I am thinking about some writers that I truly admire such as Clair Labine and Doug Maraland. I always believed they are pretty under rated. If ABC never gave Clair those Raw Deals (The RH situation and her being let go from GH and what Happened at OLTL) I think she would have been the next Agnes. They always claim Gloria created Luke and Laura and the Q's but wasn't that really Doug Maraland? They never credit him for being one of GH's saviors. Even if GM did most of the work, to the best of my knowledge, DM introduced those characters.

Can anyone else think of writers that were under rated?

I do not understand how Claire Labine was let go when the show was critically acclaimed for social issue stories like BJ and Stone and with hugely popular couples like Ned/Lois and Sonny/Brenda. Did the ratings drop off that much with the depressing stories? I was not watching GH during the Claire days but I love everything I've seen.

I think Lorianne Broderick is underrated as she never really got out of Agnes's shadow. I met her and she was just lovely to talk about AMC and her respect for the genre was so clear. I also liked the Brash and Cwikly era of DAYS and felt they were let go too soon.

Josh Griffith. I happen to think he's doing a great job with Y&R. Haters gonna hate.

I do not understand how Claire Labine was let go when the show was critically acclaimed for social issue stories like BJ and Stone and with hugely popular couples like Ned/Lois and Sonny/Brenda. Did the ratings drop off that much with the depressing stories? I was not watching GH during the Claire days but I love everything I've seen.

Yes. (I also question just how popular Ned and Lois really were)

I would say - Richard and Carolyn Culliton, more than anyone else.

I would say - Richard and Carolyn Culliton, more than anyone else.

I would definitely agree with that. Richard's AMC was very disjointed, but I think he should have been given more time. He seemed to really care for the core fabric of the show, which definitely conflicted with the new vision that came in the way of Brian Scott Frons.

Poor guy never stood a chance.

Edited January 20, 201312 yr by Adam

I don't see Claire Labine and Doug Marland as underrated. They are consistently trotted out as two of the greatest soap writers of all time, especially Marland.

I agree with the Cullitons, especially Richard (since Carolyn has generally not been criticized as he has been). I have made many posts before about their contributions as writers at AW, ATWT, GH, PC, and AMC.

I also agree with Josh Griffith and Lorraine Broderick. With how good Days is right now, Broderick is probably a big part of it. I also loved her ATWT -- the baby Hope story, Eddie and Georgia, Chris finding his way -- although many fans at the time did not like it. Josh Griffith, I am only familiar with from his scripts, not his head writing, but his scripts at ATWT were often very good.

I think David Kreizman is also undderrated. He can be called a "show killer" but the fact is he became headwriter of GL in 2004, when the show was already under threat of cancellation, and the show did not go off the air until five years later, 2009. Some of his stories and other ideas revitalized the show. He also contributed the last really well received new character on ATWT, Reid, and succeeded where Jean Passanante repeatedly failed in presenting a third gay character who was well-developed, integrated into the canvas, and represented a believable alternative to Noah for Luke's affections.

I would also add Chris Whitesell being underrated. He was a cohead at ATWT for awhile with Passanante before it went off the rails. It got really "villain of the month" after he left. He is also co-headwriting Days right now during its period of character-based brilliance.

Edited January 20, 201312 yr by jfung79

I would say Richard Culliton is overrated.

Henry Slesar. I think on here, there's a good appreciation for his work, but in the wider world, he's almost completely forgotten.

I'd say Pat Falken Smith. True, she was all wrong for GUIDING LIGHT and RYAN'S HOPE. However, I don't think that should negate her work on DAYS and GH.

I'd also say Sheri Anderson and Thom Racina. Just because '80's DAYS wasn't '70's AS THE WORLD TURNS (or even '70's DAYS) doesn't mean it was great for what it was.

A lot of writers who worked steadily throughout the 60's and 70's can be classified as underrated because the majority of fans have never seen much of their work.Few tapes exist and magazines of the time didn't detail much about them.

Someone like Don Ettlinger or Robert Cenrdella may have

done terrific stuff but only a few posters would be able to offer any worthwhile evaluation.

Interesting that a lot of writers from the 60's and 70's did not continue into the 80's. Maybe because of their age or soaps were changing and their style was not a good match.

Good point, Paul Raven, but I think if they were really amazing, we would still have heard of them. Harding Lemay wrote in the 70s and is still a legend for AW fans.

I would say Jean Passanante is underrated. When she took over ATWT the show was on fire in May 2005 and stayed great for several months. And I absolutely loved what she did in 2007 -- IIRC there were many storylines going on at once and many of them were ridiculous (Gwen/Cleo, Lily's Diet Pill saga, Emily becoming a hooker, Dangerous Jade, etc.) but I ate that [!@#$%^&*] up. Granted there were lows and people constantly bring up arcs and characters I don't even remember but I thought she was at the very least a huge improvement over Sheffer and I enjoyed her tenure at times. To me she was at her very best when she gave in to her campy impulses whereas Sheffer was at his very worst when he gave in to his campy impulses. Camp, when done well, is a good thing. To me Jennifer Landon stuffing her mouth with those teeth and wearing that wig was just wonderful camp lol. Julia raping Jack and one person per month dying at the Old Mill, not so much.

What is anything good Jean Passanante did after Chris Whitesell left ATWT and without David Kreizman being there? Her "campy impulses" during this period like Ralph Manzo and the Z twins were virtually unwatchable. Also Audrey Coleman. There were so many characters who came out of nowhere to do their evil deed and left.

Edited January 20, 201312 yr by jfung79

Agreed there were many characters who came out of nowhere to do their evil deed and left, and I don't remember most of them. Vaguely remember the Z twins being abhorrent, and then there's Sofie. But there were always many storylines going on at once so I could find something I liked whereas Sheffer had let one storyline/character monopolize more often.

I didn't say she was perfect (or even good), just underrated.

Edited January 20, 201312 yr by juppiter

Good point, Paul Raven, but I think if they were really amazing, we would still have heard of them. Harding Lemay wrote in the 70s and is still a legend for AW fans.

That's because of his own legend, as much as his soap work. The book he wrote, for instance.

As the World Turns was a million times better before Kriezman arrived. I recall it immediately seemed to go downhill. I also hated Reid, a sorry House knock off. The show was doing good before Kriezman arrived and they didn't need him. I don't think he did any major damage, but at that point I remember being disappointed at some of the things we lost.

An underrated writer I'd say is Lynn Marie Latham. Along with her husband Bernie Lechowick, they completely revamped Knots Landing and made the show fresh, viable and highly rated in it's later years. The other soaps were just limping towards death and they saved Knots. Then they did such a fantastic job with Homefront and Pacific Palisades. I haven't seen Lynn's Port Charles YET, but I look forward to watching that soon. I even think her Y&R stint showed great promise. I like her focus on diversity and she seems to be a more modern writer than most. I think where she failed was being given too much power and not understanding the soap opera form. They should've kept a solid EP like Ed Scott and paired her with either (or both) Kay Alden and Jack Smith at equal footing. Had they done that I think the new and the old could've come together and created great soap opera. I also think there may have been hope for MAB had she not been made Executive Producer, but she just wasn't quaified no matter how you see things.