Y&R: Fairman interview with Mishael Morgan and Kristoff St John

[DeeeDee]

Not really.

JFP has just put him in two placeholder pairings with black actresses which is about the same as MAB did.

The writing is somewhat better but the end result is the same.

They never had much (if any) chemistry but their success or failure as a couple was never the point.

Neil & Ashley had significant chemistry (which is surprising because Eileen has always been a very difficult actress to pair male actors with in onscreen romantic relationships).

Their relationship was never going anywhere because Tucker (a relatively new white character) needed a romantic pairing & who better to screw then Neil (played by a dependable, if unsurprising, two time emmy winning veteran minority actor).

Because Neil's success in romantic relationships doesn't matter.

He & Devon are there to be tokens (not actual characters).

Viewers usually blame Bergman for his self indulgent acting tics when Jack is placed in relationships (the crying, the GREATEST LOVE EVER stuff) but he's rarely (if ever) held responsible for the inevitable failure of Jack's relationships.

In fact, most of the audience wants Bergman's Jack to be paired with an actress that reciprocates his love, is not a garden variety psycho or has feelings for Victor.

Because they know that being paired with Jack means more story & more airtime.

The Winters may get a couple more minutes of airtime a week under JFP but things haven't really changed.

In the last 10 years Doug has had failed pairings with Ashley, Maggie, Nikki, Nina & several flirtations with Lauren before being thrown into a quickie marriage with Cricket last year.

In the past 10 years Jess has had failed pairings with Will, Ji Min, Jeffrey, both Tuckers & a one night stand with a GCAC bartender before being thrown into a quickie marriage with Colin this year.

[DeeeDee]

The better question is WHY is it that way.

[ajsp35801]

As I read your replies, I am wondering if you think we disagree about any of this. We don't. However, I still think that JFP have given Neil more than MAB. For one, he has a friendship with Jack and interacts with other people in a work capacity. But it falls very short of what it should be.

Okay. I will bite. Why is it this way?

[ajsp35801]

I saw that comment. I just assumed the person misspoke and meant Hilary and Neil. But yeah, folks are steal smarting over Kay leaving Devon a larger inheritance that the Chancellors, Mac, or Brock. There seems to be a fair amount of support for him to lose it to someone.

[DeeeDee]

We differ over smaller details (MAB vs. JFP) but agree about most larger issues.

Which makes no sense.

Neil has never liked Jack (their 'friendship' is a convenient plot device because Hilary works for Jabot).

Of the character on the current canvas Neil would be much more likely to confide in Victoria, Nick, Victor, Sharon or Jill.

A massive understatement.

Because they're tokens.

The only purpose they serve is to deflect criticism of Y&R's horrible track record post-Dru of minority actors.

Think about the initial media blitz for Lamon & Redaric vs. the amount & quality of story both actors now receive.

Tyler is in an afterthought pairing with an aimless core character & Mason has all but disappeared.

Leslie is the odd woman out of The Black Storyline as Hilary becomes the latest black actress forced to be Neil's love interest while Devon is in a pointless relationship with a glorified dayplayer.

The only actor 'of color' who escapes such treatment is CK (mainly because she doesn't identify as Black nor does she have a desire to be paired with non-white actors).

[ajsp35801]

Neil and Jack's friendship is not based on Hilary. The were considered friends and confidantes long before she arrived. I agree that Neil's history lends itself to a friendship with others on canvas. But I won't quibble over that detail. It seems trivial because most relationships on soaps are fluid. Both needed a friend. They gave them one in each other and it makes sense for how it developed (AA sponsor).

Everything else. Agree.

[soapsnstuds]

Nope.

I was referencing Hilary being paired with Jack. Peter Bergman has carried a lot of front burner storylines over the past 25 years.

[ajsp35801]

Sure he has. However, if a female is a lead and they want to write for HER, then it doesn't matter who she is paired with (her supporting characters can be anyone). MAB constantly wrote for Phyllis. Do you think that would have stopped if she had been paired with Neil or Paul. I doubt it. If anything, they would have gotten more airtime out of it instead of her getting less.

My point is this, if the writers are going to write for Hilary, they will write for her whether she is paired with Neil, Devon, Nick, Jack, or Victor Newman himself.