Would Agnes be a good Head Write for Y&R?

[Khan]

And I've always wished B&B would expand beyond the fashion industry (which might be big in L.A., but I don't think so) and incorporate the entertainment industry as well. All these years and not one Forrester has had the urge to design costumes for the movies or for television? No one, not even Dollar Bill Spencer, has ever thought about parlaying his money and prestige into a career as a film studio exec, let's say, or an A&R guy at some big record label? And with all the stylized acting and writing on that show, I really believe B&B could work well as a modern-day "soap noir" or high-gloss melodrama straight outta Douglas Sirk.

[Khan]

I think Douglas Marland would have done his best to emulate Bill Bell's approach. Aside from his stuff for GH, has he ever been known for being so individualistic that the shows themselves became something entirely different under his pen?

[chicklitsandfantasies]

I wish B&B would expand as well. I realize fashion is getting bigger in LA now but it's still not New York and it is strange they never went into the entertainment business. Movies, Music, shows, set design, costume design. It would be a more interesting B&B.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I've often thought Marland's writing was a great combination of Bell and Nixon's best qualities. He could do corporate stories and stylized camp like Bell, but could also do stories about community and hard-hitting social issues like Nixon.

When he wanted, he could also drag the hell out of a story, yet play all the right beats too so that it never felt stagnant.

[CSF]

That's another great direction that show could go but its PTB doesn't have that creative edge to take it there.

[MichaelGL]

I've always wondered how writers like Peggy O'Shea, GL's Head Writing team of the early 90s Nancy Curlee, Stephen Demorest, James E. Reily would have been on Y&R.

[Khan]

To me, Curlee/Demorest/Reilly's GUIDING LIGHT was a lot like Y&R under Kay Alden and Trent Jones, only faster.

Peggy O'Shea was HW for awhile at CAPITOL, which, pre-B&B, was the most Y&R-esque soap out there. CAPITOL seemed to really take off under her term there, too.

[frequentsoapfan]

It wouldn't have been Y&R if JER wrote for it

[CSF]

I never hear people talk about Capitol as "their" soap, but I always enjoyed it.

[beebs]

Not alone, but I think Nancy Curlee really reigned him in a lot, bringing the best of his qualities out without venturing too far over the edge. I also think he had it in him to do great things, but his bitterness at those above him got the better of him, especially as the years went on.

[Khan]

As did I. No, it wasn't "my soap." That distinction belonged to ALL MY CHILDREN and GUIDING LIGHT. But I do share fond memories of sitting with Mama Khan and watching CAPITOL between AMC and ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

[Khan]

In a way, I think JER's initial success at DAYS became his biggest cross to bear. He wrote the more outrageous material in order to get people talking again about a show that many had written off; however, the big story during his first term was not Vivian burying Carly alive, Marlena being demonically possessed, or even The Many Faces of Eileen Davidson. Instead, it was a fairly standard story about two sisters (Carrie and Sami) fighting over the same man (Austin). It's just unfortunate that NBC thought the other stuff was what kept DAYS fans tuning in and expected JER, as well as his successors, to do more of the same, both at DAYS and later, at PASSIONS.

[Cat]

SO amazing. First of all, the words "soap noir" and "straight outta Douglas Sirk" are like music to my ears. Once, long ago, Y&R and early B&B was this way. This is the potential B&B could and should be reaching today.

Secondly, fashion today is completely enmeshed in the entertainment and music worlds. It's called "synergy" and every mega luxe brand has been doing it since the 90s. Why do you think Anna Wintour rarely puts models on the cover of Vogue? It's all about movie or rock stars wearing the clothes and adding their cachet to the fashion. They shift merchandise. Forrester Creations should be more than a "fashion house" -- that sounds so quaint these days when we think that major fashion houses like Christian Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and others are all owned by the same major conglomerate LVMH -- it should be a brand, dressing the stars, dressing a major franchise, dressing freaking Kim Kardashian, sponsoring AmFar, buying up other brands, etc.

[DaytimeFan]

Yes, once upon a time B&B had it's noir elements...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnkfd79z1_4

And yes, Forrester should be a brand swallowing the competition whole. The glamour quotient could be enhanced,

[Y&RWorldTurner]

DAYS needs to be canceled, so Lauren Koslow/Margo can return/stage a hostile takeover of Forrester...

Not that Brad would write for her though.