Chris B

I do find it really interesting that everybody they've brought on has been recurring. It makes me wonder if anybody will be bumped to contract or is that just gonna be the norm for them. As someone who loves opening credit updates, I wish they'd include some of the recurring stars who appear regularly. I'd love to see them add a third opening with some of the recurring actors.

I've been watching the reruns on YouTube and I managed to get through Marla Adams stint as Beth. It was very odd and brief. It felt more like a temp recast than anything. With that said, she was miscast. I don't think they ever got the casting right for this role, especially the long awaited return with that dud Robin Riker. Considering Susan Seaforth Hayes and Jane Elliot (who was actually cast) were in the mix for Stephanie, I don't understand why they didn't just make one of them Beth. Especially Elliot who was under contract and thought she had a job. That character was always doomed. I thought Lesli Kay was as perfect a recast as you could expect but it was clear the writers weren't invested in the character. I don't think there is any way she could've broken through, regardless of if it was a recast or Sofer returning at that time. The storytelling during that era was far too limited and didn't have room for another woman of that age. I can't recall if this was the time they fired Ilene Kristen for gaining weight but whatever the reason, Mattson was a total disaster in the role. I always assumed she would've been decent just based on her soap pedigree and was shocked when I saw episodes with her. You'd never believe she had a succesful role on a soap. She completely didn't understand the character and couldn't give her any warmth. They had endless recasts on Ryan's Hope and I'd argue this might be the absolute worst. Jennifer Landon was good as Heather and had chemistry with everyone. She was more the victim of a regime change since she was the last hired by the outgoing team. Eden Riegel was one of the all-time worst recasts in Y&R history. The character of Mac was right there so I couldn't understand the thought process behind bringing her back. Vail's return I thought was fantastic until JG ruined it. She had good chemistry with Michael Grazeidei and I kept expecting them to revisit Heather/Adam since he wasn't doing anything at the time. Instead they killed her off in a throwaway story that made no sense. It was such a waste of a good actress and a legacy character who still had life in her. This was an insane casting choice. Like you said, she should've been Grace Turner and her best chemistry was with Joshua Morrow. Even had they gotten the casting right, bringing back Diane the way she was written didn't make any sense. Maura West can do almost anything but even she couldn't make that work.

Jess Walton is one who I think viewers took to instantly and as good as she was, I do think part of it was due to Brenda Dickson's unreliability. I know at some point towards the end Deborah Adair came back for a week and played Jill and then Jess was bouncing back and forth with Dickson before she took over. I'm sure viewers were just happy to have one Jill. I wish it was still available but at one point someone put on YouTube a cut with Adair/Dickson and Walton/Dickson doing the same scenes. It was very interesting to see their take on her Jill.

The irony of saying Giddeons breakdowns need to be saved by the script writer is that he's a breakdown writer who writes very detailed, dialogue heavy breakdowns so the things the script writer did to "save" his breakdowns is likely his own work. Now I will say, for Carlivati, something I don't like in his breakdowns is that the scenes can be short and choppy which is a signature of his.

That is a very good point. Despite the issue with the Chancellor Mansion revamp, I thought the show looked expensive under her and she would never allow a show to be as boring as what JG is giving us. I will also have endless respect for her immediately getting Jess Walton back after the previous regime ran her off.

I did feel like JFP's Y&R was decent. Of all the recent HW/EP swaps, her period was very safe but watchable. Nothing spectacular but better than what we have now.

A while back someone did post a clip from his GH episode. He was Curtis therapist when he was paralyzed. I know in his primetime show Zatima he played straight. Seemed almost like a completely different person which is good for an actor but really surprised me.

I'm one of the few who doesn't think the actress playing Samantha looks her age but I can't say I find this story to be super engaging. I don't mind it and there have been some fun moments but it just makes me wish she was younger. Maybe had they kept Tyrell the age he is and make Samantha 13-14, it would be more impactful and fresh for a US soap. I always struggle with any of the teen stories because watching Eastenders and Hollyoaks has completely spoiled me in that regard. I don't think a US soap has done teens well since probably around 2010.

The weird thing about this is that they've brought back Lorie and Leslie multiple times and even created a long lost Brooks/Abbott child who fathered Theo, when that could've easily been Brooks son. Not only that, but the Brooks family had a media empire and they've done endless stories in that realm the past 20 years. These stories write themselves. I have no idea how JG always manages to find the most absurd stories to tell.

It has to be because I know he had deep issues with playing Todd and women screaming asking him to rape them. The insane thing is that there are legacy characters that make sense for all of these people coming in.

I'm all for recasts, villains and back from the dead characters but Matt Clark? If ever there was a character not worthy of bringing back from the dead, it is a serial rapist. They could've given Howarth so many great past characters to play and they do this? I'm stunned he accepted and disgusted with the show.

For those of us lasped Y&R viewers that Josh Griffith has driven away, Peter Bergman is starring in a new Apple TV series!

Claire Labine is one of my favorites and she definitely excelled at scenes like this. Very interesting to hear!

Danielle Paige's scripts feel so warm and P&G like to me. Everytime I see her name in the credits it reminds me of ATWT or GL at their best. I don't know if it's from her experience on GL or her books or both but she does romance and family scenes so well. Jazmen, on the other hand, gives a modern and youthful feel to his episodes and lots of Black cultural references. They don't always land but I love that he consistently tries.

Breakdown writers do pitch story so that isn't unusual or unique to him.

This I 100% agree with. She's one of the most fascinating characters on the show and one of their strongest actors. I'm not finding her likable right now but not in an Ashley/Derek/Tomas way. She's endlessly watchable just going down a dark path which of course is good for drama!

She's a complicated woman, that's for sure. I feel like Doug's death could've been a turning point to her but her actions since then have started to turn me off her. Especially the way she's dismissing Donnell, not to protect him but so she can go back to Joey. It's taking her more in a villainess direction in my mind. At this point I need them to go all in and make her a full on villain like Joey. If not, we need to start seeing some better judgement out of her.

I find a lot of the criticism that comes his way is unjustified and based on past things like his reputation at Daytime Confidential. I agree some of his Days work wasn't great but he had a HW and had to fit their vision. When he had the opportunity to write stuff like Bo and Hope's reunion or Doug's death, the material was excellent. I also feel like his work on Ambitions was excellent, along side the wonderful Michele Val Jean and it makes sense to have him here. I think his breakdowns for BTG have been great. There haven't been any short or choppy scenes and I think he's done a good job of bringing a level of depth like the discussion of how Black women are more at risk from lymphedema in yesterday's episode. That is a meaningful thing to add to a breakdown and something that only a Black writer would've caught. So far I'd say his episodes have been very memorable. I especially like when his breakdown is paired with Danielle Paige or Jazmen. Those are probably my three favorite writers on the staff. Overall, I have no complaints about any of the changes to the writing staff. I think the show has continued to get better and until I see signs of the opposite, I'm pretty happy with the writing. I just wish they had a better EP and set designer.

Thank you for saying this. It's unfortunate they aren't more forthcoming to prevent this speculation but we know they don't just focus on live ratings. Every now and then they give us insight on the true ratings in a press release. Hopefully we'll get one of those soon so we can have a better idea of how the show is really doing but I too think CBS is pleased.

For the actress to be so young I feel like she has to be Deanna. She can't be a Samantha recast because she's still taping. Happy to see the character making her way to town! I hope Deanna and Donnell become staples and I hope she's as good as he is.

Thanks for the heads up! I left off in mid-season 8 just because it's such a hassle to pull out my DVD player. I've watched one episode so far and it looks great. It's also nice that all of the episodes are there so I don't have to jump back and forth between streaming and DVDs.

Jacob is such a classic soap hero for me. He's a good guy to the point of being annoying at times and so damn sexy. I just hope he one day gets a story to go with his charm. I could see him killing a pairing like Carly and Jack from ATWT.

While I find the stories to be engaging, these set problems are driving me up the wall. Was it necessary to have Hayley and Randy meet in a public place to plot out their scheme? And the kicker for me was Bill laying on that funky couch with a blanket. Why don’t they have a bedroom set? Surely another bedroom set could’ve been re-dressed for them. And don’t even get me started on Naomi and Jacob in that bedroom set…

I didn't get to comment last week but I loved the episodes! The Hayley twist was great. I've seen lots of speculation on whether or not this was always planned and while I don't think it was planned from day one, I do think it's a great twist. Marquita is killing it performance wise and I think she'll be a great proper villain.

I wouldn't mind this actually. I loved Rita on the original series.