I can't compliment Sheldon on any of his plots. The Logan murder mystery was but a shadow of Edge's best and Tom Tammi had non of Joe Lambie's appeal. Joe probably refused to return once he watched an episode or two (or talked to Sharon Gabet) even though he took a contract role not long after at replacement SFT Lloyd. Sheldon poorly handled the aftermath of Nicole's death by having Miles get the hots for Chris (triangle with Derek). Jennifer again was a poor imitation of Frances Fisher/Deborah. When Sheldon developed the Beth story it was about a 40 year old woman virgin. It was juvenile. Erwin said what he said in the interview but the fact was that EON had severe budget cuts starting months before Henry left and Henry was being paid top dollar and you can be sure Sheldon was getting close to minimum for a daytime head writer at the time. This move was about budget in the final few years. At the time Henry was fired, the show also went from 17-19 contract players to 14 or 15. They lost Mark Arnold and Lori Loughlin within Sheldon's first six months. I remember watching during the final 18 months and screaming at the television. And I was young (in college). Each day I saw ways the stories could have played/characters connected etc. Imagine if Sheldon had tied Shelly and the Van Dynes to the Whitneys. Perhaps Alicia could have been Geraldine's daughter that she gave up for adoption and Shelly was Alicia's daughter who she gave up. Shelly and Alicia could have wreaked havoc on Sky/Raven and Jody/Preacher. I always thought the actress who played Shelly had potential as a vixen. She was a bit green but by far the best contract hire by Whitney Burnett (casting director who had done a phenomenal job over the years with the exception of the first gay Kelly oh Lord that child!).
As far as head writers, it is difficult to know who could have replaced Henry. Perhaps, if Sheldon was the best selection at the time they needed to promote Kibbee to story consultant or co-head (or bring in a former P&G head writer to train Sheldon on plotting and story arcs) and bring in qualified script writers. But ultimately Erwin Nicholson failed IMO; he was so used to Henry's sheer brilliance that he didn't know how to limit, advise and direct Sheldon. He also needed to update some of the key sets by hiring a new set designer. He tried with some sets but the main locations (police station, penthouse, Karr house were 70s) were drab. And don't get me started on the new opening/closing. That was the true sign that Erwin had lost his way, getting rid of the skyline for that ridiculous color splash and the sunset scene over the closing. Tragic but indicative of a show that had lost its soul.
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VelekaCarruthers ·
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