Saturday, November 12, 2016

WLS Interview Archive: Claire Labine

Claire Labine
EDITOR'S NOTE: Reposted from November 2009.

I had the honor and privilege of talking with the eloquent and wonderful Emmy winning writer Claire Labine recently. In case you missed it, here is the complete seven part interview.

Part One - Labine discusses her writing process, reflects on her early career, and how mothering contributed to her understanding of soaps.

Part Two - Labine discusses her battles with ABC, struggles with recasts, and the psychological underpinnings of the Ryan family.

Part Three - Labine discusses controversial storyline choices on Ryan's Hope and General Hospital, and her reaction to the criticism that her work is “too depressing.”

Part Four - Labine dishes about life at General Hospital, the pressures of continuing the Luke and Laura legacy, inventing Sonny and Brenda, and why Jason Quartermaine was given amnesia.

Part Five - Labine shares insights into what happened when she went to work on One Life to Live and Guiding Light.

Part Six - Labine shares more about her struggles with Guiding Light and Paul Rauch, plus, the absurdities of focus groups.

Part Seven - We conclude by discussing Labine's life after Guiding Light, her health, and future hopes.

7 comments:

  1. did claire graduate from univ of kentucky & did she write for capt kangaroo & was she fired from that show ?

    is it true that she & hogan sheffer were picked as new writers for p & g soaps & started about same time .could she have easily gotten world turns headwriter position & either writer might have ended up at opposite shows or ? did hogan get to pick world turns ? did he say.. he could relate to show ( w turns) & characters ? did he not like prince storyline /island away from springfield story ? what characters or stories would she have told for world turns & does she wish she would have wrote for show ? she could have wrote great stories for older charcters,too ?both writer r great !! love labine's long scenes with two characters & sometimes more characters in a scene & love when each character has tons & tons & tons of dialogue lines & uses words that r not everyday common words.
    why was a great 4th of july shwo wriiten for one life to live & never shown ? i remember a great article/photos about that 4th of july show ?? a special news announcement kept 4th of july show from being seen ?? how much does a show cost to make ?? will it ever be shown ?? does she have a copy >> does music rights cost a lot to run more of the old ryans hope shows that have never been seen ? soapnet has a great message board for r hope ? does she know ? r hope had a great modern dr with a earing.he was black.why few black characters & why were some great characters that had great potential written off after three yrs ?? why wasn't bob (charcter) given lots of great romances & stories ? actor went to home improvement (show).
    labine & pam long of hollywood area (?) r great writers !! please do a interview with pam & lorrain broderick.pam did a radio show interview.doesn't labine live in brookly where world turns is taped ? wish labine would write all my children with agnes nixon ?? would she want to write for a los angeles soap ? long would be good writer for all my children,too.many writers have lived on opposite coast & have been headwriter for a soap on opposite coast.was it easy for her to travel back & forth to los angeles ?? would she write ..g hospital again ?? does she wish that audrey (major,major longtime character) could have gotten altizmers on g hospital or would that upset longtime viewers ?

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  2. Finally got a chance to read the interview. Great Stuff!! It was so interesting, and I especially liked all the talk about Ryan's Hope (which I'm currently watching on SoapNet). Thanks so much!

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  3. ooh, forgot to mention this in my last post. If you ever interview Claire again, would you consider asking her a question for me? In the finale of Ryan's Hope (which I believe she wrote), Faith comes back with her daughter Grace. Pat asks Faith if he is Grace's father but before she replies Maeve begins singing Danny Boy. Was Pat Grace's father?? I must know, lol!!

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  4. What a great question! I hope to keep in touch with her, and will ask her that question next time I speak to her.

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  5. Thanks Damon! If you managed to get an answer to that question, you'd be my hero, lol!!

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  6. Is there any way Claire would ever consider coming back to General Hospital especially now that VMG has joined the cast again? There are so many of us that would love for her to come and finish the love story she created with Sonny and Brenda, and GH is in need of new writers ASAP. We are trying to locate Claire so that we could petition for her return as head writer at GH.

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  7. Claire, my beloved friend ftrom high school and college...talented in a way that none of us in those early days could even begin to comperhend! I am awed by her accomplishments and would love nothing more than to be in touch once again!
    Gay Hamilton Dunlap

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