Producer and writer "didn't click" at Santa Barbara
Soap Opera Digest, 1990	Home   Cette page en Français

Sheri Anderson has stepped down as co-head writer of Santa Barbara, and in a surprise move returned to Days Our Lives.

Anderson admits there were backstage conflicts involved. She and Santa Barbara's Senior Executive Producer John Conboy "just never clicked that well creatively," she says, although the producers were enmeshed in disagreements with the network and the writers "were kind of stuck in the middle."

Anderson joined Santa Barbara last year after a brief stay as head writer on Falcon Crest. "I felt I could have good impact on the show, and not destroy what made Santa Barbara so special," she maintains. She wanted to leave the humor, but blend in strong emotional storylines. Two weeks after she took over the writing reins, Conboy has hired to head up production. "I said, "Oh no" as soon as I heard that", she recalls, "because I know that someone like John Conboy has such a strong vision of what they want, that it's never going to be what you want." In June, the situation came to a head, and she left Santa Barbara.

Meanwhile, she happened to get a phone call from her old boss, Days Our Lives Executive Producer Ken Corday. A past head writer of Days Our Lives, Anderson has been with the show off and on since 1975. When Corday heard she was available again, he didn't waste any time signing her up as story consultant.

Anderson has no hard feelings about parting company with Santa Barbara. "It's not healthy for the show to have people with different visions trying to work together," she says, "so for me it was better to move on. Now that I'm leaving, John and I are getting along very well", she says.

Aside from wishing her well, Conboy had no comment.