Writer is ‘creator-deserter’

Press, 30 May 1989, Page 15

Writer is ‘creator-deserter’

By

JERRY BUCK

NZPA Hollywood Susan Harris, creator of “Soap” and “Benson,” hadn’t wanted to do any more television. Then came a suggestion that she write about a group of older women in Miami. When the “suggestion” comes from Brandon Tartikoff, president of N.B.C. Entertainment, it’s a little hard to dismiss. “That appealed to me,” said Harris. "I like writing about older people. They have more to say. They’ve led rich lives. That’s really how it started. After that I came up with the concept and the characters. We got the stars we wanted.”

The 100th episode of “The Golden Girls” is about to air in America. The Emmy-winning series has just completed its third season, finishing fifth in the ratings.

Harris said she believes there’s lots of life left in the girls and the award-

winning show can go on for many more years. She confines her writing these days to motion pictures. “My husband calls me the creator-deserter,” she said. After “Soap,” she married Paul Witt of WittThomas productions, makers of “The Golden Girls” and “Empty Nest.” She no longer writes episodic TV because for four years she wrote every script for “Soap.” “I will never, ever do that again,” she said. “I had to give up my life to do that. It was a nightmare. I never stopped working. I couldn’t get sick. I worked day and night. I’ll never do that again. My son was 9 or 10 at the time, and I didn’t get to see much of him. “It’s a trade-off. Before ‘Soap’ I lived in a tiny house in the valley. I discussed it with my son. I said this was a way to buy a house. So when he was 14, he had a nice house with a swimming pool. I

don’t regret it. It gave me a chance to be more creative than I’d ever been. “I began writing the way a lot of people do,” she said. “I was watching TV one night and it was such garbage. I said I could write better than that. I got a copy of a teleplay and used it as a guide. I sold the first thing I wrote, a script for ‘Then came Bronson’. ” After that she wrote for “All in the Family,” “Maude” and other comedies.

Harris is still angry about the fate of “Soap.” She said it was the victim of misinformation and was cancelled after four years on the air because of pressure from con-, servative groups who thought it too risque. “It could have gone on for many years,” she said. “Some stations wouldn’t even run it in prime time. I think the show was done in good taste. It’s all so innocuous today.”