Connect with us

Hollywood Heights

63

Y&R Shake-Up! Co-Head Writer, Scott Hamner Steps Down! Jill Farren Phelps On Way To Be New EP?

The soap world is abuzz this morning, with what looks to be a major behind the scenes shake-up and revamping of the number one sudser, The Young and the Restless.  First came word via Soap Opera Digest that Y&R’s co head-writer Scott Hamner, had informed current executive producer and head writer, Maria Arena Bell. that he is stepping down from his position.

Hamner told SOD exclusively,  “I had decided to let my contract expire, but Maria Arena Bell asked if we could call it a sabbatical instead.  She really didn’t want me to leave, so I agreed to take a few months off.  She has been so gracious and generous about my need to take a break and I appreciate that.”

However, word from Daytime Confidential  is that they are hearing that former General Hospital  EP And current Hollywood Heights  leader, Jill Farren Phelps is this close to becoming the new head honcho at Y&R!  Both Hollywood Heights and The Young and the Restless are Sony shows, so this could make a lot of sense.    DC is also reporting that Josh Griffith may also come on board with Phelps, returning to Y&R in a writing or producing capacity.   More on this story as it develops throughout the coming days!

So soapers, what would you think of Jill at the helm of Genoa City? And what do you think of Scott Hamner taking a “break” for his writing duties?  Do you think if this all plays out it would improve Y&R?  Let us know!

 

Leave a comment | 63 Comments

63 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

While Ive heard negative things about Jill Pharren Felps, anything will be an improvement over what we are watching.

Im just glad someone noticed that this show was becoming the Titanic of daytime!

GH became a dark, violent, mob centric show under Phelps. She OK’ed the killing of several beloved and vital characters that the show is still suffering from losing. I tuned out GH during her reign as it wasn’t the show I loved anymore. New characters were horrible and characters already on the canvas were not written true to form. Sorry Rob, you will NOT see any improvement over what your seeing. Be prepared to reread you comment above in six months. Just consider this…except for GH, every soap that JFP has helmed is kaput!

I dont like the idea of JFP if she does come to y&r. I would love to see people like Josh Griffith, John Smith, and others from y&r’s glory days to come back. My question is, would Maria Arena Bell be gone then?

omg! =o i wonder who JFP will kill off first?!

My thoughts exactly, I just read her track record I do not want her anywhere near Y&R. You might want to ivestigate on her hatred for women and her love for violence. Look out Jeanne Cooper, Jes Walton, Melody Thomas Scott!!

With her track record at GH to go by…she’d start with Paul…after making him a molester (ala GH’s once beloved Rick Webber)…or maybe have Abby get raped and THEN kill her off (ala GH’s beloved Emily)…the list goes on.

Truthfully, I feel this coming a positive move in the right direction to making Y&R the show it should exactly be. CBS/Sony are hearing the cries of its fans and is making decisions towards making the show a better piece of art as the No.1 soap on television. I see this as a positive move in the right direction. If only Kay Alden can come back from B&B and we’d have a golden show.

Scott, with all due respect, JFP will be your worst enemy. I used to love GH…after Phelps get done with it, it was a shadow of its former self. Depressing as heck, beloved characters killed off at random, newbies having no ties to the show, and writing that betrayed the most basic GH history.

Good luck though!

I watched JFP when she was on GH and I happened to love her Rob. You don’t know what she could do with Y&R, you act like she’ll do the same exact thing. People said FV/RC would turn GH around and all they’ve done is turn it into a slow show. Anyone at this point is better than the hack that is MAB.

Uh, Scott, you’re joking, right? Have you seen this woman’s daytime track record? She has destroyed every soap she executive produced. GH was AWFUL under her reign of terror. Killing off beloved characters, character assassination and the S*** stories to go with it. Granted, a lot of that also fell on Bob Guza and Brian Frons, but if you think Young and Restless is bad now, you haven’t seen anything yet!!!

I’m sorry you think that Tom, but I have to disagree with you. I did not find JFP all that bad with GH. I have faith she’ll bring new light to Y&R and not focusing on the negatives.

Can’t wait. There needs to be some major changes at that show.

Lovely. Fans who suffered as she destroyed, oh, every other soap on daytime, can now watch her weave a path of destruction through Genoa City. Josh Griffith doesn’t sound too bad, but what we really need is someone who can tell good stories and follow through on them.

Anybody over 45 start getting your resume together JFP destroyed the Quartermaine family on GH etc. As bad as this show has become she knows NOTHING about the characters or the history. Smarten up and bring back people who worked under Bill Bell and know the characters.

As far as I’m concerned, JFP can’t make Y&R any worse than Maria Bell has made it. I just hope she doesn’t sideline my favorite character, Nina.

We are warning you….JFP is like the worst EP Daytime has ever had. Don’t let her Emmy wins sway you! She is a master at having dark storylines. At times, I felt she was livid that soaps had romance…well, she took that away from GH. Every other soap, besides GH thank goodness…that Phelps has helmped is canceled. Don’t be surprised if she scripts Nina to go bonkers and end up in the towns pyscho ward (ala GH’s beloved Laura)!

Oh no. I have friends who are long-time Y&R fans. I feel so bad for them. I watched Jill run my fav, GH into the ground. This is not good news for Y&R fans.

Shut up! That crazy beotch ruined OLTL then went on to destroy GH. Now she’s being turned loose on YR? Just when I was getting into that show. Oh well nothing lasts forever.

If JFP came to YnR it would be a disaster!! She was fired from GH and another soap so why put her on the #1 show? It would be a bad idea!!

Oh, Michael, I was SO hoping that you would post this to your forum so I could see what others had to say about it HERE. I first heard about it on the Insider’s Lounge and then Daytime Confidential, but both sites are so snarky and mean-spirited. Your site allows for pleasant debate. That being said, I cannot wait to read all the comments. 🙂

My two cents, I bet whomever comes along and, if Maria Arena Bell is fired, there will always be those who find a way to complain about something even if it was their fondest wish to be done with her once and for all.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Jill is not someone that I really care for. During her time at GH the show was boring and not something I really cared about. Y&R is not doing that well right now because I do watch GH also. The stories at Y&R and horrible except the Paul Williams shooting of his son. The pairing of Victor and Sharon makes me throw up. Cannot figure that one out and think it was not necessary. Oh well sorry but GH is outstanding now because Valentini and Caravaliti are the best in the business. Doug Davidson should be nominated for an emmy but Jason Thompson of GH deserves it.

You definitely got it right they are Ron and Frank are the best in the business on the going to bring GH back on top. I never seen to show runners know exactly what fans want to see how to captivate them like they do.

R.I.P Y&R

It will be very interesting to see what the ratings do…

Look at GH’s ratings..over the decade JFP was in charge, the ratings flatlined. Yes, Y&R’s ratings are down but it STILL is the number one soap!

my …’s mean that y&r will suffer with her on board, same way GH did.

Y&R needs a change!
Don’t know about JFP as EP……Could do with someone other than her!

Josh Griffith, ok with him being back with Y&R

OH. HELL. NO. watch out Y&R fans. your history and characters are about to be MASSACRED. jill phelps ran GH into the ground slowly and painfully over 10+ years. i was disgusted with the result.

Here’s a great idea…..how about we quit recycling writers from one show to the next!? JFP would not be my number one choice to put in charge of Y&R. She has a slew of soaps that she has destroyed in the past. Why is she being put in charge of Y&R? This is the one thing that bothers me the most about the soap genre….is there is too much recycling that happens. All the behind the scenes people bounce from one show to the next, and it does not help the genre stay fresh, or offer up an opportunity for growth on the various shows. Some times it takes a new perspective to brighten up a show….I don’t think JFP will do a good job of that. This is not good news at all…

my sentiments exactly

Torrey totally agree Sony fired Josh Griffith in 2008 now you hire him back, madness!!!

Y&R needs a change – desperately – but NOT JFP. She loves plot-driven imitations of prime time and is not a fan of daytime character-driven, intergenerational storylines at all. It wasn’t only Bob Guza who almost destroyed GH, you know. It was JFP with a healty helping of Brian Frons, too.
MAB has been a total disaster for this show. That’s who should be replaced, and pronto. Bringing in JFP with MAB there is guaranteed to alienate long-time fans and will not bring in any new viewers, other than those who drop by to see what tired old “disaster” JFP will concoct for shock value. Be ready for derailed trains and hostage-filled hotels, folks, if this happens!

Once again, instead of tapping fresh talent, TPTB continue to recycle and rehire from the same diminishing pool of soap directors, producers and writers. Far too many of them are burnt out, without new ideas, and with no love left for the genre they work for. Y&R needs a team like Valentini and Carlivati over at GH, who also did absolutely superb work on OLTL. Jill Farren Phelps is most definitely NOT in that league.

This is bad news for the show.

I’d so like to see Ed Scott and Kay Alden back. The show has been bad for some time. I recently read the new book about Bill Bell and couldn’t help but wonder what he would think of the current show. He had such high standards, things have not been the same with him gone.

Y&R needs to get rid of Maria Arena Bell. She is just plao awful. I can’t beleve how bad Y&R has gotten.

I’d much rather see Ed Scott take over as EP of Y&R. If JFP is appointed, let’s hope that she doesn’t get her old partner-in-slime Megan McTavish on the writing staff. That would truly be the show’s death knell.

As I have watched GH and Y & R over the years, JFP is the worst thing that could happen to this show. People saying it can’t be worse really have no idea how she destroyed GH. Y & R has always remained better. It is about to be over now!!!

Amen, brother!!!!!

CBS & Sony should hire another former GH EP….Wendy Riche! During her tenure, 1991/2001…GH was at its creative high. The casting was inspired. Romance, humor, tears, adventure, mystery, heart…you name it…GH had it. ABC Daytime Chief (former now thank the soap gods) Brian Frons fired Riche and brought on JFP. GH was essentially destroyed during the past ten years and only is NOW getting its footing back….yet at the brink of cancellation! Trust me on this, your going to be paying Maria Arena Bell money out of YOUR OWN POCKET to come BACK !

Wendy Riche would be a good choice

Does this mean that the MOB will be taking over Y&R? I have watche Y&R for over 35 yrs and I have been through the good the bad and now the ugly. JFP is not the answer, it is as though SONY wants our show to fail. I’m tired of these Executive soap killer types messing with my soaps. We have put a damper on ABC daytime and perhaps now will have to target CBS and Sony next. Idiots!!!!!! Y&R needs it’s rich history respected!!!!! That’s all.

If JFP comes along she will most likely put soap killer David Kreizman in as head writer. I’m sick of him all the way around.

Or, worse yet, her fellow evil soap killer, former headwriter of GH, Bob Guza!

It could be worse as CBS could have hired Brians Frons and put him charge of CBS daytime so he could ruin CBS like he did ABC Daytime shows.

Sssh – Don’t speak it, because it will come!

I’m afraid CBS has already done a pretty good job of that without Frons and with the help of Proctor and Gamble who decided they wanted out of soaps and basically ruined their own shows making it possible for CBS to cancel them. Good-bye ATWT and GL; hello Let’s Make a Deal and The Talk.

AKA “He Who Shall Not Be Named”

Be careful what you wish for. They should have Brad Bell in charge of Y&R & B&B. I don’t think the answer is JFP. Y&R was always about romance and family. What has happened over the years has been horrible. I can’t believe how CBS has allowed this show to be destroyed. Bring back Kay Alden as head writer!

I’m a fan of Josh Griffith, but JFP would not be good for the show, the fans or acting vets. Please Sony, do not hire this “serial killer”!

MAB ruined Y&R. JFP will put the nail in the coffin. It will be catastrophic if they hire her. Why is failure so often rewarded in this country? Executive America seems to be a revolving door of incompetent individuals. Y&R needs to hire a true fan of the show who truly understands the history and the characters. This is awful news. Makes me sick.

Jill Pharren Felps- Don’t let it happen, she ruins characters, she kills them off, she would bring Y&R down, Ms. Bell is already ruining the show. Don’t let it happen!

I think you all are forgetting about TWO people who were the biggest offenders when it came to killing daytime drama’s off the air:

1–Ellen Wheeler: Single-handedly killed Guiding Light

2–Christopher Goutman: Pounded the final nail in Another World’s coffin and completely destroyed Guiding Light by hiring Ellen Wheeler to take over as EP and shot As The World Turns to hell.

These two have not done any work in daytime since GL and ATWT both went off the air, thank God!

As for Jill Farren Phelps, yeah, she killed off a legacy character on Guiding Light by letting Ellen Parker (Maureen Bauer) go when Maureen found out about her husband Ed’s affair with gahhhhhhh, what’s her name????? as played by Tina Sloan and Maureen skidded on a icy road and went off the road and died as a result of her car crash. BUT JFP was able to coax Kim Zimmer to return to GL and she not been able to do that, we might not have gotten the reunion between Reva and Josh at the end of GL’s run.

I am inclined to give JFP a chance at turning Y&R around and making it the best show possible that she can. If GH hadn’t done that storyline last year where Lucky’s son was killed by a very drunk Luke AND (I stress AND) had the writing not been as brilliant as it was during Lucky and Luke’s storyline, the intervention, GH would not have won Outstanding Drama Series back in June and you have to attribute that to the writing, the acting and of course JFP’s leadership during that storyline. I am not a fan of GH at all. I’ve never watched it save for a glimpse or two here and there. I don’t say that because I thought the writing was bad or anything like that. I was just never an ABC daytime drama viewer with the exception of OLTL during it’s last year on the air.

Fans and daytime bloggers and critics have given Maria Arena Bell more chances than she should have been allowed and CBS along with Sony Pictures should have pulled her along with Scott Hamner and Hogan Sheffer out of Y&R at least a year and a half ago and replaced at that point. Unfortunately, we got stuck with more drivel and crappy writing that made absolutely no sense!

Thank you MIchael. When people think of incompetence in daytime they seem to forget two of its biggest offenders, Goutman and his equally inept protege Ellen Wheeler. Both of these buffoons are the definition of show killers.

Maria Bell has to go, but please get ANYBODY but Jill Farren Phelps to replace her. She has no regard for a shows fans or it’s history. Where is Ed Scott these days?

I think Ed Scott would be a good choice. I became a fan of Y&R during his tenure and understood then why it was the #1 soap.

That’s Melody Thomas Scott’s husband, no?

Didn’t he have some big surgery not too long ago? I wonder if maybe he is not in the best of health to take something like that on.

Yes he is MTS’s husband he is over at B&B you know the one note soap with the Steffy/Liam/Hope mess that know one cares about.Gosh you talk about another disaster Brad Bell has lost all of his senses, I removed it from my DVR 2 months ago could not stand the pain.

If anyone want to know what JFP did, go on YouTube and type “Frankie Frame dies” or “Eden Capwell Castillo’s rape” You’ll see what she’s capable of. She ruined Santa Barbara, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, Another World and General Hospital and she’ll ruin Y&R.

Oh, SANTA BARBARA, how I loved that show! I agree. It was never the same after that.

Was Jill also responsible for having the Capwell sign fall on Mary?

Those 80s/90s were still part of the glory days where you could turn on your TV between 12 and 3 and find a soap on just about any channel … sadly not anymore. 🙁

JFP is a horrible writer. She decimated my favorite characters and fired an Emmy-nominated actress for no good reason and disrespected so many others.

HORRIBLE DECISION, Y&R.

JFP is NOT a writer, she is a producer. She may have had the power to hire/fire, but after that is said and done, it is the WRITERS that do what they will with the character. By the way, I am definitely not defending her, but just stating the facts.

Christine I am going to disagree with you on this one go google the woman she is a little sick in the head, she was responsible for Frankie Frame’s death scene on Another World that character was loved, if I remember right and I may be wrong NBC gave a warning before that episode was aired it was absolutely a discrimination on women. She may have met her match on Y&R Michele Stafford is no push over.

WOW! What idot make this decision? I watched several shows that JFP EP’d and she ran them into the ground. I really fear that she will be worse that MAB as the EP. Dare I hope against fate that she is respectful of daytime’s #1 soap and doesn’t try to recreate it into her image, forgetting its long history? I’m not holding my breath. PLEASE, JFP, prove me wrong!!!

OH I was so so so happy to hear about MAB. Not that I have read the blogs I am devasted. I have am not familar with JFP. I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt. But the way the soaps are falling off we don’t have much time “to wait and see” what she does so I hope she reads and listens to our concerns. Glass half empty half full.

General Hospital

James Franco Receives Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame! Gives Emotional Speech!

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

On Thursday in Hollywood, James Franco received his very own star on the Walk of Fame! The former General Hospital recurring guest star, as well as a guest arc special guest on Hollywood Heights, is currently starring in the motion picture, Oz: The Great and Powerful!

The multi-faceted star, whose creative projects and energies knows no bound, brought along his mother, Betsy (who also played “Franco’s” mom on GH), brother Dave ( who is quickly becoming one of the most sought after hotties in Hollywood) and good friend and actor,Seth Rogan to the presentation.

A choked up Franco, spoke about the great honor and thanked his former teachers, his mother and his friends for their support upon receiving this most Hollywood of all recognitions other than the Oscar.  The 34-year-old superstar also uploaded a few photos to his Instagram account, which show him getting ready with mom and lying down looking smitten with his own star, holding the “Oz” doll depicting his character. (more…)

Continue Reading

Hollywood Heights

Hollywood Heights Melissa Ordway Cast As Abby Newman On The Young and the Restless!

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

As Emme Rylan departed her role as Abby Newman on The Young and the Restless for General Hospital to play Lulu Spencer, the CBS soap recast the role right away with former Hollywood Heights star, Melissa Ordway, according to a report from Daytime Confidential!

Ordway most recently played Chloe on Nick at Nite’s Hollywood Heights, and this marks the third performer from former Hollywood Heights and current Y&R executive producer, Jill Farren Phelps, who has been in a recast in a role on the number one soap.  Melissa Ordway follows Robert Adamson (Noah) and Hunter King (Summer).  According to DC, Ordway will first appear on the April 22nd episode as the new Newman heiress! (more…)

Continue Reading

Hollywood Heights

Brittany Underwood's New Music Video "Flow" Directed By Y&R's Robert Adamson – Watch It!

Courtesy/Adamsontumblr

Often times when current or former soap stars release music videos they are often underwhelming, however yesterday The Young and the Restless Robert Adamson (Noah) released and directed this exceptional music video featuring One Life to Live and Hollywood Heights favorite, Brittany Underwood (Ex-Langston, One Life)!

The song in which Underwood sings is titled, “Flow” and if you look carefully two General Hospital favorites make appearances too!  Kristen Alderson (Starr), who Underwood shared many scenes with on One Life, plus Chad Duell (Michael Corinthos)!

When the music video to “Flow” went viral yesterday, Underwood tweeted, “Thanks for everything Rob, you’re amazing!”And that was followed by, “Wow woke up to so much love for #flow , means so much to me. Y’all keep me going and inspire me everyday so thank YOU! Love you guys! Xo”

Meanwhile Adamson tweeted,  “@britt_underwood You did amazing and you look beautiful. Thank you.”

Now watch the music video after the jump and let us know what you think of it and the catchy tune performed by Underwood! (more…)

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Peter Reckell returns for a second visit with Michael Fairman following the wrap-up of his recent run as Bo Brady on Days of our Lives.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Kim Coles as Whitley

Days of our Lives

Airdate: 7-24- 2023

Popular