Y&R: Old Articles

[yr9190]

Deedee was one of the reasons why Sheila's 2005 story more of a downer because they didn't get Christine more involved in that part of the story? I know she was there for most of the Terrible Tom stuff, but i noticed by watching those episodes and reading online transcripts from that year, besides that one scene where she reunited with Scotty and sheila was spying on them, Christine was not really involved in the Sheila part of that story. Like i don't think there were any scenes were Chris spoke out loud about Sheila being involved and stuff like that, weird since That was once her sister-in-law so IMO i feel like she was important to that element too.

[DeeeDee]

Very much.

She was an definite show eater but she has so much history with so many characters that it was a shame to lose her.

Especially in Daytime's current climate where formally annoying characters (Traci) become much more tolerable.

Hated it.

Case & Diamont shared a TON of chemistry but their one night stand was used as an excuse to justify the horribleness that is Nick & Giggly.

[yr9190]

What about Michael damian, why haven't they asked him back?

[DeeeDee]

Sheila's 05 return was horrible & Cricket being involved wouldn't have saved it.

That entire "story" regressed Sheila into a cartoon character.

She went from being a legit character to a Stefano Dimera/James Stenbeck/Carlo Hesser clone.

Backstage drama.

[yr9190]

IMO i think sheila started becoming more of a cartoon when they brought her back for that short stint on B&B in September/October 2003. I never really saw the whole thing but it looked ridiculous for Brooke/Nick/Ridge to be held captive by Sheila on an Island.

As for the Y&R return, I think another thing that made it bad was that it was an excuse to prop the Gloria and the Fisher/Baldwins, deedee you will agree on that LOL

Do you think it would ever have been possible to keep Sheila on the show longer?

Edited November 1, 2011 by yr9190

[DeeeDee]

Agreed.

But the thing is (aside from briefly during her initial time on B& her Y&R stint was treated as totally different & totally realistic.

They had to regress the character into a cliche psycho to do that story & it didn't work.

Because even during her subsequent runs (despite being increasingly badly written) on B&B she ALWAYS made her children a priority.

Not really.

So much damage had been done to Sheila but it did even more damage to Lauren (who went from being fairly strong to a weak idiot) & was another huge sign that pre-Baldwin/Fisher Lauren no longer existed.

If they had any intent on writing her as a realistic character...maybe.

But that's the thing if she were written as a realistic character she would never have had any reason to be back in GC in the first place.

[yr9190]

I know when you mean about the "edgier" Lauren no longer existing. One of the greatest moments between Lauren and Sheila i have seen is when Sheila reveals herself to Lauren (for real) and tells her that she was alive all along. What made that scene so great to me was the fact that The last time Lauren and Sheila were together it was a terrifying moment since it was when they were at the farmhouse with the fire. Even though Sheila was in control at that point, Lauren still let Sheila have it for all the hell she put her and her mother through, when she could have just ran out or something. I think Bill did an excellent job of showing that only in a soap opera can you fulfill the dream of saying all you wanted to say to the person who caused you so much pain, but died before you could really let your feeling be known.

So i guess Lauren started to dumb down under Jack Smith too, I feel like Kay Alden still respected that Lauren needed to be bitchy at times.

[yr9190]

I have to say this about Heather Tom since its on my mind. To me its really hard to believe that she was still around when all the stuff that has made Y&R what it is today started to get unleashed. I guess she left at the knick of time (despite how sad it was to lose her) but its hard to imagine her still being on when Kevin was introduced and Christel was beginning to stink up the show as Lily (even if it wasn't that bad yet) and J.T became a more prominant character, I wonder if Thad Luckinbill would have had good chemistry with Heather, what do you guys think?

[DeeeDee]

During the first part of Jack Smith's run Lauren wasn't so bad (despite becoming a serious Kevin apologist).

But once John/Glo began to reconcile & Tom/Sheila hit town during the second half of Smith's run Lauren had been reduced to a whimpering Baldwin Fisher propper.

Alden's Lauren was really fun. She was sassy, independent & sexy.

[DRW50]

Which characters would you say fared best during Smith's run, during LML's run, and then during the MAB/Sheffer/Hamner thing? (I guess there's no point in counting MAB/Griffith since they only lasted about six months).

[DeeeDee]

Y&R would've never paired Victoria & JT (which was totally OOC for Victoria) had Heather stayed.

The only reason they were paired in the first place was because Amelia & Thad were dating.

[DeeeDee]

Under Smith?

Nobody except JVA, JT & Bryton.

Jerry Douglas was good with JVA's Gloria but it was undercut once Glo was recast with Chapman & everyone became Gloria proppers.

Under LML's run it was Davetta's Lily & Adrianne's Colleen.

Two characters that were given new life with awesome recasts.

Under MAB/Sheffer/Hamner Victor, Nikki, Ashley & Adam (and to a lesser extent Heather) were treated relatively well (early on) while Jeanne/Michael Fairman made Katherine's "death" watchable & Luckinbill helped JT grow into a real hero.

Miller's Billy, Ford's Mackenzie, Driscoll's Chance & Hendrickson's Chloe were all fairly tolerable until Mackenzie/Chance were thrown under the bus & Miller/Hendrickson began chewing scenery.

And horrible writing aside Jess, Jeanne & Tricia did some of the best work in years with the Undead Phillip twist & Thom actually grew into a solid actor (despite a really rough return) by the end of his inital "Cane Propping" run.

[DRW50]

Was it Sony who got rid of Davetta and Adrianne?

[DeeeDee]

Sony got rid of Adrianne (because of temporary weight gain).

As far as Davetta's firing that was just a complete debacle from everyone involved.

[soapfan770]

At the start of 2004 Y&R was very strong with its future looking bright; the moment Shaughnessy left and Smith took over as EP with Scott returning as Supervising Producer was when they fumbled, egos and their own agendas and all.

Of course under Smith we had Brittney dominating 2003-2005 as Smith wanted her to be the new Nikki.

Shame on Sony for firing both Sherwood and Leon. Leon's was absolutely inexcusable and ended up being shades of Holly Hallstrom. I've never understood Sherwood's departure or Khalil's strange comments and their rivalry. "Please pray for Davetta!" or threats of being hit by a baseball bat didn't sit well with me at all and apparently it didn't with Rowell as well.