- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
- Messages
- 38,710
- Reaction score
- 182,514
through the years, Days has been fortunate enough to have some great writers, who penned terrific stories, and at the same time had fantastic actors to portray those words and scenes so wonderfully, it endeared the show to our hearts, and somehow created loyal, fanatical viewers, who stuck with it, through thick, thin, and whatever inbetween.
Yes, there are only so many plots, so many situations that can be written, the trick being to write them in a fresh, new way, offer the unexpected twist now and then, mix the drama with romance and throw in some humor now and then.
All the soaps have had to cut costs, the number of soaps has been cut drastically, and at times, it seems the writers play musical chairs between the soaps. Some showrunners carry out their job, showing they know their show, and their audience. Others....well, at times, fail dismally.
I know many viewers pay no attention to whose is writing scripts, who is headwriting, etc. Admittedly, I was one of those when I first began.......with GL. But Pam Long came to writing GL stories, creating characters that stood out, stories that had you waiting anxiously for tomorrow and she is the one who had me paying attention when I began watching Days.
Betty Corday was a fantastic owner, paid attention to every detail, and when she finally urged son, Ken, to come in, learn this, (he only cared about music) she was hopeful. Betty Corday stayed with the show, advising, etc. until she passed away.
It is too bad Ken doesn't have the same passion for it that his mom had, but he had Al Rabin, a wizard for sure, and after Al Rabin retired, that is when Days began to flounder.
We all know Days has been going thru writers more often than Alison Sweeney (Sami) urges us to be "Radiant". LOL
Wish I knew what it is that causes these writers to fall down on the job, or what causes Corday to hire them AGAIN after they failed before.
I just read at list of the 15 greatest soap opera head writers of all time. Not that I agree with the list as James Reilly is on it, lol, but it begins with Irna Phillips, Bill Bell (Days, too), Agnes Nixon, Doug Marland......Pam Long, ....and Josh Griffith, Hogan Sheffer, Patricia Falken Smith, & yes, Ron Carlivati.
Some of these names mean nothing to many of you, but the last 4, & Reilly all wrote for Days, except Ron C, whose work we are yet to see. Reilly wrote the infamous Marlena possession & Carly buried alive by vivian stories. Griffith was teamed with Higley last year, but she took a leave of absence, leaving him alone, to get fired and Higley returned with Quan, our current staff. Sheffer had won Emmy's for writing his previous soap, but came to Days, all the dialogue writers were let go as he brought his own, did not know the characters......and his tenure was cut short.
Days has tried hard to bring back vets, characters the viewers have loved, but it does seem they don't utilize them all in a way beneficial to the show and the viewers. Higley has written for Days for years....but it doesn't seem she knows the characters. Or the audience. I used to like her a lot. I don't know what happened.
Will Carlivati turn things around. He will have the highly respected Sheri Anderson as consultant, she knows Days well. (She was headwriter back in 90s) .
What do you think?
Yes, there are only so many plots, so many situations that can be written, the trick being to write them in a fresh, new way, offer the unexpected twist now and then, mix the drama with romance and throw in some humor now and then.
All the soaps have had to cut costs, the number of soaps has been cut drastically, and at times, it seems the writers play musical chairs between the soaps. Some showrunners carry out their job, showing they know their show, and their audience. Others....well, at times, fail dismally.
I know many viewers pay no attention to whose is writing scripts, who is headwriting, etc. Admittedly, I was one of those when I first began.......with GL. But Pam Long came to writing GL stories, creating characters that stood out, stories that had you waiting anxiously for tomorrow and she is the one who had me paying attention when I began watching Days.
Betty Corday was a fantastic owner, paid attention to every detail, and when she finally urged son, Ken, to come in, learn this, (he only cared about music) she was hopeful. Betty Corday stayed with the show, advising, etc. until she passed away.
It is too bad Ken doesn't have the same passion for it that his mom had, but he had Al Rabin, a wizard for sure, and after Al Rabin retired, that is when Days began to flounder.
We all know Days has been going thru writers more often than Alison Sweeney (Sami) urges us to be "Radiant". LOL
Wish I knew what it is that causes these writers to fall down on the job, or what causes Corday to hire them AGAIN after they failed before.
I just read at list of the 15 greatest soap opera head writers of all time. Not that I agree with the list as James Reilly is on it, lol, but it begins with Irna Phillips, Bill Bell (Days, too), Agnes Nixon, Doug Marland......Pam Long, ....and Josh Griffith, Hogan Sheffer, Patricia Falken Smith, & yes, Ron Carlivati.
Some of these names mean nothing to many of you, but the last 4, & Reilly all wrote for Days, except Ron C, whose work we are yet to see. Reilly wrote the infamous Marlena possession & Carly buried alive by vivian stories. Griffith was teamed with Higley last year, but she took a leave of absence, leaving him alone, to get fired and Higley returned with Quan, our current staff. Sheffer had won Emmy's for writing his previous soap, but came to Days, all the dialogue writers were let go as he brought his own, did not know the characters......and his tenure was cut short.
Days has tried hard to bring back vets, characters the viewers have loved, but it does seem they don't utilize them all in a way beneficial to the show and the viewers. Higley has written for Days for years....but it doesn't seem she knows the characters. Or the audience. I used to like her a lot. I don't know what happened.
Will Carlivati turn things around. He will have the highly respected Sheri Anderson as consultant, she knows Days well. (She was headwriter back in 90s) .
What do you think?