Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 It's pretty obvious Eden was written to prop a Noah young love story and to give Michael and Lauren somewhat of a story since Maria Bell wants to keep them together as the stable happily married couple. They have so much history to tap into with Michael and Lauren but they haven't, aside from the wonderful but very brief Tracy/Lauren scenes. Maria Bell has used Lauren and Michael as mere props and support for Gloria and other characters so at least this Eden story is giving them something to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Why would it be useless? It is ridiculous how certain employees like Brad and Phyllis bounced from Jabot to Newman's every 6 months for years. You have other businesses that get some focus, You have characters with nowhere to work so have a little side story involving a Fenmore's or a new fashion partnership. Lauren had business stories when she was younger and at B & B. The fact is Lauren is smart and savvy and much more credible as a business woman than characters like Sharon, Nikki, Cane, etc. And with the problems with the economy and the toll it has taken on department store chains I think it would be pretty useful to tell a smaller story with Fenmore's struggling. It also could be pretty easy to incorporate Lauren and Fenmore's into a storyline considering Fenmore's is a distributor for Jabot and Beauty of Nature and has been for years. Lauren has two decades of experience in the fashion industry which would fit her in with a Amber story and having Lauren work and write articles about fashion for Restless Style makes a heck of alot more sense that watching Sharon "I am a model" and Phyllis "lab worker to web guru in one easy step" along with Jack and Mr. Creative himself Nick Newman run a fashion magazine. That's not saying I want Restless Style to be a focus again, it just shows how easy Lauren can be integrated into a business story if Maria Bell chose to. Lauren is connected in some way to every family on the show and most of the characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cashton Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Couyld the mystery woman be Patty Williams? Didn't she and Jack have a torturous relationship when Terry Lester was still in the role. I'm sure Victor wouldn't contact Sheila - although when she had her first plastic surgery she was talking to an unseen man. i definitely don't think it's Diane, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 But those connections haven't been utilized for years, even since her B&B stint ended, all Lauren has been used for on Y&R is as a supporting character that talks to other people and goes about her life. Outside of the horrific Sheila story from 2005, they've never tapped into her history or given her something substantial to do over the past 8 years. I certainly don't want to watch another Sheila return. I like Lauren and Michael as supporting characters, they way they've been for years. Gloria is no longer on enough to be considered someone who is on too much for her own good or the center of that family unit. She's very much supporting right now too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Sheila is dead and even if she wasn't Victor would hate her for kidnapping Summer. He also likes Lauren and after the stuff she has pulled with Lauren, Victor would not work with her. Patty has to be close to 50, doesn't she? I don't think the show is interested in expanding the William's family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 I highly doubt the show is going to spend money on sets and actors for a rival department store, and definitely not in this economic climate. Save the fashion for B&B, Y&R is about the cosmetics world. Even Restless Style is severely downplayed at the moment and when Nick and Phyllis are working there, the focus is almost never on fashion, but on their personal lives. For years, all Fenmore's has been treated as is a little boutique in the Jabot building. Lauren supposedly owns a chain of stores, but we've never seen them, and we probably never will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Michael and Lauren had story in 2004 and 2005 before LML took over and did quite well. I don't want Sheila back either. That's fine that you like them as mere support, but some of us would like a bigger role for Michael and Lauren beyond propping the favorites of the current writers. I don't think it would kill the show to add a story for Michael and Lauren where they might be on two or three days regularly and shock of all shock the Nick/Phyllis/Sharon and some of the Newmans be on three or four days a week. Look at how well the Katherine and the increased use of Jill has gone over and yet a year ago what you are saying about Michael and Lauren could have been said for them. That they are fine just being support. I think when you have good actors you have to write them story once in awhile. Y & R is always at it's best when it is well balanced. What caused the dramatic drop in ratings last winter was the fact that we had the Newmans, Phick/Shick quad and Gloria on five days a week while the same scenes played day after day. The focus was just on those players and too many other supporting characters languished on the backburner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Seriously, how much money would it cost to add a business set? A few short term actors and or have character brought into for a short story about Fenmore's or whatever and then integrated later with Newman or Jabot. Again I am not talking about a major story. It isn't that hard to come up with stories that integrate more players. The focus now is not on business stories I agree. When Jack or Nikki needed a new business it really wasn't that hard when they wanted to start a story with the spas or the mall and casino or with them running for state senator. They didn't need many sets or new actors. It is a choice the writer's make and has little to do with the expense of a few sets or short term actors. It's a cop out not to have some story for most characters and relying on just the Newmans and Abbotts. Maria Bell is making strides because she is intergrating the Chancellors and other characters. Something needs to be done with the Winters and Lauren and Michael deserve their own story, aside from propping others, at this point. I would much rather watch a story about them than another 6 months of who will Nick screw and who will he choose this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BadZoe Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 They found the boutique set for the Christmas episode, why not bring it back and have Noah, Eden and Abby working there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 But ratings dropped around that time too, which is why Latham was brought on in the first place. I would argue that Michael had story in 2004 and 2005, Lauren was still very much supporting until the Sheila story in late 2005, IMO. It's a matter of priority I guess, in the grand scheme of things, Katherine and Jill have much more history to tap into and have spent more time as leading characters on this show than Michael and Lauren have. Maybe Lauren and Michael's time for a story will eventually come, things didn't exactly happen over night for Katherine and Jill, but here it is. The cast is HUGE, not everyone is going to get as much screen time as everyone else. Y&R's focus has always been with the Newman's, and to a lesser degree the Abbott's. Even when Michael and Lauren has story in 2004-2005, Nick, Sharon, Phyllis, Jack, and the Newman's were all still very much leading on the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lmfan Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 And yet LML's highest ratings came during the Sheila as Phyllis story which was a decades old Lauren story and focused heavily on Michael, Paul, Lauren and Pheila. It was a short six week story. Preposterous yes, good acting also a yes. TEB and MS received emmy noms for that story. The birth of Fen and follow up pulled in good ratings also. The Michael and Lauren wedding earned a 4.7 and frankly I think the hiring of LML was a case of if it aint' broke why fix it situation. The show needed tweeking not a total overhaul. I am not saying that Michaael and Lauren should be lead or get the same airtime as the Newmans, Abbotts or even Chancellor's but they are played by two talented actors and are being wasted. CLB has always been very popular within the industry and with fans. TEB started on the show over 25 yrs ago. They have plenty of history to tap into. By the way, I love the Katherine story and have no problem with it, but it shows me that good story can be written without a Newman or an Abbott at the center. For me it is quite simple. They need to give Lauren and Michael some romance and write them some conflict within their own story. It is merely a case of utilising the talent they have better. Maria Bell has been doing that fairly well, but still needs to work on a few more characters and stories. Again, I don't expect Tracey to be lead but she definitely could be utilized more and Christian is flat out being underused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Y&RWorldTurner Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 The Pheila story was a horrible attempt at giving Michelle Stafford an Emmy reel. That story was sadly much more of a vehicle for Michelle than it ever was for Tracey. Michael and Paul and hell even Lauren were all pretty much playing supporting to Phyllis/Pheila during that time - what a horrible storyline. In the end, it was Stafford who got the most airtime and recognition. I'm not against Michael and Lauren having a supporting story of their own, but it's not a recent phenomena to have Victor, Jack, Nikki, Ashley, Phyllis, Sharon, Nick, Katherine and Jill, and the rest of that crowd dominating air time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkH Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 So, I again enjoyed Y&R. But I'm just a little worried. There are now all these "grand flourishes". I've already talked about the three big event-deaths since August. We have Ashley's grand entrance at the LAST Jabot takeover. We have Paris. Now we have the "mystery lady" with the hidden face. And so forth. Don't get me wrong, these are entertaining! But I fear they are ratcheting up the "shock and awe"...and that's an addictive drug. It can spiral (reference: General Hospital), until soon you barely have a show between these adrenaline infusions. I can't tell if this a "good" thing (i.e., the once-staid Y&R has been rendered more exciting)...or if it is a sign that Y&R might be losing its identity a little...sacrificing itself to become something more sensationalistic. Too much of that can kill even a Bell soap (reference: Bold and Beautiful). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeeeDee Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 Amen. It was ridiculous how little LAUREN was included in that debacle. Michael & Lauren need a good story about THEM. But it will NEVER happen cause TPTB don't care about Tracey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cheap21 Posted February 11, 2009 Members Share Posted February 11, 2009 considering Tracy is only recurring, we're lucky we're getting as much of her as we have been over the years.They really have no obligations to write leading material for her. You'd think Lauren were a contract character and she does better than most recurring characters on this soap as well as others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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