DC #431: CBS and Days Genoa City We Have a Problem

Yes Yes Yes YES!!! Finally you get what I am talking about. Y&R has become the most plot driven soap it has been in a long time. I'm glad you have come to the understanding. DC my hates off to you this week.

David, I still watch Y&R daily and don't have to force myself to click it on my DVR like so many soaps, but the Phillip storyline has been a bust. Not because of the implausibility of him faking his death. I can suspend my disbelief for that, but the dialogue, exposition, direction and in Thom Bierdz's case, the acting has made the story fall flat. As for the other plots, I would enjoy all of them separately, but at the same time, the soap has become much to dark all at the same time. 

I sadly agree with everything you guys are saying about Y&R. The Phillip return story got really bad. Don't feel it at all.
Hope Maria Arena Bell gets back to her A game very, very soon.

And ITA with Jamey on B&B's Rick. I want Jacob Young back. Enough with hair model Kyle Lowder. Sorry, but I don't get this guy as Brooke and Eric's son at all! Also on the recast list: Thomas, Steffy and Marcus!

Yeah, the P3 reveal was badly plotted and not executed well and MAB shouldn't of rushed it by bringing Thom Bierdz back without checking all of the beats and without ruining the history of the show. I feel that Hogan is not working on Y&R and he needs to be let go and get Sally Sussman Morina to fix the show. She can get the show back to character driven phase of Y&R.

Another great podcast...Where was Mike this week? I need my FAB FIVE ON THE PODCAST!

Y&R-Ok Auntie Ri Ri I am still drinking a cup of your Kool-Aid. (The glass might not be as full) I loved the rant you guys did on Y&R. The thing that I love about DC is you guys are able to keep it REAL all the time. As far as last week's Y&R i would have to say that it wasn't my favorite week but overrall the show to me is still great. I know some posters are going to harp on you all taking Auntie Ri Ri to task but I have to say the Philip storyline is the weak link to me for the show. I am even starting to like the intrigue of why Deacon is after Amber (I watched them on B&B). I will say this about Y&R one bad week doesn't sink the ship. It is still miles ahead of the other CBS daytime dramas.

B&B-Let me preface this with I don't watch B&B regularly. When I heard about Ridge/Taylor reunion I have been popping back in. (They where my favorite B&B couple of all time. When Shiela put a bullet in Taylor and "killed" her I about died myself) The Taylor/Ridge/Brooke triangle is just stale and tired. I mean I loved to hate Brooke Logan when she was seducing Ridge from Taylor. It has run it's course. Neither couple has any rooting value. I mean Taylor/Ridge doesn't even feel the same anymore. It saddens me. I mean B&B take a look at how Y&R has done Nikki/Victor/Ashley. That is a way to keep a triangle interesting for years and years. You don't keep a triangle interesting by having Ridge change his mind every week about which one he wants.

I see David has his validation for his Y&R hate. LMAO!!!

Great podcast today. Totally agree about B&B. The younger cast sucks and all needs to be recast.

Totally agree with Jamey on PC3 story, summed up all my feelings. It's awful and they did drop the ball big time.

Jamey,

I do agree on the point that they might be done better separately but too much at the same time is not good.

"Just too my for my little heart..." as my grandma would say. Too much.

Try taking a drink before watching an episode it will surely make it better. I suggest some Johnny Walker Blue Label.

LOL David. Yeah it was a bit much. They didn't have to make that baby brain damaged like that! I was like AW NAH, she can't talk?! I have faith in Auntie Ri Ri. I know she listens to the fans, so hopefully she will get things back on track soon. I am sure they know the Phillip return has been a bust. We love OLTL here at DC too, but the Morasco Fiasco makes us want to beat somebody's ass. No soap is ever truly perfect. The closest I've seen was the heyday of Santa Barbara, and it was dead last in the ratings its entire run.
 

You'll crack me everytime!!! And the wole phillip thing is true.

Wow, I can't believe the praise you gave to the Geneva Swift storyline on ATWT!
To me that was one of the worst stories on that show this year. It made Henry unlikeable, petty and downright mean, and made Kim, Vienna and Brad look like complete morons. (In Brad's case that may not be very tough, I concede that).
How not one of them could see that Geneva was actually Henry in drag is beyond stupid. Especially Vienna, who lives with the man!
Is this really the best story they can give Kathryn Hays when they actually bother to give her screentime?!

Jamey, I with you that I can't stand the character of Meg and they need to push her off a cliff and we will be happy. No one likes her and we don't need her. Put Emma and Barbara on the front burner.

i heard that brad bell rumor too. read in it sod or sow and it was susan flannery saying that if bell won the writing emmy, he was going to retire. Love ur Kitty comments on twitter today Jamey. lol listen to my podcast at http://tvtimepodcast.com.

i agree w/ young and restless about the chance arrival and pc3's return is not going well. too much plot twist - kay's stroke set it back and dropped the story momentum. like they didn't want to pay the actors to be on for two weeks straight. lol i agree about them not playing the beats and doing too much plot. has the writers went on summer break?

Another Great Podcast From The DC Gang. Too Bad Mike Was Absent.

Hey thanks for noticing I was missing Smitty and Appleridge. I was at a family function or as Luke would say...a spa vacation!

Mike was NOT at a family function.. He started to talk trash about ATWT and Babs Bloom saddled up and snatched him up again!

 Folks, Marie Masters plays Susan, not Susan Masters. LOL

FINALLY! It's late in coming but you're finally calling Y&R out on this plot-driven hackneyed writing. Phillip III story is terrible. Bad writing will undo bad actors like TB and even good actors like TC. Y&R was even worse than All My Freaking Crappy Children last week!!! Every story on the show is terrible.

The show is plot-driven, stupid and gross.

Yes, Cane talking to Amber was WTF. Who penned that? A 9 year old?

Yes, Jamey the horrible Adam recast forces us to finally see the story for how gross & stupid it really is. What kind of diseased minds write this crap? Dead baby but Ash thinks she's pregnant, Summer with brain damage from a poisoning, dead stuffed cat treated like it's alive. Now 20 year old Lily, the female ingenue of the only A-A female on the show, has cancer and can't have kids? It's gross.

You notice the comments are short when it comes to Y&R getting a bad review. Um hum...

David, I have a theory the only people praising Y&R on the boards right now are writers, actors and their pals pretending to be regular fans. No sane, honest, rational and observant viewer would praise the PIII mess in particular or the show in general.

Hey, I see you're all big Y&R fans and like many of us, you're disgusted with the current creative direction the show is taking .

If you have a Facebook account, you can message Steven Kent, who is in charge of overseeing Y&R for Sony. Please message him and let him know that as a loyal fan you're very upset with the current creative direction Y&R is taking and you are not liking the vision Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer, Scott Hamner, and Paul Rauch have instilled into this show.

Here is the link to Steven Kent's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=555-5555&hiq=steve%2Ckent&ref=se...

Please help spread the word to other disgruntled Y&R fans!!

Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer, and Scott Hamner and their vision for this show aren't working out well.

Characters have been neglected and back-burned since the beginning of her tenure and that isn't changing, the writing for women on the show is offensive, the writing for the minority characters on the show is shameful, the show seems to center around one-note cartoon psychos like Mary Jane and Adam.

Every storyline on this show seems to be spun off into a dark and irredeemable situation, which is getting stale. There's just no variety for people watching the show. Where is the romance? Where is the corporate intrigue? Where is the socially relevant drama?

Not to mention, characters are being ruined and their personalities are being changed simply to fir a plot. Need I mention drunken party girl Colleen and child abandon-er Phillip III ? There's also an array of characters that could stand to be written out, since the cast is already TOO HUGE. They need to pare down the cast and stop hiring new actors too. Get rid of some of the dead weight characters like Tyra, Jeffrey, Devon, and others, and use what they have and perhaps recast Victoria and Colleen.

Not to mention the history of the show and its characters appear to be manipulated so that the writers can alter it to fit their agenda, which is not how it should be done. Also, most of the storylines seem like recycled old storylines from past writing teams, nothing new or innovative.

We need a new vision for this show, a new Head Writer that can USE everyone, pare down the cast, and tell innovative new storylines.

We also need a new Executive Producer to properly execute these new innovative storylines and make sure the production values and directing on the show are still top notch.

I think the Executive Producer and Head Writer should be two seperate people, so one's vision doesn't totally dominate the entire show and there is a balance of power.

Y&R needs some new leadership and innovation that will help it remain true to its roots. I suggest an EP like Linda Gottlieb and a HW like Patrick Mulcahey or someone with a good reputation.

Ad-Girl, when everyone else started to bash the show months before I liked it for what it was. Last week it was bad and DC has said as such. We don't clamour because others are saying its bad. If something's bad to you, that's fine but because its not doesn't mean people will say its bad. We'll own up to something when WE FEEL as though it is not because the masses are saying it. You know that's not how DC rolls girl! 

I think that since most of the soaps are so bad that Y&R was like Masterpiece Theater. But now with the plot points and bad acting, I think that we are seeing the bad writing for Y&R and I think that Hogan is the blame for it. ATWT was good for the first few years, but it got to the point of plot driven and I with David, that Sally Sussman Morina should be a head writer with Jack Smith to get Y&R back to the character driven s/ls that Y&R is known for and stop with the dark and depressing s/ls.

The P3 storyline could have been a great story but the writers, directors, and producers have failed to live up to the promise.

1) Writing: Dialogue is unrealistic and hurts establishment of P3

2) Theme: Blaming P3's leaving on being gay

3) Direction: Not helping Bierdz ease back into acting

4) Production: Not using large repository of video clips of all 4 original participants to re-establish character relationships.

5) Marketing & Production: Not using web to provide clips of P3's story, interviews with Tricia Cast, Thom Bierdz, Jeanne Cooper, and Jess Walton. Y&R blew a significant opportunity leverage the web to help sell this story! Y&R should have had a microsite developed or pushed a PR package to soap websites to educate new viewers and excite older viewers.

Jillian, with proper respect, what was good about Y&R these past few months? I am trying to figure it out. What has there been to like?

The Chipmunk story was RIDIK! The worst part is, it's still not over! The Art story was always RIDIK. Daniel, Kevin, Jana and Amber should just be used as comic relief or support for Kay. Queen MAB is scraping the bottom of the barrel to create contrived story for these four. If story don't came natural, then write them out. I'm a younger viewer but I would much rather see Michael & Lauren than those four chipmunk loving airheads.

Mac & Billy have no chemistry. They had no chemistry for many months now. CF & BM look awful together. The great chemistry between BM & EH was trashed and for what? So this woman with no talent and a famous mother could eat up precious screen time? I used to look forward to Billy, now I dread his scenes because Mac is sure to follow.

I admit that I freaking loved the Adam/Ashley story at first because of CE's acting and his awesome chemistry with ED. Now that he's gone though, what's the point of this story? NuAdam is just a one-note & completely unsympathetic psycho. Victor looks like an idiot. When I root for Snoreboria to bring over-acting crappy new Adam down, the story has totally tanked. Oh yeah, and Nu Adam looks like Chester the Molester next to Rafe. I don't care if MM likes kissing boys, the only Adam I wanted to see kiss a boy (or girl) was CE's. If he's not doing it, why do I care? The new Ram sucks not because of kissing or no kissing, but because of no chemistry.

Ashley has been made so very stupid. She was always stupid but this is stupid for stupid's sake. How much of a moron is she to stay in the house that's haunted? Did Nikki smack Ashley upside the head so hard once that Ashley lost that part of her brain that thinks?

What was so great about Jill being forced back to the nail salon? She really has no money? She has too much pride to take a short-term loan from her real son or her fake son, but not so much pride that she can't go back the salon? What's so enjoyable about that?

Mary Jane was cool at first, I'll give you that. Now she's too crazy to enjoy but that's recent.

The worst though has to be the Quad. How many times can Nick bounce back and forth? He has become so pathetic and spineless, and Sharon & Phyllis have become totally doormats. Phyllis used to be a force! Now she's Donna Reed with red hair. Worst of all, Jack is now a pathetic loser, crying in his ice cream, waiting for someone to love him and give him a baby. It's like the spirit of Marcie McBain took over his body. If anyone can explain to me what's good about that, please do so!

Ad-girl, you hit it on the head of why Y&R is so bad. The plot driven crap on the screen isn't working and fans are speaking out and not happy. Auntie Ri Ri vision needs to be fixed and get back to basics like David said. And stop with the depressing s/ls. We are in a recession and people are losing jobs, we don't want to watch Lily have cancer or Summer being sick or no one being happy or in love.

If someone is going to have cancer, wouldn't it be better if Cane had cancer and Lily were pregnant? The Chancellors should not be so forgiving of Cane but if he were sick then that's a natural & realistic reason for them to give him another chance. Why is Lily always being tormented? First Kevin rapes her, Daniel ignores her porn, she has a miscarriage and now she has Lady Parts Cancer? All the women on the show are so weak and pathetic. Why not make Cane sick and have Lily as the heroic strong one? Dru was never a victim. She was a survivor and a force. Why are they writing Lily like a weak victim girl? She's Dru's child!

I really wish Victoria Rowell were invited back to the show. Dru could slap sense into a whole mess of characters. VR had chemistry with everyone, even her hats.

I have VR come back and smacked Victor, Nikki, Paul, MJ, Phyllis(three times), Nick, Sharon, Victoria, Neil, Cane P3, Jill, Gloria, and Jeffrey.

Ad-girl,

Can you think of any male character on Y&R to ever get cancer???

No! Women are the only one's to get cancer. Cancer that always strikes their reproductive/sex organs (breast, unterus, ovaries, etc.):

1) Ashley
2) Olivia
3) Lily.

Men never get prostate, penile, testicular, or breast cancer on Y&R.

It's sexism. A female character suffers because she's a woman. A male character can play knight in shining armor to rescue her.

I like Y&R but the show has always had a nasty sexist streak. Look at Ashley. The woman had an abortion and was punished with 20 years worth of mental illness!