Who do ATWT fans think was the better writer for the show, Sheffer or Passanante?

Sheffer hands down. The camp factor went way up when Passantante became the co-headwriter.

I found this write up of the the Sheffer era at ATWT, its a little old but its pretty accurate imho...

http://dimwitt.tripod.com/sew4.html

I agree. I think that Sheffer was better w/ Culliton, and not Passanante. You could totally tell in the quality of the writing.

The spa storyline was campy, over-the-top, etc., but I looked at it as something different and fun, though slightly crazy. But where they went wrong was that they continued to do these bizarre storylines. Scotland, Avanya, all of the crap involving Katie. Even the Rick storyline was out there: a doctor murdering patients at Memorial? Since when did the hospital become on the same level as the OPD? Honestly, Bob and John took care of that hospital for decades. It was a little off-putting that all of a sudden it becomes a crime scene.

It's interesting that that site mentioned how Marie Masters used to be a script writer for the show, but they dumped her so that she could act more. I agree that she was probably the best script writer at the time b/c she understood the history of the show a lot better than the rest. Also, during the Dr. Death storyline, she did get a lot more airtime, but we all know that that didn't last.

So yeah, the writing staff changes affected the show a lot more than I think people realized. Of course, most of the blame is going to be put on Sheffer, but I think he was only partially responsible for the decline in quality. There should have been someone there to tell him, "Look, these storylines are too outrageous! We need to calm them down a little bit." But I'm sure that Passanante just approved of everything, and even suggested a lot of the stupid storylines, and that Goutman figured that if Sheffer could get the show its first writing Emmy as well as its first Emmy for Outstanding Drama in 10 years, then he would do no wrong.

Who was better for the show: Hogan or Pissy?

Hogan, but not because he was some "savior" who "reinvigorated" the show. (I'd give that credit to Carolyn Culliton, his co-head for that first year, 'cause after she left and Pissy entered, the show got stale...) What Hogan brought to the show was PUBLICITY. The mags fell all over themselves to get an interview with him, and he played it for all it was worth. They adored him, and suddenly the show was declared "must see tv". He got emmys (which is part travesty, considering Doug Marland earned ONE as ATWT head writer, and the show was 100x better under his guidance) and the mags lapped it up. He got that NewYorker article. Yadda yadda. (There's got to be some kind of acknowledgement of Goutman in all this....he's tried "out of the box" things like the "College Tour", the "Morning Show" auditions, "Oakdale Confidential", stand alone eppys, etc. They might not all be successful, but for CBS, it's progressive.)

No one's busting their butt to get an interview with Granny Jean.

As for Days and Hogan being a better fit....that might be true from the sci-fi angle, but he still doesn't give a consistant storyline follow through. Sure, Hope might be implanted with the ability to shoot fire from her hands, but two weeks later, she'll be able to make it rain on a whim, and two weeks after that, she won't think to use her fire-starting to save her from freezing to death. NO one likes inconsistancy like that. (And that's not as big or ridiculous an exaggeration as it sounds.)

Getting back to the main topic, here's a little promo of ATWT's 40th anniversary in 1996:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61vDA87b8U8

It is soooooooooo cheesy. Lily makes me cringe! Yuck!!! But Lisa is hilarious at the end!

EDIT:

Oh, and they also managed to get a cover on SOD:

Even when it was crappy, ATWT got the respect it deserved from SOD. Now, though, was anyone surprised when all they did was an 8-page layout in the mag for the 50th anniversary? I wasn't...

Getting back to the main topic, here's a little promo of ATWT's 40th anniversary in 1996:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61vDA87b8U8

It is soooooooooo cheesy. Lily makes me cringe! Yuck!!! But Lisa is hilarious at the end!

EDIT:

Oh, and they also managed to get a cover on SOD:

Even when it was crappy, ATWT got the respect it deserved from SOD. Now, though, was anyone surprised when all they did was an 8-page layout in the mag for the 50th anniversary? I wasn't...

Who's the guy next to Lily? I started watching late '98. Not sure that guy looks familiar. Kinda sad the only one who actually gets decent airtime from that picture now is Lily.

Who's the guy next to Lily? I started watching late '98. Not sure that guy looks familiar. Kinda sad the only one who actually gets decent airtime from that picture now is Lily.

That's Shawn Christian, the original Mike Kasnoff.

I started watching ATWT in 1994 (with the Carly/Rosanna/Mike stuff, that I LOVED, i really LOVED it)

and I stopped watching Atwt in 2003 when Dusty came back. I didnt like the Dusty/Rose/Paul stuff, and Barbara at that time. So that made me stop watching it. Also Days was on at the same time, and that was doing better.

Now they air November 2004 in The Netherlands, and I'm addicted again I have seen some shows between , and I didnt like it. So that was bad to me.

I never liked Brad, and it was a shame that Camilla is gone. Nikki was great to in the 90s. and I loved the Carly/Jack stuff in the beginning.

Lily's jail time was great. I loved Margo around that time.

I didnt like Barbara, but I still dont like her

As usual,your posts are dead on,MsWalsh!!

John Valente replaced Laurence Caso as EP. Some say Caso was "propped up" by Marland. Some say he had run out of steam. Valente had been sucessful at revitalizing Another World.I have read from many sources that he got mad when he was switched and may have "sabotaged' or done inferior work to get back at P&G.I don't know if this is true.

Lorraine Broderick was one of my favorite writers. I thought it was stupid that they replaced her with Laiman. I actually liked Richard Culliton and I am very happy he is returning to (supposedly) replace Sheffer.He might be what is needed to revitalize Passanante who is headed for a slump.

Lastly--I would N-E-V-E-R call ATWT the worst soap on television. If that makes me be compared to the O**L fanbi***es,so be it!

What happened to ATWT after Marland's death was no worse than what's been happening to other soaps recently. There are a handful (and I won't name them, so don't ask...) of current soaps that rely too heavily on plot-driven storylines and new characters. So are they being accused of being the worst shows on TV? Even when ATWT was low, there was always at least one storyline that kept you watching. For me, it was always a storyline involving the Hughes or other veteran characters. To the show's credit, they didn't backburner the vets as much as they do now. Like I mentioned before, I think Laiman started that trend, and unfortunately, Sheffer and Passanante have followed suit. Characters like John, Lisa, Tom, Margo, Barbara, Lucinda, even Nancy, Bob, and Kim, were given storylines, no matter how bad they were.

Lastly--I would N-E-V-E-R call ATWT the worst soap on television. If that makes me be compared to the O**L fanbi***es,so be it!

LOL. I know what you mean: I can criticize the show, but if a non-ATWT person says something bad about the show, I get really defensive. I don't know why! I just don't like seeing non-viewers pick on my soap!

LOL. I know what you mean: I can criticize the show, but if a non-ATWT person says something bad about the show, I get really defensive. I don't know why! I just don't like seeing non-viewers pick on my soap!

Same here! I hate it when people who don't want a particular soap at all feel that they know it's bad because they read what others write. Whenever I say that OLTL or DAYS or GH is horrid, it comes only after I've watched an episode, and I try my best to catch at least two episodes of each soap every week.

Don't have much time to post, but will chime in to say that I did not feel the 90's were all that bad. There were some times where it was bad but overall I enjoyed many of the stories.

The highlights for me in the latter part of the 90's was the David Stenbeck story (except he should have been Lucinda's son), the John-Lisa feud, and loved the John & Barbara pairing and the death of their son. Some very powerful moments and very memorable moments on the show.

Hopefully soon I will get the time to read what everyone else has said, but I for one would not call the show totally bad or the worst.

Even when it was crappy, ATWT got the respect it deserved from SOD. Now, though, was anyone surprised when all they did was an 8-page layout in the mag for the 50th anniversary? I wasn't...

ATWT may have gotten respect (I used to love the critiques they used to do) but it rarely got coverage. And less often the cover. They'd get the yearly anniversary cover and that was about it. Now we can't even get a 50th anniversay cover, thanks to AI.

I agree and disagree. Stern/Black and Jessica D. Klein were bad periods for the show, but the interim head writer team in late 1997 and Lorraine Broderick in 1998 stabilized things. Some ATWT fans hated Broderick but I loved her tenure as HW. She used Lisa a lot, and the way she wrote Carly was fabulous. She also introduced a lot of really interesting new characters. The thing about Broderick is that she was one of the last writers to utilize a long-term bible. Amazingly, her tenure was 8 years ago, and what she did at ATWT simply would not happen today. Soaps have changed that much in 8 years. Unfortunately Broderick was stopped by MADD from doing a lot. Eileen Fulton once said that Broderick went into a meeting with 17 story ideas and P&G rejected all 17. Even so, what we got was intelligent drama and interesting characters. The cast during this period was IMO much more capable than the cast we have now.

Lethal Laiman in 1999 basically reversed all the good things Broderick did, but even under Laiman there were good things. Lucinda was brought back after a horrible debacle that cost Felicia Minei-Behr her job.

I think Hogan Sheffer 2002-2005 was worse than anything from the late 1990s to be honest.

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

I absolutely think Passanante is the better of the two, although you can tell by watching that a lot of the problems during Sheffer's tenure were Passanante's fault. But then there are other purely-Hogan things which have thankfully stopped. And to whomever said that Sheffer is a much better fit for DAYS, ITA. I suspect he will do great things there.

There is no comparison between Hogan and JP. Hogan wins no doubt about it. His style of writing got me hooked! I used to hurry home to watch my tapes, but now? ATWT can be canceled and I won't care. It's THAT bad. The stories are spinning in circles and there is too much depression. Who wants to be depressed so much? Hogan brought romance on the show and he created such spunky characters. I truly enjoyed his tenure.

Yes, the first year of his reign is the best, but I suspect it has to do with his former co-HW. Passanante is killing ATWT IMO. The material she gives them are not emmy worthy. The cast is incredibly talented, but the writing is insulting. I expect better for ATWT and yet, I'd rather watch other soaps instead (that includes Passions). I don't go for depressing shows. I want a balance and ATWT is not it. At least I have sites I can go to in order to watch my favorite actor and character, but take out that actor and ATWT is off my record schedule. During Hogan's time, I taped every show. There are so many stories that I remember enjoying and I can't even pick one under JP's ruling. Although Hogan has his share of misses, I'd take his worst days over JP's best days.

I started watching ATWT in the late 90's so I clearly did not think it was all bad. Up until then I had only watched Y&R with the occasional B&B. I have heard many say that Hogan was terrible for ATWT and many say he was great. I liked his writing sometimes and ther times; not so much. I would never call ATWT the worst show on television, but to each his own.