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

[DaytimeFan]

Without question Barbara Bloom is sh*tting herself at what LML has done to Y&R and the very vocal disapproval with the show. Ratings ARE down...yes its true...not a fantasy or mathematical manipulation...the numbers ARE down so just forget about trashing Jack Smith because the ratings WERE higher under his leadership.

I think when it comes to a replacement we're going to have to wait a while...unless things drastically go downhill (not that they haven't already!) I don't see LML being replaced until 2009 when Y&R comes up for renewal with CBS. I would actually love to see Lauralee Bell come to the show as the EP simply because she was a daddy's girl and is likely furious with how his legacy, his most prized possession, has been tarnished by the hacks at SONY. I say Lauralee for EP because she'd simply be the show runner and story consultant. When it comes to HW I think Kay Alden should be paid whatever she damn well wants to come back (notice that she's back in the Bell fold at B& because I think Alden's solo work (circa 1998-2000) was damn near the best Y&R ever. However, with it apparent that SONY is on the warpath at Y&R I think it would take some serious wrangling on the part of the Bells and Cordays (who also own a stake in the show) to get the Bells back in business at Y&R.

Y&R succeeded on a singular vision and a constant state of continuity...what the executives at CBS have done is gone against that successful grain and it shows in terms of both ratings and creative quality.

[PJA]

The ratings are no more lower than they are when she got there. Before she came the ratings hovered at 3.9 to 4.4...mostly 4.0 and 4.1. Yes Smith managed a few 4.4's and 4.5. his last year (I think, I may be giving him too much credit) but then again so has LML. LML won't have to start worrying about her job until she sets a new record low which would be 3.8. It seems that all the other soaps have a set a record low this year yet y&r hasn't set one in two years.

[Roman]

I see what you're saying, but Y&R never had to worry about stuff like that. Heck, they got rid of JS and the ratings were still very good, because BB and CBS apparently didn't like the direction of the show, and the fact that vets were starting to come out in the press bashing the writing.

The show, IMO, is just a pure mess right now. Decisions have to be made to salvage it and get it back on track, so for those who say throw Fort Knox at KA........IA 1,000%.

But, I do see where you're coming from.

[Paul Raven]

All of the shows ratings are sinking not just Y&R...as are the primetime shows.

The top soaps outrate many primetime shows-something that didn't use to occur.

The whole TV landscape is changing and the networks don't have the answers.

Hopefully,there is someone out there-writer,producer,exec,-that will turn daytime around and at the very least stabilize the ratings.

[bellcurve]

Great Post! Thanks for the contribution to this thread...

Here's what scares me...Steve Kent(who is head of soaps for Sony) and Jill Farren Phelps used to work together on SANTA BARBARA. If the Bells are there in "name-only" ownership(the same way the Dobsons were for SB after the lawsuit) it frightens me to even imagine someone as crappy as JFP and her band of hacks and talentless friends(Timothy Gibbs, stay the hell away from daytime TV!) running *THE* YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.

[heatherwebber]

Without question Barbara Bloom is sh*tting herself at what LML has done to Y&R and the very vocal disapproval with the show."">>

That's quite an assumption. For all you know she might be as happy about it as Frons has been happy about the crap going on at GH for years & years. He won't listen to any of the complaints or fix anything many people have pointed out as being wrong. Y&R is still a masterpiece compared to that horror show mess.

It's also a HUGE assumption who has done what at Y&R, or who was responisible for any given decision. Many hands are involved. Blame is frequently landing on one head for things nobody knows who was behind.

[DaytimeFan]

With respect I have to say that you are also making quite the assumption regarding LML. For one Barbara Bloom may hate LML now...she may not. Second, LML is the EP and HW so everything comes down to her...or SONY is pulling her strings. I don't like LML's work...you do. That is fine, we're all allowed our opinions. Acting as a Latham apologist, however, is getting tiresome.

[Roman]

heather,

I truly respect your opinion, and see where you are coming from. I just feel that when oneperosn is the EP and HW, teher isn't too far for the crap to go. I see what you mean about BTS meddling, andthat may very well occur.But, she runds the wholeshow, and I just have a hard time getting past what the show was like before her and what it'slike now. It as the best, but it was better than it is now, IMO.

[heatherwebber]

I do know that Lynn was brought in by a team of people who had already decided changes were going to be made.

I also know that she is part of a whole team of writers. There's a whole bunch of input going on.

We don't know exactly what is going on in terms of casting and various other factors. Surely she's not the only person making decisions. Also, these days there's always network involvement in such things. It also sounds like there's increasing amounts of involvement from Sony where in the past much of that was going on at the level of Bell Productions.

But I still say that almost any given decision is one where we just don't know who decided what. That is often the case. Same goes for GH: if someone is dumped we have no idea if it was JFP, Guza, Frons, or some other execs above their heads. It may or may not be down to focus group information being used or misused. It may be because of writing decisions or some desire to use a character in some story where they think some actor won't quite fit in or have the right chemistry. That's just one thing: a casting move. There's all kinds of moves going on here. Like them or not, we just don't know why these things are happening or who is behind them. Clearly a lot of hands are involved.

Now in the past Lynn functioned as part of a team with her husband and with David Jacobs supervising her. Bernard is still there. I would tend to believe Bernard has a lot to say about what's going on. I would also strongly believe Scott Hamner is heavily involved with creative decisions, that Josh Grifith is also putting in an awful lot of input, and that Barbara Bloom is also having strong say in much of what's going on. Beyond that I think there's various others putting in their say.