1981 Daytime Emmy Awards

The award for best writing goes to Guiding Light, and the late, legendary Douglas Marland makes the acceptance speech.Listen for his mention of Brian Frons, then with the CBS programming dept.

The clips from the nominated shows are fabulous. But it's also fun to see how many stars you can spot in the audience :)

Edited to add: Just another note, the man Mr Marland refers to as Pete is Harding Lemay, another legendary daytime writer, known mostly for his work on Another World. He's the man with the white hair standing on the left of the stage.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Daytime
• Emmys
• Douglas
• Marland

[filegirl]

How did Brian Fons work with a writing legend like Douglas Marland, and not learn ANYTHING?????

[neworleansguy10]

Wow. Man does this ever take me back. Do you remember when writing used to count for something on daytime TV? If not; here's the proof. Doug Marland was indeed a genius and far and away the best daytime soap writer ever. Period.

Is it a coincidence that GH has such great scenes in '79, that GL was so strong from '80 to '84 and then ATWT from '85 to '93 or so. I think not.

[Messylin]

Believe it or not, when I first saw Monica's iconic "making the kind of love that you poor fool are incapable of" speech, I thought it was Jane Elliot's Tracy!!!!

[en9nui]

@eric9590 Perspective on Marland is overdue.

[eric9590]

@en9nui Very interesting perspective on Marland.

[en9nui]

Capitalizing mainly on momentum and story arcs (e.g. Holly/Roger) built by Bridget and Jerome Dobson, Doug Marland--probably soaps' most overestimated writer--did some good work in '80, but his overall accomplishments pale next to those of the Dobsons, Wm. J. Bell, A. Nixon, H. Slesar, H. Lemay, C. Labine. The full impact of Marland's mismanagement was not felt until early '82, when GL (like late eighties ATWT) collapsed into a jumble of psychotics, boring teens, gothic strangers, and deadwood.

[schuyler10]

Heartfelt speech...I almost cried...and to think that he was no longer with the show only a year later...he seems humbled and dedicated; the quiver in his voice! His dedication to "GL" and the soap medium is so apparent! I owe so much to this man and his style of writing...he usually made ALL of the piecees fit with romance, mystery, intrigue and basic story. Bless Doug Marland! I still miss him, 18 years later! He would be horrified to learn about the status daytime, now..."GL" & "ATWT"

[AMEwrestling]

@MrJuly1990ish Yes he was, but he borrowed Irna Phillips style of writing. The only thing he did different from Irna was push sexuality on television. Doug Marland pushed serious subjects and brought more reality to television. Therefore it was Marland that put more asses in the seats and encouraged people to keep their eyes on the tube at a time of uncertainty. End of story.

[MrJuly1990ish]

@AMEwrestling

With all do respect to Douglas Marland, I'm sorry but Bill Bell was a genius, a pure master at storytelling IMO. Sad to say, it's so obvious his touch on both Y&R and B&B is missing. 

[MrJuly1990ish]

@staytunedfor

I know year comment is two years ago (lol!!), but I have to respond. GH had some really good storylines going on through out 1979 -1981. Such as the plot to kill Senator Mitch Williams, of course the Luke & Laura on the run, Alan's rage over Rick & Monica's affair and the return of Heather Webber plotting to murder.

It was those well written storylines during that period, that put GH on top. Those storylines were like movie plots, that's what made GH so good back then!

[antonzap]

I can't believe Guiding Light is no longer on the air. Sad.

[AMEwrestling]

Douglas Marland, the greatest head writer in the history of daytime. With all do respect to Irna Phillips and Bill Bell (RIP to both), Doug Marland established a style that changed daytime television. He was the reason why General Hospital made it to number one in 1979. He was the reason why Guiding Light remained popular despite the record longevity in America. Finally, Marland was the reason why As the World Turns was close to getting back on top again. RIP Doug Marland.