Y&R- Lauren/Micheal/Phyllis spumor

[DRW50]

This whole thing is why I was hoping the ratings would go down when Colleen was killed. Not that they needed one, but this just gave them a greenlight.

We shouldn't have to joke about our favorite characters being killed off. This shouldn't be something we constantly have to look for under the bed.

It's a horrible way to run a soap, especially when basically every single new character you bring in is a flop.

I like Phyllis and I think you can take her character many places, and I generally like CLB. But to make them the Gizzie of Y&R...and as Jim has said, I wouldn't be completely shocked if this is also a ruse to write them out, in time. If there's one thing this team excels at it's knowing how to phase vets out and making viewers less put off, because what once was an important character has again been whittled away.

[lmfan]

Yep, they are good at manipulating story and characters to diminish their importance on canvas and to diminish the affection the audience has for characters they want to get rid off, and it seems for everyone they get rid off they are emboldened to continue to write off more vets. They will continue to do so until all we have left are a few key vets like Katherine and now Victor and a bunch of characters under 35 and newbies. As other shows seem to be bringing back some vets, she seems to be replacing hers with 20 something actors.

So off goes Lauren and in her place we get Ryder and Daisy. They will probably give Amber or Chloe the Fenmore stores, Jana and Kevin will use the former Lauren and Michael apartment set, Phyllis will replace Lauren in Michael's life (at least temporarily) and that is the end of Lauren. Lucky us. I don't think I will stick around to watch the new Y&R. They are obviously going for a different target audience than someone who has watched soaps since the early 80s and Y&R exclusively for the last 15 years.

[DeeeDee]

There was no need to kill Hope or Brad or Colleen but that didn't stop Maria.

[BadZoe]

Where are they going to find this new target audience? The only ones who are interested in the Y&R are those who grew up with it and watched it forever. Alienating them by killing off favorites is not the way to keep them. TPTB want this show cancelled quickly.

[DeeeDee]

It's an age thing.

Maria's treated Kristoff & Doug that way too.

It's like she got a mandate from Sony to phase out all the vets except Katherine.

[DeeeDee]

You would think they would learn a lesson from GL but TPTB are bound & determined to alienate their audience.

[DRW50]

MAB: "My show. My vision."

The people who run Y&R don't care about history. They think history was just boring stuff that happened before they showed up. The only time Rauch or Hogan care about history is if they want to destroy it.

[soapydoc]

Bingo.

I heard she does not really want to write for Likey or Phick all that much because they came from previous regimes. They're neither classic Bill Bell creations nor HER couples. I truly don't believe she thinks Michael and Phyllis would be a hot pairing. I think she wants to give the appearance of pairing two Emmy winners knowing full well they are not connected with that type of chemistry, in order to phase out all three of them over time. If she wanted to write for any of these actors (CLB, TB or MS) they would have already been in a story. So now she throws them all into one story. Daisy is connected to Phyllis somehow (but not related)and Ryder. I would bet money Sugar or Sheila is a part of this so it's not really even that new of a story.

There is, from what I have heard, lots of fighting behind the scenes for MAB's vision of the show.

[JimTolkien]

Couldn't have said it better if I even tried. It probably would go something like this...by February Lauren is dead or gone probably with Fen who knows...by May Sweeps, Phick would probably be divorced just in time for Faith to be united with her parents right around the time Cassie died...then before summer ends Phyllis and Summer could be gone. If I am not mistaken I believe MS's contract is up in summer based on that time she was in jail. I would guess CLB too at some point because you know we have that 26-week clause now to work with.

MAB tends to uses words and her actions that make her appear very disingenuous at least to this viewer so I am not going to be surprised if my little prediction comes through. I think the modus operandi going forward is for every 6 months we need to kill a vet LMAO...and the way to know that is if they are in one story and getting locked into that story with a lot of screen time fast and furious LOL!! I think I am going to track and see how on point I could be here.

Ok, now this stuff is getting funny. **snickers**, I need to behave LOL!!

[lmfan]

But she plays up the Scoobies (Kevin/Jana and Amber/Daniel and well as Lily/Cane - but I guess they get an exemption since they are all in their early 30s or younger.)

Tracey Bregman is an emmy winner so she already has two emmy winners paired, but I get your point.

Someone should inform Maria, if this is true, that her father Bill Bell created the character of Lauren for Tracey Bregman specifically and they went to her for the role. She agreed to play Traci Abbott's friend for the summer since she was making some movies at the time, but in one of her first scenes he loved a look she gave Traci Abbott and decided to make her a bad girl and wrote heavy story for her. When she bought her first condo as a young woman, Bill Bell asked her how much she paid and told her that I guess she would need to work more so expect more story.

They should also tell her that when Michael's character needed to be sent to jail and rested of screen Bill Bell told CLB that he loved him and wanted to bring him back but had to make Michael pay for his crime. CLB thought it was nice but didn't believe it, yet Bill Bell was a man of his word and brought CLB back.

Bill Bell obviously cared for both these characters and their potrayers and if these rumors prove true shame on Maria and the rest of the Bell family for letting someone who has worked for them for over 25 years hang in the wind without the grace of at least telling her she will be written out. I always thought the Bell family was classy, but if this is how they operate now, maybe they aren't the people I thought they were. We all know they have to make budget cuts but there is a classy way of doing things, even letting people go.

[BadZoe]

Did I miss some MS news where she went to jail? I thought she just signed a new contract right after MTS and was off screen for two weeks in Switzerland.

I'm trying to think which character is going to be the one that makes me quit, It is not EB because I hate Victor always winning but most other vets I am tied to.

And how does Phyllis and Micheal support MABS not investing in couples from other regimes. If that was the case wouldn't she pair Phyllis and Adam, or Phyllis and Deascum? Something all her own, or our own, but she doesn't admit to stealing.

[lmfan]

I heard the same thing. Michelle signed a new contract this past summer, and I know Christian's contract was up in September or is up right about now based on a comment he made at a fan event this past summer. But contracts seem to mean little based on what has been happening lately with these contract negotiations.

[JimTolkien]

I don't believe Michelle signed a new contract, her contract is not up until next year. I tell ya, all these spumors, rumors and whatever you want to call them are actually more interesting than the show LMAO!!

[Rosey]

This is truely sad that MAB has two great couples with tons of chemistry and she won't write for them. She has what I'm sure any soap writer out there would kill for and all she want to do is get rid of them. A Michael & Phyllis pairing would be crazy and not believable at all. I also hate the idea that she wants to kill Lauren off especially since the actress is on recurring and is only paid when they use her.

If she goes there with this madness I'm done with Y&R. I can't keep watching a soap where the writer doesn't care about what we the fans want but instead what "She" wants. The hour of my time that I give up to any show better offer some kind of payoff for me if not then I'm moving on.

[BadZoe]

Just like EB, her 26 mark was probably up. Only with a baby on the way, Michelle might have felt it to be in her best interest to take the cut and wait until next time to negotiate.