Well ,it was MAB and her embarassing version of Y&R that had me finally stop watching after more than 30 years...

What about MAB's stories showed her appreciating what came before? It was more like a bad attempt to recycle stories so she and her team wouldn't have to think up any of their own.

Yes, she shows a knowledge of the history be repeating and/or re-writing the history of every past story lol. I didn't say she did it well or did it right, but she made it a part of her Y&R. I don't think the new writers know anything about the show. THey have a script editor who's never watched soaps and Josh Griffith has very little experience with Y&R and I doubt he knows the history or tone of the show. He came after everything was dismantled.

It was quite clear that MAB resented what came before her by the way she kept dredging up Bill Bell's old stories and ruining them with disastrous retcons.

I think that was her inexperience. She didn't know how to create an original story, everything felt like a ripoff of something. WHen she did go original (chipmunk), she failed miserably.

Yes, she shows a knowledge of the history be repeating and/or re-writing the history of every past story lol. I didn't say she did it well or did it right, but she made it a part of her Y&R. I don't think the new writers know anything about the show. THey have a script editor who's never watched soaps and Josh Griffith has very little experience with Y&R and I doubt he knows the history or tone of the show. He came after everything was dismantled.

I think that was her inexperience. She didn't know how to create an original story, everything felt like a ripoff of something. When she did go original (chipmunk), she failed miserably.

JG has knowledge about the show and they still have people on the writing/production team with knowledge about the history of the show. I can't remember which writer it was but just last week they reminded the audience that Victoria had been kidnapped before by Gary and BB said the credit for that went to a longtime script writer.

Please don't give MAB more credit than she deserves which is none at all. She didn't display knowledge of the show's history. More like she went on wikapedia pulled out the major storylines and badly redid them. MAB has been apart of the family since the 90s at least that's long enough for her to have gained some knowledge about the show.Especially sicne she was pimping the fact that she did some script writing in the 90s.

All anyone has to do is looks at Sharon to see what a mess MAB made. She tried to ruin Jill too, the longest running character on this show. Please the wannabe socialite has no respect for history of Y&R.

With a husband named Bernie Leftovitz, or whatever his name was, we should have smelled trouble.

First of all, it's Lechowick. Second, what are you implying with this kind of statement?

I must be perfectly candid.

I still enjoy discussing the show (its history, it's storyline merits, it writing, its characterizations) but Y&R does absolutely nothing for me these days and it hasn't done so for at least 3 years, now. I don't hold out much hope. Only a major reconstruction of this show would give it hope of lasting beyond 5 years. A reconfiguring of who are it's main characters and screen time as well as types of storylines and their implications. People are watching the scandal in the Pentagon and C.I.A. with more interest than they are Y&R right now.

From what I've seen (and I admit, I've watched very sparsely as of late), the story construction and the action in each scene is tighter, the actors appear more engaged, and their output is better-- but content-wise, Y&R has a long way to go. Perhaps Griffith is taking the moderate, gradual (slow moving) approach reimagining the stories on this show.

I must be perfectly candid.

I still enjoy discussing the show (its history, it's storyline merits, it writing, its characterizations) but Y&R does absolutely nothing for me these days and it hasn't done so for at least 3 years, now. I don't hold out much hope. Only a major reconstruction of this show would give it hope of lasting beyond 5 years. A reconfiguring of who are it's main characters and screen time as well as types of storylines and their implications. People are watching the scandal in the Pentagon and C.I.A. with more interest than they are Y&R right now.

From what I've seen (and I admit, I've watched very sparsely as of late), the story construction and the action in each scene is tighter, the actors appear more engaged, and their output is better-- but content-wise, Y&R has a long way to go. Perhaps Griffith is taking the moderate, gradual (slow moving) approach reimagining the stories on this show.

I feel mostly the same way as you. JG is definitely taking the gradualist approach and while I appreciate not getting whiplash from the change in regimes, it also doesn't yet feel like the "old" Y&R that I loved. And by old, I include Jack Smith's tenure and the early days of LML. I know this will never be William J. Bell-grade writing. Even though the rot was already setting in by Jack Smith and LML's ego was starting to spin out of control, the show still looked and felt like Y&R, held together by competent writers, producers and crew who had been there for years and years (before LML fired most of them).

Right now what i am watching feels like MAB but on her stabilising meds, supported by cast and crew who really want this regime to succeed.

JG needs longer to prove that he has what it takes to carry this show forward for the longer-term. So far, I am not convinced yet (Jack running NE aside) and neither are the ratings currently. But I recognise that he needs at least 6 months to get truly embedded. Then -- we will see. But I do want to see some good storytelling. Re-hiring people like Kay Alden, Jack Smith, Greg Meng, Noel Maxam and others who came before -- even in a consulting capacity -- might help.

Noel Maxam was hired back by Y&R last year after Days fired him. I think he also directed some for Hollywood Heights.

Edited November 20, 201213 yr by JaneAusten

Noel Maxam was hired back by Y&R last year after Days fired him. I think he also directed some for Hollywood Heights.

All this time and I've been missing seeing his name on the credits!

Forgive me. Am blind half the time.

Noel Maxam was hired back by Y&R last year after Days fired him. I think he also directed some for Hollywood Heights.

Yeah Noel Maxam isn't going anywhere. He directed several epis of Hollywood Heights and I hear they love him.

Josh Griffith won't last a year. He'll either get fired or they'll bring on a high profile writer as a Co-HW to give the show direction.

And don't be shocked if that Co-HW is either Bob Guza or Michael Malone.

Josh Griffith is like Lorraine Broderick: he's a breakdown writer in head writer's clothing. You can count on him to deliver strong, individual scenes that are character-driven (in comparison to the rest), but if you're expecting him to come up with big, headline-grabbing stories...? You're S.O.L.

Meanwhile, I think the only thing MAB appreciated were the baubles and bangles her wealthy husband surely bought her.

People are watching the scandal in the Pentagon and C.I.A. with more interest than they are Y&R right now.

Well, yeah, now that Susan Lucci is involved.

And don't be shocked if that Co-HW is either Bob Guza or Michael Malone.

Josh Griffith is like Lorraine Broderick: he's a breakdown writer in head writer's clothing. You can count on him to deliver strong, individual scenes that are character-driven (in comparison to the rest), but if you're expecting him to come up with big, headline-grabbing stories...? You're S.O.L.

Meanwhile, I think the only thing MAB appreciated were the baubles and bangles her wealthy husband surely bought her.

I don't think Guza and Griffith work well together so I doubt it would be him. I mean They didn't work well together on Sunset Beach and JG was quickly fired by Guza as a script writer for GH when Frons brought him to the writing team.

I still laugh at Comso putting her on one of their worst dressed lists!

Just popping in to say that the demise of Y&R doesn't begin or end with MAB. Don't give that idiot more credit than she deserves.

You see, it all started when Kay Alden was ousted, Jack Smith went on a power trip, Ed Scott and David Shaughnessy were fired, etc.... TONS of sh!t went wrong and then Lynn Marie Latham happened. With a husband named Bernie Leftovitz, or whatever his name was, we should have smelled trouble. But the bitch distracted us by letting Nick and Phyllis f#ck like rabbits for 6 months and was hailed as the second coming. Her only good move, which was making Don Diamont the lead he should have been by then, was trounced by her terrible storytelling abilities and the most trumped up, convoluted backstory was created for a character who had basically remained a blank slate hunk for 20 years and the show went to sh!t.

The ENTIRE directing team was pretty much fired- you know, the ones who were unbeatable at the Emmys in the 80s and 90s? The creme de la creme, champagne, gothic direction of the show was replaced with ABC-lite and pointless extras so we'd actually believe that Newman Enterprises has employees?

Y&R has gone off the rails and back many times over the years. I think Pheila was a HUGE mistake, Kimberlin Brown's 2003 return grossly mishandled, and the Lauren/Sarah/Patty/Emily mess to be absolutely unforgivable. Talk about going above and beyond the realm of possibility and the world we used to visit and escape to became a facade and a shell of its former self.

I would HOPE that veteran, successful professionals like Jill Farren Phelps and Josh Griffith, can bring us back to the days of the slow-burn, well-rounded, umbrella tales that were sometimes resolved, and sometimes went unresolved (much like in real life).

If you check out http://boards.soapop...n-its-entirety/, you can watch some of Jill's past work as an EP, on a little show called "Santa Barbara" that was far ahead of its time. This storyline, writing, directing, and acting kicks the [!@#$%^&*] out of anything on the air right now!

While Jill's work on SB may have garnered Emmys, it didn't garner a large audience. If the acting, directing, and writing were so stellar, why didn't it resonate with viewers more?

I feel mostly the same way as you. JG is definitely taking the gradualist approach and while I appreciate not getting whiplash from the change in regimes, it also doesn't yet feel like the "old" Y&R that I loved. And by old, I include Jack Smith's tenure and the early days of LML. I know this will never be William J. Bell-grade writing. Even though the rot was already setting in by Jack Smith and LML's ego was starting to spin out of control, the show still looked and felt like Y&R, held together by competent writers, producers and crew who had been there for years and years (before LML fired most of them).

Right now what i am watching feels like MAB but on her stabilising meds, supported by cast and crew who really want this regime to succeed.

JG needs longer to prove that he has what it takes to carry this show forward for the longer-term. So far, I am not convinced yet (Jack running NE aside) and neither are the ratings currently. But I recognise that he needs at least 6 months to get truly embedded. Then -- we will see. But I do want to see some good storytelling. Re-hiring people like Kay Alden, Jack Smith, Greg Meng, Noel Maxam and others who came before -- even in a consulting capacity -- might help.

Greg Meng never worked at Y&R. He's firmly ensconced at DAYS.

While Jill's work on SB may have garnered Emmys, it didn't garner a large audience. If the acting, directing, and writing were so stellar, why didn't it resonate with viewers more?

Internationally, one could say Santa Barbara (along with B& is the only American soap that ever resonated with worldwide audiences.

To me, reasoning with multiple cultures means more than than flopping in one country (even if it is your home country).

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner