Y&R: May 2017 Discussion Thread

[ajsp35801]

Tessa was. Now she's living at the ranch. 

[cattykittens]

 

The 1% of Wisconsin don't represent the economic reality of most of the population of WI. And the 1% of Californians don't represent the economic reality of most of the population of California either. Most Californian's don't live as nicely as the characters on the Bold and the Beautiful.

 

It's the norm for those in the 1% to be concentrated in certain areas, or cities. Genoa City is obviously one of those places. GC could easily be the string of suburbs/towns on Lake Michigan on the north edge of Milwaukee. It's very possible that's what the creators were thinking of when they chose Wisconsin for the setting. Of course Wisconsin doesn't have as many areas as California or New York, but it does have a couple.

 

I've never liked that they don't reflect the weather very well, but residents do wear sleeveless in the dead of winter (inside), because depending on where you are, the heat can be too hot. Most people dress in layers, and if you live in the wealthier 1% areas you can be as fashionable w/stilettos and miniskirts as they are in other wealthy areas in the country.

 

I thought the complaint was about being realistic? Now it's changed to being Genoa City should be a place with 3 or 4 billionaire families that's diverse ethnically or socio-economically?  That's not the show we have been watching all this time. They would have to get rid of more than half of the white characters/cast. Why not develop a whole new show based on this idea? And why just pick on Y&R? Most shows, TV and movies, aren't diverse ethnically or socio-economically.

[Antoyne]

When the hell did Scott become a complete a.sshole?

[KMan101]

I wouldn't mind the catfight if it was A) Good and B.) the characters involved built naturally towards it. It was forced. Their "rivalry" doesn't work for me ... so I thought the catfight was lame. And when we had an actual fight, between Chelsea and Chloe, they don't show any of it. The staging is terrible. It wasn't worth doing.

 

Right?

[Soapsuds]

Victoria vs Phyliss

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   ....Are we really suppose to consider this a battle? Victoria who has pushed away Billy for so many years it seems now and wants him all of sudden? Who would root for that bat/witch?  No one wants Victoria with Billy. She has treated him like sh!t for the longest time now.

 

Lily is so annoying.

 

Cane is a useless pain in the ass character. Can't stand him!

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Logical is a word I would use, reflective, I would also use, but you won't catch me using the words realistic and soap opera in the same sentence. You must have me confused with someone else.

 

I have discussed film and movies but this thread is not the appropriate place to do it, since it is all about Y&R.  And I mentioned a few pages back that when you look at the show that have the top ratings in primetime (Shondaland shows, Criminal Minds, etc) they tend to have not only diverse casts but also diverse Writer's Rooms.  I've said this on more than one occasion.

 

 

[cattykittens]

 

But those shows were created like that. What long time running show has gotten rid of it's white characters in order to make it more diverse? That would kill a soap since it relies so much on history. Race wouldn't even matter. Even if you got rid of half of the white characters and replaced them with new white characters viewers would flip out.

 

Scandal is one of my favorite shows and they are all mainly wealthy characters. Most have quite a bit of power too. There are black and white characters, but where are all the Asian and Hispanic ones? Is that ethnically diverse? The have one gay main character, but no one is disabled. They are best at letting women lead, or at least be full participants. Even newly created shows that start with a blank slate can't do it all.

[koos]

Man this show is fully back to the "Everyone is Terrible" theme that ran rampant for the last decade. Everyone is a sociopath again. What's compelling about that?

[DramatistDreamer]

 

You referenced one show. I noticed Grey's Anatomy nor were any of the other shows were referenced. Law & Order lasting decades by presented diverse casts and when it started out as Homicide, it didn't necessarily begin diverse either. Are you saying that everyone on that show was wealthy too?

If anything, I'm harder on Y&R because it's on five days a week, that's way more latitude to write more intricate, detailed encompassing storylines than a once per week program.

 

And Y&R has been much more diverse economically and even ethnically in part of the 80s and 90s, so despite Y&R not being diverse when it started, Y&R isn't perfect, there's no such thing but let's not pretend the show hasn't been better with diversity.

[Juliajms]

Or that it couldn't be better, I mean, please.

 

They don't have to get rid of half its white cast to have a bit more diversity. Nor do they have to be diverse in every area at one time. I give them credit for adding Ravi and it wouldn't be that hard for them to add a gay character and/ or have a character with a different religion. Having a child with developmental issues is a no brainer for a soap.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Thank You!  

 

I mean, Y&R used to have disabled characters who were in the work place and lived their lives so it's not impossible. As far as I know Ravi is one of the few characters who could actually be seen as middle class, unless Y&R decides to somehow make him a billionaire (which I wouldn't put it past them) so just by his presence, it does prove that Y&R could be having diverse characters.

I guess that Reed's music teacher counts for economic diversity but sleeping in one's car can't really be considered middle class, right?

 

Okay, in the interest of saying something positive about Y&R, I will say this--

Chelsea's blouse and updo went very well together.

 

And, I did appreciate the camera work in the scene between Jack and Ashley, where the camera pulls back after sad sack Jack makes that statement about Billy and Phylis' being together again.

[cattykittens]

 

Sorry, but Scandal is the one I watch. I don't watch Grey's Anatomy but I know it's about about doctors and hospital executives. They would all be relatively wealthy wouldn't they? Yes, to Law and Order, but a majority of the regulars were white if I remember correctly.  Law and Order takes place in NYC the most diverse city in the country, a very diverse cast fits the setting. A police show set in a small city in Wisconsin would not be cast the same as one in LA or New York.

 

Y&R could add a new minority police officer just as easy as Law and Order, but it's different when you're talking about complete families, and their offspring, and their offspring, like on a soap. Viewers are attached to their characters, and are automatically interested in their love interests and offspring. The family and it's tree is THE story, unlike the crime of the day on Law and Order, where it's easier to change out the single players.

 

 

 The wealthy families children have grown up, and other characters have acquired wealth over time, just like in real life. That automatically made Y&R less diverse economically. What are they supposed to do take to money away from Nick,Victoria, Tracy & Ashley? If the writers stopped sending new billionaires to town, and stopped making so many characters billionaires overnight, it would be better. But Devon fans don't want him to lose Kay's instant billions, Chelsea fans don't want her to lose Chelsea 2.0 the overnight success. etc.etc. Y&R can't win, fans complain about economic diversity, but at the very same time want their favorite character rich.

 

Y&R used to have a strong Barber/Winters family, and strong matriarch headed family with Jill and Kay in Chancellor Mansion. But the all those Newmans & their love interests have really taken over. The Abbotts are still strong but that's it. Sally's putting lots of effort into rebuilding the Winters, but not Jill and all her connected family with Kay.

 

 Y&R has a character that is gay off-screen. The could easily cast Phillip Chancellor III 15 years younger (like they did with Phyllis) and have him return to GC. That way they don't have to do "the gay story" or the "gay reveal". Phillip is a legacy character with a history in GC, he was already established. Have him lose  his Australian partner to Cancer and have him return to GC to help his mother at CI. Later on, bring him a new love interest.  That's better than bringing on some random characters for the gay storyline.

 

Remember that Devon was disabled with his hearing issues for years.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

So I guess it's totally unrelated that one of the few middle class families, the Williams have been decimated over the years. Paul's kids have been sent away and used for target practice (and I'm not even talking about Dylan).

 

By the way, Y&R used to have a Black policeman, he was the chief of police (played by Brock Peters) and Paul's father used to work for him, his daughter used to work with Andy and Paul, before Lyn.

Again, diversity, is not all that difficult to achieve.

 

As for Law & Order, since I used to live in NYC and went to art school there, I can tell you that behind the camera there was quite a bit of diversity, and quite a few actors of color did guest spots on the show.  Tamara Tunie of As The World Turns did a guest starring role for years while she did the soap before she was made a regular on the show.

By the way, one of my former writing instructors (a woman) used to write for L&O and they had at least two writers of color who wrote entire episodes from time to time.

 

You are right that NYC is in fact a diverse city, although if you've ever watched Seinfeld or Friends, you know that having a show set in a diverse city is no guarantee that the diversity will carry over onto the show.

It's a matter of intention.

 

And sorry, did you say Chelsea's fans?  You're really going to try to make a point based on Chelsea's fans?  

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  People care about Chelsea 2.0?  When's the last time we even saw Chelsea with an inch of fabric?

 

Not to sound condescending but you're making an awful lot of assumptions.

 

By the way, a GP/Family doctor does not usually make a lot of money. In fact, they're far from wealthy. Family doctors (especially in rural and suburban areas) often make so little money that there is a shortage of them throughout the country and there has been a shortage for several years (which is why many people, particularly in the medical profession opposed the travel ban because many towns, in particular, rely on foreign born doctors to fill the shortage).

 

My mother's doctor is Ghanian and before that she had an Indian doctor-

Oh wait, I know another area where Y&R could've been diverse.  

Oh yeah, that's right, Olivia's no longer on the show.

 

You're thinking of surgeons (particularly plastic surgeons) or dermatologists who tend to make far more money.

 

Geez, you would think that Devon was the patriarch of a large family of plutocrats the way people are fussing over his bank account. He's one guy.  The only guy, by the way, who has actually spoken of doing something "good" and "worthwhile" with his money. But I guess Devon now has to justify having his coin, even though we never see Jack or Victor say the same about their money.  

[DeeeDee]

 

Notice how Katherine's "real" family is ONLY Jill and everyone related to Jill too. 

 

+1.

 

Certain fans LOVE acting like diversity is impossible to achieve when there is a discussion about implementing real change onscreen & behind the scenes.

 

As if a rising tide doesn't life all boats.

[cattykittens]

 ? I don't have a problem with the Williams. I just didn't think of them as the "Williams family" since Paul's parents left. Since then I've thought as Paul part Lauren & Michael's family until the Fishers showed up in town.

 

 

 At Chloes' wedding, she made the dresses. May not be many Chelsea fans on this board but there are on some others. I could care less if Chelsea and Chelsea 2.0 disappears.

 

 

That "one guy" was handicapped, which you just said was badly needed. And they just made him a billionaire, which you just said there was too much of.  But not one complaint about that it changed two categories on Y&R for the worse because it was Devon. People don't want their favorites to be poor and handicapped.

 

Victor earned every penny of his own money. Jack had to work his way up over the decades (John was the number one). Why would they have to justify it, they worked for it. Neither of these guys were given that type of money or power in their 20s.

 

Devon got his by winning the lottery. The Newman/Abbott trust fund babies have to put up with the head of their family who has held the power, and lions share of the wealth, since day one. Devon got his free and clear, he didn't have a life of dealing with Katherine.  Mac, Chance, Brocks & Phillip's lives were significantly impacted, and not always for the better, by Katherine.

 

Maybe Devon feels he has to justify it because he was given 10X the money the others were given, without ANY explanation. The writers could have given each one of them 2.5 billion dollars. It's not like there was a limit to this faux money. Maybe the new writers are trying to justify it? Which is hard because it doesn't make any sense, and Katherine never would have done it. No other character has been given money like this. He didn't work for it, he didn't endure grief from the source of it, and he had no real relationship with the source of it, or the rest of the sources family. 

 

How is Devon doing great things by making himself & his family richer? Buying a streaming service is more worthwhile than volunteering to go to war for your country like Chance? Or devoting your life to god and helping the poor like Brock? Or having a friends babies and helping those out of a natural disasters like Mac?