Wow! I was just reading ATWT's page at Wikipedia and it seems the late 90s were TERRIBLE for ATWT! I had no idea that the show was every this bad. According to this article, it was the worst show on television.

Can people watching the show in the late 90s tell me how it was? This is very good for Days, it is currently one of the worst shows on TV, but if Hogan could save ATWT he should do great at Days!

Here's the part about the late 90s...

The program entered a period of decline and creative crisis under Valente and successive writing teams led briefly by veteran soap scribe Richard Culliton in 1995 and then in 1996 by Stephen Black and Henry Stern. Early in this period, Culliton did write one of the more popular and acclaimed stories of the post-Marland era, when Lisa took John Dixon to court due to her wrongful belief that her husband (Eduardo Grimaldi, played by Nicolas Coster) had died under John's care (the real culprit was Damian's mother, Orlena Grimaldi (played by Claire Bloom and then Lynn Milgrim) who had killed Eduardo because he knew that Orlena was not Damian's biological mother). The battle banded Kim to her ex-husband John and Bob to his ex-wife Lisa, as well as Margo (played since 1989 by Ellen Dolan) with her father John and Tom (played since 1987 by Scott Holmes) with his mother Lisa, with decades of history being utilized to great effect. John lost his medical license for a time and to get revenge, he courted Lisa. Then, during their engagement party, he sent a taped message dumping her, embarrassing her in front of the entire town. (John and Lisa later reconciled after he and Barbara Ryan {during one of her many times divorced from Hal Munson} rescued her when she was kidnapped by Martin Chedwyn {Simon Prebble}, who had forced her to marry him and then held her captive on his yacht as part of a plot to smuggle assets out of Hong Kong before the government changeover in 1997.)

As the Valente period progressed, however, most of the show was handed over to new characters, including a physical therapist/terrorist and a shrieking supermodel. Of the slew of new characters created in 1996, only one, Kasnoff family friend and neurosurgeon Ben Harris (Peter Parros) had staying power. Veterans were generally ignored, or given bizarre stories about adultery in treehouses or dealings with neo-Nazi gunrunners. By late 1996, industry reports emerged suggesting that the 40-year old soap was operating without any long-term story projections, and media observers were describing this former Emmy-winning crown jewel of daytime drama as not only the worst daytime soap, but arguably the worst program then being produced in all of American television.

Was it during this time period where there was some ridiculous murder mystery and nobody in the audience cared at all? I read it in SOD I think.

Well, that's a slanted view. It's not totally inaccurate, the Diego mystery was a huge mess, as well as the modelPaul/Sarah/Zoe days. Not to mention, fauxConner aka Susan Batten and fauxMargo Glynnis O'Conner. It didn't seem quite as dramatically bad at the time though.

And it wasn't Hogan who rescued the show. Lorraine Broderick started in '97 (till Aug 99), and Holden returned to rescue Lily from Diego's clutches, which was a bang up story.

If you're looking for reassurances about Hogan, you won't get them from me. Great first year...retreads after that. He hates supercouples. He doesn't do business, he doesn't do social issues. Decent story beginnings....nonsensical endings. If something isn't working, it'll get a farcial wrap-up and never be mentioned again.

Good luck.

The show got pretty bad after Marland's death in 93. It did however get a lot better by 99 at least. ATWT really went through a significant dry spell in the 90's though, thankfully things were turned around. Now, I'd argue ATWT is the best written and most consistent soap, after Y&R.

As for Sheffer saving Days, we'll just have to wait and see. A lot of Sheffer's work on ATWT was hit and miss. I'd also argue ATWT has a much stronger cast than Days.

Also, I'd like to say Another World was probably in worse shape than ATWT in the 90's. I suspect if AW wasn't canceled, P&G would've hired Hogan to help "fix" AW first.

As for Sheffer saving Days, we'll just have to wait and see. A lot of Sheffer's work on ATWT was hit and miss. I'd also argue ATWT has a much stronger cast than Days.

Honestly, Sheffer is a better fit for DAYS than he *ever* was for ATWT IMO. Sheffer writes with a gothic, campy flair that is perfect for the present incarnation of DAYS.

Also, I'd like to say Another World was probably in worse shape than ATWT in the 90's. I suspect if AW wasn't canceled, P&G would've hired Hogan to help "fix" AW first.

Actually, Hogan was given a choice between GL and ATWT. He could have wound up at GL as its headwriter just as easily. I suspect that if AW was still on the air, Hogie would have still been given a choice between the three shows.

Yeah I agree that his style will work better at Days. The one thing he'll HAVE to change is his lack of use for the vets because the majority of Days' popular characters are over 40.

I have major problems with his time at ATWT as well, from what I saw. I thought his teens were TERRIBLE and yeah the show could be very campy. It STILL needs help, but i doubt it will get it.

I loved ATWT during that time.

Diego's murder was great, with good Emily scenes.

- Alex Walce (if im right) was murderd by Georgia (everyone supsected Margo)

- I loved the Katie and Molly stuff at WOAK, and the stalking thing and how it all went to the end.

- Abbgail and Chris where fun to watch (Kristian Sisco and then Paul Korver)

- I loved the Julia, Jack and Carly stuff

- Wasnt Molly introduced around 1997 when Lilly got in jail??

- I loved the David Stenback storyline.

I only hated the Andy, Ben and Denise stuff

The day I started, Holden and Julia were burying David Stenbeck after they thought they "killed" him. That one instance hooked me right away. There were slow points, but there were so many other great storylines as well.

Everything dayslover mentioned, I enjoyed with the exception of the Andy/Denise/Ben stuff. I instantly loved Andy, so anything he was involved with, I managed to enjoy.

I don't think Molly and Jake got together until 2000, but they were superb. Probably one of my all-time favorite ATWT couples. I never cared for Molly before or after Jake, but when they were together, they were amazing!

ATWT was so bad during the mid-to-late 90s. It was really frightening what had happened to the show.

Most of it was as a result of Marland's sudden death. For a few years, the show was doing okay b/c it had people who worked under Marland in control and they finished his storylines off.

The problems started when Valente became EP in 1995. He was the one who fired a lot of beloved actors and replaced them w/ no name characters and horrible re-casts.

The Black/Stern era was the worst in all of daytime. 1996 was the worst year ever, for any TV show IMO. This was when they had the Paul/Zoe/Sara crap, which was bad b/c, first off Zoe and Sara were pointless characters to begin w/. And secondly, the actor who played Paul Ryan at the time was AWFUL!! Seriously...the people who complain about Roger Howarth would be singing another tune if they saw him in a clip. Of course, there were very good storylines during this time, b/c otherwise the show would have been a lost cause, but the majority of 1996 was forgetable.

I think that Jessica Klein came after B/S, and she sucked too. The biggest storyline, from my memory, was when they brought back Damian, which proved to be a bust. They also brought back James Stenbeck, after Marland had written him off, several years ago. I remember one of the worst re-writes was when they brought David on the show. They could have made him the long-lost son of James and Lucinda, which would have proven to be a total shock and IMO provided a slew of storylines afterward, as well as provide a good source of history since the two actually did have a child that was said to have been miscarried; however, they only made him James' son and the storyline tapered off. Eventually, David was killed off.

I remember late-1997 had some pretty good storylines. I remember the two most heartwrenching storylines were when Kim had open-heart surgery and almost died, and then she was visited by her late-sister, Jennifer Ryan Hughes. It was so sad and touching. And then when Barbara and John lost their baby...another gut-wrenching storyline. Of course, they were effective b/c they involved core characters that we all cared about, as opposed to stupid characters played by talentless models.

The saving grace of the show was definitely Lorraine Broderick, who was HW in early 1998 to the middle of 1999. She was a very well-respected writer on AMC, and her tenure on ATWT often gets ignored b/c it was bookcased by such trash as B/S and Laiman. If it weren't for Broderick, there would have been no Sheffer b/c, IMO, ATWT would have been canned in 1999, instead of AW. That's JMO though, but I do think that there was a time when P&G had just given up on ATWT and was ready to see the show bury itself to the ground.

Broderick brought the show back to its roots by reopening the Hughes family. She did the storyline where Tom slept w/ Emily and got her pregnant, which caused a lot of drama for his marriage to Margo as well as the Hughes family itself. Other storylines that I remember:

--Parker's paternity.

--James and Lucinda's marriage

--The Faith/Hope storyline

-- Jack and Carly!!

--Hal and Barbara's reunion and, eventually, their third marriage

etc.

And then, somehow we went from having our show back to the Laiman years, which were almost as bad as B/S. This happened after AW was cancelled. Laiman was the HW for AW, and this is also when Goutman, who was the EP for AW, became EP for ATWT. And of course, my major gripe w/ it was that it looked like they were turning ATWT into AW, which I hated b/c, even though I loved AW and was sooooooooooo upset when it got cancelled, to me, ATWT and AW were like apples and oranges. Sure, they were sister soaps, but that didn't mean to take the AW cast and dump them in Oakdale.

And then, finally ATWT woke up and ditched Laiman for Sheffer, but I won't talk about his tenure b/c that was in 2000, and this is just about the 90s.

So, yes, ATWT was really bad in the 90s. Was it the worst show on TV? At one time, absolutely. But there were a lot of good parts about the show...it definitely wasn't a total failure after Marland's death. It definitely stumbled and was on the brink of cancellation, but every soap goes through waning period. After having such a good reign during the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and in the beginning of the 90s, to think that there were a handful of years where the show was bad is just a blip in the whole history of the show.

ATWT was so bad during the mid-to-late 90s. It was really frightening what had happened to the show.

Most of it was as a result of Marland's sudden death. For a few years, the show was doing okay b/c it had people who worked under Marland in control and they finished his storylines off.

The problems started when Valente became EP in 1995. He was the one who fired a lot of beloved actors and replaced them w/ no name characters and horrible re-casts.

The Black/Stern era was the worst in all of daytime. 1996 was the worst year ever, for any TV show IMO. This was when they had the Paul/Zoe/Sara crap, which was bad b/c, first off Zoe and Sara were pointless characters to begin w/. And secondly, the actor who played Paul Ryan at the time was AWFUL!! Seriously...the people who complain about Roger Howarth would be singing another tune if they saw him in a clip. Of course, there were very good storylines during this time, b/c otherwise the show would have been a lost cause, but the majority of 1996 was forgetable.

I think that Jessica Klein came after B/S, and she sucked too. The biggest storyline, from my memory, was when they brought back Damian, which proved to be a bust. They also brought back James Stenbeck, after Marland had written him off, several years ago. I remember one of the worst re-writes was when they brought David on the show. They could have made him the long-lost son of James and Lucinda, which would have proven to be a total shock and IMO provided a slew of storylines afterward, as well as provide a good source of history since the two actually did have a child that was said to have been miscarried; however, they only made him James' son and the storyline tapered off. Eventually, David was killed off.

I remember late-1997 had some pretty good storylines. I remember the two most heartwrenching storylines were when Kim had open-heart surgery and almost died, and then she was visited by her late-sister, Jennifer Ryan Hughes. It was so sad and touching. And then when Barbara and John lost their baby...another gut-wrenching storyline. Of course, they were effective b/c they involved core characters that we all cared about, as opposed to stupid characters played by talentless models.

The saving grace of the show was definitely Lorraine Broderick, who was HW in early 1998 to the middle of 1999. She was a very well-respected writer on AMC, and her tenure on ATWT often gets ignored b/c it was bookcased by such trash as B/S and Laiman. If it weren't for Broderick, there would have been no Sheffer b/c, IMO, ATWT would have been canned in 1999, instead of AW. That's JMO though, but I do think that there was a time when P&G had just given up on ATWT and was ready to see the show bury itself to the ground.

Broderick brought the show back to its roots by reopening the Hughes family. She did the storyline where Tom slept w/ Emily and got her pregnant, which caused a lot of drama for his marriage to Margo as well as the Hughes family itself. Other storylines that I remember:

--Parker's paternity.

--James and Lucinda's marriage

--The Faith/Hope storyline

-- Jack and Carly!!

--Hal and Barbara's reunion and, eventually, their third marriage

etc.

And then, somehow we went from having our show back to the Laiman years, which were almost as bad as B/S. This happened after AW was cancelled. Laiman was the HW for AW, and this is also when Goutman, who was the EP for AW, became EP for ATWT. And of course, my major gripe w/ it was that it looked like they were turning ATWT into AW, which I hated b/c, even though I loved AW and was sooooooooooo upset when it got cancelled, to me, ATWT and AW were like apples and oranges. Sure, they were sister soaps, but that didn't mean to take the AW cast and dump them in Oakdale.

And then, finally ATWT woke up and ditched Laiman for Sheffer, but I won't talk about his tenure b/c that was in 2000, and this is just about the 90s.

So, yes, ATWT was really bad in the 90s. Was it the worst show on TV? At one time, absolutely. But there were a lot of good parts about the show...it definitely wasn't a total failure after Marland's death. It definitely stumbled and was on the brink of cancellation, but every soap goes through waning period. After having such a good reign during the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and in the beginning of the 90s, to think that there were a handful of years where the show was bad is just a blip in the whole history of the show.

The church says Amen.

LOL. I had a feeling my post would be long when my mind starting going. Anyway, I'm sure that there are other posters who can explain what happened better than I can. I was really young then...even though back when I was 7, I already knew that ATWT was my favorite show. Back then I didn't even care about the writing staff and changes, but when I look back, I can tell when the changes occurred.

Anyway, I'd be really hesitant to name Sheffer as the saving grace of Days. Like I mentioned, I wouldn't consider him the one who saved ATWT from cancellation. Broderick gets that recognition from me. I seriously believe that her tenure, albeit brief, helped the show tremendously. Considering that she was HW from 1998-1999, I think it's more than a coincidence that it was while she was HW that AW got cancelled. I'm sure that P&G wanted to can one of its soaps, and since GL was actually okay then (I think it was slowly declining after Maureen Bauer's death in 1993, but not as badly as the other two), that they were going to choose between ATWT and AW. Had ATWT kept Klein or hired an even worse HW, it would have been the one axed, not AW.

Sheffer was the one who boosted the show's ratings and made the show an Emmy-darling; however, his tenure IMO had more failure than success when you look at the whole picture. Sure, 2000 and IMO most of 2001 was really good, but 2002-2005 (when he was replaced) were not so hot. In fact, the show was kind of like a half-and-half: half of the storylines were really good and half were awful. And basically, it was the former half that kept me viewing, and the latter half that had me FFing or changing the channel.

I believe that Laiman was the one who started backburnering the vets; however, Sheffer didn't help the situation at all. If he should learn one thing from ATWT, it's that viewers want to see older characters, no matter what the network says. One of his later storylines that sticks out was the Dr. Death storyline b/c it prominently featured the veteran cast.

Anyway, I do think his writing style is better-suited for Days. I think ATWT fans tired of the over-the-top dramatics and campy storylines after they wore off their freshness. Some of his storylines were too out there. Also, he really can't write for teens...I think Passanante is a lot better at writing teen storylines than Sheffer was. So we'll have to see how he does at Days. I hope for the best.

I'm just curious. Who do ATWT fans think was the better writer for the show, Sheffer or Passanante?

I only saw Sheffer's final two or years and they weren't enjoyable, IMO. I mean, I liked a lot about it (mainly the stuff with Rick) but on the whole, it just didn't appeal to me.

OMG, I totally just remembered an actually good storyline from 1995-1996: John and Lisa! I think Richard Culliton created that storyline, and then Black and Stern trashed it when she got kidnapped by that guy that she was forced to marry, and then John and Barbara had to rescue her.

Their romance was so good, especially since we all knew that John was just dating her as revenge for when she sued him over Edurado's death and he lost his medical license. I loved it when he dumped her over the television screen...hilarious!! One of the most classic moments on ATWT history. I loved them together. They were both such larger-than-life characters, and you knew that their romance would wind up blowing up in both their faces, but the whole thing was so entertaining!

What I wouldn't give to see a John/Lisa sequel, and have Lisa take revenge out on him for publically embarrassing her. I'm sure she'd do something over-the-top, like have an airplane write something nasty in the sky for everyone to read.

I'm just curious. Who do ATWT fans think was the better writer for the show, Sheffer or Passanante?

I only saw Sheffer's final two or years and they weren't enjoyable, IMO. I mean, I liked a lot about it (mainly the stuff with Rick) but on the whole, it just didn't appeal to me.

I loved Sheffer but he did have some wild storylines that were quite bizarre: The Sweedish Spa (which I actually liked); swashbuckling in Scotland; teens on the run, Avanya w/ 2 Simons; Malta with Damien's brother Dante, etc. I just liked that he wasn't hesitant to take a chance and try something new and different, rather than going down the same path over and over again. Unfortunately, there weren't that many stories that worked for long, but they knew to put them out to pasture rather quickly and never mention them ever again!

Okay, I actually liked the spa storyline. In fact, I actually kind of understood Barbara and James' rationale behind it. I think Barbara going crazy was more understandable than Emily going crazy. I mean, Carly stole Barbara's company, Emily stole the love of Barbara's life, and well...to both James and Barbara, Rose wasn't good enough for Paul. I mean, it was so campy and OTT, like when Jack and Craig teamed up together to find Carly and when James brainwashed Hal, and of course, Barbara dressed up in black all the time living in Fairwinds, and all that crazy stuff.

Besides, it was such a creative way to get Kelley and Maura out on maternity leave. And while they were both pregnant, they got to chill out in bathrobes and eat strawberries. It must have been heaven for them.

But yeah, after a while, the campiness wore off. It just got to be too much.

I think that in terms of the first year, Sheffer's was better than Passanante's. But Hogan's tenure overall wasn't that impressive. He ran out of steam after the first year, whereas I think Jean has been consistent: she creates really big storylines and the fall-out is always amazing, but in between it kind of drags.