Trick, have a seat.......

Lies! All lies!!!!!

The worst thing they could have done was give this heffa an Emmy Award. Now we REALLY won't be able to tell her nothing. And we certainly won't be able to get rid of her. I give up............

I will admit that Y&R has become a lot more enjoyable lately, but it's always two steps forward, 10 steps back with her!!!

Her style of storytelling is: dopplegangers, killing off dozens of characters, bringing them back six months later, rushing through stories, skipping emotional beats, dumbing down female characters, turning them into either bitches, wimps or morons. Did I miss anything?

You are so lacking in being a good story teller that it is pathetic. How you ever managed a writing emmy is beyond me.

Lies! All lies!!!!!

The worst thing they could have done was give this heffa an Emmy Award. Now we REALLY won't be able to tell her nothing. And we certainly won't be able to get rid of her. I give up............

I will admit that Y&R has become a lot more enjoyable lately, but it's always two steps forward, 10 steps back with her!!!

Her style of storytelling is: dopplegangers, killing off dozens of characters, bringing them back six months later, rushing through stories, skipping emotional beats, dumbing down female characters, turning them into either bitches, wimps or morons. Did I miss anything?

FANTASTIC job as usual and I don't believe that you missed much.

Thanks, Yojoromo--

I couldn't stop laughing at the things MAB was saying. Haven't laughed that much in months.

I am enjoying Y&R but I am disappointed at the way the women of GC have been ran into the ground.

Hey guys - you pull out the 'plot-driven' card WAAAY too much and it's getting tired. In the midst of SOME plot driven tomfoolery there has emerged some great character driven story. It's not all going to be perfect and I don't think we should settle but Oprah says what you focus on expands and there is no need to bring up doppelgangers any more - they're gone. FOCUS ON NOW - tune in tomorrow and know that there is ALWAYS more to the story. I think Maria uses history, plants good seeds for story along the way, cares about being overally entertaining, and wants her vets to shine. Not everything is gold but I know they're trying. Right now Abby/Tucker/Ashley, Lucy story, Nikki's booze (SHE WILL BE BACK), are all good. Cane stuff ain't great - i'll say it. FF for now.

BOTTOM LINE - MARIA CARES ABOUT THE SHOW!!

Off soapbox and off to watch the soaps. WRITE ON MARIA!

In my years of watching soaps, earlier this year was the only time I've ever stopped watching Y&R. I suffered through all the chipmunks, twin terrors, and plot driven nonsense she's come up with, but what did me in is that the characters on my screen were shells of the characters I've grown up with - none of the major players had any rooting value at all.

So it has to be character driven, but the characters need to stay true to who they are at their core. A lot of good writers have said something along the lines of how characters write their own stories. If you try to shove your characters into places where they don't fit the story will suffer almost every time.

HAHAHA. Right,Maria,Right....

I will say that i HATE what has become of Sharon. Girl needs to get home, take a class, volunteer somewhere, get some therapy (and MAAAAYBE fall in love with the therapist after really trying not to). I justify her actions by saying that on some very twisted unconscious level she is "okay" being with Adam because she doesn't completely love him. She hasn't completed loved anyone since Cassie died since a piece of her heart died too. She wanted to make "something" work with Jack and it served a purpose at the time. Her and Adam together can only be and will ALWAYS only be gross and sad.

HE STOLE HER BABY!

"whose backstory has been retconned more times than all the X-Men combined" I think MAB has a ways to go before she hits THAT level. *LOL*

I still am having trouble w/character vs plot driven storytelling. I just can't determine it when I'm actually seeing it like what the difference is in the same story if its character driven it goes this way if its plot driven it goes that way ... I've been begging for the DC hosts to give an example in a podcast (AGAIN) Jamey gave examples before but I forgot which podcast it was in over a year or so ago...

...cuz I still get confuswed so need a blog post giving examples:
Character-driven Story
Plot-driven arcs

Honestly because I'm seeing a lot of Guzaesque crap on Y/R "plot plot plot" so unless I don't know what I'm talking about this isn't true..PS Jill' backstory has been retconned quite a few times too...LoL...

I said 5 before reading your rating of 5.5.

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Thanks for the examples GLTURNS so what I'm seeing now with Sharon is character driven... her journey ... on the farm? Sam's story is character driven as well? Right....???

I Give Maria A Strong (7)she has showcase some of the best characters driven stories in daytime from time to time, and even when we have those awful action/adventure stories my distain is minimalized by the comeplex character moments: IE

Lily heartache, Jill's helpless romantic life - Cane's Non death

Paul's inflictions - Patty/Emily/Lauren stuff

She is not the Anti Christ, and when Sony lets her hold the writing seat completely then I'll start the hate.

#SN- AS A ATWT Fan I can tell what Hogan is writing, I know his writing style, I can see where he has left his imprint, Trust me we should be greatful for Maria!

Don't forget drunks. Sounds like we are going to have 3 woman in rehab. now.

.

Which was a million times better than this new selfish, angry, & snore of a son. When Jill would call Kay old it was hilarious....Tucker not so much.

At least we got to see Jess Walton, where is she? Bring back Jill!!!!!!!

HE STOLE HER BABY!

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That's what I'm talking about. This mofo stole here baby. Sharon thought that her child was dead. She was still going through it with Cassie being gone. I don't know how she could even look at Adam's ass without wanting to choke the life out of him with her bare hands, and this is after she spits in his eye.

Sharon needs to be by her damn self. I would love to watch a story about Sharon rebuilding herself. How much further does she have to fall before she can be written as trying to stand back up?

What I would love to see on Y&R is a Malcolm recast. I'm pretty sure that the Winter's brothers have gone upside each other's heads before, if not, they need to get to it and heal. I hope the baby is Malcolm's and he doesn't take that heffa back.

Do NOT put Lily back with Cane. She's so much better with Daniel. I wouldn't mind a triangle stating the fact.

Was it said whether or not Billy Miller was staying? Don't care, I'll continue to watch him in just about anything as long as he is on the screen. I want him back with Chloe. BM and EH make it do what it do.

Er uh...when is Collin and Genora getting the hell off my screen?

To New Pre..

The chipmunk was really really really bad LoL (also the Lauren doppleganger I just hung in cuz Lauren got to get off the sofa stroking Michael's ego) but I'm seeing women being written pretty terrible by a woman HW/EP and that's rather sad. I didn't like Victor throwing Kyle's mother out of the ambulance. I just didn't think that was necessary.

I don't know if it was suppose to be for comedy but if whatever it was suppose to be I didn't get it and it didn't work for me "at all"

IA the characters have been gutted. e.g re: characters fitting ins stories I still can't understand Jill not being in the Billy/Victoria/Lucy/Phyllis storyline and has been sequestered in a storyline w/Cane who isn't her son? It doesn't make sense; I looked forward to Jill going toe to toe w/Phyllis grandmother vs grandmother even Nikki can be thrown in the mix. Its not happening...me? That's what I would write.

Also I can't for the life of me understand why Jack is being berated by everybody (now one of his sister's is on board Ashley) for doing the "same thing Victor and Tucker does) Newman wants to keep his legacy for his family yet Katherine sides against her dear friends children for wanting to do the same thing...its time Jabot return to the Abbots. I'm about to stop watching if this doesn't happen.

She does some stuff character driven and some stuff plot driven. Mostly, she starts with a plot driven storyline and tries to humanize it by adding some character motivation. That's backwards, IMO.

I can think of some plot-driven writers who were okay. JER from Days.

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I wouldn't be bit more suprised if Victor were to get Jabot again, only to hold on to it until A: Abby grows a brain or until B: Billy and Victoria had a kid so that Jabot stays with the Newman family in some capacity. Or C: Jack dies without ever having gotten his father's company back.

And then she woke up from her crack-induced haze.

Two things you can count on in life. 1) People who describe themselves or anything they do as "classy" are usually anything, but. 2) Soap opera writers who describe themselves as "a character-driven storyteller" are usually anything, but.

There were only one truly character driven soap opera writer in the history of this genre, that being Harding "Pete" Lemay. The good ones, the ones that have done really good, entertaining work, find a happy medium between plot and character.

She is definitely quite funny.

And I love Colin and Jill, this show is in desperate need of some classic old fashioned soap romance. They have the perfect actors to do it with. Please MAB, I beg of you....

Well I’m giving her a 2.1 and that is stretching it. This woman has come into the genre and thrashed a once beloved soap. Y&R use to be the creme de la crème. The soap De jour! Now it is just one of the soaps that “use” to be good. Because Maria came in decided that what Y&R needed was to be turned into Passions of the Days of Our Restless Beach!

Going back to the classics my ass…She is a classic mess. The things she and her co-head writers Hogan Heffer who thinks only “20 fans” hate him and Scott Slammer who does the bidding while trying to reuse plotlines from his primetime glory days come up with is 90% bad 100% terrible. What more can you not ask for?

The only redeeming quality is “some” of the actors and that is terrible that I have to use the word “some,” turn shit to sugar. Because the rest can’t act!

Young and The Restless is supposed to be a real to life drama about the interconnected lives of the Abbott, Baldwin’s, Chancellor’s, Newman’s and Winters clans where business rivalries are most often the templates that spin off so many other stories from love-affairs, deaths, corporate takeovers, lies, deceit and at times death.

The emotional entanglements and the consequences of actions are supposed to be big draw.

That fact that you can’t wait to see how Victor will react when he finds out what Jack did. Or how Kay and Jill are going to make it through one more drama that spans the history of their over 3 decade love-hate relationship. And there are many more to add, but you get the point.

Y&R was never supposed to be about double doppelgangers, cartoon villains, chipmunks and events! It was not supposed to be written to the plot.

So there is hardly anything character driven about this mess. I give the good veteran actors credit for trying to make sense of the mess they are giving to work with everyday.

But at least they don’t have to look at their scripts and find out they’ll be frozen in a block of ice for 6 months, or trying to take over the world with a chalice. But at this rate in no time Victor will be trying to rule the world a golden sword he finds in a monastery.

And to close things out in the words of Katherine Esther Jackson (MJ’s mother): "You’s a liar and you’s a cheat. And oh, I don’t want you, I don’t want you, I don’t want you no more!”

4.5 Yes she can do some, (is key:some)C\D\S\L's but I DO NOT LIKE HIGH ACTION DRAMA...THIS IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT GH !!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAB's writing whether action or C\D stories it appear like she wants change Y&R's style for some reason. Why? Bill gave this soap such foundation to work with why any past & present writers LML included wants to change the foundation. She is "Boss" of Y&R now and rather people like Scott or Hogan they are following HER LEAD...so the buck stops at her door!!

I have to disagree with GLTURNS70 on Hogan. As a huge fan of ATWT I too am familiar with Hogan's writing and ATWT when Sheffer and his team received 4 Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005 in five years. Only loss was in 2003. ATWT had 2, in 2001 & 2003 Outstanding Drama Series. He did some very good stories on ATWT. Think about some of ATWT's best stories on his watch from 2000 and for the next five years. Hogan could do some great family drama with Will accidentally killing of Rose, Barbara and Paul protecting him, Hal investigating it, Jennifer's death, Tom & Emily's affair, Lily & Holden was a focus with Luke coming out, classic Carjack's love for each and introduction of JJ into family and how Carly stepped up to plate for Jack. He put fire back into Kim & Susan's relationship. Think of anymore ATWT fans? He had his misses too I know like any writer but Hogan is a writer for vets, he can kept vets front and center. Look ATWT boosted more vets at time and 80% had stories. I would love for Hogan to do HIS story for "Nina" Tricia Cast his type of female heroine to write and bring good stuff to Nina. I would much rather have Aunt RiRi as in the writing staff if she has to stick around and have Hogan as sole HW, and Scott as head script because Scott wrote for ATWT from 94-97 and won for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team in 1996. They introduced characters of Damian, Carly, Molly, Jack, fire at the church and Kim lying near death and her sister Jen visited her, brought in Scott B.'s Craig back full time, Martha just recently returned as Lily a few months before and Holden and her at the bell tower, found Shannon alive...good stuff too.

Y&R needs back John Conway or H. Wesley Kenney as EP they know the history and characters since Ed Scott is Co-EP @ B&B and I don't see him leaving B&B because I think Ed & MAB is like oil and water.

I am not complaining one bit about Y & R, it is a masterpiece compared to General Hospital. GH used to REALLY be my show and to watch what has been done to it over the course of a decade would make anyone sick. If Y & R had been been destroyed the way GH has, there would be blood in the street from the Y & R fans. Just imagine all the Abbotts, Newmans, Winters, and Chancellors being destroyed, history of the show destroyed, and then have the show centered around the mob guy that hates Jeffry. That is what GH fans have endured.

burning down the scorpios AND Lauras house really added insult to injury on GH. just sad

Right now, I'm very much enjoying the show, which means it'll probably go downhill very shortly.

I think she's done some things right; for the most part, she keeps a lot of focus on the Abbotts, where it should be, though i wish Beth Maitland's Traci was used more than just sparingly; Nikki has been great for the last year or so; I like that the Nina/Cricket relationship was revisited, though again, I would love to see both of those women on more, especially Tricia Cast; and I like that she seems to be steering Daniel and Lily back together. Plus, of course, I hate Adam but Michael Muhney was a superb recast, as is Marcy Rylan as Abby(Too bad the same can't be said for Eden Riegel and my beloved put highly miscast Maura West).

Which brings me to what I don't like--anything involving Cane and his family(I LOVED that you used the term "retconned" Jamey; you wouldn't happen to be a fellow comics geek would you?lol). That character remains one of the most convoluted ever to set foot on a soap, which is ironic considering he's also one of the least interesting. I have nothing against the very beautiful Daniel Goddard, but the best showcase for him would be less clothes....and less talking; the last few weeks have made me realize he's not a very strong actor(and that's in scenes with Cristel Khalil, who everybody clowns on but who's been really bringing it the last few months). Top that with equally unfortunate acting choices from Genie Francis and occasionally Tristan Rogers(yes, he's been pulled in by Francis' overripe acting during a few scenes) and the whole enterprise is a mess. The saving grace is the aforementioned Khalil and shitty-storyline saver Jess Walton.

The other major issue I have is the once-a-year doppelganger mess. It was one thing with Patty, but then to add insult to injury by doing a simultaneous storyline with Sarah then, what the hell, let's just have them intersect into one big hot mess of weak storytelling(I do have to say both Stacy Haiduk and Tracey Bregman did great work under bad circumstances). And now we have the Cane/Caleb BS, which comes back to another fatal flaw; Haiduk and Bregman can actually act, so even though the story bordered on painful at times, those two were entertaining. Goddard pretending to be Caleb made me want to literally gouge my eyes out; it was bad on so many levels of bad. Here's hoping MAB retires all the twins shit for at least a couple of years. Or at least til there's a new head writer.

I would love to see what Maria would do with a different cowriter. Kay Alden for instance. I always thought that Kay was too unimaginative alone. But whe you would pair her with Bill Bell or John Smith, she could flesh out the stories given her and make a great show. If we used Kay's stalwart sensibilities and Maria's forward thinking, I think the show would be terrific. Unfortunately with Hogan Sheffer, who likes to eat story for breakfast, and only wants young leads, (older characters are window dressing in Hogans world), and hates to delve into a story any deeper than necessary, we get a very uneven story.

It's hard cause I really want to like Maria. But I just don't feel she lives and breathes Y&R. With so much talent out of work in all areas of scripted tv, I feel they would be honored to emerse themselves to Y&R. I understand her talk of balancing, but its another to actually witness on paper. I agree with Jamey- Y&R has a doppleganger in and of itself. 6.0

And harlee490, totally agree with you about Hogan Sheffer; he did some outstanding storytelling on ATWT in the early 2000's. He pretty much revitalized Barbara Ryan, on top of recasting a lot of older characters with charismatic actors(I'm thinking here of Hunt Block as Craig,Cady McClain as Rosanna and Mark Collier as Mike, to name three). And while he did have his own doppelganger story, he(or someone there)had the good sense to give that story to Martha Byrne, who was sublime playing two very different personality types and made them both interesting(which apparently is a hard feat to accomplish in daytime these days; for further proof, see Bree Williamson on OLTL as Jessica and her far more interesting alter Tess). And yes, I could see him writing the hell out of Nina and giving Tricia Cast the showcase on this show she deserves. And I bet it'd be more than once a month too.