Headwriters who change with their shows

[DRW50]

I was just thinking about some of daytime's current headwriters and some past headwriters who seem to tell the same stories everywhere they go and make each of their soaps seem exactly the same. Then I started to think of some headwriters who seemed very different from one show to the other. I thought of Doug Marland, who has been written about here lately as making ATWT somewhat safe and soppy. I haven't seen a lot of his GH work, but his GL work seems very different to me. There is much more of an edge, especially in scenes with Carrie, Diane Ballard, or Vanessa, who did not have the gloss which helped balance Barbara and Lucinda in their bitchy moments.

Vanessa is the fly in the ointment everywhere she goes, setting people off against each other, pouting and flirting and interfering. Diane is the dutiful secretary who slowly, methodically collects information until she finally feels sure enough to give in to her delusions about her boss, Alan Spaulding, at which point she shatters and goes completely off the rails. And of course Nola, who is so real and human, and raw, even when she is "redeemed" after her lies to Kelly are exposed. There's much more of a touch of volatility to Nola and to Tony Reardon, and Maureen at that time was not yet the patron saint, she was more guarded.

So are there any headwriters you think manage, or managed, to adopt a different style of writing or tone with each of their soaps, or tried to live up to the character of the soap they were writing for?

[LeClerc]

Interesting topic.

My initial reaction is that there are very very few headwriters whose styles aren't essentially the same as they move from show to show.

I do remember being very surprised to find out that James E. Reilly had been part of the headwriting team of GL in the early 90s and an associate headwriter on Ryan's Hope because, up until then, I thought all he was capable of was the kind of stuff he did on DOOL and Passions. It makes me think that he could very well have written a show like AMC or Loving or OLTL, which are shows I never would have thought he was compatible with before, true to form.

I also think Sally Susman Morina did a pretty good job of adapting her style to the unique DOOL she inherited from Reilly. I remember thinking that the former headwriter of Generations was such an odd choice to replace Reilly and that it would be such a drastic change for the show, but it wasn't.

[DRW50]

Even Reilly's work in his DAYS stints seemed very different. There was much more storytelling and tighter plotting in his first run. Even when stories dragged on, they had a big payoff. In his second run, his stories seemed to drag on just for the sake of it, and the payoff, if there was any, was less worthwhile. There also seemed to be much more of a weird sadistic pseudo-camp. Perhaps this translated from his Passions run.

That's a good point about Sally Susman Morina.

[bellcurve]

I heard when Slesar took over for Capitol, everyone assumed he'd make it into another mystery drama. I read he was good, but that his Capitol focused more on political intrigue.

I hate that they canned him for James Lipton, who I heard was dreadful. But that's typical Conboy.

[DRW50]

I'd forgotten he wrote for Capitol. Did he focus on mystery on his other post-EON shows, or was he not there long enough to have a chance? I can't remember if he was one of those who wrote for SFT.

[Sylph]

OK, I cannot believe I'm asking this, but: did Thom Racina change his style depending on the show?

[Khan]

As a matter of fact, Henry Slesar did write very briefly for SEARCH; and yes, his SEARCH was heavy on intrigue and mystery (although, to be fair, the show had drifted in that direction before he even arrived).

And as for CAPITOL...yeah, he did include some EON-esque mystery, such as the one surrounding Jarrett Morgan's real identity, as well as the requisite political intrigue. Slesar also emphasized family drama, though, particularly in the backstory of how Myrna came to be archenemies with Clarissa.

The only instance where a network and/or sponsor informed Slesar not to focus exclusively on "crime stories" was at OLTL. Yet, as Slesar pointed out years later during an interview w/ SOW, when he came aboard, OL had two murder mysteries (with two separate culprits) running simultaneously.

[Khan]

Not really. However, he only head-wrote two shows, DAYS and GH, and both shows more-or-less emphasized the same things (i.e., action/adventure stories, supercouples, etc.). He worked on ANOTHER WORLD, GENERATIONS and SANTA BARBARA, but only as an AHW.

[DRW50]

Did Slesar do the stuff at OLTL with Rob and Alex Crown, or was that the Corringtons?

What did you think of his work at SFT and Capitol?

I guess with shows like SFT, or Loving, which had so much turnover, it must have been almost impossible to have time to put your own imprint onto the show.

[Sylph]

Thankfully.

[Khan]

The Corringtons. Slesar joined OL after P&G replaced him at EDGE OF NIGHT, in '83. By the time that story began, however, Slesar had already moved onto CAPITOL.

His stuff @ SEARCH was "before my time," as they say. I do remember his work on CAPITOL, however, as being the most consistent that show had ever been. Before he arrived, CAPITOL was apparently notorious for dropping stories just when they started getting good. Of course, when the ratings fell during his tenure, CBS believed he was responsible, so Conboy had no choice but to fire him.

[DRW50]

Thanks. What stories did Slesar do at OLTL?

That's a shame about Capitol. If CBS was going to can the show anyway, to find a timeslot for B&B, they could have kept him around and let the show go out with dignity.

[Khan]

Frankly, I think people make too much out of Slesar's tenure w/ OLTL. Yes, he was officially Co-HW w/ Sam Hall...for awhile. To tell you the truth, though, I think Hall ran that show more than anyone.

You have to remember, although EDGE's ratings on ABC were miserable (most likely, b/c not all affiliates cleared it), wherever it did air, it usually won its timeslot, and carried some of the most loyal fans in daytime. ABC realized Slesar had that ability to find, hook and keep an audience, so when P&G replaced him w/ Lee Sheldon, they (ABC) snatched up Slesar in the hopes that he would do for one of their shows what he'd done for EDGE (and to a lesser extent, SOMERSET). My hunch is that the OL gig was more-or-less a holding place for him until the HW'ing gig opened up @ GH. Unfortunately, things just didn't turn out the way ABC had planned.

[Khan]

Unfortunately, CBS gave up on CAPITOL completely the minute they heard Papa Bell was even considering developing another soap. After that point, it didn't matter to them how CAPITOL went out, just so it did.

[DRW50]

Why do you think it didn't work out with GH?