Jill Farren Phelps

Jill Farren-Phelps (born July 7, 1950) is an American television producer.

Background

Phelps was born in New York, New York and earned a BFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She became a stage manager at McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey before becoming a production assistant for various New York stage productions, working with notable directors Mike Nichols and Bob Fosse. She started her television career in 1974 with Guiding Light as a production assistant. From 1977 to 1984 Phelps served as an Emmy Award-winning music director on the ABC Daytime drama General Hospital. In 1984 she joined Santa Barbara where she ultimately rose to the position of executive producer. She has since worked as an executive producer at all three major U.S. television networks producing daytime dramas for a total of five programs, as well as one prime time spin-off drama airing on cable television.

Career

Phelps has been the executive producer of many American television daytime dramas and one prime time cable drama: Santa Barbara (1987–1991), Guiding Light (1991–1995), Another World (1995–1996; resigned August 4, 1996), One Life to Live (1997–2001), General Hospital (2001–January 2012), and the first season of SOAPnet's prime time General Hospital spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift (2007).

Phelps broke into the daytime television industry as a production assistant on Guiding Light. She served as a music director on General Hospital and later on Santa Barbara before she started producing.

During Phelps' time at Santa Barbara, the show won three consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series (1988 - 1990). She scored three more Emmy victories in the same category while serving as executive producer at General Hospital (2005, 2006, and 2008).

On December 1st, 2011, it was announced on Twitter by Soaps In Depth that Phelps had been let go the day before, and would be replaced by former One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini. This information was confirmed by ABC Daytime, and a press release was issued announcing this change in leadership.

Santa Barbara

In 1984, Phelps was hired as a music director after previously working in a similar capacity at General Hospital. She rose through the ranks, and was later promoted to producer. In 1987, when executive producer Mary-Ellis Bunim was let go, NBC Daytime named Phelps executive producer. Under Phelp's leadership, the show won three consecutive daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1988, 1989, and 1990.

A bit of real-life melodrama occurred at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 1988 when Santa Barbara was named Outstanding Drama Series and Phelps awkwardly shared the podium with Bridget Dobson to receive the Emmy statue. Dobson ascended the stage a few seconds ahead of Phelps after the winner was announced. Because some of the scenes submitted for the show's Emmy reel were produced before Phelps took over as executive producer, there was some jockeying over who should accept the award.

Although Santa Barbara won two more Emmy awards in the Outstanding Drama Series category in 1989 and 1990, numerous cast and crew changes caused ratings to suffer. Louise Sorel, Robin Wright, Lane Davies, Marcy Walker, Justin Deas, Todd McKee, Christopher Norris, and Leigh J. McCloskey left during Phelps' time as executive producer or after she was replaced by John Conboy. Some fans and critics believed the show began to improve under Conboy, but viewership continued to erode, and Santa Barbara was canceled by NBC on January 15, 1993.

Guiding Light

After Robert Calhoun left Guiding Light, Phelps, who had recently departed Santa Barbara, took over as executive producer in 1991. Phelp's time at Guiding Light was a period of transition for the show, and several high profile cast changes became a point of contention. Veteran daytime actress Beverlee McKinsey, who portrayed the iconic Alexandra Spaulding, and Phelps disagreed over both the direction of the character and the terms of McKinsey's contract. In 1992, McKinsey subsequently left the serial, leaving a hole in the show's canvas, and many fans disappointed.

Another unpopular decision was the exit of actress Ellen Parker. Parker played the new matriarch of the Bauer family, Maureen Bauer, after Charita Bauer, an original television cast member of the show who portrayed long-time patriarch Bert Bauer, passed away in 1985. Parker's character, who was married to Ed Bauer (Peter Simon), was written off the show in 1993 in a car accident after learning Ed had been having an affair with her best friend Lillian Raines (played by Tina Sloan) while helping her battle breast cancer. This decision was particularly controversial after it was alleged that Phelps relied on focus group data to make this decision.

One cast change during Phelps' time as executive producer praised by many fans was the return of Emmy Award-winning actress Kim Zimmer. Her character Reva Shayne, despite having been killed off the show in 1990, was brought back in 1995. Phelps departed Guiding Light later that year and was soon named executive producer of Another World as part of NBC's attempt to save the show from cancellation.

Another World

While Phelps served as executive producer at Another World, viewers were generally divided over changes to the show, and in particular, casting decisions. However, the creation of an updated, dynamic opening sequence and refreshed sets, along with other changes, were credited with ratings improving in the key demographic of women 18-49 by 34%.

One Life To Live

After Phelps resigned as executive producer of Another World, ABC Daytime hired her to be the executive producer of One Life to Live in 1997. Together with head writer Pam Long, the show was praised for a number of compelling stories, such as the feud between rival characters Cassie and Barbara, the death of Jenny Wolek Renaldi (Brynn Thayer), and one of the most touching developments in the history of One Life to Live, the return of Michael Zaslow (who portrayed David Renaldi) despite the actor's battle with ALS.

However, despite initial success with story lines including the mystery over who killed Nora's mentally ill assistant Georgie, fans began to voice displeasure when core characters such as Dorian's husband Mel and Bo's son Drew were killed and Dorian's daughter Cassie was written off the show, and principle characters such as Nora, Jessica and Viki were given stories revolving around the newly introduced Rappaport and Davidson families.

Linda Dano was added to the cast in late 1999 after the cancellation of Another World. Dano had played a small, semi-forgotten supporting role on One Life to Live twenty years earlier named Gretel Cummings; the character was renamed Rae Cummings for Dano's return to Llanview. Dano eventually appeared as Rae on all four of ABC's soaps airing at the time -- Port Charles, All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital -- in an attempt to cross-promote these shows to ABC's entire base of daytime drama viewers. Similarly, actress Robin Christopher resurrected her All My Children character Skye Chandler as a One Life to Live vixen, before taking the same character to General Hospital. Many regular One Life to Live viewers felt these characters were distractions from longtime core characters such as Viki Lord and Dorian Lord Buchanan.

Phelps hired many of her favorite actors, including Mark Derwin, Kale Browne, John Bolger, and Timothy Gibbs, to fill roles. Events such as Todd punching Téa in the face and Nora sleeping with her former lover Sam to give her sterile husband a child created impact, but to many viewers, these stories came at the expense of character integrity and continuity. When the popular characters Nora and Bo suffered a bitter split, actress Hillary B. Smith was so unnerved by her character's behavior she actually lobbied Phelps (unsuccessfully) to kill Nora off.

General Hospital

Phelps was named executive producer of General Hospital in 2001. During her time there, the show won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series (2005, 2006, 2008).

One highlight of Phelps' time at General Hospital was the addition of accomplished television and screen actor James Franco to the cast. Franco has portrayed the mysterious Robert "Franco" Frank intermittently since 2009.

Phelps was replaced by former One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini in January, 2012, and the future of the show Phelphs led for a over a decade is uncertain, as ABC is currently developing a talk show with Katie Couric titled Katie slated for an autumn, 2012 debut in the 3 p.m. (Eastern) time slot currently occupied by General Hospital in most markets.

General Hospital: Night Shift

In 2007, Phelps served as the executive producer for the first season of SOAPnet's prime time General Hospital spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift.

Controversies

In 2003, Phelps fired veteran screen and television actress Anna Lee, who had portrayed matriarch Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital for a quarter of a century. This decision was widely protested in the soap community. According to fellow cast member Leslie Charleson, Lee had been promised the role for life by former executive producer Wendy Riche. Charleson said in 2007, "The woman was in her 90s...they fired her, and it broke her heart. It was not necessary."

Phelps' career in daytime television has shown a predilection for depicting violence against women. While Phelps served as executive producer of Santa Barbara, the character Eden Capwell Castillo, seeking treatment for infertility, was raped by her gynecologist and thus was unsure who fathered her child. During Phelps' stint at Another World, the character Frankie Frame Winthrop was brutally chased down and murdered in what remains one of the most gratuitously gruesome scenes in daytime television history. During Phelps' time at General Hospital and during the 2007-2008 writer's strike, the character Dr. Patrick Drake exposed a patient and a partner to HIV after a condom broke -- which he knew had happened -- while he was romantically involved with Robin Scorpio, an HIV-positive character. Previous General Hospital producers received critical accolades and awards for their stories involving this character and her HIV status, whereas Phelps did not. In 2011, another story line featuring the character Robin Scorpio involved her blood being used as a biological weapon by an escaped mental patient. Also during Phelps' time at General Hospital, a plot similar to the Santa Barbara fertility/ rape story line began to unfold involving the character Sam Morgan, who underwent an experimental fertility procedure and who was later drugged and possibly raped on her honeymoon.

These story lines may all be verified in the archives of soapcentral.com or articles in Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Weekly or Soaps In Depth magazines.

Positions held

Preceded by Bridget and Jerome Dobson Mary-Ellis Bunim	Executive Producer of Santa Barbara 1987-1991	Succeeded by John Conboy
Preceded by Robert Calhoun [1]	Executive Producer of Guiding Light 1991-1995	Succeeded by Michael Laibson
Preceded by John Valente	Executive Producer of Another World 1995-1996	Succeeded by Charlotte Savitz [2]
Preceded by Maxine Levinson [3]	Executive Producer of One Life to Live 1997-2001	Succeeded by Gary Tomlin
Preceded by Pam Long	Head Writer of One Life to Live (de facto) 1999	Succeeded by Megan McTavish
Preceded by Wendy Riche	Executive Producer of General Hospital 2001-January 2012	Succeeded by Frank Valentini
Preceded by N.A.	Executive Producer of General Hospital: Night Shift July 2007 - Sept. 2007	Succeeded by Lisa de Cazotte

Awards and nominations

As an executive producer, Phelps has been nominated for fourteen Daytime Emmy Awards and has won six times (1988–1990, 2005, 2006, 2008).