Y&R Report (October 25, 2014): 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.


Of course Ian Ward is alive!  Was there really any doubt that the Slippery Snake is still with us?  Is there any question that he will outwit Clueless Paul and the Genoa City Police?  Clueless may have imprisoned the despicable cult leader, but he'll be on the loose again soon.  Ward is just too smart for the feckless police chief.  It may take the power of The Big Man, Victor Newman, to finally bring him down. That will not be an easy task, however, even for The Moustache.

Hooray!  Ashley's finally back from New York.  The Abbott family is reunited and it feels so good! Photos and graphics of Eileen Davidson are once again gracing the opening credits of the show.  Not only is A,A, back, but her secret new fragrance just happens to be a love potion.  Now you understand, fans, that it was absolutely necessary for Ashley to test that fragrance on Stitch.  After all, she had to find out if it really worked.  It was just business, she explained to her spoiled daughter, Abby.  She and Jabot Cosmetics had invested a lot in the product and, of course, Stitch was the perfect choice for the experiment.

The perfume smelled awful, but it was alluring.  Stitch, naturally, found it irresistible and couldn't control himself.  He was completely overpowered by the ingredients in the fragrance.  He just had to kiss Ashley! Well, we're not buying that, are we, fans?  Although A.A. continues to deny it, there is an attraction there for sure, and it's going to be fun watching how it plays out.  To complicate matters, daughter Abby has a thing for Stitch too. What is it about that guy?

As for Princess Victoria Newman, I wish she'd hurry up and give birth.  It seems as if her pregnancy has lasted longer than nine months.  Do viewers really care anymore if the father is Billy or Stitch? The Princess was the one who insisted on divorcing Billy Boy, so why did she appear so distraught when he told her he was planning to move into Chelsea's place?  Before making a decision on her marriage, she should have at least waited to find out the paternity of her child.

Victoria is certainly one busy woman.  When she isn't riled up about Billy and Chelsea, she spends her time eavesdropping on loverboy Stitch (a.k.a. Ben Rayburn or Russell) and his boss, Ashley Abbott. Speaking of spies, where has Adam been lately?  We haven't seen him watching Billy Boy and Chelsea, with the secret surveillance camera  he put above baby Connor's crib.  Could it be that the new Adam is soon to appear on screen?  The answer is yes.

Viewers won't have to wait much longer because Justin Hartley is scheduled to make his Y&R debut as Adam on Wednesday, November 5 on CBS (Tuesday, November 4 on Global TV in Canada). Here's the scoop concerning the long-missing son of ruthless businessman Victor Newman and the late Hope Adams, the virtuous blind farm woman who raised him.

Justin Hartley told TV Guide that Chelsea will discover the camera in her baby son's room.  Unable to spy on his family any longer, and upset about Billy moving into the penthouse, Adam will be driven out of hiding.  His face will be altered by plastic surgery.


I've been impressed with Gina Tognoni's performance as Phyllis so far.  It isn't easy to step into role vacated by an actress as popular and accomplished as Michelle Stafford.  Gina has just begun to sink her teeth into the role because her character was lying in the hospital bed in a coma for so long.  Now she's starting to show what she can do.

Phyllis is a real barracuda lady.  I'm starting to feel sorry for Sharon and Kelly because they are going to have face the wrath of the (somewhat?) redhead.  The two blondes should form an alliance because the barracuda is going to attack them..Sharon will definitely need a friend in her time of need, as will Kelly.  When her secret comes out, Sharon will become the town pariah.  Everyone will condemn her for changing the results of Summer's paternity test, and she'll also be blamed for Phyllis' fall down the stairs.

Kelly, at least, will have Jack Abbott.  I don't think Phyllis will remain with Jack once she discovers the truth about him and Kelly.  Sharon, on the other hand, will eventually need to find a new man in her life. Although Nick has sworn up and down that no secret could ever tear them apart, don't believe it for a minute.  Hey, how about Sharon and Avery's ex, Joe Clark?   It might be refreshing to see her with someone who isn't a Newman or an Abbott.  What about Avery's current flame, Dylan McAvoy?  Sharon was the first person Dylan met when he arrived in Genoa City and they seemed to get along well.  Unfortunately, however, Dylan is Nikki's son and Nick's half-brother.  He has a strong connection to the Newmans.

I must say, Geona City's resident troublemaker Mariah, sure loves to get Summer's goat.  There's nothing Cassie's evil twin likes better than to tease and upset Supergirl.  By the way, I sense that Mariah is starting to fall for Supergirl's hubby, Austin.
   

VIEWER FORUM

CC. from Etobicoke, Ontario has been thinking about Nikki's storyline.  She has come questions and comments about Mrs. Newman.

Food for thought...Do you think Nikki's involvement in Chief Clueless Paul's plot to lure out evil Ian will result in a storyline about her continuing downward spiral?
Perhaps she and Maureen (Meredith Baxter) will become the new Thelma and Louise!

Lately MTS (Melody Thomas Scott) herself has been looking like she needs a break from it all.

Well, CC., I honestly don't see that happening.  I think she will quit drinking again, although she will hit a rough patch when Ian inevitably frees himself from prison again.  Nikki is the kind of character who is always in turmoil.  She is a survivor, though.  I can see her having another stint at a rehab facility.  She will return relaxed and refreshed until her next crisis occurs.

I have also noticed that Melody Thomas Scott has looked a wee bit haggard at times.  It may be intentional because Nikki is an alcoholic who has fallen off the wagon again.  She suffers from MS and she is being traumatized by an evil criminal named Ian Ward.  No one would look as fresh as a daisy if they were going through all that.

As for Maureen Russell (Meredith Bexter), she and Nikki will most likely continue to be friends. However, I think Maureen's storyline is going to focus more on her relationship with her son, the no-longer-practising Dr. Stitch, and her daughter, Kelly, who will soon feel the wrath of Phyllis. Although Phyllis recently met Kelly,she still doesn't know about Jack's romance with the honey-voiced blonde. She regards Kelly as the "tramp" who had an affair with Billy Boy Abbott.  When she finds out the whole story, it will not be pretty,  

CAST NEWS

Julianne

Another blast from the past is returning to Genoa City.  If you remember the character of Amy Wilson, then you have been watching Y&R for a long time.  The former GC resident hasn't been seen on the show for 18 years, but Julianne Morris (now Julianne Morris Polaha) will reprise the role of Amy next month - just in time for the November sweeps!  Julianne portrayed the dark-haired Amy, a troubled teen, from 1994 until 1996.  Amy was a romantic interest for Nick Newman,before he became enamoured of Sharon Collins.  So, will she still be carrying a torch for the dimpled Nicholas when she returns to town after all those years?

Although Julianne left The Young and the Restless in 1996, she continued to work in daytime television.  From 1998 to 2002, the actress played Greta von Amberg on Days of Our Lives.  On June 7, 2003, she wed actor Kristoffer Plaha, best known for his role as Jason Matthews in the Fox TV series North Shore.  They have three young children: Caleb, 10; Micah, 8; and Jude, 3.


BEST LINE

Kevin Fisher had a great line when Stitch accused him of getting him arrested.

KEVIN:  I ain't no snitch, Stitch!



WHATEVER HAPPENED TO . . . .  BRENDA DICKSON (the first actress to play the role of Jill Foster Abbott)?

Longtime Y&R fans will remember Brenda Dickson as the original Jill Foster when the show began in 1973.  A fresh-faced 24-year-old at the time, Brenda initiated the role of the young manicurist from the wrong side of the tracks.  Jill worked diligently to help her two brothers through medical school and law school, eventually finding employment as a paid companion to well-to-do socialite Katherine Chancellor.  The fireworks began when Jill fell in love with the alcoholic Katherine's husband, wealthy industrialist Philip Chancellor.

Dickson left the The Young and the Restless in 1980, but returned in 1983.  In 1987, Dickson was fired from the show, and the situation became very ugly.  The actress launched a $10 million law suit against Columbia Pictures, claiming that she was wrongfully dismissed from Y&R, and asked to be reinstated. In the lawsuit, she alleged that Y&R creator Bill Bell, had had a clandestine affair with her and that he later blacklisted her.

. . .  Bill Bell got his hooks in me.  I was a pawn in a power chess game between the producers of the show.  I brought in ratings, they would fight over me and make it difficult to perform.

- From Brenda Dickson's website

In her 2013 memoir, My True Hollywood Hidden Story, Dickson claimed that Bell damaged her personal and professional life by hiring "Mafia cartel judges and attorneys" to "ruin" her.  She stated that the blacklisting had left her "broke and homeless" and unable to find employment.

Brenda had a reputation showing up late and for being absent due to illness.  It is no secret that there was animosity between her and other members of the Y&R cast.  However, the late Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor, had sympathy and affection for Brenda.

In a July 2012 interview with soap writer Michael Fairman, Jeanne related how she once reprimanded Dickson, telling her that "a professional is on time.  You don't wait around for people.  Being a professional is knowing your craft and knowing your lines!"  According to Jeanne, Dickson responded that she had never been talked to like that before.

Cooper also conformed that Brenda was the butt of jokes around the set and staunchly defended her in the interview.  "There is much more to her life than people know," she said.  "And a lot of pressure was put on Brenda from within the cast, and they will remain nameless at this point, but it was unfair and unkind.  Anybody with that kind of treatment that one would allow themselves to do to another human being . . . that is unforgivable in my book.  I may not like somebody, but I am certainly not going to treat them so horribly."

Brenda Irene Dickson was born in Long Beach, California on February 3, 1949.  She studied acting with famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg and with with Milton Katselas, the director of the Academy Award-winning film Butterflies are Free.  In 1971, she sang and danced in Bob Hope's Christmas Show.

Brenda has been twice married and divorced.  On September 30, 1976, she wed a dentist named Robert Rifkin.  They divorced in 1983.  On Christmas Day, 1997, she married attorney Jan Weinberg. They were divorced in 2006.  In 2007, the actress made headlines when she was arrested for refusing to vacate the apartment she shared with Weinberg.  Dickson contended that she wasn't given a fair divorce hearing.  She stated that the judge failed to grant her alimony and that the condo she owned with her ex-husband should be sold and the assets split between them.

When interviewed by the Honolulu  Advertiser, Brenda accused the judge of leaving her destitute. "He wants me to go on the street and be homeless.  It's utterly and completely outrageous, she told the newspaper."



That's all for now.  The November sweeps should bring plenty of excitement to the show.  Please remember that the next edition of Y&R Report will appear in this space on Saturday, November 8, 2014.


- Joanne