The soap opera writers' discussion

[danfling]

I cannot remember if Michael Malone has been mentioned here or not.   However, so much of his work (when he was first writing One Life to Live) was better than excellent!

 

When he began on the show, I am not sure if Paul Rauch was producing the show during his last days or if Linda Gottlieb had already begun producing.   I understand that she demanded the best from everyone.  His first work (which he wrote without a collaborator) was not very good at all.  Shortly later, he was paired with his collaborator, and the writing was astonishing!

 

I do not know if he had a collaborator on Another World.   The Another World Homepage lists the fellow writers as Tom King, Craig Carlson, Peter Brash, Shelly Altman, Mimi Leahey, Lewis Arlt, Joanna Kosloff, Michael Slade, Gillian Spencer, Sofia Landon Geier, Juliet Law Packer, Mary Sue Price, Richard J. Allen, Richard Backus, Tom O'Connell, Thomas Babe, Chris Ceraso, and Jane Murphy.

 

Later, he returned to One Life to Life.  I do not think that he had a collaborator and Ms. Gottlieb had departed the show.   His work, again, was terrible.

[Forever8]

I remember reading on here that Nancy Curlee was close to get the headwriting position at GH back in 96 after Claire Labine left. 

 

How would you think her General Hospital would've been like if she did take it? 

[You're Soaking in it]

 

Malone came after Gottlieb. Craig Carlson was still head writer for about a month.

 

You're right, Malone was a novel writer, and didn't grasp (embrace?) concepts of pacing & storyline connectivity. Josh Griffith as his co-head writer definitely made a positive impact there.

 

It was announced that Malone & Griffith were returning as co-head writers effective on-air February 2003. But Malone's work was delayed by a month or two because of some contractual obligation he couldn't release from.  Outgoing head writer Lorraine Broderick (she was actually demoting to the Associate Head Writer post) served as interim co-head writer with Griffith until Malone got there.

 

I actually think Griffith & Broderick's work played far better emotionally than what came once Malone was back on board. Lindsay shooting & killing Sam (by mistake) & her subsequent breakdown - probably Catherine Hickland's best work ever; Al Holden being the voice of the night - his drug problem & budding relationship with Marcie... Two strong points.

 

Once Malone returned, it was Jessica & Antonio in-your-face & down-your-throats, Keri Reynolds suddenly-psycho, Cristian gone crazy, Dorian's return (good) but married to Mitch & obsessed with the Baaahdra Diamond (BAD), Reverend Joey kissing cousin "Flash"/Sarah & pouting over uninteresting Jen, the off-screen ruin of her mother Tina (which to be fair, Malone had already ruined in 1995), Music Box Killer, the Santis, and the unceremonious ditching - sometimes killing - of legacy characters like Gabrielle, Max, Al ...

 

By the time he was done, it was a crap fest, which ironically made the transition to Dena Higley's work kind of seamless.

Edited March 26, 2019 by YurSoakinginit

[danfling]

I'd hardly call Gabrielle a legendary character.   I was dismayed when when she was brought back to the show and very glad to see her leave.

 

[Khan]

 

Well, that's your opinion.

[danfling]

It certainly is.

 

[victoria foxton]

I would consider Gabrielle a legendary character.  Being watered down. Put in a boring romance with Bo. Badly killing her only child Al. Never repairing her with Max. Badly killed off. In a really bad serial killer story. Did her no favors.  Poor Gabby! I do wish they had never brought her back for that. 

[KMan101]

 

Not liking her doesn't make her "not a legendary character", but like you said, it's your opinion

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God, so much this. It was an awful, horrible mess. I do agree it very briefly started off promising.

[teplin]

 

His work on AW was terrible. I was excited when it was announced the show had hired him because I'd heard such great things about his OLTL work (and I had been impressed with the little I'd seen).

 

Some of his AW story ideas had promise, but man, did they suck on screen. To be fair, I think it was a time of incredible behind-the-scenes turmoil on the show and he was stymied at every turn by suits.

[chrisml]

That's what I wonder with his second tenure on OLTL and his work on AW. How much of it was his doing and how much of it was the suits causing the problems? It just seemed like such a different Malone. There was a vicious and sexist vibe to these stints that seemed in opposition to his first stint on oLTL. 

[danfling]

Oft times, a writer would be announced to write a new show (for that writer).   Writer(s) who had successfully written well for other shows.   Then, on the now show, the results are terrible.   That is the way I felt when it was announced that that Pamela Long Hammer would be coming to One Life to Live.  It sounded as if it were a match made in Heaven.  However, I was so disappointed with her work on One Life to Live.

[Mitch]

I think some writers are just "made" for certain shows. I think the most distinct writers like Marland and Long, just suffer from this the most...which is why the generic writers are kept shuffled around.   I have no idea why GL did not bring Long back after McTrash almost got the show cancelled.

[dc11786]

 

I don't know what they wrote in the 1970s, but they returned as headwriters from December 1981 until December 1982. They were there when the show transitioned from CBS to NBC. They inherited and continued the Operation Sunburst story which involved Travis Sentell developing an alternative energy source through his work at Tourneur Instruments. There were evil people who wanted to take control of the project including his own father, Rusty Sentell, who returned from the dead to get a hold of the money that would come from selling the project. This is how Dane Taylor, the musical spy, was introduced. Dane was paired with Sunny Adamson. 

 

Ellis and Hunt were the ones to introduce several younger characters including Keith McNeill, Kristen Carter, and Warren Carter. They paired Keith and Wendy and created the Warren / Suzy / Brian / Kristen quad. In their final days, they had Kristen reveal she was pregnant with Brian's child leading to Brian and Kristen's wedding. They also wrote the plane crash that stranded Brian, Suzy, and Warren in the jungle in the weeks before Kristen told Brian about their child. 

 

They also introduced Jenny Deacon and had her search for her long lost daughter, Danielle. They seemed to be creating a triangle between Jenny, lawyer Tom Bergman, and Tom's father Stu. 

 

They also introduced the Riverboat, the establishment that Jo and Stu ran. They were there when a lot of the older characters were written out (Janet, Ted) or deemphasized (Jo, Stephanie, and Martin). Not sure how much of this was network interference. 

[danfling]

I had thought that the Warren/Suzy/Brian/Kristen had been written by either C. David Colson and Wendy or by Gary Tomlin.  I loved this, along with Jenny Deacon, Keith and also Ringo and Rhonda Sue. 

 

Regardless, I thought that the show was headed to some good things with Stephanie, Rhonda Sue, and the little girl.  Then, either the producer or the writer changed and they were all gone except Stephanie.

[dc11786]

 

The headwriters credits for early NBC SFT:

 

Ralph Ellis and Eugenia Hunt c. December 1981 - December 1982

C. David Colson December 1982 - May 1983

Gary Tonkin May 1983 - February/March 1984

 

Ellis and Hunt introduce the Carters and Keith McNeill in the summer of 1982. When they leave in December, Brian marries Kristen, who is claiming she is still pregnant even though she miscarried in December. The setup for the Brian / Suzy / Warren / Kristen quad is very good. 

 

Colson takes over in December and plays with the quad. Brian becomes a cop and he and Kristen struggle as young newlyweds. Warren marries Suzy and becomes involved with Rusty Sentell’s bank plans after already running guns for him. Suzy is pretty back burnered during Colson’s time. Colson lightens the mood in the Keith / Wendy story by allowing Stephanie to have temporary custody of Andre, Keith’s adopted sister. The story is a send up of “Little Orphan Annie” with Stephanie as Mommy Warbucks and the introduction of a mutt named Scratcher. This is when Andre is diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and is revealed to be Jenny’s daughter. 

 

Keith leaves in May, 1983, and Wendy is immediately thrown at Warren Carter. It’s a nice story that builds while Wendy emerges as a young vixen after previously being much more docile in nature. By August, Tomlin has Wendy get pregnant just as Ringo learns Suzy is behind the SMW trust which owns significant property that Warren wants to invest in. 

 

Rhonda Sue was introduced by Colson in May. I don’t know how soon Ringo and Rhonda Sue get together. Colson’s run is tonal different than Ellis / Hunt. Colson is what I expect from an 1980s NBC soap. Ellis / Hunt seems more  P&G. It’s like watching 1980/1981 Another World abd then 1984/1985 Another World. 

 

Tomlin moves the story nicely and there is a lot of it. The canvas is very big and there are some duds (Angela / Danny’s Greek romance) but the good is very good (Suzy / Warren / Wendy, Jos kidnapping). It’s a nice mix of comedy and drama. 

 

I think Tomlin does a nice job with Liza and Travis. They have story but they don’t dominate the way they previously did. Ellis / Hunt go the route of the back from the dead dad and the nerdy third wheel live interest. Had Hunt / Ellis stayed, I suspect Liza would have eventually hooked up with Dane Taylor. Colson gives Travis / Liza the surprise pregnancy, the mistaken fidelity (singer Tony Burton and Liza in New York), and the murder mystery. Tomlin builds the Kendall / Sentell rivalry and really sets up Travis to be a major player by having him take in TR. 

 

Rhonda Sue is dumped when Joanna Lee leaves in December 1983. Ellen Barrett says the plans were already in place to purge the cast (the Morenos, Ringo, Danny Walton, and Tom Bergman also left). Phillip Brown may have left too I don’t know. I think Andie leaves earlier when Michael Kendall and Jenny Deacon marry. Andie was a character and I loved her and Rose, Stephanie’s maid.