In the last year, I have accurately reported to you the contract status (and reasons behind that status) for Jess Walton, Melody Thomas Scott, Chris Engen, Don Diamont, and Tammin Sursok. More than two months before other media outlets reported that she had been let go, I told you Sursok would be out this fall. The only question marks next to me should be in my prediction Tyra’s absence is temporary (I stand by my statement she will be back…it’s just a matter of how soon,) and my prediction Michael Muhney (NuAdam) would be gone within a year of his hiring. As Muhney began June 25^th of this year, there’s still plenty of time to see how precise my instinct on this is.

Unlike columnists from other websites and publications who allegedly have special sources feeding them information, I make no such assertions…yet my information has consistently been correct, while often theirs is not. The reason? I don’t rely on industry gossip. Instead, I have taken time to learn and understand the business, and I know where to find credible information. I promise you that I will continue to use my skills to bring you the most truthful reporting of what’s happening with our daytime dramas and the people who work on them and in them.

Now, on to your letters…

Martini Kitty, I love your column! Your observations and comments are spot on and hysterically funny some weeks. Of late – Y&R is so dank, dark and depressing – the show should come with a warning: Take anti depressants before watching! 

I have watched this show almost from the very beginning and I don’t recognize this show anymore. I agree with what most of your viewers have written as well. I am beginning to wonder if this is a nefarious plot by CBS to drive viewers away by trashing the characters, the stories and thus ratings will decline and they can say “see – this is not profitable, lets get out”. Then they will give the excuse that ratings dipped and they now have to pull the plug.   

I will try to keep my note brief, but it’s hard to acknowledge that this was the show to watch, the show to model, the show to beat that has slowly and systematically descended into the silliness and deep abyss of psycho, diabolical, evilness and despair. Briefly I must say in order for Adam to be elevated to the ever present and ever knowing and ever resourceful blind guy that the Great Victor Newman, the once smart Ashley and the rest of Genoa City had to all be dumbed down and shot with a large dose of stupid. And the hacks that write for this show are interested in plots and not in continuity of the character’s profiles and the show’s history. And the hacks continue to insult the viewers and our intelligence. And do they think we are forgetful as well? Do these hacks think they write for CSI Genoa City? Or is this the TV version of Rosemary’s Baby?   

And the viewers are now subject to watching Adam continue running amuck on Genoa City. Sharon & Nicks’ baby will likely turn 18 before they find out about the baby snatching by Adam. It’s pretty clear the hacks want to “redeem” Adam and make him the power house. Frankly – this is one character I DO NOT find unredeemable. And poor Estella is she still under suspicion or is she in jail? Judge Sonya Sotomayor may need to come to Genoa City in order for poor Estella to get some justice.   

I could go on and on about the hatchet job being done to this show. But perhaps we should all meet in the Colonnade Room, have a three Martini viewing minimum and regale the days of long ago.   Marla   "J"

Marla, you are in good company with your opinions. And your comment about Estella’s only hope for justice being The Wise Latina Woman made me laugh (in a good way.)  Read on…                       

As I have written before, I quit watching Y&R when they made Adam into an amoral character. Nothing that Hope did through the years hinted at that. I guess it is this inconsistency that made me finally quit. Hope was the nearest thing to a saint than anyone on Y&R, and for her son to go completely in the opposite direction makes no sense. It just doesn’t equate, I know this is soap but even for soap this doesn’t make sense. I guess some other characters have gone down the drain also. Ashley when she was on B&B seen the model for sanity.  But it is the killing of Adam’s character when they could have taken him in another direction that just turned me completely off. In some ways it is a disservice to Hope’s memory. She wanted Adam to be a part of his Victor’s life. He should have stayed where he is. This shows how little the scribes honor the history of the show. I really think that scribes on this show probably could not pass a freshman creative writing course. And so it goes.  Mary

Marla and Mary, I am totally with you, in that Adam has been made irredeemable. I can’t believe they took St. Hope’s only child and turned him into a sociopath…and are now attempting to make him sympathetic enough so the viewers will accept a romance between him and one of the women he has terrorized. I will never be on board with that. As for driving the viewers away, I think they do want to get rid of those of use who are long-time viewers, so they can remake the show with younger, cheaper actors (and characters,) without having to endure the pesky complaints of fans.               

Thank you for telling everyone how it is. I've only been watching Y&R for a few years. In the beginning I was so addicted I'd change the radio station to pick up global so I could listen to Y&R on the way home, then when I got home I'd turn on the TV and watch it from the beginning just in case I missed something important.  Now there are days where I just can't sit down and watch the whole show because it's getting so ridiculous. I understand this is a soap opera but come on - baby snatching, killing off major characters, and not a hint of reality to be seen. I think if TPTB get rid of Victor I'm done, as it is I don't watch half the show because I can't stand half the characters (Adam, Mac, the not so fab four, the "new" Gloria, Sharon, and Ashley). 

Killing off Colleen just about lost me for good. Colleen was not only a legacy character but she was a great role model until the writers screwed with her. She was well educated, a great business women, on the board of directors, had friends and family who loved her, a very well rounded character. Why couldn't the writers focus on that instead of starting up with the whole topless video thing and then killing her off? They could have had her go and travel or visit her mom for a while and then have her come back in the summer and give her a great storyline to help draw in the younger viewers who really need a good role model. The fab four are whiney, always in trouble with the law, don't seem to have jobs, and always have horrible story lines. No young person can identify with them.

If the writers keep up their shoddy writing they'll have driven away the viewers who have watched from the beginning, the viewers like me who have just started to watch, and any new possible viewers. Not everyone likes to watch drivel and impossibly unreal situations. Those people are already watching Days of Our Lives or the Jerry Springer show. I hope tptb are reading your column and get a clue. Stacey

Stacey makes an excellent point about the loss of one of the few role models for young women.  We are left instead with an assortment of sluts, idiots, and criminals…but that is how certain misogynist writers on this show ALWAYS portray women.                                   

I continue to enjoy your columns and I praise you for calling out TPTB ever since the decimation of the Adam character. There was so much promise with Adam, Chloe, Karen and the return of Nina, but the show has been a plot-driven mess for so long that even the acting cannot make up for the boredom. It's almost like how I fall asleep during those long action movies--because really--nothing is happening, it's just a bunch of noise. That is now Y&R.

The treatment of Jess, Melody and now Eric regarding cutting their salaries mid-contract is really just unconscionable. Legal, but maddening.

This week, I deleted the current episodes of Y&R without watching them. Now that the new TV season has begun, there are far better shows taking up space on my TIVO and I just can't waste the time on this crap.

I had been a loyal viewer of soaps since the late sixties before I went to school and would watch 30 minute soaps all day with my mom. I was with AMC since the beginning and fairly loyal to OLTL since before the Judith Light days and started on GH in the 80's. A few years ago, I realized that my loyalty was displaced. There were good soaps, but apparently I wasn't watching them. I gave up on OLTL first and switched to ATWT around the time Carly slept with Mike before one of her marriages to Jack. I enjoyed that show for a while, but gave up on it last year when I just got fed up with the vignette writing and the focus on crazy Paul.

Soon after I finally got sick of GH's Sonny show and took up Y&R around the time Victor was involved with the community center and Devon came on the scene. The show was a bit slow, but it so reminded me of the soaps from the 70's that I felt back at home. (I had actually watched Y&R when it first came on the scene, but that was way before Victor and I gave it up when they got rid of the Fosters.)

When AMC became unrecognizable, I finally gave up on it when they turned Tad into a murderer--and that was after he lied to his son about his kid being dead--Sheesh. It was very hard to give this show up since I'd watched it from Day 1, but really it is now well beyond the point of no return and I doubt I'll be back. Instead I returned to OLTL and it is now my favorite soap.

I am pretty sure Y&R will be completely off my TIVO within a couple of weeks. If I decide to add a second soap I will probably get hooked back into GH to see Jonathan Jackson and James Franco.

I will continue to keep up with all of the columns on Soaptown (Except B&B--I cannot imagine ever getting into a show that incestuous, campy and focused on just a few characters), to see if any of the soaps start to improve. Who knows, I may return to Y&R if they cancel OLTL, as is being threatened, but that would be a real shame as it is the only soap right now that is even trying. Actually, I'm wrong. Days is trying too and I would probably start watching that again since Y&R seems to continue to careen into nonsense that even good actors can't save.

Sorry for going so long and thanks again for the great columns! Marilyn

I understand where you’re coming from, Marilyn. Some of the shows you point to as having deteriorated have made the same mistakes that Y&R is making now…that is, to dump vets in favor of focusing on younger, new characters…and, of course, hiring cheaper, less experienced actors. Don’t discount B&B, though. That show has been smart enough to pick up the actors tossed aside, unappreciated by other shows.  Their roster has recently expanded to include Don Diamont, Rick Hearst, and Sarah Brown…three of the best, brightest, and most attractive and talented actors on TV.    

Hi Kitty. Still loving your column. Well I have officially stopped watching Young & the Restless. Something that I never thought would happen. It’s been well 2 weeks today. I was watching and just wasn't interested in what I was viewing. So I turned the channel. At that time I was still working and would watch on Soapnet at night.  So last week I tuned in, I saw Sharon, devastated by the loss of her child, and Dr. Taylor telling her the baby was so deformed she didn't want to see the remains. I'm thinking to myself, Um...well I kept watching, to see Ashley fawning over a baby that isn't hers and acting like she was on top of the world. Yet even though she had just given birth was in the best of moods with not a pain or discomfort. I'm thinking to myself, wow. Even when the hospital doctor walked in and said it's policy to examine you and she refused which made me say if they don't examine her now I know I can't continue to watch this nonsense. 

Well to my belief the show only kept getting worse, Dr. Taylor just happens to walk in at that moment and the other Doctor says I didn't realize she was your patient, doctor, I'll let you take over from here. OMG, so they really didn't examine her, to her saying she needed to get to Victor's bedside because of his illness. Honestly I hadn't watched the proceedings that led up to that point as I kinda tuned out when I got the heads up they were actually doing this baby thing. So I stopped watching but curiosity made me tune in this day to see all this. And let's just say I pretty much quickly turned the show OFF. Has not been on since.

I can't believe what they've done to this story. For it to have been so great for so many years now I can't stomach even watching one scene, it’s just a complete waste of talent. Then what they're doing behind the scenes to Eric Braeden, whose apparently being written off the story due to contract negotiations I'm completely upset. But hey, I'm just one viewer so I know that my opinion doesn't amount to much of anything to these people. But I can say to you Kitty, I'm not tuning in again to watch this unbelievable nonsense.

Thanks for providing a way to voice my opinion. If only the right people would realize its more people like me with the same opinion out here and write for us instead of, well honestly I don't know who or what they're writing these ridiculously thought out stories for anymore. I'm frankly tired of trying to guess. And furthermore, I'm just not interested in being insulted anymore from the stupidness of the show. Thanks again Kitty for reading my thoughts.  I'll still be reading your column though. Maybe one day I'll see a change has been made and I can tune back in and be proud!  Nicole

Nicole…I’ve said before I believe the writers are writing more to entertain themselves rather than focusing on the fans. And apparently the writers’ worlds are some pretty messed up places. Perhaps we should pray for them…or get them an exorcism. And you’re welcome to vent to me anytime.                                

Letter Of The Week

Dear Martini Kitty,

First, I want to tell you how much I've enjoyed your column over the years. "Kitty's Colonnade" has been a must-read for me for more years now than I can remember!  LOL  I eagerly wait for your column to come out each Tuesday morning, and after reading it voraciously, I often share it with my message board posters at SoapCity.com so that they can enjoy it too. Everyone always thanks me for providing a link to your column, whether they always agree with what you've written or not. What's especially troubling lately, Kitty, is that almost EVERYONE agrees with everything you say, 100%!

I've been watching Young and the Restless for a long time.  My Mom started me watching it, and also my older sister enjoys it. For years, it was the ultimate escape for the three of us - watching these beautiful people in beautiful settings.  Romance, corporate intrigue, and the occasional crazy person (a la Sheila) thrown into the mix to spice things up a little.  "Love in the Afternoon". Nowadays, all of that is gone. I stopped watching a little over a month ago, when I read on the spoilers board that they were going to kill off Zapato. To most that may seem trivial, but to me, killing off that sweet, beautiful dog was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

It's all been a steady, swift decline for months, like a runaway train out of control.  The beautiful Sharon pregnant by any one of three guys....sleazy!  Adam injecting solution into his eyes to simulate blindness, only to find out he actually is going blind....stupid! Adam gaslighting Ashley into miscarrying her baby....equally stupid!   The storyline between the talentless actress who played Tyra and Bryton as Devon was absolutely revolting. The back and forth between Phick and Shick is enough to make a person dizzy....to the extent that I don't like either couple anymore. The one couple I really DO root for, Lauren and Michael, are never seen onscreen anymore - except for the occasional prop to somebody else, usually the Scooby Doo gang. Why can't they show some romantic storyline for them? They're beyond photogenic, sexy, funny....what is wrong with these writers?!  I could go on, but you get the idea. I've since seen on the spoilers boards that Colleen died. While I never was a Tammin Sursok fan, I do agree with you that they never should have killed Colleen's character off. I had always hoped that they'd write Colleen off the canvas for awhile to go back to New York with Traci and Steve, and come back in a year.....played by Adrianne Leon.  But that's never to be now. What a terrible waste. 

The top brass also need to tread very, VERY carefully through these contract negotiations with Eric Braeden. They cannot afford to lose yet another heritage, foundation character in the course of all of the upheavals, doom and gloom they have perpetuated, which is driving fans away in droves.  Count me as one of them. 

Thanks for reading, Martini Kitty, and I look forward to reading Kitty's Colonnade next week!  Lori

Lori…thank you for the flattery. I am humbled that you think my words are worth passing on to others. The death of Zapato was definitely not trivial to the hundreds of viewers who took the time to send me their opinions. And what frustrates me about some of the things you listed (like Adam gaslighting Ashley, and Sharon sleeping with three guys) is there was no follow-through on them. No payoff for the fans. But your most salient point is what you say attracted you to soaps in the first place: “Romance, corporate intrigue, and the occasional crazy person.” And what do we have now? No real, lasting romance…no intelligent corporate intrigue…and more crazy persons running about than usually populate an entire mental hospital. As for the lack of story for Michael and Lauren…I believe the problem is the fact the writers seem to have ZERO understanding of interesting, yet stable marriages. They are incapable of penning a substantial tale for a couple if it doesn’t involve breaking that couple apart. No imagination, and no experience in long-term relationships. I think the writers all need therapy…and a different career choice.                            

Last Notes

Faith’s christening…her sister Abby was missing. Her nephew Noah was missing. If Abby and Noah had conflicts in the afternoon, then move the baptism to the evening. Ashley’s good friend Olivia was also missing, as was Victor’s good friend Neil. And if the parents have to promise to set a good and Godly example for the child, shouldn’t the pastor have inquired how they intend to do that when both Ashley and Victor treat marriage with less respect than they treat used Kleenex?  “Commitment” only until it’s inconvenient. Criminy…Victor showed up at the church with his ex-wife, to whom he’s just (once again) pledged his eternal love. Victor has had ten marriages and Ashley has had six. I’m pretty sure God doesn’t approve of changing your spouse as often as you change your hair style.               

What happened to the Billy/Cain rivalry? And I wish, instead of destroying Adam, they had teamed him with Billy to take on (and take down) Nictoria.

I choked when Nick, of all people, had the nerve to lecture Billy about “shirking responsibility.” Both men were cheating on their respective spouses (and children)…ironically with the same woman. Nick is older than Billy, and he still doesn’t get what responsibility really means…pompous ass.

I also was gritting my teeth when Nick said to Phyllis (about Victor,) “You’re still upset with him.” Brilliant observation…but upset seems a rather lightweight word for nearly getting their daughter killed…and getting the poor girl brain-damaged in the process.  Phyllis should have responded, “Hell, yes, I’m ‘still upset.’ The question is why aren’t you?”

Lily asked Devon, “How could you cheat on someone as amazing as Roxy?” Lily should have stopped her question after the words “cheat” or “someone.” Someone’s “amazingness” or lack thereof has no bearing on the rightness or wrongness of cheating. Infidelity is ALWAYS wrong.

They may as well put up a giant neon sign…Jack and Emily will soon be having a “romantic” (or at least a sexual) assignation. Not exactly subtle, are they.                            

The constant flood of newbies continues on this show. In fact Tuesday’s episode was like tuning in to a different show entirely, with only the under 45 crowd being featured. It is a further attempt by TPTB to find characters who somehow work and keep them, allowing them to get rid of more of the vets, thereby saving money without concern for the show they are delivering. But you would think they would learn…characters with no meaningful connection to anyone (or a contrived relation that doesn’t ring true,) and pretty actors with NO TALENT do not make up for losing characters we’ve watched grow up on screen or actors we’ve enjoyed for two or three decades. Tyra, Ana, Chance, NuMac, MJ/Patty, Rafe, NuAbby, and Ryder. That’s a partial list of people who have been brought to Genoa City in the last year. Deacon was also brought over from The Bold And The Beautiful, and both Eden and Adam have been recast. In the next few weeks we’ll be introduced to Tucker, Daisy, Emily (a Patty twin of some kind,) and NuMalcolm. That is actually enough characters to populate an entirely new, separate show. 

Meanwhile, Jill was off screen during a real life contract dispute…Nikki was off-screen for nearly two months during a real life contract dispute…Brad was killed…Colleen was killed…Traci, in the face of fans begging to keep her, has been sent back to New York…Victor will be shipped off, also because of a real life contract dispute…Neil has been MIA because the actor spoke out about the deplorable writing…Michael and Lauren (whose portrayers are Emmy winners) have been reduced to walk-ons...Gloria and Jeff have been diminished to occasional “comic relief.” This tells us EVERYTHING about how TIIC feel about this show. They continually display an absence of respect for the actors (especially those over 50) and the viewers, and a complete disdain for the show’s history.           

Allow me to put it plainly. Fans who have invested twenty or thirty years in a show don’t want to tune in to a screen full of unfamiliar faces. We watch to see the characters we know and love grow and change, fail and succeed. And just because we’ve been watching for decades doesn’t mean we’re “old” (and therefore considered an unattractive demo in the eyes of network execs.) I started watching when I was a kid. In a few weeks I will be 43…I’m betting most advertisers would consider me a valuable viewer. I am not an anomaly…I am the norm. And The Norm is tired of being brushed aside in a desperate grab for The New.

As an aside, who’s choosing the names for the new characters? I can’t remember the last time I met a Ryder, Tucker, Eden, or a Daisy. These may be trendy names, but a fully grown character should have a moniker in keeping with the time period in which they were born, not created.

Get a grip, writers.