I say Douglas Maryland and Lorraine Broderick.

Also, has DOOL gotten better when LB took over??

Also, has DOOL gotten better when LB took over??

There was such a blatant lack of organization when DRT & MMcP were heading the writing team . . . the episodes and arcs were so poorly structured it hurt. But LB is doing a pretty good job as breakdown writer--the episodes usually flow well and the intent of each episode is typically themed and clear. "Days" has improved tenfold, but it still lacks "POP" . . . which is what it desperately, desperately needs.

Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon

Bill Bell, Henry Slesar, Claire Labine, Harding Lemay.

Irna Phillips, Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon. The standard was set by all of them.

Douglas Maryland

Nice town.

As a Marylander, I read his name that way ALL the time.

Irna Phillips, Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon. The standard was set by all of them.

Word. Holy trinity of TV soaps by far.

Irna Phillips, Bill Bell and Agnes Nixon. The standard was set by all of them.

ReddFoxx stole my answer! While I've not seen any of their writing, since I've only watched Days and Passions, those three writers' career accomplishments speak for themselves. And the Bill Bell scripts of "Days" that I've read are always so beautifully written, he paints such a vivid picture that you can practically see the scenes happening as you read them.

I vote for Henry Slesar because among other things he wrote two episodes of Batman starring Adam West and Shelly Winters, and it just does not get cooler than that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70QmlpvKAAo

Nice town.

As a Marylander, I read his name that way ALL the time.

Oddly enough, I don't think I ever have, and I'm a Marylander, too (albeit a transplanted one right now).

Out of all the best and well-remembered soap writers, Harding Lemay and Henry Slesar were really the only ones that had a career outside of daytime. Of course Lemay was an accomplished playwright. If you watch some of the old Alfred Hitchcock shows on Antenna TV, you'd see Slesar credited as the writer on numerous episodes, usually the most compelling ones. I'd say that the big 3 (Phillips, Bell, Nixon) are probably the most accomplished within daytime, having had the most successes. I also think there are a bunch of excellent soap writers who never got the credit they deserved...people like Kay Alden, Wisner Washam, Lorraine Broderick, Gordon Russell, Pat Falken-Smith, and Addie Walsh, who always seemed to linger in the shadows of the better-known writers. I've found people like Maggie DePriest and Pam Long to be totally overrated.

I want to add the Dobsons to the list. I enjoyed their work on several shows. And Claire Labine for RYAN'S HOPE alone.

When I asked this question I did not type Bell/Nixon/Phillips as my examples since they built the Soap Foundation. I was talking about the guys who took there writing to the next level or the writers who where just so damn good that nobody could ever touch them.