"The Young and the Restless" executive producer Anthony Morina and co-executive producer/head writer Josh Griffith discuss Phyllis switcheroo and more. More

The post ‘Y&R’ Producers Discuss Gina Tognoni and Michelle Stafford Switcheroo appeared first on Soap Opera Network.

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They were better off not addressing it, lol. They have been rightfully draaaaaaged.

2 minutes ago, KMan101 said:

They were better off not addressing it, lol. They have been rightfully draaaaaaged.

 

Yeah, this is so disrespectful.  While I don't think Gina was right for the role, this is a slap to Gina, her fans and the viewers who embraced her as Phyllis.  

3 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Yeah, this is so disrespectful.  While I don't think Gina was right for the role, this is a slap to Gina, her fans and the viewers who embraced her as Phyllis.  

 

Very much agreed. I started to enjoy Gina in the role actually but the first few years? Ouch. It was like watching Gina play a butch lesbian version of Phyllis. She did ultimately make it her own (but I'm also one who still feels, while I don't really like her, Stafford *is* Phyllis). I wish she had been Victoria. Imagine the fire? Gawd. Heinle is so awful in that role. Anywhoozles ...

 

I agree it was *very* disrespectful all the way around. And those two handled that interview horribly. lol.

 

EDIT: And while I'm not a Stafford fan by any stretch, I wish folks would stop acting as if she stomped into Y&R and demanded Gina be fired so she could come back (but I can understand why most would assume that of her). It's like with Miller and David Tom. David Tom didn't go in and demand Miller be fired so he could take back the role. Some soap fans really need to buy a clue and they have no idea how these things work.

Edited June 1, 20196 yr by KMan101

Yeah the whole Gina is so “nice” thing is condescending af. While I prefer Stafford in the role and welcome her return, I also know that Tognoni did a lot of leg work in rehabilitating the Phyllis character.

 

Like others have said, the role of Victoria (as conceived by Bill Bell, Kay Alden, and Jack Smith) would have fit Gina Tognoni like a glove.  I could be wrong, but were there not whispers ca. 2009, around the time of Guiding Light’s cancellation, that Tognoni was being considered as a Victoria recast? I also recall rumors that the popularity of the Villy pairing (Heinle and Miller version) put to rest discussions of a Victoria recast ~2010-11.

11 minutes ago, Eboneece said:

Yeah the whole Gina is so “nice” thing is condescending af. While I prefer Stafford in the role and welcome her return, I also know that Tognoni did a lot of leg work in rehabilitating the Phyllis character.

 

Like others have said, the role of Victoria (as conceived by Bill Bell, Kay Alden, and Jack Smith) would have fit Gina Tognoni like a glove.  I could be wrong, but were there not whispers ca. 2009, around the time of Guiding Light’s cancellation, that Tognoni was being considered as a Victoria recast? I also recall rumors that the popularity of the Villy pairing (Heinle and Miller version) put to rest discussions of a Victoria recast ~2010-11.

 

Just watch Miller waltz right back into the Billy role.  TIIC want AH as the lead of this how, and that can't happen if they can't find a good match for her.  Miller was pretty much her only successful pairing and JT is not cutting it with AH.  He will be gone soon.  

 

Hey, Frank just might hire him back as nothing is working on GH.  Like, absolutely NOTHING!  

34 minutes ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Just watch Miller waltz right back into the Billy role.  TIIC want AH as the lead of this how, and that can't happen if they can't find a good match for her.  Miller was pretty much her only successful pairing and JT is not cutting it with AH.  He will be gone soon.  

 

Hey, Frank just might hire him back as nothing is working on GH.  Like, absolutely NOTHING!  

 

Yeah, a lot of us are already seeing the BM/JT switcheroo coming.

3 hours ago, KMan101 said:

They were better off not addressing it, lol. They have been rightfully draaaaaaged.

 

3 hours ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Yeah, this is so disrespectful.  While I don't think Gina was right for the role, this is a slap to Gina, her fans and the viewers who embraced her as Phyllis.  

 

When you say it like that, I guess I won't read that.

 

While MS is Phyllis, I feel the same about Gina. I enjoyed her version when I watched regularly under SS and MY so meh. And that picture above just gives me the shivers. 

These two will be fired within a year. Watch. 

2 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

These two will be fired within a year. Watch. 

 

I expect Morina to last at least two more headwriter regimes but Griffith will definitely be gone quick

 

I understand their reasoning but I don't see this doing anything but causing a headache when Stafford gets big for her britches again. Gina was great in the role and made it her own in a way few recasts are able to accomplish with roles like this, I'm gonna miss her a lot.

This gives me flashbacks of how Sandra Nelson, who also portrayed Phyllis, left the show.  IIRC, her getaway wasn't clean either.

 

Come to think of it, when was the last time ANY actor left Y&R (aside from dying IRL, of course) without things getting ugly?

 

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

These two will be fired within a year. Watch. 

 

Yep.

 

55 minutes ago, detroitpiston said:

I expect Morina to last at least two more headwriter regimes but Griffith will definitely be gone quick

 

Who's to say, though, those two HW'ing regimes won't be in and out in (almost) record time?  

 

5 hours ago, ChitHappens said:

Just watch Miller waltz right back into the Billy role.  TIIC want AH as the lead of this how, and that can't happen if they can't find a good match for her.  Miller was pretty much her only successful pairing and JT is not cutting it with AH.  He will be gone soon.  

 

Hey, Frank just might hire him back as nothing is working on GH.  Like, absolutely NOTHING!  

 

4 hours ago, KMan101 said:

Yeah, a lot of us are already seeing the BM/JT switcheroo coming.

 

For all we know, BM could be back and taping scenes again as we speak.

Edited June 1, 20196 yr by Khan

2 hours ago, detroitpiston said:

 

I expect Morina to last at least two more headwriter regimes but Griffith will definitely be gone quick

Frankly, I'm not convinced Morina was ever Sony/CBS's choice for an EP - I think they had no one else when Mal was fired to take over. The same with Griffith - he was already there filling in for Lisa de Cazotte and had already written the show before (albeit badly, but that doesn't matter to the idiots running the show). 

 

Lisa de Cazotte was on leave when Mal was let go, or else, I think they would have given the EP reigns to her (despite Morina being on the show longer). She has more EP experience than Morina (granted most of it was at Passions) and is well-liked within the industry. Morina got lucky when Mal was fired, iMO. 

 

 

It feels like there have been a lot of sloppy, rushed hires the past 2-3 years. Sally Sussman was hired seemingly out of desperation after Pratt bounced. Mal might be the only person who was handpicked, it appears, and we see how that turned out. 

It's puzzling they haven't taken a chance of people on their writing team already - instead of rehiring a recycled hack like Griffith over and over again. 

 

Natalie Minardi Slater has been there for years, was Kay Alden's protege, and has withstood some pretty terrible regimes. Then you have someone like Jeff Beldner who has been in the industry for years but never given the opportunity to HW a show. Why not pair them as Co-HWs or something - one who actually has experience writing 'classic Y&R' and one who had more experience with the ABC soaps they've been trying to turn Y&R into for years? They have nothing left to lose by trying it out, but they would instead prefer to hire Griffith for the millionth time.

Edited June 2, 20196 yr by BetterForgotten

And still JFP/Pratt had hire ratings!  But she changed the Chandler mansion...where are the pitch forks?  

I think we assume that NMS or some old-school Y&R veteran writer wants that job, especially under these conditions, with the knowledge that Sony/CBS are disdainful of Bill Bell’s Y&R, which is where NMS, Janice, et al trained. Sony/CBS made it their mission to dismantle his legacy over the past 15 years, which dates back to the time when all three ABC soaps AND Days were often beating Y&R in the demos. Yeah, they’ve brought back little cues, but that’s pretty trivial. 

Edited June 2, 20196 yr by Faulkner