Jump to content

Y&R: February 2024 Discussion Thread


Taoboi

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 160
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

People do realize that Steve Kent (is he still there?) or whoever is in that position is not interested in finding new talent, right? Please tell me that you understand this. Talent is easy to find. The writers in the ranks of (pre)professional stage and screen writing programs and alumni networks are out there and in the pipeline-if one is interested. 

Sony is really only interested in keeping the machine going by only doing enough to keep things going at minimum cost. There is nothing that they have done in the last decade to indicate that this is not the aim.
Even Mal Young who was initially touted as being such a revolutionary choice was chosen more for his managerial skills, coupled with his presentation of something “new” to American daytime soaps, which was really akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Danielle Unger is the person in charge of Y&R (at CBS)

July 2023 interview with Peter Bergman via Michael Maloney,
about Jack and DIane
https://soaphub.com/young-restless/news-yr/peter-bergman-reveals-why-yrs-smilin-jack-abbott-is-all-smiles/

In November 2021, Bergman was recuperating from an eye injury but any discomfort he was feeling was soon alleviated after receiving a phone call from head writer/co-executive producer Josh Griffith and Danielle Unger, Director Current, CBS. “They wanted to talk to me about this person they wanted to bring back,” Bergman says, referring to the decision to resurrect the role of Diane who would once again be played by Walters.

----

December 2023 interview with Brad Sanders ("Clarence updates")
https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/exclusive-brad-sanders-on-bringing-clarence-back-to-the-young-and-the-restless/

According to comedian/actor/writer Brad Sanders, it was his idea to bring his alter ego, Clarence — his street-talking persona, who offered a daily rundown of Y&R starting in 1986 — back to the soap, which celebrated its milestone 50th anniversary earlier this year. He explains, “One of the radio stations said, ‘Look, man, you need to be a part of the 50th anniversary. You should be there!’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let me call!’ So I  called [Vice President, Daytime Programs, CBS] Margot Wain and she called [Director at CBS] Danielle Unger and they were like, ‘Yeah, it sounds great!’ And they set it all up.”

-------

 

Linked-in profile of Danielle Unger:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-unger-87130626a/

Quoting her Linked-in:

Danielle Unger
Director in Current Programming for CBS
May 2022 – Present

As a Director in Current Programming for CBS, I oversee The Young and the Restless.
I cover all aspects of the show including reading and giving notes on all scripts, outlines and long story documents. Watching the production feed and giving notes and feedback. I maintain relationships with the Executive Producer and Head Writer, Producers, Writing Staff, Publicists and other key Creatives. I also collaborate with various divisions on the show, at CBS and at Sony including PR and Marketing, Casting, Program Practices, Research, Scheduling, Legal and Business Affairs to ensure communication is maintained across all divisions.As a Director in Current Programming for CBS, I oversee The Young and the Restless. I cover all aspects of the show including reading and giving notes on all scripts, outlines and long story documents. Watching the production feed and giving notes and feedback. I maintain relationships with the Executive Producer and Head Writer, Producers, Writing Staff, Publicists and other key Creatives. I also collaborate with various divisions on the show, at CBS and at Sony including PR and Marketing, Casting, Program Practices, Research, Scheduling, Legal and Business Affairs to ensure communication is maintained across all divisions.

_ _ _ _ _

Danielle Unger
Manager in Current Programming for CBS
May 2020 - May 2022

As a Manager in Current Programming for CBS, I oversee The Young and the Restless.
I cover all aspects of the show including reading and giving notes on all scripts, outlines and long story documents. Watching the production feed and giving notes and feedback. I maintain relationships with the Executive Producer and Head Writer, Producers, Writing Staff, Publicists and other key Creatives. I also collaborate with various divisions on the show, at CBS and at Sony including PR and Marketing, Casting, Program Practices, Research, Scheduling, Legal and Business Affairs to ensure communication is maintained across all divisions.As a Manager in Current Programming for CBS, I oversee The Young and the Restless. I cover all aspects of the show including reading and giving notes on all scripts, outlines and long story documents. Watching the production feed and giving notes and feedback. I maintain relationships with the Executive Producer and Head Writer, Producers, Writing Staff, Publicists and other key Creatives. I also collaborate with various divisions on the show, at CBS and at Sony including PR and Marketing, Casting, Program Practices, Research, Scheduling, Legal and Business Affairs to ensure communication is maintained across all divisions.

____________________________________________________

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Fans sometimes forget there's a reason why it's called Show *Business*

Keep in mind Y&R's average linear viewer age is 69 y.o. according to last week's article in Deadline. Of course, the age of those who stream will be significantly lower, but still. Ads aren't going to command big $$$ and, therefore, licensing fees will be less, etc.

I'm just glad it's still on. I hope that Sony will follow B&B's model and put all the old episodes on a YouTube channel. That's been super fun to watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I was not aware of this article and just found it. The youngest skewing soap is GH with an average age of 68! Oh my! 

https://deadline.com/2024/01/daytime-tv-ratings-soaps-2024-season-1235810237/

What accounts for the continued decrease in eyeballs? The average age of the daytime viewers may have something to do with it. While GH remains the youngest skewing daytime drama at 68.1, all three of the soaps have seen their boomer fans age up this season versus last year. The GH average viewer age is up 4 percent from 65.6 to 68.1; Y&R is up 1 percent from 69.6 to 68.7, and B&B is up 2 percent from 68.2 to 69.4.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

@BoldRestless Yes, that's the article. The Y&R numbers are mixed up, but it's safe to assume the average age of soap viewers is close to 70! The article doesn't say it directly, but like my recently passed 89 y.o. mother, the audience is tuning out, but not by choice.

I wish the networks would publicly release demo data for streaming. They obviously have it and share it with advertisers. Clearly, if you combined streaming/linear demos that age number drops significantly.

It also makes sense why a Colleen Zenk would resonate with the audience more than expected. Even if they didn't watch ATWT regularly or at all, some probably recognize her from the CBS promos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Probably the most concerning thing for myself is in addition that news about the declining viewers/aging and dying viewers is that both Y&R/B&B are up for renewal at the end of this season this year. An article like the Deadline one definitely gives me a sinking feeling about both show’s imminent future.  if I have nothing but disdain for Josh Griffith and Thudley at the moment, I’d hate to lose both shows. 

Edited by soapfan770
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah, at this point, I don’t expect any changes to be made unless Y&R sunsets, then they could make a last ditch effort or some other change to look like they’re making some sort of effort.

My mom is a senior and the reason I even know about ATWT and Y&R but she stopped watching Y&R ages ago and has expressed surprise that I even know about any of the storylines.

Years ago, during a holiday, I turned on the television to Y&R in her living room and she said that she thought everything looked terrible. Although I had to agree, it made me a bit sad to realize that it was true.

Edited by DramatistDreamer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think the one thing that tempered Kent, ultimately, was Anjelica McDaniel. I know she wasn't always loved... but she cared about the daytime lineup during her tenure. And it may not have been in the way(s) people wanted her to, but if changes needed to be made she'd get working on them as best she could.

Edited by Liberty City
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

That may be the last glimmer of hope - maybe someone can force change at this show as part of the renewal conversation? 

Sony used to periodically do those surveys about the show that often came during renewal time. Often, that was a sign change was coming. I don’t think they’ve done one of those surveys in a long time though.

Edited by BetterForgotten
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

They love to run these stories to the ground until we won't care anymore. You had Victor faking his dementia, then he wasn't, then he was... Kyle was going to work with Tucker, then be a double agent, then work for him for real, then be a double agent... or something. Ashley and Tucker's relationship was real, then fake, then real, then fake... They think these are "twists" but they just don't make any sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • I was talking about 1986, but the glimpses of 1982 are about the same. 
    • I skimmed some of the 1982 synopses; Steve was planning on an opening an office in Finland, and I think Jim went there as part of the preparation. That probably was a big issue; AW had already gone to San Diego that year, with Rachel/Steve/Mitch. And to upstate NY with Pete and Diana. I wonder if upstate was as expensive lol  AW in 1982 has always fascinated me, because of how messy it was 
    • That makes sense. What a messy time for the show. And any changes they made were mostly for the worse.
    • The transition from Neal to Adam was very abrupt, and to be honest my theory is that the character of Neal was designed so that we think he is super shady but then it turns out that he was on the side of good all along so Neal could have seamlessly become a hero of the BCPD with no need for Adam. I don't know whether Robert Lupone was hired on a short contract or if he was fired from a longer-term contract because they decided they wanted someone who was more of a leading man type, but I can imagine a scenario where Charles Grant did both the undercover Egyptian treasure/flirt with Victoria and the straighter-arrow day to day police investigation. But in my imagined scenario the MJ prostitution plotline probably doesn't exist and instead he probably continues a relationship with Victoria. The story seems very odd to me. I assume that David Canary would have been included only because a plotline where Steve is going to Finland in which only Rachel is seen in actual Finland seems unlikely. The synopses explicitly mention that Alice can't go with Steve but would whoever was playing Alice at that time have had the kind of clout to get the remote cancelled? It also strikes me as unlikely that production would have approved the expensive location shoot and *then* cancelled it only because of jealousy. It seems more likely that they rejected it because of the expense but then the jealousy part got added to the gossip speculatively, possibly because while it was being worked out they justified not including more castmembers because of the expense. 
    • My comment has nothing to do with cast resentment, but does relate to the Finland location shoot: It may be a coincidence, but Jim Matthews died in Finland in 1982.  Hugh Marlowe's final episode was in April 1982, but the character probably didn't die untll May or June. (I'm unable to find the character's date of death, only the date of Marlowe's final episode). SInce Jim and Rachel had very little interaction after around 1975, it is unlikely Jim's death in Finland had any connection to Rachel's potential visit, but the choice to have Jim die in that location at that time is a head-scratcher.  I'm sure the writers sent Jim on an extended trip (and off-screen) because of Marlowe's illness.  But Finland seems like a strange choice considering the (then) recently cancelled location shoot.  
    • I totally understand your sloths concern about it and I agree with you. Let’s hope the show plays it’s cards right.    Further comments about the last few episodes: - I liked that one of the attendees was filming the scene. That’s realistic. I wonder if the writers will follow up with that.  - Martin and Smitty trying to drag Leslie out was very heteronormative, so perfectly in line with them two as characters lol.    As for the future: it’s obvious the Duprees will come to accept Eva one way or another, but the rivalry with Kay should be here for the long term   On the topic of acting: the only bad actors I’m seeing are Ted and Derek. Tomas hasn’t proven to be either good or bad, so far, but he’s certainly mediocre and uncharismatic. He sucks the energy out of the scenes and I don’t see any couple of women ever vying for him. 
    • I’m trying to think which actors VW were working with at the time, and none of them had been there for a while. Even like Mac and Ada didn’t have that big of a part in Rachel’s storyline.  And Jamie was involved with all that movie stuff.
    • Brooke did ads before ATWT too. That probably helped get her the job. After ATWT she seemed to branch more into hosting, along with ads.  I think I saw Kelley in an ad or two, but you're right she wasn't on as much. 
    •   Thanks for sharing these. I wonder if Charles might have been in the running for Adam. I know Preacher was a bit of a bad boy at times on EON, but Neal seemed to be a step down, and Robert Lupone had played a similar part on AMC. Given the huge cast turnover at this point I wonder who thought they had been there long enough to go.  Laura Malone/Chris Rich would get a remote within the next year. 
    • Interesting.  It seems to allude to that statement that Warren Burton made around that time about some AW actors getting special treatment.  I wonder who was resentful about not getting to go. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy