I hope he can work out the kinks , the first one would be get rid of pratt

Can he be made the EP of GH too?

Of course, surprising twists are high in demand. A soap is an entity on its own. Romance, mystery, mystique, villainy, love, war, conflict etc…..all attributes which make good storytelling. It is a process and I can definitely appreciate how difficult it is to create new, attention-getting stories on almost a monthly basis.
However, when the same story is recycled for the umpteenth time; fans become bored and disinterested. No one wants to watch a show when he/she already knows the outcome.
The best example for that is Victor. Same story over and over.
The problem is; the ‘ragu’ has been simmering for too long. It loses its appeal when eaten every day.
The same story is being told with just about every character.
I can handle the incredible; but make it less fantastical and a little more real with originality.

Reading his other interviews and who he deems worthy, I have no hope for this show…I did, but that has quickly changed…

Well, from the picture above it looks like we will be seeing plenty of Chelsea! UGG! Adam needs to dumb that nag! But anyway, I like how Mal thinks, listen to the fans but throw them a curve ball, as well. I down with that! I hope he cleans out the attic and this is what he needs to throw away immediately!

Stitch and his psycho son!

The Winters clan. Have Chucky whip up one of his famous sweeps disasters and have them all die!

Travis. Cannot act and him and Vicki have no chemistry!

Luca. One of the worst characters since Daisy and Ryder!

Summer because she ruins mine when she is on the screen!

Good luck Mal!

Personally, I rather have good old fashion story telling over surprises and thrills. When I hear the words surprises and thrills, I hear more of the same stunt story telling that is solely plot driven is coming down the pike. This is Y&R not Star Wars. When I read what he says, I hear– let’s not give them what they want, but what I think they should want—- and that my friends is never a good thing.

I’ll just say it once: Bell and Alden sustained great stories over 2 or 3 year arches, building the saga with twists and turns, rarely losing viewers because the story “dragged on.” They continually developed plot and subplot with purpose and meaning, and many times providing educational information in creative ways. Hope the idea with the new EP is to bring surprises along but not at the Irwin Allen time-warp speed. Bell and Alden told a story with great details; current storylines always give viewers information that happened “off-screen”– how ridiculous is that for a medium that is ON SCREEN.

I think he will be the show’s best medicine ever. I do hope he brings in a new head writing team. Fortunately, because he’s not from the same recycle center that is the American soap opera world, he likely could bring in super new fresh talent we’ve never experienced. THIS IS A GOOOOOOOOOD THING!

One can only hope that by replacing Phelps’ singular vision of poaching her own Rolodex that this show can rebound. But installing Young was only half the solution; (agreeing with chuck) they need to replace Pratt’s brash, in-your-face, shock-n-awe storytelling with a more balanced, nuanced scribe that appreciates longtime viewer loyalty and one that respects veteran character backstory. (Pratt has proven time-and-again, both on #YR and his past defunct shows (#GH, #SantaBarbara, #AMC, #SunsetBeach and #Titans) that he doesn’t much care for characters and is more concerned with making a name for himself at the expense of the legacy of show that came before him.) He might be better suited to primetime or features, but he is clueless when it comes to writing for the specific tastes of daytime audiences (…and the eroding ratings of #YR bear me out!)

i hope he can fix Y&R. the show has been very poor. his first order of business should be to fire Pratt. the show won’t improve until Y&R deals with the writing issues. i like what he said about the fans opinions counting. Phelps and Pratt have not listened to the fans at all,they were out of touch

What surprises? These days you know what’s going to happen before it is even aired.

If TPTB don’t go back to the roots of Y&R and how it use to be, it will be a lost cause. I tried watching a few days ago…I could not handle it and I just turned it off. I like change but only if it’s for the good. The day that Kay Alden left as the writer that is when everything change. I have said it many times before, Y&R is no longer the same show and doesn’t even have the same feel. Even the actors/actress that have been on Y&R for years who I love and adore, their character’s are different and one can tell with the stories and acting aren’t like it use to be. As we all know, TPTB do not really listen to US, the fans that really care and have been watching for years. It’s like when Douglas Marland left The Guiding Light, GL was no longer the same. I BEG for TPTB to listen to us the fans…I am begging you now to bring back Y&R to it’s glory days…I am so tired of sounding like a broken record…OK, here it goes again, PLEASE bring back the classic background music that Y&R use to have…

Mr. Mal Young .
We need to talk.
Y&R desperately needs Altman and Passanate !!
I will arrange for Altman and Passanate’s return to you and Y&R.
I know you are thrilled over their return.
However; I do need you to meet with ABC/General Hospital to sign a few papers and thank them.

I am confident that Y&R under Altman and Passanate, once again, will greatly raise ratings and give the Y&R fans great exciting, intriguing, high drama, surprises, suspense and riveting storytelling. And the Y&R fans will be absolutely thrilled to have Altman and Passanate back!!

Mal, you can thank me later ..

i am hoping he can fix the show

If he respects the show’s long, rich history, we’ll love him.

Celia has some very insightful comments.

I am not sure what “surprising twists” suppose. Take the Winters: More recently , from what I can remember, they were in a plane crash, father and son were both in love with the same woman, both married the same woman, woman fell off of a cliff as well as falling into a coma . Father saved her from dying but was afraid people would think he pushed her over the cliff. Father hides her in a boathouse due to his fear but finds an especially talented doctor who handles comas. Woman comes out of coma and starts blackmailing almost the entire town, coma symptoms have returned return.

Must have watched if I can write that much. However, I could not stand any of it. I mean truly, not stand it. Never did I see any comments that found pleasure in that storyline. Yet, it went on, on, and on. Hope that is not an example of “twists.”

It was not the actors; all are exemplary.

The point here is it is a plus to hear viewer thoughts will be reviewed. No one would ask that viewers direct stories, just acknowledge there are times when something is terribly amiss. Viewers love to be critics, but a cumulative feeling sometimes starts to evolve, and those in charge should know how to recognize that sense and adjust.

Lastly someone wrote of being age appropriate. Victor is a case in point. Some scenes with the woman doctor were disgusting. A May – December romance was not given a proper buildup, although given her background one can intuit writer’s intent. For me, one more “I did it for my family” starts the fast-forward. Please adjust who Victor is. He doesn’t have to become an angel, but now he is looking absolutely demonic. Keep Ray Wise. He does that better.

With fast-forward I would require that the executives watch each program. As viewer’s know, it won’t take long (without the ads) for those at the top to gain better insight into content and continuity.

Can’t close without extending my respect for the complexity of producing a program such as a daily Soap and praise for the very accomplished actors who give us entertainment five days a week. I am thankful for a fun escape at the end of the day.

Please keep Dr. Neville and Ray Wise!

Best Wishes!

I am all for something new in daytime. The last time daytime truly looked outside its own gene pool for talent was Hogan Sheffer at As the World Turns….and that paid off in ratings, critical acclaim, industry buzz, and Emmy glory. And I know I am in the minority here…but I was not a big fan of Y and R under Bill Bell. It was often mind numbingly boring…and when it wasnt, it was complete Chuck Pratt style schlock and awe!! David Kimble having KILLER carved into his forehead. Sheila’s impossible reign of terror. Brad’s ex wife keeping him in a cage. Trashy Marge being able to impersonate Katherine. Victor holding his ex wifes lover in a dungeon. The list goes on. And on. People have this romanticized version of the show under Bell, and its just not true. The show was not character driven under Bell….it was all about the plot. Often, it felt like he had no long term plan whatsoever, like he was making it up as he went along, seeing how long he could drag out a plot. He told very few umbrella stories. Years would go by and certain sections of the show were completely removed from other parts…it often felt like two different shows. I am not denying or minimizing his legacy contribution to soaps….he was a pioneer. But a pioneer 50 years ago is not what it is today. I hope Mal can bring some of the more realistic elements that appear in British soaps. Normal people in extraordinary circumstances. Because this last week…featueing 80 year old Victor involved in a hostage crisis and gunplay with a completely pointless villain…..just rings so false. Age appropriate stories are so refreshing and entertaining…and soap writers havent a clue about how to tell them! They think every womn, whether age 17 or 58, is desperate for a baby. And think every man has to be a mobster or a criminal. Lets get some writers in here who can write entertaining stories for entertining chracters! I nominate Marc Cherry of Desperate Housewives. He could tell awesome stories without hving couples divorce and remarry 17 times. His stories zigged when you thought they would zag. Humour was paramount. Villains usually got their comeuppance by the end of the season and it was onto the next storyline.

I think Days needs changes and all kinds of fixing more than Y&R does right now. Why couldn’t Sony/Corday prod. hire him for Days? Too expensive for that show lol?

If I want to see great epis, I watch Youtube from Bell/Alden writing era. A-list cast? Nope. Have some mediocre actors on now. Jess Walton is great but don’t see her much,

I want Victor out of prison; Chelsea to stop nagging Adam; Luca gone ; Gloria and Jeffrey back; Ray Wise and Neville to stay ; the Winters to become closer and any other excitement .

I am an english soap viewer and I saw on Mal Young’s twitter, a photo of the indoor set that is supposed to be an exterior (I think it is a garden) and he had put a caption saying, ‘a lovely time for a stroll’. It got me thinking about how he Produced a soap in England called Brookside that literally changed the way soaps were made. Although he was not responsible for this change, what the creator of the show did was buy a real housing estate and the series was shot there. When the characters went anywhere, the action was filmed in real locations. Although many of the shows are still shot in studios (the interiors of Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale), the exterior filming is always outside on sets or on real streets etc… and I wondered if Young may decide to film in the studio the interiors but find actual outside places to film the exteriors. I am not being disrespectful to American soaps but I have seen the interiors of exterior sets on Days and I think it spoils the programme as they are obviously inside sets

To solve most of the problems is a very simple thing. Eric Braeden/Victor Newman needs to be gone from the show forever. The show can’t keep pretending that a man in his mid seventies is a stud, leading man, dangerous dude who can beat up men in their twenties or thirties, have every high official in his pocket, kidnap, replace other characters with lookalikes causing murder, rape and hundreds of other illegal and vile things to happen. Then after all this he goes to prison but still manage to repeat all of those things behind bars and is still in control or everyone and everything.

Viewers are not fools. Victor Newman’s fans are many but there are one hundred time more who hate the character and would glory in him being gone from the show. No one is indispensable. The actor does not memorize his lines or he just does not remember his lines or he thinks he’s above learning his lines. I can remember a very recent episode where Braeden said Judge Carter three times in one scene when he should have been saying Judge Gates.

There is also a big problem with sets. Where are all the sets of character homes and offices? Everyone seem to live at the GCAC and hold business meetings there or at Crimson Lights in full public view and hearing. Come on people do better than this.

New characters are needed so that every relationship in Genoa City is not bordering on incest. Every female on the show has had sex with every male character. Enough! Get new people, get a writing team that can actually write fresh and new storylines. Keep the new characters. Don’t write them into a corner then get rid of them.

So much more I could say. I have watched Y&R since the very first episode in 1973. Older fans matter, not just the 18 -49 women that Y&R seem to cater to these days. Go back to the way Bill Bell used to write.