Y&R: Discussion for the month of January

[sheilaforever]

Totally shallow and unrelated to this week's bunch of episodes 'cause I'm way behind. BUT is anyone distracted by THE STAFFORD? Not talking about her acting ticks but rather that on some days she seems to work bra-less!? LOL!

[Cat]

MTS looks THE BOMB. I'm sure that while she was waiting for back surgery, she also had her face lightly refreshed (a little Fraxel Re:Store goes a long way). Also, her hair this week has been beautifully and simply styled, allowing her face and figure to stand out.

Not so much braless -- she also worked a MAJOR push-up bra during the Daniel-in-hospital scenes. I know it was her Emmy reel but all I could see was her (admittedly well-honed) bouncing cleavage in my eye line.

The thing with the character of Phyllis now is that she really is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. No matter which direction her character takes, I'm not going to buy it. When she was Nick's Stepford Wife, I couldn't stand her "Ya, ya, DEFINIT'LEE, DEFINIT'LEE" pod-dialogue and the fact that she was meant to be some kind of heroic housewife. I can DEFINIT'LEE understand that Nick was her major sexual obsession for five years. Despite all her bravado about moving on and rediscovering herself, she is majorly, majorly destroyed over the fact that Nick was about as sad as Sarah Palin on a moose hunt when they broke up. I think it took him all of five minutes to hightail it to Sharon's house and win her over with his "Well, Phyllis doesn't want me any more. So how about it?" proposal.

The thing is Y&R wants its cake and eat it, too. There are moments when Phyllis is back to borderline, running-Cricket-over-with-her-car crazy. She is OBSESSED with Sharon and with destroying her. If I were Sharon (and had a functioning braincell), I would get a restraining order on her because Phyllis is stalking her ass.

Then there are other moments where Phyllis is the Carly Corinthos Jacks of Y&R -- the Bravest, Wonderfullest, Most Lovingest Mother and Woman of all time. We are told this rather than shown it, because all I see is Summer getting fobbed off on the nanny or Diane while Phyllis spends quality time with Jack and writes her "I Hate Women" blog. Y&R seems to think this is some kind of right-on, riot grrrl moment and all us Women aged 19-34 are raising our fist right along with her. In reality, it makes Phyllis look like a misogynist. Some of you may know the type IRL: the chick who hangs out and burps and farts "with the guys" because she's "just one of the guys" and constantly complains about how she doesn't have female friends because all girls are bitches while guys are so much more honest and reliable. I don't know whether this is the way it is being written or just something Stafford brings to her portrayal, but that isn't feminism. That is ego. That is a character who views other women as potential rivals.

Fact is, if this show were like The Big C or Mad Men with actresses like Laura Linney or Elisabeth Moss, then it might be possible to reconcile the dispirate sides of this woman. But this is Y&R and it all looks schizophrenic. Like a bunch of different writers with a bunch of different handles on the character taking turns with the script every day.

I will give Phyllis one thing, though -- at least she is a working woman with some semblance of a job. A rare thing in soaps nowadays.

[P.J.]

On a shallow note, I'm distracted by this show's wardrobe/hairstyle choices most days. No one will ever truly convince me part of the reason Maura chopped her hair off is because she actually watched the show one day and said NoF'inWay am I sitting in a chair while they do that to my hair!

Just this week, there was Phyllis curtain front/backless travesty, Jill's portable disco flashback, Sharon's puke green sweater and Nikki's sleeveless horror. Add that white leopard lingerie they stuck on Maura and someone should be getting a pink slip.

[Cat]

Maura's body is BANGIN. But Teresa Giudice herself would step away from that polyester leopard monstrosity in disgust. And poor Maura had that I'm-a'sex-slave-and-forced-to-strip-for-a-really-old-and-gross-client look on her face. Glad they didn't show Grambo & Diane snuggling in the afterglow. I really don't want to know if Grambo wears a black T-shirt in bed! And I'd much rather watch Deacon crawl all over Nikki.

Bonus points for name-dropping "asymmetrical Rodarte," Diane. I like MW's refined speaking voice. It's so nice hearing somebody who does not garble their words *gives side-eye to Braeden, Miller, Cooper, Stafford*

[Cat]

Oh, and I'm going to keep making fun of Amelia Heinle's crackhive hair until she runs a brush through it.

[P.J.]

^^that's the reason I Love Lucy---mommy's suddenly brushing her hair again.

Leslie standing up to Phyl is great. Too bad she's a dayplayer, thus destined to self-destruct once her mission is complete.

[dragonflies]

Thank you Ashley! My gawd I want to shake Sharon till her teeth rattle.

[DeeeDee]

Sofia looks like Malcolm's little sister.

[P.J.]

Anyone else flinch when Malcolm pointed his finger at Sophia? I swear, the actress looked like she was ready to duck.

[YRBB]

I kinda hate how the Sharon/Victor dynamic/friendship has been trashed. Almost against everything, he always had her back, believed in her and supported her. I hate how she's yet one more person he mistreats now (regardless of whether Sharon deserves it or not).

[juniorz1]

Oh no, no, no, no, no. The writers already imagined this- and it was called Devon/Tyra/Neil. And it was awful. No. Thank. You.

I'd much rather see a Neil/Leslie/

triangle.

And I'm sorry, I know some people here like Devon and think Bryton's a talented guy, but I just don't care for his character and never have. While I think Bryton may have some potential, Devon does not. Plus, Bryton's acting style is very asexual, which can work in many acting mediums. But soaps aren't one of em.

I'm really hoping that

because, while I'm all for minorities on soaps and them getting actual meaty, color blind storytelling, I just can't get behind Devon and frankly, have never been able to.

This one gets another big N-O from me. Neil and Olivia work best together as friends, confidantes, and in-laws who have a long history with one another. While I think TLW and KSJ would probably have chemistry as different characters on a different show, Neil and Olivia together would be the equivalent of watching a slow leak in your kitchen sink.

You know what?

+1

I'd never thought of it but I could really see that working, with proper storytelling. In other words, with Sheffer and Hamner gone.

What kills me is when it debuted this summer, The Stafford's hair was tres chic and quite possibly the hottest hairstyle I've seen on a daytime actress in the past 10 years. And 2 weeks later, they started curling it into an ugly mess and it hasn't been the same since. Frankly, I wouldn't blame Maura for shaving her head completely and just bringing her own wigs to the set. How unfortunate that on ATWT, 9 times out of 10 the hairstyling was on point and those hairdressers probably could have made the same amount of money in a mall salon.

She was probably frequenting the TMZ website earlier that day. Either that, or she was afraid he spotted that Subway printed paper in their trash can.

You know what? I LOVE IT! Only because, IMO, Victor is propping Sharon right now, which I find deliciously hilarious. I almost wonder if it's a thickly veiled dig at Braeden on the writers' part. Either way, as much as I'm not a fan of the Adam/Sharon pairing and Sharon's choices on paper, I'm really coming around to the way Case has been playing it and that Sharon seems to be drawing on that inner strength she once had. I really hope that we get a reveal that Victor witnessed the whole incident between Sharon & Skye and Sharon tears Grambo's ass a new one.

Ok though, back on topic.

Y&R is total sh!t and I only watch it on the off chance that Nick is doing Diane or Deacon is boinking Nikki. Anyone else think of Nikki/Deacon as the new, sleazier version of Warton/Jill? Especially with Kanan rocking that God-Awful porn stache he had going on this week.

As for Diane/Nick, imagine my disgust when I realized Nick was dumping, not doing, the "awesomely tubular" Diane and she instead had to do Grambo, who looks frozen as an imbalmed corpse. Damnit, that trashy, jaguar print negligee was meant for Dicholas, not the Dick-tator-nater. Yougahtthat?

[DeeeDee]

Amen. :lol:

Poor Maura looks like a deer in headlights every time she has scenes with Braeden.

[DRW50]

She probably closes her eyes and pretends it's Ben Hendrickson...

[aMLCproduction]

I might be in the minority. I have been enjoying Y&R. Though the plots are outlandish it keeps me watching day in and day out. Though I had to crack up when Malcolm said that Lily was "the most sweetest girl in the world" or something to that effect

[P.J.]

Seriously...ATWT was so much better. I get a headache every time they pull MTS's hair back so hard she looks Chinese. How can you honestly do that in front of a mirror and think it LOOKS GOOD?

It looked like SK being paid in hair. OMG.

Y'know I hate Nick...but even I had to laugh a little at his resolutely brushing Diane off, because of his "crazy life". 'Cause you know the truth---he's scared shitless of Nikki and Phyllis' reactions.

:sob: I miss Ben.