Y&R: MAB OUT! Hamner OUT! JFP IN! Griffith IN! Sheffer UNKNOWN!

[SOAPSFOREVER]

She's trying to put the best spin on it. Anyone in her position would. She sees the things that worked, but won't acknowledge publicly the things that didn't. My hunch is that Sheffer and Hamner were tje problem. If Kay Alden or Jack Smith (or both) had been Maria's co-heads, they could have steered her away from the absurd stories that sent viewers fleeing this show. Sheffer definitely needs to go.

[DRW50]

There's spin and there's tone deaf back-patting.

I agree Sheffer should go, but MAB could have done something about that, if she tried.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Maria had 5 years to try to get it together, and never did. She needed to be ousted.

Whether you agree with JFP or not, something needed to happen at this show.

[dm.]

Sheffer and Hamner were the main problem, yes, but she was enabling them.

I hope we'll hear the news of Sheffer's firing soon. *crosses fingers*

MAB sounded this delusional in all of her interviews, up to the point where it seems like she actually believes what she is saying, and that she is completely unaware of what kind of a trashfest she turned the show into.

[soapfan770]

Not to mention some of the most noticeable ratings drops occurred during some of MAB's more "bigger" tales, namely the Sarah Carter fiasco and Diane's murder mystery.

[Toups]

Don't know what she's talking about here.

This statement I can understand because Y&R has been #1 in 18-49 for about 4 years I think, or close to it. In the past, GH or DAYS would contend with Y&R for the demo, but over the last couple of years, Y&R never slipped to #2.

As for Sheffer, if he leaves Y&R, I can see Sony putting him back at DAYS where, I believe, he and Chris Whitesell have a good working relationship. Also, Sony may not just want to pay him off (depending on his contract cycles) and that's why they move him to DAYS. If he moves to DAYS, I think he'll just be a breakdown writer.

[Cat]

She's deluded, and she's heartbroken. She just lost the Bell's their one last connection with Y&R. Can you imagine how Thanksgiving is going to be this year?

I do wish the Bells as a group had fought harder for this show. It was their legacy in the truest sense of the word. It could have gone on for another 20 years. I feel disappointed because they didn't fight hard enough. Lee didn't fight hard enough (and the woman still has connections in high places). Brad should have stepped up, too. Alden should have been called back, so should have Ed Scott. Now it's too late and Sony are all over this prize like a fly on [!@#$%^&*].

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think Brad Bell, in some assumed malicious way, always wanted Y&R to crumble to this point if it inadvertently meant B&B would benefit.

[DeeeDee]

Exactly.

[DeeeDee]

Lee isn't Agnes & Brad isn't his father.

There's still a lot of really bad blood from various backstage dramas for them to want to work on a soap that treated them that horribly.

[Cat]

Oh, I don't mean as writers. Just to appoint people they trusted and who they knew would do a decent job.

I'm sure that is why we will never see Jack Smith in soaps again (which is a shame as, whatever his faults, his Y&R is light years better than the current show). I'm sure Alden felt her years of loyalty were rewarded with a slap in the face and a pink slip. Ed Scott, too. That's what I mean. The Bells didn't make a peep when they were fired -- had he been alive, William J Bell would have fought tooth and nail for Kay. She was his right hand.

I will give Bradley Bell credit, though -- for picking up some BDWs from Y&R, Alden, Heather Tom, Eileen Davidson, later Ed Scott, Don Diamont, etc. Most of these people are still there and well integrated. He looked out for these people.

[dragonflies]

LOL these actors doing the ass kissing I have a feeling once Phelps comes along will suddenly be smack talking MAB

On Facebook, Maria Arena Bell also talked about saying good-bye to the cast: "When I said my farewell today to the company of The Young and The Restless I stood between Eric Braeden [Victor], Peter Bergman [Cliff], Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki] and addressed everyone. Then, spontaneously, each of them said something that was profoundly moving to me about how much they appreciated me, my work, my storytelling, my vision. The moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life was looking out at a se...a of faces, many of them in tears. And then Eric Braeden who was choking back tears himself to the point he could barely speak said that my leaving was a travesty that made no sense and that "This is the end of an era." In that moment I could feel my heart break a little... but I also felt that the commitment I had to that show... the seven day a week fifty two week a year craziness of it all was worth it... because I was part of the history of something truly great."

http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/how-yrs-bell-said-good-bye

[Mr. Vixen]

Please tell me she did not just credit Peter Bergman as Cliff. PLEASE.

[dragonflies]

OMG I didn't even notice that

[frequentsoapfan]

Lol I just noticed that it says Cliff!