John Conboy at GL?

[glatwt]

despite his over budgeting (which btw makes a Conboy show and also made GL look the best daytime show at the time) and, the Maryanne storyline (which it's only problem was rewriting the past), does anyone else think he was a great producer at GL? love scenes, directing, art decoration and production was always top notch plus veteran actors/ress were constantly focused on! that said, being the type of producer he is, which is leaving the headwriter alone, I wonder what could have been had he picked a different HW! also, the actors seemed to love him!! any opinions???

[Khan]

I don't. Production values mean nothing to me, only the storytelling; and the storytelling under his regime at GUIDING LIGHT, to be perfect and frank, was godawful.

[katie_9918]

Pretty much this. Conboy was never a good fit for GL.

It's all about the story, which is why I also think Cartini are as bad as Showkillers Guza and Phelps, in a different way.

[Sapounopera]

I think he was horrible. He hired a lousy headwriter, introduced a very bad opening sequence, the stories were all over the place and anything good Millie Taggart created before him was ruined.

[juniorz1]

I think GL would have been A LOT better had Donna Swajeski been made the headwriter instead of Ellen Weston (what is it with women with those initials being disastrous for GL?). The show vastly improved when she became co-head imo and experienced it's last watchable period during the Conboy/Swaje

[JackPeyton]

I loved GL under him.

[Darn]

I can't even praise his production values on GL, everything was bathed in too much light and pastel.

[Vee]

It was utterly awful.

[saynotoursoap]

John Conboy led Love is a Many Splendored Thing wonderfully, and he did a marvelous job with Y&R and Capitol. But, the latter two soaps were Hollywood soaps, and although LIAMST was taped in New York, it was set on the west coast. Conboy has a real sense of glamour. Unfortunately, GL was not about glamour. it was homier, more of a Midwestern sensibility. Attempting to make every single soap have the tone of glitz, glamour, and camp does not work. There should be a balance. Soaps such as GL and World Turns should have remained earthier, in my opinion.

And thank you Elsa for reminding me of that horrible opening title sequence that looked as if someone made it up on Windows Movie Maker. GL was known for its interesting opening sequences, but in the 2000s, it really went off the rails.

[Vee]

It was like five hundred drag queens had time traveled to the future from the year 1971, and then began convulsively projectile vomiting onto the show five days a week for a year.

That's what John Conboy's GL looked like. And it was written by people who seemed to have written for - I don't know - Dynasty and were now beginning the early stages of dementia.

[sjbeutel]

John Conboy reminded of many of the past executives who had been out of daytime. What use to work in the past was not working in 2002/2003. I think he had sense of trying to make the show something it wasn't. I feel he never understood the show completely enough not to make the mistakes that he did. Just because production values you were known for work in the 70's and 80's, did not mean you could bring them into the modern era and force them on people. I personally think he was out of touch with people of of soaps when he took over at EP at GL.

[Khan]

Well, that's one way to put it.

[SoapDope]

I read that several actors from the various shows he worked on couldn't stand him. I remember a recent interview where actor Brian Kerwin talked about clashing with him on Y&R when he played Greg Foster. He was overly critical of his acting and then let him go after a few months. Too bad, because I never cared for Wings Hauser who replaced him.

James Houghton was the best Greg and William Gray Espy was the best Snapper.

[koos]

I could watch GL when it was being shot out in the woods with a $5 budget. Barely. I couldn't watch it during Conboy's run.

[JONNYSBRO]

Honestly conboys gl was all style no substance. I honestly think he blew the budget bad with his lighting and expensive sets. Causing us to have pea pack years later on.