I love Jack and he’s an incredibly good actor, but, for me, he simply didn’t make this idiotic doppleganger story work. It was all too easy – he even had Marco over-pronouncing words like Jack does when Marco had private conversations with Victor.

Horrible, isn’t it?!?

I can barely make it through an entire show – just lame, convoluted, plot-driven so-called storytelling!!

Ah, Scott! Thank you for the flashback to my favorite soap of all time … SANTA BARBARA. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pratt pulled that out of the repeat pile of storylines.

I would really like to see Victor killed off. I just can’t stand that creep. I do hope your right I want Jack to realize Adam was always loyal to him. Adam needs Jack & vice-versa. I hate that they made Harding a killer. I love his acting and him & Kevin together are amazing. It would also be nice if we could kill off Summer. Watching her TRY to act is just sickening. It would be nice to see Harding with Abby. There so different. It would be funny. Love Mariah & Kevin also.

Your post is similar to several of the things I’ve been posting, esp the 90’s Melrose Place s/l’s and character assassinations. Every woman went crazy & every man turned into a thug but the women loved them. I don’t think you can write a daytime soap, especially one that banked it’s success on family & relationships, like a slick nighttime soap. You just can’t.

I’m sick of hearing about the magnificent ratings because not so much in my eyes. Since Pratt took over they’ve a few good, record highs, but fell back down by the next few wks. I’m not trying to take anything away from them. JFP lost a LOT of viewers when Billy Miller & Michael Muhney exited the same day!! It took her a long time to build the ratings back up but she did & they were back near 5million when Pratt took over. He hasn’t pushed them over into another stratosphere. IMO they are close to the same as Y&R has been for the last several years. Check Wikipedia & see for yourself.

I agree with you 100% except that I have not seen that Pratt has ever been “shiny and new” and unless they make the last 2 years or so all a dream and bring this soap back to where it used to really shine, I hate to say that I’ve actually considered not watching it … watching all women being portrayed as mindless, weak, abused, selfish, unkind, evil, stupid is just not my idea of good writing. I used to think the Y&R just wouldn’t make it without the old fart Victor but now I have to say that Pratt has taken him to a point where he is black and evil and totally unredeemable … I don’t like a show where every storyline has to revolve around Vic Newman. He has no redeeming qualities at all. What’s unfortunate is that it seems it will never change because its the Eric Braeden show every bloody single day and I’m so sick of it … wonder why I keep hoping that we will get Bill Bell’s Y&R back.

This is not “Y & R”, not by a long shot!!!

Insulting was finding out that Devon was Katherine’s grandson … garbage. Insulting was Jill and Lauren being sisters …. garbage. Insulting were the previous writers.

the 2015 version of y and r is best summed up as this: details don’t matter. The show has had a barrel full of blunders since this “writing” started on Valentine’s Day.

Bergman is quite the gentleman in voicing his praise for all of this. If only he could say publicly what he really thinks of his character (I think contract forbids negative publicity by cast members) compared now to what lines and stories he had 25 years ago.

Ratings up? There must not be ANYTHING else to watch in this time slot. Ratings up? I smell a FIX…. you know, like Florida and presidential election votes.

LOL, Regina. That’s funny….I am thinking the same thing. Hmmmm, it’s called Y&R Magic…..or, Marissa has super human strength.

What about when Gabriel was reveled as Adam?

I did too, Timm.
I also found Peter Bergman to be quite funny playing Marco. The tacky golf clothes and the constant fondling of Phyllis was rather amusing to me. I also thought it was humorous when Jack as Marco started lusting after Ashley–he was Greg Brady to Ashley’s Marcia Brady.
One of my favorite scenes was when Phyllis overhears Jack speaking fluent Spanish in his sleep while also calling out Victor’s name. Phyllis tells Victor this and Jack (Marco) comes in and says to Victor in his whimsical voice, “People will say we’re in love.” And of course, the mustache just glowers.

AMEN! YES YES AND YES.

Heidi, you’re right–it was rape. I also think Kelly raped Jack when she was holding him hostage.

Amen Heidi! Bergman is fantastic, that was never in question. But enough is enough. I waited and watched through this whole storyline for an actual PAYOFF! I wanted to see both Jacks in the same room at the same time, along with tons of family and witnesses and most importantly, VICTOR! I wanted a showdown with Marco and Victor being arrested! Instead we got none of that. Instead what we get is episode after episode of Jack being stupid and worrying more about saving his own behind than righting all the wrongs that have been done to him and Phyllis!

“… 1 great story for the talented Mr.Bergman would have been Jack FINALLY beating Victor because that is something we’ve never seen . It would have been a way for PB to stretch because we’ve never seen Jack as the winner. ”

pause… for a moment of silence

and

sigh

Eric Braedon has been done , for so long
his portrayal of Victor is nil

he’s become so uninteresting… and , the only way for Y&R … in this current day realm… of keeping this show viable… is to catapult the Abbot’ as the heralded first family

what is the point of revisiting the Newmans? nothing comes to mind

I celebrate MTS and still love Victoria… otherwise… the Newman MEN have been shooting blanks

I am not a Jack fan, never was….but, I despise Victor. Jack has done his worst many times…he has not always been on the up-and-up. But, I am rooting for Jack, now.
Victor? My stomach roils and rebels each time I see him. Furthermore, Nikki’s nose is constantly up in the air;……amazing how those nostrils can’t smell the rat that is her husband.

RIGHT! Let us not forget that Victor unleashed Crazy Patty onto Genoa City in order to reek havoc in Jack’s life which ended with the killing of Colleen, Tracy’s daughter.
And Victor got her heart!
I agree–we need to see Victor finally get his comeuppance.

I so agree that Victor definitely needs to pay. Everyone in town needs to finally see what a soulless demon he is. His conspiracy with an international drug lord put everyone in town in danger. He is responsible for the deaths of his granddaughter’s husband and grandson’s fiancee. His entire family should kick him to the curb. He has no respect for anyone but himself. He should be penniless and become a permanent resident of the iron bar motel.

O shoot looks like my hope that Harding would be the one to take down Marco has gone down in flames– o well.

Love your ideas, Mary. I like Harding and wish he could stay. I really do not relish the idea of Dylan playing cop.
He told Paul that when he was a little boy he liked to pretend to be a policeman. I bet he liked to pretend to be a cowboy too but you don’t see anyone offering him a job as a cowboy.

Y&R has greatly improved under Pratt !!
Y&R after firing Jane and Shelly, the head writers who brought Y&R down to its lowest ratings from boredom.
GH took them both on, now GH has the Queens of Snooze as its head writers ..
Y&R gain GH’s lost..
— crazy stuff lol ..

Well, it has been 100 percent better than 2014!

I read-
there is a clause in the contracts forbidding them to say anything negative etc about the writers and actors etc..
They, by contract can only praise the soap so to say..
After they leave it still may be binding, it depends on the network’s contract.

Have you ever met Peter? Let me just say, he is as genuine in person as he is in this interview. He is not a person who rocks the boat with controversial answers and opinions. He is grateful for his long career and lets face it, he is most likely happy to do something totally different with his character. Look a likes have been done to death but I respect his take on this tried and true soap angle.

I think many actors on soaps (not just Bergman) feel that with the genre itself in trouble, they need to act pretty much as cheerleaders, casting everything in the most positive light possible so that they’re using every possible opportunity to maximize viewership. That’s on top of the motivation, which has always existed, not to criticize TPTB, because it’s so easy to find your character the victim of an explosion or a serial killer because you’ve ticked off the headwriter or the executive producer.

So I do get what he’s trying to do, and I don’t blame him for it. (And after all, he’s an actor–he may as well put that skill set in service of PR for the show by acting like he’s thrilled to pieces with everything and thinks it’s the best writing since Shakespeare, even if he really isn’t and doesn’t.) PB has a long-standing reputation for being a consummate team player and all-around good guy, so it’s not surprising to see him casting things in the most positive light possible.

That said, it doesn’t make for very satisfying interviews. Given that they’re the ones who have to put it on the screen and make it believable, one imagines that the actors are even more aware than we are, as viewers, of all the little matters that don’t quite make sense, of all the details that don’t quite add up, of all the things that just don’t quite work. As a viewer, I’d at least feel validated if the actors would acknowledge them. But on the other hand, it wouldn’t change my viewing habits one bit, so maybe it’s wrong to expect it. (On the other hand, a fluff interview isn’t going to change my viewing habits one bit, either, so perhaps it’s best to acknowledge that I’m not the kind of viewer these interviews are aimed at.)

I do agree with you about Eric Braeden, Barbara. Victor bores me to tears, and I’m not always sure how to feel about EB, but I appreciate his candor in interviews. I guess he’s one of the few who feels secure enough in his job to think he can be so candid (and Jeanne Cooper would have likely been, also), and he strikes me as shrewd enough to understand that championing bad writing and bad production decisions ultimately ISN’T going to lead to good ratings and job security (though often his cranky comments seem to have more to do with a personal agenda).

I love Harding! His ringtone cracks me up!

Gina doesnt do it for me.

Thank you for saying so concisely what I’ve been feeling in great frustration for so long 🙂

Timmm–Victor just cracks me the hell up! He’s the Donald Trump of daytime. he says and does something outrageous and then offers no apologies and rationalizes his behavior as if it were SANE
I Tweeted as much to Eric Braeden and he laughed and said,”I just need his hair–how does he do that?”
He has a sense of humor about his character and I appreciate that.
PS. I will try and forgive you for putting me in the same sentence as SU00!

But why is “what pisses off viewers” a good thing, Timmm? At this point (and for years, really, ever since it’s been apparent that “Victor is never allowed to lose”), Victor really, really bores me, and the character rarely adds any interest to the show for me, at least partly because it’s built-in, from the beginning, how any plot involving Victor is going to end. It also tends to torpedo the characters that surround him, because after all of these years, characters like Victoria and Nikki seem like idiots to keep forgiving him; it gets harder and harder to work up any sympathy as they get hurt by the plotting and scheming, because by this point, it’s tough not to think “Well, kiddo, you deserve it.” That’s no slam on somebody like Melody Thomas Scott, who I think keeps Nikki surprisingly interesting regardless, but even a talented actor can only do so much with a character who continues to make exactly the same mistake over and over.

I wish Jill and Gloria would return.

Jill just doesnt have the same appeal since Katherine died.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

if all of that happened then I’d have my show back! I so wish. The mess that is posing as the Y&R really makes me very sad.