Fancast: Inside TV

Truer words were never spoken.

If you need someone to console you, I'm totally here for ya.

In counseling together,
--tom

Couldn't agree w/u more. There was a time when my favorite soaps did surprise and shock me. It would be wonderful if these daily dramas really did start to deliver some daily drama again -- and some fun!!!!!!! When's the next column, Sara? How do we find out about these?

Carrie

Sara, thanks for this great blog! It's nice hearing from the inside which is so rare. I must say I'm very disappointed Maria Arena Bell didn't bring you and other former Y&R writers back post-strike. I imagine it's probably due to contracts that she kept nearly all of Lynn Marie Latham's bloated writing staff. You can tell it's holding her stories back since they continue to write in the plot driven manner LML taught them. It's improved due to a stronger leader, but still needs the people who know and love the show to truly be great again.

My question is, how did you end up leaving Y&R? How was it for all-but-four of the pre-LML writers being let go? You guys just won an Emmy for GREAT work and knew that show well. LML has been gone since Christmas Eve and the show still hasn't fuller recovered. Biggest.Mistake.Ever. Even worse, one of the people she replaced you guys with was her 21 year old son. It just seemed odd and she had no plan at all. "How many friends can I hire and how fast?" seemed to be the only thing in her mind. Stories, plot points and what little character development we had was often dropped as more writers were added or she got bored. A great example was the dreadful Phillip Chancellor story which didn't include Nina or his son and barely included Jill and Katherine, instead focusing on newbies Amber and Cane.

Daytime should look at Ron Carlivati at OLTL and realize it's time to take risks. What can you lose at this point? If viewers are invested in the characters they're more likely to stick around long term as opposed to the short term stunts which don't even work anymore.

I cannot wait to here more about what was going on behind the scenes at AMC. I do not know how a show with such a rich history, and at that time a pretty stellar cast, sunk to such lows.

I started watching soaps with my grandmother after school, Guiding Light was my favorite back then. When I hit college AMC was a dorm staple. Now? I'm soap free.

I do have a question you may or may not be able to answer. Why is it today's soaps have such a hard time writing for characters of color? Is it a directive from the top that no families of color outside of Y&R are considered core? Woman of color are marginalized as the best friend period rarely do they get the full romantic treatment (no weddings, no children, etc). Why is that 40 years ago things were so much better?

I'm with you Sara! I think its a sad state of affairs when Prime time has more soapy goodness than Y&R. Like you, I'm interested in changing daytime. Its one of the few entertainments I allow myself and right now, its not giving me a whole lot of pleasure.

I have a few questions. Do the writers actually visit message boards and read viewers comments? [btw, if they do, sorry for my beyond rude comments, nothing personal] If they do visit, do they pay attention or is someone else pulling the strings? What is the best way to be heard?

I've been watching soaps since the CBS ones (Love of Life/Search for Tomorrow) were only 15 minutes long.

I wrote term papers on them in both high school and college because the whole culture of soaps fascinates me so much.

Because of that I was so excited to hear about your blog; I'd love to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes for a writer! I completely agree with you about soaps losing their way, and like Sydney who posted above, I'd like to learn more about the best way to catch the attention of the powers that be.

Thanks for blogging with us!

How I have wished and wished for this: someone behind the curtain to tell us once and for all the crazy machinations of Soapland. I've been watching Y&R for 15 years and i've seen it get from good to bad to sometimes good but mostly bad (you're right about Sharon's hair-awful). I'm with you all the way in this cause, glad you came along. Don't ever leave.

I'm delighted to have found your blog. Is it possible to subscribe? (I can't figure out how.) Anyhow, I cannot wait to learn exactly why it is that Sharon Abbot's ridiculously-flappy haircut looks ridiculously flappy to the rest of us, but not to TPTB at Y&R! Truly, this boggles my mind. In fact, I've noticed a marked decline in the quality of the hairdressing over the years for all the characters. Can you explain this, please? I'd really love to know. Boggles my mind. Thanks for blogging inside info, as it's probably more interesting than what's on the screen, these days!

Hopefully this insightful blog with intelligent conversation will help facilitate a positive change for the genre we all love so much.

This is awesome. I wil keep coming back for your thoughtful insight. Keep up the good job Sarah.

I'm curious to know what happened to LML? Did she ever return from her trip to the jungles or did she fall off a cliff (like Dru) to never be seen again!?

Also, did u ever interact with the actors?
What was the real reason Adrienne Leon left?
Who was SUPPOSED to be the murderer of Ji Min?

If you can answer any of these questions, I'll be a very happy soul. So nice to see so many soap insiders doing blogs now. It's like a pull-back of the curtain for us fans who have been wondering forever what's going on that has changed our soaps!

I am so excited about this I can hardly speak. I love intelligent conversation about my long term love affair with daytime. (AMC was my introduction as well...my friend told me I had to see Natalie in the well. And I did. The rest is history) You know as opposed to fanbased board and blog wars. Anything that can help me understand why some truly terrible decisions and storylines get put on the air will go a long way in saving my money on my therapy bills. (I watch GH..it's a big bill)