AMC 2006: I actually stopped watching it in the summer it was so bad. Let me see there was JOSH the walking talking abortion, the beginnings of the Satin Slayer, Babe & Josh all the time, Julia Barr and Vincent Irizarry's exits, buried alive Greg Madden, Tad as a murderer, CONFusion, and Donny Osmond.

Why hasn't JHC been fired yet? McT was a McMonster, but surely Miss Julie holds some blame....... no?

AGreed--I think for too long many thought JHC would turn the show around and credited some of the few good things we got as her doing, when I remain unconvinced they weren't McT... Not that McT doesn't deserve her rep for this go around-0-the last half anyway but...

AMC: What ever years McTavish was on recently that was not the baby switch storyline. I forgot.

There are basically a lot of reasons that turned me off:

First and foremost, the fact that it went from character-based soap, to a plot-driven hubla. Y&R used to be so driven by it's characters, so respectful of their stories, their pasts, who those people were. Suddenly, you have the same character with different names doing anything for the sake of a storyline--and it doesn't work

Stories:

Many of the storylines that LML has created are not bad as ideas but the execution of them is horrid and, frankly, quite boring. The Reliquary? Amber? Daniel getting hooked on porn? After all he did to be able to be with Lily? Bonacheck? Evan? Really

Crew changes? I do NOT appreciate any soap that has a HW writer that has been on the show since 1974 and fires her for a woman who has NO idea about soaps (her tenures in different soaps haven't been all that successful), no idea how to write and what people expect from a soap and, to her own admission, has never seen Y&R and has the intention to make it "her own"? WTF? Y&R is BELL's, and it should have never alowed to changed like it did. Also, firing all the writers who were there since the 80s, the directors that made it so stylish, the producers that made it a hit, EVERYONE that was responsible for it being #1 for 18 years!

Dialogue:

I am actually a supporter of the current writing when it comes to dialogue: I do think that they can be very inventive with their dialogue and it can be clear, crisp and funny. The problem is that they all just sound the same!

Acting:

If there is ANY reason I stuck with Y&R until now was BECAUSE of the acting, and many long-time viewers have done so for that. Not only did I watch because of that wonderful cast, I also watched because, initially, I was somewhat amused by the Peter, Jeanne's, Jess', Melody's, Eric's, Sharon's, Joshua's, Michelle's etc efforts to keep the show afloat. If it weren't for this MAGNIFICENT cast, Y&R would have been in a far, far worse state than it is now and that says a lot. The cast has my eternal respect, because THEY have kept it going. Imagine if they all gave up and started acting they way Tammin Sur-suck does.

Production Changes:

I'm not a fan of the light-colored sets. Y&R always had these dark brownish/greenish sets, that set a dark tone and always helped make it look serious. But sets I don't like is not a reason for me to dislike the show. What I HATE though, is the complete removal of all the terrific background music that Y&R once had--touching "ballads," intimidating rockish tunes, orchestral "something bad is happening" music, so many wonderful pieces of music. Now, what do we have? Ridiculous "new-age" orchestrations (Bonacheck episode anyone?), contemporary songs, it's all just so blah, it doesn't even make the mood anyone.

Pace:

RIDICULOUSLY FAST! What's with all those 30 second conversations? What's with the "be done with a storyline in two weeks" pacing? I so loved the pacing the show had during Kay Alden. It allowed to get used to new characters (which are now SHOVED DOWN OUR THROATS!), allowed new storylines to slowly start building while others reached their climax. When storylines ended, other ones were already around a couple of months, so, by now, you actually CARED about seeing what will happen. Tremendously good planning, since the stories were all mapped out from the beginning and all the stories had careful consideration of how they would affect the future. A sense of going somewhere, not just "making it up as we go," a common LML technique.

No respect for the show's history. No respect for who the characters really are. So many developments crammed in so few episodes that you feel you want to puke. No time to build up a storyline, or a romance. Vets mostly ignored. Too much computer hacking going around.

ALL THE DEATHS! First John, I was "Fine. Whatever." Then, it was Ashley leaving: Strike One. Killing Off Dru: Strike Two. When it wasn't sure whether Morrow and Case would be returning to the show, what inventive thing to do: KILL THEM BOTH! Strike Three, Four, Five, A MILLION! You just kill them off? And you do it a MONTH after killing off Dru? A thousand WTFs!!! Then Plum was killed, Will died, Ji Min died.... Will Y&R EVER be able to pull of a death again and make anyone care? Hard.

It's obvious that LML has NO respect for what the show used to be. And it's so sad. So, so, so, so, so, so sad.

I would give Y&R, at its current state, a C-. That's because dialogue can, at times, be very good and because the Sharon/Jack/Nick/Phyllis thing is so well done. Also, love how the reasons why Victor and Nikki are at a rift were so clearly defined from the beginning. The acting is not something I will ever credit the producers or LML for, though. And, again, that cast is the only reason why I would watch. Which I don't, not anymore.

What a fabulous description, you nailed them all on the head. I'm still watching Y&R (barely) and it is simply because I love the cast. You can just tell the cast knows the writing is terrible but they'll be damned if they don't make it work (especially people like Cooper, Walton and Braeden who were such steadfast Bill Bell/Kay Alden supporters and are of such immense talent). As far as I'm concerned 1973-2006 Y&R gets an A+, I wasn't ever disappointed. 2007: D

Since I've been watching Days, (1996/97 -present) the worse for me has been 2001, parts of 2003, and 2007

Since I've been watching Days, (1996/97 -present) the worse for me has been 2001, parts of 2003, and 2007

Why did you not like Sally Sussman Morina's tenure (1997-1999)? I felt that she was underrated. DOOL really began to slip in quality in 2000. Sheffer & Kelly, however, have made a lot of strides to improve the damaged show.

Worst for DOOL: 1995, 2000-2006