All this talk in other threads about JFP and Frank Valentini being devils incarnate as far as soaps and soap EP's are concerned has me asking, have we ever even listed, at least formally, our most favorite EP's in all of daytime? If not, let's do so. If so, then disregard/merge/close this thread, please.

Robert Calhoun is definetely near or at the top of my list.

Mine, too.

In fact...

1. Robert Calhoun (AS THE WORLD TURNS & GUIDING LIGHT): The fact that the two shows he worked on both experienced creative rebirths during his tenure speaks volumes. Plus, without him, there'd be no Nancy Curlee.

2. Allen Potter (ANOTHER WORLD, THE DOCTORS, & GL): To this day, it boggles the mind how he and Douglas Marland disliked working with each other (allegedly) at GL, yet were responsible for one of the most fertile periods in soap history.

3. Erwin "Nick" Nicholson (EDGE OF NIGHT & SEARCH FOR TOMORROW): True, Nicholson had Henry Slesar in his back pocket for much of his tenure at EDGE. (Try watching one episode of his SEARCH without good HW's, and it's painfully obvious.) However, Nicholson ranks high on my list, if only because it's incredible to learn how the man produced such a classy, tasteful and thrilling series for so long on the mother of all shoestring budgets.

4. Jacqueline Babbin (ALL MY CHILDREN & LOVING): I'll admit that AMC's production values under Babbin weren't the greatest. (Frankly, before Felicia Minei Behr, AMC could seem downright homely at times.) However, as with ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Susan Bedsow Horgan (listed below), Babbin understood that all the nice wardrobe, music, set and lighting design in the world cannot make up for one-dimensional characters played by dull actors.

5. Al Rabin (DAYS OF OUR LIVES): Few would argue how '80's DAYS had little in common with the Bill Bell era that had preceded it. And yes, after awhile, the whole "supercouple factory" aspect of the show got to be a major grind for the audience. Next to GL, though, no other show, at no other time, believed in the redemptive power of love and family more than Rabin's DAYS. Whether it was two lovers sharing a romantic interlude, or a tight-knit group of friends, lovers, family members and others jetting off to some exotic locale to chase down the latest baddie, scene after scene dripped with palpable, heart-stopping emotion.

Now, as for the others...

6. Susan Bedsow Horgan (OLTL)

7. Jorn Winther (AMC & GENERATIONS)

8. Joseph Stuart (DOCTORS, OLTL & LOVING)

9. Mary-Ellis Bunim (ATWT, LOVING, SANTA BARBARA & SFT)

10. Michael Laibson (AW & GL) tied with Stephen Schenkel (AMC & AW)

Edited September 20, 201213 yr by Khan

How could we forget H. Wes Kenney?

He was partly responsible for DAYS' true golden age in the 70's, and successfully helped Bill Bell revamp Y&R in the early 80's.

His GH tenure might have been a mixed bag, but then, I would image it would be a difficult task to rebuild a show Gloria Monty has totally reinvented from the ground up.

Edited September 20, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Wendy Riche.

OldGHFan encapsulated the reason why Wendy Riche (in spite of the few backstage relations flaws that she did have) was and always will be my favorite EP for GH:

That's why I liked Wendy Riche so much. She came aboard as GH's new EP and made the show her own with her own vision. However, she respected Gloria Monty's GH and didn't go out of her way to diss any of GM's stories or characters.

I hold Bill Bell in the same high esteem in regards to Y&R because of his insistence in building a Black family/black characters beyond being a token presence. While he wasn't the first to present full-fleshed Black characters on soaps (that would be Angie and Jesse of AMC, courtesy of Agnes Nixon - though if someone preceded them, please correct me), he was the one that perfected it - so much so that other soaps followed suit back in the olden days of the 90s.

1. Gloria Monty - she is the EP of my all-time favorite time of my all-time favorite soap.

2. Wendy Riche - she is the EP of my 2nd all-time favorite time of my all-time favorite soap.

Robert Calhoun is definetely near or at the top of my list.

He is one of the best along with H. Wes Kenney. Anyone from the early to mid 80's was a great EP minus JFP and her mess on SB.....LOL.

JFP because she cleaning house at Y&R!

Everything about Al Rabin has been said and IMO that's the last good EP Days had.

I can't get on board with Rabin, simply because I think DAYS lost too much of its original, traditional and psychological identity during the 80's. In my mind, the real DAYS died when H. Wes Kelley left (and probably after Pat Falken Smith's first HW stint).

Edited September 20, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Edward Scott

David Shaughnessy

Jill Farren Phelps

Bradley Bell

4. Jacqueline Babbin (ALL MY CHILDREN & LOVING): I'll admit that AMC's production values under Babbin weren't the greatest. (Frankly, before Felicia Minei Behr, AMC could seem downright homely at times.) However, as with ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Susan Bedsow Horgan (listed below), Babbin understood that all the nice wardrobe, music, set and lighting design in the world cannot make up for one-dimensional characters played by dull actors.

That's interesting, because wasn't Babbin brought in, partly to modernize the show (in that interview when she started she complained that all dialogue sounded 50 years old) but also to punch up the production values (in the 70s particularly, even the most glowing AMC reviews commented on how shoddy the production values were).

Anyway, out of the runs I actually watched live--otherwise this list would be way way longer, Gottlieb for OLTL and FMB for AMC top my list. Not sure if I'd want either at other shows, but (i didn't watch ATWT when FMB was there)...

I have to give a shout out to Laurie Caso, who may not have been the same without Marland, by any means, but who still kept ATWT's core identity and who helped create a truly superb period for ATWT in late 1994/spring 1995 (aside from some Mike/Rosanna crap).

1. Wendy Riche

2. Gloria Monty

Riche is my number one choice over Monty only because of Gloria's 2nd run as GH's EP. That was pretty bad.

I have to give a shout out to Laurie Caso, who may not have been the same without Marland, by any means, but who still kept ATWT's core identity and who helped create a truly superb period for ATWT in late 1994/spring 1995 (aside from some Mike/Rosanna crap).

I truly would have loved RC back as EP when Marland passed. Laurence Caso was such a weak producer. He is the reason why we lost HBS as Margo and got ED as boring Margo.

Edited September 21, 201213 yr by Soapsuds