2011: The Directors and Writers Thread

[GladGirl]

Does anyone know what Casiello is leaving to do?

[LeClerc]

I hope the final episode of AMC is written by Kate Hall and directed by Angela Tessinari, but probably little chance it won't be a dreaded Rebecca Taylor/Casey Childs combo. One last swoosh-fest for Casey.

[Soapsuds]

I'm sure he was fired for a second time. Hopefully he'll stay unemployed.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

I have a little hope it'll be Hall/Tessinari, AMC always seems to put the 'special' types of episodes in their hands...all of the inside the light stand alone episodes (except for Ericas, which Taylor wrote) were scripted/directed by them. The Stuart whodunit shooting episode. Just any episode that seemed 'special' or was really good. Not that ANY of that even means anything LOL then again they did give the 40th Anniversary ep to Taylor/Childs -__- so I think it's pretty much a given they'll write the end...but I still have a glimmer of hope it won't be them.

[Toups]

He's not unemployed. He got out of a sinking industry. Good for him.

I think it's going to be Beldner/Childs and Lorraine writing the outline/breakdown.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

And what was his "and Y&R was looking for other writers anyway" talk about? Basically just saying, "they were about to fire me for another recycled writer anyway"?

Casiello for Whitesell, so in other words, trading someone mediocre for someone just as mediocre? Typical Y&R.

Casiello's Y&R epsiodes were generally atrocious and disjointed when I watched. Lisa Connor also wrote episodes like that when she was there.

I will also never forget the script Casiello wrote where he had Katherine Chancellor saying the most uncharacteristic dialogue. "Cut the crap!" Really? From Katherine Chancellor?

Sinking industry or no sinking industry, he won't amount to anything writing-wise outside of soaps. Soap writers almost never have any diversity in their careers in other aspects of television.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

What about the ghostwriting Agnes is supposedly doing to usher her show off the air?

[Soapsuds]

+1 for this

but actually +1 for all of your post.

You crack me up Alvin!

[Khan]

You wouldn't believe me even if I told you - and no, I'm not telling, lol.

[Toups]

I think that's an illusion just because you dislike them. Breakdowns are so hard to tell apart. If they didn't credit who the BDW were, you wouldn't know who did what.

For what it's worth, he didn't write that line.

What's "amount to anything?" They don't have to be super successful. Just make enough to be happy and enjoy your job.

[Khan]

Except when they win the Academy Award. (Am I right, David Seidler?) ;-P

(And let's not forget Lawrence & Ronnie Wenker-Konner or Mark Rosenthal while we're at it.)

[Soapsuds]

He is writing for gay porn??

[Khan]

I said I'm not telling, and I'm sticking to that, sorry.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Or maybe you're using an illusion because you like him?

I do not have a fondness for him, especially when he used his Twitter to comment on certain fans of the industry. Yeah, let's talk about the same fans who keep the show you write for on the air, brilliant move...

When certain epsiodes are credited to the same writers over and over again and are a disjointed mess and have the same feel to them, I always blame the breakdown writer. I also remember a specific episode where Billy was in prison that he wrote, which I found extra insufferable.

The Billy character tended to appear a lot in the episodes Casiello wrote, which I know wasn't his doing, but I did find the character even more atrociously drawn in his episodes.

I also singled out Lisa Connor's work at Y&R, which was generally just as mismatched and disjointed. I no longer watch to judge anyone in that writing team though in its current state.

I am not the only one who has singled out his work on Y&R. I believe sheilaforever also had similar comments to mine a year or so ago.

Also, remember that interview you did with him a few years ago where he said he never understood Y&R or its tone or whatever? Well, it showed, IMO. Not that many others do on the show anymore. I will never defend Latham's writing team for example, but I did think when he wrote for it, James Stanley did some decent breakdown work.

That script was credited to him, and I do remember the dialogue in his few scripts being VERY clunky. I was not the only one to point this out in the Y&R episodes thread a few years back.

I meant making a name for yourself outside of the soap industry. How many have done it?

I wish him well, but I'm not going to speculate on his next move, as I do not care. He can hype it on his Twitter or Facebook all he wants.

[Toups]

What's an example of a disjointed breakdown?

Sometime episodes are disjointed because of editing. Sometimes episodes are too short, sometimes they're too long, and sometimes 2 episodes are edited into 1.

That's fine. Some writers don't have an ear for dialogue and that's why they don't normally write scripts. But people always single out that specific line - which he didn't write.

Not many but I don't see what's wrong with that.