Days of Our Lives Ron Carlivati New Days Head Writer

[Jason73]

Well, this is an interesting twist. I'm curious to see what he can do with Days.

If the rumor mill is right and Days of our Lives is on the verge of cancellation, then the show is definitely going to go out swinging. The NBC soap has made a major change to its creative team: Emmy-winning veteran soap writer Ron Carlivati has been named the show's head writer effective immediately. Carlivati will replace Dena Higley, who will no longer be part of the show's writing team.

In other changes, Ryan Quan, who had been serving as co-head writer with Higley, will remain with DAYS in the role of creative consultant. Sheri Anderson Thomas, who has been a part of DAYS' writing team in various capacities including head writer and co-head writer, has also been named a creative consultant.

“We look forward to the fresh and compelling stories these changes will bring to Salem,” the show said in a statement.


http://soapcentral.com/days/news/2017/0123-ron_carlivati_new_head_writer.php

 

[Jason73]

The more I think about this, the more hopeful I am about it. I like what Quan has gotten rolling on Days lately and with Quan and Sheri Anderson around as creative consultants working with Ron, it could be a really good thing for Days.

Now, if we can just get a renewal for another year . . .

 

[Daniel Avery]

You're in for a great time!

I had absolutely no interest in watching another soap, but sampled a bit of Carlivati's One Life to Live in 2008 when it was airing on SoapNet. Despite not knowing anyone or anything on that show I started really liking it. I followed his writing to GH when OLTL got cancelled and I found myself liking GH too, especially his more outrageous stuff. RC has that same crazy "I can't believe he did that" quality in his writing that Jim Reilly had, only RC seems able to rein it in when it goes too far afield. I always thought Days was losing out on a good thing by not hiring him when ABC fired him from GH. The main stumbling block (which may or may not exist now) is that RC was headquartered in New York and didn't want to move to LA where GH was taped, creating a sort of 'distance' between writer and actors that didn't work well toward the end. Days is also taped in LA; if their "creative consultants" are to actually earn their keep*, I would think RC would commute more to LA and work with the rest of the writers and consultants. The main criticism of his work on GH was that he ought to have had a co-writer or consultant who would even out some of the more "bizarre" choices made in his final months. Those can be attributed to burnout, of course--he'd gone straight from OLTL to GH with little time off in years. Sharing the workload might help keep him overall. Sheri Anderson has a long history with Days (among other shows), so Ron could really use her knowledge of the show's history. He loves digging up obscure bits of history on his shows and use them to launch a new story.

That said, I can imagine he came up with some great stuff for Days. He's very creative, and if the network and Sony really DO want Days to stick around, he's probably the best stylistic fit for head writer of that show.

* It's a dirty little secret in soapland that "Creative Consultant" gigs vary wildly in their actual effectiveness. Some CC's come in and rewrite scripts, replace writing staff, and act as go-between with Head Writer and Exec Producer. Others sit home, review scripts and send notes that are ignored by everyone. Either way, the checks don't bounce so it's totally up to the CC as to how much help they want to offer.

 

[Jason73]

I had absolutely no interest in watching another soap, but sampled a bit of Carlivati's One Life to Live in 2008 when it was airing on SoapNet. Despite not knowing anyone or anything on that show I started really liking it. I followed his writing to GH when OLTL got cancelled and I found myself liking GH too, especially his more outrageous stuff.

I followed about the same trajectory with Carlivati--I watched his last couple of years on OLTL and his first couple of years on GH. I enjoyed both.

Sheri Anderson has a long history with Days (among other shows), so Ron could really use her knowledge of the show's history.

Yes--I'm very excited that Sheri is going to be involved.

He's very creative, and if the network and Sony really DO want Days to stick around, he's probably the best stylistic fit for head writer of that show.

It seems, on the surface, that maybe they are trying to throw Days some support with this move. It's a tiny bit encouraging.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Aside from the strange and controversial departure of Susan Haskell, his final year of ONE LIFE TO LIVE was the best soap on air at the time. His early work on GENERAL HOSPITAL was quality, too, and even the bad stuff was better than what Altman and Passanante have written since his departure...

 

[Jason73]

Ron loves bringing people back from dead. If he brought back Chandler Massey as Will, I wouldn't complain. I'd love to have EJ back too. Let's just hope he doesn't decide to bring Daniel back.

 

[Jason73]

Also, I'm hoping he'll bring his pal Kassie DePaiva back full time as Eve.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Having sat through the epic nightmare of the whole "Roger Howarth returns as Todd" story on One Life To Live (too hard to explain here) in the final months of that show, I hope Ron will hold off on "implausible resurrections" for a bit. The explanation (or attempt at one) still gives me the twitches. Suffice it to say, it would be like Wayne Northrop returning to town and asking why everyone is calling Chris Kositchek "Roman".

Alas, it's exactly the sort of audacious story he might try.

 

[Jason73]

"implausible resurrections"

I was watching when Todd came back, but I can't remember the details. Something to do with Alison wasn't it? Implausible would be Daniel returning from the dead in spite of the fact that his heart is currently beating in Brady's chest or (I guess, if I have to admit it) Will returning after we saw the life strangled out of him by Ben and one of his cheap ties. Less implausible would be EJ returning since Stefano and Kristin were up to something with his body after he "died."

I'll take it though if it brings Will back. They could just say that Guy Wilson's Will was just a Stefano planted fake. It's not like almost everybody else on the canvas hasn't been dead at least once. (I'm looking at you Steve, Hope, Marlena, Roman, Abby, and soon--if the rumors are true--Tony.)

 

[Daniel Avery]

One aspect I'm curious about (one which we may hear about soon) is their "filmed way ahead" status. I think the show has already completed episodes that won't air for another 4-5 months, right? The network has always hated (and had a right to hate) that way-way-ahead shooting. I wonder if they may ask RC to help them basically re-tool the unaired footage and plots, allowing them to keep some of it and toss out the parts they don't want to happen, editing in newly-filmed stuff to take the story in a new direction. It's all about money, of course; they may not have a budget that allows them to mess with what's already completed, and RC might just have to pick up where Higley left off.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Missing body parts have never been an obstacle in Salem resurrections: see Jack Deveraux. But resurrecting Dr. STDan is the worst thing I could imagine short of giving Tom Horton a heretofore-unknown love child...

 

[Daniel Avery]

[plot pitch] "So you see, Alice Horton didn't really die. She had to lie to everyone and fake her death in order to deflect suspicion from her true plan. She was recruited by the ISA and sent to Downtown Europe to gather intelligence on DiMera agents trying to rob museums. Her cover gets blown when Hope sees her in the background of a travel show on TV, and is obsessed with finding her. I see Shirley MacLaine as a special guest star! Or if the budget won't stretch, perhaps Betty White will do it on a lark? So, what'ya think??" [/PP]