Saturday, October 27, 2018

Y&R Report (October 27, 2018): The Latest on The Young and the Restless


Hey Y&R fans, every second Saturday TV Banter discusses the latest happenings and provides commentary on your favourite daytime drama. Note to U.S. readers - SPOILER ALERT: Here in Canada, I watch the show on Global TV which is one episode ahead of CBS.  I will inevitably refer to incidents you haven't seen yet. Read at your own risk.  If you are the curious type, though, you may prefer to discover some things in advance.

Now we know why the Abbott family is so dysfunctional.  We've been given glimpses into the childhood of Jack, Ashley and Traci via flashbacks. We've learned that John Abbott was not as perfect as he has been made out to be.  He was decent enough, but he was not a saint.  He encouraged Jack to stifle his emotions and to hold his feelings inside.  Thus, Jack was unable to express his devastation about Dina leaving the family.  Also, John played favourites,  He called Ashley "my beauty" and poor Traci had to play second fiddle to her older sister.  Dina played favourites too.  Jack was her favourite, although she still abandoned him and the rest of her children.  Still, Dina was not the complete ogre she was made out to be.  She really did love Ashley and that's why she had documents drawn up so that Ashley would be compensated with ownership of the patents for all the Jabot products she had created over the years.  By the way, I am somewhat more sympathetic to Ashley than I was earlier.  I understand that she felt like an outsider in her own family and disrespected.  I think she went too far, though, when she deceived Jack and led him to believe that John was not biological father.

The Young and the Restless has problems and its ratings are down.  Many viewers have been lost and several fan favourites have left the show, including Doug Davidson (who was treated abominably), Eileen Davidson, Mishael Morgan and Melissa Claire Egan.  There have also been disturbing allegations of harassment behind the scenes of the show.  To my knowledge, they remain allegations and have not been confirmed.

If Doug Davidson was fired (after forty years) in order to save money, that decision was penny wise and pound foolish.  Fans are very loyal to characters they have been following for years, more loyal than Y&R was to Doug.  As for Eileen Davidson, her presence on the show will be missed greatly.  However, it was Eileen who chose to leave.  I understand she has a life beyond Y&R and a family to consider.  However, she will still be missed.  At least, Ashley wasn't killed off.  She's moving to Paris and may return to Genoa City for special events.

Many Y&R viewers hope that Eileen's departure from the show will not be permanent.  Unfortunately, head writer Mal Young misled fans when he said "Ashley is just popping off (for) a little while.  She's still going to be a massive part of the show.  Eileen is still part of our family, so this is just a little time-out."   In a September 28th message on Twitter, the Eileen contradicted Young.  She wrote,"Thanks for your support but I have left y and r last week.  I'm not taking a break.  I did say I would be open to coming back for a party of something possibly down the line.  Just wanted to clarify!!!"  It's hard to believe that Mal Young did not know the truth.  Why did he lie to fans?  I will be happy if Ashley shows up in Geona City on special occasions.

What's up with Tessa?.  I have never really trusted her and I don't think she's been hiding things.  She always manages to talk Mariah into forgiving her for her transgressions, such as stealing Mariah's diary and plagiarizing her words.  Tessa's desperate for money, so I think she has to be considered a suspect as the person who has been sending blackmail notes to Nikki, Victoria, Sharon and Phyllis.


VIEWER FORUM

If you have any comments on Y&R, please email them to me with "Viewer Forum" in the subject line. I will be happy to publish your comments and reply to them  You do not have to use your real name. 

My email address:  jmadden16@yahoo.ca

I received an email from regular contributor CC in Etobicoke.  Here are CC's comments.

What is the purpose of Dr. Nate being around?  He is so unprofessional. noses into everyone's business, talks about one patient to another, just a busybody who doesn't seem to really have a calling or job.  Jumped into to treat Hilary from nowhere.  Is he on Victor's payroll?  Romantic storylines going nowhere.  He needs to leave town.

I am very much enjoying this new, quick-paced "every day has to have a cliffhanger" style of soap opera.  

Phyllis as CEO?  I guess they had nowhere else to go with her character.

I tend to agree with you about Dr. Nate, CC.  He isn't very professional and he is a busybody.  He is on Victor Newman's payroll because Victor hired him to be his private physician and Nikki's too.  I am not ready to say he should leave town yet.  It's not his fault that the writers still haven't given him a good storyline.  He's just someone for the rest of the Winters family to talk to.  He's just a sounding board right now.  However, given the right storyline, his character may come to life and serve more of a purpose.

As for Phyllis as CEO, I don't like the idea at all.  I hope the Jabot board of directors doesn't go along with it, although they probably will.  I'm sure the writers can find somewhere else to go with her character.  That's their job.


Longtime Y&R viewer, Fifi in Collingwood, Ontario, told me she was really impressed with Beth Maitland's performance as Traci Abbott this week.  She said Beth Maitland has received accolades for her acting during the Abbott saga.  I have to concur.  I think Beth's acting was outstanding.  In fact, it was a real tour de force.



CAST NEWS
Judith Chapman (Gloria Bardwell) signs with Days of Our Lives


Judith Chapman
Where is Gloria Bardwell and why is guy named Ted replacing her as the executive assistant at Jabot?  Well, here's the answer.  It has been reported that Judith Chapman, who plays Gloria, has signed a contract with NBC's Days of Our Lives.  Judith will play the role of Diana Cooper on Days.  In a strange coincidence, Judith's character is Leo Cooper's mother.  Leo Cooper,is portrayed by Greg Rikaart.  Greg, as fans know, played Gloria's son, Kevin Fisher on Y&R.  So the two are destined to play mother and son again.

Judith will remain with Y&R on a recurring basis, but I don't think we'll be seeing much more of her on the show.  Fans of Gloria will be disappointed, but the character has not been involved in any major story lines for a long time.  I'm sure Judith will have a larger role on Days of Our Lives.



Y&R REPORT READERS' POLL





Jack is responsible for the terrible "Abbott blood clause" and Ashley led Jack to believe he was not John Abbott's biological son.  After seeing the whole Abbott family sago unfold, do you have more sympathy for Ashley or Jack?  Respond to the poll below and let me know what you think.


Do you sympathize more with Jack or Ashley?

I sympathize with Jack. Ashley devasted him when she let him think he wasn't John Abbott's biological son.
I sympathize with Ashley. She has never gotten the respect she deserves.
I don't sympathize with either. They are both selfish and spoiled.
I don't know.
Other
Please Specify:
Created with Survey Maker


That's all for now.  Don't forget that the next edition of Y&R Report will appear in this space on Saturday, November 10, 2018.  Halloween, American Thanksgiving and the November sweeps will soon be upon us.


- Joanne

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