Y&R: How Latham Tried But Failed to Reinvent the Wheel

[Toups]

The Young and the Restless: How Latham Tried But Failed to Reinvent the Wheel

By Patrick Erwin

I confess I was glued to my TV last week for the soap opera that was The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. The governor, once praised as a smart, brave man, was stripped of his title in a very public and humiliating way. And the reaction reminded me of “schadenfreude” – a German word that describes when someone is joyous and happy at the downfall of another. Read More

[YRBB]

I don't know exactly what to make of the article....

Yes, for the first few months, I thought LML was doing a good job, before it all crushed and burned. And, yes, Nikki got plenty of story while under LML. But, she was also a complete and utter bitch 24/7! And as much as Nikki is a bitch, LML took it a little too far. And Lily and Cane for romance? Ew.

And am I the only one who loved the slow pace? How can Erwin say that it was just faster? Are you [!@#$%^&*] kidding me? The show went through 8 months of story in two weeks!

[rhythmchyc]

One of the replies posted by someone called "Aaron," includes something I definitely agree with. People can't really compare today's soaps with those of daytime's heyday because of budget constraints. Maybe Latham was EP and HW because CBS needed her to wear the two hats.

Along with Patrick, I really really enjoyed the epilepsy storyline. She took her time developing it and the family really came together then, which is one of the strongest elements on this show.

But I don't know if the lack of romance was Latham's leading downfall. It definitely had to be how she couldn't balance her new ideas with Y&R's old established ones, especially since her new ideas wasn't as good as Y&R's old ones.

And I'm having trouble figuring out when Jack Smith left and his storylines sucked. I mean, Y&R seemed pretty strong up until late 2006. If Jack Smith caused anything worse than Phyllis/Sheila and a Midwestern 9/11 that contained absolutely no suspense, what was it?

[rhythmchyc]

I liked the slow pace too. But back then, it was like pulling teeth trying to get to the end of something. Still, I'd take slow pace, so as to not sacrifice development, over quick resolutions any day.

Ooh, was one of the horrid Jack Smith stoylines Cameron? I really hated that whole thing. I was so sick of Sharon cheating on Nick, like she had some sort of disorder in her brain that didn't understand fidelity.

Did Jack also handle Neil's alcoholism? That was pretty weak, too...

[sheilaforever]

Deeedeeee posted in a different threat that for her Y&R's downfall started in 2004. I agree and disagree at the same time with her on that one.

It was the year when Y&R got an influx of crappy stories: Cameron plus Twittany, Bobby and all that crap were just outstanding in that apartment. Yet, apart from awful stories, the family element of the show was still intact with most of the right persons being front and centre. 2005 had some better stories but very grave creative decisions like killing off Cassie and bringing back Sheila for a ill-thought-through story. In both cases, the show got hurt but remained intact.

Both these lows were never combined though until LML got complete control over Y&R - especially after she drove off Kay Alden by December 2006. Up until then Y&R seemed changed but the positives were there - like Victor's epilepsy and I also like Devon's story. Then everything went to hell in a Carmen Mesta handbasket and the melange of awful stories, horrendous out of of character-writing, deathneck pacing and bad actors front and centre totally crippled the show and it is a wonder that destiny DID intervene by late last year and someone behind the scenes actually tried to rectify at least some of his complete disaster...

[DaytimeFan]

Hmmm I found that article a bit favorable to LML, that might just be me, but that's how I see it.

LML nearly killed Y&R, yes she did. She went heavily plot driven, she rewrote history, she went PREACHY (ie: Clear Springs and how the old buildings could be 'preserved' plus the ludicrous methane storyline), she went FAST, she went SLOPPY. She damn near ruined the show and for that I hope her career in LA remains forever tainted.

The cast hated her, just as the cast of KL hated her too. And calling 'Homefront' one of the most beloved shows ever? Really....why was it canceled so swiftly it was so loved? I thought it was crap.

Also, the budget a 'problem' at Y&R....LOL. Yeah, that's a good one. Y&R is one of the few soaps to have not experienced a budget slash in over a decade. It's last licensing agreement with CBS was worth big money and was a 5 year deal (it expires December 2009)...the EP/HW gig was simply LML going on a power trip. Absolutely nothing to do with budget.

[DeeeDee]

04 was terrible.

The vets were ignored and/or written horribly OOC & the newbies were ridiculously overexposed.

05 was the same as 04.

With even more vet backburnering & horrible overexsposure for the newbies.

Y&R was in MAJOR trouble in late 05 & just went from bad to worse once LML ursuped full control.

Add LML's complete inability to write anything resembling a cohesive umbrella story along with her gift for egregious character assasination & stir.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It's also important to note that 2004 was also the first year Y&R tried the EP/HW hybrid, which should've NEVER been tried in the first place. After David Shaughnessy exited the EP position, I've always said the show really wasn't the same anymore and it really showed.

[DeeeDee]

^^^Yep.

[Sylph]

It's so funny how no one reads Marlena until Toups posts a link!

[Ryan]

That would be funny if it was true, but it's not.

[Sylph]

Your opinion.

[DavidsMuse]

I wasn't sorry to see LML go either, because I agree wholeheartedly with this:

"New faces, like Vincent Irizarry’s David Chow, were ill-defined; David remains so months after his introduction, a disservice to the dynamically talented Irizarry."

MAB/JG have developed David more in the last few months than LML did in the previous year; however, they STILL haven't taken full advantage of his versatility. What I wanted to see from the beginning was character development the way Mr. Bell would have done it. I'm hoping MAB alone can make that happen for David, because the more complex the characterization, the more VI shnes!

[dragonflies]

I'm with Ryan, who says that people don't read Marlena's column? Just because people don't post a link to it here, doesn't mean they don't read it. I read hers whenever I get a chance....

[David V]

LML can never be forgiven for her butchering of the one show which stood out as a gem precisely because it never betrayed its principles up until she arrived.

We can all debate when it did begin to go downhill for Y&R but in retrospect I can say this. Alden and Smith were not free of fault, nobody can deny that, but they did learn their craft under Bell and as long as Bell was still around his influence on the show was still very much there. They managed to stay true to Y&R's core values. It was really a year after Bell's death, by which time Latham would eventually come on the scene, that things would take a real turn for the worse.

You can't help but draw the parallels between post-Bell Y&R and post-Marland ATWT, in that it wasn't a sudden fall from grace but a transition period in which the show was doing reasonably well because the people who'd worked under the great writers were still around and once they were replaced by a whole new team, the show would be thrashed.