Y&R: Ed Scott Returns As Senior Producer

[BetterForgotten]

I think at 80 Scott probably looks as this as his last act and his full circle moment - finally being back at the show that is his "home" and that made his producing career. 

What's funny though is that when Bell stepped down, Scott did try to interfere more with the writing of the show (which he obviously couldn't do when Bell was healthy and micromanaging things), which led to tension between him and Kay Alden. When Scott and Alden's working relationship eventually deteriorated badly, Bell took Alden's side and Scott was shown the door the first time around. 

Mel's side of the story was that Jeanne was one of those people who "changed" when it was announced that she and Ed Scott were a pair, and their relationship was never the same again. 

Jeanne also did throw some shade at Ed in her interview with Michael Fairman when she was promoting her book - she basically said he went out of his way to light Mel better in scenes that Nikki and Katherine shared. She felt a certain way about that because she claimed to be Ed's biggest supporter as a producer. Seems Ed later admitted he was wrong and they moved on. 

 

[Khan]

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should never, ever marry your boss.  IDC how well Y&R was doing in the ratings.  When Ed and Melody married, someone at Sony or CBS should have made the decision to have Ed leave the show.

[kalbir]

MTS and Ed Scott were married in October 1985.

1986 Y&R moved past All My Children for #2 and that same year was the EP change from H. Wesley Kenney to Ed Scott. I'm not sure of the exact date though.

To save digging in the ratings thread, here's Y&R's 1980s rating rise.

1983: CBS's highest-rated daytime drama, and #4 behind the ABC big three.

1984: Moved past One Life to Live for #3.

1986: Moved past All My Children for #2.

1988: Tied General Hospital for #1.

1989: Moved past General Hospital for #1.

Edited October 11, 2024 by kalbir

[TEdgeofNight]

Ed Scott isn’t there to make changes. 

[ranger1rg]

And you know this...how?

And if it's true, what is he there for?

[Sapounopera]

I am not sure people today would view the Brenda story the same way they did in the 80s.

The thing with the talented replacement (and I agree that Jess is a very talented actress) is that nobody seemed really interested in giving her story. Jill went from one of the key players to a secondary character very quickly. While Nikki was always involved in the show's big stories.  

[Maxim]

I adore Ed. This is such good news for Young and Restless. 

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[Chris B]

This is how I feel unless we see an announcement of Josh Griffith leaving. 

[ranger1rg]

I'll ask again -- why hire Ed Scott if he's not there to make changes? It makes no sense to add another salary for no reason.

[Liberty City]

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[Chris B]

Easy: Budget cuts at B&B. Do we know who replaced him there? 

[BetterForgotten]

He was technically sharing Supervising Producer responsibilities with Casey Kasprzyk. I don't think B&B is hiring someone to replace Ed, or promoted anyone up yet. But, yeah, I definitely think B&B is going through the effects of a budget cut from their recent renewal.

That said, I do think Y&R hiring Ed Scott back and someone from the "old guard" is a surprise and something they didn't have to do unless they saw an opportunity to make something better. I agree that the creative output won't get better or at least change until Griffith is gone, and I think Ed's main role, for now, will be to lead the physical production of the show and ensuring that the day to day in the studio runs smoothly (since Griffith and Kent are not technical producers in the studio overseeing production each day). We should definitely see his stamp on the production values, albeit with a more limited budget these days since soaps don't have extravagant budgets anymore. And who knows, with Ed now responsible for "executing" Griffith's material onscreen, maybe it will come off as something more watchable? Granted, no one at B&B can make Brad Bell's mess watchable either. 

Y&R also has a recent history of hiring replacements before people get fired. Griffith re-joined again for this latest stint under Mal, and when Mal was out, he was promoted to EP with Anthony Morina (then sole EP when Morina "left"). Before that, Mal had joined under JFP, and when she was fired, he took over as EP. Often where there's smoke there's fire, so there could be a chance Sony is gearing up to get rid of Griffith at the end of his contract cycle. Ed could end up as EP again with a new HW down the line. Just something to think about. 

[Paul Raven]

Fingers crossed.

I am past the point of  expecting any great turnaround, but at this stage any change has to be an improvement.

[Bright Eyes]

Josh Grifith's first credited episode on this current stint was February 9, 2019, so if they're waiting for his contract to end the show could potentially have a new HW around then.

[ranger1rg]

Not trying to be difficult, but that does not explain why Ed Scott was hired at Y&R.

 

Multiple sources are talking about this very thing, and I hope there is fire to follow this smoke.

In the meantime, I expect Y&R to look better on screen. The show looks good right now, but as I've repeated ad nauseum, the sets problem is so bad it takes me out of scenes, and so does the static filming that has characters sitting or standing and never moving during the scene.