HOLIDAY MIRACLE: Prospect Park Back On Track To Revive AMC and OLTL

[KMan101]

Damn. It just got real.

[John]

Suasan Bedsow Horgan was a writer from 1988-1994 & EP from July 1994-Oct 1996. Those were pretty good years for OLTL and she knows the history. Im not worried and with Thom Racina as her co-HW I feel better. He has done some great work at GH, Days, AW & I loved Generations

[allmc2008]

Who told you about that???

[dragonflies]

Knowing a show's history isn't an endorsement, supposedly Guza knew GH's history. It doesn't mean much in the end. Just saying

I think Thom will be fine though, he seems a good fit for OLTL

[DRW50]

88-94, yes. 94-96, not so much, to me, but we'll see. Racina, not sure on that either (Generations was often panned for its writing), but it might work out. I'm just saying that I don't think there's anything in any of these resumes to show sure success or sure failure (the one exception for me might be McPherson, in part because of some of that lawsuit stuff she threatened people with).

[Vee]

I would. Even on a bad day she was a hell of a lot better than most soap in the last fifteen years. She had a good run. I thought 1994-95 were excellent.

And my point was I wanted a straight answer as to what she had to do with PP. Now I have managed to glean that she is on the OLTL writing staff, but some posters are been talking about this stuff as though we're all riding out to pay for Branco.

[Graham]

I thought we were supposed to know the AMC writing team by now. Has anyone been announced other than MMcP?

[LeClerc]

ITA. From my recollection Susan Bedsow Horgan was not a name OLTL fans looked upon positively (due to her EP tenure, when she also involved in the writing) until she was named co-HW, and then all of a sudden she was the bestest thing ever.

Marlene McPherson is not a good writer. Well, she is not a good headwriter at least. She is the HW of AMC. That's a major problem.

Chris Goutman is a good director. He will be directing AMC. So that's a good thing.

[John]

The HW's at AMC are Marlene McPherson & Elizabeth "Betsy" Snyder

[Vee]

SBH herself has said she shouldn't have been EP and HW at the same time but that it was a stopgap measure after Gottlieb and Griffith left.

I do think she maintained the style, fabric and tone of Gottlieb and Malone's OLTL for at least two more very good years, in the face of ABC pushing hard on certain new hires. There were a few dud storylines and characters here and there, as there always are on any soap, but honestly, it was a very good show AFAIC with stories that are now legend to most fans. And she certainly had a long history as a talented staff writer in Gottlieb's run - she was apparently very close to LG - as well as at P&G. I'm more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. People like to nitpick based on this, that and the other nuance of who was or wasn't in charge when, but to me good is good. And Horgan minded the store very well for her first two years as EP, until she couldn't deal with ABC anymore or manage the HW properly.

And in any event, she's not EP anymore.

[Eric83]

This is all so exciting, can't believe these shows are really coming back!

[skiman12082004]

I totally agree. AMC actually starts shooting again tomorrow eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :-)

[jfung79]

So my speculation I posted here yesterday about Chris Goutman being a director -- after Jill Larson's Facebook message mentioned Steven, Angela, Conal, and Chris were the directors, and mentioned all the many other returning crew members she had seen -- was accurate.

I am more bothered than LeClerc becasue I don't trust that people aren't going to promote Goutman to some senior producer role. But it's okay for now.

Did Nelson say anything about the other directors? Are they Steven Williford, Angela Tessinari, and Conal O'Brien? Any explanation why Williford is doing this if he is; is he not directing at DAYS anymore?

[allmc2008]

All kidding aside, I think Opal is a character that had the most progression. She went from trashy and bigoted when Dorothy Lyman played her and Jill Larson's opal will still pretty out there in the same way when she took over to a strong Matriarch figure. I cant wait to see how Miranda and Opal's relationship will be. There will be great opportunities to re-explore Opal and Jenny's relationship.

[jfung79]

Jessica Klein's involvement was part of the press release that PP issued ages ago when the OLTL writers and cast were first announced, Vee. I think we just assumed you had read the press release that was quoted on various sites, including this one.

Still don't know any of the other writers on the AMC team besides the co-heads. I'm holding out hope for some familiar AMC writers ... In other matters, Jill Larson is also saying now on her Facebook that Jennifer Bassey will be coming back as Marian. I think that had been in one of the soap mags too. Is that official?

Also, yes, I'm excited too Eric83 and skiman12082004!