All My Children Tribute Thread

[Vee]

There were stories for years about Megan's first run being largely propped up by Agnes, Behr, James(?) and the writing team, and I personally believe every one of them.

[Soaplovers]

I remember after that first stint, McTavish went to helm Guiding Light, and everyone was excited to see what magic she would do on that show.. only for the show to suffer under her pen.  

 

That showed how apparent it was that she needed a strong writing staff to make her ideas work, or to make them fit the character vs making the character fit the idea.

[BetterForgotten]

The irony was FMB realized that McTavish was running out of steam during the end of that first stint, so fired her. Then FMB herself was fired like 8 months or so later.

Edited July 3, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[Liberty City]

 

Because, I prefer center justification.

[DemetriKane]

Imma need for Abc/Hulu or whomever to find the earliest All My Children episodes and get them on a streaming service. I been having a field day watching classic B&B on Paramount Plus. 30 mins soaps rocks by the way.

[allmc2008]

Nice

I

Always

Preferred

This and

so

I will do this for

Now On.

[DemetriKane]

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[All My Shadows]

I can't remember if this has been posted here or not. It's been on YT for over two years, and I'm just seeing it for the first time.

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Courtesy of the actress playing the little girl.

Of course, my biggest soap "Make-a-Wish" is to see every second of 70s AMC, but at this point, I really need to see this era of Anne and Paul before Elizabeth's death and Anne's descent into madness. We have a small handful of clips showing her raging hard, but what was she like on a day-to-day basis before her life came crumbling down? She's so bubbly and cool in the 1970-1971 episodes/clips, but what was the "mid-section" like for the character?

[DRW50]

 

It was posted a week or so ago, yes.

 

Then they also both ended up struggling at P&G before finally returning to ABC to struggle some more (FMB pretty much torpedoing herself from the getgo on that front, although I appreciated her honesty...).

 

McTavish sounds like hell to work with, but I don't think AMC really ever did improve a great deal even when she was gone, as in some twisted way I do think she understood the show's core. I wish she had not been such a pain and also let someone curb her worst excesses, because I agree with those who said she and Broderick would have been a good team. 

[Vee]

I think McTavish had a fundamental understanding of AMC in some ways. Her first run had some great stories and couples, and when she initially returned in 2003, even when I knew the rape was coming, you could feel the show going back to its traditions and old style in many ways (she also made a point to bring back many past characters, albeit often for pointless stories or bit parts). But I think her worst instincts and impulses always wrecked her work, and I don't think she ever worked at all at any other show. I don't think she was ever wholly capable without a very strong team propping her up.

 

It wasn't dissimilar to what Frons attempted at each of the three main soaps at the time - he clearly felt it was essential to bring back high-profile HWs who knew their soaps inside and out and had done beloved work. AMC brought back McTavish, OLTL brought back Malone and Griffith and GH brought back Guza. On paper, it was a great idea. But each failed either in the short or long run (Guza did better than the others, but not for long) because none of them curbed their excesses or had stronger teams behind them, and because Frons also couldn't keep his hand out of interfering.

Edited July 5, 2021 by Vee

[All My Shadows]

Whoops, I guess I shouldn't have chosen to be lazy and not flip back a few pages (though I did find the energy to go back two years to see if it was discussed then).
 

I agree with both of y'all so much re: McT. As much as some have tried to claim that the woman never had any business writing the show or that she was just a hack who did not care about the show or its legacy, that is just simply not true. A hack? Sure. Employed far longer than she needed to be? Absolutely. Destructive in the long-term? Yes! Completely ignorant as to what the All My Children vibe is? Not by a longshot - especially compared to who she immediately succeeded and preceded for her 2000s run.

 

[DRW50]

 

Sorry if I seemed brusque. We all do it - I just didn't want you to feel confused if no one had replied to your post. 

[Liberty City]

 

Okay.

 

A good example of "good idea, horrible execution."

[DemetriKane]

!!!  Was she responsible for zoe/zarf? Or was it an mandate from frons? And im also with you about getting to watch 70s AMC. Its something very mysterious about it to me.

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Edited July 5, 2021 by DemetriKane

[FrenchBug82]

Looking back what did people feel about that storyline then? And now?