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June 18, 2013

Has The Young and the Restless pushed the fans too far?

by Allison Waldman, posted Oct 7th 2009 9:02AM
soap_opera_digest_cover_Y&RIf you were to take the collective temperature of the loyal viewers of The Young and the Restless, the number one daytime drama in the Nielsen ratings for 20 years in a row, you would learn that the fans are hot! They are steamed and fuming and ready to boil over with rage. What's got so many people so incensed? Well, it might be easy to say it's Y&R's recent baby-switch story line -- where Sharon's baby was taken from her and given to Ashley, with neither woman aware of the crime committed against them -- but it's actually more than that.

Y&R fans are up in arms over happenings on screen and off. The very idea that Eric Braeden is leaving the show, that the character of Victor Newman is going to be killed off, has been a shock. After the near exit of Melody Thomas Scott and Jess Walton recently, it appears as though the foundation of the show -- the most integral characters and the actors who play them -- are being destroyed. Fans are wondering what the powers that be are doing to "their" show!

Still, fans are able to accept recasts, even when they don't like them. What I've been hearing from fans is that more than cast changes, it's the volatile changes in the stories that have them upset. In addition to the baby switch, Adam has emerged as the character everybody loves to hate. He was the culprit behind the baby switch, which was bad enough, but the circumstances are just incredulous.

Here's a man who is legally blind and a convicted felon, yet he managed to arrange for one woman to give birth at the exact same time another woman was having hysterical labor pains. Adam shouldn't have been able to finagle things the way he did. And he has seemingly gotten away with it. The story line is insulting to the viewers' intelligence.

There's also the senseless death of Colleen, which means she can donate her organs. Her heart is a perfect match for Victor, and even though he's undeserving of the transplant, he gets the heart. And there's also Sharon and Nick being lied to about their baby dying in childbirth, while Ashley is suddenly rational again and bonding with Sharon's baby. These plot lines have fans screaming at the TV set!

The groundswell of anger has been loud and nasty. Fans are threatening to stop watching. That could be all talk, but I wonder if Y&R has gone too far this time. What do you think? Take our poll and share your comments.

What do you think of the current story lines on Y&R?
I love all this action!129 (5.2%)
I'm unhappy, but I'll wait to see how they play out.693 (27.7%)
I'm ticked off and ready to stop watching.1148 (46.0%)
I've had it and won't watch anymore.528 (21.1%)

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37 Comments

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Rita

I have watched YR for about 25 years now and my mother has watched since she was a child, me and her both were getting so frustrated with the story lines and how nothing was and is making any sense anymore. Mother completely stopped watching YR about a month and a half ago and as for me i have not watched for about 3 weeks now and i do not have any desire to watch. I turned it on today and i caught Sharon and Adam in the bed and i was like are you serious and changed the channel..I do not like any of the story lines right now, this whole Patty story is so stupid and Sharon and Nick is just plain crazy. Nick with Sharon one day Phyllis the next day, then Sharon sleeping with any man that looks her way, and Amber, Kevin and friends is a complete joke, Gloria s/l a complete joke., Ashley one day crazy next day sane....well just insane, Lilly a grown woman but acting like a child all the time asking Daddy for permisson, Neil never getting anywhere on the story and sometimes i hate to say it i do not think they will let Neil's character amount to much because he is black, Philip returning from the dead and now gay, and Chloe and Chance so boring, i could go on and on but whatever i mean come on...YR has no morals to it anymore...the story lines are just either crazy or to boring to watch...i can't do it anymore, i cannot watch..if the story goes off the air well i do not care because the soap is not worth watching anyway, but i will always remember how good it use to be, O Well.

December 02 2009 at 12:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rose


PLEASE, Expose Adam and Give Sharon and Nick their baby back. The rest is ok but the hospital story was non- believable and stupid. I want to start watching again. Rose

November 29 2009 at 11:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
elaine

I agree with Donna,all Y and R is doing is showing the most boring people, like Amber, Daniel, Gloria, Chance Ryder, Kevin ,Jana and Phyllis! Get some new writer's for the show, this is some of the worst storylines I've ever watched on Y and R. Give Sharon her baby and put Ashley in a mental Hosp. where she belongs, and take the ranch from her and give it back to Victor. Let Sharon and Nick remarry and stay together! Please get rid of evil Adam for good. I wouldn't mind seeing Jill leave the show. I would love to see Nina stay at y and r. Please bring back Heather Tom as Victoria.

November 25 2009 at 2:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rose

Long time watcher. The show won't be the same without Victor. Adam should be exposed and Sharon should know her baby is alive. Adam with Sharon makes me sick. I quit watching when they took Sharon and Nicks baby. I tune in every once in awhile in case the writers get some sense. Otherwiae I'm tuned out.

November 24 2009 at 1:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jill

After watching the show faithfully from the beginning, I have to admit..this was the worst storyline ever in Y&R history! I really want to stop watching until Sharon gets her baby back and Nick and Sharon are reunited the way it should have been! Please, my 55 year old heart can't take this story anymore...get a new writer!

November 21 2009 at 8:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carol

If they don't come clean about Adam very soon, I will not be watching any longer. Enough is enough already.

October 25 2009 at 12:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Debby Vancil

I have been watching since early 70's and I will keep on watching

October 24 2009 at 8:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
rhonda

i think the producers should see that soap operas are on the way out...the only few survivors will be ones that have intelligent,believable scripts with characters that make sense and are appealing. This is year 2009, what used to be acceptable to viewers is no longer acceptable. Baby switches, quick recovery from blindness,miscarriages never discovered, characters like Adam,etc. do not work any longer, Y and the L is in deep trouble- over 60% of the viewers are ready to bolt and try newer things. Clean up your act, get rid of half the cast as previous commenters have urged, stay with the real core cast that we all love, pay them appropriately, get better writers and know that many of the viewers now are brighter, more sophisticated, less patient than previous years. Otherwise, the future is bleak and Y and L will follow the same path as Guiding Light, Passions, etc..Go get some intelligent decent writers at UCLA or USC or some new place of quality.

October 24 2009 at 6:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sherri

I have watched for many long years!!BUT, WHEN Adam took Sharon's baby and gave it to Ashley. That was the end for me. The show has become to hard to watch.

I have turned you off and do not think I will ever watch the show again, switch babies and give the baby to a crazy person is to much. You have written yourself into a corner and I see no way out. You have that doctor who helped change the babies. Well I have said enough. TURN OUT THE LIGHTS THE PARTY IS OVER

October 24 2009 at 2:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carolyn fabe

I have watched the show for 20 years. I agree the stories have been bad for the last few years, and now the show has gone into an accelerated nose dive. Who is writing this stuff? I hate Bold and Beautiful because it is so stupid, and the Nick Sharon story is like Ridge and Brook; so I think there must be some connection. It is sad to see the ruination of the show; it seems like the writers have contempt for their job. They certainly must think the audience has a low I.Q.. I also resent the way they depict mental illness. Is it really 2009 and we are depicting "crazy" as bad people who should be thrown in padded cells? Unless the show cleans house with the writing, I am afraid it will die off - kind of like Colleen.

October 23 2009 at 11:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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