DC #339: Nothing Quite Like Christmas Episodes

Wow survey A was boring. But DC has spared me countless hrs of boredom so it's only fair to take a few minutes to give credit by filling out one of the driest surveys imaginable.

I am interrupting my vacay on St. Barts (I hear that Daniel Craig is running around the beach in his tight short bathing suit. YAY! Also actually saw Marc Jacobs and his BF at breakfast at a restaurant on the beach here.) to say a few, brief words about Y&R's Christmas episodes last week.

12/24 - A wonderful, genuine, multi-leveled character-driven episode that not only rejoiced in the holidays but continued the stories uninterrupted by Christmas tom-foolery like some other shows. Yes, I brought my Slingbox so I am able to watch the shows just as if I was back in the states. Kay and Murphy celebrating in his trailer was so sweet. I can totally see that the writers are going to have her bring Murphy back to G.C. when the mess is cleared up. Kay deserves a man anyway and a good, kind, loving one at that. Did anyone notice Tiffany(80's pop star) as one of the carolers who came to sing for them outside the trailer? Poor thing only got 3 lines and credited as caroler #1. LOL! When Kay slipped and then remembered who she was through the series of flashbacks of people calling her name it sent shivers down my spine. Ashley and Victor spending the holiday together all by themselves was a great foreshadow of what is to come for the other Newmans next year. Victor is obviously rebounding onto Ashley the loss of Sabrina and I am not sure if his feelings are even genuine this time. I know he loves her but is he IN love with her or is this his psychological defense against his intense grief? The best part of the show for me was the Chancellor gathering with Jill and Esther, the new co-owners of the estate trying to compromise with each other, and Chloe, Billy and Cane, all trying to get along and pursue peace despite recent business incidents. When Jill told Billy she felt guilty that she had not been able to raise Cane because of the switch, he quickly retorted that he had been shipped off to boarding school until he was 18, so who got the biggest shaft? It was a priceless, human moment for Jill. The gifts that Kay sent Jill and Esther w/notes were hilarious and bitchy just like they both said. It was just so endearing and gave each character deeper dimensions just from celebrating a holiday with their family. There were no "real" Santa's or quick flashes of family celebration or last minute set-ups. It was a well-planned, focused Christmas epsiode where the drama did not take a holiday.

12/25 - Classic Y&R episode from 1989 - simply wonderful to see all out favorite characters from almost 20 years ago. How young Victor looked and chubby-cheeked Nikki was. Seeing a child Victoria and baby Nick was priceless for fans who have watched the characters grow into core members of the cast. Phillip the 3rd had just died and Nina was now a very rich single lady getting involved with David Kimble, who would become one of Y&R's most notorious evil villains. David was plotting to marry Nina for her money and the arrange an "accident" for her to die in. It was one of Bill Bell's famous long-term, well plotted stories that lasted at least 2 years or more. Eventually, David was forced to get plastic surgery and the doctor etched the word "killer" into his forehead. David was finally killed when Danny threw him down a trash compactor during a masked gala ball at The Collonade Room. Loved the Abbotts holiday gathering. Seeing Brenda Dickson and Terry Lester was a blast but it truly proved that you can recast major roles with the right actor/actress who can come in and make it her/his own like Peter Bregman and Jess Walton have. Loved seeing Aunt Mamie and Christine's mother, Jessica (who died of AIDS). Also, the story of the Jabot secretary who had polio, I think, trying to adopt Nancy's baby was a reminder of the kind of stories that Bill Bell loved to write. Plus, the history lesson of the original Kay/Marge story was great for new viewers and a delight for longtime fans as well. Loved when Marge told the new maid and butler that she doesn't like when her soaps are interrupted and the original theme song of B&B came on. So great!

12/26 - "It's A Wonderful Life Michael Baldwin" was simply brilliant. I could go on and on in detail about the may ways in which this was such a superior stand-alone episode of a daytime drama but it could be a 10 page essay if I let it. But, I want to compliment Christian LeBlanc for the work of his career, not just in this but for the last few months his performance has been nothing short of Shakespearean greatness, full of depth, subtext and a grand emotional arc. The use of the show's history was spot on and used perfectly to get the point across. The best use of history for me was having Lauren still being the snotty bitch that she was when she first came on and through her triangle with Danny and Traci and her marriage to Paul. Having Traci come in to Fenmore's and Lauren tell her that there was nothing in her size, having never matured or grown into the warm, loving person she is now. This paralleled with Lauren apologizing to Traci at "Kay's" funeral for her youthful behavior was perfection and obviously well-plotted. Danny's death from not having a kidney transplant and Christine and Paul's deaths by Isabella would not have been avoided. The acting from everyone involved was incredible and the writers and producers fabricated a fully realized tale of one man's search for meaning in his life. What could have been a cliched, hokey premise was overwhelmed by the top shelf quality of all the creator's imagination and organic truth to everything presented. There was tragedy, humor (Gloria scrubbing the Jabot rug, calling Jack "Mr. Abbott," Phyllis' drunken, slutty future without Daniel) and an honest reflection of Michael's life. Christian LeBlanc and Eric Braeden will be fighting for Best Actor Emmy and with this episode, Y&R now has an overabundance of episodes to submit for Best Directing/Writing and Show.

Y&R has brought me back to the grand old days of old-school, character-driven, long-term plotted, focused, beautifully written soap opera with the small life moments and the build up to the big, climaxing events that change the course of lives. Main umbrella stories are used to serve out the smaller, sub-stories and the canvas is a multi-generational, layered cast of characters where family and relationships are key. BRAVO! BRAVA! To Maria Bell, Hogan Sheffer, Paul Rauch, the entire cast and everyone else involved with what is again the best daytime drama on air. I wish them a very happy, drama-filled, conflict-wrapped, amazing new year 2009! May the greatness continue from now on...

And happy new year to everyone at DC, the website, the bloggers and the podcasts for enlightening and giving fans an intelligent forum for discussion of this genre that we all love and hope to see continue for many years to come. XOXOXO - Corey

poor Molly Burnett,

Do you think we will even remember her name 10 years from now?

It makes me think of the "lost" stars of soap's past. Sharon Gabet's Raven on EON was one of my favorites of all time. She also made an excellent Dorian's "not as crazy as Addie" sister on OLTL.

Thank you to DC for helping me remember why I've loved the medium of soaps (note: I would never use the word genre) through you weekly podcasts. It has become a weekly tradition in my household to hear your reviews. After the GH wedding, one of my first thoughts was, "I wonder what the DC crew thought?"

Happy new year and keep casting.

Ejami!!!!!!!

Lucas was always verbally abusive to her~

Jamey, i love when you do the voices!
it makes me wanna check out some of these soaps that i dont watch!

www.nornsisland.com

Oh my god you are a Jared and Natalie fan. UGGGG Those two are just dull. They suck!! Im over him killing Nash. But they just suck! They are trying to make them look perfect when they are not.

And I dont care what happens. I will still support Tarty! Marty is crazy and Todd is crazy and I love them! SH is AMAZING!!!! She rocks oh my gosh never saw her before but she is awesome!

get Matt away from Spixie!

Thanks for clearing up why we are getting so much Melanie. I pray she receive wisdom beyond her years to deal with all the air time, if her current pace continues.

Days has have at least 25 actors (I'm just sayin').???

Maxie& Spinelli were fantastic in there Christmas dream episode. Jamey nedds to take a chill pill on ATWT .

The Michael Baldwin “It’s a Wonderful Life” Christmas episode really, really touched me in a way that The Young and the Restless, or any other daytime show for that matter, hasn’t in quite awhile. The writing and the performances were, in my opinion, flawless…absolutely flawless. Now I’m not a Gloria fan. I normally can’t stand the goofy face cream tampering wench and I love watching her get some comeuppance in the regular Y&R reality but her scene choked me up. Yes! I actually felt sorry for Gloria. Gloria Bardwell’s ‘no life without Michael’ situation really touched me and that’s mainly due to Judith Chapman’s acting. Kevin’s situation got to me just as much and Ms. Tracy Bergman. I’ve been watching her character for years and she has never touched me as much as she did at the graveyard scene. This episode was so good that it compelled me to do something I haven’t done in a long time and that’s set my DVR to record Y&R EVERYDAY. Well, at least until I get tired of Victor Newman again

For now though, major props to Maria Bell, Hogan Sheffer, and Paul Rauch. They took one of the most standard Christmas stories of all time, adapted it brilliantly to Y&R’s legacy and history and created one of their all time best episodes. These three are the model that other daytime executives, producers, and head writers should be trying to emulate because by God, then know what the hell they’re doing, and they do it just about every single weekday afternoon.

I like the Xmas episode of Y&R the best.
LeBlanc & Rikaart did amazing work and so did everyone else.

Obviously this is goin to be one of LeBlanc's Emmy submission and I wouldn't mind seeing hm nom and win w/this same thing to Greg.

By the by GH (insert eyeroll) won the Emmy this yr. not GL.

Just listened to the podcast, right on. To me the best christmas eppy was GH, but I'm a huge fan so you know.

Watching all the Scorpio goodness makes me wish that SoapNet would air classic eppys of GH, could you picture it? GH Rewind: The 80's. Listen up Frons, that's ratings gold right there.

I have been watching Y&R since I could walk and I can't remember any single episode that has moved me the way Friday's episode did. Christian LeBlanc has been my favorite actor on daytime for a long time but after this episode my love and respect for him grew leaps and bounds. He was pitch perfect in every scene. And not just him, the performances by Greg Rikaart, Judith Chapman, Tracey Bregman, Doug Davidson and Michelle Stafford were fantastic as well. It was just another brilliant episode in a long line of brilliant episodes that Y&R has given us this year.

Bravo Maria, Paul, Hogan and Scott!

I haven't watched each soap's Christmas episodes, but I though Days was good. We got to see the Horton's living room and no Sami! This is how the show should be every day. Also, I actually like Bo this way. This is the most I've liked him in quite a while.

I'm finally caught up on the xmas episodes. GH was definitely my favorite. I watched it twice. The Y&R was good but IMO not the greatest Christmas ep or recent Y&R ep. It didn't ring true to me but it didn't really have to since it's a fantasy ep from Michael's perspective.
I guess if Mike had never been born Cassie Newman would still be alive b/c Daniel wasn't in town. That and Glo not getting away with her crimes for years on end make a world without Michael a bit tempting.