Soaps like Y&R and ATWT don't lose viewers as dramatically for no reason. The show saw some huge increased up until February and since has been in the toilet. Since then the viewers have also been revolting so thats obviously the reason.

I truly believe she's 100% here to stay and barring the occasional stunt, Latham has proven she can't keep the viewers in. Y&R was #1 for all these years based on consistancy. The show on air now is NOT Y&R.

Before it's too late they need to do something, but you know they won't. ATWT went from a 2.7 to a 2.0 and not even the hint of changes. Even ABC got their act together.

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Soaps like Y&R and ATWT don't lose viewers as dramatically for no reason. The show saw some huge increased up until February and since has been in the toilet. Since then the viewers have also been revolting so thats obviously the reason.

I truly believe she's 100% here to stay and barring the occasional stunt, Latham has proven she can't keep the viewers in. Y&R was #1 for all these years based on consistancy. The show on air now is NOT Y&R.

Before it's too late they need to do something, but you know they won't. ATWT went from a 2.7 to a 2.0 and not even the hint of changes. Even ABC got their act together.

I totally agree. Y&R and ATWT just don't drop for a reason. They has a strong beggining of the year but all the sunden they start to go down.

Y&R need to get their act together before its too late.

There is no excuse for bad writing. Y&R doesn't HAVE bad writing. GH does. Others do. Y&R has competent writing. But it also has been undergoing changes which obviously some people don't like.

But I loved what both Lynn & Scott Hamner did with Port Charles. It was later on the show became crap with those awful illogical supernatural arcs which bore no relation at all to the great and excellently written Dark Shadows.

Are you KIDDING me? I mean, REALLY kidding me?! We are talking about the same people, right?

They literally mucked up their own murder mystery by making Julie Devlin(someone who was seen AT the Nurses Ball in camerashots around the same time Jake Marshak was murdered via noose) the killer. They had Lucy and Scott have UNPROTECTED SEX in the Florida Everglades. Yeah, Lucy Coe, the champion for the AIDS/HIV cause having unprotected sex! Let's not forget the Race Car Beds Lovemaking between the boring, lustless Kevin/Eve pairing. DL56 was slightly intriguing and at the same time, utter CRAP!

In my HONEST, humble opinion, PC at its absolute best was when Karen Harris took over in March 2000. She introduced character driven stories at breakneck speed, but played out most of the beats just right(with the exception of Rachel Locke trying to take Alan's job as Chief of Staff with the help of the Pharmecutical Guy and other things).

Please, let's not get it twisted. Latham/Hamner's first two months may have gotten PC out of the BLAH stage it was in, but it was downright ignorant storytelling.

I'd even go as far as to say I would take the arcs ANYDAY over Latham/Hamner's PC and especially Hamner solo. Those were half-hours of television better spent elsewhere.

And Y&R's writing is not competent. Get back to me when Latham remembers simple details like Phylis didn't raise Daniel.

Word bellcurve!

I never watched Port Charles really so I cannot comment on Latham/Hamner's work there..... but I can just imagine how it was based on what she has done to the best soap in the industry in terms of production, writing and acting for many years. And its been less than a year since the Alden/Smith influence was snuffed out. With them there it still had the Y&R feel. Its just gone now.

God we are wishing for Latham's dismissal, but does that mean Scott Hamner would be the next HW?

Egads!

God we are wishing for Latham's dismissal, but does that mean Scott Hamner would be the next HW?

I think he's writing this as much as she is.

OK, there's no denying that Y&R, the show that was once labeled the "gold standard of daytime", is in the toilet. With ratings erratic and predictably hitting new lows soon, you just know CBS/Sony/Bell are not going to be pleased. If reviews continue to be harsh and the audience continues to tune out, Latham's reign of terror will definitely be over. CBS is definitely not going to stand and watch the cornerstone and pride of their soap lineup further deteriorate into a shadow of its former self.

With that said, who would hire to replace Latham as head writer and executive producer?

Here are some of my thoughts:

-They should beg Kay Alden to come back, since ABC passed on her. She might've burnt out a bit towards the end of her stint on the show, but she knows the identity of the show more than anyone else.

-Bring back writers such as Trent Jones and James Houston, who've had a significant history with the show and make them the new head writers. Again, writers like them know the history of the show and would certainly open up a new interpretation of the serial, when compared to Smith/Alden.

-Hire a fresh new writer, but make sure they learn the rich and long history of the show, before they're given the task of head writing it. I'd suggest someone like Lorraine Broderick, I've always thought she'd be a good fit for Y&R. Unlike many other writers, she makes it top priority to know the history of the shows she's writing and she always does character-driven stories, because she's very much a character-driven writer. Look at the mess ATWT was in after Black and Stern, Broderick was able to clean their mess up and draw the show closer to its original identity. If given creative control, I think she could do the same with Y&R. It's a shame she isn't writing for any show now, her talent is greatly missed on daytime.

As for EP:

First of all, I'm tired of Y&R making its head writer its executive producer as well. I think this seriously makes the output of the show homogenized, therefore not very well-rounded.

- They need to beg Ed Scott and offer him all the money in the world to come back. With Bill Bell gone, he knows Y&R from inside-out, like no other.

-Or they could hire someone from new, who would also appreciate Y&R and its rich history. I think someone like Wendy Riche would be good, sure she burnt out towards the end of her GH stint. However, for the most part, prior to GH, she had no daytime experience and ended up garnering the show immense critical acclaim and winning an insane amount of Emmy's. She also appreciated the vets on that show and always commented how special veteran actors are to soaps.

Anyway, who would you suggest?

I agree with you I would like to see a Bell heir take over.I wonder what kind of writer Lauralee would be.

Lorraine Broderick is a good writer. I remember being so happy when she wrote for DAYS in 1999, but then she was let go and replaced with Langan. I have seen several interviews with her and she seems like a wise writer who knows what she is doing. I agree that she would probably be a good fit for Y&R.

Lorraine Broderick is a good writer. I remember being so happy when she wrote for DAYS in 1999, but then she was let go and replaced with Langan. I have seen several interviews with her and she seems like a wise writer who knows what she is doing. I agree that she would probably be a good fit for Y&R.

Lorraine is a fantastic writer who could've made Days greatness, had those idiots Langan and Corday not interfered and screwed with her work. She left Days only after a month on the job, because of Langan and Corday's interference. She wanted to write character-driven stories and phase the teens in slowly, but Langan wanted outlandish plot-driven stories and immediate teen stories. Needless to say, Langan's interpretation of the show was all wrong and hurt the show for MANY years to come.

Edited June 17, 200718 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Lorraine is a fantastic write who could've made Days greatness, had those idiots Langan and Corday not interfered and screwed with her work. She left Days only after a month on the job, because of Langan and Corday's interference. She wanted to write character-driven stories and phase the teens in slowly, but Langan wanted outlandish plot-driven stories and immediate teen stories. Needless to say, Langan's interpretation of the show was all wrong and hurt the show for MANY years to come.

I remember all about that. Both Sally Sussman Morina and Lorraine Broderick complained about constant interference from Langan and Corday. They both left DAYS beceause of this. If Lorraine Broderick had written DAYS instead of Langan, then it would have stayed in the top.

Y&R have always had compelling character driven stories as its strong card in the past. Thats why Lorraine Broderick would most likely make an excellent Headwriter for Y&R.

Lorraine Broderick is the type of writer Y&R or this industry needs. I think her paired with a long time Y&R writer (whereever Latham sent them) would be a great fit for Y&R!

Lorraine's AMC with Agnes Nixon's consultation was quite possibly some of the most compelling soap ever, at least of any soap I've seen.

The ratings sucked before LML got there. The all time low which is a 3.9 was first obtained under Smith and Alden and during their last year they stayed in the 3.9 to 4.3 range going up and down which is where LML is back to now. She managed to get the ratings up for a while but they have dropped back down but I wouldn't say she is in danger of being fired because all the other soaps are way down from what they were two years ago but Y&R is not.

Lorraine Broderick is the type of writer Y&R or this industry needs. I think her paired with a long time Y&R writer (whereever Latham sent them) would be a great fit for Y&R!

Lorraine and Trent Jones! Both were apart of that Emmy winning writing team on GL. Jones has a long history with Y&R too, so he'd be perfect with Broderick.

Lorraine Broderick's track record has been spotty since she left AMC, though. Her most success came when she worked with Agnes Nixon, but when she's not working with her? Not that good. I know she was part of the GL team from the early 90s, but that was a colloboration.

But sorry, I'm having a really hard time seeing how Broderick would be a good fit for Y&R. Broderick's best material she has ever written was really damned good (and it was at AMC), but it's not Bell-esque. When following the story of Kay Alden and her involvement with AMC, I kept reading things like how Agnes and Bill Bell were so similar in their writing styles. Really? Now, I think both were terrific writers, and the best daytime has ever had, but Agnes and Bill's styles were very different. Watch any AMC and Y&R episode from the 70s, 80s, and 90s and see the difference. Great storytelling, but not similar. At all, IMO.

(I even saw a suggestion that Claire Labine should take over Y&R. She is fabulous, but her style and the Bell style are even more different...)

All MO, of course.

Edited June 18, 200718 yr by Kubla Khan

I agree with you, Kubla Khan. Completely different brand of storytelling. If you ask me, nowadays, I don't know who is Bill's successor in the narrative method. I really don't.

I think he's writing this as much as she is.

And that should SCARE Y&R fans. I wish someone would upload stuff to YouTube from his solo tenure. It was baaaaaaad! Even worse than Latham/Hamner.