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Megan McTavish and what she did to AMC


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She wrote for Brooke, but there was some kind of fall-out revolving around Edmund/Brooke/Tad triangle and the Wildwind era - it goes to a lot of backstage rumor mill, but JB supposedly didn't like Brooke being Edmund's doormat - and it was one of the few times she went and complained about story to the writers, which resulted in JB's Brooke being paired with Tad in 1993, and then Tad dumping Brooke and Brooke losing Edmund.

Edmund marrying Maria in a lavish wedding was unwarranted. Edmund had been declaring his love for Brooke through the winter, and in February it was obvious their bond still existed. Megan even touted the relationship as "what happens when someone marries their second choice" to SOD.

If you dissect the Maria/Edmund story, it could be argued that Maria was just inserted into a story that was meant for an infertile Brooke. Her chance of conception was unlikely, and made even more unlikely with an ectopic pregnancy. She had wanted to pursue adoption with Adam, and she already had a Martin child, which would have created a blood link between Jamie and Sam. Additionally, it was hard to swallow Maria sleeping with Dimitri after she lost Sam, but Brooke having lost Laura, plus the miscarriage, primed her for very lost moment with Dimitri.

From that point on, Megan may have written for Brooke, but she went out of her way to keep her romance free. She fought against Adam and Brooke uniting (who were a creation of Nixon/Broderick), in fact, she went out of her way to make them downright mean to each other in 94, and it was Wisner Washam her acted as official interim headwriter between MM and LB in 95.

When MM took over in 98, she turned shady Jim into a pedofile, maniac killer, etc - the story was so much of a turn from what was originally penned that the actor quit on the spot. JB was then put on the back burner for pretty much the rest of MM's run.

In 2005, Brooke and Adam were again headed for a reunion, and given the first chance and greenlight from Frons (who I also blame), MM switched Kwak for Brooke. JB was essentially recast with Kwak while she was still on the show, and then just disappeared.

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I agree, EnglishTea, I've always felt a sense of contempt on McTavish's part for Brooke. I don't think she cared about the character at all, even if she did write for her during certain periods.

I'm glad the show had Julia Barr come back for David Canary's exit and the finale. That was the first time I felt like they actually cared about Brooke in years.

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That's all fascinating stuff. I didn't know about the tension. I always thought Maria/Edmund just took off with fans, and I wondered if the real life romance with the actors played a part backstage.

I know this has been gone over before but I could swear a lot of Jim Thomasen's worst came before McTavish - the stuff with exploiting underage Laura, killing the boy she'd done the film with, etc.

I remember after the trial ended they seemed to have built a good foundation for Brooke/Dimitri which was then dropped. I just assumed this was based on Nader's issues.

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If I look back at it now, I do think there was some odd writing for Brooke in 1994 and 1995 (for instance, Brooke believing Hayley would poison Adam). The 1998 stuff I thought was fairly strong material compared to what Brooke had had over the recent years, and we got to see more of her with Phoebe again too. I also felt like she tried to write for her in 03-04, like her role in Edmund's final days, but it just wasn't happening.

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The only writers I despise more than McTavish (and the overall damage she did) is Rayfield (solo, I thought was unwatchable) and Cascio (as co, made it not complete crap).

Passante wasn't horrible, but she was boooooring, and she made couples boring - Tad talking about sheet and drapes for comes to mind, so when Culltion came on board, he did his best to clean up her loose, unconnected threads, which is how Proteus was born. Culliton, however, suffered from Eva LaRue's long drawn out return. TPTB stalled Brooke and Edmund for too long waiting for LaRue to sign her contract, and then stalled the story further with waiting for LaRue to return full-time. I don't blame Culliton for those constraints, but they should have just moved forward with Brooke/Edmund, given them a few months of happiness, and then have Brooke discover that Maria was still on this earth - the conflict could still have existed. For that matter, I would have had Maureen married to Aidan to complicate the matter, and made their time on the run way less comical, but again that went into the Rayfield/Cacsio writing, which was made even worse with the bad production values that took over during that period.

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I actually liked Maureen more than I ever liked Maria. I also thought Maureen and Aidan looked more age appropriate together. While I was diehard Brooke and Edmund fan, I could understand the appeal of Edmund and Maria, but when she returned, the age difference between JC and EL showed significantly - and perhaps that coupled with the issues they were having in real life - it just didn't seem like Brooke/Edmund should have been totally trashed when the show seemed to have no long term plan for keeping Edmund and Maria together.

Maureen started with Aiden, Maria and Edmund's reunion was short-lived before Edmund was shot and couldn't perform, and then Zach entered the picture.

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I didn't mind this because it's not like Opal was someone we knew for most of her life, or someone with a very stable past. I thought the initial story was worth it. Then they just seemed to run out of ideas.

I liked Maureen more than Maria as well. Maria was just so cold and self-righteous. Maureen was a little more lively.

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I didn't really care for Mia one way or the other, and I hadn't liked Edmund in ages (and I hadn't found him attractive since 1994) BUT Mia & Edmund really unexpectedly clicked for me. Age isn't relevant to me if two characters click for me.

Maureen, Maureen & Aidan? I had never liked Maria or any ot the Santos' for that matter. I was indifferent to Maureen and that whole return was blah. I wasn't feeling any great connection between Maureen and Aidan. I did like Maria and Ryan's chemistry, and later Mara and Zach's chemistry. David and Maria also had good chemistry.

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I loved Brooke and Edmund in their first tango. I was 12-13 years old and I loved them. They were smart, sexy and hot. Brooke tended to get screwed a lot in the Tad and Dixie go-round, first with Adam (who she was brilliant with) and then with Edmund (who she was brilliant with). It's a shame if it's accurate that McTavish never went back to them because she was overly sensitive about criticism of her writing. I know Maria and Edmund took off with fans fast and I always thought that was the reason they went with that and just let Brooke and Edmund go. That and the fact that there was also some audience there for Tad & Brooke as well. McTavish phased me as having ADD too, she'd lose interest and let things fail after really great starts.

Also, as another poster mentioned, I did feel McTavish showed more respect to Edmund and Brooke than to Maria and Edmund in Edmund's final days. That said, there wasn't much that was respectful about Edmund's final days.

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Jim was a creep under Broderick, but he became a vile, evil and absolute no chance of redemption under McTavish.

Brooke and Dimitri were headed toward a relationship, but Megan claimed fans didn't want Dimitri with Brooke when Erica was still a chance. But it was a chance for Edmund to see Brooke again in a romantic light, and create a triangle. Erica could have been thrown into the mix later. This foursome was never explored, and it was just something that would have been all kinds of delicious fun.

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To me, as soon as Jim was revealed as Laura's pornographer, the character was done.

I never knew any of that about her reasons for ending Brooke/Dimitri. It's a waste. And then Edmund was stuck with the disastrous Kit pairing.

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