Nelson's Interview With Maria Arena Bell and Paul Rauch

[Y&RWorldTurner]

There's a whole write-up thing Nelson did on Maria, naming her his "Entertainer of the Year," but I'll skip that and just post the interview.

http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/2008s+Ente...r_NB.htm?isfa=1

[rangethatrover]

Awesome, awesome, team.

I did notice Maria's not so subtle two time mentioning of the fact that she is the "primary headwriter and storyteller" and that the show is HER show and HER vision....

She sounds like an interesting character herself!!!

Was I wrong that Hogan was a co head writer? Is me more of a lead breakdown writer or something?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

He is a Co-HW. She mentioned that he knows how to layout story, and he assists a great deal with plotting them.

I believe most of the story ideas are probably Maria's but Hogan and Scott assist her in developing them (plotting, layout, etc) and Paul Rauch executes the material on-screen.

As for her vision thing, you can tell Maria probably HATES Barbara Bloom. It sounds like Bloom doesn't have the type of power at Y&R she had during the Latham era.

[dm.]

I think it's quite clear that Maria is the main HW, while Hogan and Scott are Co-HW, and I guess she does run everything (hence her co-exec. spot). I just love what Rauch has done for the show.

And I'm so glad they addressed the opening---hopefully it'll change by next summer.

And that's a VERY good thing.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Good for MAB! I like that the show is her vision and that the buck stops with her. She acknowledges that she doesn't do it alone and that she has talented people helping, but it's clear Babs Bloom doesn't have her fingerprint on the show, and that's a very good thing. Y&R is a different soap altogether. It plays by different rules. Babs never got that . I'm glad she's been marginalized. The show is much better off for it. I also like what MAB said about the status of soaps. There is still life left in them. Audiences will stay, and old viewers will be won back, if the writing is good and respectful of the fans. It's that simple. As a longtime Y&R viewer, I've got to say that this show looks and sounds more like Bill Bell' s Y&R than it ever did under Kay Alden or any of the other headwriters since Bill stepped down. My fondest wish would be that the other soaps would find strong storytellers, shove the EP's and network honchos to the background, and let the STORY and WRITING be front and center again. That's a soap's strength. That's a soap's salvation. Powerful, emotion-driven storylines and characters we alll care about. Forget the focus groups. Forget the demos. Tell a compelling story and the viewers will come. MAB is proving it. Like I said, good for her!!

[Heyou]

Thanks for posting. I enjoy reading Nelson's columns and articles; he sounded a bit fan girly!

Thank God and for this alone, MAB has to be a smart woman!

[Adam]

It took a while, but man is this show on fire. It makes sense it would take a while because Latham left it in such shambles. I will admit I grew bored and impatient with MAB and tuned out until just recently. The show is back and I look forward to watching it every day!

[sheilaforever]

This interview was insightful.

Through her remarks, you could tell why Y&R felt so uneven until summer. Sometimes it was hot, then cold. Look at the snide remark at Josh Griffith by praising Paul Rauch and the not so subtle last line about CBS and Barbara Bloom. So far, Maria kept what she promised. So far, her vision really has been a vision I enjoy watching...

[SteveFrame]

Very good interview.

As To Hogan taht is where is strength lies and MAB needs to stay in control. Hogan is a good writer when he has someone to lead him and guide him. When he had Carolyn Culliton at ATWT, he was great. When he lost her even ATWT got into a mess. And his Days was a big mess. The only good thing there was the dialogue writers - not him.

He needs to stay where he is at. He has done his best work as part of the team here.

And thank God for Paul Rauch too. He has been good for Y&R. Many didn't want him because of his age but he proves that even at his age he still knows what makes a good soap.

As far as MAB taking time to get things going - if the rumors were true that Josh Griffith was sabotaging her work - then it would have probably happened sooner that the show got better. Look how quick it has turned around with him gone.

[Toups]

I love how that she says she's in control. I'm so glad she doesn't have her hands on Y&R anymore.

[MarkH]

Okay, I tried to be cynical with all the mutual gushing going on. But there are two places where MAB was absolutely SPOT ON:

Well, ahem, that is in perfect agreement with what some of us have said here and elsewhere! I never thought about the 'second only to Oprah' bit (I guess that is right, though).

As many of you have noted:

This is a direct recapitulation of the kind of "managing agreement" DaytimeFan wrote about last week. Clearly, Sony has given the Bells control, and it must also be running some kind of interference to keep Barbara Bloom "respectfully" at a distance. This is a good thing, obviously.

With regard to a primetime move, Bell noted:

I was thinking the same thing recently, when I wrote

There was also a goosebump-inducing piece where Maria talked (implicitly) about honoring Marland's rules! Her approach is consistent with his: WATCH the show, pay attention to what the fans are saying, be objective (don't just make knee-jerk corrections), talk to everyone, honor core characters (trying not to change them) and introduce new characters slowly (which she has done--except for Sabrina), and don't fire anyone for six months. (Remember how long she kept the LML writers...even David Chow lingered for eight months before she dumped him).

Now, here is the irony. In SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLY redirecting the ship, MAB p*ssed off a lot of fans. Let us not forget that Y&R dropped from an average HH of about 4.0-4.1 at the start of her run to closer to 3.5-3.6 by the time Sudden Impact started. It is questionable whom we should blame that drop on. LML for the damage done before MAB. Or MAB for her deliberate approach.

You know what would make this all perfect? If Y&R could just go up. If it could just break the 4.0 ceiling again. If that could happen (and I know it can't...and I also know it's not that important with all the new ways of watching), this "Bell-ian" approach would be completely vindicated.

Indeed, if the numbers would go up, I'd start petitioning for someone to go over to B&B and start sprucing up that place!

[miajere]

I liked hearing that they don't take their viewer's time for granted. How refreshing.. And I believed her, for better or worse. It sounds like they don't mind who's idea it is, they just want to keep writing.

[YRBB]

It was absolutely obvious that MAB had a clear plan from the moment she got on board. Sabrina's quick integration was probably because she was trying to get to the summer and fall as soon as possible. I realize that a lot of fans tuned out while she was very slowly working on the show (including me, at times, even though I appreciated what she was doing), but if I am to choose between her quickly dropping the previous stories (having us go through them and then no payoff) so she can start her own stuff and making something out of the mess, it would have been the second. It would have been rushed and the impact of these recent months would have been nothing compared to what it is now had she chosen the quick fix. I hate that the numbers are a little down, but she chose quality over a quickie and I commend her for that. She's the one writer in daytime (apart from, perhaps, Ron Carlivati) who does that. Also, let's not forget who was producing the show back then--I am wrong in thinking that the show plunged when he returned? Didn't it kind of coincide? Not to say that MAB didn't share part of the blame, for there was a little bit of an experience-in-laying-out-plots problem, but she always did great character work.

When Hogan and Rauch joined, they really did bring a renaissance to the show. I love the interview because both of them articulated what I have been thinking. Bell kinda talks like Bell, too. She sounds like she knows and loves soap, and Rauch was spot on about enhancing performances, since the actors have all woken up now. A great read, I am really starting to trust Y&R to be consistently good from now on....

[aMLCproduction]

A great interview and I take my hat off to MAB. Old school. I wish other soaps would take a lesson from her. I love Y&R again and it does remind a lot of the Bell era. I am glad Bloom is out of the kitchen. and I am so glad they are going to redo the opening. I want the live shots red background opening again. Imagine what MAB could do at B&B

[Rakesh]

Great interview! Maria is pretty.