Marina Arena Bell is Y&R's future HW.

LOL! Sylphy, I'm pretty sure she's FiCore, which would give her no chance in hell over ever being a permanent HW. That would exclude Y&R from ever being nominated for WGA awards, and you know how much awards means to that damn show...

LOL! Sylphy, I'm pretty sure she's FiCore, which would give her no chance in hell over ever being a permanent HW. That would exclude Y&R from ever being nominated for WGA awards, and you know how much awards means to that damn show...

I know that, of course, my dear A. I was just joking and I left out the smileys intentionally.

Edited December 26, 200717 yr by Sylph

I notice some of the slow pans are back, particularly at the beginning of the episode during Sharon and Jack's scene. And the scenes did feel longer and more character driven than usual. I think they have been forced by the fact that according to CBS SID they won't be introducing any new storylines during the strike.

Sylph, I have to ask...why do you think Maria Arena is the future HW? Wouldn't she have a problem considering she's writing during the strike. I understand to be credited they went FiCore, but still not sure. With all the bad soap news of '07, I wouldn't be surprised if LML returns post-strike. I'm just going to enjoy what we get now and hope for the best! Who knows? Maybe 2008 will be a good year for soaps!

I have to wonder if she's still in the Writers Guild...she hasn't done any television work since 1993. She's been a Malibu mom and freelance magazine writer ever since...and you know, I think at this point Sony and the Bells are probably thinking 'screw the awards' because although they love them, prizing them probably more than any other soap, the survival of the show and increasing the numbers are their biggest concern. If that means they don't get nominated at the WGA I think they'd probably get over it.

Edited December 26, 200717 yr by DaytimeFan

Maria Arena Bell, 43, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women. She currently serves as a freelance writer, where her essays have been published in The New York Times and C Magazine. Bell previously worked for Bell Phillip Television as a fashion consultant and writer for the television programs “Bold and the Beautiful” and “Young and the Restless” from 1988 to 1993. This position requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary. Bell is a Republican.

^Also, did you notice how much more bearable Amber was today? Usually I can't stand her, but I was kind of sympathetic to the character today. I know Maria Arena Bell worked for Bell-Phillip Television after leaving soap writing, maybe she knew a lot more about Amber's character than most people on Y&R's pre-strike writing team.

There is something distinctively different about the show and it's for the better IMO. It also helps that they've added a lot of classic Y&R elements, even if they're not as apparent.

Edited December 26, 200717 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Ugh.

That's exactly why Maria is writing now.

I wouldn't say that Sony has "seen the light," they (probably with Bell Dramatic Serial Co.) pulled someone who was close to the show that wouldn't have anything to lose as a dirty little SCAB.

She'll be gone when the strike is over.

WOW! So Y&R is already in strike territory? I'll have to watch it tonight on SoapNet to see if I notice a difference. What about DAYS and B&B?

WOW! So Y&R is already in strike territory? I'll have to watch it tonight on SoapNet to see if I notice a difference. What about DAYS and B&B?

I think Days will be in "strike-territory" the first or second week of January. As for B&B, it could be a lot longer, since it's only a 30 minute show.

Please comment here if you see any change on Y&R when watching it tonight on SoapNet, so most of us in here don't look too crazy.

OK so I watched Y&R on SoapNet. There was definitely a change in flavor.... but it seemed to me more like strike flavor than classic Y&R flavor (in any case, it's certainly closer to the real thing than LML was.) Some of the scenes just didn't really go anywhere and seemed to be there just to fill time. Since this stuff was written at the beginning of the strike, it's likely that there was concern the writers would be back soon. I imagine Y&R will have a strike-ish, tread lightly flavor for a week or two before we notice anything really different.

OK, Snark pretty much summed up my thoughts on Y&R's first "scab" written episode.

http://snarkweighsin.blog-city.com/first_scab_yr.htm

First Scab Y&R: Instant Reaction

« H E » email

posted Wednesday, 26 December 2007

The first scab-era episode of Y&R aired today. Not a bad episode. The pace seemed slower and less frantic. That may just be a result of trying to stretch material, but it works for Y&R. Some segments of the show actually ended on cliffhangers, giving the viewer an incentive to come back after the commercial break.

One saving grace of Y&R lately has been the decision to let Victor Newman be Victor Newman. That continued in spades today as Victor asked Paul to investigate where Jack was the night of Ji Min Kim's murder. Victor is convinced that Jack is setting him up. Paul decided against second-guessing the police (and his girlfriend, whose heading the investigation), and told Victor to let the police do their job. "Well, I guess it was a waste of time inviting you out here. Thanks for coming," Victor said sarcastically. After Paul left, Victor had a look on his face that said Why must I put up with these peasants?

Later, Victor was served with papers informing him he was being sued for half a billion dollars over his role in the Clear Springs disaster. Victor stormed over to the cabin and berated Nikki for the suit. "You're making this personal!," he said. Nikki shot right back: "This is your fault! you're getting what you deserve! If you ease up on the loan, we'll ease up on the lawsuit."

But, to Victor, this was like drawing blood. "You want to beat me at my own game? Fasten your seatbelts. You're in for the ride of your life. You're in for the ride of your pathetic life!" Victor stormed out, and returned home, where he promptly picked up a picture of Nikki and dropped it on the floor.

Back at the cabin, David was praising Nikki for going toe-to-toe with Victor. He decided that the time was right to ask Nikki an important question :"Will you marry me?"

Meanwhile, after getting some advice from Nick, Jack decided to back off Sharon. "You do whatever's best for you and Noah," he told her. And if that doesn't work, he can always tie her up and put her in the attic.

It wasn't all smiles. More nonsense with Amber and her wig--who the hell doesn't know this is Amber? If nothing else, I hope the scab team kills this story ASAP. Actually, I hope they kill Amber ASAP, but, that's too much to hope for.

There were also two generi-rock songs played today, the second during an generic end-of-show montage.

So, I guess I need to give Josh Griffith a few more episodes before I declare him the new Ron Carlivati. Still, today was far from an embarrassment.

Curious if there wre any other writers listed besides Griffith and Arena-Bell today?

Curious if there wre any other writers listed besides Griffith and Arena-Bell today?

No, just those two I believe. I'll double check when the show re-airs on SoapNet...

Surely other writers are involved, but perhaps these two are the only ones who agreed to be credited.

Surely other writers are involved, but perhaps these two are the only ones who agreed to be credited.

You think?

When Arena wrote for B&B, it was common to have only 2-3 writers (including Brad) credited per episode. I realize that was only a half-hour show, though.

But nowadays, Y&R has SUCH a bloated writing staff. Is it totally out of the question, at least for just the first few days, assuming LML left behind a general story projection, that Griffith could map out the scenes and Arena could write the dialog?

I wouldn't expect it just to be the two of them forever, but the Strike situation was dynamic. As the weeks go on, I'd expect them to add scabs.

But here is another question...I realize this is just speculation.

I can't be the only one who thinks Maria Arena...in addition to her SPECIFIC past as a writer...might be a front. Don't you think that family members like Bradley, and maybe even friends of the family (like Jack Smith, Kay Alden, Jerry Birn, Michael Minnis, Elizabeth Snyder, Rex M. Best...all of whom are working across the hall, by the way) might "help out" without much credit?

I mean, I guess I'm thinking that the Bell crew was just seeing this as a total opportunity to show Sony/CBS what they could do (don't forget, within a few weeks of the WGA strike starting, folks like Michael Logan were starting to say LML was fired). Don't you think they put their full team to it to show that they could still do it better...and perhaps they did? And the results of this backdoor, ghostwriting, classic crew did convince Sony/CBS...and that's how LML came to lose her job?

If force majeur is going to be used to get rid of LML, don't you think they'll have to fire her whole stable...including a few of the legacy writers (like Natalie Minardi) who are still on staff? To not do so would create the impression of unequal treatment.

In the passage of time, when a Bell-driven writing team leads the show again, they might rehire some of the old faithful...but after enough of a passage of time that it doesn't seem so unfair.

I realize this is all wishful thinking...but I can't get over how comforting it is to me to pretend that the Bells are back in control.