Is Josh Griffith out at Y&R??

[JONNYSBRO]

Maria bell screwed y and r out of using any old bell associates. She destroyed y and r and left it in financial ruin. We can blame her for what has happened.

[EastMA2]

But Michelle gave an interview to the contrary.

[DeeeDee]

+1.

[frequentsoapfan]

MS was causing Y&R to be a toxic work environment over the past few years between her bullying other actors and throwing out demands.

[DRW50]

When has Y&R not been a toxic work environment?

[ranger1rg]

I love it that people talk about this "toxic work environment" at Y&R -- even though none of them have been on set. Do any of you have anything specific that goes to all this toxicity except that you just feel like saying it because it sounds impressive?

I'm just not a fan of making stuff up and passing it along.

[DRW50]

Actors as far as back as Jaime Lyn Bauer have spoken about their difficulties with people at the show, conditions at the show, how hard they fought to make progress.

This story has been told in a different form by one person after another over the years.

While I do assume the show was more harmonious in the Bill Bell era, it has never sounded like a fun, happy set.

The idea that Michelle Stafford fled because because JFP magically made Y&R unsafe comes across to me as fan fiction.

[LindaTNo1]

I agree here. VERY toxic environment at Y&R right now. What REALLY is going on with the show? I hope Josh Griffith comes out with a nice interview when he legally can. It will be interesting to hear his take on his firing.

It would not surprise me either. Jill seems to drive everyone away that has a mind of their own.

[LindaTNo1]

Y&R fans are loyal and so the ratings are ok. But yes, you are right about the lack of energy in the show. A person could take a nap here and there. and there are only 4 soaps remaining on television (3 1 hour shows, 1 30 minute show) left to choose from. Slim picking's now.

[Chris B]

Before they had different issues with various cast members, but I do think this is the first time where the actors have a truly difficult Executive Producer. The actors spoke highly of Lynn Latham while she was there and MAB was never around. The difference with Jill Farren Phelps is that she is actually there and we know how insulting and offensive she is, based on what actors have said when she was at other shows. Right now all the diva attitudes have to take a back seat because SHE is the HBIC up in here. Of course I'm not saying the show couldn't use structure, but the way she goes about it has always been wrong. She's proven that she doesn't favor female actors, especially older ones. She's more interested in bringing in HER people and everyone else is an after thought.

Moreso than any bad writer, the real crime is that she isn't leaving.

[DRW50]

To be honest I don't see a huge difference between what you describe and what has been there for a long time. The MAB years of the show were all but a witch hunt against older actresses, whether she was there in person or not.

There have been no stories of actors having personal clashes with her, and we did hear those stories from very early on in her tenure at GH, we heard them at AW, GL, OLTL. If there was some huge personality conflict between JFP and Michelle Stafford, I think we would have heard about it.

I think a lot of this is Sony, and most of the blame JFP gets is based on her history, more than any concrete work at Y&R. I'm sure JFP isn't easy to work with, but this is a show that is rotten to the core and has been for a long time. I can't quite accept the concept of everyone being happy until she arrived to spoil the party.

I don't even like JFP, I never have, but to me any criticism should be directed at Sony.

[Vee]

The rot at Y&R has been going on since Latham at least, as I said a few days ago. That was when the homogenization process to transform the show into this really began, and it continued with MAB. It's certainly when I took notice of it.

JFP is what she is, and she and her team have continued to accelerate this process because it's what she's now good at - cutting costs, making the show peppy and cheap, bringing over mediocre people from her "Emmy-winning" GH team to make Y&R into a bad ABC soap. But it didn't start with her. And yes, Y&R has always been a nasty set, but that's a different issue.

[frequentsoapfan]

For every actor that clashes with JFP there's another actor who praising her. And when has Y&R not been full of egos behind the scenes? This idea that she came on to the peachy keen set of Y&R and made everyone miserable makes no sense. Especially when using someone like Stafford (who we know for a fact certain actors did not get along with) as an example.

[ajsp35801]

If this is the case about the AA's then why did she bring on so many new AA characters...and not just any AA's or stereotypical ones...but ones that are well put together, educated and fit into the canvas. Something MAB refused to do.

[DeeeDee]

She brought them on & did nothing with them.

The only one getting consistent story is Tyler (who will be marginalized to the backburner after his relationship with Lily ends).