Y&R: Week of November 17, 2008

[MTSRocks]

Oh yeah I forgot to add that Lauren/Tracey scene was a thing of beauty. It was natural, organic, and beautifully acted by both actresses. Simply brilliant.

[MikeGoldy]

And it hasn't already been said, Jess Walton is an acting dynamo. I can't take my eyes off of her whenever she is on screen. Loved her the entire week.

[MikeGoldy]

It's comforting to see Ashley still in love with Victor and believe me that happens in life way too often. You think you are over someone and you move on. And then, you see him again, and you fall in love all over again.

[lmfan]

No. That was just speculation on what some viewers wanted. There has been some reference via phone calls that Scotty has girlfriends, but if the show brings him back they can make him straight or gay. Honestly, Lauren seems the type of person who wouldn't have issues with her son being gay, especially working in the fashion industry and the fact she seems to give almost everyone a fair shake no matter their background or past mistakes. Lauren has a thing for strays and long shots.

[DaytimeFan]

Jess Walton is superb. It's that simple.

[y&r_fan]

Isn't Hogan the one who writes for the younger set?

Or better yet: write decent material for the current actress.

[y&r_fan]

Exactly. They need to do the gay son thing with a character who won't be accepting at first (someone like Sharon). Otherwise, where's the drama?

[DaytimeFan]

Nope, Hogan does not write specifically for the younger set. The current actress is not going to work, it's clear that the show isn't invested in her.

[y&r_fan]

If the show isn't invested in her, it's their problem. Not hers. They need to START being invested in her.

[DaytimeFan]

No, they don't, they can fire her, perhaps they should. MAB, HS, SH and PR call the shots. They can do whatever they damn well please. I hope they keep at it because I am LOVING their vision.

[y&r_fan]

Of course they can fire her. That doesn't mean they should.

[JackPeyton]

Supposed to? No.

Should be? Yes.

[Heyou]

They do seem to be getting everything together as it should be. I loved every episode last week.

The Colleen issue: I'm hoping they have let her go, it's very telling that she hasn't been used all month long and the last time that we saw her she was in her WITCH costume. I've seen no spoilers for the Colleen character although she could just be off doing promotional's for her TV kid movie. But it does seem that the writers aren't using her and there is a reason behind it, now what the reason happens to be, remains to be seen.

[rhythmchyc]

I think they've thrown a lot of storylines Tammin's way but none of them have worked out.

They could've gone somewhere with her and Daniel but I THINK they saw how little chemistry they had and scrapped it. There could've been a potential slapfest between her and Amber but every time those two would fight, last time at the Halloween party, the results left a lot to be desired. She could've had a falling out with Lily because of her interest in Daniel too but that failed miserably because both of the characters lack any sort of spite and spunk to carry such a bitter battle.

They could've gone somewhere with her being the new model at Jabot but that was scrapped in a couple of episodes because the only person that would really offend is Lily and, as I just said, those two don't seem to have any fight in them.

So, they gave her ample opportunities this past year. All of those storylines would've ended up being killer in the end. But for whatever reason, they were rushed and killed almost on the spot.

And because the writers have been exceptional just about everywhere else (even for the Winters family for goodness sakes), I honestly think it's Tammin. If they could get me and several other people to like Karen (who I've wanted off the show since the beginning) they're doing a lot right.

I don't know when her contract is done, but if she's succeeding elsewhere, she should go follow her heart. Y&R needs to replace her because Colleen is a pretty interesting character.

[MarkH]

Colleen is more than "pretty interesting".

She is a next-generation Abbott.

She ties in to Brad (who, without her and Abby, is totally marginalized).

She has ALWAYS been Lily's best friend...and actress-hate notwithstanding....Lily is the show's young heroine. So she needs her age-old best friend.

If the writers would ever play it right, Colleen could be a GENUINE threat to Victoria and JT's marriage...because he has transformed into this obedient errand boy since drifting into the Newman orbit.

Written correctly, Colleen and Kevin have a terrific love-hate potential. If Kevin drifts back to the dark side (as he appears to be doing), and if his dark side harms the Abbotts in some way (let's say his complicity in this Glo-Jack scheme to take back Jabot is revealed...and ultimately hurts the Abbotts), Colleen could return to disliking him. Except dislike is not the ONLY emotion. There IS something else.

I don't want to start actress wars. For the most part, I DID NOT like Adrienne Leon. I didn't like the DISGUSTING "sex-with-my-professor" (we call that "unequal relationships" at my university, and professors get fired for it) story. I didn't like that Leon mostly played sulky and pouty.

It changed, though, at the end of Leon's tenure. When she and Kevin grew closer, there was a hot chemistry there that he didn't have with Jana. Lots of potential.

I don't really care who plays Colleen. Any competent actress can play her. But we need the story to once again reflect her importance, her good-bad dualism. She is the child of Brad (dark, secretive, deceptive, sometimes nasty and evil...but with a good side too) and Traci (virtuous, honest, faithful, sweet...but also needy and whiny and prone to maladaptive behavior). In their union, and with her own dark past (the drug use/wild-child days in New York, the "jail bait" story with JT), she has so much potential.

We have seen, with Billy, how the combination of good writing and good casting can rejuvenate a character. They're introducing him slowly...only about 2 days a week. That's what needs to happen for Colleen.