All My Children Tribute Thread

[Vee]

I mean, that doesn't entirely surprise me given what went down BTS but I still thought what was done to Edmund was shameful.

[LeClerc]

Man McTavish is vile. But interesting to get more insight into what went down with Edmund's demise.

Although this reminds me, I could have sworn ELR revealed after she left in 2005 that Edmund was originally going to be killed off in Feb 2004 (after he was shot at the end of 2003 shielding Maria from some bad guys after Carlos and Juan Pablo...or whatever that story was) and that she went to Brian Frons and asked him to keep JC for one more year because she was planning on leaving in 2005, and Frons granted her request. So did their marriage only fall apart later in 2004?

What is this from? McTavish wrote a memoir?

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

The pdf filename is Megan McTavish Autobiography but, yes, it's McT's memoir, or maybe "in progress", not sure if it's considered completed or not. 

[LeClerc]

Thanks. Is it publicly available?

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes. I believe it's at Northwestern Univ, Chicago but that's off the top of my head & I could be misremembering. But it is, and of course we can find out for sure where. 

[Soaplovers]

Mctavish sounds like a major witch, toxic to the very core.  

Her first stint was pretty good though it did move away from the Gothic touches of Nixon's AMC, but it did have some strong stories that brought the show into the 90s. 

Her other two stints were horrid

Edited March 14 by Soaplovers

[Contessa Donatella]

I think of her as the anti-Agnes but I doubt I'm the only one to say so. 

[DRW50]

@EricMontreal22 Ouch. I think McTavish is a bit overhated as a writer but those passages sum up a lot of the negative atmosphere which could pervade her shows. Just extremely crass and blunt. I would like to believe that would have been cleaned up if the book had gone anywhere.

The story about the nail polish is amusing. No wonder the Maria vs Erica scenes always felt so genuine.

I remember talk about all that at the time and later on - she didn't even go into some of the details that were going around back then.

I think all her stints had strong moments but for me the worst was the second. 

[Khan]

Could Megan McTavish execute a storyline competently?  Yes.  But the sheer outrageousness of many of her ideas often overwhelmed whatever value there was to be found in the storylines that followed.

[DRW50]

There were moments where I think she did get the AMC structure, and even had surprising amounts of heart, they were just never properly balanced. Maybe aside from part of her first run.

[EricMontreal22]

I agree.  I do find her story projections that were made just before she was let go (in 1999) amusing though.

 

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To be fair, I thought her first stint was mostly great (I know some long time fans disagree) and actually kept up that Gothic quality.  And when she returned in 2002 for a *brief* moment the show felt like AMC again. 

[Soaplovers]

I think the reason her first run was pretty successful was because she was 2nd in command for months on the show before she became the official head-writer in August 1992.  Although, I do recall her first months were a mixed bag and i think it was because she was finishing up stories that Agnes had started (i.e. Edmund vendetta against Dimitri, Galen/Carter story, and Dixie's breakdown).

I do remember the blind date between Maria/Edmund that McTavish referenced in that except.. and I happened to be home from school that day as a kid watching with my mom.. and I remembered thinking 'oh they make a good couple' so not only did she notice the chemistry between them.. but so did viewers.  Although I do think a Maria/Edmund/Brooke triangle would have worked better then the storyline where she married Tad and degraded herself for him when he was hooking up with Dixie behind her back.

If I recall.. it sounded like the character of Risa ended up being split into two characters (Becca and Greenlee).  And if I recall, Tim Dillon was also supposed to have been the guy that Risa was supposed to go for in original plans.. or that could have been just a rumor.

[VelekaCarruthers]

I think Megan's head writing tenures are as follows (I don't believe she returned briefly in 2002)

Three years/May 92-April 95 

18 months from Dec 97 to June 99

And her painful four year stint that really ruined the show
July 2003 to April 2007 with April to July supervised by Jeff Beldner/probably off of some of her longterm story projections.

Is the above not correct?

Edited March 15 by VelekaCarruthers

[EricMontreal22]

You're right.  To be fair, her last run was under Biran Frons' idea that the show should be a daytime version of Sex and the City.

[Maxim]

Jesus Christ... this sounds horrifying.  NOT that I don't like my Carrie Bradshaw... but not in Pine Valley! I wonder if I will ever get to this place. Right now... even if I continue watching with the pace I am... it will be years and years before I'm close to these seasons.