A look at Hogan Sheffer's

[classicmoment]

As far as what I have seen on the internet most (who are vocal)seem to hate Hogan Sheffer's writing style. I personally didn't mind his tenure much (with Ed Scott's arrival) at Days and have hated more than I have loved his tenure at Y&R. I did not watch his tenure at ATWT as I never got into that show (maybe those viewers could add a perspective). My observation of HS writing style are that certain trademark elements are evident i.e. not too subtle hints of misogyny have followed his tenure on both shows, OOC writing from a character development standpoint, outlandish soap tricks used for momentary shock value. He also can contribute a sense of excitement that may revitalize a soap with necessary tones of camp.

I liked his tenure at Days more than I hated it.

I loved the killing of John Black (I know most don't agree here). I know much of that had to do with Ed Scott's decision but still Sheffer & company wrote it the right way. I wanted JB to stay dead but I knew TPTB would eventually cave. I love that it freed Marlena from this passive aggressive, vvictim comatosed stae they kept her in for over 2 decades. They rediscovered the characters fire and relit it, and I connected to Dee-Hall's take on the character is ways I have little memories of doing in the past.

I loved the created EJ-STEFANO- Tony/Andre dynamic. I loved Steve towards the end of Sheffer's tenure. I also Loved Shawn - BElle and Philip THEY BECAME EXCITING. I also loved Hope/Belle devloping dynamic and I loved the bit of conflict it brought between Marlena and Hope. The Marlena "Black Widow" esque characterization was made of win and Dee rocked it. I loved the Sorarity storyline, Stephanie's rape done in flashbacks was a step up for me gaining respect for Days. Chelsea being kick a$$ was great the scene where she punched dude (I forgot the characters name) was made of win. I appreciated the break up of the uncle/niece couple though they ended up back together again. Loved Nick Fallon, hated Willow. I also thought Kate was under-used during his tenure and clearly so was MBE

Whilst I loved that they introduced options for Sami other than Lucas being her soulmate (I was never on that bandwagon, Lucas treats Sami like crap when he's ready), I do think his EJ- SAMI dynamic was very flawed. I was sold on EJAMI because of both actors obvious chemistry with each other and James Scott sold it, Ali did some good work too (she's usually touch and go with me). However I didn't necessarily have a problem with the idea behind Santo and Colleen , I do think it was not best thought or well played out story. Loved the scenes with Tony and Hope on the roof, hated Steve in the nuthouse story but I loved the re-introduction of Benji and the Benji/Steve dynamic. Loved Steve taking Stefano hostage. Sami EJ dynamic, see the falling in love with the rapist thing I'm on the fence about but also the way both EJ and Lucas treated Smi was pushing it. I also thought the Colleen /Santo thing had too much misogyny there.

I hate his tenure more on Y&R

IMO these characters aren't Hogan-esque characters. The women are intellectual and so are the men. They are all well developed characters

Things I believe are Hogans own handywork:

Sharon's stealing/whoring undiagnosed illness. Now in he beginning I loved this I saw SC tackle the role beautifully imo and it was plausible given the character's history.

The degredation of Phyllis, not saying Phyllis would never degrade herself. I think a good job was done as to show why the character would degrade herself through it but then after the sh!t hit the fan and she still gave Nick choices I didn't recognize the character anymore.

Nick was more his cheating lying self so all in all in that way the story work. It's flaws are it made Jack too sappy, and it degraded BOTH women for the sake of Nick. So on one hand it worked on another it degraded both Female character's for the sake of a no good, intelectually challenged cheating man.

This vision of Billy I would say also have Hogan written all over it. There seems to be two dimensions to Billy these days, self absorption & being sorry when he's caught. The characters that revolve around Billy (except for Chloe) i.e. Mac, Chance are left out in the cold because Billy must get propped for some reason. Just Lousy character development.

Everything else on Y&R I don't know how much credit Hogan take for it. I think that's probably a shared responsibility if I were to guess.

Add on.....

[aMLCproduction]

Hogan and Ed Scott did not work together on Days did they?

Hogans Tenure at Days had LOTS of promise at first. It was good up until John was shot. After he was shot, something just changed. It' becasme dumb.

It made me stop watching Days for the 3rd time.

And again Hogan and team got me at the same point at Y&R.

I HATE HOGAN. Lord don't get me started.

[classicmoment]

Yes for like six months I believe. Hogan didn't get a better grip on things until ES arrival. IMO ES moreso than HS (biut I'll still give him a bit of credit) helped transition days to restoration of being recognized as respectable daytime drama though the ratings sank that was the beginning of a different DOOL

[IMissAremid]

Hogan was a horrible Days writer, worse than JER or Langan or Higley or any other writer who gets raked over the coals on this board.

Willow Stark was one of the worst characters in the history of Days of our Lives and he shoved her in our face constantly!

The Tinda Lao storyline was ridiculous.

The Skanks on a Plane storyline was ridiculous.

Nick sleeping with Chelsea's mom, Billie, was gross and ruined Chick and Billie.

He took the two hottest young males on the show (EJ and Phillip) and turned them into OTT misogynistic thugs just to try and force the viewers to root for Lumi and Shelle, only to realize his mistakes (or have someone realize the mistakes for him later on) and even then he refused to deal with the damage he did to those characters and put in the time and effort to fix them in any sort of real or meaningful way.

The stupid explosions and stunts every other week during Andre's reign of terror were pointless and stupid.

The way he wrapped up the gloved crime storyline (or didn't) was pointless and stupid.

Stefano was written as such a pathetic weakling it was depressing.

Steve's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest story was an insult to the mentally ill (besides insulting the viewers' intelligence). It made no sense, had no clear beginning, middle or end, and just made a mess of the character of Steve that he could never recover from. Hogan may have loved writing lines for SN and MBE, but he couldn't write a decent Steve and Kayla story to save his life.

The only good thing about Days under his tenure was the dialogue, but I don't know if that was even him or his script writers at that time.

[All My Shadows]

Hogan's ATWT was NOT As the World Turns.

[Toups]

Hogan decided to kill John way before Ed Scott arrived. Actually, Hogan planned to kill John early in his tenure (I think around the time John got shot) but those plans had to be scrapped. Also, Hogan did plan to have John come back, but not as early as it happened. When word leaked out about John's death, I already knew he was going to be back.

Deidre/Marlena rocked during that time. Of course then the strike happened and Hogan never got the chance to continue the storyline.

That was so good. The episode with the dinner party was one of the best written episodes from Hogan's tenure.

Yeah, too bad the psycho Steve storyline sucked. Steve vs Stefano was so much better. The episodes where Steve kidnaps Stefano....amazing!

I thought the team of Hogan/Ed Scott were hitting their stride when the strike hit.

[JackPeyton]

IMHO Hogan was the worst HW Days has ever and could ever have. Well, its a tood up between him and JER

Promise at first, wiothout a doubt. But damn did it ever go to hell quick and it was just unwatchable.

Sami brady The Heroine who scrafices herself for her family? Umm, no. Esp the way she just decided it one day. There was transition.

The rapemance wtf?!

There were so many more issues... I just cant even go back there.

I know people will say "oh, it wasnt his fault he was interfered with! he couldnt tell what he wanted to tell and use who he wanted to use!" Really? Im sorry i thought good HW's could roll with the punches. You name someone who gets to do whatever they want with free will and no boss to answer too when they work for someone.

Im not going to say he didnt have good moments, he did. But good moments do not = good soap.

His style has now damaged Y&R. Yes, i blame MAB more than him, but damn.. the man just sucks IMHO! He had what, 2 good years at ATWT? 2 good months at Days?

ugh, even thinking about it i need to go back and watch yesterdays Days to be reminded why i love it once again after his terror.

[Quent]

ATWT is where Hogan got his reputation. I believe he got five Best Writing Team Emmys in a row for the show. But he was definitely a mixed blessing. On the plus side, his first year was brilliant. He kick-started a show that desperately needed it. He took one event (the break-up of Hal and Barbara's marriage) and snowballed it to an umbrella storyline that affected the whole show. He definitely had his favorites on the show...Katie, Rose, Craig and especially Barbara. Colleen Pinter (Barbara) had been little more than a coffee-serving dispenser of motherly advice to daughter Jennifer , when Hogan put her front and center and got her two Emmy noms, one for Lead Actress.

After that first year and a half to two years, HS simply ran out of ideas. He had a LOT of dud s/ls: Bonnie In Scotland, Teens On The Run, Pilar Kills Katie's Rabbit, Dahlia , and worst of all, Celia In The Orange Crate. And if HS didn't like your character, he simply never wrote for you.

Final Analysis? Hogan was great for the beginning, but then simply fizzled.

[P.J.]

I think it was two or three emmys he won writing ATWT, which is a travesty, given that Doug Marland only won once, but I digress.

I think it was his publicity making machine that was his biggest asset, not his repetitive writing. The press in general seemed fascinated with the idea a "movie writer" would stoop to take on a daytime serial.

[Sylph]

He was never actually a movie writer. He was a script analyst and Director of Screenplay Development for DreamWorks.

[NorrthCafe]

I gave up on DAYS for a while after the catastrophe with Sami and Ej. For pity's sake, the man had GUN... he threatened to kill the man she loved if she didn't sleep with him... and then the writers added insult to injury by having her becoming pregnant with twins, one his... and then she sleeps with him and gets pregnant AGAIN. I have no love for Sami, any more. I'm just done with her. The 'rapemance' was one of the worst in daytime history.

[DRW50]

Yes. The media swooned over Sheffer from what seemed to be the start. Look at this fresh blood. Look at how he's lowering himself by doing daytime. And he will say anything, so let's fawn over him even more. He used to say the most tin-eared, offensive comments, and he seemed so proud of himself for these views. The contempt for vets, and women, and men who weren't smirky sickos, all creeped up in his interviews and seeped out over ATWT. His ATWT was a very cold place where stories rarely had satisfying resolutions, characters were rewritten (usually butchered, to fit his "men with balls" issue), and women seemed to live in the dark ages. I remember how happy viewers were supposed to be that Barbara wasn't killed, but was instead reduced to a gasping, scarred psycho who ran around a dark mansion plotting revenge against the sweet young things. And this went on for years. Barbara jumps out a window, Barbara does this, Barbara does that. I hated it, although I guess at least she was still around. As uneven as the show has been (to say the least), the recent material for Barbara with Henry and Audrey, as stupid as the story was, was probably the closest I've seen to the "real" Barbara in a long time.

The other main point with Sheffer is it's never his fault. At ATWT, any failings were because he was not allowed to tell his vision. At DAYS, it was Corday, and the budget. He wasn't allowed to have his vision.

Only now, at Y&R, when his "vision" is the same sh!t he forced on two other soaps (animal killing, rape can be hot, women as baby machines, darkness for the sake of darkness, men turned into pigs and thugs), am I not hearing the "it's not his fault" stuff. Or perhaps it's because MAB is the master of passing the buck, so she has trumped Sheffer in those stakes.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

The major problem with Hogan is that he has the same approach with every soap he writes. He doesn't distinguish between DAYS or Y&R. They're all fair game for his over-the-top, and mostly perverse brand of shock storytelling. He's no more interested in the actual characters than he is in telling a viable, emotionally involving story. IMHO, he's one of the worst co-heads/heads in the soap business. He may have had two years of brilliance at ATWT, but he's followed them up with pure dreck. What he's done to Y&R, though, is the greatest shame. He doesn't get the show, or what it's about. Pathetic.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Hogan Sheffer is like the male Megan McTavish - he recycles the same bag of old and sometimes downright offensive and misogynistic bag of tricks from soap to soap.

Truth be told, he's only had one decent time as a HW, which was the first year and half of his tenure at ATWT. Soon after, ATWT became unwatchable dreck and his DAYS followed a similar trend, and now he's at Y&R pulling off the same kind of half-assed and poorly developed and executed stories.

When you've failed at three very different shows, that's when you know you've become one of the recycled daytime hacks.

[P.J.]

My bad...it still only mattered that he had "Hollywood" in his credits.

As for his ATWT tenure---I think tended to start stories well (I actually liked the set up to the trio of kidnappings) but he rarely wrote a satisfying pay off. And he does tend to focus on his favorites and shove them down everyone's throat. OMG, that first year of Hunt Block's Craig still makes me wince.