"Jack and Sharon's Wedding"

This episode was dominated by Jack and Sharon's wedding ceremony, which I guess is to be expected since weddings are a pretty big deal. The ceremony had some good acting - Jack was particularly impressive when he was saying his wedding vows -- the trembling lip was a nice touch. Honestly I can't believe how the soap actors can deliver that dialog without cracking up -- it's so sappy! If I was a soap actor, I'm sure I would break out laughing at least 10 times for every one time that I was able to deliver it with a straight face.

So now Jack and Sharon are married. Unfortunately for Jack, it's only a matter of time until he finds out that Sharon slept with Brad a few months back. I have a feeling Jack won't take that so well, he doesn't seem to have a very high opinion of Bradley. I wonder whether he'll be able to forgive Sharon for not telling him...my bet is not.

The other major storyline on this episode was Brad finally admitting to Victoria that he slept with Sharon. First of all, this took place at Brad and Victoria's house, and it was the first time I'd seen Brad without a suit since I started watching Y&R again. He looks good without a suit -- now I am still waiting to see Jack without one. So anyway, the Brad/Vicki scenes were pretty intense -- I was especially impressed with the actress that plays Victoria, I thought she did a great job playing the upset wife. For all of her crying, she gets my Actress of the Day award.

I also like how everyone keeps bringing up this room service waiter that apparently remembers bringing breakfast to Brad and Sharon back at the hotel in NYC. This waiter has quite the memory! If I were a room service waiter in NYC I bet I would have a hard time remembering who I waited on yesterday, let alone months in the past.

"Jack Discovers Brad's Scheme"

I decided during today's episode that Lily and Daniel's internet porn storyline isn't the worst one on the show -- that honor belongs to the romance between Professor Adrian and Colleen. I don't find either one of those characters very compelling. On today's episode, Adrian revealed that he's received a job offer from some museum in France. It appeared that he was considering not taking the job because of Colleen. If I were in his shoes, I would so not stay in Genoa City for Colleen. She's too chunky. Didn't her mother, Tracy, tell her that the professor would leave her eventually? I guess she knew what she was talking about. But then at the end of the episode, Colleen decided that she wants to move to France with Adrian. My bet is that neither one of them moves to France.

I liked the lead storyline today, which was Jack finding out that Brad had bought up much of the Clear Springs property. I think Peter Bergman (JACK) is an excellent soap opera actor, and I'd say the only other actor on Y&R that I like as much as him is Eric Braeden (VICTOR). Today's performance by Jack has earned him the coveted 'Genoa City Limits Daily Actor Award'. Jack was in fine form, steamed at Brad as is often the case. I liked Jack's line to Brad today, "Name your price, Junior. We both know you have one." That was delivered especially well. Any storyline involving Jack and/or Victor can't be bad.

The actor that plays Nick, Joshua Morrow, has grown on me a bit. Overall I think he's a bit too stiff, not as natural as Jack or some of the other actors. But he's got a certain style that works. And when the writers give him a funny line, he's pretty darn good at delivering it. On today's episode, it was revealed that Brad's front for buying the property was a fake company that had a French name. Nick deadpanned, "I guess that his high school French finally paid off, huh?" That was my favorite line of the day.

It looks like Daniel is gonna get yelled at in the next episode by Neil, after Lily tells Neil what Daniel's been up to. I'm sure Neil is also mad at Daniel for telling Lily about the alcohol. If you ask me, that was a pretty bonehead move by Daniel (as seems to be par for the course for him). I guess he told Lily that to try to divert her attention away from the whole porn thing, but all it did was make her more upset. Who wants to make a bet as to how much longer it will be before Lily and Daniel get a divorce? My money is on August 11th.

Every once in a while, there will be a line that refers to something that happened in the past, when I wasn't watching the show. These lines almost always make me laugh, because they invariably refer to some ridiculous event. One example was "Remember the time we got locked inside that meat locker by Sheila and almost froze to death." Another example was "I've done the long distance relationship thing before, when J.T. got the record deal." I wish I lived in a soap opera -- their lives are so exciting. If I lived in a soap opera, I would be a famous author by now, I just know it!

Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention the final scene of the show, which was an absolute classic. Phyllis was confronting Brad, and Brad said to her, "What are you going to do, tell Victoria about me and Sharon?". Then the camera panned over to Victoria, who was standing right there in the doorway. Brad's got some 'splaining to do tomorrow.

"Shocking Photos are Released"

Based on the episode title, I thought that the photos in question were most likely photos of Amber naked. However, as it turned out the photos were actually of the accident on the cliff. I'll skip right to the end of the episode here, because I want to talk about the three photos that were shown.

The three photos supposedly illustrated that Sharon pushed Drucilla off the cliff, but it's my opinion that the photos absolutely did NOT illustrate anything. I paused the episode to take a good long look at the photos, and even after staring at them for two full minutes, I could not fathom how anyone could come to the conclusion that the accident is Sharon's fault based on those photos. Which made the following scene, where Neil comes up to Sharon and blames Dru's death on her, all the more sweet. I love how quickly Neil turns on everyone, he doesn't require much evidence apparently.

My actress of the day award goes to Christel Khalil (LILY). I thought she did an especially good job of being angry at Daniel today. This porn storyline has really been run into the ground in my opinion. I wish it would just be over with already. For God's sake, can't Daniel at least have an affair with a real woman? Then we might have an interesting storyline. Instead, he spends all his time on the computer looking at pictures of Amber, and then gets busted for it. Pathetic.

My favorite line of today's episode was also delivered by Lily. It occurred toward the very end of the episode when Daniel let it slip that Lily's dad, Neil, had been slipping alcohol into his coffee. Daniel asked Lily, "Haven't you noticed how much coffee your Dad's been drinking?" Lily replied, "That was my mom's favorite dark roast!" I had a good long laugh at that line -- it was just so absurd. Does anyone else think soap operas are better than sitcoms or am I just crazy? I also liked Lily's use of the word 'jokester'. I don't why, but I found that amusing too, probably because you never hear that word being used in real life, or at least I don't.

The other part of today's episode that was hilarious was when Nicki was talking to Victoria about running for state senator. Nicki was talking about the campaign issues and, well, it was just pretty ridiculous. I especially liked when Nicki said "I think everyone should have healthcare!" Good luck getting that bill passed, Nicki.

I was also impressed to see that Sharon is looking completely recovered. The last time I saw her she was still looking pretty beat up. Then I miss four shows, and all of a sudden, she's back to normal. She seems to have abnormally quick recuperative powers. Maybe Noah was right about her being a superhero after all.

Whatever Happened to Rex?

Due to a recent vacation, I have missed the last four episodes of Y&R. I contemplated viewing and writing an entry for each of those four episodes, but then I decided that I might as well just read the titles Tivo provides, and do a compound entry for all the episodes I've missed. That way I save four hours of watching soap operas. Not that watching soap operas is bad -- obviously I enjoy watching them, otherwise I would not have a blog about Y&R. But I think watching one episode a day is about the maximum amount of time I want to spend viewing soap operas. Once I start watching more than soap episode in a day, I'll feel bad because I know there are better ways I could be spending my time. The other reason to skip those four episodes is so that I can stay current. If I were to try to do a writeup for every episode, then I would fall behind and the blog wouldn't be current. So trust me, it's better this way!

Now, onto the episode titles that were provided by Tivo. In order, the titles of the four episodes that I missed were:
"Olivia Returns to Comfort Neil"
"Dru's Prayer Service"
"Sharon Comforts Neil"
"William Catches Jill With Ji Min"

So, I can gather from these four episode titles that Neil apparently is getting a lot of comforting. First Oliva, then Sharon. I also gather that Neil got his "damn" prayer service. If I were Neil, I wouldn't be so upset. Doesn't he know that his wife is going to come back in a few years, after she tries getting some other acting jobs and then comes to the realization that Y&R is the best she can do? If I were him, I would just enjoy the time apart, start dating some other women. I'm sure he'll start doing that soon enough. How long do soap opera people have to wait to start dating other people after their spouses have "died"? In real life, its probably six months or a year. So I bet in soap operas its more like one or two months.

The question is, though, who should Neil date? There really aren't that many available women on the show, now are there? Maybe they'll have to introduce a new character for Neil to date. Or maybe they'll just make him more of a minor character so they won't even have to deal with that.

All right, on to the final episode title, "William Catches Jill With Ji Min". I can't even recall who William is. Is William the older guy that is played by the dude who used to be on Knots Landing or something? Is he the one that Gloria wants to get with? If I recall correctly, there is a horrible love triangle with William, Jill, and Gloria. Neither of those women are the least bit appealing to me. For one thing, they're too old. But mostly I don't like them because I find both of those characters annoying. Jill is always shouting. And Gloria is conniving. Well, I guess soap operas have to have love stories, even for the unattractive people. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind seeing a romance for Catherine Chancellor. What ever happened to Rex? Maybe they could write him back in if he's not dead yet.

"Brad and Sharon Kiss"

First of all, you may be asking yourself, how am I coming up with my post titles? The answer is that I am using the episode titles that are displayed on my Tivo. I typically watch Y&R a little bit after it airs, so I can fast forward through the commercials. The bad part about this is that I have to get to the episode by going through the Tivo interface, so I have to see the title of each episode before I watch it. So today, when I fired up the old Tivo, I was faced with the title "Brad and Sharon Kiss". So before I even started watching the show, I knew the most crucial event that was going to occur. Thanks Tivo, for spoiling everything.

All right, on to today's episode. First off, my actor of the day goes to Kristoff St. John (NEIL). I thought he had a good day today, getting drunk at the bar, then confronting Brad about the affair. I particularly liked when Daniel told Neil that his daughter Lily would be stopping by and Neil drank down his scotch, then immediately yelled to Kane, "I need some coffee". I'm pretty sure that Kristoff St. John appeared on the Cosby Show at least once. I think he was a boyfriend of one of the older daughters. Does anyone else remember that? Of course, I could just look him up on IMDB, but that would take the fun out of it.

Another thing I liked about Neil's performance today was the use of the word 'damn'. I love how soap opera people are always throwing 'damn' into everything. Victor Newman is especially good at that. On today's show, Neil was talking about having a prayer service for Dru, and he said, "That's what I want to do, and I'm damn well going to do it". Totally unnecessary use of 'damn' there, I love it! I've got to start throwing that word around. "Hey Andrea, I want to watch Survivor now, and I'm damn well going to do it." Awesome! She'll never know what hit her. Also, I was wondering, does Neal have a drinking problem? From the tone of the music that played when he took that first drink, it sounded like he might be an alcoholic or something. I should carry a tape recorder with that music around and play it whenever I take a drink. That way people will know to watch out. I'll call it "Jeff's Alcohol Theme I" (in case I ever want to have an alternate drinking theme).

So what else happened today. More fallout from the blackmail. I love how there is so much blackmail going on in soap operas. Does anyone ever get blackmailed in real life? I know I've never gotten blackmailed in my life. Nor have I ever blackmailed anyone else. I think I need to get a job as an executive at a fashion/cosmetics company, then I will have all sorts of blackmail opportunities. There aren't so many blackmail opportunities in my life as it is now. One time I tried to blackmail my cat, I told her, "Belle, if you don't lie on my lap for a half hour now, I'm going to tell Andrea how you were on the kitchen counter this morning!". She didn't seem to care, though.

Poor Jack, he seems to have pretty hard luck. First of all, how is that he has no children after all this time being a main character on Y&R? Also, I can't think of any wife he has had that has been memorable. When you think of Jack, what woman do you think of? Is it Phyllis? I pretty much missed the Jack/Phyllis relationship, so I don't know how good that was. But they never had kids, right, so how good could it have been? I remember years ago, when they brought that Vietnamese guy on the show (Kimo I think was the character's name), and that turned out to be Jack's son, from his tour of duty in 'Nam. That was pretty ridiculous. And now, Sharon doesn't want to marry Jack, plus he's being set up for a fall courtesy of Victor Newman. When will things ever go his way?

"Neil Says Goodbye to Dru"

The kid that plays Noah Newman makes me cringe. I'm not sure what it is about him, but I just can't take it. How many times are we going to have to see him explain the comic book that he made? "Look, it's a comic book I made, I'm in it, and mom, and dad, and we're all superheroes! That's my mom, she's the blonde avenger, she's invincible!". I've got his whole spiel memorized already. Please, for the love of God, let's drop it with the comic. When Nick and Noah visited the cliff towards the end of the show, I was thinking, "wouldn't it be great if Noah fell off the cliff now too? Then he could come back when he's 17 and would actually be an interesting character." I guess that's an evil thought to have. I didn't say I was proud of it.

Oh, and is Daniel the dumbest guy in the world or what? What's up with all the porn that's popping up everywhere? Can't he figure out how to contain that stuff, so it's not always in his wife's face? And by containing it, I don't mean creating a new user on his computer named 'StudGuy101'. Real smooth, moron. It was a classic moment today when Lily opened up Daniel's cell phone and then asked him, "Why are there pictures of girls breasts on your phone?". Why, indeed. I'll tell you why, cause Daniel's a moron. And really, what's he doing messing around with that stupid blonde girl when he's married to the hottest girl on the whole show (in my opinion), Lily? Oy vey. Danny Jr. is no Danny Sr., that's all I'm gonna say. Danny Sr. could sing.

The actor of the day award goes to Don Diamont (BRAD), who had two really good exchanges. The first was with Phyllis, when Brad layed into her for coming into work the day after the accident at the cliffs. He basically yelled at her for having no soul and being a terrible person. Way to go, Brad. And then there was the exchange with Jack, when Brad got mad at Jack's plan to let the press possibly interview Sharon so soon after the accident. You tell him, Brad. I also liked the scene at the end when Brad was hugging Sharon, and then Jack came in and said, "Looks like you're in good hands". That was a nice line. So anyway, congratulations Don, nice work today. By the way, does this guy ever age? He looks basically the same as when he was a pool guy, and what was that, fifteen years ago? Didn't he used to be married to Nikki, and now he's married to her daughter? Geez, it seems like everyone's been married to Nikki.

Honorable mention goes out to Kristoff St. John (NEIL). By all accounts, today should have been his day to win the acting award, but then Brad had to go and steal his thunder. I really liked the end of the show, when Neil confronted Phyllis, telling her, "You are dead to me". That was pretty intense. I have a feeling that Dru's body is not going to be found, just a hunch. Why would they possibly have the body be found now, and shut the door on her character coming back to the show a few years down the road? I think Dru should get amnesia, and start a new life as a nun. Oh wait, did that already happen to Reva on Guiding Light? I guess there's only so many ridiculous plots you can come up with before you start recycling them.

Final thought - nice single tear by the guy that plays Neil's adopted son. How do those actors cry on command anyway? Now that is a gift. If I could cry on command, the world would be my oyster.

Welcome to Genoa City Limits

This is a blog about The Young and The Restless. I have recently started watching Y&R after many years away from it. When I was growing up, my mother watched Y&R and I would watch it with her during the summer-time, when I was off from school and had nothing better to do. Since I entered the working world four years ago I have hardly seen it at all. But luckily for me, I became unemployed a month ago, and have started watching it again. I've got to say that it's actually a pretty enjoyable show, and quite addictive. I happen to find most of it very funny, due to how silly the stories are, and how over-the-top the acting can get. In my opinion, Y&R is funnier than most sitcoms on television these days (I'm looking at you, 'Everybody Loves Raymond', even though I know you're off the air now).

This week's storyline dealing with Sharon and Drucilla falling off the cliff was absolutely hilarious. The scene where those two actually fell off the cliff was so wonderfully cheesy, I couldn't stop laughing. Poor Drucilla, what a terrible way to die, getting thrown off a cliff while grabbing for a cell phone in an argument in which she wasn't even a primary participant. I had been thinking to myself that Drucilla's character was pretty lame ever since I started watching the show. She's really had no story of her own - she's just been there so Sharon could have someone to talk to. Now looking back, I guess the writers were just biding their time until they could get rid of her.

I'm glad that Sharon survived the accident. I'm very interested to see how the whole Jack/Sharon/Brad/Victoria situation gets resolved. Will Phyllis still have the gall to continue blackmailing Sharon and Brad? Will Sharon and Brad come clean with their significant others? Will I ever get a job and stop watching soap operas? Only time will tell...