Jump to content

Y&R: Week of November 10, 2008


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 275
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

Some random thoughts on the week that was

The Paris scenes are good,so far,not great.The green?scenes were done well and i don't think the casual viewer would have picked them up.

Had to laugh at Ashley going up to random people in the street in a city of millions to ask if they've seen Victor.

Her prayer was soapy but effective.

Sharon looked like a hooker in that mini dress.

Phyllis' "I have to go to Paris" was too contrived-Couldn't she have just decided to fly off on the spur of the moment to surprise Nick?

Loved the Jill/Nikki dynamic as they worried about Katherine.The whole Kay/Marge story continues to be A+

The Neil /Karen/Tyra stuff needs to pick up steam.Hate the way all the characters were shoe horned into 1 episode.Neil,Karen,Devon,Tyra,Olivia,Ana and the cop were all hanging around Indigo.Why does Ana have to be there?What purpose does Devon serve?

Hopefully they are laying the ground for a meaty story and the cop(Gil?) stays around.There could be some interesting triangles/quadrangles come out of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Again, the music used in Monday's episode is stunning!

Sharon Case is a bit hyper, but the scenes were wonderfully directed of Nick and Sharon walking through Paris.

Eileen Davidson and Eric Braeden are so good and subtle together. Ashley and Victor's scenes were sweet.

And Katherine's bloody hand scared the crap out of me.

Kevin's also getting a bit intriguing again. Maybe he'll go psycho again. LOL!

The sets the built for Eden and Noah are gorgeous. The actors didn't go on the Paris trip, so they're using sets for them.

This week is going to be good, especially in regards to the Kay/Marge storyline. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I thought monday's ep was a letdown.

Everything was built up so well on Friday,but Mon was sluggish

All we got was Amber going on and on about her suspicion of Kevin

A brief scene of the car crash.

I agree that Sharon's attitude was annoying.

Nick says he's been to Paris so many times,he's jaded,yet Sharon says she's never been?Guess his many trips all happened outside their long standing marriage.

The blu screen when Sharon and Nick on the boat looked fake.

I also found Victor and Ashley to be over the top.Mind you,I find Victor hard to tolerate,although his self obsession is totally in character.Interesting that his undying love for Sabrina seems to be forgotten when he starts smooching Ashley.

Noah and Eden were boring.I thought the cemetery set was effective.

Nikki,Jill and Esther were the saving grace.

They have really gone all out with the sets.

In addition to the cemetery,we had 2 restaurant sets ,the car crash set and the bookstore.I didn't recognize them as being used previously.

Katherine must have a stable of cars-she mentioned driving a 62 Bentley a few weeks ago but the crashed car was a BMW 7 series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Loved the Jill/Nikki stuff, looking forward to more of their scenes.

I cant wait for Vicor/Ashley to heat up.

Its a damn shame that I find Noah and Eden more interresting than Nick and Sharon.

Ugh I see no growth in these two, they are acting like they are teens, especially Sharon. What de hell is wrong with her, is she on somethang? I aint seeing not one ounce of sexual chemistry between these two, anxiously awaiting the tears and the Cassie card to be thrown out there.

The green screen is OBVIOUS!!!

Loved the Jill/Nikki stuff, looking forward to more of their scenes.

I cant wait for Vicor/Ashley to heat up.

Its a damn shame that I find Noah and Eden more interresting than Nick and Sharon.

Ugh I see no growth in these two, they are acting like they are teens, especially Sharon. What de hell is wrong with her, is she on somethang? I aint seeing not one ounce of sexual chemistry between these two, anxiously awaiting the tears and the Cassie card to be thrown out there.

The green screen is OBVIOUS!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

You know, what I thought LML might achieve (but failed to do), MAB has done.

I was a big fan of EARLY Lynn Latham. It was in the sudden concordance of three stories that I thought she was hinting at genius:

  1. John having memory lapses, based in his history of cardiovascular disease and previous lapses
  2. Brad's secret history, tied somehow to Parma OH, slowly being revealed
  3. Victor's traditional behavior of "head butting" getting him into SERIOUS trouble...smelling lavendar and epilepsy.

I liked all three of these stories because [A] they were surprising and unusual, they were based in character traits and history from the past, [C] they propelled interesting new stories. Of course, in retrospect, I (and others) was wrong.

Rather than REAL history, LML had grabbed at small and trivial pieces of backstory, and amplified them. Victor's epilepsy was NOT neurologically plausible, really. Brad, as I have often been reminded, would not have lived such an open life if he was hiding from the Nazis. (We might have seen hints of his secret judaism too). And John...dear John...was sacrificed (LITERALLY) at the altar of this plot.

Later LML devolved further...plot with no basis in history, pushing too many newbies to the forefront, no narrative throughline, no consistency of voice. Nothing made sense anymore. (Why was Nikki suddenly running for Senate? What did the Senate race and the Clear Springs deal have to do with each other? etc.).

So now, here we are...SHOCKINGLY, less than year after the end of LML, and just a year after Clear Springs.

Look at today's front burner stories:

  • Victor, with a lifelong fear of abandonment, a mixture of love and hate for having been raised in a Catholic orphanage, has broken down. Some people think it is implausibly based on losing Sabrina, but I think that is just a part of it. The role his family played in her death, capping a lifelong fear of abandonment, has all finally come crashing. The man who controls EVERYTHING could not control Sabrina's death...and he has finally succumbed to acknowledging he is ultimately powerless. It is ironic, that in all of this, his "safe harbor" of childhood...the Catholic Church...is again there for him.
  • Ashley, who THREE TIMES lost her mind, was THREE TIMES rescued by Victor. Yet, Ashley and Victor had a permanent and abrupt end when she prematurely left Brad, confided her love for Victor, and was rejected by him (because he was committed to Nikki). Obviously, there is so much unfinished business. Better yet: now it is Ashley rescuing Victor from a breakdown. And...in delicious irony...the saint to which she is pray (Raymond Nonnatus) is the saint of LOST BABIES (harkening to the abortion Ashley had, and later the baby she lost in the car crash...two things that drove her mad), and the FALSELY ACCUSED.
  • Nikki, drawing on her past (remembering Ashley's role in Victor's life), but nonetheless pushing Ashley toward Victor. Nikki...now working with Jill to try to find and save Kay. In the process, Jill and Nikki are cemented as "the daughter Kay never wanted" and the "daughter Kay never had". I feel this is foreshadowing for a bitter Nikki-Jill rivalry to come.
  • Jack, still stunted as always, trying to claim or destroy Newmans (Sharon, Adam, Victor), trying to master his father's company. Locked endlessly in a self-destructive loop from which he can never seem to emerge. It was this feud that cost him Phyllis...and it is this feud that will cost him Sharon.
  • Kay, twice, has "died". Once, in 1979, it was in the mental institution fire (where she was put after being driven mad by poisoned chocolates). An inmate had stolen Kay's rings, so Kay was presumed dead. Kay escaped to Liz Foster's house, de-toxed and recovered, and bided her time to come back in the most triumphant way possible. In the meantime, she watched how her heirs and enemies reacted. Again, a few years later, a drunken Kay made a suicide leap off a cruise ship railing...but she was rescued by Cuban radical "Phillipe" (interesting name..given her history with many men named Phillip) who helped her detox, heal, and reclaim her life. Could we be seeing this story again? Jeanne Cooper says it was amongst her all time favorites.
  • Marge...a "one trick pony" (evil doppelganger with a good heart) from 20 years ago...interestingly drawn back onto the canvas. Why? We can speculate...but it seems she is just a plot point in a much larger tale.

My point is this. The vets are front and center. The stars are in their 50s-80s...but the show doesn't feel "old" at ALL! It feels young, vibrant, energetic...and the recent spate of cliffhangers have been edge-of-your-seat. Some of us literally can't wait till the next episode.

MAB has done what LML failed to do in a long term way: Play the vets, in stories based in history which are nonetheless surprising and novel, doing things that make sense. Let each story have long-term fallout. (Nikki's calling on Ashley has roots in the early 80s and ever since; Kay's repayment of kindness to Marge has roots in the late 80s/early 90s). Even Sabrina's death, in early August, still plays as a front-burner story 4 months later. Cassie's death, over 3 years ago, still fuels the Noah-Sharon-Nick-Phyllis arc we see today.

I was obviously wrong in celebrating early LML. Jack Smith (and before him, Kay Alden) had lost sight of history and the veterans. So, when LML seemed to be playing them again, I was delighted. In the end, I was deluded. She had no real interest in doing what MAB has done...writing DEEP, grounded plots that draw on 20-40 years of motivation, and that will have repercussions for years to come!

These days, you don't hear anyone complaining that "Amber" or "Kevin" or even "Gloria" is stealing the show. Everyone has been put in their proper place and perspective. I am a fan! It does make you wonder what the HECK went wrong from March-August of 2008? This team has skills!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

WORD to everything you said, MarkH. ^^

Some SLs are not grabbing me (Jack's smug, blowhard attitude = FF) and I'm still not sold on Eden but everything else feels like Y&R -- to me. It also makes me realize how weak some of Kay Alden and Jack Smith's stuff was. The destruction of Ashley being a case in point. Now I cannot wait to watch her scenes with Victor! And IA about Nikki/Kay/Jill. It's like a "triangle," not in a relationship sense, but in a familial sense.

As for March-August of 2008, I'm going to put that down to transitioning from Lynn Marie Troll's destructive non-writing campaign of Evil Boringness. Followed by panic when the ratings started to dip. People really reacted badly to the introduction of Sabrina. I think we all wanted a plotting, evil vixen, hellbent on destroying the Newmans. Plus, remember the Mmmmm, Mmmmmmmmmm chérie, Mmmmmmmm, Mon amour, Mmmmmmmmmm stuff? It took me a while to realize that Sabrina was actually rather kind and sweet and lonely -- and I was ok with that. Unfortunately, by the point, the decision had already been made to kill her off, triggering the umbrella SL we are currently watching.

I don't know anything about Maria Arena Bell or Hogan Sheffer (or Scott Hamner, for that matter), but perhaps the arrival of Hoagie added some tightness and purpose to the writing? I noticed that with the lead-up to Sudden Impact, the show started feeling like a soap again in terms of pacing and cliffhangers. Paul Rauch's unexpectedly serendipitous hiring helped to restore an old-school, dark, luxurious ambiance to Y&R which I thought was gone foreover. It's like he came in and said "Hey! We're producing a fabulous daytime soap, not Law & Order! Embrace it! I want moody lighting, sumptuous sets and fancy locale shoots in Europe. Now, I'm off to dig out some of Y&R's orchestral background music from the archives."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I don't know anything about Maria Arena Bell or Hogan Sheffer (or Scott Hamner, for that matter), but perhaps the arrival of Hoagie added some tightness and purpose to the writing? I noticed that with the lead-up to Sudden Impact, the show started feeling like a soap again in terms of pacing and cliffhangers. Paul Rauch's unexpectedly serendipitous hiring helped to restore an old-school, dark, luxurious ambiance to Y&R which I thought was gone foreover. It's like he came in and said "Hey! We're producing a fabulous daytime soap, not Law & Order! Embrace it! I want moody lighting, sumptuous sets and fancy locale shoots in Europe. Now, I'm off to dig out some of Y&R's orchestral background music from the archives."

STAY DOWN THERE PAUL AND KEEP DIGGING!!!

Because I am loving the sound of the show, the look of the show-- Paul always LOVED big cliffhangers, at least on OLTL... Did he do this on GL?

The show is an absolute class act. Far and away the best on daytime.

I think Bill Bell would be proud.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Something that I love about Dani is that despite her issues with Bill, she's always encouraged her daughters to have a relationship with him. I also believe that she does have a great amount of love for him which is why she is so hurt that he's sick. I've loved them including her in his recovery. It feels real and their chemistry is just insane so any chance for more of it is welcomed. That would be the perfect karma. Kat needs to learn boundaries and not be so impulsive, but I still feel like the Duprees are going to clear Leslie. How? I don't know, but that's what I think is going to happen. I feel like she'll get some kind of blackmail over them which will cause them to clear the slate. Of course the show never goes where you expect so I'm sure they'll do something different but I'm definitely curious how she will manage this.
    • Darn you Jane Elliot...you have me crying...that's how superb her acting is in these scenes with Gio. Speak on it.
    • The story has been glossed over and taken over by the lunacy redux. I wonder if they noticed how poorly the ratings are with the Liam story and went all lunacy.
    • @soapfan770Thank you so much for posting that! I know the final season of Falcon Crest is controversial but I thought it was a fantastic swing that mostly worked. The only thing that would've made it better is if they had more money which hopefully could've kept Emma full season. I feel like that was her strongest arc since season one and I wish she had remained so we could've seen her as a mother. I also wish they had more Angela but that was obviously out of their control. As different as it was, I felt season 9 to be very true to the initial gothic roots of the series.
    • You know what? I was just thinking of Klymaxx the day before you typed this and chuckled. I do love how it keeps twisting and turning, getting juicier (Eva hiding everything, knowing her mama did it only for Kat to get the goods, thinking it's Eva...not helped by her hope that it IS Eva) rather than contrived.    This. AM's acting as Eva is just so reminiscent of SMG's version of Kendall on AMC for me. She's totally going to go on to bigger and better things. She has so much nuances in her scenes.    Yeah, I really like that they played the beat of Ty wondering if Jessica was using him. I wouldn't have minded that, but we have done it before so I guess it is nice to see it is not a trick. I do wonder where it will go from here.   Thank you for the tip on Chelesa. I'm already intrigued on the stuff with Madison so Hmmmm.
    • Leslie is going to get off because of Kat.
    • If a soap actor or behind the scenes figure was roasted at any point in time, who would you have at the main table? This topic came about when I imagined a Friends episode (Joey, of course, would bomb at roasting). The Roast of Deidre Hall, circa 1997 Roastmaster: Drake Hogestyn Roasters: Jed Allan, Wayne Northrop, Joseph Mascolo, Eileen Davidson, Christie Clark, Alison Sweeney, Ken Corday, James E. Reilly, Andrea Hall, Jane Elliot, James Reynolds, Shannen Doherty, Wilford Brimley, and Frances Reid.
    • Amanda has been giving it to Abby ever since her and Chance walked in on them together. So great to hear.   I can see that. Lily and Damian are always a highlight to me. 
    • I recall @Chris B asking about this but here is an interview Sheri Anderson did with SOU back in the fall of ‘89: Here is an article that I think is interesting, it is an interview with Shery Anderson, screenwriter of the ninth season THE WRITE STUFF: FALCON CREST’S SHERI ANDERSON: FROM DAYS TO NIGHTTIME By Richard Spencer Soap Opera Update, 1989 : At a time when the success of nighttime soaps is shaky, Sheri Anderson, former headwriter for DAYS OF OUR UVES, ANOTHER WORLD, GUIDING LIGHT and GENERAL HOSPITAL, makes the jump to the evening format with some new ideas to help strenthen the CBS California vineyard based soap opera FALCON CREST. "FALCON CREST is going to have a differnet tone that it never had before," headwriter Sheri Anderson expiains. "The people that I am working with are kind of an interesting mix. The executive producer, Joel Sumow, did the first years of MIAMI VICE and THE EQUALIZER, Bob Cochran, a Harvard MBA,and Cyrus Nowrasteh, who has done a number of features, are story editors. I am co-porducer, with a history in daytime, so we are a real different mix. We all kind of balance each other out in different ways. I am sort of the emotional side (coming from daytime) and they are more the gritty side." A lack of focus is what Sheri attributes to FALCON CREST's problems the last few seasons. "No one , seemed to knwo that the characters' motivations were. Pilar was a real good example. No one seemed to know what she wanted. This season it is clear that Pilar wants Lance. That is really her dream and goal tokeep Lance. She will do anything to do that. She will be making some sacrifices thís season that really jeopardize her relationship with Lance." While Pilar's character may be strongly in place, Maggie's is not. How will the show restructure in light of Maggie's drowning? " We are not trying to replace her, but we are adding another kind of strong heroine character. That character is Laruren Daniels. She's very earthy; married to a construction worker. Lauren. is the sister of Michael Sharp, Gregory Harrison's new character. "Michael is an extremely powerful adversary to Richard Channing. He will be more cynical than Richard and less emotionally motivated. For Michael it is all power and money. The audience will be more sympathetic toward Richard. He will be going through hell," Sheri reveáis with doom in her voice, "...Paying for his past sins " The complete opposite of Richard or Michael's intensity is the the new character of Charlíe St. James."Charlie is every woman's foolish choice," Sheri character sketches. "He's kind of indescribable; charismatic, totally unpredictable, charming, unnervtng. He's coming in as a love interest for Emma. He will be the first man to make Emma feel like a woman. She's really not victimized by him...she’s addicted to him. Charlie's presence will make her a little less flakey this season." But Emma is not the only one in store for major personality changes, also in the categroy is Frank. "We arebringing back somebody from his past," Sheri reveals "there will be a great secret that will come to ight." Speaking of characters from the past, are there any Sheri would like to return? "Everyone is fond of Ana-Alicia in her original role. At this point we don't have any plans to bring her back because we have some other character that are going to take the forefront." And if one thing is going to remain the same, it will be what Sheri recognizes as the theme of FALCON CREST "Quest for control of Falcon Crest. We have people trying to take control, and they are all taking it for different reasons. Some are emotioanl, some are revenge, but they each have a different eason for which they want Falcon Crest. And that is really the pivotal center. It is very earthy." Keeping the core of lite show intact is not the only thing nighttime shows have to do to stay interesting and acording to Sheri"I din't think night time shows have kept paces with changes in the viewing audience," Sheri answers by analyzing what exactly is primetime soaps* problem. ln datyime, you do over the years the shows stay on, but you are adapting to what people are accepting:faster-paced, or slower, or addíng more comedy, depending on the audience, and what they are buying. I don't think some of these shows in primetime have done that "We are trying to make the show as much episodio as it is continuing. We are cutting down the number of scenes in each act to get the audience more involved. But some of the shows, and this happens in daytime al so, don’t let the characters really grow," Sheri certainly made chracters develop during her daytime career, but especially on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, which is the source for her favourite stories of her careen ”When Víctor carne to Salem and revealed tha the was really Bo’s father, it caused such a ripple effect for Kim, Shane, Román, Bo, Hope, Caroline and Sean. I also liked bringing Kayla back for Patch.” Having written for Kristian Alfonso' s Hope (DAYS) and now Pilar on FC, Sheri distínguishes between the two characters. "Pilar is a woman, but Hope was growing up. Hope was more innocent and Pilar is not Pilar has an intelligent strength where Hope did all the wrong things for all the right reasons." Pilar wíll be the only one retuming from her family, while Angela Channing’s appearances will be limited (per Jane Wyman's contract). "But Richard will be taking a very strong role which is very similar to Angela Angelad presence will be felt in every epísode/ Sheri informs. A lot of people complained about the women of FALCON CREST being wishy-washy They certainly aren't this season Sheri emphasizes. "Lauren will be strong, especially after her brother Michael steais Richard’s children and places them with her, Frnak’s step daughter will be very devious, indicateive of Kathleen Turner in “Body Heat” And Gregory Harrison is fabulous," Sheri reports with joy. "He is so different from his character on TRAPPER JOHN, M.D He is very similar to Michael Douglas in the film 'Wall Street'. FALCON CREST viewers will find a much richer textrae, getting away from the glamour and really going to substance and style." Sheri concludes, "it will be a show to watch, We are trying to bring in a new audience, and at the same time, respect our past audience."
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy