Here's the article thanks to Daytime Royalty: http://i43.tinypic.com/2iayiyq.jpg

Basically it says that Phillip faked his death because he didn't want to tell his family he's gay. Gag me. I'll repost what I posted there...

I'm very upset that Phillip is going to be gay. That ruins future story potential for Nina and Christine, who both had romantic chemistry with Phillip. Hell, Lauralee Bell even said she'd be willing to return thanks to these two actors being back. It would be fresher than just throwing her back with Michael and Paul, two played out relationships. I also feel like he's only gay because the actor is. I think they're afraid to show an openly gay actor as a straight leading man. It would be different if Joshua Morrow or Eric Braeden (just using them as examples) came out because they've already been established as romantic leads. They probably consider it more risky with an actor who hasn't been on the show in 20 years.

Another reason this doesn't work for me is that it will clearly isolate Phillip and limit his full cast integration. Not to mention how poorly the show has developed Rafe and the latest twist with Adam. On paper it sounds good, but the execution is rushed and very plot driven. Will Phillip become a plot point as well? Why not just make Phillip IV gay and see how Phillip III and co handle it? Also doesn't help that Thom is almost 50 and Yani looks like a school boy next to Michael Muhney. Ugh! So much wrong with this. I can't believe Phillip is back for this.

P3 felt bad for faking his death so he sent Cane to Genoa City to pretend to be him so the Chancellors could have a family again.

How considerate! And his wife, and his son, who had to believe everything they had ever known about him was a lie -- how did this do anything for them but cause them even more pain?

I hope Nina plugs lead into him.

Edited July 1, 200916 yr by CarlD2

Paul tells Nina that Cane's sample has been frozen, the frozen sample matches Jill but it is not Cane's blood.

Cane finally admits to everyone that he lied about being Philip and that he did not do it for the money. He wants to explain but no one really wants to listen to him. When they are all asking him why on earth he would do this to all the people that he claims to love PHILLIP III walks in and says that Cane did not do it and it is his fault.

Chloe tells Billy about Cane; Billy shows up and punches Cane; Phillip tells his family that his accident was planned!

What a cop out of a storyline!!!!!!

Another "wonky" plot twist from the "vision" of love, Maria Arena Bell.

This quote from Thom Bierdz makes me roll my eyes. So, it's only important to come back as gay, regardless of the damage done to your character by neglecting his infant son, the rest of his family, and undoing a death that was perhaps one of the most iconic moments in this show history?

Does he honestly think that the damage this story is doing to his character because of his sexuality is a positive and honest portrayal of being gay in America? I know suicide rates are high for gay teens and all of that, but how many people FAKE their deaths simply because they're gay and basically throw away everyone that loves them? This is a shameful story that's both degrading and pisses on this show's history.

Maria, you shouldn't have called Thom and accepted this inane idea for a storyline, but then again, Maria doesn't appear to know what a good and respectful storyline is anyway.

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/the-gays-of-summer-1584.html

“What’s going on in soaps these days is a very cool reflection of how far mainstream America has come in accepting gays and lesbians,” says Bierdz, who is openly gay now but wasn’t when he last played Phillip 20 years ago. (He details his painful years in the closet in his moving, award-winning memoir Forgiving Troy, available on amazon.com.) “Being able to play gay on Y&R is the main reason I wanted to come back to the show,” he says. “Gay people are just like straight people, and that’s what I hope to show with Phillip. He’s not a cartoon, he’s not a stereotype. The guy certainly has issues. But being gay? That’s no big deal.”

Oh friggin' please! So millions of straight people fake their deaths and neglect their families because they're straight each year? And how is he not a cartoon, when he not only faked his death, but he sent an impostor to take his place in his former family, gave the impostor his frozen blood to take with him, and continues to keep tabs on the family he neglected years ago that still believes he's death? You've got to be kidding me with this sh!t.

Edited July 2, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

So let me get this... Phillip orchestrated the car accident (so that Jill and Kay would lose him just like they lost his father) because he wasn't man enough to tell his loved ones who he really was and prefered to let them suffer for more than twenty years? What's the point of punishing them like this?

Melaswen is more logical than this.

I can't believe that Y&R's three big storylines are a)Adam, MJ and c) Phillip.

Stupid boy! Why did he go to Australia and didn't just build an underground town underneath Genoa City for him and the other gays of GC?

Worst story EVER and very offensive.

I don't understand how Phillip could ever do this to his son. It's a horrible burden to put on your child, the most selfish act I can imagine. Any drama about being gay is going to be overshadowed for me by what he did to his son.

I still think they could have had him leave because he'd gotten in trouble.

Okay, this DOOL Melaswen being more logical than this story is bullsh-t.

Edited July 2, 200916 yr by MTSRocks

Okay, this DOOL Melaswen being more logical than this story is bullsh-t.

Defending this storyline as if there's a logical basis for it is bullshi-t.

I don't understand how Phillip could ever do this to his son. It's a horrible burden to put on your child, the most selfish act I can imagine. Any drama about being gay is going to be overshadowed for me by what he did to his son.

Exactly.

And if being gay is no big deal, why did Phillip have to fake his death to keep people from finding out?

He orchestrated a drunk driving accident, a flatlining heart machine, and got to Australia in record time because he didn't want to tell his family he was gay?

Also, why did he decide to send them Cane in 2004 instead of right after he died? That's another thing that makes so sense to me.

Phillip III should have stayed dead. There were different ways to undo Cane being a fraud.

He orchestrated a drunk driving accident, a flatlining heart machine, and got to Australia in record time because he didn't want to tell his family he was gay?

Wev'e seen the scene on youtube, there is no flatline heart machine. If there was, I would have had a bigger problem with this SL. But no flatline, no doctor at the bedside pronouncing him dead... that's the window for this SL. And yes, the gay thing ain't no big deal NOW... but it was a bigger deal 20 years ago, and an even bigger deal for some people. Everyone is expecting these characters to always act in a rational way.. like people saying Adam and Patty Jane don't have enough motivation for their actions. When people have mental illness.. they don't NEED a motivation, cause theyr'e NUTS.

Edited July 3, 200916 yr by alphanguy74

Wev'e seen the scene on youtube, there is no flatline heart machine. If there was, I would have had a bigger problem with this SL. But no flatline, no doctor at the bedside pronouncing him dead... that's the window for this SL. And yes, the gay thing ain't no big deal NOW... but it was a bigger deal 20 years ago, and an even bigger deal for some people. Everyone is expecting these characters to always act in a rational way.. like people saying Adam and Patty Jane don't have enough motivation for their actions. When people have mental illness.. they don't NEED a motivation, cause theyr'e NUTS.

I would agree, but the show has claimed they have motivations. They've said Adam wants to hurt Victor and Jack, that MJ wants Jack back. Then when the stories don't reflect this, viewers get confused.

I think the biggest deal to Phillip would have been abandoning his son when he himself knew how awful it was to grow up without a father. That Phillip had no qualms about abandoning his son, and then even further invalidates his son and Nina by sending Cane along to be the "real" Phillip, is what makes me struggle with this storyline.

Edited July 3, 200916 yr by CarlD2

The machine did fail, according to the clip.

I think the biggest deal to Phillip would have been abandoning his son when he himself knew how awful it was to grow up without a father. That Phillip had no qualms about abandoning his son, and then even further invalidates his son and Nina by sending Cane along to be the "real" Phillip, is what makes me struggle with this storyline.

Exactly. It's pure character assassination, regardless of the stupid retcon that was used to bring him back from the dead.

Edited July 3, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

The machine did fail, according to the clip.

Exactly. It's pure character assassination, regardless of the stupid retcon that was used to bring him back from the dead.

If by "fail", you mean the machine stopped, then yes. But wev'e all seen enough medical TV shows to know that when the heart monitor stops, it doens't just stop making sounds like the clip showed.. it makes a long, continuous beep. Whether they use this will remain to be seen. I've said before, it's not much to hang your hat on... but for Phillip, I'm all for grasping at straws. I know you may not think it's worth it, because you didn't grow to love the character, your'e not old enough, and I understand that. And I don't think you can really know if it's character assasination until it's played out. Once we see how they write it, then we can judge. But Bierdz is such a great actor, you will see that all this IS worth it, just for the value of the performances alone. And you never know... they might just have him be a flawed character who was so tortured by his fear and insecurities that he abandoned his family. The character was always ruled by his fear and insecurty int hefirst place. People abandon their families all the time, Victor's father did... Bill Foster, Dina Abbott, etc. And while a despicable and chicken sh!t thing to do, it doens't make a character irredeemable to me. It's a matter of making the audience feel sympathy for the character. They did it wiht Bill Foster (By giving him a terminal illness) but if it's played right, the audience will see him as this wounded bird who did something foolish out of profound fear.....And Bierdz is VERY good at that.

Edited July 3, 200916 yr by alphanguy74

Oh... MY!!!!! Nelson's latest report just said we should expect a romance between Phillip III and Rafe... I'm as giddy as a teenage schoolgirl!!!! If Branco's wrong about this, I'm slapping the taste outta his mouth with my pocketbook! I know some think Yani looks too young... but all we have to do is loosen his hair up and get him to wear a little stubble, he's look 5 years older easily. I guess Rafe might have been more age appropriate for Phillip if they had gotten someone like Wilmer Valderama to play him... but I'm thrilled with this turn of events. It should be HAWT!