ALL: Imagine how HWs would have written other soaps…

[Franko]

Days of Our Lives, in between Pat Falken Smith's runs, seemed determined to emulate the ABC/Y&R relevance and youth appeal trends. With that in mind, I'd have loved to see the Dobsons' take on Days, given how well they were at modernizing (The) Guiding Light.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Franko

[titan1978]

One thing Marland did not do well was sexy.  And Y&R, especially when Bell was there and the show was at its peak was very sexy.  I don’t think Marland would have been as successful with the heightened melodrama and style of Y&R.  I’m talking 1980’s- Alden’s first couple of years.  

[BetterForgotten]

I also think Curlee would have written Ned/Lois (and Lois in general) a hell of a lot better than what we got from Guza. 

I think Marland would have enjoyed Y&R's corporate intrigue and messy family dynamics elements. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by BetterForgotten

[titan1978]

Totally agree.  Lois was a character Guza just did not get on a fundamental level.  I think he struggled with Lucy and Felicia as well.

 

[Bright Eyes]

James E. Reilly would hate Todd Manning, and we already know he loved Andrea Evans' Tina.

[soapfave06]

I would love to see what he would have done with Andrea's Tina. Hopefully different than Rebecca. 

Why do you say he would have hated Todd Manning? 

I also wonder what he would have done with the world's within Llanview- Eterna and Mendorra-and what new worlds he would created a la Maison Blanche, Aremid and the Paris underground. 

[DynamiteKiddo]

I would kill to know what Lorraine Broderick's plan was for "Days" in 1999 when she was hw for like 6 weeks or so between Sally Sussman Morina and Tom Langan.  And in more recent times, I would've loved to see her as hw after Gary Tomlin & Chris Whitesell in 2015.  For all of TomSell's faults, the show was pretty high quality on a daily basis (it was the overall vision that was the problem) and I want to credit Broderick as breakdown writer for that.

 

And I thought that Thom Racina, Susan Bedsow Horgan, and Jessica Klein were great on OLTL 2.0.  That show was so fresh and modern.  I would have loved to see what they'd come up with on another soap.

[Forever8]

Imagined if Pam Long was brought onto save Loving in 1994/1995. I think she would've done well with Lisa Peluso's Ava; she probably would've seen her as this show's "Reva Shayne" She also would've probably written most of the men on the canvas pretty well since she flourished in writing good male characters for the most part. Though, I'm curious about how she would've written the black canvas. The shows she has written for weren't sprawling with minority excellence. I also can see her bringing on a new family too since that was her specialty on the soaps she has been at too, and she would've probably done well with the Rescott's too. Pam might've brought on some more members of the family and gave focus on Kate running the boarding house again,

[MichaelGL]

I wonder what someone like Gary Tomlin/Chris Whitesell would've done with Santa Barbara. 

[Forever8]

I wonder how a Claire Labine led As The World Turns would've been?

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[Dion]

Perhaps because Reilly wrote Jack Deveraux out in 1993 (before recasting him the following year); killed him off in 2003 - only to bring him back for him to be presumed dead twice more during Reilly's second stint.

[Liberty City]

I think it would depend on who the executive producer was. Their first year together at Days of Our Lives was not necessarily bad... but I did find their writing lacked a lot and left much to be desired for.

It would have been... interesting. I think some pairings would have been made to shakeup the canvas, and I do believe Holden/Lily & Carly/Jack really would have been shaken up.

The fact Lorraine Broderick is not head writing a soap is disappointing, even though it's not her desire. She should have been the prime choice to helm the fiftieth anniversary after Tomlin and Whitesell were ousted, but, Ken Corday clearly felt bringing Dena Higley and Josh Griffith on was a smart decision... and look how that went.

I was not overly impressed with their stint at TOLN's production. In my opinion, Marlene McPherson & Elizabeth Snyder were stronger at All My Children.

[Faulkner]

I can imagine Claire leaning into screwball comedy with Jack/Carly. She loved hijinks between a crazy, kooky wild woman and a tsk-tsking man (like Lucy/Kevin or Lois/Ned—even though Jack wasn’t coded as strait-laced as those two.)

 

Edited July 19, 2021 by Faulkner

[Soaplovers]

Carly on ATWT would have been made Delia like imho if Labine had helmed the show...like she did with Blake on GL.

 

[DemetriKane]

Megan McTavish at Days could be an entertaining watch. I could see her succeeding there. I have longed thought of stints at AMC as generic Days rip-offs.

Edited July 19, 2021 by DemetriKane