Carl - I wish you had to schedule working days on the set. Many of the veterans are on summer break. A lot of them shoot a bunch of scenes in advance so they go on vacation. I just wish each and every fan could see what goes on backstage and how these things work out. I know MAB would love to have the whole frickin cast holding a candlelight vigil over Summer if she could...

I don't even mind that much if the whole family isn't over Summer. I just think they should be there when the story calls for their presence. Adam is supposedly hurting Ashley to get revenge on Jack, but Jack is rarely even involved in the story. When he does get involved, his presence is jarring, because viewers may now remember him mostly for being that guy who cries over Sharon.

Even if the schedules mean they can't use Billy or Jack in scenes with Ashley, they could have her saying into a phone, "Billy/Jack/Colleen/Traci, I'm fine. Please don't come out here, there's already enough going on."

I wish they could publish a book on exec producing and budgeting a tv soap. It's just not that simple when you're already over budget. what if the Judith Chapman fans say well just give JC 2 days a week. Well just give my FAVORITE character this - it just doesn't work that way. I SO wished it did tho.

Then it's very simple...get rid of the dead weight! Period.

This cast is bloated, most characters are being severely neglected, underutilized, etc.

Carl - I wish you had to schedule working days on the set. Many of the veterans are on summer break. A lot of them shoot a bunch of scenes in advance so they go on vacation. I just wish each and every fan could see what goes on backstage and how these things work out. I know MAB would love to have the whole frickin cast holding a candlelight vigil over Summer if she could...

How do you know this?

And how do you know MAB would love to have everyone hold a candlelight vigil for Summer? It seems to me that she only knows about ten or 12 characters exist on this show and everyone else are glorified dayplayers.

It's an embarassment of riches.

Then it's very simple...get rid of the dead weight! Period.

This cast is bloated, most characters are being severely neglected, underutilized, etc.

But we'd need someone who knows what she/he is doing for that to work. Judging by Maria's lack of experience and what she's been doing for the past year and a half, she's not that person.

And no one's contract is "etched in stone" eh?

Edited July 9, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

So, if ratings fall, viewer dissatisfaction continues to grow, will MAB and company be overthrown like Latham? As we know, Latham was not a Sony movie, it was a Barbara Bloom move that was supported by the Bell's and eventually Sony.

Can and will Steven Kent/Sony stage a coup to overthrow Maria Arena Bell and Company?

And if they can't overthrow her, at least push her into a "Bridget Dobson"-esque role where she can't really do anything but run her damn mouth while the 21st Century's Anne Howard Bailey and Chuck Pratt walk all over her and her boring ass art stories!

Some might say no, because all of daytime is threading downwards, but as the Latham firing proved, with Y&R, you never know.

SONY, and especially Steve Kent, have a lot riding on Y&R and it's success both domestically and internationally. #1 soap in daytime, #1 daytime soap on SOAPnet, one of the top ten most streamed television shows in America. If the ratings continue to be in this 3.5 lull or if they, God help us all, dip to a 3 household or lower, Y&R is f%#%@d.

Frankly, I wouldn't be opposed to a new regime, which is obvious. It might be worse, but I'm willing to take a chance.

Maria is a novice who is clearly out of her league and drunk on power. I think it's time to throw in the towel before it gets worse.

But we'd need someone who knows what she/he is doing for that to work. Judging by Maria's lack of experience and what she's been doing for the past year and a half, she's not that person.

And no one's contract is "etched in stone" eh?

God, I SOOO want Steve Kent and Barbara Bloom to steal JFP from GH! She is the shot in the arm Y&R desperately needs.

And if they can't overthrow her, at least push her into a "Bridget Dobson"-esque role where she can't really do anything but run her damn mouth while the 21st Century's Anne Howard Bailey and Chuck Pratt walk all over her and her boring ass art stories!

SONY, and especially Steve Kent, have a lot riding on Y&R and it's success both domestically and internationally. #1 soap in daytime, #1 daytime soap on SOAPnet, one of the top ten most streamed television shows in America. If the ratings continue to be in this 3.5 lull or if they, God help us all, dip to a 3 household or lower, Y&R is f%#%@d.

Maria is a novice who is clearly out of her league and drunk on power. I think it's time to throw in the towel before it gets worse.

WORD!

God, I SOOO want Steve Kent and Barbara Bloom to steal JFP from GH! She is the shot in the arm Y&R desperately needs

I know a lot of people hate Jill, but if there ever was a soap opera EP who made the budgets of her soaps WORK, it's Jill. She knows how to fire, and if she's paired with a great HW, she can do marvelous things for her soaps. With someone like her at Y&R, you know the production values would still be intact and she would get rid of most of the dead weight to better balance the budget. She's controversial, but at her best, she's way better than Maria Arena Bell. I don't care what the MAB and Company fanbois say.

Also, I have to pose a question(more specifically to Cashton):

We know Billy and Jack are in the own respective storylines...but would it kill the writing team to write moments where Jack and/or Billy have a heart to heart with their sister every once in awhile? That's what will make the fallout of what Adam is doing to Ashley so interesting.

A GREAT writing team will work around budget constraints and interweave characters in multiple stories during the week without said actor going over guarantee. Is it a written rule that Jack MUST stay with Sharon throughout the full hour of Y&R that day? Why wouldn't Ashley be able to run into him and talk to him about what's going on with Sharon?

Why isn't Phyllis concerned about Daniel and his whereabouts?

And Lauren could have easily went to visit Jana in jail.

This kind of writing segregation is lazy and you know it. There is an easy way to work around schedules, salaries, and tape dates without destroying the families and friendships of these characters.

I know a lot of people hate Jill, but if there ever was a soap opera EP who made the budgets of her soaps WORK, it's Jill. She knows how to fire, and if she's paired with a great HW, she can do marvelous things for her soaps. With someone like her at Y&R, you know the production values would still be intact and she would get rid of most of the dead weight to better balance the budget. She's controversial, but at her best, she's way better than Maria Arena Bell. I don't care what the MAB and Company fanbois say.

That hospital set was the best thing that came out of AW's last ten years. That, and other things too, but definitely the hospital set.

And with a decent Head-Writer, Jill can visually enhance the story.

And JFP can pick solid Emmy Reels and push the RIGHT people for consideration at the Emmys. The Harvey Weinstein of Daytime...that's our Jill!

Why isn't Phyllis concerned about Daniel and his whereabouts?

Daniel isn't Nick's.....

That hospital set was the best thing that came out of AW's last ten years. That, and other things too, but definitely the hospital set.

And with a decent Head-Writer, Jill can visually enhance the story.

And JFP can pick solid Emmy Reels and push the RIGHT people for consideration at the Emmys. The Harvey Weinstein of Daytime...that's our Jill!

I also have a feeling someone like Jill would look into what happens next and start creating storylines for the future, instead of using history to manipulate the audience like MAB does or trying to re-live past successes of past writing regimes. Nothing MAB has done suggests long-term planning for storylines to occur in the future. Most of her storylines have been attempting to "fix" mistakes of past regimes or trying to re-do stories that happened to the same characters before. She's not original and there's nothing innovative about her style. She and her vision are holding this show down and preventing it from building a road to the near future.

Everything she's invented on her own without milking from past regimes or Bill Bell's legacy, like the art stories, have been an EPIC FAIL.

Edited July 9, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I also have a feeling someone like Jill would look into what happens next and start creating storylines for the future, instead of using history to manipulate the audience like MAB does or trying to re-live past successes of past writing regimes.

Everything she's invented on her own without milking from past regimes or Bill Bell's legacy, like the art stories, have been an EPIC FAIL.

YEP!

Daniel isn't Nick's.....

Uh huh!

God, that "kiss" was really, really lame.

That was like something out of Picket Fences, circa 1995.

You both have me convinced JFP could be a good force at Y&R. I don't know if I was thrilled with her AW run (some of the sets were very nice but this bankrupted the show), but Y&R does need a change. She definitely brings strong change.

I wonder what Laurence Caso is doing now. Then again, he would need a good headwriter. Or has Caso passed away?

I've seen a lot of comments today at DC saying, "They can't show anything with Rafe and Adam because they don't want to alienate African-American viewers, they don't want to alienate senior citizens." That's understandable, I guess (although I would think African Americans are already alienated by the horrible storytelling for black characters), but then why did the show do the story in the first place? I feel like they're trying to have it several different ways, they wanted people to be shocked, yet they don't want to give the reason to be shocked. I think they were right if they didn't want to focus on any passion, but in doing that they could have built up the tension more over time. You didn't have to have strong sexual stuff to build up the story. Like on ATWT, in the 70s, at one point Kim and Dan Stewart went for like a year without doing anything more than touching hands on a doorknob.

I'm going to be annoyed if the press turns against the show or ratings fall and the show having a "gay agenda" or some other jargon. The show hasn't exactly gone full tilt with pro-gay plotlines.

Should we start a thread on "How to Tell a Gay Story Right"? If Y&R is afraid of conservative viewers, then why do an insane and ridiculous story about a dumb gay lawyer and an evil straight psycho? Why not first make us care about the person? Like why not Noah or Abby discovering their gay? Or why not Daniel, a character people see as a good guy, discover that he's bisexual? Since he's an artist, that puts in right in P3's circle. Why not make your first gay story, a true gay story, and not something that's bound to offend any thinking person.