Whew I've been so busy I haven't posted on SON in a good minute.

I think Bell could pull off thrillers like Jill's Shooting, Brad in a Cage, George Rawlins murder, Marge, Sheila, David Kimble etc. because it was in my opinion a good formula mix by having them being slow paced and more character driven yet when the time came he could write the most explosive twist to keep the story fresh and going ie Lauren is buried alive, Brad stuck in the cage to die, David having the word KILLER carved into his forehead, Jack steps on and walks out on a dying Victor, April stabs Robert etc. Bell could grab your attention and for the most part it never felt like a cheap stunt.

Michael's redemption worked because it was very slowly paced over time and it was years before he could fit comfortably into regular Genoa City society even as late as 2003/2004 he still had this issue. Oh and unlike Kevin he actually felt guilty and showed remorse, although I certainly didn't agree with Michael and Christine getting engaged.

Here's a story time forgot; one of my Y&R eps I have from August 1995 in-between Matt's shooting and Brad/Nikki hookups Cole and Victoria had the strangest story aside from Victoria secretly desiring Ryan to Nina's disgust. Cole keeps getting calls from a young infatuated blonde tart writing apprentice of his who's obviously unstable and fixated on Cole but he's clueless. Victoria keeps calling it like it is but Cole keeps brushing her off. LOL I seem to recall this girl was a total nutjob wasn't she? I remember watching this play out but its rare it ever gets mentioned in any past summary. A minor footnote in the grand scheme of things.

Edited June 11, 201114 yr by soapfan770

Here's a story time forgot; one of my Y&R eps I have from August 1995 in-between Matt's shooting and Brad/Nikki hookups Cole and Victoria had the strangest story aside from Victoria secretly desiring Ryan to Nina's disgust. Cole keeps getting calls from a young infatuated blonde tart writing apprentice of his who's obviously unstable and fixated on Cole but he's clueless. Victoria keeps calling it like it is but Cole keeps brushing her off. LOL I seem to recall this girl was a total nutjob wasn't she? I remember watching this play out but its rare it ever gets mentioned in any past summary. A minor footnote in the grand scheme of things.

They really struggled with where to take Victoria and Cole once they got married. He had the aggressive agent or whoever, Fitz, then he had the attractive woman Victoria was jealous of. Then there was the Nina stuff which went on for a while and kind of annoyed me. There was the mysterious person who brought the 4 of them together for a meal. The stuff with Cole and Ashley was so obviously a case of not knowing what to do.

I remember that tender scene where Cole taught Vicky how to pray. If only she'd kept that up...pray for a comb, at the very least.

If there was one "classic" Y&R story you could do over, not a story that sucked, but a good story which you would have changed a bit, what would it be?

They really struggled with where to take Victoria and Cole once they got married.

Mainly due to the age difference.

Heather was so good it made up for a lot of the initial issues & though Cole/Victoria were a very popular supercouple (along with Ryan/Nina) Bill couldn't decide which pairs to really commit to until it almost ruined all characters involved. Thankfully the writing & acting was good enough to mitigate it (to an extent) until he did.

The stuff with Cole and Ashley was so obviously a case of not knowing what to do.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

The worst part was as bad an idea as Cole/Ashley was it was made even worse by the fact that Shari couldn't act.

Plus she was the antithesis of everything Ashley. She didn't have Eileen's cold sharpness or Brenda's soft warmth. She was all crossed eyes & open mouth breathing. Ew.

I remember that tender scene where Cole taught Vicky how to pray.

The rain scenes alone should've won them both Emmy's.

Edited June 11, 201114 yr by DeeeDee

The funny thing is at the time I didn't mind Shari Ashley and Cole. I think it might have been because she was so horrible with everyone that he at least calmed her down. I remember just hating her when she was yapping about Jack and Diane, and Dina, and such. She was so unsympathetic.

It's hard to imagine a man like Cole ever being on Y&R today.

The funny thing is at the time I didn't mind Shari Ashley and Cole. I think it might have been because she was so horrible with everyone that he at least calmed her down.

The thing that made them intolerable was it was COMPLETELY out of character for Cole to fall for her. Had a competent actress been playing Ashley the pairing might've been tolerable but the whole thing just made Cole into a massive jerk & made her look totally desperate.

I remember just hating her when she was yapping about Jack and Diane, and Dina, and such. She was so unsympathetic.

She would bulldoze scenes like a schnauzer with rabies. Then she would start smacking her lips & trying to look sexy while poor JEP stood there like a statue. [Katherine Chancellor] Dear God In Heaven [/Katherine Chancellor] it was disgusting.

It's hard to imagine a man like Cole ever being on Y&R today.

Going from JEP to Daniel Goddard is just so much fail.

Didn't Eileen Davidson return while Cole and Ashley were still together, I seem to remember it that way, and I disliked them even then. I don't think the Cole/Ashley pairing was a good idea regardless of who was playing them.

I wish that Brad and Ashley had stayed together, though at some point they made that couple rather boring, though I liked Don and Eileen together, apparently they dated for a while in the late 80's or early 90's. They had good chemistry.

Cole and Ashley were together for about six months or a year after Eileen returned. They took a while to ease her back in...unfortunately it was with the disgusting sperm storyline.

Having Ashley marry Blade and then Cole was totally unnecessary.Those 'stories' which didn't really amount to much could have easily have played out in the context of a relationship rather than marriage and not made Ashley seem like such a bimbo by constantly marrying any man she got involved with.

Many characters have suffered the same fate due to the outdated view that marriage is the ultimate,yet characters go through marriages like kids in a candy store.

Seeing Ashley gushing about her latest marriage to Tucker was ridiculous.

Cole should have been written off after he & Victoria split.

Cole and Ashley were together for about six months or a year after Eileen returned.

I believe they were divorced around mid-99 or so?

They took a while to ease her back in...unfortunately it was with the disgusting sperm storyline.

Really? It was... questionable but I thought it was a GREAT umbrella storyline, very well planned and executed.

I wish Bill Bell had had a chance to lay out, in detail, what the plan for Blade and Blade/Ashley was. I know that the story was affected by Brenda's maternity leave but it was still a very meandering and strange story, and frankly, I can't think of a lot of actors less suited to a dual role than Michael Tylo.

Really? It was... questionable but I thought it was a GREAT umbrella storyline, very well planned and executed.

I just hated the idea of women fighting over being pregnant by him, and I thought it made Ashley look incredibly pathetic. I see that story as the start of the Victor worship that went on to devour the show.

I wish Bill Bell had had a chance to lay out, in detail, what the plan for Blade and Blade/Ashley was. I know that the story was affected by Brenda's maternity leave but it was still a very meandering and strange story, and frankly, I can't think of a lot of actors less suited to a dual role than Michael Tylo.

I just hated the idea of women fighting over being pregnant by him, and I thought it made Ashley look incredibly pathetic. I see that story as the start of the Victor worship that went on to devour the show.

I agree, and I think it was out of character for Ashley and somewhat for Diane and Nikki, though the cat fights between Diane and Nikki during that period were classic and fun. Even Eileen said that she didn't think Ashley would be the one who ended up pregnant. It was the beginning of the end for me watching the show.

That was also one of the first stories I saw ED's Ashley then, so it kind of tainted her version of the character for me.

Thanks for the SON scans. At the time I was surprised and happy they got Heather Tom back so quickly. Sadly that will never happen again. I get tired of hearing "so and so should be Victoria!" Victoria is dead. No actress matters.

Cole & Ashley didn't divorce until the fall.

Again though Cole & Ashley could've worked if a competent actress was playing Ashley.

It's like Sofia now. A lot of the reason the character is unsuccessful is because Julia Pace is not believable as high powered corporate businesswoman.