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

[Vee]

I've already lived that test. This is gravy to me.

[titan1978]

Well this is big news. Not just because it’s a huge change, but Mulcahey is an actual good writer. Frank will have his hands full working out new ways to schedule, because those scripts are going to have character beats again, and more than likely they are going to breathe again which means longer scenes instead of everything cut to pieces like it is now.

Now if Karen Harris had been named his co-hw, I might have passed out. Or if he convinced his good friend Nancy Curlee to join the team in any capacity. I also can only imagine a stronger overall team of supporting writers, maybe even some great script writers!

[Vee]

That would've been apeshît. I've been praying for her for years, I never dreamed Mulcahey would come out of the B&B retirement laurels. The scuttlebutt that other writers may be tossed is interesting.

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, yeah, Nancy Curlee is my next wish right after Mulcahey, although I also wish Bradley Bell would fire Mulcahey's good friend Michele Val Jean. (Not that I want her to have a bad experience, just so she could return to GH now.)

One other thing that I think Patrick Mulcahey will bring to the GH Writer's Room that I believe has been lacking, and this is something that has to come from the top, and that is discipline. 

[titan1978]

B&B is like where talent goes for a retirement!

[Vee]

That's if he gets his way. Frank has been very fond of the bite-size scenes for almost 20 years. His mid-late aughts demographic focus determined that. I'm curious to see how they gel if at all.

As I said a few pages ago! B&B is the retirement camp where great writers go to chill with a paycheck, that's Brad Bell's fiefdom. Which is why I never expected MVJ or others to return, let alone Mulcahey. Who wants to work?

Edited January 23, 2024 by Vee

[titan1978]

Well for all their boring faults, Passanante/Alden wrote longer scenes and he didn’t edit them to death like he does now. It was even one of the things Jean said had to happen for them to agree to take the job. Now we are not talking long scenes like we had with Labine and Guza. But not the quick cuts he usually does either.

[Vee]

I don't know that I agree with that; I don't recall much difference then or now, let alone beforehand under Ron's tenure. Long scenes were few and far between. But it is definitely even more the norm now.

[titan1978]

What I love about this news is nobody would ever consider Mulcahey a generic writer. And we have had a lot of that on these shows in the last decade +. 

Edited January 23, 2024 by titan1978

[DeliaIrisFan]

I didn't realize Korte was disliked online.  I didn't even realize she was still at GH until I tuned in for Bobbie's memorial and spotted her name in the credits.  I just assumed she had left with all the other writers who worked with the Labines back in the '90s.  I too had goodwill toward her based on that history.

Mulcahey's experience as one of the revolving doors of co–head writers at GL gives me pause, but agreed there were other factors.  Of course, some of those factors seemingly apply to GH 30 years later.  It is curious that GH offered and he agreed.  In fact, it's been so long since any "big name" hire behind the scenes at a soap, probably because there are so few left from the genre's golden/silver eras.

I wonder to what extent the issues that reportedly drove most all talented head writers out of the genre in the late '90s and '00s are still in play.  I can't imagine any networks' daytime divisions are still top-heavy enough for the execs to micromanage the way they seemed to be doing a quarter century ago.  And the remaining soaps take so much time hiring or firing any of the last producers/writers left standing (if the dates in this article are correct, Van Etten's been head writer at GH for almost as long as Doug Marland was at ATWT) that I can't imagine the suits are frantically chasing something new every other week to try get the ratings/demos back up to some unachievable pre-modern level.  That's probably because the networks have given up all hope, which is no cause for celebration, but maybe that leaves a little room for someone with talent and vision to do something good for however much time they have left.

All that is to say, this is genuinely exciting news to me.  And I was just thinking during the Bobbie episodes how many great characters (and/or their grown children) are still viable.  I'll have to keep an eye on this show, for the first time in decades.  Although if GH is trying to get the band back together again, I think Michele Val Jean should have gotten an offer (is she still at B&B?).

Edited January 23, 2024 by DeliaIrisFan

[Vee]

Would not shock me if she jumped.

[DeliaIrisFan]

WOW...

Edited January 23, 2024 by DeliaIrisFan
I had quoted the wrong post originally.

[BetterForgotten]

I only hope Mulcahey gets the support from ABC and Valentini he deserves. He’s not afraid to quit when he doesn’t agree with the political atmosphere at these shows (like GL and his last stint at GH). 

I wonder what it took for him to agree to do this job. I hope he got some guarantees from ABC to properly execute his vision. Or did he take the job for the money/health insurance? I guess we’ll see with time.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2024 by BetterForgotten

[DeliaIrisFan]

I meant as part of the head writing team, but if I read she was back onboard in just about any capacity I'd be even more interested than I already am.

Edited January 23, 2024 by DeliaIrisFan

[Toups]

I too would love to see MVJ back at GH.  But she would have to choose between job security at B&B over possibly just a short term stint back at GH (because we truly don't know how long this Mulcahey/Korte regime will last).   Do you like knowing you'll have a job for many years to come, but writing dialogue for crappy stories, or do you want to write scripts for better stories but you might not have that job for long.  LOL 

 

And yeah, it will be interesting to see if Mulcahey and Korte will be allowed to bring in some of their people as part of their staff.