Lorraine Broderick as AMC head writer

[You're Soaking in it]

I think it's more of people realizing that it "wasn't so bad" - and at most times, actually quite good - under Broderick... especially when they compare her body of work to McTavish's or Pratt's. She respected the characters and attempted to honor AMC's reputation for socially-relevant storytelling wherever possible. And the idea of having someone like that at the writing helm sounds like a DREAM considering the utter nightmare AMC viewers have been put through in recent years.

[Khan]

Well, it isn't the obssession with baby switches, if that's what you're thinking. I've always said I love a good baby-switch (storyline). IMO, the one between Jenny Wolek and Katrina Karr on OLTL was probably the best written story ever on soaps, if not the best one about this subject.

I've yet to recall even one story of LB's where I was COMPELLED to watch everyday, lest I wanted to suffer a fate worse than death. She IS good, but I also feel like she tells her stories from the head, and not from the heart, if that makes any sense. Compare that to Pam Long, who, even when she screws up, still delivers the whole gamut of emotions (and sometimes, within the same scene).

The difference between someone like Agnes Nixon and someone like Lorraine Broderick, is the difference between a show that is currently being head-written by someone w/ a vision, and one that is being written by the breakdown writers in lieu of a headwriter until a suitable one is found.

[DRW50]

That does make sense. I think with proper guidance, this can be a good choice. Without it, we end up with stuff like all powerful psychos roaming the town, although she did that more on ATWT and OLTL than AMC.

Did you see Long's OLTL work? What did you think of it? I'm half surprised she isn't in contention for this ABC job. She lives on the West Coast doesn't she?

Have you ever seen Emmerdale? Their baby switch story last year was very good. Some of it is on Youtube.

[Khan]

Of course, I want someone who honors AMC's long-standing tradition of character-driven, topically relevant storytelling to write this show. I just feel like "recycling" even LB in that chair is not the way to go. You have a writer, Jeff Beldner, who's been there forever and a day, so why not give him the opportunity? Now, I'm not saying I know for a fact that he'll be the Second Coming (remember, that distinction belongs to Ron Carlivati), but it COULD be the best of both worlds: someone with a long association with the show, but who might come to the job with some fresh ideas.

GUIDING LIGHT, after all, lasted as long as it did, because more than one person could write that show. I want the same distinction for AMC. I don't want it to be like Y&R, a show that, apparently, only one person understood.

[LeClerc]

Back when Frons fired Richard Culliton in 2002 SOW reported that he had approached both Kay Alden and Pamela Long about replacing him. Obviously neither worked out but he approached Alden again several years later when it was time to replace McTavish, so maybe Long is still on his list of possibilities.

[You're Soaking in it]

Wow, that is harsh.

Some of AMC's most HEARTfelt moments in its history occurred under Broderick. In general, either you're saying that McTavish / Pratt / Passanante turned in stellar work, or your perception of AMC over the last two decades is that it's been consistently horrible. Which is it? Because, with a few small gaps, they've each been there at the top of the writing team throughout that time.

Long did some good work on Guiding Light... and that was it. I would pick Broderick over Pam Long to save my own life.

On that note, let me add that I do recognize (and not in a vague way) Broderick's faults: She can meander on the pacing of the storyline - - sometimes it felt like she needed more exciting "punches" along the way. And at times she has a tendency to go TOO emotional, to the point of where the story becomes dark. Some viewers even expressed irritation that the show was too dialog-heavy, though I would NEVER make such a complaint of AMC today.

[Khan]

Stop right there. Remember, Carl, it's Pratt who's been replaced, not Frons. ;-)

I felt it was the most intense and exciting OLTL had been, quite frankly, since the peak of the Paul Rauch/Peggy O'Shea era. I, for one, never cared for the so-called "golden age" of Gottlieb/Malone/Griffith. I felt that show was the work of people who piggybacked their own stories and characters onto OLTL's canvas in the name of "reclaiming its roots", and to hell with those who thought otherwise.

[Vee]

Pam Long is not going to save [!@#$%^&*], people.

[LeClerc]

If not Beldner, who seems to just want to sit in the corner and (poorly) edit scripts: Hal Corley.

[DRW50]

She did help make the first season of Undressed soar...

Seriously though I can't imagine her ever being on a soap again anyway.

[Khan]

I'm saying, AMC has not felt like AMC since 1991 - and even there, I think I'm being generous. I watched the show before then, and for a few years afterward, out of a sense of loyalty to certain characters (namely, Erica, Mona, Phoebe, Brooke, Palmer, Joe & Ruth, Myrtle, Natalie, Tad, Dixie, and maybe a few others). Yes, Broderick co-head-wrote during the amazing 1987-88 season, when we had the one-two punch of Mark Dalton's drug addiction and Cindy Parker's battle w/ AIDS (not to mention, Laura Cudahy's death). But can you really build your reputation as a writer on one good year, people?

[Vee]

That's an extremely slippery slope. If you're gonna play that card, why don't we just say OLTL has not felt like OLTL since 1978 with those pesky Buchanans? Golly, when on Earth are they gonna leave? Some might say you have unrealistic expectations.

[Sylph]

Broderick was also a part of Nancy Curlee's team.

[Khan]

You're right, Vee, I probably do have unrealistic expectations.

For the record, though, OLTL ceased being appointment viewing for me probably after "Buchanans of the Old West." I'm sorry, but time travel? No.

[You're Soaking in it]

I'll admit that Long certainly brought energy to OLTL. Her tenure along with the tail-end of the Labines, ironically, was probably the only time I found OLTL interesting under EP Jill Farren Phelps. And I'll also admit that after Long / enter McTavish, I found OLTL to be pretty soul-less all the way until JFP and McT were out. BUT... that isn't saying much. Because I thought it was REALLY bad otherwise.

Like you, Khan, I'm also one who considers the Rauch / O'Shea (and to some extent Schnessel) years - let's just call them the Tina & Viki years - of OLTL to be the show's REAL heydey. I think the current OLTL honors that era, along with the Gottlieb and 70's eras, pretty effectively today.