Y&R: Kay and Jill

[Sedrick]

I know I am in the minority here, but I pretty much still enjoy Y&R, even though I don't like some of LML's changes to the show.

My biggest gripe with the show is the big blunder made before Lynn even entered the picture: the ill-advised move that revealed Jill and Kay were mother and daughter.

Even though I hated the twist from day one, I have really tried these past few years to accept the storyline. Now finally I am throwing in the towel.

Jess Walton and Jeanne Cooper of legends, acting powerhouses that can pull off almost anything. However, even their potent chemistry cannot make the turkey fly.

Hearing Jill call Katherine "Mother" grates my nerves like fingers on a chalkboard! I'm sorry, but I grew up watching these two women battle each other with intense HATE like no other rivals in daytime! For Pete's sake, I still vividly remember the day Jill disgustingly stole all the toilet paper out of the restroom stall that Kay had to use in order to trap her enemy in there! The way Jill referred to Kay as "old bag o' bones" were filled with so much venom that they still ring in my ears!

If anything, I truly wish someone at Y&R would please use any cliche or tired device they have to to reveal that the women really aren't related!

[Paul Raven]

Completely agree with your thoughts.

A ludricous idea that came out of nowhere and destroyed a decades long rivalry .

First,Kay suddenly reveals she had a child-never before mentioned.

Then,Liz reveals Jill is adopted - never before mentioned.

Then,lo and behold,the adopted daughter turns out to be her lifetime rival.

What's worse,there seemed to be no planning beyond the shock revelation.

It was ridiculous that they would be close or that Jill would call her mother.

Then,they tried a few half baked ideas to re-ignite the rivalry-but the dynamics were gone now the two were related.

As for Katherine's next regained memory-that she swapped Phillip-it was adding insult to injury.

What could/should have been done instead to keep the Kay/Jill story alive ?

[Sweet_VeeVee24]

A part of me agrees that things were ruined for them when they had them as mother and daughter; and it's even worse now that LML is all over the show..

We no longer have the bitter bickerings, the barrage of snippy comments exchanged...Instead we have Katherine doling out mother advice, etc.

Another part of me thinks that they still could have remained with the mother/daughter aspect, only if they had continued to have Jill have a distain for Katherine and vice versa....then again, with the fact that they have now included a son that was switched at birth, etc, it is just crapped up.

[LiasonAgent007]

I totally see all of the points made before and yes I do miss the famous bickering between the two of them...

However I think it was a great move to make them mother and daughter. just shocking really. And Jill was so excellent in those scenes.

Plus I still feel like we can have the same old Jill and Kay bickering as before. Just a matter of what material they give them.

[MichaelGL]

Yeah I could settle for that. Having Jill start calling Katherine mother all of a sudden is just so wrong. They could have continued to have Jill resent Katherine by never calling Kay "mother". Kay and Jill have warmed up to the idea of being mother and daughter way to fast.

All in all I still wish this whole thing could be undone.

[Sedrick]

See, that was perhaps the fatal flaw with the entire idea...it was done simply as a shocking twist. Bill Bell built Y&R on a foundation that wasn't ever supposed to rely on having to throw in out-of-nowhere plot twists to tiltilate the audience. After the initial shock wore off (and there was more eye-rolling on the part of longterm fans rather than actual shock), where was there to go? Well, the rivalry could have been intensified even more by the revelation. Lord knows a lot of people find more hate for family than anyone else!

Instead Kay and Jill have been turned into Genoa City's watered down knockoff of The Golden Girls!

[LiasonAgent007]

LMFAO! Thats priceless and yet so true!

Thanks for that insight. I'm sure it must have looked totally different to a longtime viewer as opposed to me since i've only been watching for 7 years. And for me it was definitely a HUGE shock. Plus even in those few years (during the whole Billy/Mac stuff) you could see just how much they hated one another...or detested might be a better word.

Anyways you're right about "once the shock wore off" in terms of the dynamics of the relationship. I mean yes there are families where people truly hate one another but for me I guess since I'm big on love and all that I'd rather see Kay and Jill form a close bond. Even if it requires months and years of resentment, etc like the others were talking about.

I think theres a lot that can be explored with these two soon. It just takes a lil imagination and more thought. Right now though things seem to be focused more on the Newmans, Clear Springs, & The Younger Set so maybe down the line we'll see a storyline that touches back on them...

[DeeeDee]

Katherine & Jill as Mother/Daughter?

...Worst. Plot. Driven. Decision. EVER.

[Adam]

Word.

It totally ruined their dynamic which was legendary in daytime.

IMO it was the first time really where Y&R went for one of those ABCish plot driven stunts. Like that is something that would happen on GH, AMC or OLTL. It just did not fit with Y&R.

Latham if she had reversed that, I would sing her praises on it. IMO that should have been the big Jill/Kay story. Not this Cane business because Cane is basically to Jill what Josh is to Erica on AMC.

And it screwed up timelinesd (like arer we just supposed to forget about Nina?) Cause she could be like his mother.

[DeeeDee]

Exactly.

The whole thing is just so mind boggingly stupid it isn't even funny.

It wastes two powerhouse actresses like JC & JW, insults the integrity of the characters as well as the viewers & thoroughly screws up the entire legacy of the show.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Jack F. Smith never knew how to write for Kay and Jill, hence this stupid storyline and the fact that both characters were severely back-burned for at least 90% of Smith's run.

Though, despite his inconsistencies, I'd welcome Smith back if it meant Latham were gone.

[DeeeDee]

As bad as Alden's tenure as HW was & it was bad, her Y&R smoked Jack Smith's & is light years beyond anything LML has and/or ever will do.

[Adam]

Yep. I agree. Smith at his worst, is still better than the crap Latham has been spweing out for the last year. Its sad to see how far this icon has fell. Bel stepping back from the day to day in 1998 was when things started going down but 1998-2005 the show still was always considered the cream of the crop....

[Khan]

To be fair, though, I don't think Bill Bell had any other choice but to step down. Didn't he die of complications from Alzheimer's? If that's true, then his declining health probably forced him to do it.

Also, I have to be honest: I didn't think there was a lot wrong w/ Kay Alden's Y&R. Unlike LML, or even Jack Smith, she seemed to get the show's peculiar rhythms. She wasn't as brilliant as Papa Bell, true, but at least she understood enough about how he worked to make HER show match his as closely as possible.

It probably would've helped her tremendously, though, if Sony/CBS had hired someone like Nancy Curlee to work with her as Co-HW or Story Consultant.

[DaytimeFan]

I agree with Khan, I really didn't see much wrong with Kay Alden's run as sole HW, Victor 'back from the dead', the battle for Jabot, Kay & Jill's mansion fight, Diane Jenkins fights Nikki for Victor, I have to say I loved Kay Alden's tenure...when Jack Smith became EP and Co-HW is when I think things started to slide and yeah Jack Smith did not know how to write for Jeanne Cooper and Jess Walton but then neither does LML.

I agree though, Kay and Jill's mother/daughter BS needs to be undone and fast! I don't even really care how its done, really anything would be fine as long as they get back to hating each other again!