Legendary Emmy-winning soap scribe PAMELA K. LONG comes to Brandon's Buzz!

[EastMA2]

I loved Pam Long's writing and this final week of GL was so telling about her contribution to the show. The 3 big couples that Pam put together 25 years ago were reunited. Billy & Vanessa, Beth & Phillip and Reva & Josh.

[Paul Raven]

My problem with Pam Long and Gail Kobe was their agenda to turn GL into something else by writing in a bunch of new characters and ignoring history,thus damaging the brand.

After the Dobsons successful 5 year stint in which they revamped the show and took it to an hour,Doug Marland built upon what they had established.Ed,Mike,Hope,Hilary,Alan,Justin,Jackie,Ben,Eve,Ross etc continued as major players alongside Morgan,Kelly,Nola,Vanessa,etc

After Pat Falken Smith and L Virginia Browne started to tinker with the show,Long came in and revamped,basically eliminating most of Marland and the Dobsons characters.

Hilary was killed off,Mike written out,Bert's death ignored for a year,Justin,Eve,Katie all gone.Nola and Quint were given nothing to do and dropped.

Characters like Tony and Annabelle and Jim were used for plots and dropped.

New characters were interacting with each other and the show was moving further away from a solid core.

Not that what was happening wasn't interesting,it just weakened the show overall.

[soapfan770]

Jeff Ryder? I hear he teaches writing classes at some college in Philadelphia I came across a poster who was a GL fan who once took his class and was shocked to discover criticism leveled against him for his tenure at GL.

[Greg's GL]

I liked both Pam Long and Nancy Curlee's regimes at GL. There were pluses and minuses under both regimes (Nancy's I did like better), but both ladies are obviously very talented. I loved that Pam mentioned more than once in the interview about being a "storyteller" and she is. She always played the important emotional beats of her stories and it showed on-screen.

And it says something about her writing creatively that she created one of the most iconic GL characters ever in Reva Shayne. However, I do believe that if GL could have tied Lisa Brown down to long-term contracts, Nola Reardon would have given her a run for her money.

[DRW50]

Was the problem with Lisa long-term contracts? She stayed at ATWT for about 8 years. I think Long may have hesitated at building up most of the characters she didn't create. There were a few, like Josh and Vanessa, but they were both on the fringes until she gave them more storyline. Nola was such a highly identifiable character and it wouldn't have been as easy for a new writer to make her work.

[juniorz1]

You know the portion about Santa Barbara really bothers me. She's so high on her work there with Rauch and all of it was awful. She trumpets her new characters that never got a chance to catch on (Sawyer, BJ, Reese, Jodie, Micah, etc..) but the fact remains that none of those people had any chance of catching on at SB. All of them were shoved down our throats and were a drag to watch.

And a big NO to Brandon AND Pam saying that the Cruz/Jodie pairing would have caught on. Um, no. It was about on par with the pairing with Eileen Davidson's Kelly, but kind of worse in a way. Kim Zimmer is one of the LAST actresses SB viewers & more importantly, Cruz fans would accept him with. Kim was always rivaling Marcy Walker at the Emmys and SOD Awards so Marcy/Eden fans already had some resentments. Not to mention what an ass she'd make of herself at awards shows in those days. Kim Zimmer was never meant to be on SB and it's a travesty that Long made that happen.

There were mis-casts & bad recasts abound and while many see the cast in the final year as an embarrassment of riches, we the viewers saw them as intruders in our town of Santa Barbara. We hated Reese, Jodie, Micah, BJ, Sawyer, Aurora, Skyler, fauxKelly, Connor, Frank, et all None of them belonged in our town and took airtime away from core characters like Sophia, CC, Gina, Lionel, Mason, & Julia, most of him were either barely used or completely mis-used in the last year.

The only thing I agreee with her on is that the heart of the show left with A Martinez. But the show still could have gone on. Sophia had a huge heart as well and could have become more centered on the show. They could have brought on characters from the past and people that made sense in the landscape of Santa Barbara. But they didn't do that at all.

Finally, I find it hard to believe that Susan Lee told Pam Long & Paul Rauch that had they gotten there a year earlier, SB would still be on the air. Either it was lip service from Lee or total crap. Number one, Rauch had been there for a year prior to Long. And secondly, the ratings were in the gutter and mostly worsening throughout Long's stint on the show. The truth of the matter is Pam Long should have never been hired to write SB in the first place.

[Greg's GL]

That's a good question, Carl. I always wondered about that myself. But here's my speculation - Lisa Brown was obviously a favorite of Marland so when he left GL, it probably made "Nola Reardon" less attractive to her (specifically for what you stated above). And Lisa appears (from what I've read) to be quite vocal/critical of the scripts and storytelling in general so rather than risk a new writer with "Nola", she bolted to ATWT? I have no idea.

I know when they lured her back in the late 90s (Rauch, B&E), it was a horrible story.

[DRW50]

Laibson and McTavish brought her back, although like you said, the story was horrible.

I know a lot of the Quola fans thought the stories given to them in the last few years of their original run were not in character and were poor. The boy they adopted, and Quentin staying at home, all that. I think Lisa must have known it was time to move on, and Marland gave her a great opportunity at ATWT.

The problem for me with Pam Long's work is that while it was quite dazzling at times, it does not seem like GL. When I look at the Dobsons, or at Marland, their work still seemed to fit GL's fabric. They used the Bauers. They used the sense of everyday in Springfield and mixed it with camp and intrigue. Long seemed to abandon that mixture and just went for the big and brassy, especially after she got her foot in the door.

From what I've seen of her second tenure as headwriter, I thought she was much more at home with what GL represented.

[Greg's GL]

The Dobsons and Marland were magical at GL. Their writing styles were very identical to one another and yes, there's no argument that they used the Bauers. Marland did introduce the Reardons, however, and the focus was heavily on them during his tenure. That's one thing that I (and most everyone) point out was Long/Kobe's backburnering the Bauers.

But to the point about "big and brassy". That was the "it" thing at the time, Carl. Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing, etc. All these primetime soaps were so successful, the daytime soaps were trying to copy it. All daytime soaps were getting into the act and Long just happened to be there when these things were en vogue.

[DRW50]

Marland did introduce the Reardons, but it seems like most of the Bauers still had story. There were also relatively few Reardons -- Nola and her mother, and then Tony and Maureen, both of whom were also involved with Bauers.

What Long did was of the time, which is why the ratings went up, but the problem was in taking away the foundation. When the glitz faded, there was no core left. I think that's what really hurt GL in the long run, made even worse with JFP during her tenure. I don't even know if it was Marland and the Dobsons being similar writers (they definitely weren't at ATWT) so much as they respected GL's core.

I did love Mindy and Fletcher and Alex and Billy and most of the Lewises, and I liked Reva (I was never that into what I've seen of Beth or Lujack). I just wish Long had kept more of GL's heart too. I think if she had then the show wouldn't have so quickly lost as much of their audience they built up in 1983-1984.

[Greg's GL]

Yeah, the Beth/Lujack stuff wasn't my favorite. I didn't realize until listening to the interview that Pam introduced the Raines family. That storyline has always been one of my favorites of GL over the years, because it was very well told. I can't recall the actors name now, but the casting of Beth's stepfather was perfect.

I was never a great fan of Annabelle and the "Ghost Story" rip-off SL was not one of her brightest moments, IMO.

She comes across in the interview as someone that really did love the show, though. I got that more from her talking about GL (perhaps Texas) rather than SB or OLTL. I would have loved to have had her writing - or at least hired on as a consultant - for GL's finale. Of course, the ultimate would have been if TPTB could have snagged Curlee to consult!

The problem with alot of soaps - other than Y&R - is that it's hard to hold on to the show's "heart" with the turnover of actors. Long was faced with either continuing to write for a role that had (perhaps) been re-casted numerous times, or writing story for new charcters. The only show in daytime that never has had to deal with that much is Y&R. They have an uncanny ability to keep actors signed on forever.

[DRW50]

I can see where Long would have more love for GL. She got to create more of her own work at GL, whereas OLTL was VERY heavy on longtime characters, although she did create the Rappaports. I'm not sure how much of that was down to her, although of the family, Lindsey did seem like a Long character. I believe that she didn't even know anyone at OLTL, she sent in her scripts from the West Coast. I did not care for her work at OLTL but I don't know if that was down to her or JFP, as I didn't really like most of OLTL when JFP was producer.

You're right about having to deal with a show which has been recast so many times, but I don't know how much of that she had to deal with at GL when she was in charge. Marland and the Dobsons had built a foundation, and while they did create characters who were obviously on their last legs, like the Parker siblings, or Eve Stapleton (or was Eve gone by the time Long showed up?), there was still Mike, and Hillary, and Hope, who could have helped been a focal point for the viewers amidst all the changes.

I also don't remember Long doing much of anything with Ross when she was headwriter. Who was it who came up with the Dinah storyline? Was that Jeff Ryder? It seems like that was one of Ross' only big stories in the 80s.

I don't know how much of the change was down to her and how much was down to Gail Kobe. I heard that Gail Kobe fired Elvera Roussel to make an example of her, but I'm not sure.

[Mitch]

No, I think there was about a year time passing between her leaving GL and starting on ATWT. I do know that Long did not write for Nola her last year on the show...which was especially weird with the cottage mystery going on at the time. She had huge crap, like the kid scientist, a student of Quints after him and of all things NolaAerobics (to be copied on SB with GinaJeans.) Maybe Quola were one of the first "fan freaks,'" for a particular couple, and it was hard to write for them...I do know that some people were complaining that they didnt bring Quint on during Brown's return for the last week. I woulda just had Quint killed to make more story for Nola.

So I do think it was a combo of Nola being someone else's creation, a character who was so iconic it was hard for another writer to write for her(re. Reva after Long left) and the fact that Brown could be a bit of a pain in the ass..so I don't know how she and Zimmer would get along back stage. Which is really too bad, I didn't really like the Reardons that much during Marland's tenure, I thought Long wrote them better as this big, loving, arguing Irish-American family...(I remember that even though they were Irish, waspy Marland made them Protestant.) And, she essentially copied the Reardon's in making up the Coopers, with Frank and Harley standing in for Tony and Nola.

[Greg's GL]

I haven't heard good things about her tenures at SB and OLTL from the fans of those shows. I've always kinda been a one-soap kinda guy and GL was it for me for a long time. I'd watch some others in the periphery (like Y&R) but I usually follow one show very closely and a couple others on the fringes. Anyway....

IA completely with Mike, Hope and Hilary. Those characters should have never been marginalized, but maybe she thought (like she said in her interview) that she didn't know what to do with them at the moment so she sent them (well, at least Mike and Hope) away. Maybe she meant to bring them back one day? I have no idea. That's the first I've heard of Roussel/Kobe issue, so I obviously have no idea.

I'm pretty sure the Stapletons were off the show when Long showed up.

Hmmmm. And now looking back, I think you're right about Ross. I don't think Long wrote much for him during her first stint. Ryder could have penned Dinah, but then it could have been at the beginning of the 2nd stint. Can't recall right now. Ross was just coming off that very intense story with Carrie. It's a shame that the Carrie situation drove Marland away from the show. I wonder how things might now be different had Marland stayed and developed the Carrie character the way he wanted. Would GL still be on the air today? Hmmm.

[DRW50]

Mitch, that makes sense about demanding fans. I don't think you heard as much about them back then, but Quola were one of the most stylized supercouples ever, so that really meant they would not have had an easy time with a headwriter like Long. I haven't seen enough of that era of GL to say for sure but I did prefer the Reardons as a family with the Long stories. There was a much harder edge with Marland, especially with how Tony treated Nola. I think the Reardons were more "real" with Marland, but that may not have been the best thing.

Greg's GL, I can't imagine what GL would have been like if Marland had stayed. Could he have adapted the show to the crazy era of the 80s, I don't know, but he did seem to have a good balance of that in his time on the show. Probably the only reason I am sort of glad Marland didn't stay on is I preferred the post-Marland version of Vanessa.

I remember when I first bought the GL history book that came out about 12 years ago. I knew little of the show's past. Ross was one of my favorites, so I was baffled as to how little story he had in the 80s. Aside from Dinah, and the later stuff with Holly and Nadine, all I remember seeing was the story with Calla.

It's still hard for me to believe Calla and Lillian were sisters. I guess it was hard for many at GL to believe as well because I don't know if I ever heard them mention Calla in the time I watched the show.