy from the wicked.

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by sheilaforever

Part of an interview with Jill Lorie Hurst from today's Detroit Free Press coverage of GL's end:

So where does one go after writing for the same soap for 15 years? While Hurst said she is thrilled for her three co-head writers, who already have moved on to "All My Children" and "As the World Turns," she has no plans to work on another daytime drama.

That's too bad. Hurst is probably the only one of those four who might actually benefit another soap's writing team.

Shame on me for laughing, but this was one of the best quotes in this interview (about Jackie Smith): "Sadly, she ended up dying from a brain tumour not too long after that. You had to be [dense] not to know there was something wrong with her mind. She was crazy. It was no fun, and as much as I loved the show, I had to leave."

Who was Jackie Smith?

Who was Jackie Smith?

Former head of NBC Daytime.

Nothing major but Jerry Birn has left B&B as Story Consultant. He was last listed as on August 28. I believe he retired.

Jackie Smith was also head of ABC daytime during the boom years(early 80's).She was lured to work her magic at NBC.

AMC: Christopher Dunn appeared in the AHW credits today's show #10215. I missed the credits for yesterday's show so I don't know if he was listed then as well.

AMC: Christopher Dunn appeared in the AHW credits today's show #10215. I missed the credits for yesterday's show so I don't know if he was listed then as well.

Who is he again? He wasn't there yesterday. Did he take someone's place? DL?

Wasn't Dunn a part of the Spelling soaps of the 90's?

Who is he again? He wasn't there yesterday. Did he take someone's place? DL?

According to Toups for the last several months, he's the writer from Guiding Light that Chuck Pratt has been hoping to get after GL was no more.

He didn't take anyone's place in today's credits.

written by

Addie Walsh

Daran Little

Tracey Thomson

Christopher Dunn

Jeff Beldner

And James Khan returned with today's script.

Toups, my dear (and Kubla), any info on whether Khan and Hamilton are on trial, fill-ins for writers on vacation/maternity leave (Hall, Cohen) or permanent additions?

Edited September 24, 200916 yr by R Sinclair