Y&R week of December 13

[DeeeDee]

Not "well-defined"?

Wow.

[Juliajms]

I find the nastier and more adamant people are the more likely it is there is an agenda behind what they are saying, even if they don't come right out and state it. Not just an agenda, but a couples agenda, which is when people seem to get down right nutty.

Thankfully, SON tends to be a haven from most of that. Although that may be because hardly anyone here cares enough about Y&R enough to feel strongly about couples anymore. I just hope Phyllis doesn't decide that she wants Nick back to spite Diane. That could get very ugly in certain circles.

[Soapsuds]

Maura West is not Diane. It's retro Carly Tenny(right when she met Jack) in Geona City playing footsie with Nick Newman.

[P.J.]

Diane is not the operator Carly was when she met Jack. Maybe she's supposed to be, because everyone and their mother assures me Diane is an agenda-driven bitch who propositions anything in pants. What I see is a lonely woman who's desperately made half-hearted attempts to ingratiate herself to a couple of former lovers. Having failed miserably, she's too proud to confide in anyone in that godforsaken town.

Nothing in that to me says "bitch".

[Soapsuds]

I mean visual wise..not the way Diane is being portrayed......The hair...etc....pure Carly 2.0.....Maura would have been suited best at B&B with Michael Park included...hell....they could have brought Parker over to Los Angeles to do his training.....so many possiblities for the three.

[juniorz1]

Diane was certainly well-defined and certainly a very strong female. I don't think she was really a "bitch" until Susan Walters played the part. Alex's Diane was smart, sophisticated, fierce, and regal. Sure, many would take that as Diane being a bitch, but I certainly didn't get that from her. She could hit below the belt at times, sure, but that was mainly directed at Nikki, who Diane was completely unimpressed by and saw for what she was. Which is why Nikki didn't like her.

That said, I thought Maura & Morrow were hot, as I expected they would be. It seemed like they had a better handle on Diane in the beginning of MW in the role, but the writing (shockingly! ) has lost its way. It would be an ENORMOUS help if LML hadn't gutted Y&R's writers during her tenure and we had some scriptwriters that actually wrote for Diane under AD. I think Maura is a FANTASTIC actress, probably the best in all of daytime, but the writing is doing her no favors (shockingly! )

[Juliajms]

She doesn't remind me of Carly at all at this point. Not in any way except looks. She's not acting the way Diane used to act either, but that's because TPTB have decided to change more than just the character's look and age, imo. This is a much more vulnerable Diane. So far I like it, but we'll see where they go with it.

[Soapsuds]

Oh dear Gregory...what are you smoking??

[Soaplovers]

Alex and Susan bought different elements to Diane. I actually enjoyed Susan's take on Diane, who became more of a snarky bitch. This was perfect especially when going up against Phyllis because her Diane made Phyllis look more pathetic and unbalanced (even though Diane was more unbalanced).

Sadly, with Maura in the part, they have turned Diane into another Phyllis especially in regards to how she handles confrontation (except the one time she and Nikki got into it).

[Soapsuds]

I enjoyed Susan better than Alex. I dont know..but I felt Susan brought new life to Diane. By the time Alex was done with the role....Diane became boring to me. As much as I flove Maura....in no way is she Diane Jenkins......

[Soapsuds]

Now this looks like a possible ..Maura West as Diane

[DeeeDee]

Exactly.

[Antoyne]

That definitely would help. The latest chopping of the hair looks awful to me.

[P.J.]

And arguably, other than regal (which I think connotes an innate dignity more suited to AD than Diane) those adjectives apply to most of Bell's women characters from the '80's. Save for pure heroines like Chris and Traci, who were clearly smart and loyal, if not sophisticated and fierce.

IMO, Diane never stood out. Which is probably why other than being caught with Jack on his wedding day, I can't recall one significant moment in any story she was in.

That's what I mean by ill-defined.

[Chris B]

I really liked Diane with Nick, but I need them to revisit the ONS with Tucker so hopefully we can get rid of that terrible pairing with Ashley. Her relationship with Neil had so much more potential in terms of story and they had more chemistry. Neil was thrown under the bus for no reason at all.