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New Lows for Y&R

As you may have read in one of my earlier posts I have decided to stop watching Y&R due to the fact that the writing has made the show unwatchable on many different levels. I have not watched the show in well over a month and from what I have been reading on various message boards I am not alone. Many longtime fans of this once beloved show seem to be very unhappy with the quality of the writing and have either decided to stop watching altogether or complain to as many people as they think will listen, or both. In reading through several of these complaints I discovered that Y&R's writing sunk to yet another low when they decided to not only kill off Victor's dog, but actually show the dog as he was dying after being poisoned. Again, I have not been watching the show but if what I have read in these postings is true, then Y&R is going to have their work cut out for them if they ever decide to restore the integrity and quality of their writing. I cannot imagine why anyone would think cruelty to children or animals would be entertaining. I was repulsed by the fact that Mary Jane kissed Summer after eating a peanut butter cookie in order to provoke her peanut allergy and now it seems that animals are being tormented as well. As I expressed in yet another post, soap opera history dictates that children are generally off limits to villains. I would now like to add that this same rule applies to animals as well. No one wants to watch a soap opera in which helpless children or animals are the target of a villain. And if Y&R continues with this type of writing, I feel confident that no one will be watching it either.

Comments

  1. This is so true...I thought it was sickening to target a child...espcially in the world today when children are exploited!! I am generational Y&R viewer...I watched it for over 30 years...I would watch it with my grandmother use to babysit me. ALong with the cruelty to children and animals, I am also upset about Ashleys storyline... it is a insult to all the women including me that had a miscarriage!!because i didnt even know I had been pregnant at the time, and the fetus did not expell itsself... Ibecame very sick to the point of Emergency surgery and shock!! I beleive the writers are SICK individuals and need to be fired!

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  2. First of all let me say how sorry I am for your loss and the medical complications that followed. No one should have to watch a show and be reminded of something like that, especially when that show is not handling that subject matter respectfully. They are not even writing Ashley's miscarriage accurately. What you went through was way more typical than how they are portraying her miscarriage. They are telling it like science fiction or something. And you are right it is an insult to anyone who has had to suffer that kind of loss and an insult to the intelligence of all their loyal viewers. Like you, I used to watch this show with my grandmother and I cannot believe what has happened to it in recent months. It is as if it has turned into a completely different soap opera.

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  3. My friend at work and I watch Y&R and have watched for many years. We both have discussed the recent storylines and character changes. I am very disappointed in the down turn of all the women on this show. There used to be strong, intelligent women and now each has falling. Every strong female has now become insane, manipulated, or a weeping pile of mush (and I'm not just talking about Ashley). The writing staff has gone so far off the beaten path with this soap that I don't really want to watch anymore. However, I do with the remote close by. I fast forward through more than I watch. I have had a big crush on Nick for years and he is a big part of why I continue to watch some of the show. I'm even disgusted with him now. Back and forth with Sharon and Phyllis makes me sick. If the writers are trying to bring in a younger crowd of watchers with the CRAZY storylines that involve Amber/Daniel/Kevin/Jana I don't think it's working. I haven't watched their storylines in months because they are soooo far out there. There hasn't been a day go by that those four aren't in some kind of trouble. Give it a rest. How can they make Daniel a pro photographer then a pro artist that can forge a high profile painting without any education?? As I sit here and write this I truly believe I have just talked myself into not watching anymore. I've watched since I was a little girl (probably more than 20 yrs) but I today is the last day for me.

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  4. You are so right when you say that the female characters on this show are not what they used to be. It is surprising that Y&R has chosen to write their female leads so weak and unbalanced, especially since the head writer is a woman.

    I have heard from so many people on various message boards who have said that they are still watching but there are many days that they have to fast forward through a whole episode. I tried that for a while but when the batteries died in my remote I knew it was time to just quit watching! ;)

    I also became disgusted and quite frustrated with Nick and the revolving door that is his love life. The whole back and forth thing with Phyllis and Sharon makes no sense and is just exhausting to watch. Over the past few months his character has lost a lot of credibility and that is a shame because he has been an integral part of the show for many years now.

    I agree that the Amber/Daniel/Kevin/Jana storylines have gotten out of hand as well. They seem to be trying to make the whole show revolve around them and you simply cannot do that even if you are trying to bring in the younger crowd. After all there are no guarantees that any group the show caters to is going to like the storylines that are created for them.

    Like you, I talked myself out of watching Y&R simply by writing about it. The more posts I wrote complaining about the show, the more I asked myself why I was continuing to torture myself an hour out of every day.

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  5. I was never a Y&R watcher but due to SoapNet I found myself watching it AND "Days of Our Lives." General Hospital is my all time favorite. However, I find that the storylines on all the soaps these days are VERY dark, almost too dark to the pointed of being perverted. Having been a lifelong soap opera watcher, I am really trying to wean myself off for a while and watch something more positive. It's hard though, very hard :)

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  6. Hi Paula! You are right in your observation that soaps in general are much darker than they used to be. I think that their struggle for ratings has made it easier for them to go straight for the shock value without having a compelling story to support that shock. I grew up watching Y&R and always felt like they were above taking the easy way out. For years they managed to tell compelling, ratings grabbing stories, without lowering the quality of the show. I am not sure why they felt they had to change their formula considering that they have been on top since they bumped GH in the 80's, but they have. This makes me wonder if the classic soap will ever be relevant again. Soap ratings continue to drop which should provide some clue to many of these shows that the stories they are telling aren't enough to keep viewers interested. But instead of working harder at creating better stories they go for something shocking as a quick fix. But you are right, soaps are addictive, and loyal fans will often stick by their shows through even the roughest patches.Unfortunately some of these shows get stuck in these rough patches for too long, causing them to lose viewers.

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