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Douglas Marland (bornMarland Messner; May 5, 1934 – March 6, 1993) was an American writer, known for his work as the head writer of severalsoap operas.
Marland began his career as an actor, appearing on theIrna Phillips seriesThe Brighter Day andAs 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 musicalGood News!, he worked withBroadway dancer Edie Cowan and pianistEthan Mordden, both of whom went on to professional careers as, respectively, choreographer and writer.
Marland began his writing career by authoring someNick Carter mysteries, under one of the publisher's standard pseudonyms. He first started writing scripts for soap operas in the 1970s, as a script writer forHarding Lemay onAnother World.
He was hired byNBC Daytime in 1976 after thenhead writer,Margaret DePriest, leftThe Doctors. Although Marland's writing received critical acclaim and the show received Daytime Emmys, ratings dropped.
During his tenure onThe 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), andJonathan 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.
After his job onThe Doctors, he was hired byABC Daytime in 1978 to work withGloria Monty on their serialGeneral 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 ofLuke Spencer andLaura Webber, as well as creatingvixen nurseBobbie Spencer, and theQuartermaine family[citation needed]. Although the changes atGeneral Hospital were a success, Marland was not interested in moving to Los Angeles, where the show was produced, and didn't like the show's increased pacing by Monty. Marland left the show a year later.
Back in New York, he was asked byCBS Daytime to temporarily assume the head writing reins atAs the World Turns, which he did for thirteen weeks.
In 1979, he assumed the head writing reins ofGuiding Light. Marland's run onGL produced popular storylines and characters. One character Marland introduced was Nola Reardon, played byLisa 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 byJane Elliot). Carrie was diagnosed withmultiple personalities, and Marland had barely delved into her psychosis when Elliot's contract was abruptly terminated byExecutive ProducerAllen M. Potter in 1982; Marland resigned in protest.
Marland next teamed up with fellow writerAgnes Nixon to createLoving, 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.
During the 1982–1983 season, he co-wrote, with James Rosin,[1] a show that he had created,A New Day in Eden[2] for the cable channelShowtime. The show was hailed as TV's first "nude" serial, in which many cast members would perform their love scenes without clothes. The show thrived on the taboo, showcasing bodies and a perverse combination of sex and violence, including a deflowering in a barn, a sexual assault in a shower, and one story in which a woman seduced the rival for another man's affections in a lesbian storyline. Despite its controversy and the fact that the cast included Steve Carlson,Jane Elliot (fresh from her run as Tracy onGH & Carrie onGL), andLara Parker (famous as the witch Angelique on thecultDark Shadows) and that it was produced and sometimes directed by daytime veteran actressSusan Flannery,A New Day in Eden only lasted 66 episodes.
Marland was hired in 1985 to return toAs the World Turns. Marland refocused the show and made the Hughes family central to the plot again. He utilized over 30 years of history to create new storylines for core charactersBob Hughes andKim Hughes. (One story, where a child previously thought to be dead was found to be alive and living in England, was a dual role played by futureOscar-winning actressJulianne Moore.) He was also credited with bringing original cast membersHelen Wagner andDon MacLaughlin back to the center the show as Nancy and Chris Hughes, after they'd been bumped to recurring status in 1982. When McLaughlin (and his character) died in 1986, Marland paired Nancy with Chief of Detectives Dan McClosky, and then chronicled McClosky's subsequent battle withAlzheimer's disease. He also reached back toLisa McColl's 1965 stint on short-livedATWT spinoffOur Private World, giving her a son, Scott Eldridge, hitherto unknown to viewers, who tracked her down as an adult. (He was said to have been born during the several-month-long lapse between when Private World ended and when Lisa resurfaced onATWT in mid-1966.)
He also introduced a new working-class family, the Snyders, into the storyline and added new dimensions to the wealthyLucinda Walsh (Elizabeth Hubbard) by tying the Walshes and Snyders together. This resulted in the pairing ofLily Walsh (Martha Byrne) andHolden Snyder (Jon Hensley). It was also revealed thatIva Snyder (Lisa Brown) was the biological mother of Lucinda's adopted daughter Lily. The new Snyder family was based largely on Douglas Marland's own experiences; he grew up on a farm inWest Sand Lake, NY. In several interviews, Marland remarked that the character ofSeth Snyder was based largely on his own life. Seth was the oldest child, who had been taken on great responsibility in helping to raise his siblings following patriarch Harvey Snyder's death. This event was key to the formation of the Snyder family dynamic, in that Marland was allowed to write a strong and independent yet maternal figure in matriarchEmma Snyder (Kathleen Widdoes).
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 ofAIDS. Starcher was nominated for aSoap Opera Digest Award in 1990.
Marland diversified the previously white canvas ofAs the World Turns, introducing an Amerasian character as the child of aVietnam 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 matriarchNancy Hughes helping a young, illiterate African-American girl (played by singer/actressLauryn Hill), learn to read.
Marland also penned a story featuring the character ofEllie Snyder having anabortion; abortion is a rarity in daytime and this again allowed Marland to write about both sides of a controversial issue.
Marland wrote ATWT until his death from complications after abdominal surgery on March 6, 1993.
During his tenure atAs 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:
Marland won severalDaytime 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
NOMINATIONS
Writers Guild of America Award
NOMINATIONS
| Preceded by | Head writer ofThe Doctors September 20, 1976 - September 30, 1977 | Succeeded by Ethel Brez andMel Brez |
| Preceded by Irving Elman and Tex Elman | Head writer ofGeneral Hospital (hired byGloria Monty) 1978-1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt | Head writer ofAs the World Turns November 7, 1979-January 4, 1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head writer ofGuiding Light 1979-August 1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Head writer ofLoving 1983-1985 | Succeeded by Ralph Ellis |
| Preceded by Susan Bedsow Horgan | Head writer ofAs the World Turns 1985-March 6, 1993 | Succeeded by |