Y&R January 2017 Discussion Thread

[JONNYSBRO]

 

No Jean and Shelly planning on writing a full fledged cancer storyline but after they were fired then Pratt scrapped. U cant really critcize them for something he scrapped. YR was much better under Jean and Shelly.

[John]

Y&R feels like the soaps I remember when I started watching them in 1990. Yes its slower than it was but that is what it was when it was great. More conversation and Character driven drama. i hope the other three soaps follow suit and quick.

He was FIRED. Then FOX hired Him cause they FIRED the Original EP of Star. Dont get t twisted CBS and SONY wanted him gone and he was gone

[GMac]

 

Well, Devon was upset because he and Hilary had just had a conversation about her duplicity after Lily filled him in about her agent.  Then the fall.  Devon does have a memory lapse from the accident, but it's not amnesia.  He remembers everything but the crash and the moments leading up to it, which is pretty true to life.

 

I think the hopes tied to SS are more because she worked under Bell.  Add his true protege to the mix, and thus all the hype (and hope).  

 

The stories do need a jolt, I agree.  I think there's some promise, but there are a few kinks to work out both in production/pacing and story.  SS/KA have to return the characters throughlines and in some cases, establish them.  

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Yes, exactly!!

I'm all for conversations but there needs to be some plot moving simultaneously somewhere, it's been a month now.

Abby's moment with Ben was fitting but it wasn't absolutely necessary, neither was her appearance at the hospital, when you really think about it.

 

Conversations are nice but nothing is moving.

[Darn]

Also I think there's a huge difference between the psychological significance of the coffee talk of soaps' past and what they've been delivering. I don't feel like I know Abby any better than I did a month ago.  The other day she went on about how her job at Newman was so great and fulfilling for her but didn't articulate why. What is she doing? It fills the empty space her marriage left but in what way?

 

When I started Y&R in 1999 it was still slow as molasses but they found this way to make that compelling. Not every conversation moved the plot forward but it all felt significant and necessary.

[RavenWhitney]

The show back then had an intimate feel. the soft lighting, candelabras, music, soft spoken scenes.  Mal Young's starker lighting, mix of sets and location, so far, mixed with Phelps more Santa Barbara feel just doesn't work. The sets and feel are lost.  The show needs to get back to the Midwest, cold snowy, woody, Frank Lloyd Wright feel with woodsy cabins, dark paneled rooms.  It's really taken a tacky turn.  

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Again, ITA.

 

I wanted to hear something from Jill on why she would suddenly feel protective of Devon. Does she suddenly feel this because he's Katherine's grandchild? We all know the complex relationship between Jill and Katherine. Or does Jill feel compelled to advise Devon on how to spend his money and if so, why? We shouldn't have to guess her motives, especially since Jill has never been a subtle character. Someone should be showing us why Jill suddenly feels so familial toward Devon.

 

Abby, right now, is clearly a minor character but when soaps were at their best even minor characters could stand on their own merits, and thankfully they all stood out in their own way, none of them were interchangeable like today in any given story (I'm looking at you, Chloe and Chelsea).

[ajsp35801]

 

This show is in desperate need of new script writers and to sit down and determine who each of these characters really are. There is no depth to the majority of characters. You can tell who the show cares about by how much effort goes into their dialogue. 

[Juliajms]

I like the idea of Jill treating Devon like family, but I agree it has to be explained. It would have been nice if there were some build up before this accident. Maybe have Devon help Jill or save her in some way. Yes, there is CI, but too much times has passed where she didn't seem to care about him for that to be the reason.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

It was weird seeing Jill chatter on and on about poor Devon while NOT visiting him at the hospital.

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 That might have been a simple way of showing us Jill's newfound familial attitude, but it was an oppotunity missed.

At this point, SS shouldn't be explaining, she should be showing us ways that Jill means (or doesn't and is actually being hypocritical) what she claims.

[Aback]

 

Big agree! There was also something about the directing, the background music and the way the actors moved around the set that was just captivating. I would watch entire boring-ass scenes for the sake of the directing choices or the background music. That's not the case anymore of course.

[cattykittens]

 

So should Summer help Victor save Newman Enterprises? Or Fen help Lauren save Fenmores? Or Kyle help Jack & Ashley save Jabot since the adults that have worked a lifetime in the business can't do it? Or is it only Jill that should have an inexperienced 20 year old save them? Or even in life problems, are we supposed to believe Jill needs saving from a kid? How about Jill helping Devon? Is that too much to ask? That, just maybe, Jill has had enough life experience to help him? Or does inheriting a big wad of cash suddenly make someone all-knowing in all aspects of life?

 

Does Devon's cash automatically make him grand poobah of the Reynolds, Chancellor, and Winter families?Devon inherited money like Summer, Nick, Abby or Kyle, he is not some self-made entrepreneur like Victor or John Abbott. Last we knew he liked music, and hated business, choosing to exit Jabot since it wasn't his thing.

 Victor, John, Jill & Katherine, & Neil built their families and careers over decades. They weren't given a company and magically placed as head of the family on for receiving an inheritance. There are lots of wealthy characters in GC, but somehow it's expected that just Devon, (not Nick, Abby, Summer, Kyle, Billy, Victoria) should get the status of senior characters at 20 something?

 

Jill has been humiliated enough through the women hating MAB and Pratt regimes. Even being sent back to doing nails. They only do women in this way. Gloria's stuff in garbage bags etc. Devon inheriting some of Kay's money shouldn't subject Jill to Devon's control. And it doesn't make him the head, or even the co-head of her family, like Katherine was. She's done fine for over 40 years with the most powerful people in GC trying to destroy her and now some want stories about her not being able to get by without Devon's help?  If anyone needs some live and learn stories it's Devon. 

[Juliajms]

I meant physically save her.  Otherwise why would she help him and why does she care about him? All the examples you gave are already family who have a built in reason to care about each other. Devon and Jill don't have that and we've never seen her give two figs about him before. So yeah, I need a reason when a character does a complete 180 like this. Call me picky.

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[cattykittens]

 

The reason is in Jill & Katherine's long history. Jill & Katherine have always cared about each others offspring. Jill was close to Brock, and Kay was close, and sometimes acted as a second mother/grandmother, to Phillip, Chance and Billy.  They were a combined family in many ways, a dysfunctional one for sure, but still a family.

 

So to me Jill's interest in Devon seems natural because Kay was always involved in looking after her offspring Why wouldn't Jill feel the same about Kay's offspring? Kay's gone, so I can believe Jill considers herself protector of Devon. Devon may not want her in that role, but Jill, like Katherine, is pushy and controlling. They would interfere if they think it's needed, regardless of how Devon, or anybody else, feels about it.

 

Recent history is the problem for Devon family connections to Kay.  MAB screwed it up at the very beginning. She never incorporated Tucker into the Kay's family after the re-cast with Stephen Nichols. The original, William Russ Tucke,r was being incorporated, then all the sudden they re-cast and MAB did a 180. Most of Tucker's time was spent in Ashley/Victor/Diane stories, then with YoHarmony and Genevieve. It doesn't  help that Tucker's origin story never made sense. For instance, why didn't Tucker ever care about meeting his father Judge Arthur Hendricks? He's still alive, and as far as we know he still thinks Jill is his daughter. 

 

Devon's never really been part of the Chancellor clan, because Tucker never was. Neither Tucker or Devon know Kay's family, and neither have showed any interest in changing that.  That's why I've always thought if they reversed Devon as Kay's grandson it should be done with Tucker. Connecting Tucker to Kay is where they screwed up, Devon as Tucker's son made sense. Which would still leave Devon extremely wealthy.

[Juliajms]

Except Jill has not cared about Devon, which is the whole point. They need to explain the change.