Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest interview

[Soapsuds]

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[BetterForgotten]

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[Soapsuds]

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[BetterForgotten]

I didn't know their daughter is a writer too and works for Dick Wolf.

 

Nancy said she watched GL, GH, AMC, and ATWT growing up. Stephen said he never watched soaps, lol.

Edited July 1, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[Soapsuds]

Nancy wrote Lujack death episode. That was a good one!

[BetterForgotten]

She also wrote Josh and Reva's wedding.

 

Nancy said she hated the story that they brought Roger back from the dead with, but said she was very proud of the cliffhouse scenes several years later.  

 

Stephen loved writing Blake seducing Ross.

 

Nancy says she fought for Nia Long to be cast as Kat!

[Soapsuds]

The Roger return/reveal was a ratings success even though Nancy didn't like the beginning. The show went from the #7 soap into the top 5.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Soapsuds

[BetterForgotten]

@Toups - Stephen said Reilly was hilarious, and the 3 of them had great chemistry. Nancy said JER had a great imagination, and he was great at running long-form story. She said he always helped them push the envelope. 

[Liberty City]

Alan really doesn't know of any three-split head writing teams? Guiding Light did it in 1996 to 1997, etc.

[BetterForgotten]

Nancy said she panicked when they heard they were being paired with Reilly, lol. She said JER had names for everyone and knew everyone in the industry. She was surprised they all worked so well together.

[Liberty City]

It was Nancy who began redeeming Roger, and even admits the focus groups were a mistake.

[BetterForgotten]

Focus groups are never conducive for creativity. 

 

Seems like Marland was somehow involved on the backend when they first started. Stephen mentioned that P&G had Marland in the background telling them that Stephen/Nancy/Jim could really do the job well.

Edited July 1, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[Soapsuds]

This is a good one!  During the confrontation with P&G executives she held back regarding story approval. I remember that time when nothing was going on.

[BetterForgotten]

Nancy said Robert Calhoun was a gentleman and great.

 

She said JFP was incredible and said she loved their writing. Said Jill was very invested, emotions ran high, but she loved working with her.

 

Nancy said they did a workshop with Harding Lemay - said he was very literary, and always talked about writing soaps like a Victorian novel, lol. 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[Soapsuds]

So Stephen wrote the blackout. Nancy was on maternity leave.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Soapsuds