Douglas Marland
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Douglas Marland (born Marland Messner; May 5, 1934 – March 6, 1993) was an American writer, known for his work as the head writer of several soap operas.
Career
Marland began his career as an actor, appearing on the Irna Phillips series The Brighter Day and As the World Turns. He also did odd jobs on the side as a director for small theatre groups. On one such job, staging the DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson musical Good News!, he worked with Broadway dancer Edie Cowan and pianist Ethan Mordden, both of whom went on to professional careers as, respectively, choreographer and writer.
Marland began his writing career by authoring some
Soap operas
The Doctors
He was hired by NBC Daytime in 1976 after then head writer, Margaret DePriest, left The Doctors. Although Marland's writing received critical acclaim and the show received Daytime Emmys, ratings dropped.
During his tenure on The Doctors, a variety of new acting talent were added to the program: Kathy Bates (Phyllis), Glenn Corbett (Jason Aldrich), Carol Potter (Betsy Match), Ted Danson (Mitch Pierson), and Jonathan Frakes (Tom Carroll), among other actors. Marland was instrumental in shifting the serial's focus away from Hope Memorial Hospital to the Powers and Aldrich families, as well as the Dancy family, introduced by previous head writers Robert Cenedella and Margaret DePriest.
General Hospital
After his job on The Doctors, he was hired by ABC Daytime in 1978 to work with Gloria Monty on their serial General Hospital. At that time, the show was near cancellation. Marland's writing, along with Monty's extensive production changes, helped the show rise in the ratings.
Marland was instrumental in pairing the iconic of
As the World Turns and Guiding Light
Back in New York, he was asked by CBS Daytime to temporarily assume the head writing reins at As the World Turns, which he did for thirteen weeks.
In 1979, he assumed the head writing reins of Guiding Light. Marland's run on GL produced popular storylines and characters. One character Marland introduced was Nola Reardon, played by Lisa Brown. The unconventional Nola started as a villainess and became the heroine of the show.
Another story was an envelope-pushing story that featured the character of Carrie Todd Marler (played by
Loving
Marland next teamed up with fellow writer Agnes Nixon to create Loving, which premiered in June 1983. He served as head writer for the show's first two years. The show was a critical but not commercial success during the time that he wrote it.
A New Day in Eden
During the 1982–1983 season, he co-wrote, with James Rosin,
Return to As the World Turns
Marland was hired in 1985 to return to
He also introduced a new working-class family, the Snyders, into the storyline and added new dimensions to the wealthy
Marland was also responsible for adding the first gay male character on an American soap opera to his story during his tenure, Hank Elliot (Brian Starcher). The story was short-lived (Hank was featured for about 18 months), but groundbreaking; the soap opera became a pioneer for others who wished to put gay male characters, heretofore unseen, on their respective shows. Although the story centered on Hank, it allowed viewers to see another side to long running characters, when those characters reacted to the news that Hank was gay. Hank was written off of the show to take care of his lover Charles, who was dying of
Marland diversified the previously white canvas of As the World Turns, introducing an Amerasian character as the child of a Vietnam vet, and also featuring a story of a mixed-race couple marrying and having a baby (and showing negative reactions to the marriage and birth). Another story featured town matriarch Nancy Hughes helping a young, illiterate African-American girl (played by singer/actress Lauryn Hill), learn to read.
Marland also penned a story featuring the character of
Marland wrote ATWT until his death from complications after abdominal surgery on March 6, 1993.
Marland's Rules
During his tenure at As the World Turns, Marland gave an interview to a soap magazine with his rules on "how NOT to ruin a soap". In the years that followed, and since his death, the rules have been much discussed in the serial press and by Internet soap opera fans. [1]
The rules are:
- Watch the show.
- Learn the history of the show. You would be surprised at the ideas that you can get from the back story of your characters.
- Read the fan mail. The very characters that are not thrilling to you may be the audience's favorites.
- Be objective. When I came in to (the show), the first thing I said was, what is pleasing the audience? You have to put your own personal likes and dislikes aside and develop the characters that the audience wants to see.
- Talk to everyone; writers and actors especially. There may be something in a character's history that will work beautifully for you, and who would know better than the actor who has been playing the role?
- Don't change a core character. You can certainly give them edges they didn't have before, or give them a logical reason to change their behavior. But when the audience says, "He would never do that," then you have failed.
- Build new characters slowly. Everyone knows that it takes six months to a year for an audience to care about a new character. Tie them in to existing characters. Don't shove them down the viewers' throats.
- If you feel staff changes are in order, look within the organization first. P&G (Procter & Gamble) does a lot of promoting from within. Almost all of our producers worked their way up from staff positions, and that means they know the show.
- Don't fire anyone for six months. I feel very deeply that you should look at the show's canvas before you do anything.
- Good soap opera is good storytelling. It's very simple.
Awards and nominations
Marland won several Daytime Emmy Awards, including one in 1974-75 as the associate writer for "Another World," and two as head writer for "Guiding Light."
He also earned several Emmy nominations as head writer for "As the World Turns" [3]
WINS
- (1975; Best Writing; Another World)
- (1981 & 1982; Best Writing; Guiding Light)
- (1993; Lifetime Achievement Award, posthumous)
NOMINATIONS
- (1986, 1989, 1991 & 1993; Best Writing; As the World Turns)
NOMINATIONS
- (1990 season; As the World Turns)
Head writing history
References
- ^ "James Rosin | Actor, Writer". IMDb.
- ^ https://us.imdb.com/title/tt0498969/
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (7 March 1993). "Douglas Marland, 58, a Recipient of Emmies for Television Writing". The New York Times.