Remembering Douglas Marland: Timeless Storylines, Timeless Talent

[NothinButAttitude]

I think had Douglas Marland lived longer, I think he would've left ATWT before the 90s ended. I do think too that he would've groomed someone as his predecessor. 

 

I would've loved for him to be moved back to either Guiding Light or Another World to fix those shows. I think had he returned to GL when Lisa Brown reprised the role of Nola, her return story would've been so much better. We wouldn't've seen her stalk Buzz's lame a**. Instead, we would've probably got a good story behind why Nola & Quint split before Marland would've brought them back together.

 

I think that he been moved to AW, he would've prevented the bad story choices from 95 till the end, and possibly prolonged the show's life by a few more years. 

 

I do agree with everyone that has stated that his rules ought to be framed and placed in every writer's room on every soap.

[GH_Girl]

 

This brings up an interesting question for me... it seems the writers generally known to have some glory days are short term. Marland's ATWT, Labine's GH, etc. Are there any that stayed on at the show they worked on and had continued success longer than 3 or 4 years? Was all of Lemay's AW considered a golden era? I wonder if it's hard to maintain that level of quality over such a long period. Clearly the work must be draining given the head writer turnover.

[Paul Raven]

I think Henry Slesar managed to keep things interesting at Edge over his long run.

 

In terms of writers coming on to an established show,apart from the above examples and Lemay at AW,Bill Bell at Days,I cant think of anyone  who stayed longer than 3-4 years.

[BetterForgotten]

Marland's GL could be very campy and melodramatic at times, if you ask me. It's strange that the Dobson's interpretation of GL seemed much more naturalistic by comparison, given their tendencies...

 

Regardless of his health, I'm sure P&G would have forced Marland our at some point in the mid-90's. Not sure if he would've worked in daytime again or tried again to create a new show. 

[titan1978]

Marland was at ATWT from 1985/86 to his death in 1993, so almost a decade.  

[Soaplovers]

 

And the last few years weren't as good as his first few years.  He should have left after 1989/1990

[Soapsuds]

Considering ATWT was at #2 in the ratings a lot after 1990....I am sure lots disagree with you. While other soaps minus Y&R ratings drop...ATWT ratings rose and beat all except for Y&R.

 

 

[GH_Girl]

 

Oh wow, for some reason I was thinking he was 90-93! Oops!

[GregNYC]

 

Bob's affair with Susan brought ATWT to #2.

 

He wrote the campy fight between GL's Nola and Vanessa.

[koos]

Carly really put me off from ATWT as a kid. Sure, I'd watch it if it was on, but the way they kept her front and center was grating and exhausting after about a month. I have no doubt I would have accepted her had Marland still been alive. The difference between ATWT 1993 and ATWT 1995 was like night and day even to a 9 year old.