GH: O’Connor/Van Etten OUT! Mulcahey/Korte IN!

[Liberty City]

Let me start with: I liked Dan O'Connor & Chris Van Etten as a head writing duo. They came in and really did shift the writing in a way that had been needed for quite some time. However, once COVID hit, the steam immediately left their station. Returning from the COVID break, instead of progressing storylines and possibly even factoring in the COVID-19 pandemic into the scripts (considering hey, this IS a hospital show), they picked right back up with the same storylines they went into the hiatus with. Timing and pacing is their issue: when they are given a time limit for executing a storyline (a.k.a. Emma Samms' one-month return) they shine. They have an A to Z plot point and they aren't allow room to change it. When they are on it they're on it, but when they are not.... it's all Hell breaking loose. The changes in storyline because audience figured it out (Cyrus / Pautauk leader being a female), the hold Hat Daddy had over the mob and his big secret, etc. were really messy, and proof they couldn't stay contained to a story timeline. And that ultimately is their negative. Plus, I also believe Nathan Varni and TPTB at Disney-ABC were paying attention during the strike material; fans were VOCAL about how much better-paced things had moved, and once O'Connor and Van Etten were returning, things immediately reverted and were being undone.

Patrick Mulcahey is a MAJOR WIN! He's someone whose name has been tossed around for a while. First in possible replacement of Josh Griffith on The Young and the Restless and then in general terms. He's smart, he's educated and he's worked some of the greats, so his input is needed. He is hard-headed and doesn't take the easy way out in his writing, and IF Disney-ABC allow him to do his job ⏤ and I am hoping they do, because you don't hire someone like Mulcahey and not allow them to do their job ⏤ this really could put General Hospital back on an amazing trajectory. His words have always reigned true to his passion for daytime. He is smart, and when John Conboy came onto Santa Barbara, Mulcahey left after the one and only meeting he had with him. That's the kind of energy we need: he won't be taking anyone's bullshït, which again, proves to me TPTB know what they're doing in hiring Mulcahey. In 2011, in an interview with Santa Barbara Online, he had this to say on the future of soaps: ❝ [That] soaps really don't have a future. We needed to change or die, and the only changes we made were for the worse. ❞

Also, this is a shining beacon of hope:

Elizabeth Korte I feel is a safety promotion; she's been there since 1994, and has remained through multiple regimes while Mulcahey had been misused on The Bold and the Beautiful, so she can be there for some kind of "continuity," which I don't feel is necessary. Plus, both Mulcahey & Korte worked together during his all-too-short time at General Hospital, and I am hoping her attention to playing favourites with characters is settled by Mulcahey, who I do feel is top dog in the head writing team.

I know it'll take time for the new material to shift, and I am willing to provide the appropriate time for both Mulcahey & Korte to fix things that need to be fixed. That being said, I am also happy to see a FEMALE head writer back in daytime, and while it is not the name I would have chosen, I am welcoming it cautiously.

Now, if only the "writer" could get canned from Days of Our Lives.

[Khan]

He did.  And he seemed to be satisfied with his (well-earned) retirement, too.

So, what did it take to lure him back, ABCD?  Creative autonomy, Bob Iger's spare yacht loaded down with cash, or both?

[John]

[DRW50]

Mulcahey is definitely a legend, and some of the posts here have made me more excited about his return (I don't hold his GL HW run against him - the show had been stomped into the ground by that point and JFP was just doing whatever to make her pets viable). I do feel like he either won't last long, or we are in a situation comparable to Lorraine Broderick returning to send AMC off.

[Vee]

In fairness, wasn't he also part of the Curlee, etc. writer corps at GL for many years before being promoted? Those were several brilliant years and I believe he's been credited with some big stuff - some of the blackout?

[Paul Raven]

Let's hope he gives a good honest interview soon.

Now that a precedent has been set,who is available to take over Y&R?

[DRW50]

He was, yes. I was mostly bringing up the HW stint as a more direct comparison.

[Vee]

I'll be stunned if Sony ever gives two shîts. But then I sure didn't expect this announcement either. What a wild, difficult and very occasionally joyous decade for soaps so far.

There was a rumor going round that Mal Young was lobbying to take back Y&R. But who knows if that's true.

Edited January 23, 2024 by Vee

[Vee]

I'm convinced @carolineg is still unconscious re: this news. I know I saw her hanging.

Edited January 23, 2024 by Vee

[BetterForgotten]

Mulcahey had said numerous times that his two runs at GL first under Marland and then under Curlee were the best runs he had from a consistent storytelling perspective in daytime. If he’s allowed to bring that type of theatrical quality back to daytime, it would be amazing. This may be the last hope I ever get of seeing that type of storytelling again in this medium as it currently exists. 

At SB, he admitted he wasn’t the fondest of most of the story material (especially after the Dobson’s were expelled and he was very dismissive of the much derided Anne Howard Bailey), but he was pretty much given carte blanche to do whatever he wanted and openly went against Bailey’s direction and got away with it. He mentioned Guza’s strong suit was being a good “manager” of writers at GH, so it will be interesting to see how he and Korte build out that writing staff. 

Edited January 23, 2024 by BetterForgotten

[Contessa Donatella]

I have the same problem. If it improves at any point I'll go back & FF to that point! Anyone? 

[Cat]

I'm excited about this news. For SO long we have seen mediocrity rewarded in Daytime and bad HWs fail upwards into another HW position. For decades, what I would have given to see Mulcahey co-head-write GH! Well, now we've got him. I imagine, if he's coming out of retirement, that this is a labor of love for him. I'm cool with that. I'm cool with this announcement being an experiment, and one that may not work in its entirety. I know Mulcahey is best known as an insanely talented breakdown writer. I assume Korte will be there to provide structure and SL continuity. I'm happy to take it. Soaps having nothing to lose, and if I gain some great scripts and less of Frank's 15-second zip-zip scenes of nothingness, I'll be thrilled.

[MichaelGL]

Sadly, in the back of my mind, this is what I'm thinking as well. However I will take it at face value for now and be optimistic that Patrick and Elizabeth can get the show back to where it belongs, thus reinstating ABC's faith in the show for years to come. 

Unpopular opinion but I feel that not only is B&B a a place for retiring talented daytime writers, but so was DAYS with Richard & Carolyn Culliton, and Lorraine Broderick. 

I will say this about Dan and Chris, they had me GLUED to my screen during the Cyrus hostage situation with Laura/Porsha/Trina. That was their peak and I will always appreciate the fact that they for a short period of time reinvigorated my interest in a US daytime soap this day and age. They had some good moments; Jason/Brit, Ava's stalking, Spencer's return, and quite a few more. If anything I do hope at least Dan finds another show to write for so we can see what his writing is like without the influence of a meddling network and a EP who's biases are as clear as day. 

 

Edited January 23, 2024 by MichaelGL

[Contessa Donatella]

“Soap operas only really tell two kinds of stories: romances and family stories. On a really good show, solidly structured, the two are blended: the romances are family stories.” — Patrick Mulcahey

[titan1978]

Can we dare to dream that Finn’s days are numbered?

I was reading a post online and the poster was so happy, and then listed how great it will be for PM to write for Franco and Julian, who will surely be brought back. Yeah no, those days are done.