Is Josh Griffith out at Y&R??

[YRBB]

The furthest from classical Y&R the show has been getting, the worse it's becoming. It could be 2050 and it would STILL never work. It goes against the show's DNA. MAB is a talentless writer with NO idea of what Y&R really was about. Renovate the show? THAT'S the biggest problem with the show--they're trying to make it, unsuccessfully for YEARS, into something it's not. It's not Y&R without the slower writing, the music, the dark lighting, the emphasis on dark complexities of characters etc. Renovate the show has also meant writing mostly everyone OOC. No matter how much people huff and puff about it, you will never convince me that the show with the TOP production values on daytime needed to be changed. Speed up the pace a bit? Sure. Modernize the dialogue a bit? Sure. But try to make the #1 show into a copy of lesser rated shows... pure madness and we see how that's going for them. So,

[LindaTNo1]

MAB won Emmy's for the show so I would not call her talentless at all. She is a part of the Bell family. I am sure she has the insider info on the show.

When they started kicking out major players like Eileen Davidson, Stephen Nichols, and now Michelle Stafford among others this is where the show is starting to suffer. Very little Emmy love and other weaknesses now with the show, overall.

I would like to see CBS/Sony and Y&R work out something with PP with Darnell and Debbi coming back to do specific arcs with their characters of Sarge and Harmony since Harmony is Devon's bio mom. and fans love Sarge as a friend to Jack and his character was just beginning to take off when Jill, Josh and Co. ran both characters, Sarge and Harmony off the canvas. I am not saying for Darnell and Debbi to have full scale storylines due to their contracts with PP and AMC, but with the block filming that PP does with OLTL and AMC, the free time that Debbi and Darnell have would provide time to do both projects very nicely. In their Michael Fairman interview, a caller asked them how they liked their time on Y&R. Both of them said they enjoyed their time on Y&R and developing a character different from Angie and Jesse. I think both of them would always be open to going back if timing and scripts were right.

I don't know what to say about Y&R. Maybe the writing needs some shaping up. and yes, faster pacing of storylines too.

[cassadine1991]

Oh God, here we go again...

[sheilaforever]

We'll see if this is true. The article reads fan-fic-ish though...

Regarding the writing on the show: everything has been said baiscally. It's just incomprehensible why they constantly try to make this show more tacky and genric (ABC-ish) when B&B has proven that you can be successfull on your own style. And Y&R has done that for ages until SONY started meddling.
That said; I don't find Josh Griffith terrible but the plotting is. Meaning everyone below him should be fired because pacing is terribly off, the dialogue continues to suck etc.

These days you can tell within five minutes whether the demoted Natalie Minardie SLater has written the episode's breakdown (geez, those episodes actually have timing/pacing and look like an episodic arch...). THe likes of Scott Hamner and Hogan Sheffer were poisonous with their influence on MAB but they at least came close to some real storyteling. This show fails on ALL levels to build up any climax/excitement. Starting with the production values (music) but most importantly pacing/dialogue.

EDIT: to constantly see people suggesting FAILED ABC rejects to be Y&R's saviour is just startling. Please no! Save us!

[SOAPSFOREVER]

I agree. Sony/Steve Kent's meddling the past year or so has been to Y&R's detriment. But it started before that with talentless Barbara Bloom, another ABC reject, in her role as VP of Daytime at CBS. She interfered way too much, and was responsible for bringing LML on board. Natalie Slater and Janice Ferri Esser are the only two Bell trained writers left on this show. Maybe that's why Y&R seems more like its old, unique, wonderful self when Slater writes an outline and Esser writes a script. The writing staff needs a complete overhaul IMO, from head writer to breakdown writers to script writers. Bring back the writers worked under Bill Bell, understand his original vision, and are able to use the rich history and subtext drawn from it to really make this show shine again. The irony is that JFP pitched new sets and new music as a way to "modernize" this show, and spent money doing it, when the dollars would have been better spent rehiring talented Bell writers to straighten out the storyline/plot/character drivel.

You hit the nail on the head on all points. If only CBS and Sony were as astute.

[greens_dupres]

Emmy love has not necessarily equated with talent or a good show in many years. Marrying into the Bell family did not make Maria a good writer by osmosis.

[robbwolff]

How are Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams germane to a thread about Josh Griffith?

[LindaTNo1]

ABC Emmy winners are not failures or rejects.

ABC Emmy winners are not failures or rejects.

[sheilaforever]

All writers/producers hailing ABC so far were FIRED for valid reasons. But the main problem you don't see / feel as one is that Y&R USED TO BE VERY DIFFERENT from a ABC soap. This was back when all soaps still had an identity of their own.

[Vee]

Linda, no one cared about Sarge and Harmony and you're derailing the thread about Josh Griffith. Stop.

[EricMontreal22]

OK--where story-wise has B&B been following the Bell model? He would die in his grave to hear his son was doing that--I agree with you, production wise.

Jesus Christ why is she here, too?

[greens_dupres]

Slow week for Jesse and Angie. Had to work Debbi & Darnell in somewhere.

Anyway I doubt JFP is going anywhere. Ratings are up from last year (right?), she seems to have an in at Sony & that woman is just notoriously hard to get rid of. She never did seem particularly good at cuttings costs overall though despite her penchant for getting rid of vets. I don't have major history with Y&R but fell in love with it for a time during the Cassie custody battle/ Glow by Jabot era- sad to see what's become of Sharon Case's character. Wonder how much longer she'll last under JFP.

[cassadine1991]

You are describing parts of the Kay Alden years

[Chris B]

The only thing non-Bell about Brad Bell's writing is that I'm surprised he hasn't had a psycho after the popularity of characters like Sheila or Morgan. I think the writing style is very true to what he developed with his father. To me, the show is very similar to the way it was in the 90s, especially now that we are consistantly getting B and C stories and more balance. They still have the psychological themes, the complicated love triangles, the distinctive Bell dialogue, the incestuous families (which came from his father!) and complicated family themes and those unforgettable business storylines.

I honestly think Bill Bell would be very proud of his son right now. B&B is amazing.

[EricMontreal22]

Really? Bell's shows relied on one dimensional storytelling? The same scenes hammered into the heads of audiences? And characters behaving as they have for decades? I know he always had a thing for incest, but...