Y&R January 2023 Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

there really hasn't been one but Kyle for example should be as Jack's son.

The situation regarding his birth and upbringing, his feelings about being an Abbott,his business acumen or lack thereof, relationship with his dad and aunts etc should be clearly defined and explored

But he comes across as a fairly basic nice guy. I like Michael Mealor and feel he could rise to the occasion if he was given more to work with.

We've had Fen,Ana, Imani, Ashland etc who all had tremendous potential but ended up being dropped to focus on the life and times of Phyllis.

[Forever8]

I think that's quite obvious, as we see Sharon dispensing advice in an empty Crimson Lights, or as none of these characters have offices anymore to work out of at their respective companies. Most business is conducted in a coffeehouse or a happy hour cocktail lounge. What was Anthony Morina doing with the money? Was it all gone due to licensing fees being slashed, or did the cleaning during the pandemic empty their pockets as well? It's reminding me of when characters on As the World Turns were starting to do business deals at the yacht club and at the Lakeview Towers.

To be honest, there are a few characters who could be dropped to save money. I'm curious if this is why there hasn't been a younger generation in the last five years since Moses and Faith were ushered off the canvas. 

Fen and Ana had the potential to be the next popular young couple with great chemistry, and both actors wanted it to happen, but a lack of creativity stymied their plans, and we all know what happened next. 

Like others have said on this board, Ashland should've had grown adult children who could've mixed it up with Devon, Lily, Nate, Amanda, Abby, Chance, Sally Adam, etc., not to mention he and Diane should've gotten together to rule Genoa City. But Robert Newman would rather do love letters with Kim Zimmer in a barn in Michigan, and I can't blame him.

I think Imani had potential to be the next young, black, ambitious vixen on the show, as she was setting her sights on Nate. However, when Mishael Morgan got her Emmy and decided to leave to go pursue other work, they quickly dismissed Imani and Naya.

[Vee]

Tinker's Fen and Ana could've been a huge couple IMO.

Ana aside, most of what they've tried to do with Black female leads since Hilary (Imani, etc.) are weak imitations IMO. They deliberately sandbagged MM's return AFAIC; they knew a mediocre twin character would not get the traction Hilary had and decided to wait it out, because they were simply not comfortable with a Black female lead on this show today for the same reason GH is clearly uncomfortable with major Black story now. Daytime has regressed a lot in the 21st century and especially the last decade.

[DramatistDreamer]

Daytime soap operas and their history with Black characters is worthy of a thesis all on its own.

[Taoboi]

THIS.

[Paul Raven]

In the current SOD Bryton states he's wanted a Devon/Abby coupling for a decade.

Also in a 'Wishes for 2023' round up he hopes for better stories than last year. Ouch! Hopes Josh doesn't read that.

[Darn]

What stories?

[dragonflies]

Wow, well that explains, why like someone said recently they are showing character's in the same few place over and over

#1 soap & they're broke? WTF? BOLD has that international $$ so I still say it will be the last soap standing

[Paul Raven]

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.

 

Found some info from SAG/AFTRA 2014 so obviously things may have changed since then, although I'd wager not much.

Background Performers – Hour Program Minimum scale program fee – effective: 11/18/12 No additional increases. $150 Additional Day Fee - $96.00 Length of work day - 9 hours plus a 1 hour meal period. Hourly overtime rate - First two hours of overtime $17.00 an hour third and each successive hour of overtime $22.00 an hour.

So let's say an extra is now earning $250 a day.

Five Lines or Less – Hour Program Minimum scale program fee – effective: 11/16/14 11/16/15 11/16/16 $429 $440 $451 Additional Day Fee - $170.00 Length of work day - 9 hours plus a 1 hour meal period. Hourly overtime rate - First two hours of overtime $29.00 an hour third and each successive hour of overtime $38.00 an hour.

U/5 might now be earning $500

Newbies like Alison Lanier are probably earning around $1500 an episode I would guess based on a figure of $1038 in 2016.

[j swift]

I am not worried about the profit margins at Sony or Bell Productions, but it would be important to add the cost of COVID testing.  Variety noted that it added 5% to the cost of an average TV production https://variety.com/2021/film/news/covid-costs-film-tv-production-1235113051/

About 40% of those costs go to labor — COVID safety officers, testers, drivers, location assistants, and medical personnel. The remaining 60% goes to “materials,” which includes outside testing vendors and stipends for quarantining, as well as things like masks, face shields and sanitation materials.

“Amid all the disruption and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, today’s report affirms that California’s Film & TV Tax Credit Program has continued to work as intended to create jobs and opportunity across our state,” Colleen Bell, the commission’s executive director, said in a statement.

Which makes me wonder if he was conflating the financial cost of extras with the cost in terms of risk?

Either way, it always amuses me when we make a full meal out of a single throwaway comment from an actor in an interview, as if they are knowledgeable about the annual production budget for a soap.

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by j swift

[kalbir]

Y&R has a good number of 25+ year veterans in their cast, so I imagine salaries eat up a good chunk of the budget.

[David_Vickers]

Quit blaming Michelle Stafford and Phyllis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   It's Sony for not giving the money for the show.   The continual hea writing of Josh Griffith who should've been ousted long ago, and the overdoing of the same ol same ol, and not writing for certain characters like Lauren, Michael, Esther, Christine, Traci, etc. and the overplayed Adam, Victor, Nikki, JackAss, Diane, SluttyAbby, Devon, etc. And sometimes even Phyllis, whom I like is on too much, I'll agree. 

Agree wholeheartedly on Ana, Fen, Imani, Hilary, Amanda and Ashland.   Same goes for Faith, Moses, Lily's twins, all could've been big,if written and not given up on! SM

[Broderick]

That seems downright affordable, unless as j swift noted, the backstage Covid protocols run up the cost far in excess of the actual SAG rates.  And I suppose having multiple "strangers" on the set does indeed require a great deal more testing & monitoring.   

I believe the profit margins of CBS, Sony, & Bell are likely the three most significant factors at play in stripping the show down to this embarrassing "bare bones" budget.   If CBS can't guarantee a certain rate of return on their annual licensing deal with Sony (which is obviously tougher each year with viewer erosion & declining advertising revenue), CBS would happily ditch the show entirely and expand "Price is Right" or turn the hour over to affiliates, especially with that hour of programming being in the noontime/early afternoon in most markets.  I would imagine CBS is squeezing Sony pretty tightly on the licensing fee. 

And of course if Sony & Bell Dramatic Serial Company can't guarantee a certain target profit from the licensing deal with CBS, they've got no financial motivation to cough-up the funds to produce an expensive hour of television. 

What's suffering, we all see, is the show itself. 

It seems to be a repeat of what we saw with the P&G shows, where the networks were paying P&G less and less annually for the package, until it ultimately reached the point where it wasn't in the financial interest of P&G to continue outlaying the production costs without a target guaranteed return for the shareholders.  (In P&G's case, the advertising itself for P&G products was a "plus", while Sony doesn't even have that layer of motivation to continue producing & licensing the show if their profits on the licensing deal with CBS aren't satisfactory.)         

I expect so, too.  TOO MANY of them, in fact. 

But there seems to be a "fear factor" in play:  if you cut one of those old veterans out of the picture, are 100,000 viewers gonna leave, as well?  Looks like the show is afraid to take that chance. 

Supposedly, the median age of a soap viewer is about 66 years old, which means about half the viewers are even older than that.  The show seems to believe older viewers are so attached to Victor, Nikki, Jack, Phyllis, etal that they'd have a conniption fit and stop watching if those performers weren't featured prominently. 

It seems to be a dawg chasing its tail.  If the show refuses to invest in fresh, younger performers in engaging storylines (and we all know that's the case, and its been the case for the past 20 years), the audience will continue to age further, and then the show is stuck even deeper in the "expensive vet pit" that Y&R seems unable to claw its way out of. 

With this anniversary approaching, you can't help remembering that in 1973 & 1974, the four "older characters" on the show, the ones who portrayed the parents of the primary cast -- Julianna McCarthy, Bob Colbert, Dorothy Green, and Jeanne Cooper -- were all in their early to mid 40s and were significantly YOUNGER than Nick and Sharon are now.  Y&R isn't a show that's aged well.       

[YRfan23]

Trust me, I would not stop watching if they decided to put Phyllis in another coma or even GASP kill her off. 

[janea4old]

The huge amount of one-shoulder / one-sleeve garments on Y&R is absurd.
And what is this with a one-shoulder cable-knit sweater?

Nevertheless, she looks amazing.