DeeeDee

48 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

In many ways, the crap writing and decimation of Sharon's character over the past 15 years mirrored that of the show. Sharon was Bell's last big/popular heroine who he invested A LOT into. She may not have been everyone's cup of tea (much like the show), but the tearing down of that character coincided with the tearing down of the show itself and ultimately what Bell established. 

+1.

I guess that year and a half looms large for my memory.  The Ashley that replaced Brenda sidelines the character.  And Jess was wasted after the baby Billy stuff, John leaves for a bit and Mamie was gone.  It felt very much like the Abbotts were out of favor.

You just summed up the second half of 96 & most of 97. But besides that period the Abbotts remained a relatively strong part of the canvas with Jill & the Abbott siblings taking turns as the lead members of the family.

And truthfully, I felt that way at times before that.  Once Traci stopped being a major player it felt at times like Victor and Ashley were really tied to Victor and John to Jill.

The Abbotts remained a central core family but the Ashley recasts & the dumping of the Voilens really hurt the balance of the family. It also didn't help that Beth went recurring once Traci married Steve (although Traci remained a strong recurring presence until the late 90s).

And I still think Cricket was the second lead behind Victor.

Not really. Cricket was more of a lead in the early 90s than she was in the mid-late 90s. By the time Cricket married Paul they were largely supporting players in everyone else's stories. Cricket wasn't driving stories like she had (to a ridiculous degree) in the early 90s.

And then Drucilla.

While Drucilla was the lead in the Barber/Winters orbit, the focus had firmly turned towards Olivia & Malcolm by the time VR left (with TLW carrying their part of the canvas quite well).

If any characters could be considered "leads" of 90s Y&R it would arguably be Nick & Sharon (who have rarely been placed on the backburner during their entire 25 year run on the show). Even the mighty Victor Newman became a supporting player in their stories.

I agree that reigniting Jill and Katherine was the best thing for both characters, and building from there with a new generation was Alden’s master stroke.

Alden & Walton's gradual revitalization of Jill was fantastic. Their work is so unsung. Half the Emmys Flannery won in the early 00s rightfully belong to Jess.

50 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Everything was pretty Victor or Cricket or Drucilla centered.

The Abbotts remained pretty central to the canvas EXCEPT for about a year and a half when Brenda left and Y&R tried to integrate The Dennisons onto the canvas.

During the 90's everything revolved around The Newmans (primary stories), Abbotts (secondary stories), Winters (tertiary stories), Williams (background stories), and Chancellors (background stories) with everyone else (the Romalottis, the McNeils, etc) orbiting those central families.

The brilliant thing Alden did was move Jill out of the Abbott orbit back into the Chancellor orbit which greatly refreshed both families.

Y&R not pairing Brad & Diane was a HUGE missed opportunity,

Traci hasn't always been a compassionate Mother Earth type.

During (and especially after) her first marriage to Brad, Traci became (relatively) more edgy and quite bitter.

Her being a bitch to Victor (given their history) wouldn't be OOC, if written with care (which will never happen, so....)

This show is in desperate need of younger actresses.

And next year marks Amelia's 15th year on Y&R.

3 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

Can you picture Victoria circa late 90's/early 00's being portrayed as inferior and intimidated by Adam? Hell no. 

+1.

If Heinle & Morrow could make a third of their airtime work, there would be no need for Adam.

Petronia would make a wonderful Lillie Belle recast.

Victor acting like a benevolent patriarch? Ok.

This show lacks real happiness.

Monti Sharp is so beautiful.

That's what happens when you cast for looks over talent.

Tonya refuses to return on contract.

15 hours ago, ajsp35801 said:

Poor Loren Lott. They will destroy Ana in pursuit of making Tessa/Mariah more palatable to the audience. I guessed they learned nothing from Hilary's involvement with the two. 

Hopefully Ana will trip Tessa into traffic before Y&R totally ruins the character.

And they will flop. Again.

54 minutes ago, Broderick said:

 

Definitely.   I really learned to appreciate Brenda Epperson's sweet, soft-spoken soap heroine called "Ashley", but she was never the same character as that aloof, ballsy, assertive, take-charge, eye-rolling, exasperated Daddy's Beauty that Eileen had played. 

That's how I felt about Alex Donnelly & Susan Walters.

1 hour ago, Taoboi said:

Perhaps if they would just let Heinle play an icy Victoria...something she is great at doing

No she isn't.

Circling The Drain.

New Adam is pretty good.

Hopefully Bergman doesn't call ICE on Eva.

Chelsea Lawson & Chloe Mitchell

Victoria & Nick have always had complex relationships with Adam.

Victoria has NEVER cared for Adam (even before SORASING). Nick grudgingly cared about Adam (as a kid) then pretty much hated him (as an adult).

Abby also never liked Adam (but for very different reasons than either Victoria or Nick).

1 hour ago, BetterForgotten said:

Eva needs the paycheck, she doesn't care.