Name Two Good Things A Hack HW Did

[KMan101]

I agree that Pratt wrote David and Annie wonderfully. He is great at those kind of characters. Just look at Melrose Place. He does flawed very well, but he's a lot of plot.

Yeah, his first few months actually weren't bad. It's just like every other headwriter though. They start off pretty good and then just fizzle out.

[marceline]

I think that was it. The numbers were decent but it sounds like the drama backstage offset that.

[marceline]

I'm not even about to start addressing the whole character age/actor age/SORAS bullshit that happens on soaps. If we start demanding believability and consistency, then Kendall is 42, Bianca is 24 and JR is 23.

[frequentsoapfan]

Garin Wolf- got rid of some unecessary characters like Lisa, Abby, Kristina, etc.

Bob Guza- did write some stuff on Sunset Beach that I enjoyed.

McTavish- I liked her GH alot better than Guza's

[EricMontreal22]

Yes in that AMC Special magazine Agnes is more frank than she ever is (which is saying hardly anything lol) and said that pratt actually wouldn't allow her in the writing room, period--I think with every other tenure she has at least some small peripheral say. Aside from Vincent, everyone else seemed to dislike him as a writing (I can't remember who gave that quote of him saying to absolutely forget everything they knew about their character when asked how to play a scene). So I suspect it was Nixon and some actors who pressured it--I'm not sure either how long Pratt wanted to be writing a daily soap again, and he is reportedly one of the most expensive in the biz.

(If only someone would have pushed Julie the EP out ages back but actors seemed to love her and obviously she was a yes man to Frons which he liked).

The unabortion didn't really bother me as much as many but I completely understand why it bothered many so much.

Exactly--it was like slowly but surely he was turning AMC into Melrose--Melrose thrived on fast paced plot driven stuff. But agreed his first few months were actually an improvement.

I liked Guza's work with Millee T I believe on Loving fine.

[Angela]

Most of the cast hated what he was doing to their characters, including the biggest star of them all - Lucci. She's the only PTB that I hear her continuously speak ill of.

The ratings ... are so seasonal except if your writing is really bland or "exciting." Yes they were up, but he had an awful summer with the Nielsens.

8/25/08.....*4.....1.9.....06.....6) 1.1/07.....7) 2,355,000 (+088,000/-520,000)

9/1/08.......*6.....1.9.....07...*3) 1.2/08.....6) 2,510,000 (+155,000/-394,000)

9/8/08.......*6.....1.9.....06...*4) 1.2/07.....7) 2,465,000 (-045,000/-327,000)

9/15/08.......6.....1.9.....06.....5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,530,000 (+065,000/-272,000)

9/22/08.......7.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.1/07.....7) 2,343,000 (-187,000/-481,000)

9/29/08.......7.....1.8.....06...*6) 1.1/07.....7) 2,381,000 (+038,000/-242,000)

10/6/08.....*4.....1.9.....06...*6) 1.1/07.....7) 2,430,000 (+049,000/-327,000)

10/13/08...*6.....1.9.....07.....5) 1.1/07.....7) 2,506,000 (+076,000/-172,000) - Tornado hits

10/20/08...*3.....2.1.....07...*3) 1.3/07...*3) 2,743,000 (+237,000/+207,000)

10/27/08...*4.....2.0.....07.....5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,581,000 (-162,000/+160,000)

11/3/08.....*4.....2.0.....07.....6) 1.2/07.....6) 2,664,000 (+083,000/+184,000)

11/10/08.....5.....2.1.....07...*4) 1.3/08.....5) 2,683,000 (+019,000/+076,000)

11/17/08...*5.....2.0.....07.....6) 1.1/07.....7) 2,590,000 (-093,000/-095,000)

11/24/08...*5.....2.0.....07...*3) 1.2/07.....6) 2,758,000 (+168,000/+172,000)

12/1/08.......7.....1.9.....07...*5) 1.2/07.....7) 2,541,000 (-217,000/-049,000)

12/8/08.....*5.....2.0.....06...*5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,567,000 (+026,000/+091,000)

12/15/08...*4.....2.1.....07...*5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,690,000 (+123,000/+224,000)

12/22/08...*5.....2.0.....06.....5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,732,000 (+042,000/-103,000)

12/29/08...*5.....2.0.....06...*4) 1.2/07.....6) 2,776,000 (+044,000/+083,000)

1/5/09.......*5.....2.0.....07...*4) 1.3/08.....6) 2,715,000 (-061,000/+073,000)

1/12/09.....*5.....2.0.....06...*5) 1.2/07.....6) 2,635,000 (-080,000/-092,000)

1/19/09.......5.....2.0.....06...*5) 1.2/06.....6) 2,606,000 (-029,000/-193,000)

1/26/09.....*5.....2.1.....06...*4) 1.3/07.....6) 2,751,000 (+145,000/-033,000) - Kendall Wakes Up

2/2/09.........6.....2.0.....06...*4) 1.2/07.....6) 2,573,000 (-178,000/-185,000)

2/9/09.......*6.....1.9.....06...*5) 1.1/07.....6) 2,501,000 (-072,000/-195,000) - Greenlee Hit

2/16/09.....*4.....2.1.....07.....5) 1.2/07.....5) 2,729,000 (+228,000/-167,000) - Breese Wedding

2/23/09.....*4.....2.0.....07...*4) 1.2/08.....5) 2,634,000 (-095,000/+046,000)

3/2/09.........4.....2.1.....07...*4) 1.2/08.....4) 2,700,000 (+066,000/+141,000)

3/9/09.......*4.....1.9.....06.....6) 1.1/07.....7) 2,618,000 (-082,000/+072,000)

3/16/09.....*4.....2.0.....07...*4) 1.2/07.....4) 2,699,000 (+081,000/+184,000)

3/23/09.....*4.....2.1.....07...*4) 1.2/08.....5) 2,779,000 (+080,000/+318,000)

3/30/09.....*4.....2.0.....07...*2) 1.3/08.....4) 2,713,000 (-066,000/+300,000)

4/6/09.......*4.....1.9.....06...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,510,000 (-203,000/-045,000)

4/13/09.....*4.....2.0.....07.....6) 1.1/07.....5) 2,572,000 (+062,000/+164,000)

4/20/09.....*4.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,423,000 (-149,000/-043,000)

4/27/09.....*5.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....6) 2,485,000 (+062,000/+017,000)

5/4/09.......*4.....1.9.....07...*5) 1.1/08.....4) 2,459,000 (-026,000/+092,000)

5/11/09.....*3.....2.0.....07...*3) 1.3/08.....5) 2,555,000 (+096,000/-015,000) - Stuart's murder

5/18/09.....*4.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.2/08.....6) 2,518,000 (-037,000/+022,000)

5/25/09.....*4.....1.9.....06...*4) 1.1/07.....6) 2,430,000 (-088,000/-283,000)

6/1/09.........6.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.1/08.....6) 2,486,000 (+056,000/-215,000)

6/8/09.......*5.....1.8.....06.....5) 1.1/07.....6) 2,519,000 (+033,000/-017,000)

6/15/09.....*4.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.0/06.....5) 2,429,000 (-090,000/-124,000)

6/22/09.....*5.....1.7.....05.....6) 0.9/06.....6) 2,286,000 (-143,000/-222,000)

6/29/09.....*5.....1.8.....06...*4) 1.1/07.....4) 2,552,000 (+266,000/+031,000)

7/6/09.......*5.....1.7.....06.....6) 1.0/07.....5) 2,370,000 (-182,000/-284,000)

7/13/09.....*3.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.0/07.....6) 2,395,000 (+025,000/-172,000)

7/20/09.......4.....1.9.....06.....6) 1.0/07.....6) 2,483,000 (+088,000/-184,000)

7/27/09.......6.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.1/07.....6) 2,424,000 (-059,000/+041,000)

8/3/09.......*3.....1.9.....06...*3) 1.1/07.....6) 2,410,000 (-014,000/-055,000)

8/10/09.....*5.....1.8.....06...*5) 1.0/06.....6) 2,319,000 (-091,000/-055,000)

8/17/09.....*6.....1.7.....06...*5) 1.0/06.....7) 2,283,000 (-036,000/+016,000)

8/24/09.....*6.....1.7.....06.....6) 0.9/06.....7) 2,208,000 (-075,000/-147,000)

8/31/09.....*6.....1.7.....06.....6) 0.9/06.....7) 2,280,000 (+072,000/-230,000)

9/7/09.......*5.....1.9.....06.....6) 1.0/07.....6) 2,461,000 (+181,000/-004,000)

9/14/09.....*6.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....6) 2,598,000 (+137,000/+068,000)

9/21/09.....*4.....2.0.....07.....5) 1.1/07.....6) 2,522,000 (-076,000/+179,000)

9/28/09.....*5.....1.9.....06...*5) 1.0/07.....6) 2,448,000 (-074,000/+067,000)

10/5/09.....*4.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,473,000 (+025,000/+043,000)

10/12/09.....4.....2.0.....06...*5) 1.1/07.....4) 2,602,000 (+129,000/+096,000)

10/19/09.....4.....2.0.....07...*4) 1.1/0.....4) 2,670,000 (+068,000/-073,000)

10/26/09...*4.....2.1.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,722,000 (+052,00/+141,000)

11/2/09.......5.....2.0.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,576,000 (-146,000/-088,000)

11/9/09.....*5.....2.0.....07...*5) 1.1/07.....5) 2,753,000 (+177,000/+070,000)

11/16/09...*5.....1.9.....07...*4) 1.1/07.....5) 2,531,000 (-222,000/-059,000) - Announcement of firing came out this week. His name remained in credits through February.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Cris/Natalie did start under Tomlin.,

And you forgot that he brought back Gabrielle! How dare you?

ETA: Actually, Tomlin was the EP then, Lorraine Broderick and Chris Whitesell were the HWs. And of the two of them, it's pretty easy to determine which one is probably considered the biggest hack .

And I actually began watching/fell in love with the show during this time, so I don't know if I'll ever fully be able to call them hacks here, but there you are.

They also created Roxy.

[juppiter]

For Hogan Sheffer's ATWT:

The follow-up of the Rose/Lily storyline with Katie getting exposed was wonderfully done. Laiman dragged and dragged and dragged this storyline out and Sheffer handled the payoff perfectly -- interesting that he could payoff other people's stories so well but not his own.

Breaking up Hal and Barbara and giving Barbara her edge back. Yeah, he took it too far, but Barbara was made a boring heroine in the late 90s and a boring housewife under Laiman. It was nice -- at first -- to have bitchy Barbara back.

[Mathewson]

Ha, I like Gabrielle a lot, but her return wasn't worth it. I still wish I could block out the toilet. The one thing I didn't like about Gabrielle was that her hair was too long at first, then it was too short in 2002, and now it's too long again.

[EnglishTea]

Pratt killed off Babe (Yay!), but he also killed off Stuart (Boo!)

[JackPeyton]

Days-

Hogan hired a great writing team that made the characters seem smart, for once.

He made Salem feel more realistic,

and thats it.

[R Sinclair]

Pratt (AMC): Killed Babe. Killed Josh. Two unnecessary McTavish creations I hated with a passion, who, ironically enough, both had the hots for each other.