Just like most beloved, iconic watercooler shows, daytime’s No. 1 sudser, The Young and the Restless has been the subject of much heated discussion online and in the soap press lately.
According to a recent TVGuide.ca poll, 44 per cent of fans hate it, 32 per cent love it, and 24 per cent are on the fence.
For the first time since joining the writing team of Y&R in 2008, former As The World Turns/Days of our Lives Emmy-winning scribe Hogan Sheffer, along with his partner-in-crime Maria Arena Bell, sat down with TVGuide.ca to chat about online viewer dissatisfaction, their regret over killing off their biggest soap star, Mr. Kitty, for a second time, why Y&R is so popular in Canada and explain why an influx of ex-soapers and prime-time stars are visiting soaps’ most famous and dysfunctional town, Genoa City.
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TVGuide.ca: Congratulations on all your casting coups! From David Hasselhoff and Marcy Rylan, to Eden Riegel, you guys have been very busy on the casting front. Would you like to tease us about your recent addition, Emmy winner Jeff Branson and film diva Sean Young?
Maria Arena Bell: We’re thrilled to have Jeff Branson on our show. We’re fortunate to have him in a short-term arc. He’ll air primarily over the summer in what I think will be a breakout role for him. I’d like to keep his story under wraps for now. But I can say Jeff will be very pivotal in the coming months. |
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TVG: I’m most excited about Andrea Evans’s “comeback” as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Tawny next week. It appears that you guys are stunt-casting with a mixture of ex-P&G/All My Children and prime-time/film stars. Is that a fair assessment?
MAB: No. Honestly, we’re just going after the right actors for the right roles. Yes, the majority of them have experience in daytime because we know they can deliver in this hectic medium. But we’re also trying to bring on performers who have done different things, which allows us to introduce a new energy to Genoa City. The calibre of hiring Sean Young in a pivotal yet guest-star capacity is a lot of fun. It’s also compelling for the audience.
TVG: Will we one day see your brother, actor Craig Sheffer, toiling in Genoa City one of these days, Hogan?
Hogan Sheffer: [Laughs] That’s a great question! I don’t know. Craig is an elusive critter.
TVG: Hogan, what’s it like working on the No. 1 soap opera alongside Maria Arena Bell?
HS: [Joking] She’s a walking soap opera [laughs]! It’s a strange transition for me because I’ve been, as you know, the head writer on both As The World Turns and briefly, thank God briefly, on Days of our Lives. At first, I wasn’t sure how it would work out. I didn’t know anything about Maria because I just keep to myself. I don’t pay attention to anyone other than myself! And I say this without any sense of irony: this is the best job I’ve ever had, it’s the best show I’ve ever worked on, and I’m having a ball. You could probably tell if you were fortunate to be in on one of our writer conference calls. It’s a constant state of hilarity. We work very hard. We also love each other a lot. I’ve never seen a team of writers work like this ever before in my life. Maria is extraordinarily generous and very loyal. The best part? I don’t have to deal with the network or the producers. They don’t scream at me and I don’t have to scream at them! That’s just fine with me!
TVG: You guys should tape those conference calls and air them online! Are you relieved that the majority of your contract showdowns are over and you can just focus on story?
HS: One of the most important aspects of this job for me is that everyone’s heads are on the chopping block — [whether it’s cast or crew]. It doesn’t matter how popular or important you are. The stars of our show have had to endure budget cuts because Sony is chopping money left and right. To her own detriment, Maria has remained loyal to her staff.
TVG: How do you guys work together in terms of laying out long-term story? You have three co-head writers — do you split the show into three halves or work in tandem?
HS: When you have three co-head writers like we do, the key is you cannot have an ego — especially in this environment. And that’s the best part of working on Y&R. Maria just wants the best idea out there. She doesn’t care if it comes from me, her, or the janitor who is sweeping nearby who suggests something brilliant. When you work in that kind of liberal environment, you’re free to disagree and free to come up with your own ideas — which is very important creatively. I’m given a very large berth to contribute my ideas. Also, Maria has given me the chance to commandeer certain stories if she has a sense it’s a story I know and can tell very well. She’ll take a back seat and let me run with it. And that’s because there are no egos on this writing team. You know, I’ve worked on several shows where head writers are so protective of their ideas that the rest of the team is walking on eggshells. And I don’t like to work that way. [It’s counterproductive]. Yes, we fight and argue once in a while, but at the end of the day, the best idea wins. That’s why the show is so good.
TVG: What do you think of As The World Turns’s recent cancellation?
HS: Oh, it truly breaks my heart. But it’s not surprising. Actually, it was 10 years ago this month that I began working on World Turns on an eight-week trial basis. After those eight weeks, I was handed the head-writing reins. Obviously that time was very exciting, nostalgic for me. I look back at World Turns with a great deal of affection. As for its cancellation … that’s the reality of the world we live in today. To be on the No. 1 show on daytime, and really the only show that is doing extraordinarily well makes me feel incredibly blessed.
TVG: Your alma mater, Days of our Lives, is also doing well in the ratings. Are you happy for their creative resurgence?
HS: I’m thrilled for them. Their head writer is Chris Whitesell, who is just brilliant. He was one of my co-head writers on World Turns. He’s like a machine gun. He’ll give you a thousand ideas in a minute. Most of them are stupid, but a few of them are brilliant. I can tell the show has a lot of Chris in it. I’m very happy for Chris.
TVG: The Y&R fans who post online are extremely livid with the show. Would you like to address their discontent with your writing team, especially your controversial decision to include not one but two doppelganger storylines?
MAB: Let me tell you what’s funny about that. Someone in the soap press [Soap Opera Digest’s Carolyn Hinsey] recently wrote, “Did you guys realize that you have two doppelgangers airing at once?” Yeah, we did [laughs]! It was intentional. The two stories are intertwined. The Sarah and Patty storylines will be a rapid-fire denouement. It gave us an opportunity to tell a fun, clever and interesting culmination of Patty’s story and the pseudo reemergence of Sheila. It gave Tracey Bregman an opportunity to stretch herself as an actress and show a different side, a darker side, in this dual role. It’s a very short arc. But what it gives the audience is a tour-de-force performance from Tracey. You’ll see a very fun explosion this week. Tracey shouldn’t just win an Emmy Award for this portrayal, she should win an Oscar! You’ll see!
As for viewer dissatisfaction, I want to say I do visit the message boards. I do listen to our fans and critics. Sometimes when you’re watching a storyline unfold, you don’t know where it’s going and you get understandably frustrated. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means people are watching and talking about our show. I’d be more concerned if fans weren’t talking about our show! A perfect example of that is the Adam Newman storyline. Everyone complained about Adam getting away with all his evildoings, yet [we surged almost 300,000 viewers in the ratings the week he was murdered — which proved at the end of the day that the audience really loved the story]. We always ensure there is a great payoff in all of our stories. Just trust us.
HS: Also, these stories are connected.
MAB: That’s the point.
TVG: TV Guide Magazine’s Michael Logan and I recently compared certain aspects of Y&R to Passions. Do you agree that Genoa City is a wacky place to visit these days?
MAB: I was a good friend of James E. Reilly. While I don’t think our show is like Passions at all, I respected James’s work immensely. And let’s not forget [Y&R creator/producer/head writer] Bill Bell did this, too. He built incredible, larger-than-life storytelling from time to time. Everything from David Kimble to Victor Newman in the 1980s. [It’s in our DNA.] When it comes down to it, the Sarah/Patty storyline will come down to a very interesting psychological storyline involving Lauren. Her greatest nemesis will always be Sheila. Yes, Sheila is back in a different form, but how Lauren will conquer Sheila this time around will be fascinating and entertaining to watch. And I think people want to see this. There will be a lot more traditional, romantic, corporate boardroom, fun, and character-driven storylines in the summer. It will all be worth it.
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TVG: I wouldn’t mind if Mr. Kitty had a doppelganger out there.
MAB: [laughs] I should have never let Zapato eat that kitty! I feel bad about that.
TVG: All Patty has to do is sew his tail back on! Well, at least we have Patty's new friend, Cat. One of the criticisms with your writing is that you rely too much on mining Bill Bell’s past storylines and fixing ex-head writer Lynn Marie Latham’s errors in judgment. Do you agree?
MAB: I think we have created new, fresh storylines like the Adam Newman storyline. But since I’ve been here, it’s been my motto to always respect the history of the show and be true to its identity. I think it’s intriguing that there are parallels in our current and past storylines. I think that enriches the story experience for the fans on many levels. As much as there is a very vocal minority of fans on the web, I do know that the majority of our fans are enjoying our show. We have an incredible cast of characters who share a rich history. We’re just putting a contemporary spin on everything. |
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TVG: Although you took a big hit recently in the ratings, Y&R has hovered around a 3.8 for the past few months, which is nothing to squawk at.
MAB: April is historically the lowest-rated month for us. I think we are really bucking the trend. This summer, you can expect a lot of traditional Y&R stories. I think the fans will really love the show. It’s been a fun ride. I hope the majority of the fans feel the same way.
TVG: The direction and production values have been excellent lately.
HS: Production has really stepped up.
MAB: The stuff that aired this week is really feature-film quality. It was a very complex sequence of events we had to shoot. The crew and cast were up until 4:30 a.m. completing the action-packed sequences. You’ll be going, “Wow” when you see it. And everyone on our show, from the cast and crew, are very excited about our direction.
TVG: Hogan’s World Turns appointment proved the industry is smart to invest in new writing talent. Why do you think daytime in general isn’t mining fresh writers? Prime time and film does …
MAB: There are certainly young people on my staff that will be running shows down the road because they’re incredibly talented. I grew up in an environment that made us believe we would move up the ranks with titles of associate and co-head writers. I think that’s still attainable. And I certainly do agree with you that we need new blood on our shows. I encourage show runners on other soaps to look towards the younger generation and give them a chance to learn this business. I think there is a lot of great new talent out there to mine and utilize.
Having said that, I do believe that there is fresh new talent currently employed on most, if not all the soaps. It’s a mixture of seasoned and new talent. But soaps are a particular kind of workload. You have to know and understand the genre. When you bring in a new talent who isn’t passionate or knowledgeable about soaps, it never works. You can never pander or talk down to the audience. Everyone on my team loves this form and genre. We’re doing the best work possible.
HS: Absolutely.
TVG: Hogan, why do you think your fresh take on soaps helped revive World Turns creatively and financially? Was it because you came in with new ideas, or is it simply because you understand this genre?
HS: I didn’t know the form at all. Because I didn’t know the rules, I ended up breaking them! More than that, I had an executive producer who encouraged breaking the rules. Let’s take the dual doppelganger storylines as an example. That’s an iconic soap staple. What I do is ask myself constantly, “How can we tell this kind of storyline differently?” Sometimes you have to take a chance. Yeah, so 20 people hate it online, but our ratings reflect otherwise. You can’t stay stale. I feel everyone in the medium is playing it safe from a production and writing standpoint. The networks are playing it safe. The show that isn’t playing it safe is us! Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We don’t care because we put our heart and soul into it. We play the emotional aspect of our stories [authentically], yet we’re not playing it safe. And that’s what I did on World Turns. We took chances. I used to say to [World Turns’ executive producer] Christopher Goutman, “Instead of 22 scenes in a show, why don’t we do 60 scenes?” So we did it, and guess what? We won an Emmy award. Like Maria said, if there is a bit of Jim Reilly on Y&R, then great! There’s room for Jim Reilly in daytime. And there’s room for other stuff as well. If you get stuck in the traditional model of soaps, you’re going to get cancelled.
TVG: Why do you think Y&R is consistently in the Top 15 shows in prime time and daytime in Canada? Why does Genoa City seemingly resonate more in my country than yours? I know it airs at 4:30 p.m. and we’re a day ahead here, but what are your theories as to why Y&R is a mainstream phenomenon in Canada?
MAB: I think Canada is an incredibly smart country [laughs]! We don’t write the show from a geographical point of view because once you do that you dilute your vision, creativity and direction. You can never pander to an audience. In the end, I have no idea why Canada loves our show so much, but I’m so happy you guys do! It’s fantastic. You guys are brilliant.
HS: Canadians have an enormously dry sense of humour and a fantastic sense of irony. When Y&R gets crazy, you guys get it. When it’s loopy, you guys get it, when it’s heartbreaking, you guys get it. Canadians are a very sophisticated audience.
MAB: You have to find the right balance in soap.
HS: Even in the great tradition of Canadian literature, from authors like Robertson William Davies, Bernard Muddiman, and Margaret Atwood, these novelists wrote about an overwhelming, extraordinary cast of characters in ordinary small towns. Canadians gravitate towards that even in their high end of literature. So it makes sense to me that you guys would love the soap opera medium.
TVG: Finally, are you kooks looking forward to the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas this year? Thankfully, CBS is airing them …
MAB: Absolutely. I hope we get a great attendance of stars from all the shows this year despite it being held in Las Vegas. I’m so thrilled CBS decided to air them this year. I pray the Daytime Emmys garner a high rating so we can prove that there is still a soap audience out there that is alive and well. Y&R’s popularity around the world is still topping prime-time shows. We want to remind the world of that. We want to change the discussion from, “Oh, soaps are dying,” to “Wow, this is still a healthy, vibrant and dynamic art form.”
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TVG: Hopefully, your writing team will be nominated this year. You were robbed last year.
MAB: Me, too! Just as we did last year, we submitted a very classic and emotional show that typifies what our show is about. I always find myself asking when I judge this category, “What is your show really about?” because of [the reliance of submitting] stand-alone episodes. If we’re not nominated, I feel I handed in a reel which I consider an emblematic representation of what Y&R is all about.
TVG: Hogan is infamous for his hilarious Emmy speeches. Will you both accept the statue if Y&R wins best drama writing team?
MAB: Of course — if we can convince him to travel to Las Vegas! |
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HS: On a personal level, I hate Las Vegas [laughs]!
TVG: Be forewarned, like Genoa City, what happens in Las Vegas, will be reported in the Suds Report.
Want to dish the soaps with Nelson Branco? Join The Suds Report discussion group today on Facebook.com.
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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America. |
