Y&R: Week of July 14, 2008

[Toups]

Yeah, there's not many of us TS fans.

She looked good in tomorrow's US episode.

I wouldn't mind a C/D/A triangle.

[Ann_SS]

Today's Y&R is the best episode under MAB so far. Finally, something interesting happened to generated conflict. I'm betting that is all Hogan because MAB forgot Jack existed with her Victor obsession. Jack may become Hogan's ATWT Craig which will be good because it will give Peter Bergman some good material.

[y&r_fan]

WOOHOO! I thought I was the only one!

(You know the others are going to chew you up and spit you out for liking TS, right?)

[Toups]

The key is how one presents himself/herself when showcasing their liking of TS.

[AddictedToSoaps]

Exactly.

Anyways, Y&R is getting better. I thought today's epi was great. Loved hearing everyone's reaction to the article - especially Sabrina's!!

[MTSRocks]

Raya was horrible today in her crying scenes. Blah!

Tammin was good in today's Canadian episode. I wouldn't mind a Colleen/Daniel hookup, but I think in the long run it's better to keep them friends.

[lmfan]

Agree on the Victor obsessions, but what about a Michael story? Talk about a forgotten character. He desperately needs something to do. LML gave Jack tons of story not to mention plenty of emmy bait and although stuck in the boring Restless Style story it's not like Jack has been ignored. They have been propping Restless Style quite a bit with the new set, guest stars and web site. I like Peter Bergman and hope he gets good story but LML and now Maria Bell have given Michael nothing to work with except propping other characters. Michael has been off the show more than he has been on the show this year. Six months in and only 54 episodes.

[MTSRocks]

^^^I think its best that Michael play supporting for awhile, so fans can remember why they fell in love with him again. Also, he needs to be put out of Gloria's orbit, and Leblanc needs to reign it in a bit. He's been less hammy lately though.

[brimike]

Hogan's Craig (NOT Hunt's Craig... HOGAN'S Craig... there's a difference) is a LOT closer to Jack Abbott than Craig Montgomery.

[lmfan]

Yes, but when he plays supporting it is almost always supporting Gloria this year. He has been supporting for two and a half years now ever since LML took over. They haven't given him anything meaty to work with for nearly a year and that was only a scene here or there. Maybe he was pushing a bit or a bit hammy because he had little to do but react to Gloria's schemes, Kevin and Daniel's stupidity and propping Phyllis all last year.

And this father storyline is taking forever to get started with a show or two with Michael talking to Lauren about it then nothing for weeks. Keeping him supporting is the problem because he has become little more than Gloria's henchman. Fans will remember why they fell in love with him when he is given strong material and his own story about Michael's feelings/issues in regards to himself and his immediate family (Lauren and Fen) and to remind the fans he is more than a prop for Gloria and Phyllis. He can still be the resident lawyer, but he deserves his own story just like Peter, Eric and Josh get. I do agree he needs to be out of Gloria's orbit though.

[DaytimeFan]

I disagree, Christian LeBlanc needs to be backburned in the worst way. He may have supported the Gloria storyline that has swallowed the show for the past few years (!) but he was on practically every damn day. It doesn't help that his acting has gone to sh*t and he just hams it up whenever he can. Furthermore, the character of Michael Baldwin has strayed much too far from his origins and the marriage to Lauren is the prime offense that has ruined him.

Michael Baldwin needs to go back to being the B storyline anti-hero of yesteryear. Christian LeBlanc played it brilliantly. Quite simply, he isn't leading man material, regardless of his Emmy wins.

[lmfan]

No he wasn't and the episode count will show that many others had far more airtime than him especially this year. He is maybe 20th in episode counts this year. Gloria along with Victor and the Newmans have been eating the show this year. In 2006 and 2007 it was the quad especially Phyllis with a heavy dose of Brad. I loved CLB when he was supporting all those years because even though he was supporting he moved story. Now he is nothing but Gloria's lap dog and is being wasted. He was brought up to lead in 2004 and his work opposite Greg Rikkhart and Tracey Bregman was terrific. The downfall was when they decided to center the family around Gloria and that was one of LML's first moves with the cream tampering in the spring of 2006. The relationship with Lauren was funny, sexy and smart under Jack Smith. You have two formy edgy characters and LML and Maria took away their edge. The writing for them has been poor expecially this year. Practically every scene they have has been about Gloria. Maybe they need to shake up Lauren and Michael but Lauren has not ruined him. If anything it is the lack of writing for him and the obsession with Gloria that has damaged both Michael and Lauren as well as Kevin. CLB can play lead or supporting but he needs the material which he hasn't been given in a long time.

[DeeeDee]

Michael/Lauren went to crap when TPTB made Lauren Kelfin's henchwoman.

It was all downhill from there.

[JackPeyton]

Michael & Lauren need to pulled from gloria is love and michael needs to be on the backburner and Lauren needs to go mix it up at Jabot or something.

[LondonScribe]

Watching it now...

WOW

Best episode I've seen in a LONG time.

By virtue of the dramatic music used (a LOT of it OLD) it really gave the sense of something big happening.

Lots of conflict and tension. And Jack (a veteran) is at the centre of it all. And it opens up new roads going foward.

If today, the rest of the week and next week is an indication of what we can expect with MAB/Sheffer then maybe all the people who have been talking up next month and beyond weren't talking out of their jacksies.

Fingers crossed.