I loved Erica kidnapping Maria's baby. It got me hooked on AMC.

+1

I will admit I did like sections of it (mainly Michael Nader's return and some of the stuff with Samantha Eggar).

But taken as a whole, I could not explain that story if my life depended on it.

TPTB clearly couldn't make up their minds as to whether Alex was really Anna. And then they finally decided that, yes, Alex was Anna...only to (according to Finola Hughes) change their minds again at the very last minute and, consequently, we got those clunky climax scenes with Alex and Charlotte on the plane, which were last-minute re-writes (and kind of a bad throwback to another AMC clunker: the Peg English/Brooke story).

I'm probably alone on this but I think that story was more of mess (albeit not by much) than the Proteus story.

Does anyone know why they decided to make her Alex only to write Alex off a year later and bring on Anna?

I think they realized many fans did not care about Alex. It was odd to bring in this new character with the same name and face and endlessly tease about it. I think she also had no chemistry with John Callahan.

Weren't fans grumbling about how she broke up Cliff and Angie though? I read lots of people for all for that.

Fans didn't like Cliff and Angie at the time. They were split for that reason. I think someone at ABC may have also decided it was time to pack Cliff in. I can't really say as I blame them - of all the vets they dumped at that time the only ones I would have kept were Mark and Ellen.

Ok any for Doug marlanD or henry Sleasar? Lemay?

I'm sure many would say the Carolyn Crawford murder mystery for Marland. I'd have to choose Holden's brain damage, which, in the short and long run, took away anything viewers had liked about Holden (I'd never liked him but actually grew to despise him after this story) until finally, when the actor returned to the show, they "fixed" it in a cheap but, IMO, very necessary way. Holden was always sanctimonious and self-righteous but he had a certain warmth and humor at times, and love for his family, which the brain damage story took away, meaning that he was basically just...there, taking up space, acting like an ass.

Edited December 9, 201114 yr by CarlD2

Agnes Nixon and the whole Alexandra Devane/pushing some guy named Geoffrey down a fight of stairs/Guy Donahue/Brynn Wydd mental asylum/brainwashing/Charlotte Devane/espionage/twins mess.

Wait wasn't that by the time Jean Passanante was basically writing the show? Was it pre or post libidizone? because that was right around when Passanante became sole HW--dogboy who was somehow connected to the Devanes too (how? I can't even remember)--the show at its worst

Agnes certainly has had her share of bad/bizarre plots though--even if it pains me to admit that

Erica kidnapping Maria's baby on AMC that Agnes Nixon ended up defending as people were very angry about it.

To bne fair that was credited solely to Broderick--though throughout the 90s Agnes Nixon still would officially represent the soap (she'd go up with the writers when they'd win best writing, etc).

Weren't fans grumbling about how she broke up Cliff and Angie though? I read lots of people for all for that.

Wasn't that during DePriest's brief tenure or was it when Agnes returned from 1990-92 or so?

Edited December 9, 201114 yr by EricMontreal22

Fans didn't like Cliff and Angie at the time. They were split for that reason. I think someone at ABC may have also decided it was time to pack Cliff in. I can't really say as I blame them - of all the vets they dumped at that time the only ones I would have kept were Mark and Ellen.

Right--Agnes had been pushing for an interacial romance for a while, but I think she even had to concede that it was a mistake to pair up two halves of such beloved superouples--regardless of gender. She did shortly thereafter start Tom/Livia.

Agnes wrote a letter to Marlena de la Croix defending the baby story and I think she gave the impression it was her idea.

The story was a lot better than I had expected, I have to admit, mostly through Susan's performance. The only real letdown was in what to do with Erica after this (more time should have been spent on Bianca's eating disorder).

I think they realized many fans did not care about Alex. It was odd to bring in this new character with the same name and face and endlessly tease about it. I think she also had no chemistry with John Callahan.I can't really say as I blame them - of all the vets they dumped at that time the only ones I would have kept were Mark and Ellen.

I know when DePriest was hired to clean house a bit, as it was seen that AMC had too many characters in their own individual stories (and if you watch the end of Broderick's 80s run, while there's terrific stuff, this does hold some truth IMHO)a lot of older characters did go--as well as under Nixon in the early 90s. I agree that Mark and Ellen should have stayed on, but I think others *Chuck and Donna, etc) kinda had their day, and yet were too connected as a couple to break them up and put them with someone else.

As for Alex/Anna, while I love Finola and think she does amazing work, she really never played the characters as distinct from each other and the whole twin thing ws a miusmatch. I had no ties to GH so I wouldn't have cared if they had kept Alex or kept Anna but it made sense to drop one.

Agnes wrote a letter to Marlena de la Croix defending the baby story and I think she gave the impression it was her idea.

The story was a lot better than I had expected, I have to admit, mostly through Susan's performance. The only real letdown was in what to do with Erica after this (more time should have been spent on Bianca's eating disorder).

I actually overall really liked the story but I remember how hated it was, since that's when I started reading internet groups. I'd love to read that letter. It wouldn't surprise me if Agnes was still suggesting story at that time (I know Broderick has given her credit for puishing a gay story and then using the news item about the teacher coming out to his students as a starting point though I get the impresdsion Nixon didn't do any of the actual overall execution).

There was a lot of "Anna should be on GH!" but GH was no place for Anna by that time, as viewers saw for themselves in her later appearances. I thought she fit into AMC very well as Anna, I enjoyed her sharp wit, and her chemistry with David. I also liked her potential relationship with Jack. I'm just sorry she wasn't Anna from the start. The only thing I liked about Alex was her chemistry with Dimitri.

Right--Agnes had been pushing for an interacial romance for a while, but I think she even had to concede that it was a mistake to pair up two halves of such beloved superouples--regardless of gender. She did shortly thereafter start Tom/Livia.

The sad part is I actually really like what I've seen of Cliff and Angie. Perhaps if they'd built it up for a longer period of time, viewers may have accepted it.

AMC was #1 for a year...1978-79, I believe. Agnes has had some clunkers, it's for sure. But again, I think most came from her last AMC run in 1999-2001.

And again I wonder how much she actually wrote--during the final months it sounded like she only did the remainder of the major Bianca comes out story and her co-HWs (Passananted and Page at one point then just Passanante) did the rest.

I've heard Douglas Marland liked gothic stories but many fans didn't think he did them well--but never watched his runs (aside from some episodes) so can't vouch.

(Agnes has a weird gothic side too which sometimes worked--the Cortlands, the beginning of the Wildwind saga which some criticized as too similar tot he Cortlands but I lov ed and think was more Jane Eyre/Rebecca inspired--and sometimes didn't as I think she penned the much hated priest vs the guy who got power from Satan, it was implied, on Loving and maybe turned into a snake, though I did like her stuff with Dante and his "pet" being Curtis in the cage etc when she wrote Loving in '94 that I know many didn't)

Writing soap opera is such a never ending job, and I'm sure often a chore, that I doubt ANY writer could have a long run and not be involved in some serious missfires. Some just had less than others--or had enough other decent character and backburner stuff going on at the same time that you forgave them. But it's not like being a novelist or even a primetime showrunner where you have so much more time to plan and shape the arc of your stories.

Edited December 9, 201114 yr by EricMontreal22

There was a lot of "Anna should be on GH!" but GH was no place for Anna by that time, as viewers saw for themselves in her later appearances. I thought she fit into AMC very well as Anna, I enjoyed her sharp wit, and her chemistry with David. I also liked her potential relationship with Jack. I'm just sorry she wasn't Anna from the start. The only thing I liked about Alex was her chemistry with Dimitri.

I completely agree. I never thought GH and the East Coast ABC soaps meshed as well as the East Coast soaps did with each other, but Anna did fit. Alex was kinda dull from the start--saved by, as you say, some good chemistry and decent acting, but I almost think they realized they should have just made her Anna from the start. (Did Alex exit with the new Dimitri? I can't even remember... And I'm still confused about tieing her into Ryan).

I've liked what I've seen of Angie and Cliff too--maybe it wsn't tried longer due to networks getting antsy--interacial romances were still pretty rare (some would say still are) and they could easily lay pressure to pull the plug on it.

The ATWT story with Darryl and Frannie was universally panned.

What and when was the ATWT story?

If we're talking greats here I'm sure there are MANY Irna Phillips stories that could be listed...

I haven't seen all of Marland's work, but for me the only gothic story he did which didn't work was the story on ATWT with Duncan McKechnie's castle being haunted by the ancestor to his lady love Shannon, and he couldn't marry Shannon because of a curse on his family, and there was a painting of this woman, and hauntings, and on and on. It just didn't work. SOD named it one of the worst stories of the year. The soap press seemed to dislike all of Duncan's stories (which is where Marland unloaded much of his "gothic" writing), but I love the one with psycho Lilith.

There's a very bad seance clip with Lisa dressed as Rhoda Morgenstern.

The ATWT story with Darryl and Frannie was universally panned.

It wasn't that bad. It had its good points. The problem was that it dragged too long and the ending was a disappoinment. Darryl and the killer going through a window was great but Darryl not being the killer was a let down. The reason it dragged was because Marland had Darryl as the killer but rewrote/changed the story.

Watching on a day to day basis it may have dragged but there were some great moments, like the infamous cliffhanger on the ski lift.