AMC: Lorraine Broderick named Headwriter

[LoyaltoAMC]

I guess I see Kreizman as being more creative. From what I've seen, I think he has some good ideas, but he needs someone like a Lorraine Broderick who gets the show specifically and the genre in general to deliver the goods. I'm not sure he actually respects the genre. I thought Swajeski's stuff on AW was just so gimmicky and derivative. I remember her crowing about her Beauty and the Beast story, which I thought just didn't fit a show like AW. I suppose, like a lot of people, I hold AW to the Harding Lemay standard, and her stuff compared with what he wrote was so subpar. She's probably perfectly competent at executing other people's ideas as breakdown writer or whatever, but I'm not sure it's wise to have her in a position that generates story ideas. Just my 2 cents about her. I know that other people like her, and the truth is that she really didn't do any damage to AMC. In fact, I find the show watchable for the first time since the Bianca baby switch. I like the Tad-Cara stuff, but I sometimes wonder if that's due more to the actors and to the fact that it's not in the Rylee-Kendall vortex of hell, than to the actual writing.

[R Sinclair]

My fan fantasy is simply hoping Lorraine Broderick shores up the script writing team. Currently, it's absolutely dreadful.

[Clear Drama]

Thank you. Both of them need to go. It's no if ands or buts, they collectively screwed up and kept screwing up, neither took the the time and said to thierselves, wait do fans actually want to see this?

So both can go, I wouldn't miss either of them.I want Lorraine to shore up her staff. But that's partly a fantasy.

[Khan]

Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon love(d) and respected soaps b/c they still remembered following the radio soaps as children. Same goes for Nancy Curlee, who'd been a fan of GUIDING LIGHT before she ever became a writer for it. Even writers like Pete Lemay and Doug Marland, who might not have grown up following soaps, still came to respect the genre b/c of their background as actors. Kreizman, though, only started watching soaps (and at first, just DAYS) b/c he wanted to score with impress this girl he'd been dating @ the University of Virginia, where he played on the wrestling team; and only snagged a job (as an intern or a P.A. - forget which) at GL, b/c he had a degree related to communications. I'm just saying.

Exactly. "Tara" is amusing, b/c it isn't involved in that muck; and MEK's performance in particular elevates what otherwise could be a predictable, by-the-numbers story.

I used to complain (slightly) about the days when the likes of Jack Wood, Mary K. Wells and Clarice Blackburn would write the dialogue. Never again.

[SFK]

I hate it when you hear a badly written line and can practically see it typed out on the page. OLTL suffers from this too. The power of the dialogue writing is great, it really can smooth over bad story, or as it often does, accentuate it. No offense, but a lot of those badly written lines sound like teens are writing the dialogue, there is an immature (only word I can really think of to describe it) ring to them.

Conversely, if you watch clips of OLTL during the late '80s, like Viki and Dorian in the secret room for example, the writing is very wordy and kind of faux sophisticated. Then when ES is playing it like it's Greek tragedy, weeping about "fahthuh's capacity for betrayal" it's all rather OTT.

[EricMontreal22]

I think OLTL has far far worse dialogue than AMC. Where they truly suffer is in the conversation recaps, which I think AMC does relatively well (Agnes in the 70s said she wished she could get rid of dialogue recaps--I think in the days of DVR soaps really should--though I'll take them over the JER/DAYS style 5 min flashback any day).

[SFK]

Just this week, Viki got to the hospital and Todd's room was empty and she said to Tea something to the effect of, "Oh my God, Todd, did he die?" Now I KNOW I'll be accused of nitpicking here, but that line, the way it was written and the way it came out, it just did NOT sound like something Viki would say, it just fell on my ear wrong. I explained it away given Viki's emotional state, she was distraught and "not herself", but do you guys know what I mean by dialogue not ringing true?

[EricMontreal22]

Yes, it was out of character...

[SFK]

I agree that AMC does much better with dialogue, especially lately. To me, where they really suffered was with the Fusion women when they tried to do edgy snarky SATC-type dialogue that always sounded like lame ass fanfic.

[EricMontreal22]

I kinda hate everything about Fusion, from the set on...

[Khan]

I see what you mean, SFK, lol. OTOH, what I miss about OLTL (and AMC) is how unafraid the writers were of "big words." It was actually wonderful to hear characters who were intelligent and possessed extensive vocabularies. Now...? Viki sounds about as dumb sometimes as one of the Fords; and many AMC characters make the cast of "Jersey Shore" sound as if they're doing a Noel Coward play.

[EricMontreal22]

I disagree--I think AMC has pretty, by modern soap standards, sophisticated dialogue--I mean an E/B script quoted Albee the other day. But if I hear Kendall talk about gargling glass one more time, I dunno what I'll do... (I know you were exagerating, but I doubt you've seen Jersey Shore in the past while...)

[SFK]

I think that recap dialogue should be avoided, let the viewer piece it together or go online to get involved and play catch up, or just do it very minimally and with finesse. That's probably my favorite writing word when we talk about this stuff because it seems to be really lacking. Too many clunky edges, not enough smooth, realistic if not naturalistic dialogue that continually reminds us that we're watching something less art, less than. I guess that works for a splashy trashy show like OLTL apparently wants to be, but...

[SFK]

Yeah, and I know I was teasing ES, but I actually love to hear her speak and if anybody can handle sophisticated dialogue it's her, if anybody should use "big words" it's Viki. Even clips from the early '90s before chilling out with younger man Ben and all that, ES had an even more gorgeous clipped line delivery, and boy did it shine when she was laying somebody out! That British training man, the lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue, she is certainly someone who deserves Julia Sugarbaker-type speeches.

[EricMontreal22]

Yes, it made sense back in the 70s when, as Agnes says in that book I'm not allowed to mention on here, even hard core viewers really can only see three eps or so a week--and you can't check things online. Now I dunno who it serves, I don't buy that it gets any new viewers tuning....