Soap Opera World
February 1984
A candid conversation with a woman who has it all-a husband, a baby, a background as an excellent actress, and most prominently, the job as head writer of a much improved "Guiding Light." And it's a job that takes much more than beauty and brains-maybe a heart, which beats with a Southern accent...
She won the title "Miss Alabama" with her performance as a ventriloquist, putting words into Draggles the Dragon's mouth. But Pamela Long Hammer is no dummy. While portraying the role of Ashley Linden Marshall on "Texas," she started thinking up story ideas for other characters as well. Executive Producer Gail Kobe suggested she put them down on paper, and she won a job writing that show. Now, as head writer of "Guiding Light" for almost a year, she puts words in the mouths of dozens of Springfield residents every day, and industry observers are predicting that 1984 could be "the" year for the 31-year-old soap.
When "Soap Opera World's" Linda Susman talked with her in her office recently, Ms. Long Hammer was dressed casually in loose fitting slacks and a red blouse, with her hair pulled straight back in a ponytail. But later that night, at GL's Christmas party, wearing an elegant, black, off-the-shoulder dress, with her hair set in full, soft waves, she looked like a real Southern belle, the kind who'd fit in just fine having dinner at the country club with H.B. Lewis and his family.
S.O. World:
In the last several months, GL is virtually a new show. How would you define its character and personality right now?
P.L.H.:
I think we're a hybrid. I think we're a combination. We have melodrama and, of course, the primary thing is there's always romance, even in the middle of that melodrama. The basis of our show is romantic, very romantic, but we have a lot of humor and melodrama and sentimentality. So in any given day, I hope we all laugh and cry along with everybody.
S.O. World:
What kind of process did you use, coming in as a new head writer?
P.L.H.:
I don't know how to write any differently than I do and I'm learning more and more every day. The basis for everything we do is a combination of the head and the heart, mostly the imagination, but it always comes from the characters first. You look and say, "Who all do we have on the show?" We have the Bauers, the Reardons, the Spauldings and the Lewises. It's a family show and we have three generations. We don't slight our older people. I looked at those characters, where they'd been, after reading their histories. A lot of it I remembered because I watched the show when I was a little girl. What are these characters capable of? What could possibly happen in their lives? What do they really want, based on who they are right now and what they've gone through? For example, Ed Bauer. With another actor and another set of writers, this man had been an alcoholic. We still play that. At one point, some writer had him get shot in the hand because of a love triangle. So what we're dealing with right now is like-he's not quite old enough to have a mid-life crisis, but he's at a point in his life where we make use of things other people laid in before us. Get that hand fixed, will he be able to perform surgery?
S.O. World:
Will he?
P.L.H.:
I don't think I can tell you. I mean, I can tell you, but I don't want you to print it.
S.O. World:
How do you respond to people who resent the fact that some long time characters have been let go or are not as important as they once were?
P.L.H.:
When I think of really long time characters, I think of Bert and I think of Mike. Truth be known there is a story coming up for Mike, so a lot of our ladies are going to be real interested to see that. You have only so much time to tell so many stories. We have a large cast and what we do is we try to-I mean, if a cat comes on, we can write a story for it. We rarely, like some shows, use old players as props to get off their guarantees by having them walk through a restaurant and say hello to somebody. When Mike's on, he's got a reason. Yesterday, he was helping Lillian and advising her, but truth be known, he does have a love story coming up.
S.O. World:
It's about time.
P.L.H.:
It may not be with one woman, there may be a triangle where you've got big conflict. As for Charita Bauer, I think of her as the backbone of the show. She will be coming back after her illness. I hope people don't think we're writing her out. She has a big story coming up. It was just getting into motion when she got sick and we had to rewrite a lot of scenes and put Maureen in instead of Bert. We didn't have time to prepare for it. She was going to have two men, for sure. It wasn't just one. It was going to be-I'm not going to tell you because we hope it will still happen.
S.O. World:
Which family would you see as the glue of the show?
P.L.H.:
That's a toss-up between the Reardons and the Bauers. I think of the Bauers as the core family, the oldest family on. The only really new family is that we've extended the Lewises. We had Trish and Josh and we extended them and I think they work great. The thing that's so interesting is the conflict between the Chamberlains with their old money, very blue blood and sophisticated, and the Lewises, who are so rough around the edges, with all the family politics and blackmail. The Bauers support and do right, and the Reardons are so demonstrative and affectionate and love each other, they're very satisfied and comfortable with themselves. The only other new family we brought on was the Raines family, and they've got a lot of problems.
S.O. World:
I automatically assumed that Bradley was going to get himself killed off, but I understand he won't be leaving the show after all. How do you deal with a man who's raped his own stepdaughter?
P.L.H.:
He will be punished, he's just not going to die. That's too easy, just to have some big dramatic thing and he finally gets conked on the head by somebody who's sick and tired of him. He's going to be brought to justice. The story we've told, this is really close to my heart, this rape story, and people get upset with it. They call and say, "Why didn't she go to the authorities right away?" "Why didn't she get an examination within 24 hours?" I say, "Why don't 95% of the women this happens to do it?" They don't, and that's what we're telling. We're not telling the perfect way, though we will give a lot of airtime to dealing with that, too. What we're saying is "this is what went wrong, see where it went wrong, see what happens, but you can overcome it."
S.O. World:
There was a rumor going around that Beth would be pregnant with Bradley's child.
P.L.H.:
No, she won't. We decided we didn't need to go that far. The story I wanted to tell, number one, is the love story between Phillip and Beth. They have severe problems, but the love story is the primary thing. The second part of it is the rape and to be able to tell about that with responsibility, we didn't need to go that far. Why would she have to live with something like that forever? It's a whole different thing, then. You're talking about unwanted pregnancy, teenage pregnancy. That wasn't the story. The story was the devastation that occurs-rape is one thing, but when it is within the family, it's a total loss of self-esteem. It's building that back up because they've taken away everything.
S.O. World:
The scene where Bradley took Beth to the gynecologist [to certify that she was a virgin] was very powerful.
P.L.H.:
That was tough. That was my scene, too, that was really my responsibility. I got a lot of flack about that. "That girl's my friend, I hated seeing her go through that." It may have gone on a little too long, just in the day. Maybe it could have been one scene in a hook, but it was three long scenes. So I learned something from that. Perhaps I could have told the same story without going so far. I have to watch myself, because I'll go for it.
S.O. World:
Is that the actress in you?
P.L.H.:
Well, I tell you, part of the fun, the reason I don't miss acting, is because I get to be all these people. It's probably that part of me that made me want to be an actress. That's what motivated me to wind up here. I guess I could still be down in Alabama fixin' cheese grits and sellin' Avon like my mother did. It's like I'm always looking for something else.
S.O. World:
Where do you get your story ideas?
P.L.H.:
Well, I read things in the newspapers, or from your own experience, or things you hear about, but mostly what you dream about. I guess I just have a heart like a trashy novel. I just love all that stuff, you know.
S.O. World:
The name of the game in daytime is ratings. How is GL doing in that department?
P.L.H.:
We thought we were going to take a beating when Luke and Laura got back together, and our ratings went up higher than they have been in two or three years. We got as high as number three. I mean, it was just General Hospital and All My Children and us!
S.O. World:
The wrap-up of the fishing trip mystery that coincided with Luke and Laura's reunion was very well done.
P.L.H.:
That story was written and executed just as we thought it would be when it was laid out last January. The viewers thought it went on a little too long, and I tend to agree. It should have been over three weeks earlier.
S.O. World:
Was it timed to conclude during the November sweeps?
P.L.H.:
Yes, and we'll never do that again.
S.O. World:
What's coming up in the near future?
P.L.H.:
In February, after the New York remotes come to a climax, we're going to have this huge masked ball where a million and one things are going to happen, and somebody new is coming to Springfield. It's Alan Spaulding's sister, a baroness, and she's a wonderful character, really a character. She comes in and turns Springfield on its ear.
S.O. World:
Is the part cast yet?
P.L.H.:
It's Beverlee McKinsey (ex-Iris, AW & Texas). I'm so proud of that. The Queen Bee of all time. She will be unmasked at the masked ball. It's going to be soo gorgeous.
S.O. World:
You seem to love big parties. Is that part of being a girl from the South?
P.L.H.:
…who never went to balls. This one's going to be bigger than last spring's Antebellum Ball. You're going to have to watch everyday because something new's going to be happening.
S.O. World:
How long will it go on?
P.L.H.:
I'm not sure yet, but I think four days. We have so much story right now and I think the characters are so interesting, we don't have time for filler. I almost wish we did. I wish we could have a scene where people are sitting around having a cup of coffee and talking about their hair. I love scenes like that.
S.O. World:
Aren't those the scenes that people always ridiculed about the soaps?
P.L.H.:
They're just a piece of life and I love that, and I think our characters are interesting enough to do it. I mean, these people have so many things driving them to do everything that there's no time to talk about their toenails. I would love to know what color some of them paint them, stuff like that.
S.O. World:
There's been some talk that Amanda would be coming back to town, played by Pam Long. Is that true?
P.L.H.:
I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life. First of all, I'd never be so stupid as to put myself on a show I was writing. I did it on Texas, but I was already working on it and I promptly wrote myself out. I could never play Amanda. Kathleen Cullen is Amanda and she played it beautifully. Nobody else could do that. And third, I don't have the time. I couldn't possibly do more than I'm doin' right now.
S.O. World:
Several taboos have hit the dust recently on daytime television. Now that some of the barriers are down...
P.L.H.:
We had an idea for the homosexual thing on our show when AMC started doing it so we dropped it. We didn't want to do it at that same time.
S.O. World:
What about interracial marriage? That really hasn't been done. Would you tackle it?
P.L.H.:
Not just for the reason that it hasn't been done. It has to come from a character. I would never plan a plot just to break new ground.
S.O. World:
It seems that not all that long ago, you were a newcomer to New York and to the soaps. Now, you're a headwriter, you're married, and you have a baby. How do you account for such rapid personal and professional success?
P.L.H.:
My mother would say it's because of her prayers, and I'm sure that helps, believe me. I always expect good things to happen. I always say, "Oh, this is going to be terrible," but I do that as a defense. Deep down inside I'm a very optimistic person. I think the show is really going to go. I just know it will. I knew someday I'd find somebody I'd really love and I knew I wanted to have children. I didn't know if I could, so that was a miracle when C.J. happened. My mother always said "just go for it, baby," and my daddy said to me before I went to Atlantic City, [for the Miss America Pageant], "always look up and reach high," and I guess I always have.
S.O. World:
Which of the characters on GL is most like you?
P.L.H.:
I'd love to be like Maureen, I think it would be fun to be a little bit like Reva. I'd love to have some of the things Vanessa has, be as different as Nola, as good looking as Phillip, and as good a mother and as wise as Bert.
S.O. World:
Is it hard to remain impartial with your characters?
P.L.H.:
Do you know who I love on this show, who I have a soft spot for, who I get teased about constantly? I love Floyd.
S.O. World:
And he doesn't have much of a storyline. Why?
P.L.H.:
Timing. Right now. Tony and Annabelle are involved in consuming story. They're going along, getting themselves together, getting closer, seeking a normalcy. It goes in cycles. And Floyd does have a story: he won the lottery, he lost Leslie Ann, he punched out Warren Andrews.
S.O. World:
:
Will Tony and Annabelle get married in the foreseeable future?
P.L.H.:
I sure hope so. They've got a real, big obstacle to overcome that hasn't even come up yet.
S.O. World:
Will Reva put a permanent crimp in Billy and Vanessa's wedding plans?
P.L.H.:
Nothing Reva would do would surprise me. But I'll tell you what. Reva will end up surprising you. I bet she does. Talk to me in about four months.
S.O. World:
What about Phillip and Beth?
P.L.H.:
I don't know. They are truly star-crossed lovers. We'll desperately keep trying to get them together and see what happens.
S.O. World:
Are three more Reardon children about to arrive in Springfield?
P.L.H.:
They're out there. We know who they are. They just haven't come to town yet, but they will.
S.O. World:
Anything we haven't covered?
P.L.H.:
I can't think of a thing, except my toenails are red.
