Y&R December 2017 Discussion Thread

[Aback]

How are Mal's ratings doing?

[ajsp35801]

 

Worse than Sally's. They were no longer first in demos a few weeks ago. 

[DramatistDreamer]

As a matter of public record, I just want to state that I was NEVER one of those who called for SS's termination.  

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For the simple fact that I knew that if they replaced her, it was likely that they'd replace her with someone who had even less knowledge of the show and who'd perform worse. 

I definitely thought she needed a co-writer but to replace her altogether, meant to risk getting even worse after her departure.

 

Also, I couldn't understand why some were so jubilant when Mal took over the head-writing position. Showrunning while head-writing is really tough and it's rarely done well.

 

Also, wasn't Mal there for the entire SS head-writing regime?  He would've had final say-so on stories, wouldn't he? Also  budgets, casting, wardrobe, hair, sets, etc. All of that would've had to go through him first before it landed onscreen for us to see so what we didn't like during SS's stint, MY was part of the reason why we saw it in the first place.

 

 

[Faulkner]

I didn't like Sally's writing, but I also expressed trepidation about who could replace her. This isn't 1987 when there was a ready bench of good, experienced soap writers who could step in (most of them have passed on or are out of the business) and Y&R is such a unique show in all aspects that it really needed to be shepherded by a Bell acolyte. Well, we had Kay Alden. Who else would be better than her?

 

I know a lot of people share the theory that MY sabotaged SS/KA in order to wrestle full control of the show in the way he's used to in Britain. That wouldn't surprise me, but the show still feels aimless in a similar way even though Things Are Happening. It's just a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Still no stakes.

 

I don't entirely blame Mal, though. This show has been gutted in the past 10 years. That's not an easy fix. The Newmans are completely zombified, and there is not one rootable or compelling male character on this show. Not one. You can't just purge 2/3 of the cast and start over, which is what needs to be done at minimum. You may as well cancel the show in this day and age.

[DeeeDee]

This show is a mess.

[slick jones]

 

 

I totally agree and have said the same thing, time an tme again. MY was in charge throughout SS's regime. He signed off on it, yet is now undermining the things she did to salvage characters like Sharon.

[edgeofnik]

 

The CBS ratings are down, but POP ratings are up significantly. Also, I'd love to know how Y&R does in terms of streaming - I'm finally cutting the cord on Thursday, so it'll be CBS.com or All-Access, but it will depend on whether the stories grab me to go out of my way.  

[ajsp35801]

 

Good luck. Lol

 

[cattykittens]

 

The only thing recognizable about Jill was Jess Walton.  The only Jill I know would hang onto Chancellor as tight as Katherine did, until death.

 

Nothing Jill said sounded anything like her. 

"have to look inside yourself for fullment"  -sounds more like Tracy

"Kay used to say you gotta sell high" -She did? 

"purely a business decision" - just business was Tucker's line.

"I've got a lot of years left and I've decided I want to spent them helping people in need"- LOL! And Colin too? I burst out laughing on this one.

 

Then Cane tells Jill " I know it's just business to you, but to me it's very  personal because I love this company" 

 I mean seriously? Business has always been nothing but intensely personal to Jill at Jabot, and Chancellor. But now it's Cane that loves it, and Jill all the sudden, could care less?

 

 I have to agree, if JiIl isn't scheming, Mal & the entire writing team have no idea who Jill is.... at all.

[edgeofnik]

Two awful, illogical plot driven storylines for Tuesday (US):

 

The hilarity of Nikki not knowing she's been cleared. As if Victoria wouldn't text, call, run over and tell her? So 24+ hours later, Nikki's still in the dark and being blackmailed by Victor. Like that's going to stick? 

 

And if Jack can appoint board members at will, why wouldn't he add The Worm, Hilary, etc. and countless others to stack the vote? Ooh, an estranged Kyle messengers his vote (how 1980s) to shock the family! 

[slick jones]

Why is Kyle mad at Jack? Did I miss something there?

[Soapsuds]

Today's show was downright awful. The Victor/Nikki stuff was predictable. Nikki's 2 day story is simply ridiculous. The emergency meeting was stupid especially with Jack giving Phyliss a seat on the board and Kyle voting against his dad.  And why does Kyle have a vote and not Keemo too?

 

And were the Nikki and the gay guy scenes recreated? I don't recall Nikki every telling the gay guy to steal money from Victor. The story makes zero sense since that money she supposedly stole is hers too. Just too dumb for words.

[DramatistDreamer]

Oh come on, @Soapsuds I know you're not mean-spirited and I'm no fan of the character by any stretch of the imagination but you know he has a name and it's Kevin. No, for the most part I've found him useless over the last several years but he did have a convincing pairing with Jana, irrespective of his sexuality onscreen or off.

 

In the spirit of trying to be positive, I will say that Y&R's episode does go at a clip these days, you can't say it lingers anywhere.  The jump cuts are insane though!

The board scenes were not boring and the actors were doing their best but it felt anti-climactic in the end. 

Like others, I felt like the vote felt flat because Kyle seemed to leave on good terms with Jack and I couldn't help bu imagine how that might've played out had Keemo been the one to cast the vote of no confidence-- that would've felt justified.

Also, can you imagine if Keemo had showed up in person to cast the vote of No Confidence? The look on Jack's face would've been priceless!  Just remember the days when soaps were able to keep a surprise under wraps, that could've been bad-a-s-s.

 

The interplay between Nikki and Victor caught my attention for awhile and I was amused until Victor ruined it by trying to corral Nikki back to the ranch. I guess MY wants more domestic scenes and that wouldn't be possible with Nikki living in her condo that we never see, so they wanted to create a situation for Nikki to be back at the ranch.

And who was the non-speaking woman who was setting up the table and dining room for Victor? Could they make it any more obvious that they're trying to save money by having all these extras with non-speaking roles?

I mean, when they did it at the lab or at the studio, it wasn't so bad but it was downright awkward with one-on-one scenes with one person (Victor), doing the talking while the other just nods. 

 

Speaking of cost-saving measures, usually Ashley looks pretty good but that suit looked so ill-fitting today. It bagged.

 

I was expecting Michael to tell Nick that there were no charges against Nikki and that the case has been closed.  How could Michael not know this information??

 

After those scenes between Ashley and Ravi, I wonder what will happen to Ravi.  He literally looked unwanted and I hope it's not the same sentiment offscreen these days.

[StepBack]

The show is probably the best its been in awhile. Dialogue is sharper. Stories are less stagnant, and less silly. Some characters seem more multi-dimensional and have an edge (Ashley, Victoria, Abby). The good thing about stories moving fast, is that we won't have to put up with lacklustre crap for too long lol. In this day and age, the slow story telling of Y&R is not going to work anymore and I've come to expect that. That doesn't mean we need to go 0 to 100, but Mal does need to slow down the pacing just a bit, unless he is planning to eventually take the show down to 3 days a week. Stories that should be told gradually would be Dina's Alzheimers, but something like Nikki embezzling money isn't something that needs to be kept as a long-term arc, because then we'd be complaining that why doesn't Nikki just confide in XYZ. 

[Soapsuds]

I actually had forgotten his name. I guess I was so glad that Kevin was gone that I completely erased his name out of my memory.

 

Keemo having the final vote was a missed opportunity. Kyle voting against Jack made zero sense.

 

The Ash and Ravi pairing was SS idea because Mal pretty much split them up today with Ash nonsense speech to him. There is no way Ashley would have used Ravi that way.