Y&R: January 2014 Discussion Thread

[ChitHappens]

Perhaps she takes something lethal w/out knowing it.

[Chris B]

Call me crazy, but I'm finally enjoying Y&R for the first time since MAB left. She was garbage, but the show was watchable towards the end of her run and then just deadly dull for Josh Griffith's entire stint. He didn't even have that initial few months of interesting story IMO. I felt the show was sloppy and treading water when Shelly Altman was writing solo, but now that Jean Passanante has joined it does seem much better. It feels more soapy, I see characters starting to get their own voice again and there is a variety to what we're seeing. I got so tired of all the doom and gloom. It's not perfect (Chloe/Kevin have NO chemistry, same with Noah/Anybody, Noah/His GF), but I can see them trying and I'm actually interesting in where things go. I even feel like Dylan's story is coming along better than it had been. It reminds me of when Claire Labine returned to Ryan's Hope and found out they'd given Johnny an illegitimate son. She didn't like the story, but she made it work. I feel like they're taking a bad story and making it work. It helps that it isn't the lead story anymore.

I'm REALLY REALLY looking forward to the future. I can't wait for David Tom and Tristian Rogers to return and I hope Jill continues to be an important leading character. I guess all it took was for her to be dropped to recurring lol! Now before people flog me, I still would prefer a modern B&B Bill Bell-style for Y&R, but I'm just thankful the show is watchable again.

[PJA]

I'm still finding it boring but Im willing to see what Jean contributes. (I don't remember Jean being all that good at ATWT). I do see potential with the Devon/Hilary storyline and I'm still intrigued by Jack and Jill teaming up against Victor but have a feeling that its going to end the same way it always does.

I think the problem when JFP and JG took over was they tried to abruptly end MABs storylines so instead of making them work like CL did on Ryans Hope. They ended the Phyllis storyline their second day after taking over and never fully resolved Paul and Ricky's storylines. Then the new ones they came up with were even more dull than MAB's and I don't feel they have recovered yet.

[PJA]

Yeah but wasn't Shelly Altman a writer then too? Even if not, repeating a teen drug storyline not even months after the other one ended is unoriginal. Plus this seems more plot driven than character driven. The way Summer has been written the last few months, I don't see her doing drugs especially not as easy as it was when she took the first one.

[JONNYSBRO]

I think jean will be a great addition to y and r. Shelly doesn't have much experience head writing soap and jean has done it for years. It's really just driving a huge big umbrella storyline and going with it.

[PJA]

Jean also got ATWT cancelled with her boring writing. Maybe she'll be better with Y&R but I won't hold my breath.

I stopped watching ATWT after 2 years with her as the sole headwriter..and only came back to finish watching it when it was announced that it was being cancelled...and it was even worse than it was when I stopped watching it.

[BetterForgotten]

It's unfair to pin an entire cancellation on one writer's back. ATWT (and other soaps) were canceled for numerous reasons and by the hands of numerous people.

Yes, she helped usher it out, but really, who was to say the show wouldn't have been canceled regardless of the quality anyway? I'm not a fan of her work personally, but I dislike generalizations like that.

[PJA]

I don't totally blame her. I blame the TPTB who didn't get rid of her.

But the fact that the show was cancelled during her tenure as HW is very telling. And as much as I loved ATWT, I was definitely not surprised....mainly due to how bad the writing was.

The acting and the directing wasn't bad...it was ultimately the writing.

[Ann_SS]

Jean Passamante and Chris Goutman share the blame for ATWT's cancellation equally. He was a terrible producer to made bad decision after bad decision. She is a horrible head writer with a unimaginative vision and boring storytelling. P&G absolutely stop caring so it let them systematically destroy ATWT. I thought the show had a mini-rejuvenation under David Kreizman who I disliked from GL, but he quickly left and Passanante got to finish destroy ATWT. I have no clue what Sony was thinking pairing two destroyers like JFP and Passanante. I expect they will bring out the worse in each other.

[DramatistDreamer]

I know OT but is there something wrong with Hogan Sheffer? I mean health-wise. I saw someone tweet prayers for Hogan Sheffer.

[chicklitsandfantasies]

What left was there to tell in Paul and Ricky's story beyond bringing that awful Daisy back?

[JONNYSBRO]

Honestly u know who I think wound be excellent for y and r is Carolyn culliton she is at days but she's a seasoned vet who could work with jean

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Good head writing is about so much more than creating a "big umbrella storyline and going with it." It's about creating characters the audience cares about while respecting the history of the show and its families. It's about giving characters voices and points of view that are consistent with their histories. It's about telling stories that are rooted in reality. Stories that make us as fans laugh and cry and give a damn. Jean P's history as a head writer hasn't shown me that she's capable of doing these things consistently, or that she'll take a creative stand and fight for it. Her reputation in the daytime industry is of someone who gets along with most people, who doesn't rock the boat and basically tows the line given to her by her EP. It was hardly a secret that Chris Goutman called the shots in the writing room at ATWT, and that JP went along. My take is that JFP, like Goutman, wants a head writer in that vein. Someone who will write the stories she (JFP) wants written without kicking up too much fuss. I would feel so much better about Y&R if a really strong, dynamic head writer had been chosen. JP isn't that head writer, and Shelly A definitely isn't. As much as I respect your right to voice your opinion about JP, the facts don't bear out your overarching blind confidence in her (or your rather simplistic assessment that an "umbrella story" is the all encompassing panacea for Y&R's current storytelling problems.)

[SOAPSFOREVER]

My guess is that JFP brought JP to Sony's attention, not the other way around. JFP needs a malleable head writer who basically does her bidding. JP doesn't rock any boats. She's about keeping her job and doing what the EP asks her to do. That's not what Y&R needs, of course, but it's what JFP needs to furhter tighten her control of the show. A bad decision all the way around IMHO.

[PJA]

This is exactly why JG was let go. He and JFP bumped heads, she wont have to worry about bumping heads with JP.