Y&R/ Maria Bell losing their way?

[rangethatrover]

I deleted it and started fresh. It was nasty.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

This year it's Y&R, last year it was OLTL, next year it will probably be something else.

The thing with Y&R, OLTL, and other soaps, while they might be relatively good for a time, the consistency isn't there. I don't think of MAB or Carlivati, or anyone else in daytime right now as "storytellers" they're simply doing the best they can at their jobs, some storylines might be hits, and other failures, but it's just a job to most of these people - the passions seems gone.

[rangethatrover]

Well, according to Maria, the show is ALL her. lol. I never got the vibe that she didn't want to be there. However, if the show dropped in the ratings or started getting negative reviews (god forbid that this symphony of sleep would ever get negative notices) I could totally see her quitting or distancing herself.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Oh, I have no doubt that she'd put on an act for the press and defend her actions and whatnot, but I think she got pushed into this HW role during the writer's strike and then the Bell's decided to keep her there because she was apart of the family, and she felt obligated to be there, not because she thought it was the right professional goal for her.

Her interests are clearly in the non-profit sector and to a lesser extent fashion. There's a reason why she stopped writing for like 20 years and barely wrote long enough in her first stint - soap writing isn't her passion.

[DRW50]

After what Hogan did at ATWT and especially at DAYS I'm wary of what he would do to Y&R if he had too much power. If MAB did leave I hope they can find a very strong replacement for her, to reign Hogan in from some of the same mistakes he's already making.

[rangethatrover]

Yup. Its a mixed bag. Consistency is the key to anything being successful.

I would have to admit that Y&R is the most consistent soap left on the air though. In its style, pace, storytelling, veterans being at the forefront..

That being said, these shows are just hot messes with occasional flashes of brilliance.

Nothing lasts forever.

[detroitpiston]

BEST. POST. EVER.

[rangethatrover]

It is funny how that works out. So many writers would KILL to headwrite the #1 daytime drama.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Out of all the soaps, I think Y&R has the best chance of luring back a real "storyteller" to the genre, simply because it's the #1 soap that has a very balanced budget, with international appeal. Who with confidence talent would write for soaps ranked #3 to #8, when they probably won't be around in 5 years?

But the Y&R love on SON right now wasn't always here. A year ago, the show was vilified here, and two years ago, it was probably the least popular soap here due to Latham.

Then last year, Carlivati got promoted as some soap opera savior, which obviously didn't last, and then tons of people, myself included, because more hopeful for the state of the genre and started looking at any glimmer of hope as something better than what it was - which is a very easy thing to do, given the crappy state of the genre. MAB and Y&R seemed to pick up when Carlivati and OLTL started to fall creatively, and I have no doubt that another "glimmer of hope" will soon take the popularity crown around here.

[rangethatrover]

ROTFLMAO. Are you being sarcastic? You should have read my original version.

It bothers me because there is no room for debate where that show is concerned. Some posters, who i really like, do not even read the criticism or try to understand where a person is coming from, they are like some Y&R Stepford fan who types the old party line without really addressing anything. But then I think- MAYBE PEOPLE ARE REALLY ENJOYING IT!! Dammit! CAN'T PEOPLE JUST BE HAPPY WITH ONE OF THESE DAMN SHOWS? Look at Nelson, the nonstop melodramatic praise!

And I quote:

The Young and the Restless: Unparalleled soap drama

Viewers step away from your TV sets because you’ll get burned: the Y&R writing team is on fire! This past week, I watched six back-to-back Y&R episodes, and I feel like I died and went to soap heaven. Happily, Marge and I are drowning in some grilled cheese sandwiches with a six pack of cold beer, and we refuse to come back down to earth where those other soaps exist.

The Y&R team has punctured a new level of artistry with this week’s extraordinary soap efforts. Honestly, I can’t recall ever witnessing this kind of story-writing mastery in recent history. And no, it’s not hyperbole. It was — dare, I say it? — soap opera perfection. Yes, perfection. Finally!

And I literally cannot sit through an hour of this show.

SIX BACK TO BACK EPISODES???? Its like dying of an overdose of Xanax.

One man's trash is another man's treasure baby.

If I have to read through garbage like that, I am gonna give my two cents, and I am not going to be accused of pissing on anything.

[Khan]

Frankly, I have the same impression. Not that Maria isn't giving Y&R her all, but if an offer to publish a novel came her way Monday, she'd likely relinquish HW'ing duties to Hogan Sheffer and/or Scott Hamner, but retain the Co-EP title in order to keep the show in the Bell family.

[rangethatrover]

I wonder who? GH seems beyond repair, AMC seems to have as many detractors as it did before, OLTL is the schizoid soap, extremes galore, ATWT seems all but dead, B&B is soap opera hell, GL seems to have a passionate following but its cancelled... The GH fans only come out and support the show when SON has polls. lol. I find Days to be a real interesting show fanbase wise and I am surprised that the following here for that show isn't greater.

My guess is if GH finally fires Guza, it will be the king show along with Y&R, here and everywhere.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Whatever anyone thinks of the show now, the bolded part is a much, much more scarier prospect.

I agree with what CarlD2 said, Sheffer and Hamner alone would be disastrous. I think MAB provides some stability and tends to balance the other two out as much as she can.

Frankly, if Maria left the HW duties, I'd hope they'd try to lure a real soap storyteller back to daytime, get rid of Sheffer and Hamner if they can.

People like Natalie Minardi Slater and Janice Ferri Esser, who'd both probably KILL to be HW's of Y&R, will probably never get the chance anyway.

I guess, like it or not, MAB is probably the best we can do right now, considering the state of the industry and how most of the living great soap writers have washed their hands of the industry.

[rangethatrover]

^^ That is how i feel about Carlivati^^

The show will never be anything but all over the place, but he has his good points, and it makes me feel good that a fan of the show- writes the show. At this point, I would much rather have Ron be OLTL's final headwriter, than him quitting or being fired and getting Jessica Klein or Essenstein and Brown to destroy the show in its final years.

We have all seen how bad "our shows" can be with a bad headwriter, we sometimes have to be happy with what's left, even if it isn't perfect. Hence, Y&R fans satisfaction, or even Days and OLTL for that matter..

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^It's an awful way to feel, no one should have to settle for mediocrity with their favourite shows. But since the soap genre is so far gone, people see shows like Y&R and OLTL as good, when they're barely above average, IMO. But oh well, daytime soaps won't be around too long anyway.

all of the talented people have been chased away, and we're left with people who will work in accordance to what the network wants.