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Y&R: SID Interview With Maria A. Bell


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Saw this over at the CBS board.

News - What's next in Genoa City! Y&R has been perched atop the daytime heap for over two decades. But how does it retain that position in today's tough-on-suds climate? SID sat down with the sudser's executive producter and headwriter Maria Arena Bell to find out!

Q: For a while there, Melody Thomas Scott's Nikki was in storyline Sibera. But late 2010 saw her come roaring back. Will she remain a major player this year?

MAB: It's been great to see her in a storyline where she got to show her versitality and play so manydifferent levels. Nikki is one of our core, iconic characters. The fans want to see more of her. I, do, too!

Q: How will Nikki be featured?

MAB: The Nikki-Victor romance is the continuing thread of this show. That's the romance people want to see, whether they're together or not.

Q: Fans of Sharon and Nick waited a long time for their reunion ... then saw it instantly fall apart. Should Shick fans hold out hope for the couple?

MAB: Sharon and Nick are always going to be tied to one another. As we've seen happen with Victor and Nikki, Nick and Sharon may be with other people, but they are a magic, major romance. They've had obstacles in the past, but there's something between them that will never go away.

Q: What about Adam?

MAB: It's a different kind of love. It's interesting to see how she can be in a relationship with someone else. It's really about the evolution of the character of Sharon.

Q: Y&R has a history of prominently using African-American actors and characters. What's next for the Winters clan?

MAB: There will be a major turning point in the story for the Winterses. All the building blocks that have been going into that storyline will really start to pay off.

Q: What about criticism that Y&R doesn't feature it's AA cast?

MAB: The show has been building up those characters, many of whom are new. I didn't want to ram Sofia down the throats of viewers. I wanted the audience to gradually get to know her character, to see what she's about and wonder. We've also been letting [Darius McCrary, Malcolm] get his footing. You need to take the time to allow stories to breather and take hold. Now, we can really tell a front-burner storyline with Sofia, Malcolm and Neil.

Q: Given the current climate, how do soaps fight the downward trends in viewership?

MAB : We actually still get a monster rating. The number of viewers we have between TV, on-line and our international numbers proves that we're very viable.

Q: Fans are still lamenting the loss of both Guiding Light and As the World Turns, though...

MAB: Yes, but the three-year renewal of Y&R, plus the two-year renewal of Days , proves things aren't as bad as many would have you believe. What we're seeing is that hey, Chicken Little, the sky isn't falling. Let's not spend the next three years worrying about this. Let's do a phenomenal job and prove this is a viable art form. That's my philosophy."

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As delusional as ever. Either that or it's more BS. The show's constant desperate shock value storytelling doesn't suggest people who are confident about their ratings.

Does anyone out there - anyone - care about Neil/Sofia/Malcolm????

How long has this Malcolm been on the show anyway? If he was the best recast they've ever seen then why did he need to "find his footing"?

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Oh, not really. I wouldn't mind Neil with Sophia, but I'm not invested in a triangle. NuMalcolm is just so boring. I find the woman who plays Sophia a much more interesting actor. She hasn't been given a whole lot to do, but I still feel her much more than I do Malcolm.

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No, Maria. I don't want to see the Mustache bark orders at his unfulfilled trophy wife and that pass for "romance." I want to see Nikki have hot, sweaty donkey-kong sex with Deacon and rediscover her inner, vibrant, go-getting bitch.

And Shick another "magic, major romance"? :lol: Goodness, Michelle Stafford must have complained long and hard for them to start pushing Shick again. It wasn't even all that in the 90s!

Darius "finding his footing" is code for "The fans hate the recast so we've taken him off our screens in the hope they forget just how little we take their concerns into account."

I like Sophia. And I like the actress with Neil, too. Even when Sophia is laying down the law and telling Cane what's what, there is something sympathetic about her. And she never comes across as helpless or defering to anybody, not even that perma-haired bore, Tucker.

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WOW - NuMalcolm needs ONE YEAR + to find his footing?

So she's either more delusional than expected or tries to hide that Darius is just not clicking as Malcolm. Either way the whole talk "about the unique AA cast" is so full of bull. None of these actors had any reasonable screentime in 2010. So much for honoring history... :wacko:

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I agree. I think Sophia has a nice mix of "take charge" and vulnerability about her that is very appealing. Unfortunately, she's wasted on NuMalcolm. I really wish that Maria would just admit this recast was a horrible blunder and either recast or send the character out of town.

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