The big problem with Tricia early on was she was very undefined, she was just Ryan's crumpet. You had Jill telling Nina to get plastic surgery to keep her man, and this bimbo and her, to me, slightly creepy father, and her vacuous sister with her Tony lookalike boyfriend (they even played that in when they paired Megan up with Tony -- they had her go to talk to him because she thought he was her then-boyfriend). It took a good year or two years to make Tricia sympathetic, mostly due to a lot of scenes with Nina snarking on her and with Phillip being a brat.

Wasn't there supposed to be a story in the middle of this where Phillip was molested by a soccer coach?

I never suspected she wanted Tony, not for a minute. She was simply a neurotic bitch who didn't like her sister's boyfriend. It was as simple as that. One thing that was always clear with Tricia was that, while Ryan was alive, he was the only one she truly wanted. Even when she slept with Matt Clark.

In any event, I never once thought Tricia wanted Tony and IMO, in no way did anything in the writing indicate that. Any chemistry or longing between the two was inferred by the audience.

Ah I love all this talk about the early Alden years. 1998-2001 was wonderful, the ratings were still flying high above a 6.0 even in 2001, and the writing was mostly good if not great. You know, I always wish Keith Dennison had been played by better actors. Neither actor had chemistry with Jess Walton or the gravitas to become a major player on the show, probably why Keith and Jill broke off their engagement.

I would have to seen what GL would have differently in 1998. The whole clone story was utterly unnecessary, especially since all it boiled down to was your typical campy doppelganger tale. The Nursery Rhyme Stalker also started out as good til it turned sour.

Edited August 14, 201015 yr by soapfan770

It took a good year or two years to make Tricia sympathetic, mostly due to a lot of scenes with Nina snarking on her and with Phillip being a brat.

Even then it was hard cause Sabryn was HORRIBLE & Nina (and Tricia) were fan favorites & it wasn't until she was paired with Ric Hearst that she got a lot of fan love.

Wasn't there supposed to be a story in the middle of this where Phillip was molested by a soccer coach?

Nope.

There were hints of a possible custody fight but it was dropped.

I never suspected she wanted Tony, not for a minute. She was simply a neurotic bitch who didn't like her sister's boyfriend. It was as simple as that.

Yep.

Because Y&R tried to make her culpable AFTER the fact when that CLEARLY wasn't supported by how the accident originally happened.

It was dark & Tricia didn't see or hear Tony.

It wasn't until much later that Y&R tried to imply that Tricia COULD HAVE done it on purpose but none of it works cause the scene itself makes it beyond clear it was an accident.

No.

The others accusations made perfect sense.

It was Y&R trying to retcon Tricia's innocence that was the retcon.

OK, I--finally--got it. Tricia's possible guilt was never meant to be part of the story. I'm glad it, ultimately, wasn't. It sounds as if they wanted to retcon it for more story, but then saw the opportunity with Matt and went for it.

That was the best part.

Sabryn & Ric had SO much chemistry (even after he died).

She actually had more chemistry with him (and others)than she did with Scott.

Oh, they were exquisite together. I remember how audaciously fun it was to have Tricia talking with that female Dr. that always showed up (forget her name) and Matt was there as well. Sabryn really did play batshit crazy in a very neurotic way, so she always seemed more real than cartoony.

Yep.

After 10 years he was ready to go & asked Y&R to kill Ryan which they did.

Nina (and Tricia Cast) were beloved & Sabryn was HORRIBLE when she first started.

She only started getting the slightest bit of sympathy from fans when Phillip was mean to her.

LOL I cannot disagree that her countless months of pining after/cheating with Ryan were insufferable for the character. I guess she changed when she actually started getting a personality or something lol And I don't doubt that having something more substantial to play helped SG evolve.

She did.

Again she wasn't a genius, she definitely played favorites & was not afraid of bussing characters (Ashley, Diane, Liv, Paul, Neil) that didn't deserve it.

But her Y&R was the best post Bill Y&R & best soap overall bar none.

+1

The big problem with Tricia early on was she was very undefined, she was just Ryan's crumpet. You had Jill telling Nina to get plastic surgery to keep her man, and this bimbo and her, to me, slightly creepy father, and her vacuous sister with her Tony lookalike boyfriend (they even played that in when they paired Megan up with Tony -- they had her go to talk to him because she thought he was her then-boyfriend). It took a good year or two years to make Tricia sympathetic, mostly due to a lot of scenes with Nina snarking on her and with Phillip being a brat.

Wasn't there supposed to be a story in the middle of this where Phillip was molested by a soccer coach?

Yep, I would say that it was sometime in 1998 that Tricia finally came alive.

I've heard that rumor too, multiple times. I doubt they would do it but, damn, Tricia Cast would have ROCKED It!

I never suspected she wanted Tony, not for a minute. She was simply a neurotic bitch who didn't like her sister's boyfriend. It was as simple as that. One thing that was always clear with Tricia was that, while Ryan was alive, he was the only one she truly wanted. Even when she slept with Matt Clark.

In any event, I never once thought Tricia wanted Tony and IMO, in no way did anything in the writing indicate that. Any chemistry or longing between the two was inferred by the audience.

I'm so surprised. It was so painfully obvious that, eventually, part of the reason why she was so against Tony and Megan was because she, unbeknownst to her, wanted him. I'm not talking about some big wuv, but a primal thing. The kiss--and how it happened--really confirmed that months after I started suspecting. You won't take that away from me!!!

If Maria was so interested in "honoring" history she would have said that Chance's issues with sexuality were because he was molested by the soccer coach. At least that would have been based on some story hints. Instead they never seemed to have any idea why the hell Chance did anything.

If Maria was so interested in "honoring" history she would have said that Chance's issues with sexuality were because he was molested by the soccer coach. At least that would have been based on some story hints. Instead they never seemed to have any idea why the hell Chance did anything.

BREAKING NEWS: Chance is back (isn't he gone?) and he's been molested, so now he's an evil gay.

You just know this would be how Hoaggie would pitch it to Queen MAB and how Queen MAB would pitch it to the press.

Edited August 14, 201015 yr by YRBB

Ah I love all this talk about the early Alden years. 1998-2001 was wonderful, the ratings were still flying high above a 6.0 even in 2001, and the writing was mostly good if not great. You know, I always wish Keith Dennison had been played by better actors.

The second Keith who later played on "Castaway" and Jess Walton had off the wall chemistry. I couldn't believe it when they brought lame Keith a year later to look after Tricia...

1998-2001 Y&R was simply devine. Except for that Callie story with Malcolm the show was in extremely high gear.

@ YRBB: Sharon's my gal, too, but I think you took here blabbering to seriously. LOL! She ran across town and accused Tricia of murdering Tony - who could blame her, the whole looked suspsicious - but only if you weren't there. We as viewers were and hence knew better: Tony was in a rush, so was Tricia and it really was an accident. A great twist though.

If Maria was so interested in "honoring" history she would have said that Chance's issues with sexuality were because he was molested by the soccer coach. At least that would have been based on some story hints. Instead they never seemed to have any idea why the hell Chance did anything.

Don't give them any ideas. The soccer coach was played by a relative of Ralph Lauren (that RL, yes) or wasn't he?

I totally loved the Tricia Dennison storyline! Kay Alden may have had her flaws but she took a character that Bill Bell created near the end of his regime and slowly developed her into a complex, troubled young woman.

If I recall correctly, she kind of took over as surrogate mom for her kid sister after her mother's death and was non too pleased when her father started dating Jill. Plus, I can recall a lot of crying scenes during her affair with Ryan and her younger sister comforting her a lot. Even though she was not clearly defined during circa 1997, the foundation for her later activities were already laid down.

Plus, her descent into madness took a good two to three years before she finally snapped and killed Ryan at his wedding. I remember one time she threw out her birth control pills and got pregnant even though Ryan didn't want kids. Then when she miscarried, she somehow believed it was punishment for her deception and went into depression. Didn't she also leave Ryan for a spell in 2000 after the Tony situation and he turned to Victoria for comfort? Then she returned but Ryan was moving on with Victoria thus she fell prey to Matt Clark?

I still remember the realization in the car that Matt raped Sharon and also raped her then tried to drive her vehicle off the cliff to kill them both. Finally, wasn't her last scene in the mental ward saying good-bye to Matt Clark alter?

Sad that the current writer's didn't look at this storyline as a perfect example of gradually making someone go crazy when they bought back Patty.

1998-2001 Y&R was simply devine. Except for that Callie story with Malcolm the show was in extremely high gear.

It was, wasn't it? I couldn't bear to miss one day.

@ YRBB: Sharon's my gal, too, but I think you took here blabbering to seriously. LOL! She ran across town and accused Tricia of murdering Tony - who could blame her, the whole looked suspsicious - but only if you weren't there. We as viewers were and hence knew better: Tony was in a rush, so was Tricia and it really was an accident. A great twist though.

For the record, I never meant to say I believed Tricia was guilty. Just that the writing created doubt. But, yes, Sharon telling everybody Tricia murdered him made a lot of sense. And, it was such a great twist, wasn't it? A wonderful climax and I couldn't believe they killed him. Ah, good times.

Except for that Callie story with Malcolm the show was in extremely high gear.

And even that had potential until Michelle died.

She ran across town and accused Tricia of murdering Tony - who could blame her, the whole looked suspsicious - but if you weren't there.

She had more then enough reason to believe Tricia did it on purpose.

Not only was Tony her best friend but SHE was the one he told about all of Tricia's drama.

So it made perfect sense that Sharon accuse Tricia of being guilty.

What didn't make sense was Y&R trying to make Tricia culpable after the fact.

or wasn't he?

Yep.

Mr. Elizabeth Berkley.

The second Keith who later played on "Castaway" and Jess Walton had off the wall chemistry.

They did.

Too bad he was only temp though.

Plus, her descent into madness took a good two to three years before she finally snapped and killed Ryan at his wedding. I remember one time she threw out her birth control pills and got pregnant even though Ryan didn't want kids. Then when she miscarried, she somehow believed it was punishment for her deception and went into depression. Didn't she also leave Ryan for a spell in 2000 after the Tony situation and he turned to Victoria for comfort?

She did.

Tricia was off-screen in London for 3 or 4 months. Then came back just as Ryan began to accept that his marriage was over and rekindled (they never more than kissed once at that time though) with Victoria. That was one of the things about Kay Alden: stories really interwined and there was a concept...

Sabryn really did play batshit crazy in a very neurotic way

She learned how to play to the writing instead of against it.

When she first started she was very stilted & it showed when she was paired against such a natural actress like Tricia Cast.

I guess she changed when she actually started getting a personality or something

The first fan sympathy came when Phillip was nasty to her (Nicholas Pappone on par with Dylan "Wedgehead" Cash) then when she was paired against Heather Tom she slowly came into her own as an actress.

And I don't doubt that having something more substantial to play helped SG evolve.

A lot of it was she was a bad actress playing an unlikeable character who came between a popular pairing & was paired against one of the show's central heroines (and best actresses).

It was so painfully obvious that, eventually, part of the reason why she was so against Tony and Megan was because she, unbeknownst to her, wanted him.

She didn't want him.

She LOATHED him.

That kiss was never about him.

It was about what he represented (love & comfort) cause her own marriage was crumbling.

Edited August 14, 201015 yr by DeeeDee

Then came back just as Ryan began to accept that his marriage was over and rekindled (they never more than kissed once at that time though) with Victoria.

Tricia was mad even before she left cause when it wasn't Nina she had to deal with it was Victoria & unlike Nina Victoria had NO sympathy for Tricia.

And even that had potential until Michelle died.

Michelle Thomas' death was shocking.

As much as I liked her on Family Matters, I thought she was miscast on Y&R though. I actually preferred the second Callie (can't get the actress name right now, but she went on to romance Bruce on JUDGING AMY and Skeet Ulrich on Jericho) who was no singer so the whole story got an extra load of contrievance. This was probably one of the last storyline on daytime were the villain (Trey) had a goon (Sam) who did all his dirty work - soooo 80s and it annoyed the crap out of me.