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Y&R: November 2016 Discussion Thread


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Yep. That's what I was getting at. The show, for better or worse, is centered around these two families. The new regime is kicking off with 1980s Abbott breakfast, which sounds good on paper, but is illogical with the characters' living situations and they way people live. Chancellor family gone, Baldwin and Williams families - neglected, Winters family is afterthought at best, etc. Y&R is blessed with many beloved characters and actors - it's not like starting from scratch. We just want them in compelling stories. 

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I get it. 

 

I think the SSM and KA understand that you can't just have Newmans and abbots only. They were around when characters other than Newmans and Abbots had story. They understand the importance of a balanced show (younger/older, POC/White, women/men). They may be kicking off with an Abbot breakfast but they are following that up with shows of Chloe, Chelsea, Mariah, Devon, and Hilary at GC Buzz and Lauren getting story with a resurgence of Baldwins. I think we will be pleasantly surprised. At least I hope so. 

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Of course, there is nothing wrong with starting a show with the Abbotts at the breakfast table but then the question becomes "Then what?" Hopefully, it means that Y&R goes back to what it did best, rather than just window-dressing. If they have Traci sitting at the table, they had better have her involved deeply in a storyline, or else, what's the purpose of having her there? (Maitland is too good and Traci too vital a character to be a glorified extra) And when Y&R was at its best, Traci was knee-deep in her own storyline, often one that had little or nothing to do with Jabot or Newman-fighting.

 

You need characters who don't just service the Newmans or the Abbotts. Remember when Lauren and Paul had their own stories and they weren't just afterthoughts? Remember when the Barbers had their own stories that weren't just about a character ensuring Jack's sobriety? 

 

The surest way to get people to get bored is to focus solely on one or two storylines involving a small cadre of characters, with other characters playing human accessories.

 

The best way to hold people's interest is to tease out multiple storyline threads, some gradually over time, some with a quicker pace by creating numerous stories that unfold at different times- then you can take your time with some, while the audience still gets satisfaction in not having to wait forever for something to happen.

 

Creating an umbrella storyline just for the heck of it makes no sense unless there is a worthwhile payoff. Y&R did the plane crash storyline, the Newman Towers fire and the musicbox storyline, all of which they promoted as kinds of umbrella storylines- involving multiple characters. How many of these had an actual payoff that satisfied? 

The occasional umbrella storyline can be great but it is not a suitable replacement for character development, relationship building and telling the unique story of each character on the GC canvas.

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This is what I loved about Y&R when I first started watching it. One story was reaching it's crescendo just as another one starting up and yet another was in the meat of the story. And every day felt important without every day feeling like some sort of action adventure plot gone wrong. Every episode climaxed without feeling complete, it was always leading to more.

 

No more goddamn umbrella stories. ABC had some success with them in the early 2000s (Bianca's baby switch, GH's various fires/accidents/natural disasters) but ENOUGH. Y&R was never about that and it doesn't work on this show. Even in it's current sad state it has too many characters that can sustain their own A-plots for that. 

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Kay alden loved victor...but she knew to feature other characters as well during her head writing stint.  She took a stock character bill bell created (tricia dennison)..and gradually turned her from a non descript blonde into the tragic trainwreck over a 3 plus year period of time.  

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In the meantime, before we get to that Abbott breakfast, we have to get through another week of awful storytelling.

 

This transition from Pratt to SSM has been a DISASTER, in my opinion. It could not be worse, or more boring. I cannot believe that more attention wasn't paid to these last months between writing regimes. Are we supposed to be content with all this repetition? I feel like I'm hearing the same damn conversations every day. It's maddening.

 

Instead I spend my time noticing a knick knack that's been moved or added, or a wall that's been pushed out on some set to carve out a hallway.

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I almost posted the other day - to me it's clear that Pratt just stopped writing or something.  There has been no storyline movement practically in a week and a half/two weeks.  It's still the unravelling of Christian's story and now some lame lawsuit.  Travis slept with someone else and they're keeping it hidden.  GC Buzz has nothing to buzz about, LOL.  This has been the show for almost 2 weeks...yesterday Victoria shopped for a wedding gown for an hour.  Chloe lets Sharon see Christian.  You just saw yesterday's show in 3 short sentences.  I'm almost slightly interested in seeing how Dylan exits because I thought he would just take off after the Sharon lie, and after he handed the baby over to Nick....I thought, he can go now.  Bye Sharon, gotta divorce ya, move on with my life.  Instead they're keeping him around and I'm just wondering what the point is...?  Stitch has been MIA for awhile now...nothing really going on so his days are numbered now also.  I don't dislike the character in his case, but it seems like they don't know what to do with him.   

 

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