Y&R: August 2014 Discussion Thread

[JONNYSBRO]

I think this actress who plays Abby is flat and boring. Terri Conn would be a sizzling sexy Abby. Honestly she would be excellante.

[NothinButAttitude]

Hell no. Terri Conn is too old and for some odd reason, I tend to loathe the characters she plays (i.e. Aubrey and Katie).

[Faulkner]

LOL. You know exactly what buttons to push on this board.

[rhinohide]

Too old. Makes no sense whatsoever.

Such a bore though. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Parts of this team I agree with, but Michael Conforti, Jeff Beldner and Courtney Simon have little or no history with Y&R. Y&R needs a strong breakdown who can bring history and subtext to the scenes, and have a true understanding of what makes this show great (or what made it great in the past). Courtney Simon as a script writer choice seems odd, too. Absolutely no connection to Y&R whatsoever.

[RavenWhitney]

Conforti and Simon have a long history on soaps with strong writing teams. Courtney worked for Curlee/Demorest and turned in some amazing scripts. Conforti was at GL and trained under Pam Long then rose up under Curlee/Demorest/Broderick. Beldner is a veteran break down writer and has a stellar reputation. He's had a very long and stable career and is already at Y&R. I say keep the strong writers, get rid of Beall, Seidman, Boyd. Beall is so over rated. Boyd has no history with YR and no soap experience and I think he's about 12 years old. Seidman is a veteran but she's never wowed me with scripts or breakdowns on any show she has done. She's well regarded in LA because she's written several overseas Russian soaps and teaches at USC.

[ajsp35801]

Terri Conn as Abby. Big No!

KSJ is having a little trouble playing blind. I wonder if the condition will last long enough on screen for him to get a hold of it. This unblinkingly staring into space doesn't work and looks quite stupid.

[Becki]

He should watch Chris Gorham on USA's series Covert Affairs. He does an amazing job playing blind.

[RavenWhitney]

oh those Monday Abby/Stitch scenes were a train wreck of bad acting and bad writing. When the camera took Abby's face after Stitch pleaded how he was being punished already, I was rolling on the floor. His delivery and her sudden puppy dog eyes...yikes. And whose bright idea was it to have Mariah try to seduce Nick. Ewww and uninspired and just gross...Not interesting at all. I've come to really like Amelia/Vickie Newman. She's been a rock through all this story and casting mess.

[dm.]

I was okay with Ordway as Abby as a recurring player that occasionally appears, but there's no way she can drive story or be the Abby that the viewers want. If we put aside crappy writing for the show in general, this character should be recast or just written out to come back with a better personality.

I hate that they pretty much killed the Michaelsons as a family.

[Paul Raven]

You'd think that if you were hired as a writer for a show,you would be interested in the history of characters and stories but I get the feeling a lot of these writers know the barebones.

[JONNYSBRO]

Terri is a great little spitfire. She was on ATWT for 12 years and had a brief run on OLTL. She's plays a great vixen. I just thought of also since justin Hartley is coming to y and r. How about CBS goes for josh Duhmeal as Billy? It's a huge long shot but josh back on daytime would be a coup

[YRBB]

lmao

[cassadine1991]

Some people don't know about the,new casting. If there was any soap Duhamel would return to it would've been All My Children

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Herein lies the problem. Just because Conforti, Beldner and Simon have worked on other soaps doesn't mean their talents are suited to Y&R. Jean P.'s worked on soap after soap. Some still sing her praises, but she's an unabashed failure on Y&R. (Ditto Altman, though her experience is much less.) Also, characterizing Beldner's rep as "stellar" may be stretching it. Competent, yes, but "stellar"? As for Conforti and Simon training under other strong head writers, again that's the problem. Every head writer is different. If there was a strong head writer at Y&R who knew the Bill Bell style, or better yet had trained under him, maybe Conforti and Simon might have a place there, after being properly trained in Y&R's unique style. But that's what's wrong at Y&R these days. Writing is secondary as is the head writer to JFP and the powers that be. They've purposely chosen a weak head writing team that basically kowtows to whatever the net or Sony want. There's no distinct "voice" any longer to this show. The plots are contrived (Neil going blind) or tasteless (Mariah hitting on Nick), but mostly just boring. Bringing in Simon or Conforti, as good as you seem to think they are, solves little if nothing, if they're just writing for Y&R the way they did for GL and GH (whatever). This soap will remain a generic mess until a really strong head writer with an understanding of Y&R's history and uniqueness is hired, and allowed to turn this show around. It won't happen with JFP in place, but still "it's the writing, stupid." Posters on the soap boards, including this one, keep saying that year after year, and rightly so. If they see it why can't TPTB who are supposed to know that soaps are all about the writing? That's when soaps flourish. It's not rocket science, but apparently it is at Y&R these days.