Y&R: Who Should Replace LML, When The Time Comes?

[MichaelGL]

Well IMO, Eleanor is pretty good. During the whole Ellen Weston/John Conboy tenure on GL, she was like the only bright spot on the entire writing team. She loved writing emotional stuff. Matt Labine on the other hand, I'm not too sure, but he really wasn't that good enough for me to remember his writing style.

[Ann_SS]

Same here. As much as I liked Bill Bill, I found his Y&R was excruciating slow and painful at times. I would check out for days at time. I like that LML picked up the pace, but she doesn't give us any emotional payoff that we are dying for when secrets are revealed. She does have one thing in common with Bill Bell. They both get obsessed with specific characters. Bell with Christine and LML with Brad, Amber, and the Fisher/Baldwins. Alden and Smith were horrible headwriters and I never want them at Y&R again. Since LML is going nowhere, I'd be happy with CBS hires a consultant to help reign her back in at times.

[Sylph]

But, Ann, aren't her stories pure cr*p? Sh!t everywhere, nothing interesting, nothing that will keep me watching, all fly by at the speed of light...

O, Mimi, Mimi, where are you?

[Sylph]

Why do you dislike Kay and John F. Smith so much?

[dm.]

Both Alden and Smith added a good amount of work onto the show. OK, maybe Alden was better. I remember the times when I used to watch Y&R and nothing happened during the episode but it was interesting (as always). It had a theme going on. Episodes could pass without anything happening and I'd still be glad. It was one of a kind. And what has left of it these days? Not much for me.

[Ann_SS]

Nope, I don't agree that all or even most of LML's ideas are crap. It is her execution is flawed at times. I definitely don't agree with the opinions stated about various stories in that post above. I liked Brad's past until it got to be too much. I found Colleen and J.T. tedious and chemistry less and liked the Colleen and Korbel romance a lot. I had no problem with the disease of the week. I was glad that Bryton got a storyline and Victor got to do something different. Jack losing his family is too bad, but lots of families get phased out of soaps over the years. It happened under Bill Bell. I liked Gloria sabotaging the face cream until I realized that she will never be exposed. Most of this is difference of opinion, but I will point out that the ratings showed that Alden and Smith could not hold the audience. LML has been able steady the ratings and even though they have declined since February, they are steadying again. LML has flaws, but her stories are more interesting than what Alden and Smith.

[DeeeDee]

Actually, Alden could (even with audience erosion). It was Smith who couldn't.

Y&R under Latham has hit record lows & the show itself is growing increasingly worse every day.

[Adam]

I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion but anyone in my mind who truly understands the Bell concept of The Young and the Restless would know what Latham is putting out there is so far off base of that concept that it isn't even funny and therefore makes Y&R not Y&R anymore.

Like I said everyone is entitled to my opinion but I know what Y&R is and as I have said time and time again, what's on screen now ain't it.

It doesn't even come close!

[PJA]

All she has done is tie record lows that were already set by Alden and Smith. And as posted in this past weeks ratings thread..three years ago that same week the show had a 4.1...she made a 4.0 last week. She basically has about the same ratings the show has had over the past three years.

[DeeeDee]

No she hasn't.

She's slipped into the 3's repeatedly.

[Sylph]

I'm glad she's back where those two were, I just hope she keep having lower ratings, and they'll sack her eventually. The problem is - then I'll get Griffith or Hamner, which in the first case could be worse, and in the second it will get worse.

[Chris B]

Latham has been in the ratings toilet since February, thats almost the entire year. Alden/Smith had slow weeks like all soaps which are naturally declining, but they were consistantly much higher than Latham's ratings. They didn't go almost a year with the ratings in this state. Fans are overwhelmingly rejecting Latham's vision and the ratings reflect that.

She has too many new characters taking up screentime at the expense of vets. The storylines are largely crap or poorly executed. Vets on the backburner. All of the cosmetic changes to the show, most recently losing Ed Scott and the music.

It's all too much and I don't know any soap that could handle this many changes. Especially when you consider how poorly executed they are.

[Ann_SS]

And here in lies the problem. Y&R's ratings started slipping under Bill Bell so even he couldn't hold onto the audience with his vision of the show. Television is changing. CBS hired LML in hopes of saving Y&R, not reestablishing Bell's vision of Y&R because the soaps are a business not an artistic endeavor. LML's vision of Y&R has resulted in great ratings and mediocre ratings, but they haven't been plummeting to the extent of the other soaps which likely makes the network happy. We'll see what happens by November sweeps, but I don't think that she going any where for a long time.

[PJA]

So did Alden and Smith...they set the all time low at 3.9 and hit that several times. I just checked the archives so i know. And the year before LML came they had 3.9 to 4.3..mostly 4.0 and 4.1 which is where LML is at.

[sheilaforever]

I say it again: The reason why Y&R isn't getting the abysmal rating it would deserve is that so many disgruntled ABC/NBC refugees are now watching.

They balance out the enormous decrease in long-time viewers. Even if this board is no indicator (then longtime audience should be down by ca. 50%!) my guess is that about 20 % of real hardcore CBS audience were driven away... This would also explain why the rest of CBS daytime is slipping.

There might be problems on those shows as well but the audience flow has been ripped apart because those ABC/NBC viewers probably don't like the taste of B&B/ATWT/GL which all still have a very different vision than the current pointless Y&R drivel. Hence they're numbers are down because they lack Y&R as their traditional lead-in of a more dialogue-heavy and serious CBS audience.