2011: The Directors and Writers Thread

[~bl~]

I thought the reason that Y&R was first in the ratings was due to time slot and that's why it still has the ratings it has. I can understand someone like Courtney Simon thinking it was overrated though, due to the consistency and old-fashioned style. The irony being that Y&R was not supposed to be old-fashioned.

[aMLCproduction]

Let's not forget the black factor as well as time slot...better acting and back in Bell's day much better stories

[skiman12082004]

I was sure someone else caught it but yesterday Gary Donatelli was listed as the director for B&B.

[Toups]

From my experience, when asking writers which soaps they watched when they were growing up, Y&R is rarely mentioned - it's usually: DAYS, SB, the P&G and ABC soaps. I think maybe that's because Y&R was so stylized in the way the wrote the scenes, the dialogue, the directing and the production - it was very different from the other soaps. Y&R also used to have the least writer-jumping - their writers were usually home grown, they were trained and brought up under the Bill Bell system. Now it's a free for all and anybody can jump in. It's now like every other soap and there's no uniqueness to the show anymore.

I personally loved Y&R's melodramatic, stylized, non-realistic dialogue.

That's an interesting choice.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Both Mulcahey and Simon have said this regarding SB and early 90's GL.

I get the sense that those who wrote for SB during its peak years enjoyed the creative liberties they were allowed to take, but never really took the show all that seriously and were not shamelessly proud about what was produced.

Courtney wrote a great chunk of scripts during Maureen's controversial exit storyline on GL.

One that stands out in my mind is when Mo found Lillian's note to Ed about their night together, and Lillian visits the Bauer house, and poor Mo confronts her about it. No physicality was needed in that scene, it was effortlessly scripted and acted.

[glatwt]

wasn't quite sure where to put this but has it been reported if maxem and meng are both out with lisa coming aboard or is meng sticking around with her? i always thought meng was there to help maxem out since he never exec. produced a show on his own before. im only asking because it seems to me that DAYS with they're budget cuts, cant afford not only the 'name' returns these last couple but , the biggest writing team in daytime and 'THREE' executive producer's! talk about wasting money.

[Antoyne]

Wrong thread

[Toups]

Meng is staying as Co-EP. He was already an Executive for Corday Productions before becoming Co-EP, so I don't think his salary changed that much, if it did at all. Lisa's just taking over the Co-EP position that Maxam, Tomlin, Scott, Wyman, Langan (and on) had. I really think the budget affects the number of producers or writers the show employs. When the show slashed its budget by 40% in 2008, DAYS still hired veteran writers and the number of writers was about 12.

[RavenWhitney]

Paula Cwikly wrote today's script instead of a breakdown. I think this is her first script for the show after several years on the staff.

[glatwt]

thanks toups!! i just find it crazy a daytime soap has 3 exec. producers, co's or not!

[Toups]

Yeah, I think it's her first script. I don't think she wrote scripts for DAYS or SuBe either.

[Toups]

GH:

- David Kreizman first listed as Breakdown Writer on December 29

[Graham]

This one won't die!

[Toups]

Anyone have the director and SW for B&B's Monday December 26 episode?

[dm.]

Director: Deveney Kelly

Location Sequences Directed By: Cynthia J. Popp

Script Writer: Rex M. Best