Y&R August 2020 Discussion Thread

[EllenP]

MTS had a necklift back in December according to this interview with ET:

 

https://www.etonline.com/the-young-and-the-restless-star-melody-thomas-details-her-traumatic-childhood-exclusive-151118

 

I knew that she started looking more youthful recenntly, This was excellent subtle work.

[DaytimeFan]

 

A necklift - aka a lower face lift - can be done subtly and in MTS' case it's been done very skillfully and you really wouldn't know. I'd simply assumed she'd lost weight. 

[ranger1rg]

I thought the first show back was pretty decent, mixing newly shot scenes with flashback catch ups. The wig on MTS was a mistake, but Mark Grossman’s new hairstyle made up for it, and he looks hot.

 

Y&R isn’t what it used to be, but none of the soaps is. I think it needs work, but I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as people here are making it out to be. 

[Vee]

Can't wait to see the 30th attempt to "give Abby a new start"

[prefab1]

 

I'm not a regular Y&R viewer, but I caught the first couple of minutes of today's episode on YouTube, and I have to ask: Hasn't Melissa Ordway been on this show for 7 years now? How has she not learned how to add inflection to her lines? 

[Vee]

More like 70. And every time I remind people she can't act and Abby shouldn't be on the show anymore someone calls the cops. You write her off, and if you don't kill her (which I would legit consider at this point because the first 20 years of the character are a complete wash) then you re-conceive her in a few years' time with a new actress and with Abby focused not on business, not on screwball [!@#$%^&*] but on some sort of artistic profession, like one of the Brooks sisters. This at least allows you to differentiate her from Victoria, Summer, and any other Young White Woman X.

 

And while we're on the subject of young leads, since I just said this to Darn I may as well repeat it here: Camryn Grimes has no story because IMO the 'groundbreaking story' of making her bisexual was at least in part a cynical ploy to keep her from being popular with actual male leads they found attractive and desirable while either the network, Sony or someone at the show clearly does not feel the same about Grimes. (This is similar to using the Amanda story as a sop to fans of color asking for Mishael Morgan back - Amanda neutralizes her popularity as Hilary.) Someone feels Grimes is not hot enough. So she gets sectioned off with a boring female love interest in the pat-ourselves-on-the-back social issue backburner story, when she should be in there with Mealor, etc. mixing it up. I'm a gay fan, I am all for Mariah being bisexual. I am not for her being the all-but-lesbian in the corner doing nothing. If you want this show to be the young and the restless, then make King, Mealor, Grimes, Morgan, and yes even poor Bryton get filthy with each other. You look back at what Terry Lester's Jack was doing and saying about himself being a manwhore in those '80s episodes in the vault and my god, what a difference. And I'm supposed to sit here today and pretend old Nick just got out of college, and watch 50 year old Phyllis fight Abby and her 120 failed stories over some hotels? Who cares? That demeans Stafford too. Am I supposed to live in suspense watching to see if Sharon Case finally changes her hair which she's had since before 9/11? Can y'all tell I had some coffee??

Edited August 11, 2020 by Vee

[Faulkner]

Yeah, I don’t understand why Abby is on the show. They go through phases of front-burnering her, making her Victoria’s punching bag, and throwing random men of color at her for placeholder romances. They make zero use of her being both an Abbott and a Newman.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Faulkner

[Vee]

She's blonde and white, so her job is secure!

 

And being Ashley and Victor's is not enough anymore. She's had over a decade of bad stories and still has no personality beyond 'stupid'. Give her a rest and recast a few years later but actually think it through beyond her DNA.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Vee

[Forever8]

I pretty much agree with all of your viewpoints about current The Young and The Restless. We should be seeing the younger generation getting down and dirty with one another. If you don't mind me asking what would you have Mariah, Devon, Kyle and Hilary doing? I'm sure it would be probably better than their current status at the moment. 

 

I'm not looking forward to Phyllis and Abby having a rivalry over some hotel that neither of them should own in the first place. Give the running of hotel and restaurant establishments on this show to side characters like Gloria. 

 

[Vee]

I'd probably pair up Kyle and Mariah and have another woman as a spoiler, along with Summer vixen'ing it up on the other end for Kyle. It helps that Mariah is far from an anodyne, vanilla heroine herself when written well. I don't know much else beyond that for those four just off the top of my head. I would definitely bring back Hilary for Devon. As for other duds, IMO Victoria only survives because of the many years of work Tom put in, and the Billy Miller stay of execution decree that gave her a fanbase ran out long ago. So you have to either beg Tom to return, find another strong actress for the role or write her out. Sure, fans will scream about losing 'their' Victoria or the possibility of her with Billy, but fùck 'em. When was the last time Victoria or Billy/Victoria gave this show a big return? You have to be willing to not accept surviving on crumbs of a dying audience. This show is not going to last another 10-20 years pandering to a handful of idiot fans on Twitter or Facebook. It has to be bold, and that means re-conceiving a lot of existing superficially 'popular' elements or characters.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Vee

[Gray Bunny]

 

 

I watched. It wasn't bad per se, but it wasn't particularly good either. It was watchable, but meh... They really gotta give viewers a reason to tune back in. They've had 3+ months without the daily habit of watching; there needs to be an incentive to come back. 

 

OJ started it; COVID may finish it. 

[kalbir]

Y&R hasn't done a very good job of building the next generation. I've been saying for years that an early 1980s style cast purge is needed.

[Faulkner]

It’s funny: Mal Young clearly loved Mariah (she does have a sort of scrappy British soap heroine vibe). He featured her (and Hilary) a lot, even when she didn’t have a real story. But somewhere along the line, there seemed to be a mandate to feature her a lot less.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Faulkner

[Chatty Cakes]

Yay Theo’s on!!!!!! And clean shaven. I so want him to get the best of vile Kyle.

 

Eww Phyllis is on. Bummer. 

Nick should be ashamed of himself announcing that he is back with his sloppy seconds! Sharon has a real crisis, she doesn’t need to be reminded that Nick needs serviced constantly.

Lily is jealous of Amanda.

[Chatty Cakes]

Billy has some nerve coming down on Theo. Maybe they can bond over how easy Summer is and move onto a working relationship.

 

I love Sharon, I felt for her discussing how she took care of herself and still got cancer. 
I think we need to put Adam with Sharon and gift Rey to Victoria. He is a sexy man and Vicks needs to move on from Billy. Win win.