ALL: Bad Moves by Well Regarded Soap Writers/EPs

[DRW50]

The show's obsession with Todd snuffed out much of the rest of her family. Just another reason that character, along with Viki's sexual abuse story, cast such a pall on OLTL's last years. 

Much as I loved Jessica Tuck's work, Ghost Megan should not have been the most compelling member of the family 20 years after her death.

Edited November 19, 2024 by DRW50

[Khan]

Hell, even David Chisum seemed to be having some fun there for a moment, portraying a man who was new to sex but apparently not to ab crunches.

[titan1978]

Erica stealing Maria’s child was a pretty low point.

[BetterForgotten]

I agree that the way Jill sometimes spoke to Mamie did have some racial undertones that I can see clearly now as I’m older. She was dismissive of Esther, too, but I always felt she had a visceral hatred for Mamie.

I stumbled across this promo, and when a white woman speaks of a black woman “knowing her place” it does take on a totally different meaning/undertone, whether that was the intention or not. 

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[Faulkner]

I also feel that Esther was played as a light comic character much of the time. Mamie wasn’t. So Jill’s treatment of Mamie landed more harshly for me. Plus, VR’s Mamie was more of a threat to Jill on multiple fronts throughout their history and an “equal” from an intellectual standpoint, so the undermining and disrespect hit differently.

Edited November 19, 2024 by Faulkner

[1974mdp]

I was somewhat surprised in reading her autobiography that she never once mentioned Loving. I think a few words on why she thought it didn't ultimately have the success as her other two shows would have been very interesting insight.

[Khan]

Agnes Nixon gave us the inside scoop on why she left SEARCH FOR TOMORROW after the first thirteen weeks, but zip on LOVING.  Between that, Douglas Marland's decision to leave in '85 and have his name removed as co-creator, and Patrick Mulcahey's somewhat cryptic statements about the show on social media, something tells me LOVING was not a very pleasant experience for anyone involved.

I'd agree.  I've long suspected that the network, knowing about Erica and Maria's rivalry, forced the storyline on Lorraine Broderick, who attempted to root Erica's choice to steal Maria's baby in her own issues with daddy Eric.  Unfortunately, I don't think there was any way to justify her doing that; and in fact, I'd argue that it might've damaged Erica and diminished her somewhat in AMC's final years.

I agree.

And I will go to my grave detesting Viki's DID storyline, bravura performances and writing be damned.

[Vee]

Though again, she did keep going back and kept her hand heavily in at several times. So clearly Agnes had some fondness for it. I suspect of its original creatives she's the only one who did.

[titan1978]

It was two years of brilliant storytelling that the show never really lived up to after. They didn’t know what to do with her immediately after. Her therapy story wasn’t central and was botched. And then they would trot out Nikki Smith like it was the 80’s again.

I think what they did with Jessica later was just beyond disgusting. They really trashed ES’s character with DID as a catch all excuse, and only Slezak’s innate class and intelligence saved Viki when the writing and show let her character down returning to that well.

I love that Robin Strasser constantly brought up that she still beloved and played that Dorian killed Victor, even when the show moved it to Viki. She wasn’t afraid to play a murderer, even when she was not the one playing it.

[Liberty City]

Exactly. Agnes Nixon developed the bible for All My Children during her time as head writer at Guiding Light, and tried selling the soap to both NBC & CBS, and then again to NBC via Procter & Gamble. Unable to sell it, she tabled it.

She used pieces of her All My Children bible during her stint on Another World, and Rachel Davis was created through her vision of what Erica Kane would be. ABC sought out Nixon to create a soap opera, noticing the success of her Another World stint. That's where One Life to Live came from and, following that success, she brought All My Children to the table.

And Children was the only soap (that I am aware of) where she served as executive producer, so it's clear, to me, that was her ultimate passion project from day one. Doesn't mean she doesn't love the others she was involved with, but it's very clear that Children held the apple of her eye.

[Vee]

Niki and the alters should never have been back after '95.

[asafi]

Yes, it is unfortunate that Denise Alexander, who portrayed Susan Martin, left Days of Our Lives in 1973, and her character wasn't mentioned for decades afterward. Susan was a significant figure in the show, especially with the emotional and dramatic arcs surrounding her and her son, Dickie.

[BetterForgotten]

I wish some of that storyline could be posted somewhere (the DAYS archive exists, so it’s available). GL told the same story with Meta on radio years before, and those radio episodes are every bit, if not more, gripping than anything I’ve ever seen on television. 

DAYS seemed to have bad luck with recasts and those characters delved into almost irrelevance after popular actresses left. Flannery and Alexander in particular went on to more notable roles in daytime that seemed to erase their previous success on DAYS from public consciousness. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I would suggest that this is an excellent topic/thread. I would further suggest that the most egregious thing listed here is the Unabortion, the second most egregious is Todd at OLTL because it wasn't just a rape, it was a gang rape & that leads us to #3 which is the Seduction relabeling of a rape.

The soap journo Lynda Hirsch told me that Pat Falken Smith was herself very uncomfortable with it as a stratagem or rationale for pursuing Romantic Luke & Laura. She went along with it because it was her job to do so. She was very aware of being the single parent of a teen daughter knowing that her income was not just an issue for her alone. What she described was a situation where everyone was in favor of the romance, there was just this very thorny problem of the violent rape at the disco. I think we can all imagine that. We know of Genie's discomfort. We know of Lesley Charleson's objection to it. There very well may have been others. Personally I am satisfied with the way GH chose to deal with it, even though it was many years after the fact. And, I admire the job Michele Val Jean did in writing the story when they revisited it. 

[Marco Dane]

From watching Niki in the 80's to watching her in the 90's. Do you really think that was "Niki". She seemed more subdued and softer than the wild 90's version of her. I always said its two Niki's on OLTL..