With all the speculation of a new HW coming to AMC sometime soon I was thinking it'd be fun to discuss our favorite HW's from AMC's past and why they were our favorite. Great storylines? Great characters? More vets? Stuff like that. Heck, if you even want mention your least favorite. But please be gentle on the McT bashing, there is enough of that going on lately.

My favorite HW is hard to come up with. McT has written some of my favorite stuff however she does come crashing down hard of her strong periods which leaves us with subpar material for the show. I would say Culliton would be my favorite. When he came in and cleaned up after Passante it was good. The drug mess was turned into a great mystery, the vets were in the forefront where they belong. We saw Opal and Palmer more during his tenure than we have in the past 3 years. He brought great characters on, both new and old, and they werent just like "Oh hey, heres someone new!". Kendall tied into Frankie's murder when Erica was on trial cause she thought Bianca did it. Frankie was brought in tied to Vanessa/Proteus just like Trey was. Simone was brought in tied to Proteus and then tied to Frank Hubbard, but then that went south. The show was balanced and I enjoyed watching it back then, not something I can say as of lately or even after him. Cullition also worked as a writer on AMC in the 90's and created most the the Wildwind crew like Dimitri and that whole gang of characters. If Culliton had stayed on instead of being canned so AMC can go in a "younger, more Sex In The City direction" the show would have been in a better place right now.

I go way back with the show, so Agnes Nixon and Wisner Washam are my favorites. Agnes created AMC as a groundbreaking show that dared to tackle social issues along with having the usual supercouples (Greg & Jenny, Cliff & Nina, Angie & Jesse), and imo, some of the funniest villians daytime has ever seen (Phoebe, Billy Clyde, Erica). Wisner was her co-headwriter, I believe starting in the late 1970s until the mid to late 1980s.

If I had to rank all of the headwriters it would be:

1. Nixon.

2. Washam.

3. Lorraine Broderick.

4. Richard Culliton.

5. Gordon Rayfield & Anna Cascio.

6. Jean Passanante.

7. Megan McTavish.

Of course Nixon couldn't be beat....

But for me, McTavish's first go was and will always be my favorite. Beginning with throwing Natalie down a well, and bringing in the character of Janet Green. Follow that with the introduction of Dimitri Marick/Wildwind/Angelique/Helga - and you've got yourself one AMAZING AMC early 90's era. I also think that was Dixie/Craig Lawson/Gloria Marsh - and I loved that stuff too.

I loved the Culliton era. From the FABULOUS Frankie/Bianca/Maggie saga to the early Proteus story to Mia being suddenly tied to Frank Hubbard, there was always a surprise in store. I also really liked the late work of Rayfield and Cascio and the early - very early - work of Megan McTavish's current era.

Lorraine Broderick

In my time watching the show here is how I rank them overall.

1. Agnes Nixon

2. Lorraine Broderick

3. Richard Culition

4. Megan McTavish

5. Anne Theresa Casico

6. Gordon Rayfield

7. Jean Passanante

Megan Mctavish starting with Bianca's rape and ending with the end of the babyswitch.

I agree with the other Steve. My favorite is Agnes Nixon and right there with her was Wisner Washam. I loved those 2 era's the best. Both of them were responsible for my favorite AMC characters of all time: Daisy, Palmer, Nina, Cliff, Sybil, Phillip, Tara, Chuck, Donna, Estelle, Benny, Anne, Nick, Kitty/Kelly, Myrtle, Paul, Ruth, Amy and Phoebe.

I also enjoyed Lorraine Broderick alot. And Richard Culliton was pretty good too.

I have hated just about every thing Megan McTavish did on both tenures. The rest of the writers were okay. McTavish was the worst ever.

Hands down, Agnes Nixon. That woman was amazing. I miss her so.

Second...and this will be shocking, is McTavish. But that is on a completely selfish level.LMAO She gave me David and Erica in 1999. She gave me Kendall and Aidan in 2003. And she gave me back D&E in 2003. So as much as I hate her, and can't wait for her to be gone, she will always be up there on my list.lol

Well, basing this solely on what I've personally watched on a regular basis, my answer is, without a doubt, 2003-2004 McTavish. Of the 5 years I've been watching, it was the latter half of 2003 and the first half of 2004 that made me decide that this little show is my favorite of all time.

Ranking all of the headwriters from 2001-present...

1. McTavish (it's hard to do, given she only had 1 year of good and 2 of bad...)

2. Culliton

3. Passanante

4. Rayfield/Cascio

Based on all of my hours and hours of "research," I without a doubt say Agnes. The stuff in the 70s shows exactly how great she is. Reading the storylines, you see that many of the couplings were sort of repetitive and that some triangles lasted for a while, but there was always something new in the storylines that made them fresh.

Agnes, if you can read this, WE LOVE YOU.

Well of course, Agnes is the best--but even she had a clunker or two. But even when they were clunkers, the show was never wrecked, because there were always so many other stories that were great. These days, there only seems to be 3 or 4 stories going at a time, and most of them are crap.

McTavish's early 90s stint WAS great. Nat/Janet and the well, Dimitiri & Erica (still my favorite man for Erica).

She was associate HW from 87-92 and was sole HW 92-95. That 92-95 period is one of my favorites, right up there with the classic 80's. We had Kendall, Edmund & Maria, Noah and Julia, and much more. Good stuff.

Her 1997-1998 tenure wasn't so hot. Wasn't that the whole Erica steals Maddie stuff? And Kit and Raquel? Ugh.

Her current tenure is worse. This stint has only ONE truly memorable story, and that was the Baby Switch. There hasn't really been,IMHO, any other stories that truly stand up as "classic" AMC stories.

* I'm a little fuzzy on when this happens, but the era with Liza returning and Laurel getting shot at WRCW, Michael coming out, and then the Kelsey/Kevin stuff was another good time. Was McT writing then? I guess

she USED to be able to write. :-)

* I'm a little fuzzy on when this happens, but the era with Liza returning and Laurel getting shot at WRCW, Michael coming out, and then the Kelsey/Kevin stuff was another good time. Was McT writing then? I guess

she USED to be able to write. :-)

I believe that would be Lorraine Broderick's 1995-1997 tenure.

I believe that would be Lorraine Broderick's 1995-1997 tenure.

Yep, that was Lorraine Broderick who was unfairly fired so McT could return to wreck the show.

I guess I have to pick Agnes first because she wrote Jack/Erica Part one ( The French Maid in Paris and those incredibly passionate scenes they had)

I loved Lorraine Broderick too. I hated that she had Erica kidnap Maddie but it did bring J/E back together

I also liked Cascio/Rayfield for making Erica dump Stump and again putting J/E back together but really writing Jack the way I have always loved him. Those first 6 months of 2003 was the best ever!

I had to think a minute who you meant by "Stump" until I realized you meant Chris Stamp. UGH! I hated that character SO much. I think he's probably Erica's worst leading man since I've watched the show. The other bad one was whomever Nicholas Coster played in the 80's when Erica left town and became a waitress. Ugh.