2009: The Directors and Writers Thread

[bellcurve]

God, I hated that. I never understood why a guy who wasn't really "hood" growing up(that we know of), who spoke with such great diction, referred to basketball as "throwing the ball in the cup," would, two months later, call Donna his "Momz." I can handle "Mom," I can even handle "Mama"(which is more common in the African-American community), but "Momz"? GAAAAAAAAAAAG!

I will give the writing team credit for working in his name and real-life tattoo into something that resembles a backstory. I've heard from alot of Texas people that it is very difficult to get into a Texas University. It doesn't surprise me that Marcus, who was decent at playing basketball, but had subpar grades, couldn't get a scholarship.

[boldfan01]

I guess that makes sense, but the thing that struck me as odd was that it's just Mulcahey who gets the short end of the stick. Kelly and Smith don't seem to lose out work to Bradley. Maybe it's their history with the show?

[boldfan01]

I agree that the mom/son chemistry is there, but I also felt the "Momz" reference seemed a bit off for me. Like Bellcurve, I thought it seemed inconsistent with the voice that had been established for Marcus up to that point. Just having Marcus call Donna "Mom" instead of by her first name, as other script writers had already done, was enough of a sign of the growing bond between them for me. Then along comes "Momz" that one day, and it didn't really stick, so why bother when it wasn't needed?

[R Sinclair]

Example of her in-your-face sexual innuendo...

Ava: It's just sex, lots and lots of sex and some groping and a little more sex.

Sean: Ok, shut it.

Ava: You sure you want to say that to me? You better think long and hard.

Sean: Yeah, how about shut it and go?

I'm surprised Ava didn't offer to, um, "spread the word."

Examples of issues I have with her...

Her overabundance of insults -- especially referring to whores, tramps, sluts and bitches.

J.R.: You skanky little tramp.

Babe: How -- how did I get here?

J.R.: Same way you always do, Babe -- open bed, insert slut.

Babe: You messed with the wrong girl this time, bitchcakes!

Julia: Well, you're arrogant, you're smarmy, and you turned yourself into a media whore and got on TV and bragged how you saved Erica Kane's life.

Babe: Alone in a bar toasting the fact that you're an SOB -- you are so pathetic.

Or her ultra mega cool hip-tastic speak.

Amanda: Spaz down already. I'm here to see the real Dr. Madden.

Julia: Hey, why don't you power trip on somebody your own size?

Greenlee: What do you want me to do, crack open my brain and show you how shipshape I am?

And the infamous December 13, 2004 episode..:

Erica: I have my own test, and I will do my own testing. I don't need DNA. I have K-A-N-E.

Yup. That was all Beall. Oh, baby, I could be here all day with this, but let's move on, shall we?

But seriously... J.R.'s supposed to be a grown man... a grown heterosexual man... and he's calling people "skanky little tramps?" If her writing at Y&R is better, then fine. I do, however, think things are being edited because it's amazing she could allegedly write so well for Y&R for three months, but delivered such crap to AMC for four years. Every time she wrote scrpits, AMC either turned into a sitcom or a bad teen flick.

[bellcurve]

I loved K-A-N-E, but that's just me. LOL.

The rest of this sounds really, really bad.

From what I have seen of AMC and know, I can't imagine a character like Babe(trailer park as she is), using a term like bitchcakes. That was an odd word choice and something that stood out among all these other treasures.

The Ava/Sean thing is gross, but I just attributed that to her slutty behavior and them playing to Leven's outer party girl.

I do agree with you that a writer who uses hip dialogue as a crutch or as something to build character isn't all that creative or clever. But hey, we're not all Hemingway or Faulkner, right?

It's amazing that she went wild like this at AMC for four years, without being reigned in. But, after reading that beautiful "Sand-on-the-Beach" speech by the 21 Century's Emily Dickinson, Courtney Bugler, nothing really surprises me.

Writers can improve if they are edited and learn from their mistakes. If they don't learn or improve, then fire them.

[Sylph]

Or perhaps one Mulcahey script equals three or four Shannon scripts. So why would you pay more when you can pay less? He definitely earns more than she does and all that with a whole lot less scriptwriting.

[YRBB]

God, all that Beall dialogue from AMC makes my eyes hurt and my gag reflexes sharpen. But, weirdly, she's been good at Y&R. I really would like to know the extent of her contribution; does she really write better now that she has a better HW over her head, or are they editing her like crazy?

Sylph!!! What on Earth is that avatar!!!???

[R Sinclair]

Well, we won't even go there about the Beach Speech since Bugler's been fired and has never been heard from again. That's what happens when you're aunt is Megan McTavish. Craptastic writing must be in the genes.

Anyway, I understand that some days can be "off" days. Kate Hall's last script at AMC was absolutely dreadful for someone who hit a homerun out of the park her first script out last year. But Beall tried so damn hard to be clever, and it was just too much. Maybe Y&R does have a better editor -- because, as much as I enjoyed his first script in years back in October, AMC's story editor, Jeff Beldner, has a LOT of explaining to do when it comes to editing. As I said before, if that Beach Speech by Bugler was edited, I shudder to think of what it actually resembled when Bugler first handed in her draft.

Well, here's hoping that happens. Not to sound redundant like a Rebecca Taylor script, but as I said, that "cut him open" crap NEVER should've happened. I hope that Beall's learning how to write dialogue for character, rather than only to sound hip and clever. And as I also mentioned before... I hope she excels at Y&R... that way she'll never darken AMC's doorstep again.

[sheilaforever]

Beall's HAVE to be edited a lot (by Beth Milstein and possibly Natalie Minardi SLater)!? Her track record is just too bad to justify some of her Y&R scripts... They aren't completely stellar but the on-screen results are far from being bad.

She fits with the younger crowd extremely well and those campy fantasy scenes are unusual from the common Y&R but fit the shows roots.

[Sylph]

Don't you just love it? You don't know?

[Toups]

If Beall's scripts have been edited a lot, MAB would've gotten rid of her after 13 weeks. We already know MAB will not hesitate to "cut you" at the first chance.

[dm.]

Exactly. There must be something good in Beall's writing that made Maria keep her.

[Sylph]

Every time someone writes MAB, I think of Miranda Richardson's portrayal of Queen Mab.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't know the extent to which Beall's dialogue is being edited, but there is a clear difference from what she's done at AMC to what she's doing at Y&R. You have to wonder if any restrictions were mandated on her. I wouldn't put it passed ABC to have some rule for "hip" and "edgy" dialogue. But outside of the younger cast, I've never seen Beall try to make Katherine, Jill, or Nikki sound like teenagers. Beall's not my favourite scriptwriter, but so far, she's doing her job, and I don't have any major complaints about her scripts.

However, if I had to rate all of Y&R's scriptwriters, she'd probably be last on that list. Most of Y&R's current scriptwriting team are Bell writers who have a long history with the show and were there before the Latham era. I also think Melissa Salmons has been a WONDERFUL addition to the scriptwriting team.

If I judge the two "newbie" Y&R scriptwriters, there's a clear different between Salmons and Beall. Salmons tends to inject as much long-term history into her scripts as much as possible, I get the feeling that she really studies her Y&R history and studies the backstories of these characters. She's wonderful, and she was a wonderful scriptwriter long before she came to Y&R. Beall, on the other hand, doesn't dig that deep into past history, nor does she really have to. She writes what the breakdowns tell her to writer and she does an adequate job.

[Toups]

BTW, I thought "K-A-N-E" was Bettina Bradbury's? No?