Y&R Fires Entire Breakdown Writing Staff

[edgeofnik]

I'm not defending or accusing anyone because we aren't privy to who ultimately makes these decisions. However, these cuts are happening industrywide.  Just yesterday, Deadline reported that SWAT and Blue Bloods renewals weren't announced because CBS has requested major budget cuts.

Have y'all seen how many shows have been cancelled on streaming services during the past six months?

The fact is that the four soaps produce a total of 1000 episodes annually, which ain't cheap.

The threat of the writer's strike is also driving a lot of decisions. The networks renewed most of their shows early so that the writers' rooms could open and crank out enough scripts to cover the start of the next season. This is also the reason why few pilots have been greenlit because they will be crushed when the strike hits.

It's not just Y&R.

 

[Vee]

None of this is news to any of us. That doesn't change the fact that this is an extreme and very stupid move.

[Planet Soap]

I meeeean the writers weren't doing a good job, but Griffith is pretty incabale so he needed to go too. 

Dare I say it but what is Ron Carlivati up to

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. Not the best but that dead show needs something to shake things up.

[ajsp35801]

I long stopped watching daytime. Just couldn't stomach the creative decisions. However, I saw this news and immediately came here to see what you guys though. And yeah, the response is expected. I fear this task is too big for Griffith. He's in over his head. 

[Contessa Donatella]

We know they're hurting for money

because of the dire need for sets which are not forthcoming. 

because of the lack of extras

because the flowers are no longer real

because of things that Sally Sussman Morina said in a podcast a few weeks ago. 

Now I believe that they have more vets still on contract & still in their regular salary path than anyone else. I just wonder if money is bad enough to drive even more drastic measures. And, how that would be received by this group of vets. 

[Faulkner]

I think Sharon Case would be vulnerable. JG obviously doesn’t like writing for her and she’s got almost 30 years under her belt at the show.

[DRW50]

Unless viewers are gagging for a storyline where Philip tries to rape Noah, I am not sure what the appeal is in ever having him write for Y&R.

Edited February 23, 2023 by DRW50

[Soapsuds]

I'd fire Joshua Morrow. He's been useless since the beginning. Amelia needs to go too. Get rid of all the younger cast. They've never been written properly anyways.

[TEdgeofNight]

If one of them is Sara Bibel, THANK YOU JOSH!!!!!

[DRW50]

You could fire wide swathes of the cast and it wouldn't matter. I genuinely wonder if Amelia has one fan out there as Victoria. The only time she ever did was in the Bacteria days, and they all left with Billy Miller.

I hadn't thought of her in years. I remember she was one of the precious ponies of that Daytime Confidential/Branco set, along with Mr. Cut the Crap. I wonder if Jamey will help her get hired at DAYS. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Talk about a crying shame, but it is true that this is a product of the times we live in. And, of course, there's no chance in hell that the fans would now get any part of what they have been clamoring for, which is all about the writing! 

Every Y&R fan should remember what it was like not only when Bill Bell was writing but when Y&R had "Protected Status" & CBS left them alone to do their thing. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Tonksadora

[Toups]

Now it makes sense why she got a Producer credit - I just found that a bit weird because because writers don't usually get a Producer credit.    She probably negotiated that, along with a big pay raise.

 

Losing Natalie Minardi Slater sucks.  She's been with the show since the early 90's. 

 

I wonder if this move is "successful" in terms of costs savings, GH and DAYS will follow. 

[soapfan770]

I remember that about Bibel being labeled the show’s savior back in the day with Tom Caisello (whatever happened to him anyways?) Bibel had left DC to work with the now defunct TVbythenumbers website and then did something at IMDB before quietly coming back to Y&R under SSM. This is probably the most I’ve seen of her on a social media platform since Latham had fired her. 
 

So much of the cast could be cut, beginning with Jason Thompson and Melissa Claire Egan as they represent the two most pointless characters on the show at the moment. 

I’ve joked in the past about Ron writing for Y&R but we don’t need his mess at all either. In fact never. 
 

The looming writers strike, if it occurs, it definitely going to be detrimental to the remaining soaps. I knew The People’s Court recent cancellation news over expenses sounded like a bad omen. 

[kalbir]

Now's the time for a cast purge.

[DRW50]

I do wonder how many will manage to survive. It feels like they have been in a zombie state of survival for ages now - frankly, for at least 5 more years than I had expected even in my more generous moments of prediction - but with the whole industry in such a shaky place, this feels like the moment they will finally be put down, replaced by Sinclair brainwash hour or Irna Phillips knows what else. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by DRW50