Y&R: Week of September 08, 2008

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think she's juggling both Y&R and B&B, I think Toups meant she needs to only write for Y&R and not B&B.

If she were temp, I doubt she would've written as many scripts as she has.

[alwild]

What the hell is wrong with Colleen she's obsessed with Daniel, he tells her that he not over Amber and doesn't want her to go to NY with him and Colleen have the nerve to tell Lily that Daniel has move on and is going to make her move on him and

what have TPTB done to this character

I'm not a fan of Colleen but right now she's acting like a bit*h

[MarkH]

Okay episode. Few of the a-listers were on, and there was such a rush of story....I had a hard time believing this was a Bell/Ferri-Esser episode. It felt pretty LML, actually.

Jill resigning and going straight to the DA on Brad. That silly contrived Gloria-Kay scene. Even ghost-John (whom I treasure, as our last tie to Jerry Douglas). I wasn't expecting the show to be like this.

I was surprised Jack didn't even mention Restless Style. He was right back on the Jabot kick. This is fine...I consider it truer to his essence....but doesn't that instantly blow off Jack's story all this year?

[BadZoe]

This is the first week I'm glad they re-cast Colleen. This character has really become pathetic.

[Chris B]

Colleen seems like a completely different person now. A conniving, hateful bitch. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Throwing her of all people into this storyline with Daniel and Amber has ruined it because they're ruining a legacy character. Just bring back Adrianne Leon (or cast a decent actress) and put Colleen with Devon. The two had real chemistry (something Bryton hasn't seen elsewhere) and could build something. It seems like they're just desperate for her to have something to do.

Was glad to finally get a glimpse of Jill this week. As usual, Jess knocked it out of the ballpark. Why Brad didn't just still with Jill is beyond me. Had he waited, I could see her viewing him as a strong ally and helping him out. He got greedy, couldn't wait for the HBIC to be ready and got screwed. I love seeing Brad get screwed. I wish he had a love interest though. Jill too.

[y&r_fan]

Well I am loving the Colleen/Amber rivalry. I hope TPTB build on that.

Just bring back Adrianne Leon (or cast a decent actress)

THEY ALREADY HAVE ONE.

[JackPeyton]

i like this version of colleen to be honest. this is the most intersting she has ever been.

that said this triangle does not work because Grazzi & Frantz have buckets of chem and TS & MG do.. not.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Did anyone notice any changes with the Chancellor living room set? It looked different to me - more spacious and less decorated. Also the lighting looks a lot brighter. I wonder if this is Rauch's consulting that's beginning to show.

[JackPeyton]

"whats good for the Chancellor is good for the Valentine"

best line of tomorrows US show.

[Cat]

Yay! I'm psyched for a little Chancellor-Valentine match-up.

Personally, I think Y&R has been on fire this week. Not in a Sudden Impact way -- I've just been enjoying the laying down of the next stage of SLs and wondering where stuff is going.

What can I say? I just love the show. Love it. I haven't loved the show like this in a long time.

[MarkH]

I agree with you that the show is generally good, and that we are in a setup phase.

But I think this is what I may be objecting to. The "story shift" seems to be fairly heavy handed...we can TELL they are transitioning. Jack is SUDDENLY switched back to "try to gain back Jabot" story--with nary a mention of Restless Style. Moreover, we start seeing pictures of Ashley and John again. Amber and Colleen SUDDENLY ramp up the "bitch fight". (I realize this has been building, but the Colleen nastiness is new). Keven SUDDENLY says that Crimson Lights + Jabot (two jobs) is not enough $$.

I am not really complaining. For example, when Cane yesterday ACTED like a CEO...I was initially miffed. ("A year ago, he wasn't even a competent construction foreman...even that was above his skill level...now he is a skilled CEO???"). But, Daniel Goddard really played it WELL. He had a fierce strength, but also a strong calm, with his mother. And I realized: If he is like this for a year, I will forget the shoddy backstory...and I will believe him in this capacity...because Goddard SELLS it.

I'd just prefer it if the set-up phases were a little less obvious.

M

[Sylph]

I don't know what to say... I mean - are you sure you're judging a script, primarily dialogue? Which she is responsible for. The structure, people who appeared in the episode, what they talked about, that was not her doing.

[MarkH]

Yes...exactly...dialogue. I understand your point... but, for example, the Jack and Nikki scene was amazing. It PLAYED (for the first time in years) like a couple with a history. That history was not all angry and bad. There were references to knowing one another (Jack ordered her a tea she liked; Nikki knew that tea meant he wanted something). It was IN THE SCRIPT...augmented by the actors and all the other creative elements you mention...that this was a former couple, and where they were now had some history to it.

I assume I can attribute that to Esser?

I know what Toups is talking about in Esser's subsequent script too. I was less impressed with that episode, but the John-Jack scene Toups references was great. Again, it was in the dialogue...especially in what John had to say to Jack. But Esser even built in a recognition that this John is really a figment of John's imagination. Because Jack began by predicting what John would say...and then John filled it in. This was all in the words.

You all have made me more attuned to this stuff...and I really felt in some of these Esser scenes that this was someone who knew the characters and their backstory.

Because you have also made me attuned to these things, I can now pick out a Patrick Mulcahey B&B episode INSTANTLY, usually because of the retching response I am inhibiting.

[Sylph]

Not necessarily. The outline might have said "Jack offers a cup of tea to Nikki." So the tea offering wasn't her idea, it was already in the outline.

You know... I wish I could ask you to start watching GH. But that show is dreadful and it would probably take away the time you might assigned to some other activities in your life...

Those are golden writers. They know what great dialogue is.

[Cat]

Well, I've been avoiding day-to-day spoilers as far as Y&R is concerned (although I am aware of the reconstruction of the Abbotts!).

I didn't find anything you mentioned particularly jarring, but that's maybe because I'd been hoping the show would pick up these various strands anyway. Kevin and Jana have been SO cutesy lately that it was time to remind us of their initial attraction to the dark side. GR has a very "dark side" face, if that makes any sense! I suppose those scenes were the most out of the blue for me, though.

But Jack panting after Jabot fit in with that scene a few months ago when he sat down in Jill's chair and imagined Nikki, Sharon and Dogsbody Jill at his beck-and-call and Jabot. Given that Daddy's Money heped Nick win control of Restless Style, it was the only logical direction in which Jack could go.

As for NuColleen, she turned her bitch on back when Chloe was being edged out of Princess Lily's posse, and had always been targeting Amber with the snark as a result of the breakdown in Lily and Daniel's marriage. Yesterday's episode was actually the first time I liked Tammin Sursok in the role of Colleen, I have to say. I'm trying not to think, though, of how fierce Adrianne Leon would have been as both the spoiled bitch and the potential chemistry with MG.

And ITA with you about Daniel Goddard. I think he gives Cane this core of sweetness and strength which is not necessarily unappealing -- or unneeded on the show. Thom Bierdz will always be Philip to me. But DG is Cane, and Cane is a character I really like. He and Ji Min were probably the only LML creations I have enjoyed.