Y&R: Week of March 16, 2009

[dm.]

Might I note how good it is not to see Lily/Cane and Noah/Eden much this month... it's either a way for the writers to develop the story, or they just can't do anything with them. Either way, I'm glad we got a break from them.

Regarding the spoiler that's coming up next week, I'm wondering if the thing that everyone won't expect about the DNA test

. It's just an assumption. Of course, there are various other possibilities.

[BadZoe]

I'd sooner we have a test between Jill,

A new middle class family wouldn't be bad for the show at all.

Y&R should bring on a Grande Dame like Joan Collins to play Jill's mother and Katherine's rival.

[EttaKit]

A working class family could be interesting. It would be nice to see the economy addressed. They could bring in a bitter Bud from Clear Springs.

OTOH MAB is mediocre at creating new characters and has not done a good job of incorporating balance on an already full canvas.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Jill's mother shoul stay gone, I have no interest in seeing another Gloria-type figure on this show, which you know Jill's mother will probably be.

[DaytimeFan]

Joan Collins belongs at B&B in a recurring role as a glam bitch magazine editor. Y&R does not need a new family, the show is focusing on characters that have history and the show has improved immensely because of it. Also, Y&R is a glamor soap, if I wanted to see the economy addressed I'd watch GL.

I totally agree, Jill's mother and Kay's daughter should both be dead and buried. Neither one of them is needed on the show. This storyline should be about Kay vs Jill. Period.

[dm.]

No new families are needed here. They can easily write something for the Baldwins or just send some of them out of time and choose to invest more time in the Williams family, which used to be more center (a very long time ago).

And I agree on the "no Jill's mother, thanks" comment. I also don't know if I could stand Nikki being revealed as Kay's daughter. They have a fine relationship as friends and I don't need that connection, thanks. But that will still leave those two questions (Jill's mother, Kay's daughter) up in the air.

[Shylock]

I don't know why people are still wanting to get rid of Cane & Lily. They're the perfect antagonists right now. I like seeing the scenes where Billy, Chloe and them all go at it. It's fun and it makes me want to see Cane & Lily get their comeuppance.

[JimTolkien]

Oh I so so agree with you on this!! I think she is good at writing but she is unbelievably, incredibly LOUSY at being original, creative and innovative. Something which her FIL excelled at. I am happy that Paul Rauch is on the show or else her s/ls would not give the illusion of looking so good without the production quality backing her up. I am all for him whipping the actors into shape if they slack off - they don't like it, there's the door.

I was not a big fan of LML only for the fact that her storylines were not fluent and the dialague was not cohesive enough but I will give her props for trying to think "outside the box" and bring a little orginality to the show. My one big gripe with her was that she was trying to change too much of what the Bells envisioned. Admittedly some of the couples and pairings got a bit stale and needed serious shaking up or just splitting up altogether so I understand that aspect but the last time I looked, it still says Bell & Bell in the credits. I know the usual spiel is that soaps only have a few storylines they can write but for the love of whatever, I find myself saying every 5 minutes with every s/l, didn't I just see this.

The only thing I have so loved that MAB has done so far is to give Jeanne Cooper a huge storyline and a wonderful romance. An elderly couple on the show having a romance - now that is original. It is by far the absolute best part of the show right now. Everything else is just meh to me.

[Dan]

Agreed Mark. That is a very intriguing suggestion. Not sure I'd neccessarily get rid of Neil, no matter how much of a cold fish Kristoff is where soap romance is concerned.

And does anyone think that we should just have Liz Foster admit that she just had a "senior moment" and forgot she had Jill and that she really IS her mother? Simple and to the point. And we can get Liz back on recurring.

[DaytimeFan]

Liz WAS getting brain surgery around this time...I'd like it.

[Paul Raven]

Jill could easily discover her mother died and as for Katherine's daughter,maybe she could be impossible to trace.Katherine could have a scene where she makes peace with the fact that her daughter is lost to her and hopes that she had a good life.Over and done.I agree Liz needs to return,at least for some guest spots.

At some point,I would like to see Chloe/Kate look for her father.I think these kinds of stories add depth to the characters rather than the constant romance merry go rounds.'Tiny'(her father's nickname)could be down on his luck/successful/single/widowed etcThe story possibilities are endless.

Maybe Esther could at last find happiness with a man or more interestingly,Jill could sink her claws into him.That might pit Katherine/Esther against Jill and give another reason for them to battle.

I quite liked Mary Jane based on the first ep.But that name 'Mary Jane Benson' is so similar to 'Mari Jo Mason'.Is it a red herring?I hope MAB has something exciting up her sleeve for this one.Maybe Keemo had a sex change op???

Same for Sharon-we've no seen the sluttiness/klepto for weeks.Where to next?

Neil sexing Tyra was just the latest mis-step in this story.So many interesting angles have been brushed aside.

It seems that Victoria/JT/Colleen are forever to be backburner.

The Paul/Nikki relationship is not being dealt with.Maybe Paul realises he&Nikki should have stayed friends.How do Heather/Nick/Victoria feel about it?

I wonder if budget is coming into play with some story directions.Maybe to keep Victor Ashley Katherine Jill front burner is eating up the budget.Also the fact that fewer sets are being used comes into play also.

[DaytimeFan]

Bell acting contracts work a little differently than the rest of daytime. The majority of the actors agree to a weekly salary that is irrespective of episode load. As an example, Actress X is paid $300,000 a year. Actress X could work 20 episodes a year or 190 episodes a year and she'd still make the same money. There ARE guarantees, but the guarantees are ego driven.

[Sylph]

YES!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't think they'd do it this way. It just seems way too easy and cheap...

But I repeat, I do not want to see Kay's real daughter or Jill's real mother on this show, at least for now. The focus needs to be solely on Kay and Jill.

[dm.]

As happy and satisfied as I am with this show, the truth is that the writers are not trying to move the show much into the future and are currently revisiting history in every possible way. Maybe they're trying to delay those storylines just because it might be a rerun (read: boring) of everything they tried to do last year (but still, that was just finishing LML's crap). When Kay's storyline is over (and Kevin's), we'll see if they will know how to move things into the future.