How much time do we give Sally Sussman before we ask for her firing?

[Ponds]

I find her shows a refreshing change.

[GMac]

 

+1

 

 

+100 

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Mm hmmm

 

 

So...because it is taking her more than 30 days to reset the show, she should be gone??  Really?

 

[ChitHappens]

@GMac

 

Sally can't reset and tell stories at the same time?  It's a soap and stories should continue regardless of a regime change. All Sally's really done is to reset her pet Gloria!  

[Soapsuds]

That's all I have seen. She isn't even on contract and she has more episodes than Victor and Nikki combined.

[GMac]

 

Uncle!  Uncle!  haha 

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We just have different views.  All good!

 

[Soaplovers]

I think we need to wait till June before goving a view.  It takes a good 6 months to truly put ones mark on the show.

 

If she were ignoring what happened in the last 10 years, she wouldnt have had billy/phyllis making out in the elevator last week, nor have Reed back, nor the brief mentions of Lauren/jill...plus continuing the hilary/mariah stuff that started under Pratt.

 

Is the show perfect?  Not even close..but the scenes flow better...maybe Sally just needs a strong co head writer with great story ideas that she can put to life.

[Cruising Soaps]

I've been loving the show!

[frequentsoapfan]

I think 6 months is a long wait for a show that's on 5 days a week most weeks. Especially in this day and age where there's more viewing options and its easy to gage what the audience likes.

[Taoboi]

Since I have an interview to work from where she said the time she felt was needed to right the ship I would say six months.

 

Now if there is nothing but the same after a year...I might be mad.

 

Since I haven't watched regularly since MAB and before that the Nick/Phyllis/Sharon in matching undie reveal, I think SS is doing good. Just two weeks behind here.

[kalbir]

February sweeps is the first real test. Let's see how that goes.

 

[ryanc]

"Ignoring everything in between" like what?? I keep seeing people repeat this on message boards just because of the interview she gave expressing her dislike of how the show has been written over the past 10 years but WHERE has she ignored stuff? If anything there has been MORE stuff from the past 10 years being mentioned than I ever remember seeing during Pratts run. 

[Soapsuds]

Well, so far she is failing. There doesn't seem anything sweeps worthy coming up in the next two weeks.

[soapfan770]

Still way to early to call for Sussman's firing in my opinion. The first two months of her work, while having some wayward errors and yes Gloria might be on too much but considering to where this show was in the almost deepest pits of hell just six months ago does indeed feel like a refreshing improvement. Pratt's Y&R just six months ago wasted Justin Hartley and Alicia Coppola for no reason at all. At least Sussman's Y&R feels more like natural Y&R as opposed to whatever attempted to be Y&R during the Pratt regime. Although I  can feel annoyed at certain times so far under Sussman, I have yet to feel nauseated and trepid about watching a new Y&R ep like I did for most of 2016 with Y&R. 

 

It does indeed remind me in way of how Josh Griffin's 2012-2013 run went before Griffin self destructed and caused even further destruction to the show. However I am hopeful that Sussman doesn't go that route. Like Pratt's craziness that did bring in viewers, Sussman also replace JER at Days for better or for worse.

 

However, Sussman, for all her flaws is the last remaining connection to what Y&R use to be. Problem is, I don't know what fellow current Y&R viewers expect Y&R to be like. Y&R was not an ABC/NBC soap and Y&R is not a P&G soap. Y&R is a Bell soap that alone we made Y&R become number one. Realistically Sussman from a historical standpoint isn't going to produce miracles on a daily basis but at least provide viable storytelling. Throughout Y&R's history there has always been a general complaint over very slow story telling and plot advancement, yet everyone remembers the stunning hook of the each story and shocking climaxes that had viewers talking for years.

 

The true problem with Y&R is even though we want our Y&R back to the screen is that brand has been so damaged it does need complete overhaul. Bell overhauled the show himself in 1982 but the ultimate problem is can Y&R survive a similar upheaval and overhaul in 2017? 

[YRBB]

I'm seeing a show whose tone, pacing, format, and especially characters, have vastly improved. A show brought out from the stinkiest shithole imaginable that has somehow managed to make characters that seemed completely lost start to return to life. It's understandable that most viewers don't actually grasp writing or how it works, but the point is that the kind of work that needs doing in order to clean off the stench of the last decade and a half CANNOT be done immediately. It CANNOT be done in just a month or two. First you have to fix the characters. You cannot really write great stories with characters who are still decimated or semi-decimated. It does not work that way. Not unless you want to jump right into plot driven, contrived stories, just to keep it exciting -- and then you are just like the hacks the fans claim to hate to begin with.

 

The magnitude of the work to be done is enormous. It was almost like starting from scratch for them; there was nothing left to work with. And it's supposed to take off in less than a month? During the holidays? People heard SSM was coming back and suddenly decided the show must be a soap fan's wet dream within 3 episodes OR ELSE. Why does it feel that there was less vitriolic response to the bad guys?  

 

That being said, I don't think the show is really good (it is much improved) and it is about time that more exciting stories begin to be added. I hope they are. I don't mean TOMORROW.  I admire the measured approach, especially in a soap climate where nearly everyone demands plot plot plot. If in 6-8 months we are still at the same place, then there is cause for concern.

[vetsoapfan]

While it's natural for viewers to hope for instantaneous, noticeable improvement, it's unlikely to happen on a show that has been gutted to its core for so long. Even the best writers rarely pull off miracles overnight (and SSM, while better than some others who have helmed the soaps over the years is not even the best of the best).

 

I'm trying to think of when, in my decades of soap watching, a new writer came aboard and there was a vast, noticeable upswing in quality almost from the start.

 

I can think of: Claire Labine taking over LOVE OF LIFE, Roy Winsor taking over SOMERSET, Rick Edelstein taking over HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE, Douglas Marland taking over GENERAL HOSPITAL, and Agnes Nixon taking over ANOTHER WORLD. Even master writers like Pat Falken Smith could not guarantee instant transformations. When she returned to DAYS in the early 1980s, the show was a total mess, and it took PFS months to rebuild the existing characters and reestablish interest in the show. 

 

I am used to giving writers a good 3-6 months before making a final decision on whether or not their material is successful. That being said, I still think Kay Alden should have been the new headwriter, with SSM as story consultant. of the two women, KA is superior writer, IMHO.