When James Riley was writing Guiding Light, were there any hints of the campy garbage he would unleash on Days of Our Lives just a few years later?   Surely there must have been hints of his campy madness.   Somebody, spill the GL tea...

Edited January 25Jan 25 by Mona Kane Croft

7 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

When James Riley was writing Guiding Light, were there any hints of the campy garbage he would unleash on Days of Our Lives just a few years later?   Surely there must have been hints of his campy madness.   Somebody, spill the GL tea...

I'm also interested to know! Good question! 

17 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

When James Riley was writing Guiding Light, were there any hints of the campy garbage he would unleash on Days of Our Lives just a few years later?   Surely there must have been hints of his campy madness.   Somebody, spill the GL tea...

I'm not an expert but I am under the impression that he went along more or less with Nancy Curlee & her husband Stephen Demorest. You know the story, right? If not, say so & I will relate it. Anyway, he wrote going by rules, respecting time, staying in bounds. I don't think him in this kind of Triumvirate is at all the same as him by himself & on his own. That's when he gets into trouble. 

10 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

You know the story, right? If not, say so & I will relate it.

No, I don't know the story.  Can you share a bit of it?  Thanks

6 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

No, I don't know the story.  Can you share a bit of it?  Thanks

When Nancy Curlee & her husband heard that the suits were putting them together with Jimmy (she calls Reilly Jimmy) they were suspicious. They thought because they had such different writing styles from him that TPTB were up to something, even perhaps planning this to sabotage them. So, they decided they would "show them" by uniting as a single front working together so the suits could not "get them." Most people think this worked brilliantly.

When I think about this kind of shenanigans going on in the power levels of BTS at a soap, frankly it makes me go UGH. I mean how awful to have to have concerns like that when you are trying to create a soap.

Edited January 25Jan 25 by Contessa Donatella
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2 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

When Nancy Curlee & her husband heard that the suits were putting them together with Jimmy (she calls Reilly Jimmy) they were suspicious. They thought because they had such different writing styles from him that TPTB were up to something, even perhaps planning this to sabotage them. So, they decided they would "show them" by uniting as a single front working together so the suits could not "get them." Most people think this worked brilliantly.

When I think about this kind of shenanigans going on in the power levels of BTS at a soap, frankly it makes me go UGH. I mean how awful to have to have concerns like that when you are trying to create a soap.

Thanks for the information.  I hadn't been aware of any of this.  I'd be curious to know what Riley's "writing style" was, and how it differed from Curlee's.  But I doubt that kind of information is available from so long ago.  I was completely unfamiliar with Riley until he was writing DOOL in the 1990s.  I don't think I had even heard his name previous to DOOL.  

43 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Thanks for the information.  I hadn't been aware of any of this.  I'd be curious to know what Riley's "writing style" was, and how it differed from Curlee's.  But I doubt that kind of information is available from so long ago.  I was completely unfamiliar with Riley until he was writing DOOL in the 1990s.  I don't think I had even heard his name previous to DOOL.  

As you might know, I am not a fan. But, I think I can be fair. And, I tend to have curiosity even about those I do not like. To begin near the beginning. He graduated from Brigham Young with a triple major: psychology, biology & social anthropology (whatever that last one even is).

When he began his career writing soaps this is where he wrote, in order: RH, GH, Y&R, GL, BEACH, DAYS, PSSN. (Actually he wrote at DAYS both before & after Sunset Beach.) The writing style he is famous for can be seen at DAY & BEACH & PSSN of course. 

I explained to AI chat about the dilemma Curlee faced & I asked AI chat what Reilly's style was in 1991. Keep in mind AI can be wrong. This was the reply:

Quote

James E. Reilly's writing style in 1991 was known for its dramatic, over-the-top, and often supernatural elements. He had a knack for creating high-stakes, suspenseful storylines that kept viewers on the edge of their seats. His stories often included twists and turns, such as possession, demonic forces, and other fantastical elements. Reilly's writing was characterized by its emotional intensity and romantic entanglements, which sometimes bordered on the melodramatic.

Given this, it's understandable that Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest were concerned about their differing styles. Reilly's bold and sensational approach was quite distinct from more grounded and realistic storytelling.

So then I said that it seemed his style never changed. He replied that it evolved over time but that certain markers were always present. It was a question of degrees.

The way I explain it to myself is that before DAYS, at more traditional soaps, Reilly followed rules & then, on his own, he either threw out all rules or made up his own rules. This time is also where IMO he gets into big trouble.

Edited January 25Jan 25 by Contessa Donatella
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42 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

As you might know, I am not a fan. But, I think I can be fair. And, I tend to have curiosity even about those I do not like. To begin near the beginning. He graduated from Brigham Young with a triple major: psychology, biology & social anthropology (whatever that last one even is).

When he began his career writing soaps this is where he wrote, in order: RH, GH, Y&R, GL, BEACH, DAYS, PSSN. (Actually he wrote at DAYS both before & after Sunset Beach.) The writing style he is famous for can be seen at DAY & BEACH & PSSN of course. 

I explained to AI chat about the dilemma Curlee faced & I asked AI chat what Reilly's style was in 1991. Keep in mind AI can be wrong. This was the reply:

So then I said that it seemed his style never changed. He replied that it evolved over time but that certain markers were always present. It was a question of degrees.

The way I explain it to myself is that before DAYS, at more traditional soaps, Reilly followed rules & then, on his own, he either threw out all rules or made up his own rules. This time is also where IMO he gets into big trouble.

It sounds as if AI was describing Riley's writing style at DOOL and Passions, not his earlier work.  Because even though I hadn't heard of him, I did watch most of those soaps you listed him working on earlier, and I don't remember anything supernatural or even particularly over the top, aside from GH, which did some over the top stunts -- but still never as bad or campy as DOOL or Passions.    

I don't have much faith in AI to get the history of anything right.  I see posts written by AI on Facebook every day, and they are always riddled with errors that even I can detect.  I'm afraid AI is making the internet even less accurate than is already was -- especially when it comes to historical details.   But I could be wrong.  

By the way, I'm not criticizing you for using AI for research.  Just stating that my limited experience with it has not been positive.

18 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

It sounds as if AI was describing Riley's writing style at DOOL and Passions, not his earlier work.  Because even though I hadn't heard of him, I did watch most of those soaps you listed him working on earlier, and I don't remember anything supernatural or even particularly over the top, aside from GH, which did some over the top stunts -- but still never as bad or campy as DOOL or Passions.    

I tend to agree, completely.

Edit to add: I meant to say didn't RH do a way OTT story about Delia & a gorilla? Makes me wonder if Reilly wrote that. I think I'll ask Tom Lisanti if he knows.

18 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

I don't have much faith in AI to get the history of anything right.  I see posts written by AI on Facebook every day, and they are always riddled with errors that even I can detect.  I'm afraid AI is making the internet even less accurate than is already was -- especially when it comes to historical details.   But I could be wrong.  

I don't think you are wrong here. 

18 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

By the way, I'm not criticizing you for using AI for research.  Just stating that my limited experience with it has not been positive.

I like using it as long as I am in possession of a whole lot of grains of salt, which I always am. But, I also like catching it in errors & schooling it. And, I do that a lot! LOL, possibly perverse but I do not care.

And, to bend over in trying to be fair, I only find it a bit worse, in terms of errors, than imdb & wikipedia, not a lot worse. Basically Internet sources are suspect.

In the past it was a whole lot worse, which tells me that the people who feed info into their AI systems are including more soap history which I find encouraging but odd. 

Still, my very most favorite soap/AI error was very early on. I asked it what soap & character did Susan Lucci's daughter play. It replied that Liza was being played by Jamie Luner. I was going for Liza on PSSN. It got the wrong Liza on the wrong show but it got A Liza. I told it what its error was & it told me it was so upset that it couldn't talk to me any more & shut down. 🙄😲😅

 

Edited January 25Jan 25 by Contessa Donatella
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James Reilly work as part of that great GL early 1990s writing team is such a contrast to his work at Days.

James Reilly worked fine as part of the GL writing team but AFAIK he was left to his own devices at Days, and we saw what happened from 1993-1997. Yes Days recovered in the ratings, but daytime was shaken at a level not seen since ABC's huge rise and domination some 15 years earlier.

16 hours ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

When James Riley was writing Guiding Light, were there any hints of the campy garbage he would unleash on Days of Our Lives just a few years later?   Surely there must have been hints of his campy madness.   Somebody, spill the GL tea...

Bridget Reardon was in some ways the Sami prototype. 

1 minute ago, Sapounopera said:

Bridget Reardon was in some ways the Sami prototype. 

Did Riley create Sami?  Or at least the adult Sami?

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

James Reilly work as part of that great GL early 1990s writing team is such a contrast to his work at Days.

James Reilly worked fine as part of the GL writing team but AFAIK he was left to his own devices at Days, and we saw what happened from 1993-1997. Yes Days recovered in the ratings, but daytime was shaken at a level not seen since ABC's huge rise and domination some 15 years earlier.

Yes, I remember it really shook daytime. And a few other soaps tried to copy his style.  I don't believe any took it as far as he did, but they swayed in the direction.  

26 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Did Riley create Sami?  Or at least the adult Sami?

Yes, I remember it really shook daytime. And a few other soaps tried to copy his style.  I don't believe any took it as far as he did, but they swayed in the direction.  

Do you think it shook it in a good way... or a bad way? 

On 1/23/2025 at 11:04 PM, Khan said:

Oh, dear.  You know how much I adore Justin Deas...but do I really want to sit through another one of Alan Locher's interviews?  (I'm sure you're a nice guy, Mr. Locher, you just suck at interviewing people.)

I see it less of interviews and more of "conversations" with his guests/old pals.

17 hours ago, chrisml said:

I think Alan Locher is a decent and lovely man, but his natural instinct is to protect his guests from any potential unpleasantness or negativity. This can be annoying to the watcher/listener. The best interviews are the ones where he doesn't know the potential dangers (the guests are not from GL or ATWT) and/or the interviewees don't allow him to protect them. 

It's the PR side of him, erring on the side of caution/protection, etc. That'd be my guess.

31 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Did Riley create Sami?  Or at least the adult Sami?

No, I do not think so. Ally Sweeney began playing Sami in 1987 & James E. REILLY wrote "Buried Alive" in 1993. But, I'm not sure what an impact he may have had on Sami because her rape & subsequent shooting Alan Harris, her rapist, in the genital area was also in 1993, I believe. Unsure. You may be onto something. 

31 minutes ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

Yes, I remember it really shook daytime. And a few other soaps tried to copy his style.  I don't believe any took it as far as he did, but they swayed in the direction.  

I'm not sure who was writing Sunset Beach for, just one example, the turkey baster story, but there were some pretty OTT stories on that show, I think. 

But, it's no surprise that there would be copy catting on the general theme of "outrageous" stories & that is because Reilly maintained ratings at a time when almost everyone else had  decline & he got new viewers during that same timeframe. Even though he lost veteran fans. 

I mean someone at CBS insisted that GL do the clone story. Don't you think that was likely in reaction to Reilly's success at DAYS?

14 minutes ago, Maxim said:

Do you think it shook it in a good way... or a bad way? 

IMO bad.