James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten


James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten are American television writers, primarily working on soap operas. The duo have worked together for over 20 years, starting on the prime-time serial Dynasty. Together, they created the soap opera The City, a spinoff of Loving. On November 14, 2012, Esensten died at the age of 75.

Controversy

Brown and Esensten are somewhat controversial; their writing has been criticized as often drifting into the absurd and sci-fi. When the two wrote for Guiding Light during the later part of the 1990s, the show's primary heroine, Reva Shayne, was cloned, and when the duo would later write for Port Charles, vampires were introduced, along with other supernatural creatures. When the two took over as head writers at All My Children, the show plummeted to record lows in the ratings. The show reached a record low of 2,144,000 viewers on November 2, 2007.
Because of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Brown and Esensten went financial core within the guild, allowing them to write for All My Children because of financial strains brought on by the strike. Megan McTavish, the writer they replaced at All My Children, was displeased. "These are not youngsters struggling to make mortgage payments or feed their children. Their sole intent now seems to be piling up more money for themselves," she said.

Barbara Esensten

Barbara Esensten was born in Los Angeles, California to Rose Fischer and Max Edward Sills. She had an older sister, Phyllis, and a younger brother, Stanley. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood. Barbara and Stanley attended Woodcrest elementary school, Bret Hart Junior High School, and Washington High School, all of which in Southern Los Angeles. Barbara graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science from UCLA. Most of her adult life, Barbara and her husband Jack, lived in the affluent Palos Verdes, south of Los Angeles. Barbara was an accomplished pianist, an avid reader, and very much loved he family.

Positions held

Dynasty
All My Children
Days of Our Lives
One Life to Live
Port Charles
Guiding Light
Loving
The City
The Young and the Restless
Daytime Emmy Awards
WINS
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Writers Guild of America Award
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