Y&R: Kay Alden or Maria Arena

[juniorz1]

AMEN!!!!!!

[LoyaltoAMC]

I'm not the most perceptive person in the world, but something tells me I hit a nerve! LOL.

[DeeeDee]

Not at all.

Maria's Y&R isn't perfect but at least her Y&R is coherent.

[Adam]

Yep, and that's all one should really expect. Everything beyond that is dessert.

[Heyou]

:lol:

They've all had their hits and misses (Latham definitely had her share) but MAB's Y&R has the Bill Bell feel to it but she wasn't on par until Hogan and Rauch came aboard and Griffith was out. Latham proved to daytime that no one person should have complete control.

[DaytimeFan]

Joan appeared in an Aaron Spelling prime time soap called Pacific Palisades in 1997, the show only lasted 13 episodes or so, Joan appeared towards the end of the series (it also starred Michelle Stafford and Finola Hughes). That hack bitch from the depths of hell LML was one of the writers for the show and Joan loathed the scripts she got from LML. Joan, throughout her career, has often rewritten lines that she thought were bad, Scott Hamner said she was very instrumental in how Alexis was written for Dynasty and was very involved in watching the dailies and all that...essentially she's hands on when it comes to her part, most divas are.

Well, LML HATED that Joan dared to rewrite some of her lines and she went and bitched about it to Aaron Spelling. Aaron told LML that Joan could rewrite whatever she damn well pleased and that if she didn't like it she never had to work for an Aaron Spelling production ever again.

Joan heard about the meeting from the makeup people (as usual) and stormed into that weeks writers meeting and told LML in no uncertain terms that she'd NEVER write another script for her ever again. Joan insisted that she only wanted scripts from James Stanley and Peter Dunne and that's exactly what she got.

[rangethatrover]

LML also created the nightime soap Homefront I think. That had good reviews, low ratings. Her stint at Knots Landing was critically acclaimed but a good portion of the actors HATED LML. Obviously not Shackelford.. I think it was the awesome William Devane and possibly Michelle Lee who loathed LML?

I LOVE the idea of Joan storming into the writers room. It is awesome!!

[MarkH]

Devane, Van Ark, and Pleshette hated LML. Each has given interviews with explicit quotes on this at knotslanding.net

I read those when LML first came on Y&R and wondered to myself "why would they feel this way?"

I cam to see that she polarizes the team everywhere she goes.

Even on Knots, which I loved, there were seasons where I cannot keep all the threads in mind (Empire Valley, Lotus Point). I don't know if she was responsible for these...but they were some of the same kind of "mess" that we saw on Y&R (like trying to keep track of how Clear Springs and political campaigns all fit together).

[LoyaltoAMC]

Actually, from what I've read, Joan Van Ark and John Pleshette hated LML and Bernie Lechowick. Joan hated the way they wrote Val as the village idiot. Although Pleshette was no longer acting on the show when Latham and Lechowick became show runners, he was still writing scripts. He thought they were too controlling and over politically correct. Shackelford has said that he liked what they did with Gary. I believe Michele Lee has said some complimentary things about them too. Have never heard Devane voice an opinion on them, but he was the center of the show when they were showrunners, so he couldn't have that many complaints!

[DaytimeFan]

Devane hated LML's political correctness. She demanded that he stop smoking cigars on camera...well, Devane won that battle.

Donna Mills HATED LML and Lechowick. She quit the show because of them in '89.

The best part is, it isn't an idea...it happened. AND she was wearing a Nolan Miller suit.

[LoyaltoAMC]

OK, that makes sense about Devane. I do remember him calling them out on their political correctness just like Pleshette did. Reminds of the water bottle issue on the Y&R set LOL.

I think Donna left because she'd had enough of Abby and wanted to do something else. I've never heard her say anything about them specifically, but she often talks about the Olivia drug storyline being her favorite and her best work, and LML and Lechowick did write that.

[alphanguy74]

I don't get the feeling that Michele Lee HATED them, but I don't think she liked LML, either. However, LML probabaly acquiesced to Lee, considering Lee weilded MAJOR power on that set, from what I hear. JVA doens't seem to be the type to throw her weight around, but Lee IS, and we can take THAT to the bank.... that's why I love her, she kicks ass and takes names. There WERE some things that LML did on Knots that I loved, but in general, I liked seasons 2-5 the best. I would have LOVED to see Collins throw that diva fit in that writer's meeting. She's one of the few actresses in modern times (Like Brenda Dickson as well) that is a throwback to the hollywood golden age. And if you've never seen it, check out the Space:1999 episode "Mission Of The Darians" from 1974... Joan is dragged up like you wouldon't believe!!! Futuristic pink disco dress, a headdress that would make Carmen Miranda bite her knuckles, and she plays a sophisticated cannibal!

[Adam]

OMG I LOVE YOU!

[MarkH]

Well, we seem to have hijacked poor Sylph's poll thread with much more interesting chatter about LML and her path of destruction

[Paul Raven]

LML's response to the complaints

Two cast members, though, have complained about the stewardship of Latham and Lechowick in published interviews last year. Joan Van Ark and John Pleshette both were critical of the couple. Van Ark was disappointed in the direction her character Valene went in, and Pleshette called them “awful people” after allegedly clashing with them on the set of the episode “Birds Do It, Bees Do It,” which Latham and Lechowick wrote together and Pleshette directed.

“I don’t remember the tensions and the disagreement,” Lechowick said. “Certainly we weren’t in a position where we were treating him badly when he came to direct. John wasn’t one of our usual directors and after a while you see the same people and you get into a rhythm with them. With John it would have been the opposite of giving him a hard time; he was married to David Jacobs’ ex-wife so if anything, we were bending over backwards to please him while he was there. So I’m not sure what he was bothered about.”

Van Ark said her character was being turned into “the village idiot” on the show and that she protested about particular plotlines to Latham and Lechowick, but to no avail.

“Well, the character had some mental problems,” Lechowick said carefully. “She thought her ex was returning and she got tormented by Jill (Teri Austin) and she stir fried her kids’ hermit crabs. I wouldn’t say this made her an ‘idiot,’ but it was something that happened in the progression of Valene. Did we try to make her look purposely bad? No. Were we trying to have her leave the show? No. Did she get all the screen time she wanted? No."

Lechowick added that Van Ark’s Valene often dominated the storylines and was given many opportunities to shine.

“In the season finale where it was just her and Jill, that was a 15-20 minute scene, no cuts, it was different and it was radical. That was one of her great moments.”