Y&R: Week of February 25

[MTSRocks]

Hmmm I think the writing for Victoria has been true to form lately. I enjoyed Victor Jr today, working out trying to impress Phyllis lol. Ted Shackleford continues to delight me, in fact he reminds me of the hilarious Tuc Watkins at times.

[MTSRocks]

Thank GOD that's over. It was too ludicrous for words. What exactly does Gloria accomplish here with this lame brain scheme? Okay, she says Jeff is poisoning her, and then all Jeff does is give is the tainted cream as prove, and Gloria's credibility is done. He still has her trumped no matter what. I like the wackiness, but that part was too dumb.

[LoyaltoAMC]

On the plus side, the whole Victor/Adam/Victoria thing is pretty riveting. Some good writing and acting there. Also, Lily/Cane MIA is always a good thing. I'm loving Gloria and Jeff. Given the somewhat cartoonish nature of this storyline and in the hands of lesser actors, these characters would be caricatures, but TS and JC imbue their characters with shading. On the down side, JT/Victoria scenes are a snoozefest, and I'm not buying the whole Nick/Phyllis/Jack/Sharon thing, especially the Sharon/Phyllis friendship and Phyllis as giggly housewife/advice giver. And as someone said above, Stafford seems to be phoning it in lately. And where the hell is Jess Walton?

[MTSRocks]

If Gloria/Chapman has to stay on the show then I wish they'd give her an Jeff a Dorian/David type relationship like on OLTL. These two play off each other too well. Hell, taking Chapman away from Leblanc has proved to be a good thing for her character. Bergman and Shackleford reign her in and make her tolerable.

ETA: I enjoyed Adam "lecturing" Victoria. I admire knowledge and sophistication in my characters.

[Ryan]

Can I just say....I LOVE Y&R!!

The dynamic between Victoria/Adam aka Victor Jr. aka Vic/Nicholas is going to be very interesting. I really loved Victoria being honest with Adam. It was a subtle bitchiness that came across as "Yeah...we knew you were alive but didn't really care." I am so glad they went that route because in real life, people do have resentment towards their half-siblings. The Victor/Hope relationship was a painful time for the Newman kids, and I'm glad she was honest with Adam about it. I do think that Victoria will try to forge a relationship with him down the line.

Nick's line about not liking Victor right no, so why would he want to have anything to do with his son was good too. This has a possibility to be like a new AJ/Jason feud for me. Instead of this being over a woman, it'll be over daddy's love and attention. Imagine the two of them (Nick and Adam) working at Newman, competing for daddy's approval. I am loving this. Chris Engen (I think that's his last name) is doing great.

My goal was to make Jen (SoapQueen) become a Y&R fan by the end of March, introducing her to stories that are well-written (most of the time anyway) and a show that actually showcases love and romance. It's working a lot better than I thought.

Ted Shackleford and Judith Chapman are a hoot. I am loving their relationship a lot more now...now that Jeff is onto Gloria's schemes.

[SoapQueen89]

You take a vulnerable GH fan and turn me on to a show that actually utilizes their cast in good storylines, I'm going to eat it up with a spoon.

Jen

[Ryan]

Lol, you're so bad.

[rhythmchyc]

Hi all!

I'm new to the boards. <waves> This will be long, bear with me. I haven't had an opportunity to complain about Y&R's hollow into a shell of its former self before now. If no one reads this, I understand, as most of this has not been thought out and was

I just wanted to say that when Judith Chapman was first introduced into Y&R, she actually wasn't that annoying, to me anyway. Her battles with Jack and Ashley and her scenes with John were grade A- soap opera stuff. But she's only become a pain in the neck after John died and the whole cream debacle wasn't solved. I don't know, after the eye-sore that was Joan Von Ark, Judith was much more pleasurable to witness day in and out. Now she's more like a chore. But it seems like all of the characters have become so, especially the new, undeveloped ones.

I don't understand the Jack/Nick/Sharon/Phyllis storyline either. For goodness sakes, Jack is 50+. Get that man a woman his age already. His relationship with Sharon is sickening. That was like when Victoria was with Brad: a man who married her damn mother!! Soaps are about controversy but the audience should enjoy it and I definitely didn't want those two together ever.

And everyone's right, Sharon hated Phyllis so much that I don't see how she could forgive and forget.

I remember the episode before poor Victoria Rowel unceremoniously left the show, Drucilla and Sharon were planning on how to bring down Phyllis. Why can't there be some good old, evil, bitchy scheming of soap-opera-old? Now it's Gloria scheming to avoid prison for something she should go to prison for. There is no development to speak of. Even when Sheila poisoned Lauren's necklace, that had all the suspense in the world, despite the lack of plausibility, because of all the build-up. These writers are so lazy now, they can't think past a month on a plot.

I also enjoyed Sharon and Dru's relationship because they were 1 of 3 girlfriends on the show: Lily/Colleen and Nikki/K the other two. I really don't get how there aren't many other girlfriends on soaps, even a contentious one like a Kendall/Greenlee. It adds a realistic tone to a character if she has a friend to confide in or fight with or cry for.

I think that's one reason why Y&R has gotten so bad. There are no tight bonds between these characters. When Colleen was in the hospital after Jana almost killed her and Kevin, did Lily visit her in hospital? When Michael couldn't figure out a way to get Phyllis out of prison, she considered finding another lawyer! And the writers keep pairing Katherine and Amber rather than Jill and Nikki, two women who have more of a bond with the legend during scariest times in her life: the collapse and her stroke.

Also hope that Vic doesn't disappoint as thoroughly as the other new characters: Heather, Amber, Cane, Neil's gf, Devon's gf, Dr. Korbel, Jana, David.......

[SoapQueen89]

[YRBB]

I'm glad that people are liking the Gloria/Jeff stuff. It's been pretty riveting. JC and TS are TOP OF THEIR GAME. They both seem to be enjoying all this so much. I also love how the Adam Storyline plays into the dynamics between Victor and Nick and Victor and Victoria and between them. God, this is some good, character based writing.

The only sad part in today's episode was Stafford, once one of my favorites, but now just sitting there, giggling. She DOES get more interesting, though, when she is with Adam. Maybe because she's actually doing something.

Surprisingly, the Daniel/Amber stuff didn't bore me to tears today. Suddenly, Frantz is acting!

And more classic Y&R music!

As for Victoria, I have to admit Griffith and Bell are trying to write for Vicky like she used to be written, but Heinle just can't pull that thing off. She can do the victim, and she was quite good when she woke up from her coma, but HT would have been sooooo much better in these scenes.

That Eric Forrester thing was just weird. Not only because it was so un-B&B, but because Jack just lunged on him and started talking and talking and talking. I mean, who does that?

But the pacing.... Dear God. Someone said that maybe they're trying to finish off all the LML stuff, but isn't the show now pretty much on G&B stuff? Idk, I think they just like it, which scares me. But I'll take the pacing instead of bad writing.

[MoTheGreat]

Frantz can act it's who she act opposite of becomes her problem. She good appposite of Kay & probably Jill. You know the experience actors & actress. But when Frantz plays opposite of CK that when she falls flat. I'm hoping for a Chloe, Cane, & Amber triangle. Amber does her best against strong females & the way I understand it Chloe is that bitch.

[DaytimeFan]

That's very true. On B&B Frantz was consistently working with Susan Flannery, Katherine Kelly Lang and, sometimes, Darlene Conley so she always had people to play her A game with. On Y&R she's being paired with the lackluster teens. However, Elizabeth Hendrickson's Chloe is different and really fun (yeah she's a bitch).

It would be fun to have Amber assume the same sort of role that Tricia Cast did for years between Kay and Jill. Granted it's not the same, but it could be good.

[Cat]

Hey rhythmchyc, welcome to the board.

And hello SoapQueen! I'm psyched you are watching Y&R.

rhythmchyc, re: your opinions on the current Y&R. Not to disagree, but I am enjoying the show now more than I have in two years. It feels like Y&R again (to me), even though it is by no means perfect. Everything has a natural flow, very few scenes feel like filler, the connections between different characters are being subtlely laid down. It feels like the stain of LML is being gradually eradicated although, as you point out, they still have some WTF newbies on the show from her era. One of the few good ones, Ji Min, was unceremoniously killed off.

As for VicAdam, they way they are introducing him, setting him up against Mustache, Nick and Victoria is really interesting. So far, so good. Mainly because it is bringing out shades of the old Victoria, the competitive Victoria.

I also have to say that I enjoy watching Cane, even though the story that brought him to the show was a horrible, shiteous mess, IMHO. It is the actor who is selling it to me. That and his chemistry with Jeanne Cooper and Jess Walton.

Speaking of, did anybody see the serious bitch sparks emanating from Chloe and Cane in the previews for tomorrow? That is one scene I am looking forward to!

As for Amber, I will admit she was ok yesterday in her scenes with Daniel. She and Michael Grazadei do have chemistry and he is one of the few young ones that she steps up to the plate for, even though every time I see them I think of Daniels' porn addiction and the mole on Amber's breast. Frankly, that's a visual I can do without.

Honestly, I could do without Amber (or Jana, for that matter) on this show. Was never a fan of her on B&B, she hammed her way through and ate up that show for about four years. The propping of her character was beyond sickening. Same thing here. I'm supposed to feel sorry for her because all the other characters say I should or because sad music is playing in the background, but I just... can't.

[JackPeyton]

ITA with both of you. AF can act. Shes a good actress, not great, but not bad either, IMHO - it all does depend on who she is acting up against. when she needs to step it up she does, and when she doesnt she doesnt. It istn a good thing to have an actress, but hey...

[rhythmchyc]

Thanks for the welcome, Cat.

I missed a lot of the last couple of weeks so I finally had the opportunity to see most of the changes yesterday and everyone who's posted is on the money. Definitely 2000% better than the horrific fiery-highway-pile-up of a mess it was last year.

Ji Min was great, particularly towards his end. Did Latham happen to read the message boards, see which characters people adored, and intentionally showed them the door? Because nothing else makes sense at this point.

One minor scene yesterday that, I think, truly showed how much better this show has gotten, was the final scene: William walks down the stairs with the screwdriver in his hand and a grin on his face. That subtly, that suspense, that CLIFFHANGER was completely nonexistent over the last year. Kudos to whoever thought that up.

I also enjoyed the scene Nick and Victor had at the gym, when Victor says he hopes Nick's son never treats him the way Nick has treated Victor. That was such a human statement, such a real moment between father and son. Even though it didn't contain as much punch as the other scenes, this one marks the beginning of something great in Y&R. Finally, I can begin to tape this show without feeling like it's a waste of space.