Y&R: Eric Braeden update

[Juliajms]

I'm not saying it's one person's exit that did it. But I do think what they did to Laura and the Q's is a big part of the reason people left. At some point you look around and you don't recognize the show you are watching. So people may not have quit watching the moment Laura left or the day they killed off AJ, Alan or whomever, but I believe all of those things contributed to the erosion.

In the case of Y&R, there may not be a huge drop off when EB leaves, but if 2 years from now the show is at 2.8, I think we will be able to look back and say EB's departure was a big part of the erosion. Just like we could have done if MTS or JW had left.

[DRW50]

I agree, but I think the dropoffs were because the show itself was so awful. There was no longer any reason to stay. It's not so much like the old days, when Beverlee McKinsey leaving AW almost immediately cost them 1 million viewers. Or even when Shemar Moore left Y&R.

If Y&R can come up with another reason for viewers to keep watching, then EB's departure wouldn't cause a big ratings drop. A lot of people watch this show out of loyalty and fondness for the old days, for what their lives used to be. They want to keep watching, even as the show basically spits in their face. If they use this as an opportunity to dump others they deem unworthy, like MTS and JW, and to put even more focus on the likes of Amber or Adam, then I think the ratings will drop.

[Juliajms]

The sad thing is that Y&R was positioned to handle this kind of transition until very recently. It's just the bad decisions they've made lately that make me doubt they can do it. When you have so many vets losing one doesn't really have to be the beginning of the end. They could shift focus to Jack, Jill or Nikki, if they wanted too. Hell, if they hadn't screwed Adam over so hard, I think that a good writer could even have made his character work. I guess I just don't have any faith in the writers we have now. I know there are a lot of Jack Smith haters on this board, but I think he is needed right now. Maybe not as head writer, but as part of the team. I'm for anything that saves Y&R's identity before it is too late.

[JimTolkien]

I think the fact that it appears they are not killing Victor(at this time anyway)is good if they say he is going away w/Nikki I guess to recuperate. They can then take some time to build in the transition period. Then if something occurs to change what's going on now then there wouldn't be that much of a difference when he comes back. But if he is really gone then whatever they come up with for his exit will be hard to take I am sure but probably will make some sort of sense within the big picture.

I love Victor and Nikki but it is time for them to start playing a supporting role and let us all see what the next generation's got. I have my doubts with some of the half-dead young sluglike characters/actors but I will never know what the possibilities are or could be if they don't get the chance. I don't know if this writing team have got what it takes to take the show forward in a good way but I believe this is "their test" to see what they can do. Wonder what happens if they fail!

[DRW50]

I might agree if the next generation had not stunk up the show for most of this year. Every single one of the golden children, with the possible exceptions of Cane (who had nowhere to go but up since he was so poorly defined for most of 2007-2008) and Chloe, tanked when they had major stories this year. Awful writing, motivations that changed by the hour, actors who had no idea where they were.

Nikki is still a vital character and she proved as recently as late 2007, Victoria's coma, that she can carry the show. Viewers know Nikki. They may not always like her, but they know her. Who knows, or really cares about, Adam or Chance or Billy or the Scoobies? Even those who could have had a dependable run, like Nick/Sharon/Phyllis, were hammered by bad writing and by Josh Morrow taking a powder for most of the year.

Until Y&R learns how to develop characters, they're going to have a problem.

julijams, you're right. Y&R was in a good position to overcome this, until the last 3-4 years, with various people who obviously have no respect for the show or for what Bill Bell carefully set up. And what do we have to show for all this avant garde showboating. We have Adam throwing a fetus into the fireplace.

[JimTolkien]

As I said....I don't know if this writing team has what it takes - we can see that currently, they sort of don't.

I actually am not going to blame some of the actors here at all..no, I won't do that, it is all in the writing!! MAB came in and felt this compulsion to undo most of what LML did, I don't know if it was complete arrogance on her part or what, but it has BACKFIRED in a BIG WAY and CBS/Sony knows it, hence the hardball being played by both companies. She was supposed to be so much better that she should have built on it and fix what needs to be fixed on the side. I was so excited to have her on board, now, I don't even know what to think. Is she even running the show, or just a "figurehead" that just give us the soundbites. Because from where I stand this show does not have a Bell-feel to it anymore. And neither does she have a leg to stand on when it comes to Sony or CBS, her bargaining power is shot because of how the viewership is reacting to the show. She basically will have to abandon whatever her "vision" was and go with whatever Sony says...oh wait a second, perhaps that is happening now. I expect to see some " dynamic shifts" taking place on this show post haste.

She also has managed to place the least interesting and the least compelling characters on the frontburner for well over a year and managed to place the most interesting and most compelling characters on the backburner. Even when she wrote for the most compelling/most interesting characters, it SUCKED. That is why the ratings and viewership is down - it's not rocket science to figure out the formula here.

If anyone truly believes that Steve Mosko took the time from his big corporate desk/office to make a "jaunt" down to the studio to give everyone a pep talk without being TOLD to from Sony Corporation then it's understandable why fans are mad at them. I am having a hard time believing anything that MAB or PR (or any actors for that matter that praise her because of course they are all trying to keep their jobs) say right now because the show is not of good quality anymore and it shows. I don't need her to try to sell me "Enron" or "AIG" because I am not stupid.

[DRW50]

I don't blame the actors either, although I do think that Josh Morrow, who has been on this show for over 15 years, should have made more of an effort. However, I realize that what I pick over is something that might just bother me, his acting might seem OK to others.

99% of the blame should definitely go to the dream team, who manage to a) badly damage longterm characters (when they aren't ignoring them) because the show is now so plot-driven b ) tell shock value stories that go nowhere and do nothing but make viewers feel queasy (I still don't know what the point of the Sharon/Billy fling was) c) fail badly at bringing in new characters.

They don't have any idea of how to run a soap. They only seem to be able to succeed at getting press for themselves and at getting the soap press to scapegoat the cast.

Too bad that they didn't realize Eric Braeden can't be scapegoated, as he has chewed up and spit out these types of flunkies for years. He has essentially humiliated them in the press. That's the reason why I won't be shocked if they end up crying uncle and getting him to stay around.

[JimTolkien]

Frankly I think all the actors including Joshua are showing us the "Japanese" way of saying I really like you when they don't LMAO!!! Their body language and demeanor is so off that it is not hard to miss. I frankly believe that Sony knew exactly what they were dealing with in Eric Braeden, hence, the battle royale. But I also think that EB underestimated them as well hence the e-mail/lawyers sent in as the "first wave" LOL. I hate to say it but I am enjoying reading how this plays out vs. the show...it's dramatic LOL!!

I do hope they work this out though.

[MarkH]

I absolutely think Sony anticipated this, and that is why the story wrote him so reprehensible. I believe EB's theory on this.

By beating down the big dog, I think they figure they've shown the whole rest of the cast that no one is indispensible.

I don't think the ratings will fall precipitously. This is just another provocation for a 0.1 or 0.2 HH decrease...another little step on the path.

[CSF]

I'm with you on this Mark. I agree with what you are saying. However, if MAB has Y&R's best interest at heart, why would she write Victor in the way he was written? There are so many other ways his storyline for the past year could have been scripted, but they chose not to go down that path. And the same could be applied for so many other characters. Brad and Colleen did not have to die. Adam did not have to turn out to be crazy. Kevin did not have to become a chipmunk. Jill did not have to go bankrupt. Gloria and Jeffery did not have to become even bigger cartoon characters. I do believe Sony may want the writers to script some exit stories, but I don't think these writers care how characters are being portrayed. Sony and MAB and her gang of bandits are all contributing factors to the continuing downfall of Y&R.

[DRW50]

The thing is, the story they wrote for him last year, which everyone praised as being so great and so tough, I thought made Victor look worse than the MJ fiasco. Wishing Nikki dead and all that.

I'm sure they knew EB would fight but I think they may have expected that dragging Jess and Melody through the mud might make him more wary. I don't know if they anticipated how he'd go to the press and dictate the narrative the way he has. I think they're out of touch enough that they may have not realized what he could do.

[Cashton]

IA - the other negotiations with other actors were all on display, showing they weren't going to budge in order to force EB to take the cut. I don't think there will be an immediate exodus of watchers, but Victor's presence gave the show a dramatic OOMPH that cannot be replaced and will not be found elsewhere. I always couldn't wait to find out what Victor's reaction would be when he "found out the truth" - or what he would do when he was done wrong. It's incalculable how much of a loss it will be if EB leaves the show - well except to Sony's bean-counters.

I do feel vindicated in a way back to the MTS drama - that MAB and co. had their hands tied. EB has nothing but praise for MAB cause she must be livid over losing her show's biggest star and she's helpless to do anything about just as she was with MTS. Everyone blamed her, I blamed Sony. I wish the haters would draw their ire to the man behind the man behind the man (Sony) - he's the one killing our beloved soap.

[DRW50]

Then she shouldn't have gone to the press and said everything was about her.

As it is, if she has any power, then she could do something about the huge writing and casting problems the show is facing and has faced for most of the year.

[Cashton]

Everybody has a boss, Carl. And you do what your boss says. I'm not saying that everything on the show is Sony's fault, but in terms of pay cuts - that's all Sony, and if that drivels down to reducing character, or putting less significance on characters who have pay cuts ahead, then edicts can be given to MAB. She has no choice but to follow them.

[CSF]

I don't think that it's just Sony. It's MAB and her little click for the most part. It's always been said that Sony handles contracts and the Bell's handle the creative side of things. Well IMO, had the creative side been actually good and not garbage which it has been for the past year, maybe the cast wouldn't have been reduced to these pay cuts. Maybe if Y&R showed that it was worthy of being called the number 1 soap on television, Sony wouldn't be mandating all these pay cuts.

Th writers didn't have to do what they did to so many characters in the past 2 years. But they chose to do the things we have all seen take place. Those are all major factors in the decline of viewership, which of course is going to set off an alarm to Sony saying if viewers are turing off the show, we are losing money and therefore some of these vets shouldn't be making as much as they are. Had the writing for this show been outstanding under MAB, I'd be livid at Sony right now. But the truth of the matter is, this show is worse IMO under MAB than it was under LML, and LML was a nightmare.