Y&R February 2022 Discussion Thread

[Aback]

It annoys me to no end how hard they try to MISS story beats.

Jack and Phyllis have never, ever talked about Keemo.

They could have had her find Jack sobbing over a picture and address this whole situation he never really delved into with her.

Instead here we have Phyllis DESCRIBING to Traci what has been happening to Jack and what their theory is. Just pathetic writing.

[Ponds]

Jack has always acted as though Kyle was his ONLY son.

[pdm1974]

PB should be thrilled if they're expanding the Abbott family in any way at this point...and it would be great to actually see more diversity. This is 2021. I'd rather that they'd bring on his hot grandson though versus a love interest for sleepy Noah though.

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I know the Rosales clan didn't set the world on fire, but this show desperately needs a new core family OR families! How many times can a Newman marry an Abbott? It's like the Horton/Bradys on DAYS at this point. It's just one big incestuous family now. And, it would be great to have some characters who weren't already billionaires for contrast!

Edited February 19, 2022 by pdm1974

[FrenchBug82]

I never understood the whole PB-vetoes-mentions-of-Keemo gossip. I can understand why he hated the original story but it is canon now so he should be happy there is that entire line of potential family members and stories for him just hanging out there.

[Forever8]

I wish they would've made Mia a sister instead of Rey's ex-wife. It seemed like they were going to make her the next generation Jill Foster. Imagine if she would be the one who took care of the family while the father left, and mother worked all of the time. And she sacrificed her hopes and ambitions so the rest of her siblings could have theirs. She could've come onto the canvas as someone who finally wants her dreams to come true come hell or high water. 

I just hope this is an actual long story and not something that is over in two weeks aka the Josh Grifith Why and Are Special. 

[pdm1974]

I agree about Mia. I really liked her actually, and I also thought she gave off young Jill Foster vibes.

If TPTB we smart, they'd realize we need characters who aren't rich and are "restless" wanting to improve their lot in life. Right now, almost everyone is rich which is so boring. I've been watching one of the British soaps, Hollyoaks, for a bit now, and it amazes me how diverse the cast is and the characters. I think the heads now are too scared to take any of the risks soaps used to be famous for, but if they're going to survive they need to make them more contemporary.

Edited February 19, 2022 by pdm1974

[Broderick]

Same here.  I can understand why Peter Bergman disliked the original storyline (it was sappy as hell, and the actor who played Keemo was practically as old as Peter Bergman).   But there's certainly still an opportunity to revisit the mess and pull out some grandchildren or in-laws or someone who could shake things up a lil bit.   

[Vee]

I don't buy that PB vetoed it. It's very clear he disliked the story, which he's entitled to, but not because he's a bigot, though I think he's definitely been insensitive or tactless more than once re: that story as well as about Victoria Rowell. But the claim that he's vetoed it seems to be of a piece with the old rumor about him supposedly ordering the Cliff and Angie pairing ended on AMC, and I looked into that and feel pretty confident based on his own quotes that that's not true, just the opposite.

I don't think Bergman would raise hell or threaten to quit if they brought back Keemo or Keemo's kids today. I do think his vocal ranting about it over the years has dissuaded a show and network which has been disinterested as is.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Vee

[FrenchBug82]

That is a really interesting take and that rings a lot more true than the rumors to me. Plus there probably wasn't a lot of hunger to revisit Keemo in the first place so that was a convenient position for everyone to take.

I will say that I never took PB's dislike of the original story to be about race or even just about the specifics of the story - the dullness of Luann and the miscast of Keemo
My understanding was that he thought the story was out of character for young Jack as he had been established under Terry Lester - which was fair enough of a point. The irresponsible party boy had actually gone to Vietnam and wanted to settle down with a local woman?
The armchair psychologist would speculate that it almost felt like an attempt to change the character to fit him - which subsequent writing for Jack proved correct - and he resented it because in itself that felt like a veiled criticism of his failure to capture TL's roguishness. Which, again: accurate.
But he has more than made the character his own by now so it feels weird that he'd still cling to such a dumb grievance thirty years later.

Vee's theory feels right in that way.

[Paul Raven]

If this is the next story for Jack, it's about time .

But as stated previously the groundwork needed to be laid.

Maybe at Xmas,Jack could have spoken about the years he had an investigator on the job trying to track Keemo, without success until he decided that it was  a lost cause. Mention Mai and that she has had no contact either.

Or previously when Traci did the Abbott family history book, something could have come up.

Or when Dina came back in 2017 she may have had some contact or knowledge of Keemo/his children.

But obviously Josh plots the next 2 weeks only.

 

[Vee]

I should add I think PB is very good in the role, including as the scheming Jack. It's different than Lester but when the writing is there he nails it.

[FrenchBug82]

Fully agree.
People often criticize writers for shifting a character to the actor's strengths but I think this is a case that has worked beautifully.

But his Jack is in some ways different from Lester's and that Luann story was probably the first time he was given a story that we just couldn't picture being written at all if TL had been still in the role. 
I imagine someone with his smarts and understanding of the soap business but also the ego he had back then would have picked up on a dreaded Cliff-ization of Jack and maybe resented it.
This is of course completely gratuituous on my part.

[Broderick]

Yeah, Terry Lester was given a "mellow storyline" with the Ellen Winters character and the "shelter" to "redeem him" after he boinked Jill & caused his father to have a heart attack.  But it was a brief interlude, and Terry Lester shrugged it off.  

With the Saigon Shack storyline, Peter Bergman was expected to simply wallow in "mellowness" for months & months.  He clearly resented it.  I don't think he ever indicated a racial component was factored in, just felt it was an out-of-character sappy mess that, at the time, seemed unending.  His subsequent comments about disliking the story evidently led the writers to avoid revisiting it.  Probably time to re-address it now, but hopefully without all the sappiness that plagued it the first time.    

[Khan]

Amen!  Y&R was BUILT on the idea of the haves versus the have-nots.  It's time they get back to their roots.

[Paul Raven]

And with the low budget and threadbare production values it's easier for the show to depict the lives of the have nots.

It wouldn't take much for one of the 'suites' at the Grubby Parrot to be redressed as low income housing.

Wonder if the Abbott set will get some airtime?