Y&R: February 2014 Discussion Thread

[DeeeDee]

Heather's Victoria didn't change.

She was the same strong willed character she had always been even to her last day.

What changed in Heather's last year was Y&R deciding Victoria was a romantic 'dead end' (due to the failure of her pairing with Diego) which wasn't true because she had a ton of chemistry with Don Diamont & CLB.

They used that & budget cuts to bully her off the show so they could prop Josh Morrow (and to a lesser extent Sharon Case) who they decided were to be the future of The Newman Family (despite Morrow being unable to carry the show).

+1.

[soapsnstuds]

When she was told Adam was dead and responded with: "He always creeped me out!"

I was like, "Oh, no she di'n't!" That was fantastic.

[Taiah]

I think it'll play out more like Victor is her hero, most likely against Chloe and/or Jack. All this fussing and fighting over Connor is not good soap for me. I just don't care about him or his bland mother.

I agree about Tyler. His airtime has decreased, his work is now done offscreen, etc. Tabby are just not gonna be a popular couple. There's too much that they lack and neither character has enough of a fanbase on their own to hold it up. That's why Tily was the way to go cause like it or not, Lily does have fans and not all of them love tired Lane. I also agree about MO. I think she is a dud. I didn't see much of a spark with IS and I don't with RW.

[jcren]

Not sure what you are getting at because I never insinuated that HT's last year was bad from an acting stand point. But as character? Absolutely. She was strong will because HT played her that way but to act like the character of Victoria didn't drastically change that last year and when she returned is just wrong. They wanted a new Victoria and they got one. AH's first years were all about Victoria being sexual as some kind of a wannabe vixen, except not. That was never Victoria but that is what they made her. She was the one having rendezvous in the office with Brad while shagging JT on the side and banging Deacon because she was pissed. They wanted Victoria to be more of a romantic lead and I guess they got their much sought after Newman/Abbott pairing with Villy. Not saying I agree with that approach or even disagree that they wrote to her strengths, but I think they had a vision for a new Victoria and no matter who would in the role she was NEVER going to be top dog again. They had Adam and Nick for that and even know that is true.

No one is bashing AH. Just because people dislike her in the role doesn't not bashing make.

[Cat]

I hope Kate Linder has a good security detail because she is going to get the #TeamMichael We walk with him loonies on her ass for daring to speak that line of dialogue out loud.

Exactly. Jack Smith was in love with the character of Sharon as swooning heroine-in-peril. SC left Y&R in February 2003 because of contract negotiations but came back in April; Heather left in December 2003. However, I did wonder if part of Heather's decision to leave was due to Y&R acquiescing to Case's contract demands but later pulling the cutback card on HT on both her guarantee and her salary, and she wasn't having it.

Diego the character just didn't work out. I love Greg Vaughan on Days, but on Y&R he was a fish out of water. He just didn't have the chops to present a strong love interest for Victoria.

HT had great potential with CLB and DD (especially DD!), but when the show wasn't about Sharon, it was about Phyllis, and Victoria was an afterthought to them and to Nicholas. In any case, now that David Tom is back and HT is happily ensconced at B&B, she isn't coming back to Y&R. That doesn't mean I don't want somebody with some star power, fire in her belly and allure to play Victoria.

AH may be a sweetheart behind the scenes (I think she probably is) and naturally pretty but... for Victoria Newman, I need more. I'd settle for glamourous, too.

[DeeeDee]

How did she change?

The only time she cried heavily was at the beginning (Diego) & the end of the year (her family).

The majority of the year she spent at war with Jabot, flirting with & dating SEVERAL men & helping to hold her family together.

[DeeeDee]

Diego as a character worked fine.

However the drama between Tom & Vaughan caused the writers to hastily write the character out.

[ChitHappens]

What drama?

[DeeeDee]

Greg (a model turned actor) wasn't ready for the rigorous pace of Daytime & Heather (being a pro by that point) was NOT happy about that.

She made her displeasure known & Greg was written out soon after.

[Cat]

Woah, yeah, what's the story between Vaughan and Tom?

ETA: sorry, just read DeeeDee's post.

[ChitHappens]

Wow. Good for her.

Thanks for the info.

[ajsp35801]

Absolutely THIS! Morrow is not a capable actor despite his popularity which mostly stems from his looks (as opposed to ability) and the popularity (and ability) of the women to which whom he was paried. JM can not carry Y&R. Unless they pair him with an equally capable actress with a huge fan base (or something new like an AA actress that a certain fan base might want to see) his pairings will flop. And no MCE's Chelsea is not the answer because she is not sexy nor is she great in the role of flawed heroine. I get the feeling that she will be nothing and flounder without MMs Adam to prop up her pairing. You see what happened with Dylan. I have no doubt that they would still be together if the pairing had worked or even caught on. The writing was clearly there for them to stay together.

[DeeeDee]

Morrow is fine as a solid secondary lead but he simply lacks the talent & gravitas to play a tentpole character.

In the years since Nick & Sharon's divorce Morrow's gotten increasingly lazy (like much of the rest of the cast) to the point where he's mainly playing himself now.

[ajsp35801]

It's not even so much about Lily having all these fans to prop them up. It is moreso about agenda. Chadam had all these people rooting for them for a reason. The least of which was the Chadam story or chemistry. It was a coalition of sorts and more about Shadam, Shick, and Phick than so much about Chadam. I will go out on a limb and say that the majority of Y&R veiwers are beyond ready for Lane to break up. People were rooting for that and in the process began to like Tyler. During their fling, he had lots of real staunch defenders and so did Lily. I am now wondering where these fans of his has gone to. They really could have been the next Phick. Everyone seemed to be on a side and not many were ambivalent about it. I have not given up hope on that just yet. With Colin in town, I could see Cane wanting to forgive his father while Lily is staunchly against it. The writers could do something with that if they so chose.

[ajsp35801]

I disagree. Did you see him in the scenes with MTS when Nick found out that Ian Ward was in town. His line delivery is not natural and I can tell that he is acting most of the time. I think his arguments and fist fights with rivals are pretty darn good though. But anything beyond that just flounders. JMO.