43 minutes ago, Broderick said:

Yep, Kay Chancellor rendered Casey obsolete in Nikki's life.   And while Roberta Leighton obviously had more chemistry with David Hasselhoff than Lynn Topping (the new Chris) did, Snapper and Chris were sacred to Bill Bell, and he didn't wanna break them up.   Like Eileen Davidson later on, Roberta Leighton was just one of those girls who sorta overpowered most of her male co-stars, which I felt was why she didn't work with Brock Reynolds, Lucas Prentiss, and Jonas NoName.  She COULD have been an interesting character because the past abuse she suffered from her father, but after the initial revelation of Nick's abuse, Bell seemed shy about digging too deeply into that.   And without that being explored, what the heck could you do with her, except just have her walk through a hospital room with a stethescope around her neck announcing, "She's holding her own for the moment, but she's not out of the woods yet."   lol.      

 

lol at the last part. But all very true! I guess it's better than just ending up as a doctor any dayplayer could fill ... 

Kay was almost like an enabler for Nikki's dysfunction and her toxic relationship with Victor.

 

Casey did come back in the mid to late 80s gor awhile..and was Nikki's conscience.  So without Casey in the picture, Nikki ended up on the hamster wheel of Victor.

 

Didnt Victor show interest in Casey long before he crossed paths with Nikki as well?

I don't remember Victor showing any interest in Casey.   I recall that they had some scenes together, where he was telling Casey that Julia needed a female friend.   But Casey quickly overstepped and encouraged Julia to get a job, which annoyed Goat Daddy.   

32 minutes ago, Broderick said:

I don't remember Victor showing any interest in Casey.   I recall that they had some scenes together, where he was telling Casey that Julia needed a female friend.   But Casey quickly overstepped and encouraged Julia to get a job, which annoyed Goat Daddy.   

 

They missed out on years of Victor and Casey clashing over Nikki, IMHO ... Probably one of the reasons they did away with Casey so she couldn't be the voice of reason for Nikki where Victor is concerned  LOL (heck I'd even buy the explanation of the lack of mentions of Casey to they stopped speaking to each other ... but I think that shipped has sailed ...)

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Kay was almost like an enabler for Nikki's dysfunction and her toxic relationship with Victor.

 

Casey did come back in the mid to late 80s gor awhile..and was Nikki's conscience.  So without Casey in the picture, Nikki ended up on the hamster wheel of Victor.

 

Didnt Victor show interest in Casey long before he crossed paths with Nikki as well?

 

YES! Good way to put it. Kay did feel like an enabler to Nikki and her toxic relationship with Victor. Kay always had a blind eye to Victor (Kay wasn't originally a saint ... so maybe she had no room to judge ... LOL)

Edited May 3, 20196 yr by KMan101

😊

Edited May 4, 20196 yr by MissPalmer

Speaking of Kay and Nikki. I was thinking about Jeanne talking about Melody freezing her out at a certain point and then suddenly being friendly again. Do we know what period this happened? The best I can remember was that Kay and Nikki basically stopped interacting around 1985 when the Nikki/Jack/Ashley/Victor quad (or quin with Matt) was in full swing.

 

I don't think they shared a proper scene again until 1996, when Nikki was about to hook up with Josh Landers. Anyone remember them interacting between 1985 - 1995?

 

It's a shame since Kay would have been great to have in Nikki's life during her brief period of alcoholism. 

 

Also did Nikki spend like 80% or more of her time on the ranch between 1989 - 1999? I don't remember her outside that place much until she took an interest in Jabot around the time Jack and Brad were trying to take over/reclaim Jabot.

It seems like Nikki never had much of a life beyond the ranch until LML came up with the idea to have her involved in politics -- and even THAT idea was a total disaster on several levels.

I’ll be That Guy and admit I enjoyed the Nikki Rodham Newman story, even though it was way OOC. I thought MTS had fun with it. 

Wasn't Nikki briefly a model/spokesmodel for Jabot after she/Victor married?  

 

The one thing I never thought the show did enough of was utilize the Jill/Nikki dynamic... yes, they fought over a man.. and were warring mother in laws... but if you think about it.. both Jill/Nikki came from working class/humble beginnings.. and both strived for more than they were raised in.  While both ended up marrying a man of money.. Jill seemed to take her experience working in nail salons and used it to move up at Jabot.. and proved herself adept.. and amassed her own fortune/success.. while Nikki was a lady of leisure.

 

 

Nikki was a "lady of leisure," because, unlike Jill, she didn't have any discernible talent(s), other than looking good and arousing men sexually.  (True, she could play the piano, but I don't think she was meant to be as proficient at it as Leslie Brooks was; and the fact that she never used those skills to make a living, not even as part of her stripping act at the Bayou, has me wondering whether Bill Bell ever meant for that part of her life to be developed more fully). And, to me, that was part of the problem with getting Nikki involved in politics.

 

Melody herself spoke out about Nikki having a career saying that she didn't believe Nikki would be interested in working for the reasons mentioned. She was basically selfish and interested in others only in terms of how they reacted to her.

 

Also wanted to mention that at Melody's 40th anni celebration J Eddie Peck and Rob Parucha were there but not Roberta. May have been a scheduling thing but interesting nonetheless.

 

Also Robert said he was contacted by Y&R about availability to return as Matt but couldn't commit. But it was later that the recast appeared and Parucha says he wasn't contacted for that and would have been happy to come in.

Edited May 4, 20196 yr by Paul Raven

4 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Melody herself spoke out about Nikki having a career saying that she didn't believe Nikki would be interested in working for the reasons mentioned. She was basically selfish and interested in others only in terms of how they reacted to her.

 

Exactly.

 

I'd love to commend LML for making Nikki a driven character and a strong female wanting to be in politics, but that was NOT Nikki. Jill ... sure I guess I could have bought it somewhat. She had no idea who Nikki was. MTS seemed to enjoy some of it on-screen though, IMHO but I do remember her speaking out about it and basically it wasn't who Nikki was, and she's right. But this was a time period I was starting to tune in less for ... 

Edited May 4, 20196 yr by KMan101

Anytime a Y&R EP lets Ashley go they always get fired right afterward. Latham, MAB, and Mal all learned this the hard way. 

 

Anyways, to break down in my opinion the worst EP for each show I've watched over the years: 

 

ATWT: Goutman and Valente

AW: Charlotte Savitz

B&B: Thudley Bell

Days: Ken Corday

GL: Jon Conboy

Y&R: MAB, Pratt, and Mal all could be in the running for this one, but quite honestly this one still goes to Latham. 

3 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Anytime a Y&R EP lets Ashley go they always get fired right afterward. Latham, MAB, and Mal all learned this the hard way. 

 

I never made that connection, but that's interesting ...

24 minutes ago, KMan101 said:

 

I never made that connection, but that's interesting ...

 

Lol I'm playing catch up and thought I was replying to the Worst Producer thread. Ashley has historically since 1982 been the show's #2 heroine/leading lady. Granted during Brenda's later years Ashley was #4 or #5 and during the Shattuck years probably dead last after Megan Dennison but the character of Ashley Abbott is so unique, iconic, and vital to Y&R that to lose her is a good way to know that the person in charge  is indeed an idiot in charge.