SERIAL SCOOP: SOAP OPERA HISTORY: Bill Bell & Claire Labine on Writing Daytime Serials (1997)

[EricMontreal22]

To be fair, that's when ABC started micro-managing more, as well (even if it wasn't as blatant as under Frons.) Francesca James had an ideal vision for AMC around the same time which she could only partially help execute.

[YRBB]

Units! Of course! I've been trying to figure out what they call all the individual pieces of each scene and the answer was so simple.

I find it fascinating how Bell comments on how, once you start doing more than 25 or so units per episode, it starts to feel segmented, broken. Indeed, Alden's run only ever did up to 26/27. If only he knew soaps now do these ridiculous, horrid 25-second "scenes"... 45-50 units per episode!

At least current Y&R, despite all its problems, usually sticks around 35, allowing scenes to actually go on for more than five lines.

[allmc2008]

It pisses me off SO much on the potential ABC had RIGHT when Disney took over. Also, did Pre-Disney ABC micromanage?

[John]

Well Ilene Kristen while at RH swears that Cap Cities tried to turn RH into GH with the mob stuff and then they canned RH and even showed up at RH wrap Party and Helen Gallagher was having none of it

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, the networks have micromanaged really from the 80s (well they always did to some degree have control, but that was when soaps became super lucrative to the networks--and much more expensive at the same time.) But up till the mid/late 90s, they usually left a soap alone as long as the ratings were good and steady. Ryan's Hope was always fairly low rated, so it got some of the GH treatment forced on it (and Labine/Avila fired.) AMC, on the other hand, was always highly rated so they just let it do its thing in the 80s.

[amybrickwallace]

No wonder people hate the networks!

[SeanM]

This interview reminds me how great Y&R used to be, now I just can't watch it anymore.

[allmc2008]

It really hurts that they will not learn from there mistakes. They should know by now that the practices they used since the late-90s is why daytime is falling.

[amybrickwallace]

They know, they just don't care.

[titan1978]

I don't think they do know. I think they are too busy blaming the people that watch for having more choices and different lifestyles to admit that they don't know how to tell compelling daytime drama anymore, and they are unwilling to look towards creative people that want to engage the audience they have in interesting ways, not to mention respecting that audience.

People like Passanante, Tomlin, JFP, continue to thrive on daytime. These are not the Marland, Monty, Bill Bell's of today. They are the network creative types, who create shows so clearly directed by focus groups and network notes that they are what we see. Generic, bland, and pointless.

[amybrickwallace]

I guess the situation depends on the show and/or network.

[RavenWhitney]

I wish someone could find out which writers P&G tried to get for GL when they abruptly fired the Labines. Apparently, whomever they had expected to take over backed out at the last minute and the Labines were rehired until Rauch could dig up Lloyd Gold...Perhaps Pam Long or the Demorests were on board to come back...

I always thought that Labine and Mayer were overrated as head writers. They had great character ideas and were able to write longer, compelling scenes but overall story was not their strong suit.

Their brief time at both OLTL and GL were fairly awful and directionless.

[John]

Well at OLTL they had Disney up their ass. At GL they had Rauch & P&G not backing them. When they work well with the EP

( GH, Love of life, Where The Heart is) or their own creation, RH they end up telling great stories

[cuzIsaySo]

Story wasnt LaBine's strong suit? O_ô.

Monica's cancer storyline

Stone and Robin's love story

Bj/Maxie heart transplant

Any of these three storylines should convince you otherwise

[Khan]

I think stories were definitely Labine and Mayer's strong suit. However, IMO, they tended to fail whenever they had to write "big" stories that were heavy on melodrama and action and light on everything else.