Jump to content

Sally Sussman Morina Interview


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 74
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

I couldn't say it better myself. 

I'm tired of how Josh or CBS thinks we're only interested in the musical chairs of who is in and out as CEO. 

There's a lot that can be done within the confines of Jabot or Newman to get characters to interact and tell a decent business storyline; perhaps they can rip from the headlines with stories about how certain hair relaxers cause uterine cancer and kidney disease. Maybe Safra or Tuvia products cause this for customers, and they're faced with several lawsuits having characters that work at these companies plot to stop the fallout. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I do remember Sussman had tried to showcase some of these elements with Lauren's department store struggles..and joining in with Jabot as a way to save the company..with Phyllis helping with social media/web page updates for Fenmores.  As always..story was dropped.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Those are excellent ideas, but I bet CBS would be so scared of those types of stories.

I wonder how the interference plays out on B&B. Brad obviously doesn’t just get carte blanche to do whatever he wants; even HBO showrunners get their ideas nixed by network executives, and Patrick Mulcahey spoke at length about stories and even dialogue that got killed at the network notes stage. B&B has more “excitement” than Y&R—he leans on cheeseball soap clichés that the network seems to like—but there are also long stretches where things just don’t go anywhere and we’re seeing the same sets (Steffy’s office at FC, the Forrester mansion, Hope and Liam’s cottage) and hearing the same cut-and-paste dialogue. Then, all of sudden, there’s a flurry of activity where it feels like he’s saved up enough money to do something bigger. B&B is a small show and is known for those kinds of patterns, but it feels particularly pronounced now.

Edited by Faulkner
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks for summarizing the interview upthread. I tried to listen to The Chat once and commented to the hosts about how bad that podcast is and got blocked. Those hosts cannot take criticism. (Despite what they say). That said, I'm not surprised that Sally Sussman is a 'friend' to The Chat. As stated upthread, Sally Sussman has never had a successful stint as headwriter. She rode Bill Bell's coat tails for years and her own show flopped and Days' ratings dropped when she headwrote the show. Her last stint at Y&R was terrible and of course it was someone else's fault. Surely The Chat kissed her ass and didn't ask about her husband and it was so disgusting to read that they dissed Brad Bell to Sally Sussman. They would never do that to Brad's face. Sally's delusional if she thinks that her failed show Generations can be rebooted. A low rated soap opera from 30 years ago. Really Sally? I guess she needed to say something to still sound relevant. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

She talked a great deal about utilizing today's news.  She said back in the 1980s, when soaps were more "cutting edge", they weren't afraid to take a news story, incorporate it into a storyline, and examine it from all different angles, from the standpoint of how the various characters would react to the situation.  She indicated CBS is afraid of that now, and they'd rather stick with the evil twins, back-from-the-dead, and doppelganger type stories. 

She laughed about the 1985 storyline when Tyrone Jackson wore "whiteface" as Robert Tyrone; she said, "You couldn't do a story like that on network TV anymore."  She's right about that.  

Edited by Broderick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The idea of a radio soap is kind of cool but unless it’s of a much higher standard than what’s currently out there, I am not sure how it would work.

Podcast dramas are looking as if they may start to catch on though.

It seemed like SSM tried but I found much of her execution of writing the stories to be somewhat dry.

Thank goodness for that. That storyline was a mess!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Sally seems talented as a consultant and collaborator, contributing to a show with a solid structure. Generations was a bore but in hindsight was gold compared to the crap that ensued on the shows through to today.  No one could have successfully succeeded James Reilly on Days; he had ruined the show's narrative structure and its veterans, and the only outcome was to copy him which is why Broderick didn't make it and Langan wrote and controlled the show for so long.  Langan was a producer giving the honchos an updated version of Reilly.  Sally would have been good on Y&R if she had joined a powerhouse head writing team ala Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest. If CBS had been smart that's the show the Demorests should have been added to for the longterm under Alden/Smith etc.  That is, if the execs wanted to keep character and story intertwined and melodramatic. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I know Sally was thrown in at the deep end and had network interference but she had months to implement changes and a lot of what she offered was pretty mundane.

Jack and Nikki rekindling their affair for 5 minutes.

Scott Grainger.

SORASING Charlie and Mattie.

Sally said she liked GC Buzz which would have been the first thing that should have been dropped.

Victor v Nick

And so on...

Edited by Paul Raven
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Nothing will ever top Alden's The Takeover storyline from 1999. So many characters involved with consequences that lasted for years:

 

That really is a crippling thing to deal with. However, when you watch old episodes from the 90s and early 00s it isn't that there were that many extra sets, but they were much larger and between Newman, Jabot, the Abbott house, Chancellor mansion, Victor's ranch, Crimson Lights, and Gina's restaurant, they could write an effective show.

Jabot is the only business venue that 1) makes sense and 2) connects to the audience. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Here's the place to share some memorable criticism. You don't have to agree with it, of course (that's often where the fun starts). Like I mentioned to @DRW50, Sally Field was a favorite punching bag in the late '80s and early '90s.   Punchline (the 1988 movie where she and Tom Hanks are stand ups): "It's impossible to tell the difference between Miss Field's routines that are supposed to be awful, and the awful ones that are supposed to be funny." -- Vincent Canby, New York Times. "It's not merely that Field is miscast; she's miscast in a role that leaves no other resource available to her except her lovability. And (David) Seltzer's script forces her to peddle it shamelessly." -- Hal Hinson, Washington Post. "As a woman who can't tell a joke, Sally Field is certainly convincing. ... Field has become an unendurable performer ... She seems to be begging the audience not to punch her. Which, of course, is the worst kind of bullying from an actor. ... She's certainly nothing like the great housewife-comedian Roseanne Barr, who is a tough, uninhibited performer. Sally Field's pandering kind of 'heart' couldn't be further from the spirit of comedy." -- David Denby, New York
    • I tend to have two minds about Tawny (Kathy Najimy) fainting during Soapdish's big reveal. You're the costume designer, if anything, you should have known the whole time. I guess it's an application of what TV Tropes calls the "Rule of Funny." Every time I watch Delirious, I always want the genuine romance in John and Mariel's reunion at the deli counter to last longer. Film critics had their knives out for Sally in this period. I'll start a separate thread on the movies page.
    • I don't think so, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was Dumas this whole time.
    • Tamara Tunie was serving up grand dame diva fierceness.
    • Nick told Victoria that he and Sharon had married in England.  Victoria was shocked.  Then she realized he was kidding.  He confirmed it was a joke and they're platonic. I don't even know what to say about that.
    • It's funny you say that because part of the entertainment of the trials on the show are all the day players who come on as witnesses and jurors.  I'm certain it was like the Law and Order of its time. It employed so many New York actors, that if you look close enough, there's usually someone vaguely recognizable in the courtroom.
    • I will defend Dante.  People already suspect he may be a bit unstable from time to time (from his time as a prisoner).  And, he's taking care of other people's kids from time to time.  So, he has reason to be cautious with those in his care.
    • Josh continues to try and milk Abbott/Newman rivalry. First it was Billy/Victoria, then Kyle/Summer, then Noah/Allie (that worked out well) and now Kyle/Claire. Do we have any inkling when Billy Flynn will arrive and who he will play? I'm sure Cole's illness will mostly play offscreen. What's in store for Nick and Sharon? Is it time to put them back together? I can't see any other romantic options. Nick has no children on the canvas to play off, as Christian is never seen. Sharon has only Mariah onscreen.
    • I would appreciate (if they're not coming), for future scripts to refer to them by their iconic hairdos.  For example, if Hope needs to call Chelsea because Bo has Sepsis, I'd like Shawn-D to say, "My Mom called Chelsea (the one with the sassy short black hair) for an update." Also, new rule, if Melanie does return, she needs to dye her hair back to red.  I googled who she was five times during Victor's funeral.

      Please register in order to view this content

    • Broderick, thank you for all of the info [I edited for space]. I am so grateful for everyone filling in the blanks for me. I suspected the Nora/Eliot scene was very important and it was setting something up but I didn't know what. Can't wait to see it play out. The two actors had such a great back and forth. I should have made the Paige/Patty Hearst connection. I thought Paige was in love with Brian from the first episode I watched but it seemed as if they were brother and sister. Steve kept being affectionate with her so I assumed he was the love interest. Then she was affectionate with someone else and well..she's a very busy woman. I can't wait to see Frances Fisher show up. (I'm trying to be vague because I don't know what would be a spoiler in this storyline) Now it makes sense why Draper would be upset. I didn't get the whole background of why he didn't go to NY. I'm a sucker for good acting, so I might still side with April and Margo, if the writers don't give Draper more to do besides yelling.  He had more chemistry with Logan, but I know that's not happening.  Something else I noticed: the show really takes care with even the smallest parts. The acting is superb. Too often, I noticed on older soaps they don't take care with the recurring or day players (Ryan's Hope was so bad with this that I couldn't make it through some episodes). It's only been six episodes, but so far, the casting department was spot on.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy