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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Edited July 10, 201213 yr by Skin

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.

Edited July 10, 201213 yr by EnglishTea

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.

Megan is the best and the worst as a headwriter. I will say that, aside from some of the stuff at the very end, I never felt a stronger emotional connection to AMC than i did when Megan McTavish was headwriter. I also don't think any headwriter in the years I watched had such an ability to write strong speeches or specific moments - such as Bianca's intervention, or the (horrific and completely unnecessary) scenes where Tad talked about murdering Greg Madden. She also had a good sense of community and family.

McTavish's obsession with babies and dead babies was her undoing. At one point in early 1995 3-4 concurrent stories revolved around losing children or not being able to have children, or aborting a child.

In the early 90s, Megan wasn't completely left to her own devices and she had a strong EP pulling her back when she went too out there in her storytelling. While I know many enjoyed Wildwind, I think it still missed the mark by not having Brooke/Edmund/Erica/Dimitri under the same roof. Toward the latter end of this run, she just lost steam, and stories seem to flounder - and the transition to LB was awkward with stories in stall for quite some time.

1998 for the most part was just bad all over the place.

2003 started off strong with the showing gaining focus, but then the focus was too narrow - too much Carey as newcomers, and too much Kane as the old guard, and not a whole lot of balance.

Tad as a killer, killing off Dixie with pancakes, and Brooke's non-exit were the most notable blunders.

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 agree on Cascio& Rayfield being great, I think them and Culliton were probably the best writers to me from 2000 onward. I enjoyed the show the most then and I was really sucked in to the main drama surrounding Leo, Bianca, Greenlee, Kendell and Ryan at that point as well as the storylines featuring Maria, David, Dixie, Tad, Brooke and Edmund. I loved it all during that period. I remember really feeling the show kick off again after a lull during Micheal Cambias' arrival. I think AMC 2003 was really in an amazing place and there were so many great things happening for the show at that point.

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.

The Rayfield stuff did instantly get better when Cascio joined him, but it felt too much like AMC light to me. All these new teen characters (that bad girl actress dating JR who had the alcoholic dad was like another attempt to try short term storytelling, Boyd the not gay hair model super scientist, Carlos the love letter writing poet, Amanda Seyfried's character who never did anything, Henry and his chinese restaurant that Joe apparently had gone to lunch at for decades, umm that lawyer guy who liked Simone and was cute but never had any story--he came back during the Satin Slayer mystery as a suspect, this was also when Frons seemed to push his Sex and the City vision the strongest). I did like some of the humour, loved Lysistrata the counsellor and her sessions with Adam and Liza as well as her dating Tad). But it was all largely fluffy (I guess apparently they were going to have Michael Cambias rape Kendall and McTavish moved it to Bianca which of course causes some uncomfotable issues to rise up, but did also lead to a more emotional story). Ironic because McTavish's work could get mired down in too much doom and gloom (didn't some of her stories the last time come from a soap bible she had penned called Purgatory?)

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

Kendall & Greenlee's relationship was written so frickin perfect pre-McTavish. The perfect frenemies mix. Not friendly enough to not become enemies again. Not enemies enough to not have each others back when there's a mutual enemy. They were both fun bitches with good anti-heroine potential at that moment in time. I enjoyed that and the beginning of Fusion. As much as I think she's one of the best AMC writers (for her first 1-2 years of most stints), I would never like Fusion again once McTavish started on the show and I think she completely ruined the dynamic between Kendall and Greenlee which could have been legendary (like Erica and Brooke). It went from too severe (which you could fix) to absolutely gay (which is hard to fix) with Megan.

Leo/Greenlee/Kendall/Trey "gold" diggin together:

I think that Megan "got" AMC in her own endearingly warped way LOL. She essentially used the Nixon template/formula, with star-crossed lovers, humor, community ties, and social issues, but in a dumbed down way, if that makes sense. Everything just seemed so gimmicky and plot-driven, and the heartfelt stuff seemed so forced and contrived. I got the feeling she was very proud of that approach, because of its appeal to younger viewers. Even JFP praised her as knowing how to deliver the 18-49 demos. I think that when the bottom began to fall out after the baby switch ended and absolutely nothing was working, she began running scared and felt the need to top herself with one ludicrous story after another, thus the unabortion, Tad burying Madden, the Satin Slayer. That was really the beginning of AMC's undoing and I don't think anyone could've reversed the downward slope.

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.

I get that, though I'd prefer to say it didn't take itself completely seriously like the CBS soaps (the Bell ones especially) did even when they were campy as all get out. Of course the soap press, as we've seen from articles Carl posted, seemed insulted by Nixon's soaps, particularly AMC in the 70s--not understanding the mix of over the top, caricatured characters and humour with heartfelt stories (even if that's an extremely Dickensian thing to do).

AMC always felt very Dickensian to me.

Pratt also gave us the glorious pairing of Ryan and Erica. Icckk.

In the very beginning, I thought he was going to be decent despite the whole Josh/Zach thing. He had Erica and Adam interacting really well and it seemed he was going to do a good business story with them that would have brought it in most of the canvas (Kendall and her crew, the teenagers including Palmer and Opal's offspring). The calm before the storm. The show seemed light and quicker for a very short time and then boom, boom, BOOM, BOOM, BOOOOOMMM, BOOOOOOMMM.

Ha Marissa, the sweet ol' homebody who PAID FOR SCHOOL GIVING MEN HANDJOBS!! And people wonder why some call Pratt misogynistic (though to be fair, as someone else said, he'd probably be nearly as willing to give a backstory like that to a male character). And then once he came up with that brilliant backstory he had zero story for her anyway. Yeah he gave Jesse the secret family which did leave us with one great actress, but... (and even that was done at his usual pace--Laura K as the secret wife was dead in a matter of weeks it seemed--so much for milking the drama).

I admit I'm a Josh fan even if I dislike how he came on the show--liked the actor and liked the character--to have him disappear for so long and then come back all filled with vengence and then have Zack the dark hero kill him and scream "WE HAVE A HEART FOR MY WIFE" and nobody care was just... Wow (it did lead to one really great scene between Erica and Josh, a scene that should have happened way earlier, where he admitted how he never felt accepted by her, etc, but in typical Prattian style after that Erica didn't even remember anyobody called Josh let alone a son).

He did some fun comedy too--Petey's superhero daydream (only to have Petey disappear weeks later), and I remember one whole epiusode around the Chandler mansion that was like classic bedroom farce. But that was all within the first month if not weeks. He DID help balance out the show though--something it really needed particularly after the last few months of B/E but even before then.

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 writing for Zach smelled like an attempt to bring Sonny Corinthos to Pine Valley.

I'll never forget Liza's return being lowered panties.

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

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.

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.

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.

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