Members Sylph Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Besides, I believe she knows how to plot a 30-minute show much better than an hour show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dm. Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Oh don't worry... I wasn't getting excited. I was surprised that someone like her could create someone like Sally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members YRBB Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 And she could sure give Brad Bell a few tips! She does seem like she would "get" B&B more (even though her understanding of Y&R is not bad) and, as Sylph said, the structure too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 I have no idea whether Maria Arena is a Libra, but she strikes me as such. A typical Libra. A bit lazy-ish, obsessed with looks and fashion, all romantic, charming and diplomatic, and easily influenced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members YRBB Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Sounds like B&B! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Hey, back off us Libra's!! we are all of those thangs and then some. dont act like you dont love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Hey, I love Libras. Even though my sign isn't really 100% compatible with them. I just can't get my eyes off of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 Why? You don't believe my summary? I didn't want to violate copyright. Once the newstand date has passed by a few weeks, I will do this. Something has to happen for B&B, that is clear. Now that Brad is off making religious movies (seriously!!! religious feature films, like Mel Gibson!), something must happen. It is not Alden and Smith, who have further dragged this show into, literally, the seaweed and the mire. I want stability at Y&R--regardless of "optimal fit and structure"--for at least 12-24 months...before we start fiddling. Darlene Conley is owed as much "creator" status as anyone. Still, it is nice to see that Maria plugged into that part of it. I agree that Sally rescued that show for a time...and it is her absence that is precisely a key ingredient of the current ruination. The show has NO sense of humor about itself. No Alden at Y&R, please. I was once nostalgic, but the current B&B shows me that she is not the answer. I honestly thing the "answer" might be (possibly without deposing Maria Arena...just to support her) adding in classic BDWs and SWs in the form of Sally Sussman Morina, Meg Bennett, Michelle Poteet Lisanti, etc. If the team had more "classic Bell" in it, to balance out the Racinas and Stanleys and Seidmans and what have you -- more Janice Ferri's if you will -- we'd be in better shape. But I am not complaining. Y&R continues to earn a steady B+/A- from me on a day to day basis. So the whole current team can stand, IMO. Give us 24 months of stability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 I wonder why was his wife fired and got to stay with the show. I believe you. I wouldn't really call the past 9 months stable. I've been saying this all along. From the beginning. However, this reminds me of something I wanted to ask you: which team do you prefer — Alden/Smith/Latham or Arena/Sheffer/Hamner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dm. Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 What did Diane Messina Stanley do on the show anyway? She was never credited as a writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 I would like to know that, too. Which is why I asked about her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 I agree. What I am saying that from, say, July 2008...from that point forward...or maybe from November 2008 (when JG leaves)...I want to see a couple years of NO or LOW turnover. I want to see that everyone is commited to collaboration and building and working together, and that they will swallow their pride, mediate their disagreements, and work together for common good. I agree that stability has been lacking. Oh, you are going to get me in TROUBLE! There is no easy answer. My answer is "contexualized" (surprise, surprise). When LML took over for Jack Smith, it was desperately needed. After years of Brittany Hodges stealing the show, it was a disaster. I took a look at what was happening in early October 2005...just as an example: (Source is SOC) So, early in the Smith/Alden/Latham era, I thought that group was the best to grace Y&R in years. Everything that was happening pleased me. There were the "red herrings" (Nikki shot and John having "spells"...when the REAL story to focus on was Victor's "bump on the head"). There were delightful turnabouts that shed new light on old characters. (Victor smelling lavender and reminiscing about former teachers with a smile; Jack getting the upper hand on Victor for once). There was even genuinely mysterious new light being shed on the unfilled pasts of long-standing characters (Brad studying a newspaper article about a family slaying in Parma Ohio). The sets were revised for energy and movement and light (Newman Enterprises, most notably). The dialogue was more naturalistic, the humor quotient was greatly increased, and the pacing was terrific. I found it to be edge-of-my-seat. Because it was all using legacy characters, building on their history (Brad's unknown past; Victor's tendency to head-butt opponents; John's long cardiovascular history), I felt it was not reinvention, but simply "spit shining" of my beloved show. I'd say this "good period" lasted 3 months? Maybe a little longer. As Jack Smith and Kay Alden got edged out, their influence was felt less and less. Surprisingly, their lack of influence was felt LESS in the disregard for history, and more in LML's inability to coordinate across episodes. By the time of late 2007, Y&R's characters were like shells of themselves. Who was Nikki--running for Senate and having her daughter-in-law arrested on her wedding day? What was the real glue that pulled Jack and Sharon together? Better pacing had become frenetic, with many of us asking ourselves "huh? when did that happen?". So, in that context, 12/26/07 was a watershed. Within days, Maria Arena Bell and Josh Griffith revitalized the show. They took away all the STYLISTIC and COORDINATORIAL problems that LML's team had introduced. The show instantly felt more authentic. It is meaningful that when the WGA writers returned, things got worse again. More inconsistency from day to day. Some unfortunate immediate post-strike decisions (like RUSHING the Sabrina-Victor romance) started to pollute the show...as did the show's disregard of some of its most important history (Victor's snip). So, now we have the Arena/Sheffer/Hamner era. I think it is too soon to render a conclusion. There is no question that the show had ground into a kind of story-free stagnation by July 2008. There is no question that the post "Sudden Impact" episodes have been much better at containing scenes of heightened emotion, rooted in history, with scenes allowed to 'play out' sometimes. Nikki's long night of drunkenness in a Mexican bar played out in excruciatingly long scenes...that were a delight to watch. I find it is too soon to judge where this is headed. The regime seems intent on "rebuilding" and "extending" core families (bringing back veterans, and tying newbies immediately to core families). This is a good thing. Will this sustain? Will the show tell stories today that are PLANNED to peak a year from now? Hopefully. I will say that, with great variability, I have enjoyed almost every day since August began, and so have my viewing partners. I take that as a good sign. There is no doubt that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boldfan01 Posted September 16, 2008 Members Share Posted September 16, 2008 That's kind of interesting, especially because of how pivotal a character Sally became. Of course, a lot of that is because of Darlene's portrayal. But even so, Bill Bell once said that he knew that Darlene would be the person to play Sally from the time they brought her on, so it makes you wonder how much of that came from the skeleton of the character that MAB came up with. And with her fashion background, it makes you wonder if MAB might be better suited for B&B than Y&R, since B&B has lost its focus on fashion of late and really needs it. It still doesn't explain why she needs two co-head writers. And even if she needs two, why Hamner, the man responsible for the "crime wave" in Genoa City according to LML during her tenure? Y&R seemed to be getting away from that under JG and MAB during the strike, so why bring it back again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted September 17, 2008 Members Share Posted September 17, 2008 Something interesting news I found out about Ryan Quan, from an old GL site I go to look up old GL info/news. It seems like he REALLY wanted to be a soap opera writer. I'm happy he's getting that chance now. http://www.soap-news.com/gl/old/glnews99.htm There's also tons of stuff from 1999 about longtime GL writers who were leaving to write for a then "new soap," which was of course Passions. I wonder if one of them knew of him and brought him to Passions, and he eventually went to DAYS from there, though there had to have been years when he wasn't in the soap industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brimike Posted September 17, 2008 Members Share Posted September 17, 2008 - You're a LIbra too, JP? I knew I loved you for a reason... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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