Faulkner

Posted this in the Steve Kent thread. Has anyone received a survey? I just saw on Reddit that people are receiving Y&R surveys again. Usually a sign of something: https://www.reddit.com/r/youngandtherestless/s/fOUzFjmhL8

The NAACP is very pro-LGBTQ+, so I can’t imagine they’d be an impediment to inclusion. CBS, on the other hand… I’m just curious where their heads are in terms of breaking new ground in daytime when their current shows play it so safe. Obviously, a predominantly Black soap is a big step beyond what they’re doing now, as Y&R and B&B’s Black characters are pathetic. I hope @Errol gets a chance to do an interview…

I just saw on Reddit that people are receiving Y&R surveys again. Usually a sign of something: https://www.reddit.com/r/youngandtherestless/s/fOUzFjmhL8

I agree—it’s a challenge because I think it would be a touch point for many of the show’s older viewers, who probably overindex as churchgoers, especially in the South, but it would be a turnoff to much of the secular audience, especially if they want to go younger than daytime’s core viewers. There may not be much to be gained from it. I’m curious if the show will feature a healthy LGBTQ presence (even Greenleaf had gay characters). CBS has dropped the ball with portrayals of non-hetero characters in recent years, even as it’s featured a lesbian wedding (Teriah on Y&R) and a short-lived Black trans female character (Maya on B&B). Tyler certainly hasn’t shied away from it, but he always does the most with those stories.

And that’s another question: Would people want to see religion and church depicted on this show? Greenleaf was explicitly about the church world and was fascinating for that reason, but soaps haven’t really delved into characters’ spiritual lives in ages. The Black church is such a rich realm for story, but I can understand if it’s deemed polarizing.

And daytime can’t afford to depict that sort of mega-wealth anymore anyway. The homes, the assistants, the staff, the companies, the traveling, etc. A mix would be great. I wouldn’t want the first Black soap in ages to have zero wealthy characters, but maybe millionaires and not billionaires (like the Succession/Billions crew).

Diego Schwartzman has announced his retirement, set for next February in Buenos Aires:

I wouldn’t mind seeing a Demarco or a Demetrius or a Teyana. Some recognizably Black names. I’m ready for some complex, interesting layered Black men. Curtis, T.J., Devon, Nate, Carter, and Zende aren’t cutting it. The soap writers couldn’t be less interested in those characters.

Peter Bergman did an interview with Michael Fairman in which he honored Marla and says he was instrumental in bringing her on the show. He says, “She was so ready to tell this powerful story of Alzheimer’s and dementia. And partway into this story, it was clear that she was struggling with some of that herself. So, when people were judging Best Supporting Actress the year that she won, they saw this woman who was clearly just on a different plane than all those characters in that scene. It was stunning. Marla was a sweet, sweet woman who brought me the story that for so long we forgot to tell about Jack.”

You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, round round:

What’s going on with Brook Kerr, too? Not nearly as egregious as how they’ve hidden a nearly 30-year veteran as RH, but still. Very little Portia. And it’s funny how little T.J. there was even though his few appearances seemed to drive everyone insane (as bad as the writing is for everyone on soaps, daytime has a unique problem writing for black male characters—the writers are beyond disengaged/disinterested).

What a disastrous Madrid with all of these injuries, retirements, and withdrawals.