The problem is NOT the money. She's taken cuts before.

The problem is the episode guarantee. They want to use her way less, she isn't willing to be ABC Daytime'd into oblivion!

Again, though - I want to know what the guarantee will be. If her old guarantee was three episodes a week, and they want it to be two episodes a week, I see no issue with that. However, if it's from three episodes a week, to one episode every TWO weeks, that's a different story.

Without all the details, I just can't see making a decision. But that's just for myself.

Thank you, Manny - for being a voice of reason.

I'm curious what the pay cut is that they're fighting over. If JW is walking away because she'll be making low six figures instead of mid six figures, then as much as I LOVE JESS WALTON AND JILL ABBOTT, I can't blame Sony.

Without all the details, I'm not forming an opinion for either side.

Company's like Sony can afford it. Even in this economy. I'm sure they're hurting, but decreasing an actresses salary slightly isn't going to help. Y&R can dump some other characters instead of cutting Jess' salary. Danny is beyond boring. Why is Bryton on contract. We see him like once a month. Jana is yawn city with all her babble.

Edited March 30, 200916 yr by ClassicSoapFan

Again, though - I want to know what the guarantee will be. If her old guarantee was three episodes a week, and they want it to be two episodes a week, I see no issue with that. However, if it's from three episodes a week, to one episode every TWO weeks, that's a different story.

Without all the details, I just can't see making a decision. But that's just for myself.

It's a substantial cut. We're talking if she appeared in 90 episodes last year, she'd get 50 or so under this new deal.

If it was a minor cut, she'd take it. She *gets* the business. But she's not willing to be ABC Daytime'd.

Company's like Sony can afford it. Even in this economy. I'm sure they're hurting, but decreasing an actresses salary slightly isn't going to help. Y&R can dumb some other characters instead of cutting Jess' salary. Danny is beyond boring. Why is Bryton on contract. We see him like once a month. Jana is yawn city with all her babble.

I'm not arguing that Sony can't afford it - and I'm also not saying anything critical against Jess Walton. I just feel like the boards are in overdrive over this (much like last year's Hinseygate/Higleygate), and nobody knows all the details. (Or if they do, they're not at liberty to divulge, which I also respect.)

There's just too many factors to say one side is right and the other side is wrong. As fans, we don't (and probably never will) know the whole story.

The whole situation is just sad and depressing all around. But I can't point a finger because really, we're working off a lot of different perspectives through second hand information.

It's a substantial cut. We're talking if she appeared in 90 episodes last year, she'd get 50 or so under this new deal.

If it was a minor cut, she'd take it. She *gets* the business. But she's not willing to be ABC Daytime'd.

But this is an issue affecting ALL of daytime, not just ABC. (Or the Bell shows)

This is happening across the board, so I'm not sure why anybody's acting shocked. We knew last year this was coming down the pike at ALL the shows.

Company's like Sony can afford it. Even in this economy. I'm sure they're hurting, but decreasing an actresses salary slightly isn't going to help. Y&R can dump some other characters instead of cutting Jess' salary. Danny is beyond boring. Why is Bryton on contract. We see him like once a month. Jana is yawn city with all her babble.

You have got to look at those than you mentioned as being paid a lot less.

They would have to cut 3 or 4 people to make up for the price of a vet. It is sad but it is the truth.

Most of the younger ones are making scale while the vets are making a lot more than that even with the cuts they have taken.

What is sad is that the vets deserve their pay for the years they have given, but even sadder is that the soaps can't afford to pay them that anymore.

But all of that is the big reason that you are seeing the vets being the one asked to take the cuts while the younger newbies are not. They can't be cut because they are making the minimum they can make by the union.

I do side with the vets when they are asked to take pay cuts, but I don't when it boils down to a guarantee thing. The sad thing is that all the vets after they have been on for awhile and reach a certain age are going to be cut back. Soaps are a revolving door. And sadly there is a point in time when characters have to be backburnered in order to keep them interesting and from growing stale. As long as they don't fire them and take away their benefits, in this day and age I just can't get all excited about one of them being asked to work less.

Now with a person like Julia Barr or Anna Lee, I got mad because their contracts were taken away. They lost everything and didn't have any promise of work at all. At least with a contract with some type of guarantee in there, they get their insurance and they get paid to work that much.

At this point i am more concerned with Jill being written into oblivion- even more than who is playing her.

NOT a good sign.

If it's true then at least they gave her the option of a cut.

D Hall anyone?

If it's true then at least they gave her the option of a cut.

D Hall anyone?

no comment. your a big days fan and i am not touching that one.

That is what concerns me too. With them rewriting the Kay & Jill mother/daughter story, I have been thinking the last few days that they may be using it as a way to get rid of Jill. After learning she is not Kay's daughter, she may choose to leave town. Maybe go live with her mother, Liz.

All that Jill has in town are her 2 sons. The rest of her family is gone. Cane is the only one that would really be in limbo with no family. Billy still has the Abbotts.

And I fear that with the other news that Nina is coming back that Cane may be gone too. The age issue with Cane has got to be a problem for Maria A. Bell with Nina coming back and they already mentioned she has a son serving in the war. They could easily get rid of both Cane and Jill together.

This is confusing to me, because I believe Jess re-signed her contract in 2007 or so. Unless they want to renegotiate the terms of her contract, I'm not sure. But if that's the case, why hasn't anyone else's contract been re-negotiated that we've heard of? Anyway, kudos to Jess for standing up during her negotiations.

Didn't Melody Thomas Scott actually quit for a few weeks a few years ago when negotiations went south?

Edited March 30, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

no comment. your a big days fan and i am not touching that one.

No no. Please. Go on.

That is what concerns me too. With them rewriting the Kay & Jill mother/daughter story, I have been thinking the last few days that they may be using it as a way to get rid of Jill. After learning she is not Kay's daughter, she may choose to leave town. Maybe go live with her mother, Liz.

All that Jill has in town are her 2 sons. The rest of her family is gone. Cane is the only one that would really be in limbo with no family. Billy still has the Abbotts.

And I fear that with the other news that Nina is coming back that Cane may be gone too. The age issue with Cane has got to be a problem for Maria A. Bell with Nina coming back and they already mentioned she has a son serving in the war. They could easily get rid of both Cane and Jill together.

But there is so much that they can still explore if Nina returns with Phillip IV. Especially if they were thinking of undoing Cane too.

I bet there is more to this Nina return than meets the eye.

I bet there is more to this Nina return than meets the eye.

I agree. You know what else, if Nina returns on contract and things work out with Jess and Sony, could you imagine the fabulous flashbacks we could see of those two clashing with one another? OMG!!!

Recent posts have been echoing my thoughts. Just from on-screen happenings over the past couple of years, it's obvious that they've come to view Jill as nothing more than a supporting player. Sometimes they have her working heavily on a front-burner story, sometimes not. But they will not give her her own story. The offer of reduced guarantees, if that's actually the case, infers that they plan to marginalize the character even more. The whole Kay/Jill mother/daughter reversal would make some sense from that standpoint. Undo Jill being Kay's daughter, and with those familial ties gone, Jill become a floater with no real family of her own, and thus diminished screen time. So you have to wonder if undoing the mother/daughter thing was a creative thing to right a story wrong, or a purely economic-motivated twist to facilitate the further backburnering of Jess Walton. If Jess decides not to return, I wonder if they'd hire another actress for the sole purpose of finishing off Jill's story and then have her leave town, and not as a long-term replacement gig. Tricia Cast's return, which I'm guessing is going to be short term just to introduce Phillip, makes this even more interesting. Her return was obviously planned before the Jess issue came up. Without Jill on the show, would they even bother bringing Phillip, and thus Nina, back? I know this is all speculation, but it's so damn intriguing.

Edited March 30, 200916 yr by LoyaltoAMC