Megan McTavish and what she did to AMC

[ellabelle]

AMC had a lot of characters who stuck around for no real reason and with no real storyline. Jack comes to mind. He had a storyline with Laurel and with Kit, and beyond that he had nothing to do post 1998 unless he was with Erica. I felt like he had good chemistry with Anna, but Anna was stalled out with David doing more or less the same dance he did with Erica: "I want to trust you, but I can't because you're keeping something from me" with an added dose of "you're still obsessed with Dixie but God only knows why."

Honestly, Jack should have left Pine Valley for a while when Kit left and come back because Bianca was raped and needed her family around her. Greenlee being his daughter was a retcon that made no sense at all.

Amanda should have gone away as well. All she did was have casual sex and cry about it. She had the potential to be a good villain, but having her as the heroine was really stomach-churning. I'd have much rather had them write her off than have her become a saintly Martin wife and mother of Jake's child. And hello writers: Amanda was a kindergartener when Jake was donating sperm for Liza! Them marrying was just weird.

David and Brooke were both characters who were written off for no reason, IMO. There were absolutely storylines David could have had in 2006 that didn't require him leaving town. And poor Brooke was left with nothing to do after Maria reunited with Edmund, which was just sad.

[DRW50]

I felt like the Pierce era was humiliating for Brooke and she had no business being in that story. After that it was never really the same.

[EnglishTea]

I'd have to check some tape, but 99% sure that WW was interim headwriter (with AN possibly in the mix) during the transition in 95.

Pierce I was too young from JB, and they had no chemistry whereas he did have a nice chemistry with RM's Janet, and the family they created in the woods was interesting, but it would have been hard to keep them as that unit once they returned to Pine Valley.

Pierce II was a last minute recast, and too young for JB or RM, and the character should have stayed gone.

Pierce III, the only thing I liked about him was the house he restored for Brooke. My favorite set by far.

When they had Elliot involved with Brooke, and it was discovered he was Josh - it was the perfect time to reunite Brooke and Edmund. It would have made the Brooke/Edmund fans happy, and eventually the return of Maria/Maureen to cause turmoil - instead Brooke and Edmund were both given pretty sorry romantic interests for too long.

However, I can't blame this rotation of characters Pierce I, II and III on MM, that was all LB. For JB, it also didn't help that there was Jim I and Jim II but that I can put on MM because she went out of her way to make the character of Jim beyond evil.

[Skin]

I don't believe this and it sounds like sour grapes from some Brooke fans. I don't believe Brooke was on AMC's radar after Maria's return and the destruction of Edmund and Brooke. That was Brooke's swan song and last real story she had as a contracted player and I think most know that in hindsight now that after that Brooke was a goner.

After that point she mostly just dwaddled on screen doing random things for Jaime or ringing her wrists over who he was or was not bedding at the time. I don't remember Brooke ever interacting with Adam at all during 2005 or being around his sphere. There might have been one errant scene where she asked Adam to get JR to stop hurting Jaime but that was erroneous and amounted to nothing. She was mostly in the background telling Jamie not to sleep with Babe and not to throw his life away on her and then she all but disappeared after Pheobe's will was read. She was a non-factor all during those beats of the story, even with Di(xie's) reappearance she was no where to be found. I think Bobbie Eakes is just the fall girl for some Brooke fans, it could be argued that she filled Brookes role but I doubt Megan scrapped plans made for Brooke and gave them to Krystal considering Brooke was in hindsight for nearly 2 or 3 years from that point where as Krystal was actively involved in story for the same years where Brooke was absent and did nothing.

If Brooke wasn't being used it was because certain executives didn't want Barr there in the first place. She wasn't going to be featured no matter who was or wasn't there. I also don't think Megan was behind it for what it's worth. The focus on the younger set had been in place for awhile now and you saw how ABCD started shifting around 2002 to younger and fresher faces. The writing for Barr was on the wall once her Edmund's story was finished, unfortunately and she had no story for years prior to the point of her firing.

Agreed. I think Brooke was simply cut off from story (for whatever reasons) and she went years without one. It's worth noting that Brooke wasn't the only character who suffered during this specific period though (00-03). The Martins shrunk as well, as did the Chandlers -- that entire section of the show faltered and damn near folded. The Carey's are considered to be widely unpopular but I think it's obvious that they were introduced to bring some life back into those families as it was clear both families were wilting to foreclosure with all the exits they experienced the past few years. The exits of Skye, Liza, Jake, Dixie, Scott, Hayley and others hurt the Chandler/Martin section of Pine Valley fairly hard. That's why most of AMC was almost always about the Kanes during the early 00's. It seemed to me like Megan was just trying to bring them back with a new family to add new drama to those parts of the show.

For what it's worth I loved Maria and thought it was obvious that if ELR came back she would come back to be paired with Edmund who she was wildly popular with. JB just had a sequence of unfortunate events befall her during that time. Perhaps if Frons hadn't been hired things would may have been different for her and other older women on ABC like Genie Francis.

[EnglishTea]

Sour grapes, sure. JB was around over a span of 35 years, and the treatment she received at the hands of MM and Frons was deplorable.

MM never wrote a romantic pairing for Brooke after 1994. That is a fact.

Skin may not remember Brooke and Adam inching toward a reunion in 2005, but their is tape to counter that. After Edmund died, and Brooke was made the executor of his will and estate, Adam declared his romantic intentions toward Brooke, but they were interrupted by Adam having TIAs (minor strokes). The story was just dropped, and KWAK was inserted.

KWAK filled in for Brooke's absence (whether JB was still on screen or not). KWAK was trash - and slowly, and without anything happening on screen to show growth, she was speaking words that sounded like they should have been coming out of Brooke's mouth.

The show wanted ELR back, and keeping JC was just part of the deal. They fired JC, almost immediately, after ELR informed TPTB that she would not be renewing her contract. Yes, they paired Maria with Edmund eventually, but they were ultimately screwing over both sets of fans - Brooke/Edmund (who Maria fans seem to think don't exist) by making Edmund look like a total jerk for just dumping Brooke (after he went crazy over Dimitri's return and Alex going back to him in the bat of an eyelash) and Edmund/Maria - the show had no intention of keeping Edmund and Maria together - they made sure he couldn't perform his manly duties shortly after their reunion, and then moved her in to Zach's orbit. ELR return, ultimately, didn't do either fan base any favors.

Thankfully, LB returned in the end, and gave JB and her fans, a happily ever after with a true love.

[R Sinclair]

I'll simply add *ahem* My2Cents *ahem* and keep it moving, since I've pontificated enough on this board about 'the writer.'

I'm glad that she'll never have the ability to darken AMC's doorstep ever again.

The End.

[Steve]

Yeah, her first stint wasn't bad but she had Agnes & Felicia Behr most likely holding back her worst impulses. Everything she wrote in 1998 was just horrid. I think she started off strong in 2003 because she was wrapping up her predecessors' stories, but once the babyswitch ended, McT had no idea where to go next and it showed.

I think Culliton was the best since 2000 aside from Broderick. I wish Frons had kept him around instead of hiring Rayfield/Cascio and later McTavish.

I also loved Lysistrata, but I agree it felt like Pine Valley-Lite.

ICAM with both of you. I think one of McTavish's weaknesses was writing for strong women like Kendall, Greenlee, Erica and even Brooke. When she took over Erica usually went from being proactive to reactive, Kendall & Greenlee both lost their spunk and Brooke's IQ dropped a good 30 points, especially when she confronted Jim without informing either her close friend Trevor, the cop, or ex-husband Tad, the PI.

AMC always felt very Dickensian to me.

ITA, Pratt came on strong and improved the balance but it quickly became apparent that he didn't care about characters' histories and he was similar to McTavish in that he was trying any outrageous story to raise the ratings (which did seem to work for him if I remember the ratings correctly). I'm trying to forget that Erica ever slept with Ryan!

The character of Zach was always Sonny Corinthos-lite to me anyway with their mutual daddy issues and need to control their women.

Yeah, I didn't know the whole backstory with Julia Barr, but it always seemed to me that McTavish didn't know what to do with Brooke.

I would've loved Brooke/Edmund revisited in a triangle with Maria. The only woman I liked Aidan with was NuGreenlee.