Y&R March 2021 Discussion Thread

[Forever8]

If this was MAB tenure Amanda's grandfather would probably be played by Ernie Hudson. 

 

If they got Keith David I would hope they would use it as free publicity to promote coming onto the series. But for the entire show as a whole too. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

No offense to Hudson, who seems like an affable, serviceable actor but I would think he is probably a more "affordable" talent than someone who is as in demand as David.

 

I know MAB was stuck on pop culture figures but the people she often brought on always seemed like they'd be the most likely to come in under budget, and some were valued way under budget.

TBH, I have no expectations for Y&R ever being able to get David unless he were intrigued about working with the group of actors he'd be working with or if he'd never worked on a daytime soap ( has he ever worked on a daytime drama?) and were curious, because we all know he's not pressed for work.

[Chatty Cakes]

Alvia Lynd is doing a good job with the bullying storyline. I felt bad for poor Faith.

[FrenchBug82]

I don't mind the bullying storyline but having Sharon play tearful hospital bedside scenes a mere two weeks after she did the same with Rey feels like the right hand planned a story and didn't tell the left hand about it. Bad writing to time this like that.
And I am not super fond of them mimicking Cassie's death (even if Faith won't die) by replaying the drunk-accident scenario. It feels cheap to me and I don't like it. There were other ways to put her in danger.

[ranger1rg]

They’ll send Faith off to boarding school and the bullying won’t even be addressed. We‘ll never see Jordan again, even though we’ve seen her so little it’s ridiculous.

 

It’s more terrible writing from a guy who cannot tell stories.

[Cat]

 

Don't get me started on Stafford's whispery, Valley girl 'nunciayshin! 

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 Braeden, I can forgive as he's like 93 and originally speaking German-inflected British.

 

Back in the day, I thought PB's careful, well-spoken reading of the lines was perfect for Y&R, such as it was back then. Written by Bill Bell and his longtime writing team, the dialogue was classic and erudite. PB's delivery fit that considered style and his WASPy character. I personally could watch old episodes written in this style for hours. They cast a spell over the viewer.

 

In later years, PB started to stand out as the writing teams changed significantly, and the writing got dumbed down. That is not his fault in any way. PB continues to imbue gravitas in his speech. He is a tentpole character -- and tentpole actor -- on this show, and leans into that role. But there were times when it really stood out with some of the hokey stuff (like Marco). 

 

[Ponds]

The worst thing ever done to PB was that Marco storyline.  I'm surprised he didn't quit over it.

[FrenchBug82]

One of the things soap actors who are committed to the genre, as PB is, learn is that you need to weather the bad storylines to get to the good. You try to salvage the character from the bad writing as much as you can until it washes over.

I am surprised he wasn't more vocal about it afterwards though. Considering how open he has been about loathing the LuAnn story, which, retcon as it was, was not a bad story, you'd think this much more heinous thing inflicted on him and his character would warrant some harsh words.

I will say I did appreciate that Phyllis being fooled into sleeping with Marco was acknowledged as rape, which is what it was, and that they wrote Phyllis dealing with that and being angry about it. That was good soap AND a responsible way to approach the mess. I wish they still had that anger and upset bubbling up underneath instead of having Phyllis regress to... that.

[Ponds]

As we've discussed here before, what woman doesn't recognize the man she's sleeping with isn't her husband?  WAY TOO STUPID.

[Cat]

That was Phelps & Pratt's doing. PB was a pro and rode it out. IMO it was the character of Victor who was ruined more by this SL.

 

 

PB did comment about it on the Y&R YouTube channel, apparently:

 

In an interview with co-star, Melissa Claire Egan on the Young and the Restless YouTube channel, Bergman talked about the Marco storyline, insinuating that he was not a big fan of it. “I didn’t like it that much,” Bergman said, as reported by Daytime Confidential. “You know, it was so kind of outlandish that there was this guy in Peru that looked exactly like Jack, that Phyllis [then-Gina Tognoni] wouldn’t know it was another guy in bed.”

 

He also noted a weird aspect of the storyline in which Marco was attracted to Ashley, Jack’s sister. He and Eileen Davidson made light of the creepy matter. “I mean, there was lots of things that were—my favorite thing about it was that Marco had a thing for Ashley,” he continued. “And I used to literally scare Eileen Davidson coming on to her, because she played my sister for so long and suddenly I’m doing scenes where I’m hitting on her. That was great fun.”

 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-young-and-the-restless-peter-bergman-says-the-marco-storyline-was-outlandish-but-he-had-a-favorite-thing-about-it.html/

 

[soapfan770]

That almost reminds me of the botched up job JG did several years ago with the bullying story involving Fen, Summer, and Jamie and that drug dealing Raven(?) girl. 

[Broderick]

 

The writing -- and the line delivery from most of the cast -- was very stylized, back in the day.   They've definitely lost sight of that trait in the past several years, and it's not an improvement.  

[FrenchBug82]

It goes back to soap producers fundamental misunderstanding of what is ailing soaps.

They are changing what is soaps' strengths: the format, the way to tell stories and pace them, the writing style and keeping the same tired stories.
Modernizing soaps should be the other way around: soaps can't compete with the pacing or the hipness of primetime and should worship their slow-burning world-building and instead what needs to change are the topics and types of stories and characters that are told to be more in the 21st century.
Making characters speak like hipsters is not the change that is needed.
 

[Paul Raven]

Exactly.

For me classic Y&R worked on two levels-there was a kind of campiness- Katherine and Jill's histrionics, Vanessa in a veil, Nikki's crises all wrapped up in lush productions which wove a kind of spell so that you laughed at times but didn't  want to miss a minute.

Watching it now you miss the depth of story/characterization and it looks as cheap as fluck.

[Faulkner]

This show is bad, bad, bad. Of course, Adam is the Good Samaritan who brought Faith to the hospital. So manipulative.