In early 1998 ABC hired Jill Farren Phelps as executive producer and Pam Long as head writer. The first few months of their tenure (featuring a mystery over who killed Nora's crazy assistant Georgie—the killer was Nora’s daughter Rachel)—were well received. However, popular characters were killed (such as Dorian's husband Mel and Bo's son Drew) or written out (such as Dorian's daughter Cassie). Many longtime characters like Nora, Jessica, and Viki were given stories which revolved around the new Rappaport/Davidson family.