Young Americans - How YA could have been improved

celera · 12-24-2004, 12:59 AM

We all know YA was a good show and this subject is long overdue. However, there is always a way to improve something so you can all share your thoughts on how the writers could have done that.

Silversun · 12-24-2004, 01:39 AM

Hmm, interesting topic. I'll have to think about it (and maybe look over the episodes again) and get back to this. Meanwhile I changed the thread title for you.

Veronakat · 12-26-2004, 07:36 PM

Okay, let's start for the obvious

with more Jake/Ham moments and developing their story

Quote:

Originally posted by celera
However, there is always a way to improve something...

Scorpionette · 12-28-2004, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Talliann
Okay, let's start for the obvious with more Jake/Ham moments and developing their story

Oh absoultely! More JH moments

I'll second that!

I think ive said this somewhere but i'll say it here too - i'd like to have seen Ryder stir up lots more trouble - nothing serious just interesting.

Silversun · 12-28-2004, 02:55 AM

I would have liked to see more interaction between Jake/Hamilton and the rest of the gang. Although I guess that would have happened if the show went on.

the_stud · 12-28-2004, 11:22 AM

If Kate Bosworth wasn't in it lol!!!!

Ok, if it wasn't quite so 'American', if it was more than one series, if it didn't have the theyaren'tthentheyarethenaparentlythey'rereallynotbrotherandsister story, if J/H had more of a storyline, and it was really shocking when Jake was revealed as a girlie

.....and if Kate Bosworth wasn't in it

**wolkenfuehlen** · 12-28-2004, 01:30 PM

I would have loved more Ryder/Jake/Ham storylines. And maybe more storylines that included the whole cast (like being lost in thw woods in the last episode). Sometimes there was no interaction between the two 'groups' (Jake/Ham and Will/Bella/Scout) for a whole episode which is just sad.

ness · 12-28-2004, 05:13 PM

I wanted more of a reason for why Jake did her cross dressing scam - "to upset Monica" was almost a throwaway line in the script without much followup. And why, in order to upset her, do that in particular? (I've seen fanfics that tried to give a background, but the episodes didn't really get into it. But then, the episodes saw J as SUBplot to the incest angst thing. *sigh*)

I wanted more about the townies, too. There was this class warfare thing being set up in the pilot, and it was never followed through. West Side Story, where did you go? I wanted to see the Edmund High gang, Sean and the geezers from the baseball team/Sean's party. Did Will drop them like stones?

I could have done with less of the camera-skimming-over-the-lake-montages to soft rock - they always looked like filler to me, and must confess to hitting MUTE when Will does his philosophical monologue at start and end of show.

celera · 12-28-2004, 07:28 PM

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I wanted more about the townies, too. There was this class warfare thing being set up in the pilot, and it was never followed through.

I second that. More importantly, I wonder how people felt when they belonged to neither class. Hamilton's family can't be considered townies even though they probably lived in New Rawley for a long time. They're also not rich enough to fit in with the rich people who go to Rawley.

There is only so much you can do with the maybe-they're-brother-and-sister story. It did add drama at first but they killed they story at some points by overdoing it. I admit to FFing thru the Bella/Scout parts (remotes are good). Just when they started developing Bella's story nicely, they canceled it.

ness · 12-28-2004, 07:49 PM

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Originally posted by celera
importantly, I wonder how people felt when they belonged to neither class. Hamilton's family

Finn, too. Wasn't he exTownie? I wanted to do a fic, once, about the previous generation of Rawley. Finn, Charlie Banks, Donna, the Krudskys, and the senator-to-be would all have been about the same age, do you think?

Silversun · 12-28-2004, 09:02 PM

A previous generation fic would be awesome. Can we hold you on it Ness?

More of the blue collar/blue blood clash would be great indeed. I think the show took the easy way out, with Caroline being nice about it, and Paige too. It definitely took the sting away and made it seem as though Will and Sean were the only ones who were being paranoid about the class differences, whereas most of the Rawley people don't even give a damn. Kyle Stratten was an exception, but he got like two lines in the whole series. I would have liked to see more of him and his gang, if only for the class warfare.

nki · 12-29-2004, 08:06 AM

The dialogue could have been improved. Some of the lines were somehow boring...and long.

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I could have done with less of the camera-skimming-over-the-lake-montages to soft rock - they always looked like filler to me, and must confess to hitting MUTE when Will does his philosophical monologue at start and end of show.

I agree. These scenes were nice but I'd really rather see the characters instead of ducks swimming across the lake...

As for the voice-overs, it's not that his lines weren't quote-worthy, but I was once taught to show, don't tell...It's already enough that I just watched Will contemplate about his life (thus getting less j/h) then I also have to listen to him review his thoughts at the end of the episode. It's great, but don't overdo it.

And I always say, more character. Like Sean. He's Will's bestfriend, Scout's rival...that's it. Then later on, Hamilton became half of jakeandhamilton. What about his issues with his dad and other things. We would love to see jakeandhamilton (wouldn't have mind if it was "Jahammers" instead of "Young Americans") but it would have been good if we learned more about who they were as individuals, aside from being jakeandhamilton. They did that in the first episodes but then got right on with the love story. I guess these things could have been developed, if they had another season to show it. They had good storylines, and we got the idea...some of it were just either under/overdeveloped.

I saw how their priorities changed once they fell in love. I think it's one reason why we didn't see more of their life-separately, well with the exception of Will.

of course, the omnipresent coca-cola ad...

Veronakat · 12-29-2004, 12:05 PM

yeah Jahammers!!! Actually it could have been a spin off from YA like Will from DC

Anyway I agree that I'd have liked to see more background of all characters

Quote:

Originally posted by nki
We would love to see jakeandhamilton (wouldn't have mind if it was "Jahammers" instead of "Young Americans") but it would have been good if we learned more about who they were as individuals, aside from being jakeandhamilton.

dareyou · 12-31-2004, 03:44 AM

As much as I want to comment on how YA could have been improved , I just can't -- every time something pops into my mind, I kept going back with the rationalization that it is an 8-episode series ( I can't even consider it a series)... all the loopholes that I saw, I know it could have been improved if they only kept the show going...

But did anyone notice that 5 out of the 8 episodes, Kate M. is always on her underwear. I just found it ironic that when she "out" of her room she wears too much clothes and "in" her room she's always on her brassiere. I know, I know, it must be hard wearing that layers of clothes during summer but do they have to keep showing her gorgeous body...and her collection of underwears are not that good and the colors are boring...

I would heve like that when she flashed Hamilton, she's wearing a pink brassiere -- it would have matched with all her ridiculous pink dresses.

Silversun · 12-31-2004, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nki
I guess these things could have been developed, if they had another season to show it. They had good storylines, and we got the idea...some of it were just either under/overdeveloped.

That was well said, Nikki, and it's so true. But I guess we just chalk that down to the untimely demise of YA. There was just such a possibility for everything to settle down into a good pace if the show'd been continued...

Lynne - you're right with the underwear thing.

Although, having cross-dressed a couple of times myself, I have to say a binder is very uncomfortable. And in the summer too - I definitely can see the logic behind wanting to just be in your underwear all the time if you're alone. That way, you don't need to be hot and itchy when you're by yourself, but you can still get dressed very quickly if you need to.