In the GL thread, several posters speculated about how Nancy Curlee would have written GH had she succeeded Claire Labine in the mid-‘90s as planned. Lots of comments about how well she would have carried the baton with the female characters, the Bobbie/Carly relationship (parallels to Holly/Blake on GL), and navigating Luke’s nefarious history (similar to Roger).

That inspired me to start this thread, which is a game we’ve all played over the years in various discussions: imagine how certain HWs would have tackled stories on a soap at any particular point in time. Which characters would they spark with or have trouble with? Which problems would they have solved or potentially made worse? You could, say, envision what Kay Alden would have done with AMC (had she taken over as HW in the mid-2000s).

Or, more fantastically, how would a still-living Doug Marland write GH if he were to return to the show today, with the characters currently on the canvas? Which characters would he do well with (certainly Brando might leap out as a classic Hutch-like himbo)? Who would be his Lily or Nola? Joss? Sasha? (God help him if those were his choices.) Trina? Maxie/Brook Lynn? How would he rehabilitate his (now totally gutted) Quartermaine family, especially with the dubious introduction of Austin/RH into the fold?

What would a Megan McTavish (shudder) Y&R look like if she were Josh Griffith’s clean-up woman and still had to keep a slim budget? An Agnes Nixon B&B (which I can’t wrap my head around—Jim Reilly, sure)? 

5 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

On the flip side I have always wondered how Marland would’ve done if he ever had to take over Y&R.

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.  

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, 20214 yr by BetterForgotten

1 hour ago, BetterForgotten said:

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.

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.

 

3 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

I would love to see what Reilly would have done with OLTL in the late-90s had he gone there from DAYS. I love everything DAYS I have seen from 1993-96 (I think it got less balanced by 1997 plus the multiple recasts) 

I especially would love to see what he would have done with Viki and Dorian and I think he would have kept the diverse roots intact. 

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

41 minutes ago, Bright Eyes said:

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

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. 

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.

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,

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

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

11 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

Why do you say he would have hated Todd Manning? 

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.

57 minutes ago, MichaelGL said:

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

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.

53 minutes ago, Forever8 said:

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

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.

6 hours ago, DynamiteKiddo said:

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.

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.

6 hours ago, DynamiteKiddo said:

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.

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.

1 hour ago, Liberty City said:

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

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.)

2 hours ago, Forever8 said:

 

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

 

 

Edited July 19, 20214 yr by Faulkner

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

 

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, 20214 yr by DemetriKane

2 hours ago, DemetriKane said:

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.

I *wish* she had fücked off to DAYS circa ‘98 or so to avoid her trash OLTL and GH stints (which weren’t her worst work ultimately but still she shouldn’t be anywhere near a “traditional” soap).