THE JOURNAL-NEWS, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1982 Gannett News Service

Scriptwriter suds the soaps to keep listeners tuned in.

By KEN BURROWS

SCOTTY: “Pretty neat suitcase, huh?”

ROMAN: “Where did you find it?”

CARRIE: “It’s Mommy’s!”

ROMAN: “Yours?” . .

ANNA: “Yes. (A bit hesitant). It was the one thing I could grab when we left the ship.” (Scotty swings it up off the floor, and it hits the sofa with a bang. The back breaks open and $10,000 in packets comes tumbling onto the floor Roman stares at the money.)

ROMAN: “Anna...” (Anna is stunned.)

ANNA: (A shocked whisper) “My God”

ROMAN; “There must be thousands of dollars there! Anna, where did you get that money?” (Anna is frightened and in shock. Bridge to commercial.)

This closing scene from a recent episode of NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” represents the typical cliff-hanger or hook intended to entice viewers back for the next episode. The dialogue is the work of Sheri Anderson, 34, the program’s associate head writer. “You have to have something in each show that makes it necessary to tune back for the next,” Anderson said. The daytime soaps are very competitive and if viewers begin to lose interest in what’s happening, they will tune out and watch something else, she said. As one of four writers for “Days of Our Lives,” Anderson is involved in developing long-term storylines, works on outlines for future episodes and writes two episodes a week. “Putting together the pieces is like a gigantic puzzle.” She uses a “flow chart” to keep track of the number of appearances an actor makes which are contractual necessities. “The chart also cross references characters as to what happened to them in a particular week so we will have some idea of what might happen next. It’s sort of a science to produce.”

“Days of Our Lives” recently observed its 16th year on the air and remains one of NBC’s top rated daytime dramas. Unlike many other daytime soaps, it appeals to an older audience because “the characters have grown up with the show and the main characters are in their 30s, 40s, even 50s.” MacDonald Carey, for example, who plays the lead as Tom, is 69 years old. “But we are trying to make it a well-rounded show and have added some younger people to the cast,” Anderson said. Asked why some actors get “better lines” than others, she said “some characters are more interesting to write for than others.”

Anderson said daytime soaps have gained “some respectability” during the last few years partly because of improvements in production quality. , , “‘I think most people would agree that there is more to daytime television now than simply a vehicle for advertisers to sell soap.” Another factor that has helped boost popularity is the increasing popularity of such nighttime dramas as “Dallas” and “Knots Landing.”

“Daytime drama interest by youngsters has helped, too. It has become a sort of cult.” She also said the large amount of national publicity devoted to soaps has helped boost their acceptance, but she dislikes the inroads that some celebrities are making in the daytime shows. Such well-known personalities as Elizabeth Taylor and Carol Burnett have been featured in the soaps. “I don’t like this because it interrupts the reality we are trying to develop,” she said. Anderson, who also was on the writing staff of ABC’s “General Hospital,” said writing is a time consuming job. She works a full day Monday through Friday and two or three evenings a week developing new scripts What can viewers anticipate on future episodes of “Days of Our Lives’’ Anderson, who penned the now-famous Luke and Laura rape sequence on “General Hospital” a few years ago, smiled and said: ‘ Well, there’s a major wedding in the works, and viewers should keep their eyes on Mickey Horton (John Clark) ” , Stay tuned

5 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Such well-known personalities as Elizabeth Taylor and Carol Burnett have been featured in the soaps. “I don’t like this because it interrupts the reality we are trying to develop,” she said.

I don't know whether I would agree with her there. I think having celebrities appear on soaps - either as themselves, or as characters created especially for them - is fine as long as it makes sense, story-wise. There's a difference between Liz Taylor popping in as OG Helena Cassadine for a few episodes and Peter Stormare showing up last year (or was it year before last?) in that odd, throwaway cameo as his VG character.