“We now have to do a great deal more for a great deal less,” says Jill Farren-Phelps, Y&R 's executive producer. “It’s been very difficult to have to lose some of the tried-and-true tricks that I used to be able to use to make audiences feel a certain way, such as original music. Now we have to do other creative things to excite the audience. We’ve done a lot to make it move faster without disrupting our core audience.” READ MORE
The soap world is still reeling from the May 8 passing of actress Jeanne Cooper. Fans of the beloved grand dame have been wondering what will happen to her iconic character, Katherine "Kay" Chancellor on The Young and the Restless. TV Guide Magazine’s Michael Logan spoke with Y&R’s executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, who gave the inside scoop on how the soap will deal with both the passings of Cooper and Kay.
TV Guide Magazine: Tell us about the plans to honor her on air, and what you plan to do about her character.
Phelps: We're going to have the actors closest to Jeanne — probably 25 in all — sit in the Chancellor mansion set and tell stories and reminisce about her life, as themselves. We'll serve tea and let everyone talk and cry and laughs and share and we'll find the best photos and clips we can get our hands on and edit it all together into a beautiful celebration episode. This is all for Jeanne. And then later we will deal with the death of Kay Chancellor. We've already written the show into July, so it will take some time before we can address her departure on air. In the meantime, there will be references in the script that Katherine and her husband Murphy are off somewhere on a trip. READ MORE
The Young and the Restless executive producer Jill Farren Phelps has issued a statement on the passing of the sudser's matriarch, Jeanne Cooper (Katherine). Said Phelps, "It is with immeasurable sadness and our deepest condolences to her family, that The Young and the Restless mourns the loss of our beloved Jeanne Cooper."
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The Young and the Restless' Joshua Morrow (Nick) took a look back at his 20 years on the sudser with MSN entertaintment,as the number one sudser turns the big 4-0. The chat covered everything from his start on the soap in 1994, to the iconic storyline that killed off his on-screen daughter Cassie (Camryn Grimes) in 2005. Here's a snippet:
Y&R’s got a new executive producer in charge.
I’m an athlete and I take sports very seriously. Jill [Farren Phelps] came in and gave us a very strong, commanding voice as a coach. Now, that style of leadership sometimes rubs people the wrong way. Sometimes people are kind of hanging on to the past but I think we really needed some serious leadership. Some kind of “Shut the eff up, get on your marks and let’s go!” She is no joke. I love her for it. I love [former executive producer and head writer] Maria [Arena Bell] too. I thought she was very nurturing. We got along very well. She did a great job. Even Jack Smith before that. They all really respected Nick and always kept me busy – there’s nothing else I could ask for. They all have different styles of leadership. I really like Jill and Josh Griffith has done a great job writing. I can give anybody the benefit of the doubt, but you come in here and do a good job. That’s all I ask for. I take my job very seriously. I want this show to continue and if it takes these two people to do it, then let’s go!
Jill’s brought some friends with her.
Yes, many.
