On one hand though, even though her trademarks were still there, a lot of McTavish's first stints seemed remarkably different from her subsequent stints and stints at other shows.

I think her writing team at the time had a lot to do with it, as well as Behr, and Nixon's consulting.

I do agree. I tend to be a McTavish supporter on here and... well I'm not. I think a lot of what the lady has done is inexscusable crap. But I think she works well (and not) with guidance. She seems to me a total yes-woman.

On one hand though, even though her trademarks were still there, a lot of McTavish's first stint seemed remarkably different from her subsequent stint and stints at other shows.

I think her writing team at the time had a lot to do with it, as well as Behr, and Nixon's consulting.

Behr and Nixon, particularly in 1994 to early 1995, had to work extra hard to keep McTavish's storytelling grounded... Just one case in point, AMC was on its third lookalike storyline in as many years. With that, and multiple rapes, bombs, and other random acts of violence, AMC really had deviated from its own identity to a great extent.

I agree with Max. It is disgusting. In the key demo last week, OLTL was third, with a 1.1 to GH's 1.2. It's been on the upswing lately. AMC was dead last with a 0.8. In women 18-34, OLTL was also third, with a 0.6 to GH's 0.7. AMC had half of OLTL's audience in that demo with a 0.3.

Improving ratings should be lauded by ABC. Instead, OLTL was "rewarded" with cancellation.

It makes zero sense but I don't see it as disgusting--they've been neck and neck rating wise for several years now with OLTL climbing above AMC only in the past two years. But obviously both were going to be canceled anyway.

It's funny though, Behr and McTavish did seem pretty close at one point. I wonder what happened, outside of McTavish's inability to be a consistent writer?

Here's AMC's Best Show Emmy win from 1994. Behr grabs McTavish's hand and brings her to the front with her, and thanked her for the "wonderful stories."

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wEj86gGd200" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited April 18, 201114 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Wow, that was unnecessarily harsh!

I think it was a joke Though I had the same first reaction.

It's funny though, Behr and McTavish did seem pretty close at one point. I wonder what happened, outside of McTavish's inability to be a consistent writer?

Here's AMC's Best Show Emmy win from 1994. Behr grabs McTavish's hand and brings her to the front with her, and thanked her for the "wonderful stories."

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wEj86gGd200" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Jesus how thin was Oprah! She's like many celebs who I think were too thin--she looks much better now.

I think Behr was fine with McTavish till late 94...

Re: McTavish and the early Marrick stuff, I remember when Richard Culliton was hired as headwriter of AMC in 2001 SOD claimed that he was largely responsible for the early Wildwind stuff.

Whenever a soap is cancelled and TPTB give all the wherefores and whys, it's perhaps best to just cut the [!@#$%^&*] and leave out the, "Women are no longer in the home" line. You cancel two soap operas because "women are no longer in the home" to watch, yet you replace them with gynocentric cooking and weight loss shows? It's obviously not about a lack of female audience, there are still several stay-at-home moms and furthermore, several retired folks (many of whom don't have cable) who were most likely watching the soaps right along with Judges Judy and Joe Brown. It can't be about ratings, it has to be about cost. Do they honestly believe that they will ever attract a daytime audience that is not already there? Bold statement time, NO ONE is going to make a point to tune into these new shows. They will catch them if they catch them, "See ya when I see ya", or they will be watched by the same people who already had the TV on anyway. If TPTB can pull stabile numbers similar to what the soaps were pulling, even dipping a little lower, it's probably quite all right with them because these shows *allegedly* cost so much less.

Edited April 18, 201114 yr by SFK

Regarding McTavish's response, she would probably bark what everyone is, that corporate interference in the creative end destroyed these shows. I usually don't jump on the "So and so HW killed this show" silliness, because Disney corporate and execs like Frons tweak these stories and scripts to within an inch of their lives, until they're a hollowed shell of the writer's original concept, but with her, I tend to feel that she deserves a lot of the blame. There was mass defection after the baby switch ended, and those viewers never returned. When you conceive storylines that are not only patently ridiculous, but that also insultingly rewrite history and spit in the faces of long-time fans, then you must share a huge chunk of the blame. Frons and Disney may have greenlit these stories, which is a travesty in itself, but they didn't come up with the unabortion, the fight club, Satin Slayer, poison pancakes, or being buried alive. Megan came up with those all by herself, and corporate interference or not, these foolish plots drove away a huge chunk of audience that never came back. Maybe it's pointless to play the blame game, but I think our emotions are running high now, so it's natural to want to point fingers.

Re: McTavish and the early Marrick stuff, I remember when Richard Culliton was hired as headwriter of AMC in 2001 SOD claimed that he was largely responsible for the early Wildwind stuff.

Yes, Richard and Carolyn were AHW's during that point I believe. I'll never believe the Culliton's are great as HW's, but when they interpret other people's material and ground it, they're pretty good at it.

Edited April 18, 201114 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Frons and Disney may have greenlit these stories, which is a travesty in itself, but they didn't come up with the unabortion, the fight club, Satin Slayer, poison pancakes, or being buried alive.

They didn't care enough to replace her before it was much too late, either, so IMO, they deserve even more blame because of that.

Agreed on every term. When ATWT was canceled in particular--and this is no disrespect to fans--it shocked me but seemed to be a non issue.

They didn't care enough to replace her before it was much too late, either, so IMO, they deserve even more blame because of that.

True, that is mind-boggling. The show fell apart very quickly when the baby switch ended, and judging from her responses during interviews, she seemed to blame the viewers, and just about everything that played out on screen seemed to be one big "f*** you" to the audience. I don't know why ABC didn't intercede earlier. They probably thought Cady's return would turn things around. That turned out to be a fiasco. Then they probably thought her unabortion idea would grab the viewers. MASSIVE IMPLOSION on that end. By the time they finally had enough and canned her, it was just too late, and the damage was done.

True, that is mind-boggling. The show fell apart very quickly when the baby switch ended, and judging from her responses during interviews, she seemed to blame the viewers, and just about everything that played out on screen seemed to be one big "f*** you" to the audience. I don't know why ABC didn't intercede earlier. They probably thought Cady's return would turn things around. That turned out to be a fiasco. Then they probably thought her unabortion idea would grab the viewers. MASSIVE IMPLOSION on that end. By the time they finally had enough and canned her, it was just too late, and the damage was done.

They didn't intercede because they are just as delusional, pretty much. Instead of saying, "Well, this isn't working, we need to fix it," they said, "Well, this isn't working, and nothing can fix it." Yeah, the parade of sucky HWs followed, but that sure as hell wasn't a solution, and shame on ABC for thinking it was.

Whenever a soap is cancelled and TPTB give all the wherefores and whys, it's perhaps best to just cut the [!@#$%^&*] and leave out the, "Women are no longer in the home" line. You cancel two soap operas because "women are no longer in the home" to watch, yet you replace them with gynocentric cooking and weight loss shows? It's obviously not about a lack of female audience, there are still several stay-at-home moms and furthermore, several retired folks (many of whom don't have cable) who were most likely watching the soaps right along with Judges Judy and Joe Brown. It can't be about ratings, it has to be about cost. Do they honestly believe that they will ever attract a daytime audience that is not already there? Bold statement time, NO ONE is going to make a point to tune into these new shows. They will catch them if they catch them, "See ya when I see ya", or they will be watched by the same people who already had the TV on anyway. If TPTB can pull stabile numbers similar to what the soaps were pulling, even dipping a little lower, it's probably quite all right with them because these shows *allegedly* cost so much less.

You do not give Frons credit!! He quite clearly said that the audience wanted more exciting programming and that this new programming shift will help those poor, overweight, women who are still watching.

Regarding McTavish's response, she would probably bark what everyone is, that corporate interference in the creative end destroyed these shows. I usually don't jump on the "So and so HW killed this show" silliness, because Disney corporate and execs like Frons tweak these stories and scripts to within an inch of their lives, until they're a hollowed shell of the writer's original concept, but with her, I tend to feel that she deserves a lot of the blame. There was mass defection after the baby switch ended, and those viewers never returned. When you conceive storylines that are not only patently ridiculous, but that also insultingly rewrite history and spit in the faces of long-time fans, then you must share a huge chunk of the blame. Frons and Disney may have greenlit these stories, which is a travesty in itself, but they didn't come up with the unabortion, the fight club, Satin Slayer, poison pancakes, or being buried alive. Megan came up with those all by herself, and corporate interference or not, these foolish plots drove away a huge chunk of audience that never came back. Maybe it's pointless to play the blame game, but I think our emotions are running high now, so it's natural to want to point fingers.

I defend her, but I agree to an extent. Again, she needs really good people in control to keep her in check.