Y&R June 2021 Discussion Thread

[Faulkner]

They just don’t have great adversarial chemistry anyway. I can see Sally resenting Summer for seemingly having everything handed to her, but their rivalry felt like playground stuff. Especially considering she has no interest in Kyle, and Y&R ditched her partner-in-crime Theo. Now Sally and Phyllis have a sizzle, but they’ve seemingly dropped that.

I thought initially she’d vie for Chance against Abby, which I’m glad didn’t happen (because Boaz), but would have made more sense.

Edited June 25, 2021 by Faulkner

[FrenchBug82]

We don't even need to refer to who her mother is
SHE used to be written as kind of a schemer herself. She slept with Billy to get back at her mom. She had done her fair share of stuff at Lola when she wanted Kyle. And so on.

It is not potential: we have established already that she can defend herself.
I hate the bad habit of soaps deciding a leading lady can't have done bad things and memory-holing them.
I am not a Summer fan at all but HK can definitely carry story and be sympathetic without turning her into a wimpy victim. Summer would NOT be intimidated by Tara at all.

[Paul Raven]

And Summer's scheming could backfire and create problems between her and Kyle.

[ranger1rg]

This show needs badass troublemaker Sally, not a sweet friend with Summer.

[Forever8]

And we're not getting either at the moment. Besides no said she had to be a sweet friend to Summer. Friends have their trials and tribulations too. Sally still can be scheming as well as having friends. Characters used to have that most of the time in soaps. 

[FrenchBug82]

Is Amelia Heinle's contract coming up?

Because, let's be honest, CBS sending HEATHER TOM ("of B&B" of course) to guest on The Wheel of Fortune with Jason Thompson reads at the very least like trolling or sending a message as a negotiating tactic
Or then a straight-up chemistry test although I doubt they'd do AH the way they screwed GT like that if she wanted to stay.

But it definitely got me aflutter.

[Faulkner]

Just saw it was on TPIR and they were promoting tonight’s Daytime Emmys on CBS as the incumbent Best Actor and Actress winners. Still it is funny.
 

As others have said over the years, I wouldn’t be against an actual swap (Katie feels more in AH’s wheelhouse anyway, even though B&B barely plays her), but they’d have to start writing Victoria a lot differently for it to matter. Then again, maybe HT’s presence would inspire them? (It’s all rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic—who are we kidding?

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[FrenchBug82]

I actually like Amelia Heinle, as I have said before, and I think the problem with Victoria during her tenure has been mostly the writing, not her.

But it is still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact she has been playing Victoria longer than HT ever played her. And that in itself says all that needs to be said.

In the end, I don't think they'd swap unless AH herself decided to walk (not to mention HT would probably be more expensive). 

[Faulkner]

Oh they’d not likely ever do it: it just would be fantasy casting for people who are still nostalgic for a more Bell version of Y&R. CBS/Sony have no interest in writing Victoria in a way that would have made sense 20 years ago (as the true heiress to Victor). That ship has long sailed. 
 

But, in addition to the writing, I do think Heinle often falls flat in scenes where she’s asked to banter and stand her ground with Mark Grossman’s Adam or EB. (She’s much better in scenes with women.) HT, at her fiercest, can slice a man’s balls off.

 

AH is better at tortured heroine.

Edited June 25, 2021 by Faulkner

[Forever8]

In my opinion, Amelia Heinle's best role in Daytime will always be Steffi Brewster on Loving. 

 

[Taoboi]

THIS.

[KMan101]

 

Yep. AH would have been much better as doormat Katie. I've long wanted them to swap. I will never not miss Heather Tom as Victoria. And she'd definitely make better choices if given the same dreck as Heinle. Her eyes alone act circles around Heinle. Sorry but it's true.

 

It's true. I like her there from what I've seen and I didn't even mind her as Mia on AMC, though 2001-2004 is a bit of a blur to me looking back. And it's not a period I've bothered to try and watch much of again. (Though I feel like she annoyed me on AMC at the time, the character, not her)

Edited June 25, 2021 by KMan101

[Faulkner]

This show needs to stop telling stories it can’t properly dramatize (Amanda’s father’s murder). There are a gazillion different ways they could have introduced her family. Seems like the Newman connection was a red herring.

[kalbir]

Also by this fall Heather Tom will have been Katie for 14 years, 1 year longer than she was Victoria.

[FrenchBug82]

Third. And THAT performance is why I continue to defend AH. She *could* play a vulnerable bitch because she did it then. So whatever is going on now starts with the writing and, yes, it is true, that she is not fighting the writing. She is Morrowing her way through the material. Doing what's on the page then going home and not trying to create a character performance.

 

 

This. There is so much that could have done by now to set her up when Victor goes. There is SO MUCH material they could have gone with, even with AH in the role, in Victor's reluctance to treat her as the true heir and insisting on pushing his dum-dum older son who wasn't really interested and then his criminal hateful other son when SHE was there and had more than proven herself.

The underlying subtext of gender, the Oedipal relationship, Victoria's mix of vulnerability - which could explain turning to the wrong men - with her intelligence and savvy... So many layers they are not even trying.

Part of it is because EB's adamant insistance that Victor never lose and never be vulnerable in turn - which means the lawsuit storyline for instance despite being momentous on paper ended up a damp squid - but it is clear indeed they chose tortured heroine and sadly they can't seem to understand a leading lady can be tortured and sympathetic at the same time as she can be strong and smart.