Y&R Episodes Discussion, Week of October 5, 2009

[Juliajms]

I can see you won't be moved Mark, but I'm sure Alvin will agree with me.

Thank god for shows like True Blood, Breaking Bad and Dexter. They aren't exactly soaps, but I do think they are delivering the drama that network TV seems to be moving away from. That's definitely something we agree on.

[soapydoc]

Yep. That's a baby bump. She also got engaged on her vacation.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Too true.

With Vail, I'm surprised she recently signed a new one year contract. Hasn't she been listed as recurring in the credits recently?

Y&R needs a STORYTELLER so bad, which none of the writers currently on staff are. It feels like everything on this show is being made up as they go along and everything is so damn predictable. Y&R is the most predictable soap on the air, IMO.

Most soaps before the 80's had really bad budgets and terrible production values, but it didn't stop them from being balanced, gripping, well-acted, diverse, and interesting. Ryan's Hope looks like it was produced on a budget of .5 cents, but the story was generally very strong and the characterizations and texture on that show were so rich and diverse. Even the wealthy characters were believable under that kind of budget. Y&R has no excuse for, even with its budget cuts, for being the crappy way it is today creatively.

Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer, and Scott Hamner have to go. If we, hopefully, ever get a real storyteller in there, they can craft a more cohesive writing team and get rid of the clutter in this current writing staff.

This "symphony" isn't working anymore.

[Sylph]

Oh, please. The show's dead. OK? No storyteller will save it. We're done here.

It's just some show that vaguely resembles Y&R, but not much.

Time to take a break from the drum beating and all.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Actually I agree, the people running this show are intent on killing it.

I don't buy "daytime is dying" excuse and we have to accept what we have and like it though. To me, that's really lame and gives more incentive to those running this show and other shows to care more about collecting a paycheck than any artistic integrity.

[Sylph]

Right.

I think people left on this board only watch these snoozefests because of possible hysterical BTS stuff. Daytime is such a farce of mammoth proportions, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Perhaps there's a story or two, a performer or two, who they're following or something, but that's about it.

Then there's also the interaction with other fellow (or enemy) SON members.

Another prominent group is MarkH & Co., the analysts, optimists, how should one call them? Possibly with the healthiest attitude. Possibly.

[alphanguy74]

Sylph, I think the word your'e reaching for is fanboi. And Alvin, at this point, your'e not beating the drum, your'e like an obsessive/compulsive washing their hands 40 times a day. Even in this show as it is today... there's a GRAIN, a SPECK of soemthing good. Maybe you could focus on that.. just ONCE or TWICE a week? Nobody's asking you to like the show... but there isn't 100 percent bad... maybe you could throw us a bone once in a while? I still maintain it's the pacing that is the problem, and yes, some of the writing.... but mainly the LACK of writing for some SL's. This whole Phillip III thing needs MUCH more emotional exploration. We need lots of scenes with Jill and Katherine coming to term, trying to understand and forgive. Theyv'e just not done that. I don't think Thom is the problem... he can do stuff like that when given the ooporotunity, just look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFPk9drvf54

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Mark freely admits there's major problems on this show, I might have made an error when I called him a fanboi months ago. Fanbois just accept everything dished out to them, no matter how bad and illogical it is.

Though the rationalizations for why things are so bad on the show currently doesn't help. Because the worse things get, the more rationalizations are made, and it's a never ending cycle. When the show doesn't improve, nothing adds up anymore, like now.

No thanks, I just call it as I see it. Y&R deserves better than this, hell, daytime deserves better. I know you can't begrudge me for wanting better for the show and having an opinion...

There might be some things, or some actors I like, but that isn't enough to save the overall storylines for me, which are all problematic, and poorly executed to me.

They dropped this storyline since August and they have no plans of bringing it back up.

It's obvious they didn't plan a long-term story for Thom's return. They thought their audience was stupid and would accept anything. They thought just by bringing Thom back with little exploration of the characters and emotions in this story would make people happy. They obviously underestimated the intelligence of their audience, which has been a recurring theme with this writing team.

Many of the constant story ideas themselves like killing off legacy character, ignoring about half the cast while the same characters get recycled stories over and over again, the writing for gays and minorities with this writing regime, the writing for women, and other things have been deeply problematic.

I'm not too fond of Thom, but he certainly deserves better than what he got. They brought Phillip back from the dead for what? So he could appear once or twice a month in throwaway scenes? What was the use of undoing all that history for this and if they weren't going to followup?

I told you all before this story happened this was going to happen, but no one believed me and I was painted as someone too negative because I didn't see the "brilliance" of this writing regime.

[Sylph]

Oh, OK.

It's a sizable dilemma whether fanbois are illuded people divorced from reality or sane people who, at the end of the day, realise their own illusions.

P. S. You owe me those '70s albums in that other thread.

[y&r_fan]

Agreed. As horrendously contrived as a Colleen return (or look-a-like) would be, it would only work if they could somehow lure Fonseca back.

[Heyou]

Unbelievable to you I'm sure, but there are a lot of folks that would welcome Adrianne Leon back to the show.

I'm glad that Vail has signed a new contract, if the info is true! They should hook her up with JT although I'm sure if they intend on her being pregnant she will unfortunately be with Adam. So is this how they plan on trying to redeem him?

[alphanguy74]

Quick! Somebody call Babara Walters!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

No thanks, I prefer the trashier approach of Diane Sawyer!

[alphanguy74]

Now, I totally agree with this (Except the not too fond part). Some people like Nelson (that dippy queen)seem to think it's Thom's acting or fan reaction that was the reason for the pullback, but that's bullsh!t. This show tapes 6 weeks in advance, and Thom's SL had been blown through and RESTED before the reveal even hit the air. It's not the concepts that are bad, it's the ADHD storytelling that is. You could have milked all KINDS of angst and Emmy reels from Walton and Cooper over this.

[y&r_fan]

And there are just as many, if not more, who would welcome Tammin Sursok back. But neither Sursok nor Leon were as popular as Fonseca, who pretty much everyone liked. Fonseca was the original, the one who played her the longest and the one who made 'Jolleen' so popular. An O-T-T story like Colleen returning would only be worth the effort for Fonseca.