Y&R May 2021 Discussion Thread

[DaytimeFan]

It’s unlikely we’ll be seeing Jill for the foreseeable future: Jess Walton’s husband, John, has had a reoccurrence of the cancer he was in remission from a few years ago and she’s asking for prayers and love as her family goes through what she’s described as a painful time. 

[rlj]

Uh Sally arrived on canvas wanting Summers position at Fenmores.  Egged on by Theo, she sought info for blackmail which led Summer to seek info to counter, hence y Lauren told them to get over it, Sally started the rivalry, helps if ya watch the show!

[FrenchBug82]

Why can't people have disagreements about our interpretation of what is happening on-screen without being rude, condescending, aggressive? Urgh.

I watched the same show as you did. I stick to my interpretation. Summer disliked Sally on-sight and everything flew from there. They didn't build it up in a believable compelling manner, REGARDLESS of whoever you think is the "worst" person.

Edited May 30, 2021 by FrenchBug82

[ranger1rg]

Not an unpopular opinion with me. I think Bryton does great work even when his story is bad. He comes across as real and genuine and authentic, and that warmth translates so well. 

Agree with you. Like most of Josh’s writing, their story wasn’t built properly. SHOW me the reasons that characters are at odds — don’t TELL me they don’t get along or have them attack each other and let me decide who to blame.

 

He does this with every story. Take Tara, for example. Will she be different from the quiet wallflower we’ve been given? Who knows with Griffith.

 

I do know that if we were shown signs of another side of her, it’s possible we’d see her casting as better than a complete failure. Instead, we’ve been given a wet dishrag for months, and most of us dislike this actress in the  role. If Tara does a 180 turn, will it seem believable? Again, it’s a failure in writing.

[LondonScribe]

With Tara, it’s almost a certainty she’ll end up a different character. They didn’t have Ashland warn Jack about her for no reason.

 

At a guess, once Ashland is out of the picture, she’ll turn to Jack, thus making it awkward for Kyle and Summer (again

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), especially if she ends up keeping Harrison. Phyllis’ protective instincts will kick in and this ‘new’ Tara will probably then go after Sally for the role she has played in all of this mess.

 

And not a second of it would move outside of ‘first gear’, writing, directing or production-wise.

 

 

[Forever8]

I just wish we had a better actress playing Tara. She is so lifeless in the role and she doesn't seem the type that Kyle would sneak around and have an affair in the Hamptons neither. 

 

I'm probably in the minority but I would've preferred Sally and Summer being unlikely friends rather than rivals. I think they're trying to equate Summer being Phyllis when it comes to not having many female friends. Though this rivalry is not written consistently. 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Forever8

[Faulkner]

Yeah, they need to recast (again) if they intend to really entrench her in the show.

[LondonScribe]

I’d be curious to know what criteria they went for when they cast Elizabeth Leiner. I wonder if it is an ability to act terrified and meek with a view to shaking that off down the line, and settle on more confident, etc

 

Re: Summer and Sally. If Mal Young and then Josh Griffith hadn’t made the decision to have Summer employ some of Phyllis’ insecure and impulsive characteristics as recently as last year (essentially becoming her mini-me) this conflict with Sally may have worked if developed organically.

 

Hear me out… I think I remember a brief time when Summer was a mix of her mum and Nick when the occasion required. If that version of Summer had remained and Sally arrived, displaying her [Summer’s] mother’s naked ambition and ruthless scheming that she does, teasing a reaction out of her, that might have worked. As it could have had the subtext of Summer engaging in an organic (and new) battle with a version of her mother and being grown up enough to deal with it properly in a way she couldn’t with Phyllis when she was a teen.

 

Instead, we have the characteristics of one person spread across two people engaged in a rivalry with each other.

 

I pulled that out of my ear, so pardon me if it’s a little wonky 

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Because whether by coincidence or by choice, Sally is almost an embodiment of a younger Phyllis:

red headed, tall, athletic, attractive (subjective to each, I acknowledge), the characteristics described above.

Edited May 30, 2021 by LondonScribe

[Taoboi]

You remember correctly.  From where I'm viewing, I would prefer THAT Summer versus current Summer.

[Chatty Cakes]

I think they hired the lackluster Tara actress as to not outshine their pet Summer.  That’s why they wrote Sally so poorly. Someone at the top just loves this awful character of Summer Newman and they keep shoving her down our throats and it’s ruining the show. It’s too bad HK cant get another prime time gig but I doubt that will happen again. She only knows how to play dumb slutty characters and there are much better candidates than her. Same goes for her on screen disgusting mom Phyllis. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Chatty Cakes

[BigMAnOnDeck]

Bryton is carrying the Winters legacy wonderfully

[Chatty Cakes]

Why is the disgusting Phyllis on the Neil episode? Neil hated her guts and so did Dru. Nice of her to go sniffing around Jack like a dog in heat and bring up his addiction. She is the worst character since they brought Stafford back.

[ranger1rg]

You sound nice.

 

Seriously, your attacks on HK and MS say much more about you than they do about those actors.

[Paul Raven]

The Crimson Lights,Society and Grand Phoenix sets are constantly used and there are never any customers.

They have a staff member wandering around and that's it. 

Now we know Covid and budget means they can't have extras but what gets me is they do these long shots, especially in CL which makes it clear there is no one there. The director should be using tighter shots to disguise this. And CL needs a makeover.

Still getting used to CLB with the natural hair. To me its too much - a shorter cut would look better and less 70's game show host.

And those so called suites at the Green Pumpkin with the bed as apart of the main room - such luxury!

Maybe some sort of a wall with opening to give an impression of the bedroom as a separate space,

Just some visual observations...

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Bryton being a talent is not an unpopular opinion with me. For years, I have always believed he just never got any storyline. Dude had a quasi-imaginary girlfriend for years! People were willing to credit MM (deservedly so) for what worked with Devon and Hilary, but Bryton also had something to do with that.

I think some of the source of some soap fans denigrating the character and the actor who plays him had to do with the aspect of him not being the 6 ft prototype, therefore they don't find him attractive in that aggressively hyper-masculine way that some soap fans have been trained to see as 'leading man' material.

I like the 'naturalistic' style he has in his performance, yes I do think it is a choice. Some people would call it monotone or deadpan but it is a realistic delivery of speech and, in a way, stands out against the very soapy acting style (which I am not criticizing either). not everyone speaks the same, there should be room for both.

Edited May 31, 2021 by DramatistDreamer
Haha, just caught that typo.