I said before that I think that Jack will save Colleen and I still think that is going to happen. It is hinted at in the preview.

There are only a few Abbotts left. There's Traci, who is rarely seen. Ashley, who barely spends time with her family even when she is sane. Billy, who has absolutely no use for anyone in his family 99% of the time. Jack, who does love his family, but is presented as a complete failure as an Abbott and unworthy of the name.

The family is basically dead.

Does anyone get the feeling that MAB is pulling a LML and is replacing the Abbotts with the Fisher's.

Does anyone get the feeling that MAB is pulling a LML and is replacing the Abbotts with the Fisher's.

Nope. Jack, Ashley and Billy get PLENTY of story.

She's killing off ONE Abbott - the one who (unfortunately) received the least amount of screen time. She wouldn't have brought back Ashley and Billy if she was planning to phase them out.

Edited September 12, 200916 yr by y&r_fan

Nope. Jack, Ashley and Billy get PLENTY of story.

She's killing off ONE Abbott - the one who (unfortunately) received the least amount of screen time. She wouldn't have brought back Ashley and Billy if she was planning to phase them out.

Even so the next generation has a pretty big gap in it. They need to write Abby as a character of substance, instead of a Paris Hilton wanna be and bring Kyle on.

I dont think there will be a next generation of Abbotts or Fishers. Soaps are going to die out by then

I dont think there will be a next generation of Abbotts or Fishers. Soaps are going to die out by then

Bingo!

Y&R may be the last to go (but only if CBS wants a single-soap universe...and I'm not sure they do). If that is the case, we still have at best about 5-6 more years...unless there is a seismic shift in the funding model (e.g., internet streams actually pay the bills).

I do believe this existentialist finality has led to the writing teams saying: "Let's go for what works NOW, rather than what builds the long-term of our show". Hence, perverting or killing members of 'legacy' families is not a problem...because they've stopped believing in the legacy (or, worse yet, as GH's Quartermaines evince, view the legacy as an albatross).

The problem is soaps really can't manage to break away from the core families. When they make an effort, they almost always fail.

To use Y&R as an example, I would say every new character they have introduced since MAB took over has been somewhere between a complete failure and a barely qualified success. So many mistakes with Tyra, with Deacon, with Sabrina, with Eden. Even the few who could have been something, like MJ, were mangled. Yet the attempts to write for core families have also been failures, as Nick and Victor have been seriously compromised as characters, Nikki is now utterly irrelevant, Victoria is hollow and dithering, and Adam has been destroyed beyond repair. The Abbotts barely tolerate each other and only click when Traci, who appears a handful of times a year, shows up. The Chancellors don't seem to have any connection whatsoever and have somehow managed to become devoid of drama, thanks to the genius writers burning through years of story in a few months.

People who don't know how to write for soap won't even know where the gap is, much less how to bridge it. That's daytime's biggest reason for impending death, in my opinion.

Y&R may be the last to go (but only if CBS wants a single-soap universe...and I'm not sure they do). If that is the case, we still have at best about 5-6 more years...unless there is a seismic shift in the funding model (e.g., internet streams actually pay the bills).

To paraphrase DeeeDee...

"No."

Bingo!

Y&R may be the last to go (but only if CBS wants a single-soap universe...and I'm not sure they do). If that is the case, we still have at best about 5-6 more years...unless there is a seismic shift in the funding model (e.g., internet streams actually pay the bills).

I do believe this existentialist finality has led to the writing teams saying: "Let's go for what works NOW, rather than what builds the long-term of our show". Hence, perverting or killing members of 'legacy' families is not a problem...because they've stopped believing in the legacy (or, worse yet, as GH's Quartermaines evince, view the legacy as an albatross).

and thats the biggest issue soaps have.

if you believe thats it, were done anyways, usually you essentially stop really caring or trying.

and i dont have an issue with killing legacy characters, i have an issue with shock and awe death that comes out of poor writing. if you wanna kill her why not give her lily's cancer story and actually let the cancer kill her. you get so much more out of it, raising awareness and showing that no cancer isnt always going to be ok. you get family scenes. you get tons of play. tracy watching her daughter die slowly from cancer? the abbots rallying around to support her? thats soapy.

and thats the biggest issue soaps have.

if you believe thats it, were done anyways, usually you essentially stop really caring or trying.

and i dont have an issue with killing legacy characters, i have an issue with shock and awe death that comes out of poor writing. if you wanna kill her why not give her lily's cancer story and actually let the cancer kill her. you get so much more out of it, raising awareness and showing that no cancer isnt always going to be ok. you get family scenes. you get tons of play. tracy watching her daughter die slowly from cancer? the abbots rallying around to support her? thats soapy.

yes!

Tony over at Usenet has this to say about the structure -- and surprise guest appearance -- on the 9/17 show.

Today's - Wednesday's Y&R (in Canada - US tomorrow - Thursday) runs like a Twilight Zone episode; the whole episode runs within 60 minutes (they keep showing a clock/watch to remind viewers of the current time). I won't say what the episode was about, although I WILL say no Y&R fan will want to miss it - it's pretty cool...and unexpected.

Now for the small spoiler....

... it was nice to see Brad again.

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by MarkH

Tony over at Usenet has this to say about the structure -- and surprise guest appearance -- on the 9/17 show.

Interesting that you quoted that little blurb..because my every instincts tell me that now would have been the time for all the soap magazines to have the headline "this will change Y&R forever"!! Because as plot-driven as this is, this is going to change the landscape of the show in a big way IMO!

I think this will change the show about as much as Brad's death, which is, in a few months, or less, it will be as if the character never existed.

That clock/watch thing is quite clever though. I know I was blown away by the idea...on St. Elsewhere, 25+ years ago.

I think this will change the show about as much as Brad's death, which is, in a few months, or less, it will be as if the character never existed.

That clock/watch thing is quite clever though. I know I was blown away by the idea...on St. Elsewhere, 25+ years ago.

OMG!!!! Line of the day!

St. Elsewhere doesn't get enough credit for their innovative storytelling. They had stories about so many topics which were rarely approached in that era, or even now. I don't know if the clock was new to TV before them but I think they were among the first to have stories about AIDS, they had stories about the Internet, about a man who was going to transition to being a woman, and the first to have scene where someone dies and then their loved one goes to listen to the chest of the person who got their heart.

I won't be too shocked if they have Traci do this with Victor after he gets Colleen's heart. I hope Y&R becomes really innovative and has Traci rip it out of his chest.

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by CarlD2