All My Children AMC: The Prospect Park Era (old production thread)

[EricMontreal22]

If they won a playwriting festival piece, in theory that would mean they'd be good at dialogue.

Seriously Khan, I thought you were more interested in plotting anyway? Would you really wanna win a *one day one time only* dialogue writing assignment? Obviously it would be some sort of foot in the door, but...

Maybe but she ended up being great--and I say that a s ahuge Marcy/Liza fan.

[John]

[alexisfan07]

Sigh, my Lindsay

[David Jones]

Sexy Lindsay Korman, oh how I love you so.

[R Sinclair]

You just don't get it. I understand exactly where he's coming from. I actively pursued screenwriting between 1995 and 2005. Got nowhere... it's a difficult, exhausting and somewhat ego crushing pursuit. Then you hear of mediocre people like Courtney Bugler getting a job as a scriptwriter on All My Children because her aunt is Megan McTavish. It makes you want to punch a wall!

[Vee]

Professional writing has always been about who you know at least as much as how hard you work. That's not some new development. It's just the way the game works and it is not some unspeakable sin.

We don't know if any of those people are actually any good, and IMO most of the fans's actual grasp of the work of real staff writers is tenuous at best. So I can't really condemn any of them or render any pronouncement as though I know their work that well. Until one is in the chair, they don't.

[EricMontreal22]

I more or less get that. But this was someone who did a playwrighting course, won a playwriting festival thing, and besides money she won the right to script *one* episode. GIven all the union, etc, things, this does not mean she's joining the staff or anything.

If they were given a staff position I would get it--although I'd rather see them hired than some of the writers they do hire who seem to have no knowledge of how to write dialogue. As Vee said, unfroatunately those jobs do seem to be as much about who you know and luck than talent.

From the suntimes: "The writers will get an outline for an upcoming episode when the show premieres and then have one week to produce a finished script."

[All My Shadows]

I understand the frustration, but I don't understand the...anger? Are they not supposed to offer this opportunity to anyone simply because, once upon a time, there were people who weren't offered this opportunity?

[EnglishTea]

+1

[Vee]

Agreed.

That's right, it's a one word post.

[EricMontreal22]

I just checked the FXCanada DVR schedule--they have episode descriptions for AMC (the same vague ones we already saw) but not OLTL yet. But both on Sat and SUnday they have a marathon of the week's AMC (all five so including the recap ep) and the week's OLTL (first the five AMCs then the five OLTLs) from 10-3 PST on Sat and 9am-2 PST Sunday.

I also noticed that in the week, again PST time, at 1am till 2 they have a second repeat of the previous day's episode.

(This may sound like FXCanada is going crazy with the programming, but the station doesn't have much on it. It's based on FX, the American station but only started in Nov and aside from the major FX primetime shows--The Americans, WIlfred, etc is filled with constant reruns of 30 Rock--for some reason--and Canadian crime shows like Murdoch Mysteries.)

I just checked the FXCanada DVR schedule--they have episode descriptions for AMC (the same vague ones we already saw) but not OLTL yet. But both on Sat and SUnday they have a marathon of the week's AMC (all five so including the recap ep) and the week's OLTL (first the five AMCs then the five OLTLs) from 10-3 PST on Sat and 9am-2 PST Sunday.

I also noticed that in the week, again PST time, at 1am till 2 they have a second repeat of the previous day's episode.

(This may sound like FXCanada is going crazy with the programming, but the station doesn't have much on it. It's based on FX, the American station but only started in Nov and aside from the major FX primetime shows--The Americans, WIlfred, etc is filled with constant reruns of 30 Rock--for some reason--and Canadian crime shows like Murdoch Mysteries.)

[Khan]

No, it isn't. No. It. Is. Not. As long as people like R Sinclair, and Vee, and myself -- people who actually give a damn about ALL MY CHILDREN, its history, its legacy, its fans, and not just people who lucked into working for the show because they're somebody's niece, or because they went to the same school as its creator and won some dumb contest, or because no one else wanted the headache of working with two schmucks like Jeff and Rich -- it is not the best AMC can be.

[Steve]

To me, this sounds like a great way to promote the show and potentially train new writers in the soap genre.

When doesn't he look like a mess?

I can barely make out Patrick something with my reading glasses.

As much as I would've loved this opportunity 25 years ago, I'm not going to begrudge somebody else who has it now. I think it's a wonderful idea and maybe if this works, PP will eventually offer us regular fans a contest where we can write one episode.

[Vee]

Whoa, hey, what did I do?

Based on what they appear to be doing, I like these revivals. A lot. I don't think I'm owed a spot on those teams in any way. I'm all for this. If you're not, that's fair, but I don't feel the same way. And I like the contest or whatever it is.

[EricMontreal22]

I had no idea they were related! That is maddening--but it's expected I think. Didn't Agnes Nixon's daughter write scripts for a while? I doubt they were brilliant--both of Claire Labine's kids worked as headwriters with her, and their work together was never as good as Labine's with Paul Avila Mayer as co-HW.