Eboneece

Spauldingfield just posted a character profile of Mel Boudreau on YouTube. I remember how promising the Boudreau family seemed at first. I wish they had linked Felicia to Vivian Grant. Anywho, I was reminded of how Mel went from doctor to attorney within the course of a few weeks during the Rauch to Conboy transition. Forget the big decisions like Maureen’s death and the clone that made viewers flee... details like Mel’s ridiculous career transition (and the XXXL sorasing of Leah Bauer) and the Caruthers story that made no sense left me with zero trust in this show.

The opening credits of this show are so bad. The seizure inducing version got an F, but the update barely merits a D. Even Guiding Light in Peapack had better visuals than this. The music is also incredibly uninspired. It sounds like a low budget children’s superhero cartoon intro. Ew.

Yeah the whole Gina is so “nice” thing is condescending af. While I prefer Stafford in the role and welcome her return, I also know that Tognoni did a lot of leg work in rehabilitating the Phyllis character.

Like others have said, the role of Victoria (as conceived by Bill Bell, Kay Alden, and Jack Smith) would have fit Gina Tognoni like a glove.  I could be wrong, but were there not whispers ca. 2009, around the time of Guiding Light’s cancellation, that Tognoni was being considered as a Victoria recast? I also recall rumors that the popularity of the Villy pairing (Heinle and Miller version) put to rest discussions of a Victoria recast ~2010-11.

Sad ratings. I hope that Y&R’s improve soon. The show has more heart under Morina and Griffith than it did under Mal a year ago. 

7 minutes ago, SamandWillowFan said:

That picture made me realize that all of the Adams have had brown eyes except for Muhney. Victor has brown eyes so it makes more sense for Adam to have brown eyes. I'm loving Mark's Adam.

Totally agree. Hats off to Tony, Josh, and the new casting director Nancy Nayor. 

It is also a shame that the B&B Barber connection has not been explored further.

I, too, would like to see Yolanda return. I’d want Debbi Morgan again, though that probably will not happen. 

5 hours ago, Vee said:

Careful, you've been flying under the radar for months. Let's not get shadowbanned again.

Thanx for your advice.

I think that the show is terrific. JG has his weak spots, sure. But the show is the best it has been in the last 10 years except for SSM, MAB, and the last 6 months of Jelly. Writing is basically in character and production values have improved markedly.  Also, Marla Adams could barely walk at the Emmys. What if she is not up for the day to day grind of being the matriarchal figure of this show¿

Say what you want about the stories, but the set decoration and design has improved markedly. I love the redecorated tack house. They finally got rid of the hideously distracting “contemporary” blinds in Jack’s Jabot office.

Griffith is better than everyone since MAB other than SSM. I think that he and SSM share the same problem: stories need more momentum, dramatic heat, etc., etc.  This is where you need a co-HW who is a plotter like Hogan Sheffer.  I recognize the characters and still enjoy them, but I need greater incentive to tune in and engage with the show.

The problem with this show is Angelica McDaniel. We have gone through numerous regimes and she is the common thread.

Yes, Angelica is vomit inducing. She is a cancer to this show and has been since she stepped foot in the building. As much as there was instability anyway immediately post Bill Bell’s death, Angelica McDaniel has overseen more regime changes than anyone else since 2012. [!@#$%^&*] her. 

It looks like Morina and Griffith are completely de-JFPing and de-MYing the show. I am so ok with this, despite feeling awful for Gina.

This is stunning. Gina is one of the show’s strongest dramatic performers. I love Gina, but she always should have been Victoria and she is too young to play Daniel’s mother. She also never had chemistry with Joshua Morrow. I enjoyed Gina with Peter Bergman, but the Billy pairing just never made sense to me storywise. I hope Jason Thompson is next to go.

I could see Gina doing well on B&B if Brad Bell had an attention span.

The Muhney stans are going insane. It is both delicious and pathetic.

This recast would de-age the character by about a decade. Grossman was born in 1987. 

The years that B&B won were for excellent episodes, even if they did not reflect the show’s year round quality. They were for the Storm and Betty White eps. I believe Steph’s death also won for writing. 

B&B consistently has the best day to day production values—sets, direction, music, location, wardrobe, etc.

This list is interesting, in the same way that a toddler’s crayon artwork on a freshly painted wall is.

Great for Beth Maitland and Peter Bergman. I’m surprised that Eileen Davidson and Camryn Grimes did not make the cut.

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

And yet that ugly snyder set survived yo the end.

And even that one shrank significantly around 2008 (and probably gradually even before then). During that time, ATWT went to permanent standing sets. To accommodate that, sets either disappeared (Lily’s real mansion, the Stewart home) or became visibly smaller (Carjack’s house, Oakdale Memorial, the police station, Al’s, Fashions, the Lakeview, Tom and Margo’s house, Metro).

It is interesting to me that the opening sequence very rarely got updated with cast changes until the late 1980s. There were several different iterations and styles of charcoal and pencil sketch openings, but rarely were new faces added unless the whole thing was redone. I guess what I’m saying is that I should not complain about the current opening not being updated when it took several years for Jeanne Cooper to even be added!

It is a shame that Bell never recast Karen. Clearly JJ was never going to commit full time. Karen was never a strong character to begin with, so recasting her with a tour de force actress and basically resetting the character could have allowed the show to easily fill the void that Flannery’s absence left in the show. And of course, keep Crystal Chappell as her love interest. My point is that thiscould have grounded Caroline in the canvas and solidified the Spencers. Guess that was never going to be on the table anyway. It is a shame because Caroline was a missed opportunity and could still be good with a strong recast... preferrably someone who doesn’t come across as squeaky as Godfrey often did.

7 hours ago, BillBauer said:

 

She said that during the Christmas show in 2000. I have that on tape somewhere. They were in a restaurant. I guess they had already done away with Bob and Kim’s house by then. It was the same episode where Lyla made her appearance. Seemed to be the last nod to the past. That may have been Penny’s last appearance unless Nancy’s birthday party came after that. I’m not sure when Nancy’s 80th was. I missed that when it was on originally and it strangely never appears on YouTube or in soap trading circles. I’m thinking that episode was late 90s? Ellen’s last appearance was Thanksgiving 1998 so, if she came to Nancy’s birthday party, I’m guessing it was mid-90s. 

Penny made that statement in 1998 at Nancy’s party set on the Valetta, which sank around August. Ellen was present. The episodes in whole or part are definitely on YouTube. This was also.when Kirk and Sam disappeared.

Penny did return in 2000 for a Christmas dinner at the Mona Lisa. Bob, Kim, Lisa, Nancy, and Chris were present. This may have been the final or one of the final times we saw the Mona Lisa set. Bob and Kim’s home was still intact gor several more years and used frequently during Allison/Chris’s storylines and many times that Bob/Kim were shown in general.  It was also used as a set when Colleen Zenk did commercials for Tyson Chicken as Barbara. We would see the kitchen until around late 2005. After that, elements of Bob and Kim’s kitchen became part of Katie’s WOAK set. We would not see Bob and Kim’s living room after 1999, I believe. Even then, its angles had shifted and it had been rearranged, sliced down to a couch in front of a window with a simple foyer (no step or staircase). 

They always dressed Carolyn Conwell so unflatteringly until 1998/99 when they gave her the Carl returns story. She was beautifully featured in the end sequence until  CBS got rid of it

Kim Hughes owns worst! Also Sally Spectra in her wedding to Clarke Garrison

Wow SF looks so well-rested and geuninely happy. B&B must have been stressful for her. I know that she mentioned having a terrible commute, and I am sure that the hectic shooting schedule and uninspired writing took its toll.

Lisa de Cazotte is back on Y&R as Supervising Producer as of today.