Was MAB or JFP more destructive to YR.

[JONNYSBRO]

 

Interesting MAB had a 4 year run at YR and JFP a four year run. MAB when paired with Paul Rauch in beginning was okay but as soon as he left the show was horrible. It was so plot driven and bad. Ratings were horrible. JFP came in with Josh Griffith ratings were pretty good. Then he quit and Jean and Shelly joined her what turned into smarttv. It was the most reminscent period of Bell YR. Pratt came on very plot driven. Interesting that ratings got very high and JFP won two emmys for best soap. I thought MAB was way worse for the show. Who was more destructive for YR Maria or Jill?

[DRW50]

MAB is one of the most destructive, narcissistic soap producers of all time. Backed up by the hacks who make up our soap "press." 

[DaytimeFan]

Neither. The most destructive was that hack bitch from the depths of hell LML. She is the one who set the tone for every subsequent regime. 

 

Hell, in her first few months MAB did a lot to repair the show, only to devolve into her own signature mess. I actually look at JFP's reign as the blandest in Y&R's history. Certainly, she damaged it, but not irrevocably so.

[titan1978]

It was terrible.

JFP was the least destructive personally compared to her stints on GH, AW, OLTL.  She strip mined the sets and made a pretty bland soap, but she didn't destroy every core family or decimate the next generation by killing them all off like other shows.

 

MAB's first year was so much better than LML that you didn't notice her issues.  By the end of her tenure the show was nearly gutted and broken.  And JFP was never going to be the one to repair that.  It's not her style.

[ryanc]

MAB was the worst. Chuck Pratt has been my least favourite writer since MAB though, they both share the title of shittiest writers in Y&R history IMO 

[Roman]

IMPO LML and MAB are tied. LML starter off great and then just went right over a cliff. MAB to me acted like she honestly didn't give a damn. My hope is Mal will at least even things out among other things......meaning if Jack and Victor start their 10,452 war Jack will at least not get destroyed by Victor. 

[YRfan23]

MAB wins this for me, just based off of her ignorance and losing touch in reality in thinking any of her work was good......she's probably also the most disappointing compared to LML or JFP/Griffith/Jelly/Pratt, just because I believe the expectations should have been higher considering she DID have a bit of history on the show and is married into the family, yet her own ego and delusional mind of "honoring history" and "Oh my father-in law always did a OTT story once in a while, so gotta keep up with it", and the famous "We are getting the black story "UP AND PUMPING" just makes her the Worst out of anyone the last 10 years of regime's.....at least Pratt and Phelps admit they don't respect the history instead of pretending like they do......

[RavenWhitney]

LML was the most destructive because she inherited a strong show and randomly fired producers, writers, directors, you name it.  And had no longterm plans.  MAB had good and bad periods.  First year was good.  Fourth year bad.  JFP just cemented the bad parts more firmly but she nabbed Jason T and Gina T for huge roles and they are the best recasts in many ways.  So I would say worst to least bad:  LML worst, then MAB second two years, then JFP 4 years, and MAB's first year being the least bad.  Mal has turned it around in so many ways after a few months.  Let's hope...

[DaytimeFan]

Totally agree. LML gutted the show. Absolutely destroyed it. And when she came it was still the best show in daytime by a hundred miles. She could have thoughtfully updated it...but no...she ate it alive, without any plan for the future.

[BetterForgotten]

The funny (and great) thing is that she hasn't had a job since she was fired from Y&R. 

[Y&R21395]

MAB. Her reign was enough to make me stop watching for years. As much as I hate to admit it on account of how much I despise the woman, Phelps' first two years pre-Pratt, although far from great, I found better than anything LML and MAB did. 

[Paul Raven]

LML really did a number on the show

Victor's epilepsy

Nikki running for senate

Dru strangling Carmen (who?)

Brad and the reliquary

Jack marrying Sharon

Dropping Ashley

Cane/Amber

etc etc

[YRBB]

Most people tend to choose MAB because her destruction is much more recent, lasted longer and/or they weren't around before and during LML's reign of terror to see it, until the other soaps started getting canceled, LMAO.

 

The truth is, LML came on the show to specifically undo it. It's not "only" that she wrote people OOC, but she changed the tone, style, music, pace, dialogue -- in short, everything that made Y&R, Y&R. It was night and day, unrecognizable. She destabilized it in the most horrific manner and, ten years later, despite some initial efforts by JG's first stint, or MAB's early stuff, the show has yet to rebound. Her weird, insane obsession with eradicating EVERYTHING about the show she was writing (which was #1, mind you) is still felt today. She cared more about not having diamonds or any plastic bottles than writing story. And don't get me started on her utterly weird refusal to have any frozen moments or, in essence, any actual story going on. Deadly.

 

Of course, MAB decimated the characters..... 

[Chris B]

When Lynn Latham was writing with Kay Alden and Jack Smith the show was great and had tons of potential. She is an amazing writer and is responsible for revitalizing Knots Landing, but primetime is different from daytime. Had she been added as a Co-HW with no EP credit, I am confident a team with her, Alden and Smith would've been a huge success. Similarly with Maria Arena Bell, she had some good ideas and at times the show WAS good, but she hadn't been writing for far too long for them to give her so much power. You need to let the writers write and have a strong EP who can make sure everyone is staying on track. So basically, it's not worth saying who is worse, but I'll say I wish Ed Scott had remained as EP so he could've maintained that the writers were focused and understood what they were writing.

[frequentsoapfan]

MAB tried to replace both Nikki and Jill with her own creation and Nikki never recovered for me about she beat Diane to death.