Y&R December 2021 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

As Locher himself would say, "That's crazy!!".

[DramatistDreamer]

This, in a nutshell, is my total problem with his channel: he is not shifting perception of the genre in any positive way, he's actually doing the opposite. 

People may think I am being ridiculous by stating this, but I have often wondered whether someone looking to go into some of these shows' classic libraries (ATWT/GL, for example) and re-consider because of the sagging numbers. I really do believe that archives like the Vault started by members of this message board sparked B&B to start releasing classic episodes via their YouTube channel, as well as PlutoTV starting a Y&R channel (although what they stream is far from the classics). 

Someone is always watching the numbers. They make considerations based on what they perceived as sparking interest and why they don't believe will.

Fortunately for fans of Y&R and B&B, Days, etc., What Locher does or doesn't do on his channel won't affect the prospects of these soaps, one way or another since other vehicles have clearly proven that the interest is there but for fans of those poor abandoned P&G soaps, amateurish productions that get the slimmest of view counts only serves to confirm their judgements that few people care about these soaps.

It really is crazy that he hasn't done a thing to try to improve. Can he not see the numbers? He now has like, less than half his average view count from last year's episodes.

[FrenchBug82]

In all fairness, he probably assumes the viewership numbers are down because the thing that prompted this series in the first place and made it a good viewing for people bored at home was the pandemic and stay-at-home measures.
So he figures now that people are more active, fewer people wasting time on YT but for the hardcore fans like us.

That being said, it is insane he hasnt noticed the dissastisfaction with his interviewing style and tried to adapt.

[DramatistDreamer]

Big time publicist that he is, it's insane that he hasn't noticed Michael Fairman's channel or Maurice Benard's channel or, well anybody else's channel.

With the 'Great Resignation' in effect, there are still plenty of people at home still and even delayed views from view shifting would still count. His channel is just not attracting any of them.

[ranger1rg]

Today’s show was another suckfest. They can’t even do emotional holiday shows any more.

Why is Nina on the damn phone? Why can’t she be there? Phyllis cries about missing her kids, but why should I be sad when she can jet to see them? And saying the gifts she ordered would be a week late? We were told there’d be a mess in delivery, but that never happened.

Why wouldn’t Jack visit his kid and grandson? Why is Devon wrapping gifts when everyone I know throws the gifts in a gift bag?

Why do Xmas visitors to Abby’s not get a drink or a piece of cheese? Why do Tessa and Mariah have 14 bags each — all that look empty?

What emotion should I feel when Chance reads a Xmas card message — about another thing that happened off screen?

This show is a DISASTER.

[Paul Raven]

I gave up after the Tuscan wedding and tuned back in for new Chance (miscast) and Jill's return.

But there is nothing to get me to watch again.

The dreadful cheap production and the awful stories/wasted potential...

[Paul Raven]

A thought.

As much as I hate SORASING and think Phyllis id disposable at this point...

Why not bring in her grandaughter Lucy?

She is roughly the same age as Faith and Moses, so could provide some much needed oomph to their non story.

She could land on Phyllis' doorstep and demand her gran steps up to provide some support. Have Phyllis feel guilty that she hasn't had much interaction.

Maybe Daniel returns for a few eps to give some context. While he's in town he could hook up with his ex Lily to provide angst for her and Billy.

Of course, Lucy being a spoiler for Faith/Moses would bring Phyllis into conflict with Sharon and Nick,Victor and Nikki.

Lots of story possibilities.

The big stumbling block is whether the show and La Staff would want Phyllis as a grandmother.

What do you think??

[Khan]

I think PS would blow her entire stack at the thought.

So, of course, I think they should do it.

[Forever8]

I've been saying this on Twitter for a long time now. Lucy should be a rebellious mess like Granny Phyllis. But deep down has a good heart. They should go ahead and do this and also add a teenage Johnny, Connor, and an unrelated black or POC teen to the canvas too. 

MS would have to deal with it. She can't play the romantic lead forever. Besides she needs all the family she can get on the canvas at the moment. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Forever8

[titan1978]

I watched my first full episode of Y&R in years and woof.  This show is really bad.  Yes, Bell’s show felt slow compared to the ABC soaps.  But every episode had heightened emotions.  This episode was very one note and lacked any emotion at all.  I did think the new Noah was cute.  And SC looked great and had a little life to her scenes.  But the rest was so bland.

[Faulkner]

NuNoah is cute but he’s so fücking glum and low-energy.

Fitting for the show, I guess.

There’s something very telling about how CBS promotes their soaps. They don’t even really push their big weekly dramatic stories as ABC and NBC do for GH and DAYS (which, ok, Y&R doesn’t have any), but they have this sorta generic, shiny-happy-people-laughing vision set to pop rock. Obviously they must have market-tested those, so they have some sense of what their audience wants. Someone said Hallmark Channel and that feels right. Good vibes only, light conversations about trivia (lots of chirpy, conflict-free filler chats about business/life events like today’s Chelsea/Abby, Elena/Sharon, and Sally/Tessa), very little sex, superficial emotions, vaguely low-budget Canadian afterschool drama feel.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Faulkner

[Darn]

Hey now, Degrassi was more dramatic than this mess! Hallmark channel is right on the nose, completely lifeless and generic with no stakes. Pretty people sitting around talking about absolutely nothing. The actors look drained. They radiate utter boredom.

[titan1978]

I was also going to mention Degrassi is way more dramatic that this!

It is reminiscent of the genial blandness of Hallmark.

[Vee]

I don't think they actually are field testing these promos that much. I think they've just been trying to emulate Frons' ABC Daytime for so long and are content with that facsimile house style in the marketing, and meanwhile I think Y&R as #1 is so baked in at this point that very little moves the needle one way or another. They also don't take big story risks at all, so things remain static.

[kalbir]

This meme sums up CBS Daytime demographics pretty good.

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