Y&R: Week of May 11, 2009

[y&r_fan]

From her latest interview with Branco, I doubt Frantz would ever want to go back to B&B. Unfortunate, because she was an asset to B&B, whereas on Y&R she's just an albatross.

What I would like is for Chloe to go to B&B. Given her fashion background it makes perfect sense. She's exactly what B&B needs IMO. And a Chloe/Rick pairing would be all kinds of awesome.

[DRW50]

Did they undo the Jill/Kay story because it was a bad rewrite, or just because they want Mac and Billy back together?

Did LML know Goddard was being cast when Cane was created, or were other actors also up for the role? They may have made more sense in the part.

B&B is such a mess right now I doubt Chloe or Amber would get any good story. They ruined Amber's character, and then look at what they've given Heather Tom.

[y&r_fan]

I like what they've done with Heather Tom (well, when they use her). Katie is the sanest character on the show. The voice of reason, especially among the Logans. I'd much rather have HT playing her than whiny, selfish Victoria Newman.

[Cat]

I agree with cashton and y&r_fan about Cane and Daniel Goddard up to a certain extent. OK, I'll never *heart* Lane... I enjoy making fun of their saccharine too much. However, I do think DG has potential.

The fact is, he is lumbered with an extremely undefined character. LML just stuck a "Philip Chancellor" tag on the guy and thought that was enough. Lane's tween fanbase (obviously I am stereotyping here but there does appear to be a lot of kids supporting the pairing) have been vocal and net savvy and I think MAB and the two HSes figured that they could coast on a Lane SL.

DG has valiently tried to make lemonade out of lemons. Hiring Billy Miller was both a great move for Cane (finally, something to do other than moon over Lily) and a real worry because DG had to step up and, honestly, Cane is nowhere near as defined as Billy and DG doesn't have Miller's clear-cut grasp of his role -- nor what I suspect is BM's solid theatrical training.

I've noticed that every chance he has gotten, though, DG has desperately played every beat possible. Love-sick puppy over Lily. Desperation and anxiety over Billy's return -- and a strong homoerotic attraction. Cruelty, manipulation and, perhaps, an obsession with babies and family and abandonment issues. DG has been trying to grasp something that would give Cane focus and definition, that would inspire the writers to take him in different directions.

I admire that, and that's why I think Cane and DG deserve a chance to break out of the Lane strait-jacket and show us what they've got. His enigmatic "I'm in" over the phone a few years ago would be a great place to start.

[Cat]

Yeah... I'm not sure about '79 either.

IMDB also says BM is 5'11". I love Miller to bits but... no. That would make Jess Walton 6'0" and Eric Braeden about 6'8".

[sheilaforever]

I wondered about Miller's "height" last week anyway. When Jack, Ash and Billy stood next to each other in court it suddenly seemed that both Bergman and Davidson were much taller than Miller. Don't think that Eileen was wearing high stilettos for her verbal b*tch fight with Glo (BTW: she ROCKED it!) so Miller seems to be rather short. Totally trivial but it still struck me by surprise.

Cane being back to his bartender roots was great step forward. The next logical step is a no-return flight to Oz...

The setting is now more fitting but Daniel Goddard still cannot act his way out of a paper bag and "Lane" is the lamest couple ever. They definitely out-do Snoretoria & BoreMeToTears Hellstrom. After last week I got all my fingers crossed BTW that it is VICTORIA who is gaslighting Ashley in order to break her & Victor up. Scheming Vickie would be a definite improvement and I saw some darker shades in Heinle - so bring it on MAB!

[Cat]

^^ LOL, sheilaforever. I need to see more of Smugtoria's "shades" to be convinced but that's just me.

As for Cane, his name makes me wonder if there is a "Cain and Abel" backstory here. The real Philip Jr was adopted by Cane's family... PJ died (or was he pushed?!!) and Cane took on his "identity." Joining the Chancellors, he becomes part of a family unit that he has always longed for... He is so comfortable playing the role that he doesn't know who he is anymore. When his scheming uncle (who plotted with him to get in with the Chancellors) shows up, this is a huge wake-up call.

Just speculation. MAB is good at fixing LML's aborted stories. Since the Bradsky-reliquary-thighs-of-death SL was such a stinker, maybe this would be her way of rewriting that... but with Cane.

[Paul Raven]

Nina's return for the wedding was a non event.She will be on Tues and Fri,so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Mondays's ep pretty much carries on from Fri.

The dinner at Katherine's,the photo shoot,the doc visiting Adam,Daniel and Jana at the gallery.

With each week that goes by,the backburning of Eden/Noah,Victoria/JT,Colleen,Paul/Nikki and the Winters becomes more of a concern.

When is MAB going to write for them or begin to write some of them off?

The other issue which seems to affect things are the use of sets.

Like a lot of shows,there is a directive to keep set changes to a minimum.Therefore,the characters that can be shown are limited.

That's obviously why so many things happen at Crimson Lights.It does take away from the 'feel'of the show.

Back in the day,Ginas was featured,but not as an all purpose meeting place.

Does anyone know which are the standing sets?I would think the GCAC,because of it's size and Crimson Lights because it is used so often.

It would be interesting to compare an episode from 10 years ago and see how many characters,sets and scenes there are compared to today.

[dm.]

YES! I would love it because I think Heinle could take it. The writing hasn't exactly made it possible for her to act that way. That boring marriage can mess with her mind huh? Plus after what she did to Sabrina...

[rhythmchyc]

I loved it when Victor metaphorically shook his finger at her and demanded she grow up, to stop hating all the women in his life besides her mother.

That's a great place MAB can start with reshaping Victoria to be a good ol' fashion soap opera bitch/DIVA/hellspawn.

I hope the actress who's playing Abby's getting some lessons cause I'd love to see a rivalry brewing or at least Victoria taunting her sis for being the daughter of her father's mistress. Bring it on!!

[DRW50]

I know she was supposed to be the voice of reason on paper, but that horrible triangle with Nick and Bridget took away most of this perch.

Victoria and Abby...as long as they, like Adam are in Victor's shadow, I don't know if they'll ever be able to make an impact in a story. I think Abby's strongest chance of an interesting story died with Brad.

[dm.]

Yeah, but if they actually decided to go there, we'd all start talking about how much better job Heather Tom would do. And she would!

[rhythmchyc]

I don't know. Like you said, Heinle may surprise us. We all know she was supposed to be a this lukewarm and content. Let's see how she plays it first before putting her into the hole.

[Juliajms]

I'm surprised everyone else thinks he looks older than 30. I thought he was way younger than that.

[rhythmchyc]

Yeah, I think 30 is about right in my book.