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Faulkner

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    ALL: Best performances by Black actors on soaps

    in Discuss The Soaps

    Posted · Edited by Faulkner

    11 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

    By far, I think AMC had the strongest AA contingent of any of the ABC soaps in the 90’s.

    Yeah. Agnes and AMC were really committed to a diverse canvas. The Wards on GH had a moment under Labine, but GH has never had a long term commitment to its Black characters. But that moment under Labine was special: The Black characters addressed race with a frankness I’ve not seen elsewhere in daytime while not making “race” the only thing they brought to the show. This performance by Joseph C. Phillips as Justus at Mary Mae’s funeral is great:

     

    And this is amazing. Would any other soap allow Black characters to lampoon their core white family in such a way? Actually suggesting they might be anything other than pure and open-hearted about race, even sainted Lila? Devon, Mamie, and Nate can’t even really talk about the elephant in the room with Jill and Billy on Y&R.

     

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    Y&R: February 2024 Discussion Thread

    in Discussion Thread Archive

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Broderick said:

    To me that's the biggest problem that plagues the show -- the scripts.  

    Yes, they're trying to tape each episode on a budget of $2.35.  There's no rehearsal time for the actors.  The directors are lazily slapping stagnant blocking and camera shots onto the screen, shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Okay, that looks like garbage, but I guess it'll do.  On to the next scene!"  The actors often recite their dialogue in the dullest and least imaginative manner.  The sets are desolate and worn-out.  

    But the biggest problem is the scripts lack wit, complexity, and humor.  There are no twists of irony, no unexpected symbolism.  Everything is surface-deep, and no one on staff seems to identify it as problematic.  (Which is why I couldn't muster any sympathy for the fired outline writers; I'm sorry they lost their jobs, but they were working in the same dull, assembly line fashion as the head writer and the dialogue writers, adding nothing whatsoever to the product.) 

    The failure (and laziness) of the writing staff became glaring post-Covid.  Several scripts had been written, but not taped yet when the studio shut-down for Covid protocol.  Any conscientious writer would've seized that opportunity to improve his work.  ("Okay, they've got four of my scripts piled-up in the studio which haven't been taped yet.  I'm going to retrieve them and rewrite them entirely during the quarantine period, add some humor and pathos, some sarcasm, some irony, and once I'm finished, they'll be the BEST scripts I've ever submitted!")

    Evidently, none of the writers was willing to go that extra inch to improve the quality, because once the show began taping again after the shut down, there had been no improvement at all in the scripts.  The material was the same dry, mundane, tired, shallow junk that had been taped pre-Covid.  Nobody bothered to use that extra time to improve their work.  Same grade-C stuff as before.  Nobody cares anymore.         

    I know a lot of hard work goes into producing this show, but you’re right—there’s a pervasive feeling of laziness and halfassedness on Y&R (and B&B—which just recycles stunts). You get a sense of a creative team of writers, et al. who don’t care, which may not be the case, but it’s what comes across. It’s frustrating to watch a show and constantly be confronted with missed opportunities, both from the scripts and the stories.

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    Y&R: February 2024 Discussion Thread

    in Discussion Thread Archive

    Posted

    Whoever is overseeing the CBS soaps should be fired… these Bell soaps are so awful and aimless when they’re not outright offensive. We know historically how the execs meddle and influence what we see on screen, even nitpicking lines of dialogue, so they also should be held accountable about the state of these shows. Whoever is reading these thrusts/scripts and is signing off on them needs to go. They’re beyond out of touch. 

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