James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten are American television writers, primarily working on soap operas. The duo worked together for over 20 years, starting on the prime-time serial ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

''. 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 tended to drift towards supernatural and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

elements in the shows they were hired for. When the two wrote for '' Guiding Light'' during the later part of the 1990s, the show's primary heroine,

Reva Shayne Reva Shayne is a fictional character from '' Guiding Light'', played by four-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Kim Zimmer from November 28, 1983, to July 23, 1990, and August 14, 1995, until the show's final episode on September 18, 2009. Zimmer has ...

, was cloned, and when the duo would later write for ''

Port Charles ''Port Charles'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the series ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes pl ...

'', vampires were introduced, along with other supernatural creatures. 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 Megan McTavish (born April 2, 1949, Elgin, Illinois) is American television actress and soap opera writer. McTavish is best known for several head writing stints on ''All My Children''. Early career Before becoming a writer, McTavish was a Chica ...

, 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 (née Sills) 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 (now part of Watts, California). Barbara and Stanley attended Woodcrest elementary school, Bret Hart Junior High School, and Washington High School, all of which are 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 her family.

Positions held

'' *Co-Writers: 1987-1988 *Executive Story Editors: 1988-1989 '' All My Children'' *Co-Head Writers: July 26, 2007 - January 14, 2008; January 30 - August 26, 2008 *Script Writers: July 20, 2010 – September 23, 2011 '' Days of Our Lives'' *Script Editors: November 2006 - May 2007 '' One Life to Live'' *Script Editors: October 2004 - October 2005 ''

'' *Co-Head Writers: November 2000 - July 2003 '' Guiding Light'' *Co-Head Writers: 1997 - 2000 '' Loving'' *Co-Head Writers: 1994 - November 1995 '' The City'' *Creators *Co-Head Writers: November 1995 - March 1997 ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'' *Script Writer: September 19, 2019 – present (Harmon Brown)

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

WINS *(1993; Best Writing; ''Guiding Light'') *(2012; Best Writing; ''Days of Our Lives'') NOMINATIONS *(1999; Best Writing; ''Guiding Light'') *(2006, 2009 & 2012; Best Writing; ''One Life to Live'') Writers Guild of America Award NOMINATIONS *(1995, 1996, 1998 & 1999 seasons; ''Guiding Light'') *(2006 season; ''One Life to Live'') *(2008 season; ''All My Children'')

References

External links

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Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Harmon and Esensten, Barbara Living people American soap opera writers Screenwriting duos Daytime Emmy Award winners Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)