I thought Sheri wasn't likely to return because of not having enough control over material. Or is that someone else?

That might be someone else. Although you could be right... Sheri might want enough control seeing as she knows the show inside and out (or at least most of its history).

The Dixie pancakes thing was so awful, I don't think she should ever be allowed to darken a soap's door again.

I wonder how much of her nightmareish writing being a lashing out at TPTB above her demanding 'shock and awe' storytelling and 'focus on the young stars' mandates. I could see her reaction being "fine, here's something ridiculous and shocking! UNABORTED FETUS!!" and "You want focus on young stars? THE ENTIRE SHOW IS NOW ABOUT BABE!1"

The trick is, she probably learned to just treat the job as a paycheque and unfortunately, had no respect in the end for the shows themselves. I could see there being a LOT of unhappiness behind the scenes leading to these kinds of brash, destructive story decisions made out of spite.

I think there is some truth here. I also have liked a lot of her stuff--but agree she's been a disastrous nightmare. I get the sense that she is very much a yes woman willing to do anythiung Frons or JFP at OLTL and GH asked of her basically (one reason it seemed like both people liked working with her).

Only if you truly want DOOL cancelled..........

Wasn't Hackley enough

Only if you truly want DOOL cancelled..........

Wasn't Hackley enough

I still say Higley's first year was great. Then I read something interesting in the first interview Corday gave post-baby switch. He said that the stories would 'move faster' and 'focus on the people everyone wants to see' or something to that effect. From then on, it's like the show fell apart. The core of the stories was there, but nothing worked because everything was rushed.

Now, pardon me if I'm wrong (I may well be, because I only got back into DAYS when EJ first discovered Nicole wasn't Sydney's mother), but I feel like before this, things were a lot more thoughtfully planned and executed. It seems to me that Corday's 'move faster' mandate is why we got such sloppy and dull stories for the next year and a half. Am I on the right path? Because frankly, Higley did write the Baby Switch story very very well (how much of that is on her and how much is on Chris Whitesell though...)

Back to MMT: Eric, there's one distinction I want to make about what you've said though. I think she was a 'yes' woman to Frons in a 'roll eyes - keep mouth shut' kind of way. Mostly to keep the bosses quiet and keep the money coming in.

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by beebs

I'm only familiar with McTavish's work at GL, which had some entertaining moments and was good for a whole before the whole thing turned into a sorry horrifyingly disgusting affair with an insulting incest story and destruction of a popular leading lady causing the actress to quit.

My guess is that from what I remember and have rewatched of McTavish on GL, she'd be a mishmash of both JER's tenures.

I don't think Days will ever be able to back to pre-1982 which was probably the true Days before that. I actually was never too bothered by some of the recent stories of Days ie. Nicole/Sami babyswitch, Buried Alive 2.0, and Faux Rafe mainly because they were typical stories Days has been delivering those same stories many times over the years. As bland as they were, they at least held my interest and weren't the worst I've seen from Days(hello Langan and Sheffer!), with the possible exception of Taylor.

To be fair, when McTavish came to GL it was a mess. The show was still reeling from Mo's death and Justin Deas had just finished chewing up all the scenery and it was Buzz Cooper 24/7. Her Brent Marion storyline was actually what was needed at that time to spark interest and media attention to the show and create an umbrella storyline. And it was actually scary, funny, campy, and pretty audacious, and dark as hell. It also gave the floundering show a shot of energy. When that was over she lost all steam and we went back to 5th street and Buzz overkill (with Reva actually begging the troll to screw her) Dinah became the heroine, actually one upping Roger with the help of his himbo steroid abusing son, but yes, the worst was that a very masculine, sexy african american leading man, was relegated to a triangle with the sexless Vivian and his own daughter, and whomever didnt see that having a civil rights activist stage his own shooting to frame someone was distastefull to say the least??

I think her weirdest thing was she had no idea how the canvas fit together and family relationships. She had Michele calling Nola "Mrs. Chamberlin," even though she was her aunt, and calling Van "Mrs. Reardon," even though she was her mother's best friend who she grew up with, etc. Her obsession with incest was a little weird, the aforementioned Gilly storyline, Chele and her adoptive cousin almost getting it on, and she wrote really weird sexuall obsession kind of scenes between Alex and Alan. A freak all around. However, when she is writing camp she can be entertaining as hell, and she wrote some funny as hell lines (if it was she who wrote them) including my all time favorite..."You think I am a LESBIAN!?!?!?!"

"

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by Mitch

Oh I absolutely loved Reva's return and the whole Brent/Marion story but it was the 1996 stuff that was so off putting with the Gilly/Griffin crap and the whole maddening story surrounding Hart/Dinah/Roger. Not to mention Alan buying Reva that "house of the future" house.

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by soapfan770

Oh I absolutely loved Reva's return and the whole Brent/Marion story but it was the 1996 stuff that was so off putting with the Gilly/Griffin crap and the whole maddening story surrounding Hart/Dinah/Roger. Not to mention Alan buying Reva that "house of the future" house.

The Griffin actor was really hot too, why put him with friggen Gilly's uptight mom and his own daughter? The worst was that he had that gay son that was always rolling his head and poping his eyes, the one that Dinah was his hag???

Yea, Dinah and Hart getting the best of Roger when Alan, Alex, Vanessa, Billy, Henry,Holly, Ed etc. couldnt. Also, Dinah getting her archenemy Blake to go along with them and even okay electro shock therapy on her own father.

I think that main problem is that she kind of took a lot of the characters back to their basic traits and erased any history or growth, especially Reva, who was treated as a pariah, and Roger, who became a cartoon psycho villian when we saw his beautifully written growth where he became a conflicted man with shades of gray.

The problem is she can be effective but I don't think Greg Meng is anymore than a yes man for Corday. I assume thats why Maxam was fired. If Ed Scott or Gary Tomlin were still around to contain her maybe, although I am not certain how well Tomlin controlled Higley. But the show and stories lack stakes and drama so at this point whats there to lose. Maybe Rafe could bury EJ alive and let him die ala Tad Martin.

I thought Tomlin controlled Higley pretty well when he was allowed to. I'm pretty sure Chris Whitesell wrote a large chunk of the baby switch and had a lot more input than the show was letting on for a while there. IMO, he was the true head writer during much of Tomlin's run, until good old Kenny (Corday) took a peek at what was going on and restored Dena's power and eventually fired Tomlin......and Whitesell I believe.

Maybe Jill Farren Phelps can join as Co-EP, and every woman will then be raped.....

I'd KILL to see JFP at DAYS or any soap for that matter. GH can NOT be that woman's last hurrah in the industry. IMO, JFP has more than earned her place to be working on one of the F4 Soaps. Hell, I'd LOVE to see MAB focuse on the writing and JFP take the reins as EP. Can you imagine JFP's take on the classic Y&R flower shot?

Getting back on topic here...

No F'in way to McTavish. Not after the "poisoned pancakes" story. Megan can sit and spin for the rest of her career and think about the damage she caused AMC with that move.

If Days has to change writers (and I would prefer they do not), Sheri Anderson is the only writer I'd accept.

For me, it was "Unaborted Fetus" that caused the worst and most permanent damage to AMC, but I agree with most of what you said anyway. ESPECIALLY the bolded parts. I don't think DAYS needs to change writers at all- I'm enjoying MarDar so far and feel like the writing has focus for the first time since the baby switch, but in a different way. Back then, only that story truly felt focused, whereas now I feel all the stories have a direction.

I still say Higley's first year was great. Then I read something interesting in the first interview Corday gave post-baby switch. He said that the stories would 'move faster' and 'focus on the people everyone wants to see' or something to that effect. From then on, it's like the show fell apart. The core of the stories was there, but nothing worked because everything was rushed.

Now, pardon me if I'm wrong (I may well be, because I only got back into DAYS when EJ first discovered Nicole wasn't Sydney's mother), but I feel like before this, things were a lot more thoughtfully planned and executed. It seems to me that Corday's 'move faster' mandate is why we got such sloppy and dull stories for the next year and a half. Am I on the right path? Because frankly, Higley did write the Baby Switch story very very well (how much of that is on her and how much is on Chris Whitesell though...)

Back to MMT: Eric, there's one distinction I want to make about what you've said though. I think she was a 'yes' woman to Frons in a 'roll eyes - keep mouth shut' kind of way. Mostly to keep the bosses quiet and keep the money coming in.

See that's the thing. From the point where the baby switch got really good on, I'm pretty sure Chris Whitesell was in charge. There was a distinct shift in momentum in that story that anyone watching would remember and that's about when it was rumored that Whitesell had taken the reins and Dena was just a figurehead, sitting on the sidelines while Tomlin & Whitesell ran the show. I'm pretty sure Bryan Datillo's complaining is actually what got Corday to take a closer look at what was going on at DAYS and systematically removed them from the show and restored Dena to power. Problem was that the actual problem was Higley- Tomlin & Whitesell were putting out a pretty entertaining show and IMO, would have been fine if they were left alone and Corday instead fired Dena at that point and not worked to remove the other two.

Further proof that sometimes the best drama on these shows takes place off the canvas. lol

I want to see what Marlene and Darrell are capable of for at least a year before passing full judgment. People are so impatient, but in a way I can't blame them... I want to see a Days that features the full cast, not just five or six legacy characters. The Higley era disintegrated at the end, but there were some appealing characters and stories that came out of those three years.

You know, I just CANNOT accept JFP on another soap. She bothers me in a way that I just can't define. The misogyny, the ageism, the cynicism. I have not enjoyed a single era of a show she's worked on (save early 90s GL and even then there were issues), and I just...I can't.

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by beebs

Jill works well with the right writers (Curlee/Demorest at GL), as long as she doesn't try to trample over them.

But pair her with the likes of Margaret DePriest, McTavish, Guza, Pratt, .....oh boy...

She's a skilled technical producer that no one wants to give her credit for, since she's also very controversial at the same time.

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Jill works well with the right writers (Curlee/Demorest at GL), as long as she doesn't try to trample over them.

But pair her with the likes of Margaret DePriest, McTavish, Guza, Pratt, .....oh boy...

She's a skilled technical producer that no one wants to give her credit for, since she's also very controversial at the same time.

THIS I can accept. Her shows always LOOK great. One cannot deny that her shows are always among the best-looking shows in daytime, but GOOD LORD, keep her away from the stories!

Edited December 28, 201113 yr by beebs

The problem is we live in a time of instant gratification and DOOL does not have a year to see if things work out. every writing change in recent years has started out with positive momentum including Chuck Pratt's first 4-5 months at AMC, MAB's first 6 months on Y&R was praised and RC used Asa's funeral on OLTL as the catalyst for his changes and I bet you wont see 6 more months of RC resetting GH before his stories really kick in(and I am no RC fan). DOOL had press and maybe 2 weeks of positive momentum and a lot of hoopla with the reboot so in my mind they already wasted a lot of the good will they built up, why else has viewership lapsed so much. Its going to be hard to get that goodwill back.

McTavish is good at starting with a blast. I think DAYS needs that.

As for JFP, I think many respect her abilities as a producer, since she's won so many Emmys, but she has made so many bad decisions in her last 15 years on daytime that it's tough to remember the best. Somewhere along the way, no one wanted to wrangle with her, and this led to her hollowing out show after show until finally she ended up as a figurehead for Frons and Guza.

At this point, I say bring JFP to Y&R. There is nowhere to go but up, and while I'm pretty sure her first moves would be firing Jess Walton and MTS, Jess is already just about gone anyway, and seeing the Newmans collapse without Nikki would be satisfying.

Edited December 29, 201113 yr by CarlD2