-- Sally Sussman's stuff was very slow, but the character writing was strong, and I prefer her in a heartbeat to anything Josh Griffith gave us. I can ignore her interviews and pathetic husband when I judge her HW stint, which was decent.

-- I wasn't a Mal Young fan. I never felt he really cared about the show. He didn't cherish it, and was cavalier about change for the sake of change.

-- I believe Josh Griffith was fired. Yes, demos are still at or near the top compared to other soaps, but the total viewership is clearly padded by over 60s. The lead in the 25-54 demo is greatly reduced and the 18-49 demo lead is gone.

-- So while Y&R is #1, it's not a good #1.

-- The idea that JG's stories could bring in new viewers? Hopeless.

-- I'm willing to give almost anyone a chance, but like others, I don't think Carlivati is a fit.

-- I'm also confused as to why anyone thinks Victoria Rowell can be HW or run a soap. She's a skilled actor, and I can see her as story consultant, but unless I'm unaware of her resume, I can't see her in charge.

-- Victor and Nikki definitely need to be moved to the patriarch and matriarch roles. It's past time.

-- Sharon and Nick need to be reunited. It's past time. When is this end game they (even the actors) talk about? When they're 70?

-- The show needs to bring the sexy back. We haven't seen sexy on this show in YEARS.

-- Actors presently on the show can bring the sexy, but it's not written for them.

-- Y&R looks as if it's written out of fear of losing viewers. Everything is safe, nothing is edgy or charged.

-- There isn't a single couple on this show that I look at and say "Wow, I want a bedroom scene." It's not because they aren't physically attractive, because they are. It's because the characters have been sanitized to death.

-- Honestly, I have complaints about the way every single character on this show is written. There are so many fails I don't know where to start.

Edited 59 minutes ago59 min by ranger1rg

Above all else, Y&R must return to its' roots: young people, and the challenges they face in a society that isn't anything like the ones their parents grew up in. That's what Bill Bell always intended Y&R to be.

This show has fumbled so many promising young actors (especially Rory Gibson, whose innate sex appeal they didn’t even try to tap into, but also Loren Lott and Reylynn Caster).

They have a sexy, charismatic star in Zuleyka Silver—possibly the most beautiful woman on TV, period—and have ZERO idea what to do with her.

They have a generational talent in Courtney Hope and have no idea what to do with her (making Sally the town punching bag, failed girlboss, and Abbott/Newman concubine when she could’ve been a wonderful troublemaker).

They bring over Lucas Adams, who is hot af, and drop him in a chemistry-free May/December romance when he obviously sparks elsewhere.

Malpractice everywhere you look.

Per Deadline Hollywood, the serial is on hiatus until Monday, July 6. I'm guessing someone or some entity is going to be working overtime this upcoming week to find Griffith's replacement. 😬

CBS Daytime is the only daytime scene left with multiple scripted programs and I have to imagine they want vitality across the whole bloc so that they can get viewers to watch the whole bloc. When it comes to advertising that is key.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by ReddFoxx

19 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

This show has fumbled so many promising young actors (especially Rory Gibson, whose innate sex appeal they didn’t even try to tap into, but also Loren Lott and Reylynn Caster).

They have a sexy, charismatic star in Zuleyka Silver—possibly the most beautiful woman on TV, period—and have ZERO idea what to do with her.

They have a generational talent in Courtney Hope and have no idea what to do with her (making Sally the town punching bag, failed girlboss, and Abbott/Newman concubine when she could’ve been a wonderful troublemaker).

They bring over Lucas Adams, who is hot af, and drop him in a chemistry-free May/December romance when he obviously sparks elsewhere.

Malpractice everywhere you look.

You're so right about every single actor you named. All of it is incomprehensible.

I'd add Nathan Owens to that list. How can you take a guy who looks like that and make him boring? This coupling with Claire is beyond vanilla.

Claire was interesting for the 5 minutes when she was bad/conflicted. Now she's without personality or sex appeal.

Many people here want Adam gone, but how do you take a great-looking guy like Mark Grossman and give him nothing?? Adam and Chelsea should be creating chaos and scams all over Genoa City.

This was an easy prediction to make. LOL I just said before the ends because I don't know when his contract is up. Happy to be right on this one.

On 5/6/2026 at 11:47 PM, Toups said:

This is definitely good news. Someone just doesn't give up the EP title no reason. With Steve Kent gone, and now Josh no longer having the EP title, Sally is now the top dog at the show (in terms of being at the studio, obviously she has studio/network execs to report to). I predict Josh will be gone before the year ends.

Dream scenario: Sally brings in Natalie Minardi Slater and Janice Ferri Esser as Co-HWs. LOL

Now let's see of my dream scenario comes true. I wouldn't be surprised if NMS came back and was paired with a another veteran breakdown writer who has never been HW before, or has a little bit of experience, someone like Chris Dunn. Or maybe promote someone who's already on staff, someone like Marla Kanelos.

.

Edited 56 minutes ago56 min by Manny

32 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

Per Deadline Hollywood, the serial is on hiatus until Monday, July 6. I'm guessing someone or some entity is going to be working overtime this upcoming week to find Griffith's replacement. 😬

Well I certainly hope they have either been looking for his replacement already or if they only started now, they will take their time. Otherwise, based on everything all of you have written, you might have again the SSM scenario, where a writer is hired in haste and they are not given time to come up with their stories.

Edited 56 minutes ago56 min by Manny

Anything has to be less boring (keep in mind I said less boring and not better) than the current state of the show where the characters hang out in empty resturants and tell each other that they used the AI program to steal their whole company and now they stole the AI program back like they are in some rollplaying game.

Edited 52 minutes ago52 min by ER Tosh

7 minutes ago, Manny said:

Well I certainly hope they have either been looking for his replacement already or if they only started now, they will take their time. Otherwise, based on everything all of you have written, you might have again the SSM scenario, where a writer is hired in haste and they are not given time to come up with their stories.

Well, considering the cast was notified yesterday and even TV Insider confirmed his exit is not immediate, it gives some hope that they are not rushing to find someone to replace him. However, I also hope that does not mean they're taking all of the time in the world. Maybe they said, "Finish your stories" so a new writer can come in without having to wrap up s**t they don't want to.

5 minutes ago, ER Tosh said:

Anything has to be less boring (keep in mind I said less boring and not better) than the current state of the show where the characters hang out in empty resturants and tell each other that they used the AI program to steal their whole company and now they stole the AI program back like they are in some rollplaying game.

It reminds me of little kids arguing in the backseat: "I'm the boss of you!" "No, I just pressed the button and now I'm the boss you!" "I double pressed the button and now I'm the boss of you and the whole world!" "I triple pressed the button and now I'm the boss of the whole universe!"

I liked SSM's era better than most people. The Newmans were written as a family, she tried to fix many horrible mistakes of the past, understood that Hilary had to be front and center and tried to bring some young people on the show.
For some reason I expect Paula Cwickly to end up as the new writer now that she left Days, because.. SONY.

Nick and Sharon need to be reunited and run the coffee shop. This is who they were supposed to be. Nick didn't care for business and wanted a simpler life. They can be the go-to-couple. And please get a new set for the coffee shop.

I always wanted Jill to end up living Kay's life. A lonely woman living in the Chancellor mansion and realizing that the things she always wanted weren't that important. I would even recast the part in order to tell that story. A young woman could enter her life and become her Jill.

Some veterans need to go for the show to breathe. Is there a reason for Victoria to be on contract? For Adam and Chelsea to be around? What about Phyllis? Is there any story left for her to tell? Did Devon and Abby ever inspire anyone to write something interesting for them?

I really hope that someone with a vision is hired for the job. Not someone who will keep writing the same stupid, boring stories for the same old people. Jack is in his John Abbott era and he works fine with Diane. Victor and Nikki were never patriarch-matriarch material in my eyes. We need some young people and some poor people. This is not the 80s. People don't tune in to watch rich people drama. Enough with the restaurants and the coffee shops. Enough with the new companies every six months. And this is Y&R. Where are the sexy people?

A part of me wouldn't mind RC joining the show, but I am afraid that his serious writing days ended many years ago. I am not sure about Guza. Would we getting GH or Sunset Beach from him?

And I have a stupid question. Everybody says that the executives force their stories on soaps. Have we ever heard someone saying the same thing about primetime shows? Is it a daytime thing?

Per tvinsider, Griffith's exit was announced to the cast and crew during the day of Friday June 26, the same day tvinsider learned of it. Per Deadline Hollywood, the serial is on hiatus until Monday July 6.
Yeah they told cast&crew just before everyone left for the week off.
As @ranger1rg pointed out, Griffith has been giving enthusiastic interviews about upcoming storylines right up until this was announced, so this was likely an involuntary exit, despite the official line that Griffith decided to leave.

Edited 24 minutes ago24 min by janea4old

22 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

For some reason I expect Paula Cwickly to end up as the new writer now that she left Days, because.. SONY.

I don't know. I mean, she chose to step down from the head writer position to be a consultant. I don't see her turning around to take on another head-writing gig.

24 minutes ago, Sapounopera said:

And I have a stupid question. Everybody says that the executives force their stories on soaps. Have we ever heard someone saying the same thing about primetime shows? Is it a daytime thing?

I feel like it's more of an American daytime thing people latch onto. Although, I do see it mentioned sometimes in franchises like Law & Order or something along those lines.