http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/10/16/eric-braeden-young-restless-end-negotiations/

Damn. He's pulled the plug on negotiations. Could this really be the end of Victor?

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.

What many don't get though is that when this show was at it's peak, they had many luxuries of having all characters together for as many days needed, unlimited sets and such. The budgets, to an extent, dictate story. This show truly got it's "shrinking pains" right around the time the licensing fee was reduced. The machine just no longer maintained. Even in bad LML days, the machine still worked cause they had the money and they could use characters as much as needed.

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.

I see what you're saying, but there are a lot of problems at Y&R besides pay cuts. Pay cuts don't throw a fetus in the fireplace, or bring a man back from the dead after 20 years to a collective shrug.

What many don't get though is that when this show was at it's peak, they had many luxuries of having all characters together for as many days needed, unlimited sets and such. The budgets, to an extent, dictate story. This show truly got it's "shrinking pains" right around the time the licensing fee was reduced. The machine just no longer maintained. Even in bad LML days, the machine still worked cause they had the money and they could use characters as much as needed.

But it goes further than that. How many times has it been addressed on this board that MAB has way too many writers on staff. There are two EP's. There were so many useless people on contract. Always a new recurring player, and for what? Poor management of the budget leads to cuts and who is the one who handles the budget? It's MAB who makes those decisions, is it not? And if it's indeed Rauch, well she hired him and we all know the destruction he was responsible for over at GL.

Bottom line is, is that on the creative side, this show is a disaster under MAB, there has been too much death and way too much character assassination under MAB. And if the budget isn't being properly handled, then that blame should be placed on her shoulders as well. She's a wet behind the ears writer and producer. Bottom line!

But it goes further than that. How many times has it been addressed on this board that MAB has way too many writers on staff. There are two EP's. There were so many useless people on contract. Always a new recurring player, and for what? Poor management of the budget leads to cuts and who is the one who handles the budget? It's MAB who makes those decisions, is it not? And if it's indeed Rauch, well she hired him and we all know the destruction he was responsible for over at GL.

Bottom line is, is that on the creative side, this show is a disaster under MAB, there has been too much death and way too much character assassination under MAB. And if the budget isn't being properly handled, then that blame should be placed on her shoulders as well. She's a wet behind the ears writer and producer. Bottom line!

I'm confused about the budget. I thought it was Bill Bell Jr., but everyone keeps mentioning Sony. On many shows, the EP does monitor the budget. Would this be Rauch/MAB or both?

I'd love to see Y&R publish a manual on their website:

"Whom to Blame for What", LOL.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - MAB would pay people whatever to keep them on the show if she could. They really got screwed with that license fee cut. The bean-counters look at numbers only. And it just drizzled on down to the quality of the show. But the most interesting thing in the new EW.com interview is that Braeden would still be making 7 figures. Now is he going from 8 mil a year to one? Or 3 mil to 2...that's what i want to know.

Budget problems or no budget problems, MAB and her team didn't have to write such a crappy exit story for Victor. They didn't have to kill Colleen in order for Victor to get her heart, they didn't have to give a him a sendoff like this.

This story was crafted for months before anyone predicted that negotiations would get this tense. I highly doubt Sony was holding a gun to her head and telling her this is what you should do with Victor and this is the sendoff he should get.

As the storytelling on Y&R has proved this year, it's all shock value before anything else.

MAB might indeed want to keep him and other vets on the show, no one is doubting that, but the character writing has been problematic on the show for a while now, and no one told her to write Victor off in this manner. Now Victor is leaving having been indirectly responsible for the death of a core character that he tormented for months, and he ended up getting her heart, how crass.

Bottom line is, is that on the creative side, this show is a disaster under MAB, there has been too much death and way too much character assassination under MAB. And if the budget isn't being properly handled, then that blame should be placed on her shoulders as well. She's a wet behind the ears writer and producer. Bottom line!

Exactly.

In an earlier post I talked about certain edicts that could have been given to MAB ahead of Braeden's contract negotiations. And I definitely think TPTB knew EB's talks would be intense if they're making him take a 50%-60% pay cut which has been alleged. Some people may have beef with the execution of the story, but I don't think this story would be told had EB's contract not be up for renewal. Braeden's praise of MAB in all his interviews belies that theory.

In an earlier post I talked about certain edicts that could have been given to MAB ahead of Braeden's contract negotiations.

This story was crafted for months in advance and taped months in advance too. I think this was their plan from a story point all along. MAB and Paul Rauch have no problems bragging to Nelson about the creative autonomy they get from CBS and Sony, when they don't have to.

And I definitely think TPTB knew EB's talks would be intense if they're making him take a 50%-60% pay cut which has been alleged. Some people may have beef with the execution of the story, but I don't think this story would be told had EB's contract not be up for renewal.

Eric Braeden's beef isn't with taking a paycut though, it was the cold way in which Sony handled this from his view. As he mentioned, in past years, he was always taking one for the team and the first to accept paycuts that were due to budgetary reasons.

Braeden's praise of MAB in all his interviews belies that theory.

He also praised Lynn Marie Latham when she was systematically hacking away at the show...

Pay cuts don't throw a fetus in the fireplace

Best. Line. Ever.

This story was crafted for months in advance and taped months in advance too. I think this was their plan from a story point all along. MAB and Paul Rauch have no problems bragging to Nelson about the creative autonomy they get from CBS and Sony, when they don't have to.

Eric Braeden's beef isn't with taking a paycut though, it was the cold way in which Sony handled this from his view. As he mentioned, in past years, he was always taking one for the team and the first to accept paycuts that were due to budgetary reasons.

He also praised Lynn Marie Latham when she was systematically hacking away at the show...

MAB also bragged that her show wasn't vulnerable to pay cuts - so she's clearly out of the loop! Sony devised this and fed her with edicts. She gets to execute and implement and of course create story, but Sony still has the final say.

I get Braeden's anger for being treated so poorly after 30 years, but if it wasn't about the pay-cut (and strictly about the manner it was delievered) he wouldn't have submitted a counter-offer!!!

And Braeden praised Latham in normal interviews, but he's on the way out the door - you think if he had beef with MAB's treatment of him (or her writing) that he would be kissing her butt? Not The Great Eric Braeden!

MAB also bragged that her show wasn't vulnerable to pay cuts - so she's clearly out of the loop! Sony devised this and fed her with edicts. She gets to execute and implement and of course create story, but Sony still has the final say.

I get Braeden's anger for being treated so poorly after 30 years, but if it wasn't about the pay-cut (and strictly about the manner it was delievered) he wouldn't have submitted a counter-offer!!!

And Braeden praised Latham in normal interviews, but he's on the way out the door - you think if he had beef with MAB's treatment of him (or her writing) that he would be kissing her butt? Not The Great Eric Braeden!

He claims he made a counter-offer and it was rejected. Coldly. At that point, he says, he walked away.

EB doesn't kiss butt. He doesn't. So we're going to have to reconcile this...because we're oversimplifying the story when we say he's kissing butt.

It seems CLEAR to me that he is blaming Sony lawyers (51% stakeholders) for this, not the Bells.

He claims he made a counter-offer and it was rejected. Coldly. At that point, he says, he walked away.

EB doesn't kiss butt. He doesn't. So we're going to have to reconcile this...because we're oversimplifying the story when we say he's kissing butt.

It seems CLEAR to me that he is blaming Sony lawyers (51% stakeholders) for this, not the Bells.

He's blaming Sony - period. And so am I.

MAB also bragged that her show wasn't vulnerable to pay cuts - so she's clearly out of the loop! Sony devised this and fed her with edicts. She gets to execute and implement and of course create story, but Sony still has the final say.

When former Y&R writer Sara A. Bibel was interviewed by In The Zone radio last year, she said Sony never got invovled with the creative aspect of the show and never told the writers what to write. But if something with budget came up, they would be invovled, but they never told the writers how to do their job. I doubt much has changed. Steven Kent is still at Sony, and Barbara Bloom is still at CBS.

And Braeden praised Latham in normal interviews, but he's on the way out the door - you think if he had beef with MAB's treatment of him (or her writing) that he would be kissing her butt? Not The Great Eric Braeden!

I think Braeden very much still wants to be on Y&R, he clearly doesn't want to go, so he isn't going to badmouth Maria or the Bell family, which has been loyal to him for nearly 3 decades, regardless of the bad writing for his character.

It seems CLEAR to me that he is blaming Sony lawyers (51% stakeholders) for this, not the Bells.

You're talking business. In terms of the creative side though, all blame leads to Maria.

Y&R wasn't creatively like this and didn't write characters out like this during the Smith, Latham, and the solo MAB era. Nasty budget cuts were creeping in at those times too, Jack Smith constantly complained about them. Yet, I don't remember characters being written off this crassly and the creative state of the show being this scattered.

You're talking business. In terms of the creative side though, all blame leads to Maria.

Y&R wasn't creatively like this and didn't write characters out like this during the Smith, Latham, and the solo MAB era. Nasty budget cuts were creeping in at those times too, Jack Smith constantly complained about them. Yet, I don't remember characters being written off this crassly and the creative state of the show being this scattered.

It's called show business for a reason - one can't exist in a vacuum without the other. And I don't know how you can argue that the writing on this show has not been affected by JW, MTS and EB's contract negotiations.