Worst Executive Producer...

[Contessa Donatella]

And, again, she had serial killers and rapists on the show. None of the second go round was as classy as the Sin Stalker storyline but you have to give that to David O'Brien, a classic actor who could and did play anything. His interaction with Lisa Grady (Joanna Goings) was exceptional.

Many times I have wondered just that question!

[jam6242]

Ainley married Betty Lou Gerson (the voice of Cruella de Vil) in 1936 and they remained married until his death.  Also, a brief mention of Ainley from a 1938 article.

 

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[Mitch]

I thought McTavish (or McTrash which we called her back in the day) had some great ideas (as mentioned) and could have worked really well if she had a good producer to reign her in and say no. I loved Brent/Marion, the return of Nola, the return of Amanda, Reva being a flesh and blood woman ..all great ideas but again terrible execution.  I think her dark humor.("You think Im a LESBIAN!!!"/ "The role of Marion Crane is now being played by...Brent Lawrence") and  just her character humor ..("Rick, do you want me to get out the finger puppets"?) which were totally GL..(what a disaster she would have been on uptight ATWT) were great...she just needed a producer who cared and was strong enough to take her crazy ideas down to earth.  I mean, even a Guardian Angel for the Bauers was a better idea then a clone!

 

I do think that GL's worst exec was John Conboy, who did not GET the show at all, and he came at the crucial time to not only derail the show, (despite Rauch's interference Taggert was doing well) but make it almost impossible to save the show, from the budget being busted, to the return of Brad Cole, to Maryanne Curathers (blowing decades of GL cannon) to making Alex Reva's stalker,  drugging Alan, then being under Alan's thumb and then making her a Drug Dealer, to bringing back Eden (Taggert got rid of her) giving her a storyline which made Ben a serial killer who gets berated by Jeffery on his death bed, and Ed slapping Michele... Mac and Cheese Alan....Terrible stuff..(I cant even bring up the Teen Gay Rave, Marah's outdated Day Glo Fashion Show, the possessed TIki God Head, and the goofy drug thing...) And he only had two years.????

 

 

[RavenWhitney]

I think there were individuals who were good at one point as an EP then super horrible and for various reasons:

 

John Conboy and I mean "boy" cause he loved his boys even if they couldn't act: great on YR/horrible on GL because he squandered the show's last opportunity by hiring his arm piece Ellen Weston, who was worse that three McTavishes.

 

Frank Valentini: somewhat good on OLTL, great on GH for about a year and horrible ever since.  Multiple reasons.

 

Phelps was good on each show as long has she had great writers (GL/Curlee and AW King/Carlson) but the combo of her power grab and the network interference i.e. NBC wanted DePriest on AW,) meant the ruination of these shows.

 

The execs at P&G and the networks deserve a lot of blame for allowing Phelps to hire Doug Anderson (college professor), Valente to hire Stern/Black on ATWT, ABC execs kept rehiring McTavish for AMC, OLTL and GH.  

 

In fact, worst exec in modern times should go to Brian Frons.

 

Currently the worst exec is Steve Kent who has ruined YR

 

 

[danfling]

One would think that John Conboy, after having worked with Irna Phillips, would have a great grasp on Guiding Light.   If he did not, I attribute to his age.

[Contessa Donatella]

I was told very reliably that the pair ConWest just did not get the show at all. I have no problem believing it. It's a shame since the show was vulnerable then, in the extreme.

[teplin]

 

Sometimes on the same show: Paul Rauch presided over the glory days of AW, then let it all fall apart around him after Harding Lemay left. 

[AbcNbc247]

I've always wondered what happened behind the scenes during Rauch's final years. Did he think that by hiring Corinne Jacker he could recreate some of the success that he had with Lemay? And why did Jacker end up hating it so much?

[Mitch]

No has to be told they didn't get it..you can just watch...what they did...Ellen Weston's best "work" was as Countess Piranha on Bewitched..which was what she did to GL..ate it alive!!

 

Really, the real blame goes to MADD ..who in their right mind would think Conboy was right for GL, especially at this juncture? The rumor was that Wheeler was on tap to be the EP at this time, which may have worked if she had a budget and strong head writer in Taggert.  Why MADD got cold feat and hired an old hack is really one of her worst mistakes.

[RavenWhitney]

 

Agree but I think Rauch had several mostly successful runs.  After LeMay left the show was kind of interesting under King/Soderberg for a year. It wasn't until they went with Corrine Jacker then L.Virginia Brown that it got really bad.  On GL, he presided over a fairly stable period but CBS interfered in the writing and forced plots written by others, most notably, Wendy Fishman is responsible for Reva clone, not Esensten/Brown.  On YR he was a good counterbalance to insane Maria Bell and the show looked great as he built on its elegant look without ruining it with Santa Barbara sets as Phelps did.

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, indeed, and well said. If they had given Wheeler the EP spot & some money & someone like Millee with subwriters clustered underneath her, it could've been really exciting. Wheeler had great ideas & Millee had great ideas & the team had great ideas!! I am left with a hatred of ConWest.

[robbwolff]

I liked L. Virginia Browne's AW stint. I felt like it was her replacement Corinne Jacker that really botched things. Jacker introduced so many new forgettable characters, only to quickly write them out. 

[danfling]

That is the same way that James Lipton wrote Another World.

[AbcNbc247]

I liked it too overall, but it seemed like after the hostage crisis was over it just got so boring, and then Corinne Jacker came in and just messed everything up. I always wonder what was going on behind the scenes on AW in 1982 and what was with the constant revolving door of actors. Usually, even bad writers don't introduce so many new characters just to get rid of most of them in six months. 

[chrisml]

Was Conboy's tenure good for the ratings? If memory serves, he was fired more for wanting male nudity on the show (after the Jackson nipplegate fiasco) than the ratings. My memory can be playing tricks.