Eric Roberts Joins Y&R

[Sylph]

D'oh, Ann, of course everyone has a theory. Yours are, however, special and the sheer force of your convictions is... Astonishing.

People are self-aware, it's just that many have a lighter touch, which sometimes you do not. You're always dead-serious.

[Cat]

OMG, "Sharktopus" LOL

Some of his upcoming projects are borderline respectable -- POTUS in "First Dog" and the voice of Dante in an animated "Dante's Inferno." Sharktopus and 4-Bidden look straight-to-video, though.

Eric Roberts was a decent actor in his day. And sort of hot, if you ignored the resemblence between him and his annoying sister. Played a memorable bad guy in that Sharon Stone-Sylvester Stallone flick. I can only imagine, though, that his dealer may have come a-calling, prompting some cash-up-front jobs of which Y&R may be one.

[YRBB]

Stars, and 'stars,' guest on soaps all over the world. For small, short-terms parts, that 'go nowehere.' So I don't see why people are reacting with tons of vitriol over waves of resentment. But to each their own. In a perfect world, this would mean that the view on soaps is changing, that--despite the abysmal quality--the general view on soaps is more favorable and that more 'big names' are going to want to do these kinds of things, if not more permanent arrangements. In any case, I think it's kind of sad that there's this mentality--justified or not--from the very same people who watch soaps that one must be desperate, penniless, crazy or demented, or who knows what, to possibly want to be on a soap. It's soooo sad.

[Sylph]

The Young and the Restless is the new General Hospital. Meaning, the vitriol and waterfalls of acid are really becoming hysterical. GH has been a mob-infested, women-hating mess for centuries and Y&R is becoming its own kind of the same. So insisting it become something else while still watching is futile. Bad for your blood pressure. This is the new 'vision' and it's here to stay. All these I am appalled!, blah, blah... are not really all that interesting anymore.

And P. S. the fans killed the soaps. They had a part as much as the executives etc. had.

[CouchTomato]

Was Michael Nouri given a major frontburner with AMC's Erica Kane based on his brief Y&R role a few years ago or his success in Flashdance 27 years ago? Either way, his hiring has not paid off for AMC. I remember Roberts mostly from Mariah's video where he loses out to Wentworth Miller. Would this role give him a nice paycheck and free health insurance? Many people are taking jobs just for the insurance coverage these days. Just guessing. Y&R is getting free publicity (like Nouri did for AMC) but a pay-off for the show too? I doubt it. JMHO.

[DRW50]

This is just a bit part as a lawyer. Sean Young was just a bit part as a barmaid. These roles could have been cast with anyone. They could have been cast with longtime soap actors who might need the work. Instead the show went out of their way to cast what they saw as "names" for filler parts.

In the first episode of Sunset Beach, David Doyle had a cameo as a passenger Meg spoke to on her flight from Kansas. This was a small little role which was basically a nod to a man who had helped make Charlie's Angels a huge hit. More people probably knew who Doyle was than would know Roberts or Young, yet I didn't see Spelling going to the press hyping this cameo.

To make such an effort to cast their idea of "stars" in any part they can find, it just seems like a constant sense of shame that pervades over most of the show. Given the general contempt towards soaps that Rauch and Sheffer have showed elsewhere, it seems like a very unholy combo of their worst excesses.

[JackPeyton]

[Vee]

Franco and Betty White are exceptions to the norm. They can do whatever the [!@#$%^&*] they want and clearly have chosen to do so. For better or worse they were prestigious guests on daytime.

Eric Roberts, Sean Young, Darius McCrary et al are different. Sean Young's tenure is beginning to remind me of Joan Crawford on Secret Storm, right down to the hair. And I love that Sylph and Jack have drug up Eric Roberts' sterling IMDB profile only to point out such cinematic luminaries as 4-Bidden, Sharktopus and First Dog, along with a string of other straight-to-DVD credits none of us have ever heard of. These days Eric Roberts is best known for being not only Julia's ne'er-do-well brother but also young Emma's absentee dad; before Emma Roberts became a teen idol, much was made of Julia Roberts' "great sacrifice" being a parent to her niece, who Eric was allegedly not there for. He also is known for his incredible melting face. The fact remains that 90% of Roberts' and Young's current filmographies is made up of either daytime-level or sub-daytime projects. Even The Expendables, a big geek excitement picture, was at core kind of an indie DTV project for Stallone which has been hyped into a theatrical release.

I'm not sure what Sylph is trying to prove here, but it sure is embarrassing for him.

[All My Shadows]

I figured Nouri was hired on the strength of his years and years of work in TV movies and guest appearances on primetime dramas. His hiring, to me, is similar to Ted Shackelford being hired by Y&R, the only difference being that Shackelford has 14 years as a lead actor on his own show under his belt. They're both guys that the average primetime viewer might not recognize them right away, but the average soap viewer might (Ted from Knots, Nouri from a Lifetime movie or something).

I think ER knows someone at Y&R and he and that person decided it would be fun for him to do a short-term role on the show, just for the experience.

[bellcurve]

Bill. Could you, um...(looks at cue cards)...could you, call...

[Jay]

Mmm-hmm. I liked him before the face job. He was on an episode of ENTOURAGE, and he was just creepy. A lot of it was the plastic surgery. Does plastic surgery ever make someone look better?

[Vee]

Michael Nouri was considered a draw because like Roberts and Young, he was once a big star. I think he has a slightly higher level of prestige, possibly from theater in NY (though I may be wrong) and his recent roles on shows like Damages, though his role on that show was very minor. In the end he is no more of a draw than, say, washed-up Jack Scalia. But he doesn't have the taint of endless scandal and DTV work that Roberts and Young do.

For the record I fully expect a soap to try and land Jeff Fahey next, on the strength of his brief career revival on Lost. Fahey is another washed-up '80s type like Young and Roberts but is experiencing a resurgence due to his minor role on that show and brief appearances in films like Grindhouse. However, like Roberts, Fahey only appeared in those few "big" films for genre geek value.

[Jay]

And he is hot.

[DRW50]

Poor Joan. Some Secret Storm fans insisted Joan was actually pretty good, and while we'll never know, I am going to tell myself she was better than most of Y&R's never was parade.

I think Nouri is kind of the latest attempt at Jack Scalia -- hire someone to try to freshen up what had become a staid storyline for Erica, someone who will be a name for Susan Lucci, someone who is not of her world and will push her buttons. And hire someone who was once fairly famous but not overly famous.

In the past decade, every time they bring in a love interest for Erica who wasn't already on the show, it's with a sort of pseudo-name. Jack Scalia, Jeff James, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Nouri.

[Sylph]

I am so embarrassed, yep, I am. LOL. Especially when people obsess about my posts an feel the need to reply to every single one of the bolding my name.