Y&R February 2022 Discussion Thread

[ranger1rg]

Does anyone else agree with me that Richard Burgi just isn’t very good as Ashland? Everyone’s gone out of their way to praise him, but I think he’s just mediocre in the role. I won’t miss him.

Hes a great looking guy, but he’s brought nothing special to the role.

[Vee]

I blame the show, which seems allergic to drama. I've seen Burgi play some crazy shít on cable and especially film, he's got a pretty funky range. But soaps don't have the creativity or energy these days for either nuance or wild swings. You've got talented folks playing largely staid ciphers.

[Paul Raven]

I though Ashland had his moments but the writing undermined the character.He became Victoria's yes man after awhile.

Let's see how RN handles things.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Paul Raven

[DramatistDreamer]

Apparently there are different types of recurring because when CK was recurring, she was on about as often as she was when on contract. I guess it just depends on a whole other set of criteria. (*shrug*).

[DramatistDreamer]

That makes sense, although it is somewhat hilarious that they decided to write an exit story for such an underutilized character.

[FrenchBug82]

Well some people go on recurring because the show doesn't plan on using them enough for their guarantee to make sense financially but some people go on recurring of their own volition because it gives them (and the show) some flexibility to do other things/take other jobs/live far away/be allowed to walk away anytime.
I have been preaching a more flexible system for years now - give enough leeway on the leash of actors to keep them happy while giving writers flexibility not to force themselves to write for characters just because they have a guarantee.
When actors have to choose between the safety of a soap contract and their gut desire to be creative and take on other projects, many will take the risk of leaving for the sake of the latter. Keeping them one foot in would keep some actors we otherwise lost.

Edited February 4, 2022 by FrenchBug82

[Darn]

But how do you plan long-term when you don't know an actor's availability? I see why they sign these actors to such stringent contracts but then of course they do the dumb thing and overuse them with dull story (case in point the actors who played Kyle and Summer, I truly believe both would have stayed if the story wasn't so awful).

[DramatistDreamer]

They contracted CLN and TEB for long periods of time while vastly underutilizing them.

From what I remember, didn't CK elect to be recurring when she wanted to pursue prime time? 

[Darn]

The show seems to have a large contract (and I assume highly paid considering most of them are veterans) cast with nothing interesting to do.

[Broderick]

I believe Tracey E Bregman has been "recurring" for the past 20 or so years.  Christian LeBlanc is "under contract" (according to the show's credit list), but his guaranteed number of episodes seems to be minimal.  

[YRfan23]

Tracey/Lauren  did go back on contract for a little between 2013-2015 I think, during the Carmine story. 

[Broderick]

Ok, thanks, I didn't remember that.  I was thinking she'd been recurring ever since she reappeared.  (My suspicion is that CLB is recurring also, but they're continuing to list him with the contract cast out of "kindness".  Doug Davidson revealed -- in one of his little rants -- that he'd been dropped to recurring long before they removed him from the contract cast list.)   

[DramatistDreamer]

Very telling. Probably the last time I heard or seen her involved in a halfway decently written story that was all her own.

[Antoyne]

And she was excellent in it. I’m not sure what they have against Tracey.

[DramatistDreamer]

Me either. That story had life to it and Tracey played it for all it was worth.  JG got unnerved by highly vocal stans of the Lauren & Michael coupling and backed away from letting the story unfold and resolve the way it should have. When it ran hot, it was a very entertaining story though.