Before I get started, I have to stop for a second to leap to my feet and do a whirly, twirly happy dance in giddy gratitude for one Phyllis-free day in this short three-episode week. Picture the characters in one of those Charlie Brown specials cavorting maniacally to the piano player's tune and that will give you a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Yeah, yeah, I hear those out there shouting, "Sit down, sit down." I know it was just a single isolated episode, but I'm still terrifically thankful for any respite I can get, no matter how brief.
But ... on to the show.
I'll begin with Phyllis, because that's how the week began. Behaving much like an obstinate tot defying her mother in the middle of a crowded supermarket aisle, Phyllis poked out her bottom lip, planted her high heels more securely into the cracks of the hospital tile and chanted "My child is sick so I won't go" so many times, my temperature rose past Summer's and my tummy threatened to toss all its contents. And contrary to the comforting embrace of the retinue of worshipers who surrounded her: Nick, Daniel, Lauren, and Michael, this fan just felt like snatching her aside and slapping her silent.
And I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel exactly the way fan Barbara (below) did watching the moment Phyllis was hauled, handcuffed, kicking, and screaming away. Finally the endless weeks of her last whatever were at an end and the show could move on to something else. The palpable pleasure I took in seeing the ends of Phyllis' red-tinted tresses flying out the door had not a thing to do with how I'd feel, being a mom myself, at being forced from my sick wee one's side, and everything to do with just plain being sick of seeing Phyllis. So I guess I hardly need to add that being force-fed more Phyllis whining at the prison about phone calls didn't make me feel any more sympathetic.
By the way, it was nice to see Nick in father, rather than lusting husband, mode. The interaction with Summer was precious and well worth the pain of suffering through all the Phyllis noise to get to those moments. Watching Summer sleeping peacefully on his shoulder, it took no stretch of the imagination to see him that way with his own.
In spite of the latest mysterious Genoa Citian death, the short week really didn't offer a whole lot more in the way of drama, intrigue, or much else. Which is sometimes to be expected when one major story (Phyllis) is ending (or, like in all stories starring Phyllis) not so much ending as gearing up to charge forward in another, though still related, direction, while another (Ji Min's death) is in its beginning stages. I wish I could have felt Jill's pain more than I did; her grief-stricken faces proved she was heartbroken, but strangely, I felt little. And all the empty expressions of condolences from people (especially Jack) who either couldn't stand the man, barely knew him, or benefited from his abrupt demise, didn't help garner any sympathy from me.
Death used to be such a few and far between rarity in this fictional town that when one happened, a fan was truly shocked and, having invested so much in a character, felt much as if they would had they lost a good friend or even a family member. But now that death in Genoa City has become a near monthly occurrence, and lately has been happening to people you barely knew, let alone learned to care deeply about, I have pretty much become inured and grown indifferent to it.
But, be all that as it may, just who might have killed Ji Min? When Carmen was killed, the Athletic Club's hallway security camera caught all kinds of suspicious comings and goings of allegedly murder-minded Genoa Citians. I wonder what it might have caught this time around? Perhaps like the one featuring Carmen Mesta's murder, there will be an entire episode devoted to scenarios of who might have killed Ji Min and with what. Well, not that I know anything, but I think we can safely absolve Amber, Jill, Katherine, and Nikki.
So of those remaining, though almost equally unlikely suspects, let's see, off the top of my head, there could be Cane who once threatened to break Ji Min's legs if he ever used them to sidle up next to his Mommy again. So perhaps it was a Cane-delivered karate chop to the larynx. Then there is Jack, likely the last to see him alive, other than the murderer, that is. Did Ji Min prove willing to let his parents become homeless in order to keep Jill in his life so the Senator lost his temper and attempted to throttle Ji Min into agreement? Then held on a little too long. What about Victor? Did he mount the stairs after Jack informed him he'd successfully dissuaded Ji Min from flapping his lips to the press and finish him off? And finally, how about David Chow? Obviously, he's willing to do whatever it might take to get Nikki beneath his bedcovers. But would he go as far as murder? Exactly where was he for those crucial 15 minutes Nikki was frantically searching for him? She asked, but I never heard him answer.
The only other possibility is Carson. Or maybe it was Ji Min who did himself in. Unable to face the coming disgrace, did he cast himself throat-first on a blunt object? Or, lastly, do the scribes plan to take the laziest and most cowardly way out of all and simply call Ji Min's death another accident like the one that befell Plum, without the chair, this time? If so, how unoriginal and unimaginative.
Okay, on to the week's other offering. Kevin and Jana. I'm still having a tough time buying the "tumor made me do it" defense. Still crystal clear in my mind is Jana's careful and repeated practicing before the mirror, monitoring the tone of her voice and her facial expressions. We already know that tumor notwithstanding, she can be quite crafty and conniving, having successfully hoodwinked the GC residents for better than a year. And by the way, she confessed to Kevin and Colleen that she murdered Carmen, among other things, like breaking and entering, kidnapping, and other high-penalty crimes. So where are the representatives of law and order? Do they not monitor her activities? When are they going to learn she's well on her way to mental health and happiness and arrive, arrest warrant in hand, and haul her before some judge in a pretense to make her culpable for her crimes?
I'm curious. Have any other fans jumped aboard the Kevin loves Jana bandwagon, their fist-clutched pompoms already pumping in the air? Just my opinion, but as is happening far too often to my viewing displeasure, the turnabouts are just way too quick around this place. One day Kevin despises the former love of his life, the next he's blackmailing Mommy to make his attempted murderess all better. And now that all is forgiven, we're supposed to believe the two of them can pick up the frayed threads of their dysfunctional love affair, knot them neatly back together and roar off on their matching Harleys into a bright and shiny future, leaving all their legal problems behind. Alrighty, then.
And finally, filling in the gaping holes in the week's sparse offerings was Amber, doing more of what she's been doing since all this money stealing, hiding, and burying began. Moaning and groaning about the state of her worthless life to people who probably care not much more than I do. Which isn't saying a whole lot, since I don't care one whit. But perhaps, I'd better begin teaching myself to give a hoot, because rumors are running rampant on just about every message board I peruse that contrary to earlier claims of Amber being a short-term visitor to this town, it's now being reported that her stay could be much more permanent. To that possibility, I crossly mutter, curses.
Also hotly rumored is an alleged coming encounter of the intimate kind between Nikki and David. Talk about a lack of even a modicum of any kind of chemistry! We lost Ji Min and Jill for the smirking twosome of Nikki and David? Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for any character that gets a little story time of their own, but the new, though definitely not improved, Nikki Newman has become so horribly obnoxious and unsympathetic, there can't be many fans left who still wish her well. As for David? He's was not likable from the beginning and unlike fine wine, time has not mellowed him nor made him any better. There's something about him that even all cleaned up and clad in presumably expensive attire, he still looks to me like an opportunist who rolled right out of bed and didn't bother with a shower. I can't imagine the ick factor of seeing him and Nicole post intimacy, all disheveled amid rumpled bedcovers, petting each other and beaming those fake smirky smiles at each other. Oh, my eyes.
Nicole and David aren't the only names being linked loosely together in rumor-filled message bottles and tossed onto the sea of gossip. Lily and Cane are another potential pair. I know I'm not the only fan who spotted a spark or two in their early, though platonic, encounters. As I mentioned before, I wouldn't mind their pairing, but if Cane is going to prove to be a criminally minded imposter, what's the point of getting too excited? Lily will be let down and betrayed by yet a third suitor, and Cane will be killed, purposely or accidentally, or be run out of town on a rail, and the Chancellor women will mourn another lost love. But I admit I not a fan of a Devon-Lily pairing either. My opinion: Devon is being wasted. Can't any scribe think of something for him to do besides lust after his legal sister by adoption decree? The young man showed a long time ago that he can act if given something to act out. So why is he just being used as a wet wool blanket?
And lastly when it comes to couples, could a Kevin-Colleen coupling be in GC's future? There's certainly no longer any chemistry between Adrian and the current Colleen, who barely looks 15, let alone 20. And while I can't say Kevin and Colleen share any either, her overwhelming concern for all things Kevin must be leading somewhere. If not Kevin-Colleen, then perhaps Amber-Kevin. I've heard that one as well.
Well, that's about all I can say about the show. So if I may get serious for a moment, I'll turn instead to the reason for this week's column title. Loyal Viewers are Vexed! And just my opinion, but I think they have good reason to be.
As you all are about to read for yourselves, there is much discontent among fans about the direction of our show. Now I'm sure many fans who are currently satisfied with the way things are would strongly disagree. Obviously, they are out there, but apparently they're too busy watching to offer their opinion. Anyway, those particular fans might accuse me, and those fans who think like me, of being either way too negative, hard to please, or perhaps just taking things much too seriously. Why do they continue to watch, they might ask in perplexity, if they hate the show so much. Well, I would never presume to speak for any other fan (besides, they've done that quite nicely in their very own words). Words, by the way, that I don't edit, other than with the fix of an occasional misspelling. So I will only address the reason for my sometimes critical opinions.
First, I don't complain because I hate the show. Life is short, so I try not to fill too much of it with things that bring me no pleasure. And as many of you have already guessed and have mentioned before, writing this column isn't something I just sit down and whip out off the top of my head in a matter of moments. It takes time. And I do have a life and things I can fill my time with if I wasn't writing it. So, for those who might have wondered, I do actually like the show. Or, to be honest, I like much of what used to be and still haven't given up hope that it could be as enthralling to watch as I used to find it. It really wouldn't take much.
For instance, real stories. Not the thrown-together story mush we've been served lately, over-hyped and under-planned then abandoned by the side of the set without a satisfactory resolution. But the kind of story that impacts another's story, which impacts another's after that. Not just a single star of a lackluster storyline with everybody else in supportive or cheerleader mode. And why not slow said storytelling down. I'm not looking for a tortoise slow crawl, but is my only other choice lightning fast hare speed? How come I can't have a happy medium? You know, slow and steady enough to give me time to care. But not so long and drawn out, I've grown old and died before it ends.
And to play those real stories? How about real characters. Not the cardboard cutouts most Genoa Citians have now turned into. Even the wind doesn't change directions as often or as erratically as these people. How about giving our Genoa Citians some substance with at least one moral to their name and at least a couple of admirable attributes? And lose some of these new people who everybody hates. Forget that stuff about everybody loves to hate a good villain. Because speaking for just myself, of course, I don't hate them because their villains. I hate them because they're one-dimensionally bad and boring.
Oh yeah. And another thing. I thought Y&R was supposed to be an ensemble show. Of course, everybody can't be front and center at the same time all the time. But, I so agree with fans Femmebleu and Anne-Marie below. Why do a few (Phyllis, Gloria, Amber, for example) have to be on so darn much more than so many others? A daily diet of even the best one-course meal will soon begin to taste like sawdust. How many different ways can Gloria be shown stalking and laying snares for a man or spewing her hatred of Jack? Or how many more times will we roll our eyes in boredom from hearing Amber tell another lie or see her manipulate another situation?
And lastly, romance, writers, romance. More love and a lot less of the monthly mayhem/ murder/accident. Y&R is not a crime drama, a murder mystery, a campy comedy. I thought it was supposed to be a serial drama. About people and the semi-realistic things that complicate their lives. You know, like hopes, dreams, love, angst-ridden betrayal, regret, longing, and all that meaty stuff. Heck, these days, the only reason I reach for my Puffs is to wipe away my tears of mirth when a moment was supposed to be sad instead of silly. I haven't had a good cry in I don't know how long. And with so many doing so much wrong, I don't really root much for anyone. I confess I miss the old emotional attachment I used to have for this show and its pretend people.
Anyway, enough said. I could go on and on, but there's still plenty you fans have to say, so I will shut up now and let you say it. And I have to say I agree with so much of what you all said. Bottom line: the show is what it is. Whatever it might be in the future remains to be seen. Eventually, if things don't change, many more of us long-timers will probably plop by the wayside, this particular scribe included, exhausted and defeated by our inability or unwillingness to accept the vision of the current head scribe of Genoa City. The show, of course, will go on, with or without us. Or, if it gets bad enough, maybe it won't. After all, nothing last forever. And sometimes scribes quit to go ruin, I mean, write, for some other show. I know. That was a bit mean, but I never said I didn't have a bit of a mean streak down my back. Anyway, I've learned to never say never, so I'm not quite ready to wave a white flag and give up on Y&R just yet.
Okay, I'm done. Climbing down off the podium now to make room for someone else to talk. Happy watching!
CALIFORNIAGIRL - I was about to die of boredom from the Phyllis show. Especially since I was mainly watching for Jill and Ji Min, who were only second thoughts to the head writer. She seemed not to know that Jill and Ji Min were very popular and had lots of fans. Or maybe she knew and didn't care. For whatever reason, she decided to write yet another murder mystery by killing off one of the most amazing new characters to come to Y&R in ages. I don't know whether I'll even keep watching this show after this week. My favorite couple is done and my favorite new character is gone. Maybe Ji Min has a twin! I can only hope so.
BARBARA - I can't believe anyone feels sorry for Phyllis. I have never liked her character and she and Nick being together or Sharon and Jack being together. I am so glad she was finally hauled off to jail, as if she has the option to stay out because her child is sick. That was the best part of the day having her taken out in handcuffs. Does she think she's going off to camp? How ridiculous. And if somebody doesn't hurry and snatch a knot in Noah's little disrespectful behind, I'll seriously consider doing it myself. What part doesn't he get that his mother has every reason to dislike Phyllis? That slut slept with and got pregnant by her husband? If he has enough sense to find all of this other stuff out on the internet he should get the real facts and realize Phyllis is one of the most despicable women in GC. I'm so sick of all of this. When is Gloria's butt going to jail? I could go on and on but I'll stop here for now. Welcome back I love your column!
GREER - Wow. And all this time I thought it was just me who had grown bored with this summer's Perils of Phyllis Chronicles. I'm not normally a Phyllis hater, but the continual barrage of weeping and wailing from the woman who actually committed the crime is just too much. I hope Phyllis does her prison time off screen. I've had more than enough of her months-long pity party.
LEANNE - I've taken Y&R off my DVR schedule this week. I just can't stand it anymore. Please, no more Amber stories. Please, get real on the Phyllis thing. In the real world there would have been no case, and no way she would get 6 yrs. She did not gain financially from the act, so it really isn't a felony like they are treating it. While it is a soap, and soaps are mostly fantasy, this show has completely lost reality past the point of enjoyment. I can't take it anymore, so I'm out for now. I will just follow the updates and your column until it looks interesting again.
ANGEL - I enjoy reading the comments from everyday people. I actually like the Phyllis role. I am kind of upset that she is so wimpy now. I love the Jack role. I hate they always put him in the loser position. I wish for once he would win and bring down Victor and Gloria. I was very saddened when the John role died and the Ashley role left the show; it's like Jack's the only Abbott left.
D. SCANLON - Finally, a well written article that just about sums up the last few weeks of Y&R - the Phyllis show! It's overplayed, taxing to watch, to say the least and ridiculous. End this stupid s/l, put Nick back with Sharon then bring back the real Phyllis - angry and menacing as before.
JOANNE - Phyllis, Phyllis, Phyllis - all day, every day! I can't take it anymore! This whole drama about going to prison and 'my baby girl is really sick' is just getting old. Who cares?! I know I don't. Talk about over-reacting and, in my opinion, over-acting! I found it quite funny when the cops came and took her away. Don't get me wrong. I'm a mom and I worry when my children aren't feeling well, but how did this little fever become so life threatening that Phyllis had to stay put and break the law again to be with her? Give me a freakin' break. Did you see the look on her face when the warden stopped her call to Nick? It was pure Sheila (or evil), whichever you prefer. Maybe she'll try to run down the warden or find out some dirty secret about him that she can blackmail him about so she can make her 50th phone call to find out how her 'precious baby girl' is. Can't wait to hear the reason she will get out early. This should be a real winner of a storyline. I bet the writers tell us Phyllis is a saint or has superhuman powers after all and that she can't be kept in jail because she has to go out and save the world from evil-doers like Sharon and Brad for their one-night stand. I'm sick of Phyllis lovers saying that Brad should go to jail for killing those two men. First of all, he had to or they would have all been dead - Nick, Victoria, Victor, Paul, J.T., Sharon and Brad. That was clearly self-defense in my opinion and Brad has been running for his life ever since his family was murdered so I do not blame him for his lies as they were for self-preservation. Sure he's no saint but he's not always out trying to hurt innocent people. Phyllis blackmailed Brad for one reason only - because he had a one-night stand with Sharon who she despises. She was so upset that Sharon was accusing her of being a home wrecker by having an affair with Nick that she couldn't wait to stir up trouble for the two of them as soon as she heard the news. She gloated about this fact every chance she got and rubbed Sharon's nose in it for the sheer pleasure of it. Sharon has had to watch Phyllis take Nick, get pregnant and flaunt her belly everywhere, have Noah side with the witch and berate her in public at the same time, plus be publicly humiliated with the blackmail trial. Oh, but Sharon is the terrible one and Phyllis is the best person going! I wonder if Phyllis would have helped Sharon get to the hospital after their accident if their roles were reversed. Somehow I don't think so. She probably would have used the opportunity to shove the car further down so she couldn't get out alive and then claim - all teary eyed of course - that it wasn't her fault - the car just went there! Sharon might not be the sharpest tool in the shed and, yes, she is no saint when it comes to being with other men, but truth be told no one is on this show including Phyllis! At least Sharon doesn't go out of her way to hurt people just for the fun of it and she tries to do the right thing most of the time. I can't say that for Phyllis at all. I've watched Y&R for over 30 years, never liked Phyllis and never will no matter how much the writers try to hide her past and canonize her now. That's my rant. I'm done now.
GRAMMIE - Please, please, please reconnect Nick and Sharon and make that baby Jack's. I'm so sick of the Nick, Phyllis and Summer storyline that I'm on the verge of becoming Y&R sick. When Cassie's ghost appear to Nick, she showed him having a little girl with Sharon, not Phyllis (remember)! When is this going to occur? Noah needs to go away to boarding school just like the other kids. Isn't it his turn? That's exactly where both Vicky and Nick went for many years. Perhaps when he returns, he will be old enough the talk the way he does and suffer some recourse for his fat, smart mouth. On to something else. Once again, Glo needs to get what's coming to her and not decades from now (like Phyllis). Now. Again get rid of Amber; and leave Jack alone for a change.
SUZY A - I am starting to see more and more angry letters about the direction Y&R is going. Even on the CBS message board, viewers are complaining about boring plots, lack of character development and Phyllis ad nauseam. Do you think there is hope and that they will fire the writers? As it is, the other characters have no existence but to help, rescue, fight and have sex with Phyllis. New characters are not developed or they are killed after a couple of months on the show. I am just glad I am not the only one disgusted with the demise of a great show.
JOLIE - Ohh-k, I've missed a few weeks, but last time I watched, Nick was soooo in love with Sharon, and man I was sooo happy, cause they were the perfect couple! In weeks Noah turned into this whining little brat, Nick is falling for Phyllis, who is such a fake. Why would she care about Summer? She didn't care about Daniel when he was growing up. I think if Sharon wasn't in the picture, Phyllis would find a new happily married man and go to work. I wish Victor would get busy and get back to normal with all his family, especially Nikki.
TONIA - Thank you, Grammie for your comments [last week] - Ditto! Glo should get her just desserts now! I am so tired of her holier than thou attitude when she is the one responsible for the death and sabotage of the cream. She started all of this Jabot mess. Maybe John should pay her a visit and tell her to come clean.
CINDI - Wake Up Writers! You are making this show a comedy of sorts. Nobody gives a damn if Phyllis got caught. She should never have done the things she did. Nikki needs to go away and Victor can make it happen. Victoria is a sad, sad person, I think and she needs to go away. Jill needs to somewhere in her brain remember there was a boy who was not hers and his true parents have no idea, but I guess she is gonna keep this secret? Or just forget he existed now that she found Cane? Amber is a lousy actress and personally I am sick of her! Jana is never gonna pay for what she did and she, too, needs to go away or kill herself. Where the hell is Heather's mother April? And why did Heather come to town? Baby Summer needs to not know her mother, look what she did to Daniel when he was a baby! Am I the only one who remembers some of these things? More crime is committed in Genoa City that in real life leave prosecutors reeling and no one pays for it. I want to see Victor crush his enemies, starting with Jack, and by the way, I think Jack is the one who killed Ji Min to shut him up.
CABC - What's really going on Nita? Will the madness every stop? Phyllis overkill! I like Phyllis I do, I like her bad, crazy and unstable, but we have other veteran actors we love just as much: Neil, Paul, etc. It sure makes you wonder what's going on behind the scenes when we have to continuously deal with all this Phyllis drama doesn't it? Jill finally gets a man and now he's dead! Hell, Phyllis isn't the only one who needs love. Ok, so now Paul has a daughter; what good will it do? The writers don't seem brilliant enough to pull that one off so I won't get my hopes up on that one. Noah, I totally agree with everything you said, word for word! Just another way to make Sharon look like the fool and Phyllis look like the queen once again. There has to be something going on behind the scenes!
SUZI M - I just have to say that you and I are in totally different worlds when it comes to Phyllis. I can't get enough of Phyllis. I'm so sick to death of most of the storylines these days. I can't stand Nikki or Sharon. I hate that they turned Sharon's character into the biatch that she is now. I can't stand that they have taken a sweet boy like Daniel and ruined him with pornography. And where in the heck did they get this Amber character?! Ugh, run her out of town already! Victor is making me sick. I've been watching this story for 23 years. I've had it up to my eyeballs with Victor and I wish someone would drive a stake right through his heart. And Heather! OMG I can't stand her already. Yuck, yuck and yuck! She is so cocky and arrogant and I hate the faces she makes! I want to smack her silly and make her go away. Oh, and what's her name - the lady campaign manager. What were they thinking bringing on a Carmen look-a-like? Another huge yuck. Frankly the only stuff I like these days is Katherine and Jill when they are getting along, Kevin, Michael, Gloria, Lauren, Nick and Phyllis, and if Phyllis left the show that would have been the end of it for me. I can't believe they killed off the DA. Gloria finally finds love and he goes away! These writers are getting very sloppy in many ways. I believe Michelle Stafford is holding this story together because she's such a wonderful actress. But she sure has some crappy stuff to pull off! The whole Sheila stuff was a huge messy letdown. I can't believe they brought her back and then let the story fall so flat the way they did. Geez.. I'm just not sure I remember when I've truly enjoyed a show in the last couple of years.
FEMMEBLEU - First, this show has become a regular snooze fest as of late, with the whole Phyllis all the time routine. I wonder what the other actors think about consistently being forced to take a back seat to someone who always gets to ride shotgun no matter who called what first. I did hear rumors that the actress portraying Phyllis has a friend or friends on the team of scribblers at Y&R and if that is true, then that is nepotism plain and simple. I cannot imagine why anyone would ever be completely content with being forced to constantly be given mere pittances of a script while some other damsel is given the entire banquet. Me thinks I smell the blood of a very foul Englishman or should I say woman? I am like so many of those other fans supportive of the view that the scribes spend far too much time on one character in particular. Please tell me how interesting it is to watch someone being checked in to serve their sentence? Can we say natural 'No Doze?' I wonder whose brilliant idea that was and I would not be at all surprised if the writers decide to let Phyllis out of serving her full term, which everyone realizes is far from likely, on the basis of the fact that her darling little daughter with the fickle Nick, is in the hospital under semi-quarantine. Oh please, please, please, show us some mercy! Sweet lord, I cannot take another episode of those convoluted love scenes with Phyllis and the man who needs to grow a brain and quick Nick! I do not know why the writers decided not to follow the more promising storyline of Nick returning to his first love Sharon, who I know Nita, you consider the blockhead of the century, but there is life in that there noggin yet, me thinks, so why can't the boy fall back in love with the girl? I just think it would be wonderful for once, to see ole Jack get his overdue stab in the back, God knows he has it coming and then some. Well I think my venting is through, for now anyway. Thank you for sharing your views and keeping the viewers believing they are not alone in their disenchantment with the recent turn of events with these characters who rarely if ever, seem to make any sense. One more issue, why did they have to murder Ji Min and leave Jill heartbroken? That was one of the few couples I could have supported although I do like the idea of Lily and Cane consoling each other over their respective less than ideal former loves. I've heard rumors about these two and I truly hope they were true-blue; anything would be an improvement over the seemingly endless 'Ylliss' and 'Ick' sex-fests, my God, someone get me the remote, quick! I wish 'Ick' had never remembered the woman. I don't care what kind of mother she is, she could have just been another 'baby's mama', who made a baby with another woman's husband. Ugh, what a disgustingly morally lost couple of screw-ups! Maybe as one fan stated previously, they really do deserve each other and Sharon needs to find another. Something tells me Brad hasn't bowed out gracefully, just yet. Well thank you for sharing the wealth and giving us the goods on the folks in GC.
BUGGS - Wonderful column and so funny. My tears were from the joy of knowing I was not alone in my opinions or in throwing sofa pillows at the stupid court drama. Phyllis and Noooaaah are the whiners, Nick the drooler, and Jana is the absolutely unbelievable secret sicko of a once enjoyable soap. Forgive me but Daytime Emmys should go elsewhere - where the good writers are perhaps?
SILVIA - I knew it was too good to last. I was actually enjoying the last month or so of Y/R when LML struck again. She and her crack team of hacks went right back to the storylines that almost sunk the show when they first took over. Between Phyllis, Amber and that miserable little brat, Noah, the show is becoming unwatchable again. And they've screwed up the few things that were making it interesting again. Ji Min was so sexy and great with poor Jill who hasn't had chemistry with a guy in forever; so of course the idiot writers have to kill him. Why? It`s not like there weren't other people to knock off that would not have been missed. Colleen's professor, for instance. Complete bore, stupid storyline (although some of the aforementioned hacks just love that damn reliquary/stolen art story). Get real! It sucks, and every viewer was relieved to see it disappear. Also, with the nu-Colleen the love story is even more unbelievable than it was with old-Colleen. The new one looks about 17, and the chemistry is zilch. So why not leave us sexy Ji Min and knock off un-sexy Professor Boring? Or good old David Chow? Who needs him? Not Nikki, even though the idiot writers think we're buying the non-existent chemistry. Or perhaps the most un-sexy black guy on TV - Devon. Nice kid. Awful actor. Terrible S/L. Whiney little know it all snitch. No wonder Lily won't give him a second look. Thank God! (Has he become CEO of Newman yet?) Other good thing gone bad is the St. Phyllis S/L. When Nick couldn't remember why the hell he'd married her, and didn't want her near him, she was almost sympathetic in her hurt and heartbreak. And to see Nick and Sharon starting anew in their feelings for each other made them sexy again. It was great. Next day Nick loved Phyllis again and we were subjected day after day after day to our perfect Mother and her unending lists of how to take care of Summer. I don't know one person (of the few left who can stand LML's writing and still watch) who enjoyed or bought any of the Mama/Phillis/Nick BS. Please send her on a cruise or to Hollywood to make a movie and get her off the show for a decent interval. Screw up Jack's life, and let Sharon and Nick heat up again. And for God's sake, send Noah to boarding school. Well, that was fun. Down with Phyllis!
TRACY - Why does it seem Jack is the only one seeming to repeatedly pay for his sins. Nobody else, Gloria, Victor, Kevin, Jana, seem to suffer for their misdeeds as much as Jack. You have to feel sorry for the boy. Every time things seem to be looking up for him, down comes the roof. You would think the writers would let him win just one battle. As for Phyllis, she always seems to be victim no matter what kind of misdeed she does. She caused her trouble, so why is she surprised she is in jail? And someone should tell Noah the reason his stepmother is in jail is not because of his mother, but because Phyllis is a vindictive woman who always like to manipulate people and then play the victim. That's all.
LUCIE - I am very frustrated with Y&R right now. I think Phyllis going to jail for blackmail is ridiculous in a town where almost everyone has murdered someone at one point and gotten off scot free. Noah - I can't stand that little boy. He needs to go off for a year and come back 23 yrs old. That's why kids are shipped off during their annoying years on soaps because the adults are annoying enough to watch. I would like Amber to either be a villain or not. The whole "I'm good, I just have bad luck" thing is tired. But if she just gives in to being the GC bad girl she might not be as hated. I think right now Y&R has too much political and crime drama. Where's the crazy Trishas and the trying to seduce married men? If I wanted to watch a show entirely about politics and corporate holdings, I'd watch the west wing or something not Y&R which is so unrealistic. Let's get back to the basics people. Sharon and Jack have absolutely no heat to them. It's very drab to watch. Brad's getting boring. I would like to see Heather Tom back in the role of Victoria. I love Cane, he's hot. Let's see Sharon have a hot affair on her husband with Cane, that's soap worthy. Let's see Jana gone, Kevin with someone else, Lauren have a life, a storyline other than dealing with Michael's crazy family. Y&R has the potential. I'm looking forward to seeing it again!
CAROLE - I had to comment on these past weeks' shows. It truly was the Phillis show! And no one mentioned how gross the surgery of Jana's brain was! Yuck! Now she is going to stay at the hospital so that she doesn't have to go to jail. I think they are setting up for Colleen and Kevin to get together. That is why she finds out something bad about Adrian and also why they got a new Colleen. I think Carson killed Ji Min, and he is a minor player and won't be missed. I agree Noah is a brat. Phyllis should go off the camera to prison for about 3 months to give us a break. Then Nick can fall back in love with Sharon and get divorced from Phyllis and remarry Sharon. I hope Victoria's baby is J.T.'s and they live happily ever after. That's my opinion.
BARB - I love your comments; they are so funny. And so true. I have to say that Nikki is the witch of the year. I hate her. I can't stand her hair. It was bad enough when she had those dried out hair extensions on but now she looks like she combs her hair with an egg beater. I agree that day at the courthouse when she was telling Phyllis she was going to help Nick with Summer all I could think was I hope you don't do her hair and dress her. Her clothes are so tight they are bursting at the seams. Where is the hairstylist on this show and the wardrobe person? Melody commented that they were giving her the Hilary Clinton look in a magazine article I read. Well Hilary never looked this bad on her worst day. She at least combs her hair and wears clothes that fit. I mean why doesn't somebody say, hey Nikki, you look like hell and you are a witch. Phyllis really is no worse than anyone else on this show. Gloria has done more crap in her short stay than Phyllis has in all the years she's been on the show. I know her part lately has been over kill but that's not her fault. They used her storyline to get to September sweeps week. And then it was nothing great. They need to do something with this soap. I, like all of you, am ready to just turn it off.
ANNE-MARIE - As always great column! You know a show is pushing it big time, when even a Phyllis fan is starting to fast forward her and her repetitive poor me spiel! Phyllis is over-exposed, and her story is over killed. Phyllis does not need the adoration of bratty Noah, or the sudden whiplash of Nick, one week in love with Sharon and the next week; after listening to Phyllis being vilified in court all day, he suddenly fell in love with her! She can stand on her own! How stupid am I supposed to be to believe that one! Do they want us to hate Phyllis? I love spaghetti but NOT every day and on every meal!
KATIE - Nita, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's had it with The Phyllis Show. I had to stop watching for a week or so because I just couldn't stomach Phyllis's wailing and crocodile tears about Summer "I'm a mom!" Phyllis didn't give a flying fanny about Summer when she was twisting the knife in Sharon and Brad's back at every opportunity, so I for one don't want to hear one word out of this psycho's mouth any more. Totally unconvincing and annoying. Day after day of boring Phyllis saying and doing the same thing? Please! BORING! She deserves everything she's getting and more. Nick is once again the dithering idiot that he's become every since he hooked up with Phyllis, how unbelievable is it that all of a sudden after a little sex, he's all in love with Phyllis again when a few weeks back he's professing his undying love for Sharon?! I want Nick back with his soul mate Sharon, because Phyllis is much better suited with Jack. Many long time fans agree that Phyllis is better off with Jack and because they both are devious; Sharon and Nick are not. People that lash out at Sharon do so because she's a huge threat to Phyllis and Nick. Well, Phyllis and Nick have always been a disgusting aberration and their break-up can't come too soon for me. They make me sick. Noah needs a good spanking because it's utterly ridiculous that he has no anger towards his poppa whose cheating started this whole mess and broke up his family in the first place, or that he'd be so gung-ho for Phyllis when she's the one who hurt his mom by sleeping with his dad! Funny how he can't seem to locate this information on the internet. Whatever. Just fire the writers so the Phyllis Show can end.
