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In your opinion, who is currently daytime’s best headwriter or best written show? B&B (Bradley Bell), GH (Dan O’connor and Chris Van Etten), Days (Ron Carlivati), or Y&R (Josh Griffith).
ReplyFor me, it’s the GH team without question. Speaking in broad terms, Ron’s writing on DAYS is usually entertaining, but sloppy, often unsatisfying, and not infrequently nonsensical. B&B has its moments but also can be just maddening in how cyclical the storylines are and the disconnect between character behavior that makes sense and what happens on screen. Any Y&R I’ve seen really since Josh took over writing has been very tedious and pretty dull. GH is generally very entertaining and mostly makes sense. All four shows have been guilty of centering characters and/or storylines that the audience doesn’t care about or actively despises, but GH seems to be doing it the least.
ReplyCopy URLI have to say Days. I love how Ron writes. I enjoyed his OLTL and GH. I also like how gh is written. I am so disappointed in Y&R and B&B. Changes need to occur. None of them will ever be Douglas Marland, Agnes Nixon, Bill Bell, Harding Lemay, The Dobsons, Pam Long, Irma phillips, or James E. Riley.
ReplyCopy URLI have to say Days. I love how Ron writes. I enjoyed his OLTL and GH. I also like how gh is written. I am so disappointed in Y&R and B&B. Changes need to occur. None of them will ever be Douglas Marland, Agnes Nixon, Bill Bell, Harding Lemay, The Dobsons, Pam Long, Irma phillips, or James E. Riley.
You forgot Claire Labine…
ReplyCopy URLYes, this is sadly true. I don’t think we’re past the point of other great writers of this genre who could be considered in that esteemed company having the potential to exist, but no show is developing or encouraging such a thing. I think it’s a combination of factors: producers and executives want instant results and don’t want to give a writer time to set up a strong canvas with good storyline potential, there seems to be a lot of encouragement to retreat stories that have been done before, the powers that be assume audiences don’t have the patience they once did to allow story to develop and play out (which may or may not be true). And this risk averse instant gratification theory seems to be supported by the miniscule ratings. It’s hard to take any real risks when the network is basically threatening to cancel the show every 12 months.
That said, Y&R and B&B have both scored longer-term renewals recently. Y&R seems to have given Josh Griffith a lot of leeway, but he’s not making good use of it. But that’s another issue: you’re not going to find the next great soap writer by continually rehiring the same writers you already know aren’t it, but the soaps seem largely unwilling to develop new talent. This is part of why I still have some hope for the GH team (though after yesterday’s episode, it’s fading fast). At least these aren’t guys who have already been headwriting shows for a decade or more, so there’s at least potential for previously undiscovered greatness.
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