Don't recall what Culliton's exact plans were for Brooke, but he definitely mentioned that as priority. I could swear I remember reading something in the old Daily News Friday soap section around this time how they were casting their net for an actor to play Brooke's old boyfriend Dan Kennicott, and that he was to return to town with some mystery story. I swear I'm not making this up LOL. Brooke was already hot and heavy with the Maria returns story at this time. I remember that changing so abruptly when Frons came aboard. All of a sudden, Brooke and even Edmund became afterthoughts in that whole clusterf***, and it became all about Aidan. Before Frons, I think Brooke was considered a very important part of the canvass, even if she didn't always have front burner story. I recall Jean Dedario Burke saying in the early 2000s, pre-Frons, that the suits at ABC considered AMC's most important characters to be Erica, Brooke, Adam and Tad. God, what could've been had Frons never come to ABC!

That was much earlier, in the mid 1990s under Broderick.

Ah, thanks.

Julia Barr is quite possibly the strongest lead actress the show ever had. She, not unlike Robin Strasser, deserved WAY better in her final years as the show's B diva. Something tells me that if Brooke had had more children it may have gone differently.

I feel like Brooke was hurt more than anything by a lack of a successful long-term relationship. She had Adam, but they never kept Adam with anyone for long. She had so many men, and so many weak stories, in the mid 90's on, and it took a big toll.

I'm just glad that we got some sort of Brooke closure the last year and a bit--seriously the way she was let go without even an exit (even an exit mention) REALLY upset me to the point I almost stopped watching (which with AMC is saying a lot lol). I'd even have dreams that she returned to the show. I think her firing (apparently they wanted her on recurring and she rightly refused) was all Frons--for good or ill McTavish seemed to hbave interest writing for Brooke even if she didn't handle the character particularly well.

I also think she was not given enough time to work magic at AMC before the cancellation. They signed her to a long term contract then cancelled the show.

That was definitely shady, especially when you had actors saying how thrilled they were to have her back, and then the cancelation a week or two (it seemed) later.

IIRC, Heart & Soul was pitched as a Ned/Lois spin-off, yes, to occupy the 30-minute Loving/The City slot. Like Ryan's Hope, it would take place in NYC and film on location, albeit in Brooklyn. I think Helen Gallagher was to play one of Lois's relatives.

Was it just rumour, or weren't they considering incorporating Tracy from The City? I definitely would have been more interested.

Oddly, I don't remember there being any mention of Tracy being incorporated into the show in any article I read back then. I'm sure she would have made an appearance at some point, but the focus was on Lois' family. Didn't Ellen Travolta play her mom on GH? I wonder if she would have moved back east to do it. I'm not a big fan of the title "Heart and Soul", which was coincidentally the title of the black soap O.J. Simpson was developing years ago.

Me too. This wasn't the "Janet gets surgery yet again and takes over Brooke's life" thing, was it? Or was that earlier?

AMC extended Robin Mattson's contract 3 months in 1996 but was planning to have Janet have surgery to look like Brooke & Have Julia Barr play both roles of Brooke & Janet. I remember JB wasnt too jazzed cause she didnt like RM being fired. Fans protested, story got scraped and RM got a new 2 year contract at AMC

im gonna have to say brodrick at ATWT! yes she was there for a year but, when i heard she went to P&G with a story bible and every single one was refused, i have to say she wasnt given a fair chance!! if MAAD and P&G would have given her more control like they were giving Rauch and B & E at GL, i really think she would have given ATWT a good run for Marlands money IMO!!!!

Agree on BOTH counts, Carl. For me, Taggart's GUIDING LIGHT was...okay. Not the WORST I had seen from that show (which, up to that point, had been the disastrous Megan McTavish run) but not necessarily sizzling to watch. If you missed a day or two, IOW, you didn't feel the loss. Perhaps, things might've been better had she had a more supportive EP (than Paul Rauch)?

When it comes to the Cullitons -- either Richard or Carolyn (or both) -- the seeds of good storytelling are there, but it always comes down to how supportive TPTB will be toward the work. I think they, along with Gary Tomlin (and later, Pam Long), did a good job with GUIDING LIGHT (which was faltering from the loss of Doug Marland, but probably not as much as it would in the late '90's, in retrospect), but I also think that was because CBS and P&G were more hands-off then.

What writers do you think were shortchanged in turning their shows around? Which eras of soaps do you feel were short-lived and should't have been?

For me, the major one was Millee Taggart on Guiding Light in 2002. I think she made GL the best it had been in years, the best on CBS daytime (though B&B also had a great year), and perhaps the best in daytime. I was really saddened when she was given the boot and Ellen Weston came in and everything went to [!@#$%^&*]. Maybe GL would still be around had she been given more time.

Another one is Brash & Cwickly on DAYS. Tom Langan brought the most successful soap of the 90s to hell and kept it there for 3 years. B&C made some questionable decisions but a lot of what they did was very intriguing. To me, DAYS thrives on innovation and they definitely innovated. They didn't blow me away but I think DAYS still suffers today for not giving them more time.

As soon as I read the heading for the post, I thought of Millee Taggart. What a shame that she wasn't given more time. I didn't like all of her stories but I did think she found Guiding Light's heart which had been lost during most of Megan Mctavish empty writing. Guiding Light was so good during her time with Joan Collins as Alexandra and Tony and Marah invovled in a murder mystery. Classic soap opera during her tenure.

I wasn't that impressed with Taggart's GL (mostly because I thought she relied too much on stories which just felt like baked over Cliffnotes, like the Rick/Richard heart story and mercy killing - and I also grew to absolutely despise Michelle, and I hated the Phillip/Harley custody suit), but looking back, she was certainly better than Weston, or Kriezman.

I would say Richard Culliton, at ATWT, AW, or AMC. I thought he breathed new life into all three shows, especially ATWT, which went right into the toilet as soon as he was fired.

I would have to respectfully disagree with you. While the Richard/Rick story definitely felt like a marriage of the General Hospital B.J. heart transplant and As the World Turn's Margo's mercy killing of Casey, It was one of my most favorite stories in Guiding Light's history and that's coming from someone who had watched the show since the mid-eighties. This story finally gave Reva a great modern story to play. In my opinion, Reva was never given a good story after she returned from the dead. I think mainly because writers didn't know what to write for her. Pamela K. Long created her and she knew what made this character tick. Many writers that came after Long seemed to think Reva needed a big loud story to make her character click when I feel she did her best with stories about the matters of the heart. Nevertheless, to get back on topic, I loved Millee Taggart's work. However, I hated the scene she wrote where Marah stripped to her undies and taunted Tony to rape her but other than that, I think she wrote great traditional soap opera. It was Millee who gave us the great Olivia and Cassie rivalry when they purchased the Beacon, the compelling Olivia, Phillip, and Alan triangle, the Catalina murder mystery, the beginning of Cassie and Danny as a couple (this was later shot down when Weston took over), Reva's stalker (this was ruined once Weston took over), I could go on but I'll stop now. CarlD2 I'm not knocking your opinion, I'm just politely disagreeing.

Edited March 8, 201213 yr by hot20

Thanks for responding. I certainly respect your POV and am glad to see another GL fan here, especially one who is so articulate (I can't say that about myself). I think Reva had one or two good stories after her return - I thought the Annie story was solid until they kept it running too long around fall '97 - but I certainly agree that this was an attempt to give her something different, something less OTT.

Edited March 8, 201213 yr by CarlD2

Thanks for responding. I certainly respect your POV and am glad to see another GL fan here, especially one who is so articulate (I can't say that about myself). I think Reva had one or two good stories after her return - I thought the Annie story was solid until they kept it running too long around fall '97 - but I certainly agree that this was an attempt to give her something different, something less OTT.

CarlD2 you are very articulate my friend. How could I forget the Annie Storyline! God I loved, loved, loved Cynthia Watros and I have to pat myself on the back for recognizing her talent from the first episode she appeared in. There was just something special about her. I wholeheartedly agree with you about Guiding Light running this story into the ground. They just couldn't let it go and then when Watros left they made the bad decision to recast her with Signey Coleman. While I think Coleman is a great actress, I didn't like her as Annie. She didn't have that quirkiness that Watros had. You just brought back some fun memories. I loved the trial of Annie Dutton! This storyline was the first story in years to make me race home from work to watch my recorded episodes of Guiding Light. God I miss this show so much!

Edited March 8, 201213 yr by hot20

Annie was lightning in a bottle. Watros left at the right time, as they'd run out of any ideas for the character. Bringing Annie back so fast was a sign of desperation. I liked Signy Coleman's take on Teri and I wish we'd seen more of that, instead of Annie drugging aftershave.

I did like that they brought her back briefly for the Reva stalker story - it was a nice touch of history, and Coleman did a nice job.

Edited March 8, 201213 yr by CarlD2

I would have to respectfully disagree with you. While the Richard/Rick story definitely felt like a marriage of the General Hospital B.J. heart transplant and As the World Turn's Margo's mercy killing of Casey, It was one of my most favorite stories in Guiding Light's history and that's coming from someone who had watched the show since the mid-eighties. This story finally gave Reva a great modern story to play. In my opinion, Reva was never given a good story after she returned from the dead. I think mainly because writers didn't know what to write for her. Pamela K. Long created her and she knew what made this character tick. Many writers that came after Long seemed to think Reva needed a big loud story to make her character click when I feel she did her best with stories about the matters of the heart. Nevertheless, to get back on topic, I loved Millee Taggart's work. However, I hated the scene she wrote where Marah stripped to her undies and taunted Tony to rape her but other than that, I think she wrote great traditional soap opera. It was Millee who gave us the great Olivia and Cassie rivalry when they purchased the Beacon, the compelling Olivia, Phillip, and Alan triangle, the Catalina murder mystery, the beginning of Cassie and Danny as a couple (this was later shot down when Weston took over), Reva's stalker (this was ruined once Weston took over), I could go on but I'll stop now. CarlD2 I'm not knocking your opinion, I'm just politely disagreeing.

Floved the Rick/Prince Dick storyline. This point in GL's history was very similar to ATWT's when Marland took over (not comparing Taggert to Marland but..) where the shows transitioned from big over the top fan couple stories (Steve/Betsy/Richard/Cassie) to more of an ensemble show with a strong core family at the center. I loved how she set up Edmund hating the "Bow-ers"(loved how he spit out their name) after Rick got Dickie's heart...loved the return of Alex, who quickly put cartoon Carmen in her place ("And I am Alexandra Spaulding and I couldn't care less!")

I think all of this could have worked and been great if Rauch didnt fight Taggert all the time, and MADD wasnt wedded to her "ABC" vision of the PG soaps, and her own weird late middle aged fantasies of fairytale kingdoms (would say she is a producer of Once Upon a Time but that show has a heart and a brain..) Also, the show had gone over so far to the fan freak side, showcasing Cassie and Richard and Chele and Danny for so long, by the time they broke up both couples many of the old veiwers had fled the show, and didnt come back, while the couple freaks left in droves now their couple was no longer featured. So of course, what does a desperate and unimaginative MADD do, fire Taggert and bring back Brad Cole.

Also totally agree that Reva worked best with family stories and stories of the heart, which is what she was doing here. Dealing with her beloved sister, her husband, her kids (the only time the Marah actress was good was giving Reva [!@#$%^&*]) and her old family friends the Bauers. Zimmer could make big work, (when Reva was grounded in reality) but she much like Deas, was better at the quiet moments. Unfortunately the soap "press," and the fans at that time wanted Reva to chew scenery to "knock it out of the ballpark."

Floved the Rick/Prince Dick storyline. This point in GL's history was very similar to ATWT's when Marland took over (not comparing Taggert to Marland but..) where the shows transitioned from big over the top fan couple stories (Steve/Betsy/Richard/Cassie) to more of an ensemble show with a strong core family at the center. I loved how she set up Edmund hating the "Bow-ers"(loved how he spit out their name) after Rick got Dickie's heart...loved the return of Alex, who quickly put cartoon Carmen in her place ("And I am Alexandra Spaulding and I couldn't care less!")

I think all of this could have worked and been great if Rauch didnt fight Taggert all the time, and MADD wasnt wedded to her "ABC" vision of the PG soaps, and her own weird late middle aged fantasies of fairytale kingdoms (would say she is a producer of Once Upon a Time but that show has a heart and a brain..) Also, the show had gone over so far to the fan freak side, showcasing Cassie and Richard and Chele and Danny for so long, by the time they broke up both couples many of the old veiwers had fled the show, and didnt come back, while the couple freaks left in droves now their couple was no longer featured. So of course, what does a desperate and unimaginative MADD do, fire Taggert and bring back Brad Cole.

Also totally agree that Reva worked best with family stories and stories of the heart, which is what she was doing here. Dealing with her beloved sister, her husband, her kids (the only time the Marah actress was good was giving Reva [!@#$%^&*]) and her old family friends the Bauers. Zimmer could make big work, (when Reva was grounded in reality) but she much like Deas, was better at the quiet moments. Unfortunately the soap "press," and the fans at that time wanted Reva to chew scenery to "knock it out of the ballpark."

Oh God you are so dead on! I never understood why some fans and the writers felt Reva needed the "Next Big Story"? I loved Reva with her family. I loved her sister scenes with Roxie and later with Cassie. I also loved Reva's scenes with Billy, HB, her children, and her mom and dad. She was great at protecting the ones she loved because she had a big heart. With the right writers, Reva could have become what Maureen had once been for the show, "the heart". Unfortunately, the writers never realized it and she was given one dumb story after the next. As you said, Reva was great at the quiet moments. I will say, I was never a big Reva fan but I did like the character. I loved her sister Roxie the most. Finally, I think Taggart got Reva and if she was truly given the chance, Reva could have been a great character again. I even liked Taggart's stalker storyline because this brought Reva together with her family as they feared for Reva's safety. I also agree with your comparison of Guiding Light to Marland's As the world turns. No. Taggart was no Marland but she wrote stories that were grounded in reality.

What writers do you think were shortchanged in turning their shows around? Which eras of soaps do you feel were short-lived and should't have been?

For me, the major one was Millee Taggart on Guiding Light in 2002. I think she made GL the best it had been in years, the best on CBS daytime (though B&B also had a great year), and perhaps the best in daytime. I was really saddened when she was given the boot and Ellen Weston came in and everything went to [!@#$%^&*]. Maybe GL would still be around had she been given more time.

I would say Richard Culliton, at ATWT, AW, or AMC. I thought he breathed new life into all three shows, especially ATWT, which went right into the toilet as soon as he was fired.

Those were the first two names that came to my mind.

I vaguely remember Blake taking some sort of interest in Spaulding Enterprises while under Taggart, and I thought to myself "Lawd this will be the best thing to happen to Blake in quite awhile, excluding the Tori storyline, which was alright I suppose" Blake had not been heavily involved with any of the corporate stories on GL for quite awhile, since the early 90s. I thought it might just be the one chance to rejuvenate the character, turning her into an eventual thorn in Alex's side at the company.

Then there was a discussion between Ross and Phillip about Phillip's possible insider trading Spaulding.

Then Jude was hit by a car, and after that much of stories mentioned above or seedlings that Taggart had planted as stories were never heard again or mentioned.

Ben Reade went from an aspiring young gentleman wanting to climb his way up the ladder at Spaulding, to an escort. And his other half, Marina portrayed by Aubrey Dollar, who also had similar dreams of making it big, was thrown into Shayne's orbit, instantly recast with gay porn star...errr I mean "underwear model".

And I was soooo disappointed by the squashed Danny and Cassie pairing. IMO, PAS had chemistry with anyone but Nancy St. Alban.

Labines tenure had drove me away from the show, too inconsistent, with random scenes here and there just for laughs or scenes that played out like PSA's, and the stories that were consistent were of jump the shark quality.

IMO, Lloyd Gold who took over the show when Labine was let go was able to stabilize the show in some way and restore some sort of consistent focus with the show(one that I thought was missing since B&E departed) I liked the refocusing on Spaulding vs. Lewis, with Olivia caught in the middle, Phillip/Harley/Rick baby drama with a newly arrived Gus somehow thrown in the mix and finally the introduction of the Boudreaux family, which was a sad but admirable attempt to reinstate some diversity in Springfield.

I'm glad to see other Danny/Cassie fans on here. I also was excited for Michelle & Bill who grew up as best friends and it seemed natural that they would eventually fall in love.

LMAO at your accurate description of how Ben Reade was ruined after Taggart!

While I liked many small details in Nixon's brief return as co-HW, Passanate solo was so many kinds of bad, it's hard to defend much oif that era--so I kinda agree with you. I almost forgot about the Proteus mess--wasn't that started under Passanante (or maybe the several months after Passanante took off amongst rumours of being fired and the show had no HW and we were stuck with endless directrionless stuff liek Ghost Gillian and Jesse wandering around). It was all kinds of bad--I still couldn't tell you head or tails of what basicallyt he story was about, it seemed to constantly be re-written and yeah... But likeyou say, I'm sure some behind the scenes things were at fault, and it's no shock that Frons wasn't keen on a Brooke story (even McTavish seemed to want to write for Brooke a lot more than she was allowed).

I think you do have a point about Rayfield/Cascio genuinely giving it a contemporary sense. A lot of that didn't work for me, but some of it was definitely what the show needed (if that makes any sort of sense). I also liked some of the lighter stuff like Lysistrata (who I know many on here didn't)/.

"Labines tenure had drove me away from the show, too inconsistent, with random scenes here and there just for laughs or scenes that played out like PSA's, and the stories that were consistent were of jump the shark quality."

That does make em think of the Labines' period at OLTL as well...

ICAM with all of that.

Proteus started with Passanante, I'm pretty sure.

I liked Culliton's version more as it led to something - Vanessa's full psychotic break, the time in the mental hospital, the reveal of Trey as her son. That was the first and last time for quite a while that I felt like stories had a start, beginning, and end, even if there were a lot of duds in there.

I always thought Culliton was leading to the reveal that Eric Kane was Leo's father, but it doesn't matter now.

I loved Culliton's AMC and the whole Proteus caper - sans the original incarnation of Simone, which was just a "smoldering femme fatale" to tempt Mateo, who by that point was well-established as a shitheel. (At that time the show had invested years in teasing Ryan/Hayley, who had major chemistry, but never pulled the trigger presumably because of the Consuelos' offscreen influence) Terri Ivens couldn't sell "dark vixen," the character was nothing on the page, and by the time they made her into a screwball comedienne - which did work very well - it was no surprise to me that she never got a major storyline again.

I don't think AMC ever fully recovered from Frons dismantling the Culliton/Nixon regime. There are things I enjoyed after - Angie and Jesse, the Castillos, Dixie's eventual return, Bianca and Marissa and so on - but overall I thought that was the show at its best period prior to cancellation. I also thought the Fronsified AMC of Rayfield/Cascio was absolute dung from start to finish. As goofy as Malone II was making OLTL during that time, he still knew the show; AMC at the 1 o'clock hour was like watching suits from VH1 or something with only a passing familiarity with the show try to 'make it hot.' It was just awful.

Exactly! Culliton was the last headwriter until Broderick returned who really "got" Nixon's vision of AMC. Frons just tried to turn it into a generic soap opera.

Don't recall what Culliton's exact plans were for Brooke, but he definitely mentioned that as priority. I could swear I remember reading something in the old Daily News Friday soap section around this time how they were casting their net for an actor to play Brooke's old boyfriend Dan Kennicott, and that he was to return to town with some mystery story. I swear I'm not making this up LOL. Brooke was already hot and heavy with the Maria returns story at this time. I remember that changing so abruptly when Frons came aboard. All of a sudden, Brooke and even Edmund became afterthoughts in that whole clusterf***, and it became all about Aidan. Before Frons, I think Brooke was considered a very important part of the canvass, even if she didn't always have front burner story. I recall Jean Dedario Burke saying in the early 2000s, pre-Frons, that the suits at ABC considered AMC's most important characters to be Erica, Brooke, Adam and Tad. God, what could've been had Frons never come to ABC!

I remember reading that Dan was returning, too. If only Frons had never arrived!!!

I would have to respectfully disagree with you. While the Richard/Rick story definitely felt like a marriage of the General Hospital B.J. heart transplant and As the World Turn's Margo's mercy killing of Casey, It was one of my most favorite stories in Guiding Light's history and that's coming from someone who had watched the show since the mid-eighties. This story finally gave Reva a great modern story to play. In my opinion, Reva was never given a good story after she returned from the dead. I think mainly because writers didn't know what to write for her. Pamela K. Long created her and she knew what made this character tick. Many writers that came after Long seemed to think Reva needed a big loud story to make her character click when I feel she did her best with stories about the matters of the heart. Nevertheless, to get back on topic, I loved Millee Taggart's work. However, I hated the scene she wrote where Marah stripped to her undies and taunted Tony to rape her but other than that, I think she wrote great traditional soap opera. It was Millee who gave us the great Olivia and Cassie rivalry when they purchased the Beacon, the compelling Olivia, Phillip, and Alan triangle, the Catalina murder mystery, the beginning of Cassie and Danny as a couple (this was later shot down when Weston took over), Reva's stalker (this was ruined once Weston took over), I could go on but I'll stop now. CarlD2 I'm not knocking your opinion, I'm just politely disagreeing.

Oh God you are so dead on! I never understood why some fans and the writers felt Reva needed the "Next Big Story"? I loved Reva with her family. I loved her sister scenes with Roxie and later with Cassie. I also loved Reva's scenes with Billy, HB, her children, and her mom and dad. She was great at protecting the ones she loved because she had a big heart. With the right writers, Reva could have become what Maureen had once been for the show, "the heart". Unfortunately, the writers never realized it and she was given one dumb story after the next. As you said, Reva was great at the quiet moments. I will say, I was never a big Reva fan but I did like the character. I loved her sister Roxie the most. Finally, I think Taggart got Reva and if she was truly given the chance, Reva could have been a great character again. I even liked Taggart's stalker storyline because this brought Reva together with her family as they feared for Reva's safety. I also agree with your comparison of Guiding Light to Marland's As the world turns. No. Taggart was no Marland but she wrote stories that were grounded in reality.

ITA with you both.