Y&R January 2023 Discussion Thread

[j swift]

Forgive me if this topic is too sensitive, but Stafford's eye job is too severe.  Don't get me wrong, she is still very beautiful, but the work is remarkable.

I understand the desire to get a little tweak done in a career where youth is revered.  But, it is always an issue with soap actors who we see everyday for years, when all of the sudden it looks like their eye sockets have been sucked toward the back of their skull (e.g. Jerry Douglas aka John Abbott back in the day)

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Edited January 13, 2023 by j swift

[Sapounopera]

The eyes start looking more natural after a while.

The problem is that these days everybody stays the same age. Thixty. The SORASed children and grandchildren end up being the same age as their parents, they share the same love interests etc. The shows miss the wise older characters because they all -men and women- look like Real Housewives.

[Taoboi]

1-10

 

I have to give credit where credit is due. I love that Devon figured out that Audra was working for Tucker. And then he called her out with Lily. So many times you see guys dumbed down on shows so it's nice when someone uses their brain (and money) to figure it out. Though she already is pivoting over into Nate/Victoria/Elena direction.

 

Oooo poor Ashley. Slept with Tucker and THEN find out he hasn't changed. At least she didn't discover a woman in his restroom this time.

 

I'm surprised that Giggly Heffa's head didn't explode as I expected it to when she saw Jack and Diane kiss. But no one told her to stare through the door either.

 

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[Antoyne]

Noah’s new haircut literally makes he and Nick look like brothers. And Sally should definitely be dating Adam now that he’s closer to his actual age and not Nick who could be her dad. Hell the love triangle should be Adam/Sally/Noah.

[lucaslesann23]

Robert newman said (not in an insulting way) that when he was on YR he was told they can't even afford to pay for background characters anymore

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https://youtu.be/hhSOLfnGUe4

[Paul Raven]

There is something seriously wrong with the financials if that is the case.

But they keep writing scenes at communal spaces and making it obvious by having wide shots.

[Darn]

If the money isn't being spent on sets or background actors, what IS the money being spent on? Are salaries still that high? Let some of these people go. That's this show's problem though. They've done nothing to build a new generation of leads. Name a character introduced in the last decade that's as interesting as Jack or Lauren or Michael or Nikki.

[Vee]

Seriously, how can they be that broke as the #1 soap? I know B&B has more money because of a stronger international situation, but the fact that they look at least as skint as GH is rough (and GH looks better in recent years).

[BoldRestless]

GH looks way better. Their sets are bland and generic but they're huge and there's some depth to them. You can see that there's a foyer and stairs and more to a home. The Chancellor and Newman "estates" now look like those 2-d dioramas that you make in second grade. Just a box that can only be shot from a straight angle. All of the characters on GH seem to have homes, apartments, and offices. There's nothing glaring missing.

 

I couldn't believe it the other day when Billy and Lily said "let's not pretend we didn't just go to our first therapy session." I was like, uh, you're actually pretending you did go. They couldn't even do it from their office with a therapist on Zoom? If they can't afford the day player then just don't even write the lines. 

 

B&B has been subtle about making the Forrester mansion and offices a little smaller and they shoot outdoors. They have the same sets and actors they show all the time so it's easier for them to manage their budget. Their action scenes don't look great, but they at least do them.

 

The only character Y&R has spent money on is Victoria. The redress of other sets as the Newman "palazzo" (as close as we will ever get to a location ever again), the car accident and fire (and they made a shack for her!), and they brought back her house for Ashland's death. THIS is what was worth blowing their budget.

 

[Broderick]

"Lack of money drives everything ... Y&R actually spends money, but you'll notice on Y&R, whenever you're in a restaurant or a bar, there's no one else there.  No customers.  There's maybe a maitre'd, or a bartender, but there's not customers.  Ever.  And that's because in terms of budget, they can't afford anymore to bring in, say, twenty, background performers to play customers in the restaurant, when they're doing scenes in the restaurant.  They just can't afford it.  So you've got empty restaurants, empty bars, empty hotel lobbies.  There's just aren't people there.  That's a budget-driven issue."

I believe the problem is in the way Y&R is distributed to CBS. 

If CBS thinks they can sell $20 worth of ads during a year of Y&R, CBS tells SONY, "We'll pay you $15 to provide us with a year of Y&R".  (This gives CBS a $5 profit on the show.) 

SONY then pockets their OWN $5 profit.  That leaves a budget of $10 for the show.  The Bell family wants to make a profit of $3 as co-owners of the show, and Corday Productions wants to make a profit of $1 for their 1% ownership.  

We've now got a budget of $6 for the show.  CBS is offering $20, but once all the owners and distributors make their profit, the budget for the show itself is $6.  That's not the case with "General Hospital"  (which is owned by the network) or with "B&B" which is distributed by Bell-Phillip.  But it's what I believe drove Days of our Lives off network TV, and what I believe causes Y&R to look so pathetic.  

[Paul Raven]

The budget situation at Y&R makes no sense.

For some reason Crimson Lights and Society  never have customers. CL has an extra as a waiter and Society is allowed 2 staff.

Jabot, Newman and Newman media have no staff. Remember when there would be a secretary at a desk, someone handing Victoria a report,or some staff members chatting in a corridor?

Devon should have a personal assistant, Mrs Martinez should be spotted once in a while etc

Glum Club seems to have a couple of people hovering around (sometimes)

No under 5's  or day players with occasional exceptions and a different set also on rare occasions.

it's embarassing.

 

I don't expect twenty, but maybe 2 extras. 

Let's say there's a scene at Crimson Lights. Have a customer behind the main characters at a table chatting to the waiter, who then moves across set to the counter. Customer #2 enters and talks to waiter  and then sits down at another table. Waiter can move around , delivering those orders, maybe clearing  another table. All this business in the background gives the impression of a working business, especially if choreographed well.

How much would 2 extras cost  - $ 500 ?

[Broderick]

I can't honestly answer, because I'm not 100% familiar with the SAG scale for extras.  But it seems like each extra is about $1,000 per day.  If you book him for 3 days, you can get him for about $2,600.  If you book him for the whole week, he's about $3,500.  So if they've got TWO of them, that's about $7,000 for the week, and we'd start noticing they're the same two folks.  And if they speak, they becomes "under fives", and they suddenly cost about twice as much, lol.  

Hence, all the mute bartenders who only stare at you while you place your order in Crimson Lights.  

[Vee]

GH used to be nothing but Metro Court hotel rooms about 5-6 years ago, and FV's skill at keeping things peppy and cheap or at times using nothing but gray paint on the GH sets has been well-documented. It's gotten a lot better in recent years (in part owing to people like Finola Hughes allegedly insisting on having a home set, the repurposed Chandler mansion from AMC) but I still think some stuff is strictly amateur hour - the painful outdoor flashback material with Liz last year, the regular use of studio stairwells, etc. a la ATWT or GL, the AMC Los Angeles-style park shoots. That being said, yes, it's a huge step up from where it was and it does look better than Y&R now. Never thought I'd say that. Even if the Q mansion has turned into a slightly more low-rent version of the Fresh Prince sets.

[Sapounopera]

Hillary? Who should be one of the show's big stars, but they gave up on her because Newman WTD stories are much more fun.

[kalbir]

@Sapounopera Mishael Morgan moved on to bigger and better things. Her talent was being wasted on Y&R.