Thanks, DeeeDee!

Damn. Two heffas (three, if you include Nikki) fighting over Victor Newman's sperm.

Y&R: Setting back the cause of feminism since 1973.

Thanks, DeeeDee!

Damn. Two heffas (three, if you include Nikki) fighting over Victor Newman's sperm.

Y&R: Setting back the cause of feminism since 1973.

Can you imagine that on AMC, Days, OLTL or GH, if Alden was HW it?

Let's see for AMC it would be Adam or Palmer

OLTL: either Asa, Clint or Bo Buchanan

Days: Victor Kiriakis or Stefano DiMera

GH: Edward Quartermaine

Edited March 11, 201510 yr by cassadine1991

DP.

Edited March 11, 201510 yr by Khan

It does make me wonder how she would've done the business stories (Enchantment, Fusion, Cortlandt, Chandler, Cambias)

Would've loved to see what she'd do with Fusion, AKA my favorite PV Business and no one elses! ;'-( LOL

Can you imagine that on AMC, Days, OLTL or GH, if Alden was HW it?

Days: Victor Kiriakis or Stefano DiMera

You misspelled Daniel Jonas*

I meant back in 2006-2007, not present day

Would've loved to see what she'd do with Fusion, AKA my favorite PV Business and no one elses! ;'-( LOL

Wonder if she would've done a Glow By Jabot type story for Fusion

Well the very fact that there was interference in the sperm swap story highlights the difference b/w the Bell and Alden eras.

Bell wrote the stories the way he wanted and would brook no interference.He spoke of network feedback and 'suggestions' but said he took no notice, As long as the ratings were good CBS/Sony pretty much kept out.

So you can imagine once he wasn't on the other side of the table,how others might be itching to have a say and Kay wasn't strong enough and didn't have the clout to have her way.

Did Bill's contract detail that he had final say? What sort of conditions did Kay have in her contract? I know those things are top secret but it's fun to speculate.

When was Bill's emmy interview conducted?-because he was already forgetful at that time.

But I do give her and her team credit for grounding it and giving it some logic. Because, in another writer's hands, that story would have been all about turkey basters, knockout drugs, wacky fertility nurses, and electric cattle prods.

I found the idea of sperm being stolen and such disgusting (although the implications on the women, etc didn't reach me at that point) but then, and now, I still feel they did that story with as much realism and, I suppose, class as possible. On the other hand, in typical Y&R fashion, they never sugarcoated it or alluded to it. It was always, "the sperm," "the sperm sample" etc and I do wish they had sort of been less direct about it at times. LOL

Eileen Davidson once said, quite specifically, that the 'Sperm Swap' storyline was not executed the way Alden had intended it to be and that it never was brought to the conclusion or had the long term repercussions that it was meant to have - which she didn't elaborate on...but there were definite possibilities there. It sounded like the storyline was hit with rewrites throughout and I agree that, in other hands, it would have been truly terrible, but I didn't mind it at all - the conflict between Diane and Nikki was ferocious and terrific for AD and MTS.

I never knew this! Although the fact they planned to have long term repercussions isn't exactly a shocker -- that used to be Y&R's MO. Perhaps the whole two year story would have felt better and been better had the conclusion and follow through been allowed. When Diane so abruptly left town... I can never forget what a huge WTF that was to realize she actually was done. It felt really wrong (part of it was, I loved AD. She deserves huge credit for my obsession with the show).

Having said all this (the sperm was disgusting, botched conclusions, etc) that story did keep me glued to my seat for the duration. Me and my mom would cringe and then keep watching, hooked.

I do think Kay Alden is a wonderful writer. 1998 was one of the last completely good years of a soap that I can remember. The show felt exciting and fresh and opened up, while still maintaining Y&R's signature style.

She really seemed to love soaps and the soap genre, and that's very rare. It would be nice if some soap at least hired her with a consultant while they still have breath left.

This is why I wish she was still around and why her worst is still far better than many others'... not only is she talented and really knows the show, but she loooooooves the genre. And that makes the mistakes somehow better. It was true for all the great headwriters.

The sperm swap was originally supposed to reunite Victor & Ashley but MTS contract issues ruined that.

So Victor & Ashley would have gotten together after the pregnancy? Interesting. I knew there was the flirtation/dating during this but I never thought it would lead to much more. I wonder what they would have done with them. So I guess that would leave Brad to be with Nikki? And Diane, what? Chopped liver?

The sperm swap was definitely Alden's idea but the backstage drama that fueled the more offensive aspects of the umbrella story were Ed Scott's.

Not surprised at that.

Edited March 11, 201510 yr by YRBB

Crazy stuff that had happened before on Y&R. (Brad-in-a-cage? Oy.).

That story was great! It was a perfect example of an out-there soap story that didn't go too far. The lead up to it was, again in typical Y&R fashion, done with as much logic as possible and the basics to explain the situation were covered. Besides, the whole thing felt like an ode to Don Diamont's supersexiness (don't start, Carl!) and I'm fine with that!

Victor remarried Nikki on her deathbed after getting a quickie divorce from Diane but found out later that their (V/N) marriage was invalid because the waiting period to make his & Diane's divorce final hadn't ended.

Thus Diane felt she had a valid claim on Victor's assets (who she had been planning to start a family with) as Nikki (which is why she was interested in getting pregnant with Victor's child).

Why would they have Victor forget that G.C had a 6 month waiting period just so he could re-marry Nikki? The same thing happen when he divorced Nikki and quickly married Leanna, Nikki had to break it to them that they weren't legally married because of the waiting period......

Y&R: Setting back the cause of feminism since 1973.

I'm just going to go ahead and say it: It all sounds (and was) pretty bad but I've always felt that Diane and Nikki's actions were, at the very least, somewhat understandable and expected. Diane had a good reason (actually, many good reasons) to feel she had claim over Victor's sperm property. It was still messed up but I could understand the emotional reasons. As for Nikki, she was always pathetically obsessed with Victor and much prone to insane soapy actions to have/keep him (faking terminal disease). So that part makes sense and is one of the reasons why I love(d) Nikki so much.

But Ashley's involvement on the other hand? OK, so she and Victor were getting closer. But she went from thinking about Victor to suddenly deciding she wants a baby to suddenly stealing sperm and heading to Chicago and so on. Ashley didn't deserve that.

One of the things Alden did when she took over was to modernize the dialogue, make it more contemporary. I remember some of actors being very thankful for that.

Why would they have Victor forget that G.C had a 6 month waiting period just so he could re-marry Nikki?

He wasn't expecting Nikki to live.

But Ashley's involvement on the other hand? OK, so she and Victor were getting closer. But she went from thinking about Victor to suddenly deciding she wants a baby to suddenly stealing sperm and heading to Chicago and so on. Ashley didn't deserve that.

The show had been building to a Victor & Ashley reunion from the time Eileen returned until the Abby reveal but they didn't count on Ed Scott's various backstage shenanigans or the surprise (to them) popularity of the Brad & Ashley pairing.

That said the story itself wasn't a bad idea. It was the lack of follow through (V/A reunion) that damaged the long term story.

So Victor & Ashley would have gotten together after the pregnancy? Interesting. I knew there was the flirtation/dating during this but I never thought it would lead to much more. I wonder what they would have done with them. So I guess that would leave Brad to be with Nikki? And Diane, what? Chopped liver?

Victor & Ashley were pushed from Ashley's pregnancy (including the B/A marriage) to the eventual paternity reveal (where Victor essentially chose Nikki over her permanently).

Early on Brad was flirting with Diane (a HUGE missed opportunity) & falling back in love with Nikki.

Diane left town abruptly solely because AD was fired (only for the character to return six months later in the form of Susan Walters).

Edited March 11, 201510 yr by DeeeDee