mark.waltz
I started watching this show at the tail end of the original set-up where the Brooks and Foster families dominated the story. One upper middle class, the other working class, yet interconnected and all basically decent people. Along comes "the mustache", a 35 year plus villain who doesn't mellow, just gets more rotten. Victor Newman's story did overlap the original families by 2 years, and for a while, he was engaged to the show's original bitch goddess heroine, Laurie Brooks. Today, only Jill Foster Abbott remains from the first episode, having been played by many actresses, with Jess Walton now in the part for almost 30 years. After the death of long-time matriarch Katharine Chancellor, Paul Williams (Doug Davidson, now with 38 years on the show) became the longest running character, and for a while, had a family of his own who supplanted the Fosters as the lower working class family. Original Foster matriarch Elizabeth Foster (Brooks, thanks to a brief marriage to patriarch Stuart) was on and off the show for 37 years, a regular presence for the show's first 12 years, but neglected even though daughter Jill was still on after she was written off. The show's writers can't seem to make up their mind of how they want to history, destroying Jill's being a Foster by making her Liz and Bill Foster's adopted daughter. This wasn't the first show to capitalize on youthful characters, but with "Y&R", it pretty much declared war on focusing on more mature characters. Certainly, Jennifer and Stuart, supposedly widowed Liz and the complex Katharine Chancellor had their own battles: Jennifer with breast cancer, Liz finding her husband Bill was alive then pulling the plug on his life support, and Katharine's alcoholism. I've seen old episodes of each of these major stories, and certainly, Julianna McCarthy should have been nominated for an Emmy for her heartbreaking performance as Liz. When they killed Liz off for good in 2010, I was heartbroken, almost feeling like I had lost my grandmother. Jennifer did die of breast cancer during the early years of the show, and Katharine just passed away, but these three women showed that during the early years, young didn't mean youth; It meant young in spirit, and the ability to deal with heartbreak, loss and depression.The two early major stars were Jaime Lyn Bauer as the sultry Laurie and future prime-time TV star David Hasselhoff as Jill's brother, Snapper. But their departures from the show in 1982 pulled the story towards the growing Abbott family and Eric Braeden's ruthless Victor. I liked him around this time, but his character hasn't seemed to pick up any serious life lessons, only getting worse. In short, he's the Donald Trump of soaps. The 1984 wedding to former stripper Nikki Reed was a wonderful reunion of many of the show's veterans, with a great subplot of Victor's psychotic ex-lover Eve Howard in disguise trying to kill the bride. I was addicted to the show during the story-line the previous year when Eve (the beautiful Margaret Mason) tried to kill Victor through slow acting poison and her slide into insanity as Victor pretended to be dead to trap her.Such beautiful older women as Marla Adams (Dina Abbott) and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Joanna Manning) kept me intrigued as young women like Ashley, Tracy and Patty held my interest as well. Jack Abbott and Paul Williams were fascinating young male characters, with wise John Abbott showing that powerful businessmen could be decent, even with someone like Victor Newman breathing down their neck. By the end of the 1980's, I began to loose interest in "Y&R", but have gone back on several occasions, first when Margaret Mason returned to introduced Victor to their son, Cole, and later when Judith Chapman took over the role of John Abbott's gold-digging wife, Gloria. I also would make brief re-visits every time Dina or Joanna would pop into town, as well as one of Liz Foster's longer stays in 2003 when she had to tell Jill that she was adopted.Now, the show is a shell of itself, having diminished the importance of Jill and writing off the bulk of the characters that I liked. They turned Nikki Newman into a shrew, wasted the character of Ashley Abbott, and made Victor Newman so unrealistically evil that I wished I could go back as head writer and have Eve Howard's poison taken affect. Like Sonny on "GH", Victor has a loyal group of fans and disgruntled viewers who would love them to be killed off for good. "Y&R" has never had the best writing (no matter what the Emmy Awards may think) as it is often inconsistent, angry and pandering. Yet, they must be doing something right, because of the four soaps left, it has the highest ratings. Or perhaps I'm no longer young and restless either, or just above the cell phone style of Ebonics that come out of the writer's pens.
wefive-71-455707
I have watched Y&R since the beginning through its good and questionable story lines, but now they are really getting ridiculous. Twice in the last year or so, Victor has found 'look a likes' for Cassie and now Jack! The whole ridiculous storyline of Kelly, the nut, kidnapping Jack is really going far too far and is now verging on the just plain stupid! Please stop. I don't know how much more I can endure before I give up and switch off. Still love Victor, but wish you would get rid of Genoa City's resident whore and nut job, Sharon. Sharon Case is boring and her storyline is constantly repetitive and now also BORING!
