Paul Rauch hired by Y&R

[EricMontreal22]

I think the last four months or so of it were actually pretty fantastic--it really came into its own, had a great balance of different types of plots, moved at a good speed, used its location filming and camera work well, etc. oh well grrrr

[Sylph]

She left because he didn't allow her to go grey? The funniest thing I ever heard!

[SteveFrame]

The grey hair thing was a P&G thing and not just Rauch.

I remember an interview with Kathryn Hays several years ago where she said that they made her dye her hair for years. Finally she went into contract negotiations one year and she told them she wouldn't stay unless she could go gray. They gave in.

I think P&G is like so many in the entertainment industry that feel "youth" is where it is at. They had the perfect patsy to follow that in Hogan Sheffer too who has made no bones about how he feels about older people - calling John Aniston an old man and you couldn't very well have an old man fighting battles as a strong villian anymore. And look at what he did to Stefano DiMera and then at ATWT he took and totally weakened both Lucinda and Lisa who had always been strong powerful women.

[SteveFrame]

As to Lemay's breif tenure at The Doctors, he wasn't given a chance to make it work. NBC was in that mode where if you didn't make an impact in a few months you were history. Plus NBC was in that mode of copying GH on all their shows at the time. Lemay could not produce what they wanted and would not deliver what they wanted. The next writers did or tried too. Of course it didn't work.

As to his brief tenure at AW, he is not given the credit there that he deserves. It all goes to Donna Swajeski who basically stole his Bible and went with it. Just when things started to pick up on AW under him, the strike happened. Donna Swajeski was hired as scab writer using Lemay's Bible and following it to a tee. Lemay came back and was soon fired and Swajeski was hired. She continued to use his stories for a long time. She was a lot cheaper. I am not saying she wasn't a good writer, but I don't think she was as great as many make her out to be. In her other ventures without Lemay's Bible to go by she hasn't done as well.

[Sylph]

This is what I wanted to know about, i.e. I wanted a confirmation that it was really good storytelling. And thanks for confirming that she stole his bible/projections.

[MichaelGL]

Man they must be hiring anyone that walks in off the street.

Seriously, Paul Rauch? At Y&R? Who next, Stern & Black, hell Megan McTavish?

Paul Rauch's vision as a producer is similiar to that of Frank Valentini's, bad lighting, spacious but hideous sets, plus they both don't like to be contradicted.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Just a little perspective here. He's only consulting at this point, and it's probably not likely to go past that. I know LML started out in that capacity, but I doubt he'll follow the same path. He was probably brought on to help an inexperienced JG run a tighter ship and whip some people into shape. Somewhat similar to the Ed Scott situation on DAYS. Y&R has got a rich, unique look, and he's not going to toy with that. Honestly, his influence will probably be very subtle and probably won't even register on screen for most viewers. Sheffer will most likely have a much greater impact.

[Khan]

Well, that, and the fact that MK had sued Paul Rauch for sexual harassment back in the late '70's, when she worked on AW as Angie Perrini.

[Kathy Griffin]Allegedly.[/Kathy Griffin]

[LoyaltoAMC]

Is there anyone on Y&R that Rauch has worked with in the past? The one person that comes to mind is Eileen Davidson (Ok, she's on B&B, but she does appear on Y&R from time to time). Did she play Kelly Capwell during Rauch's reign? Can't think of anyone else.

[Greg's GL]

Interesting..... I hadn't heard of this before. Thanks for the info, Khan.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I agree, plus at 74 and being mostly New York based, I doubt he wants to be in charge of running a daytime soap again.

I still hope Griffith is fired though, I don't think all the experienced consulting in the world can give him enough necessary experience.

[Mitch]

Not to let Rauchey off the hook but the MZ situation was all MADD. Rauch is an ass but even he isn't that big of an ass.

GL under Rauch was at times very good and at times terrible, but it didnt go south completley until San Crud and the mob overdose. To his credit GL did keep its core, the Bauers were still there and Ross was always the Paterfamilias of Springfield....GL went to hell under Conboy and really took the total dive under Wheeler who obliterated the Bauers, fired JVD and put the Coopers on a pedestal. He did say that the the vets, namely JVD, MG and LK wouldnt be fired under his watch, and he kept his word. The vets and the older characters all did have stories, sometimes they werent entirely appropriate for them but they had stories and GL was never boring under him.

The lighting was way too bright...and what someone else said about the clothes was absolutley on spot, women were either wearing tank tops in January or in pastel power suits.

If he has a good writer Rauch is fine, I thought his last year with Taggert writing was excellent, combining his escapist GL with the deeper GL of the JFP era. However, he fought with Taggert over almost every word so the writer has to be very strong.

[Kubla Khan]

Y&R has been one big giant clusterfuck for a while now which is interesting, and sad, considering that this show used to be the tightest run ship on daytime. It was the vision of the Bells (not fashionista wannabe writers who are Bells by marriage) and his protégés. Now we have former ABC exec/current brain-dead exec Barbara Bloom calling the shots, we have Steve Kent calling the shots, we have "I've never stepped foot on a sound stage before/I'm only a writer" Josh Griffith as EP, we have Hogan Sheffer as co-HW, who granted, is probably the most qualified of the bunch, but he doesn't know squat about Y&R. We have a 456 member writing team, with new additions like Lisa Seidman, Amanda Beall, Jay Gibson, and Marla Kanelos who likewise know squat about the show. THEN we have Paul Rauch as a "consultant" (because he really knows Y&R), and finally, to top it all off...we have Maria Arena Bell, whose prior writing experience probably amounts to writing amateur poetry for her high school lit. class. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

lol. Don't be surprised. Now watch Paul try to get his former cohorts Jim Brown & Barbara Esensten in at Y&R, probably "editing" scripts or something. And considering Barbara Bloom's fondness for the shitfest Port Charles...

[Sylph]

So many things... Sadly.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Sadly, B&B is probably the only soap on the air that doesn't face constant network and production company interference. However, not like Bradley's vision is helping B&B in any positive way.

Y&R is suffering now what DAYS, the ABC soaps, and P&G soaps have been suffering through for years now.