Least favorite DS writer

[CyrusL]

I am going to have to disagree with the Professor and concur with amny other here that Violet Wells was a favorite writer. When you review her episodes, the notable part is not how she moves the plot forward, from what I can tell that was usually the Sam Hall episodes, but her actual dialogue. This is especially true in 1987 when she wrote some especially good scripts for the ladies, such as that late 1897 episode where Julia and Angelique have rather a truce and talk about how they feel. Its a great scene where they realize they have more in common that in conflict on how they relate to Barnabas.
       I can't remember who wrote it, it may have been from a suggestion from Dan Curtis himself, but the worst plot point was
[spoiler]the whole business about Peter Bradford's ghost seeking revenge for Jeb KILLING VICKIE somewhere in the past. Terrible "deus ex Machina".That is not a Violet Wells contribution, I'd bet![/spoiler]

Michael  [/b]

[MsCriseyde]

I can't remember who wrote it, it may have been from a suggestion from Dan Curtis himself, but the worst plot point was
[spoiler]the whole business about Peter Bradford's ghost seeking revenge for Jeb KILLING VICKIE somewhere in the past. Terrible "deus ex Machina".That is not a Violet Wells contribution, I'd bet![/spoiler]

I realize the expression is not taken literally, but I'm still trying to get past the use of the Latin word for god in reference to a Roger Davis character.  

[CyrusL]

Hey Criseyde, you know it was literal in the old Greek plays. Perhaps in this instance, we can use the more common current expression, "He pulled that one right outta his butt." 
 
Michael

[AndreDuPres]

I am going to have to disagree with the Professor and concur with amny other here that Violet Wells was a favorite writer. When you review her episodes, the notable part is not how she moves the plot forward, from what I can tell that was usually the Sam Hall episodes, but her actual dialogue. This is especially true in 1987 when she wrote some especially good scripts for the ladies, such as that late 1897 episode where Julia and Angelique have rather a truce and talk about how they feel. Its a great scene where they realize they have more in common that in conflict on how they relate to Barnabas.
       I can't remember who wrote it, it may have been from a suggestion from Dan Curtis himself, but the worst plot point was
[spoiler]the whole business about Peter Bradford's ghost seeking revenge for Jeb KILLING VICKIE somewhere in the past. Terrible "deus ex Machina".That is not a Violet Wells contribution, I'd bet![/spoiler]

Man, I'm glad she wrote that episode!  One of my favourites!  I really like the character-driven episodes more than the plot episodes most of the time, and Violet Welles wrote a lot of them.  Unfortunately, the plotting overtook character development most of the time during the last year of DS.  I hate how fast the plotting gets, especially by 1840.  By the way, who wrote the plot for 1840?  I love all (well, most...excluding Joanna...) the characters, but, God, the latter half is a complete mess!

[arashi]

I have to respectfully disagree with this, as Violet Wells was one of, if not, my favorite writers on the show. She wrote some amazing character driven episodes, including what was, in my honest opnion, one of the spookiest scenes on the show

[spoiler]...Jamison's dream in 1897 of David's "last" birthday party[/spoiler]

I wish she had stayed on longer as a writer, does anyone know why she left?

[BuzzH]

She's responsible for killing of the character of Rachel Drummond

Just recently watched the episode in question here and even **IF** the writer's made decisions like who gets killed etc...(and of course they didn't, it all came from Dan Curtis), accusing Violet Welles is erroneous.  It was Gordon Russell who wrote the episode where [spoiler]Judith shows up at Dirks crypt and actually shoots Rachel.[/spoiler]Violet wrote the episode for the next day which was just a replay of what Russel wrote the day before.

[Luciaphile]

I liked Violet Welles' stuff too.

I'm a big fan of Francis Swann and I'm really coming to appreciate Malcolm Marmorstein's material.

When I watch DS now, I play a little game where I try to guess the writer (and lately the director). I've never been able to get a handle on either Ron Sproat or Gordon Russell's style. They're both very generic for some reason. I have come to dislike Sam Hall's scripts (please don't stone me). I used to be a big Art Wallace fan, but his work got tired and his pace was slow--and that's considering that I'm a fan of strong character-based approach!

[Joeytrom]

Too bad Francis Swann was gone before Barnabas arrived.   Malcolm Marmorstein wrote a lot of good episodes in the early Barnabas period.

Dan Curtis should have just let his writers do the writer and himself doing the producing part.  The earlier episodes appear to have more writer input whil later ones obvioulsy have DC's imprint on them regarding pacing.

PT 1841 had a good structure, almost like regular soap style as the first year was.  Probably because DC was not as involevd as he used to be.

[MagnusTrask]

I liked Violet Welles' stuff too.

I'm a big fan of Francis Swann and I'm really coming to appreciate Malcolm Marmorstein's material.

When I watch DS now, I play a little game where I try to guess the writer (and lately the director). I've never been able to get a handle on either Ron Sproat or Gordon Russell's style. They're both very generic for some reason. I have come to dislike Sam Hall's scripts (please don't stone me). I used to be a big Art Wallace fan, but his work got tired and his pace was slow--and that's considering that I'm a fan of strong character-based approach!

I tried to play that "game" and had to give up.   I had decided Violette Welles was by far my favorite; then when I paid close attention to credits, when I had noticed this or that line or conversation or historical reference I liked, or bit of atmosphere, someone else's name would often be on it, so I had to give up.

[CyrusL]

I liked Violet Welles' stuff too.

I'm a big fan of Francis Swann and I'm really coming to appreciate Malcolm Marmorstein's material.

When I watch DS now, I play a little game where I try to guess the writer (and lately the director). I've never been able to get a handle on either Ron Sproat or Gordon Russell's style. They're both very generic for some reason. I have come to dislike Sam Hall's scripts (please don't stone me).

I've played that game too. I think sometimes you can tell when Violet ghost wrote  for Gordon Russell. My way of telling Gordon/Violet/Sam is that Sam Hall's scripts focus on moving the plots forward, Violet's scripts are very character focused and they  have character's talk about how they feel and Gordon's scripts have elements of both, ie plot but with some character exploration. I couldn't put a style to Ron Sproat off the top of my head. 

One thing Lela Swift likes to do is set character's around mirrors. She does this more than anyone. She's often less frenetic than Henry Kaplan.  (I enjoy reading Chris Pennock's hilarious comics for insights on their styles on directing actors.)

Now, if we can just figure out why there's so many times we go to "bongo man" instead of full Cobert music. 

Michael

[Julia99]

I understand from some of the cast members they preferred a "Sam Hall" script because they felt (and it's there feeling not mine) that his scripts were overall consistent in the approach to the character and also had some wry, funny lines.

As to Welles..She probably was glad to get a writing job in a male-dominated industry, so she took the one offered rather than waiting around for Days to call. . .i don't know but she's gone so lets drop the vitrol shall we?