Next epsiode of Not That I Watch That Kind of Thing Radio.

The next episode of NTIWTKOT Radio is Sunday January 30, 2011 at 6:30 pm.  Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot/2011/01/30/skye-versus-the-volcano-guess-who-won to check us out.   Feel free to call in at  (714) 202-9929…you know how I love feedback!  To hear our last episode on demand, go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot

 

My wish for harmony

It’s been well established that I’m a sucker for harmony, which seems kind of antithetical to liking a soap, which as a genre is built around conflict.  Maybe it’s the Pisces (IF that’s my real sign…LOL) in me.  I recognize that if soaps were primarily harmonious, it would probably be pretty boring.  But still….I eat it up when I see Lauren and Jill getting along and Abby and Victoria being sisterly.  Hell, I may have been one of the few who actually liked it when Victor was sick and he and Jack got along or when they work together. 

Which brings me to the point of this post….I want to see Nick and Adam get on the same page.  Nick’s never had a brother and has always been sort of a one-note character, a bit of a lunk.  Given how Nick’s never had a brother (or now that I think about it, he’s never really had any male friends…I don’t trust guys who don’t have any buddies), you would think that he would at least be intrigued by the idea.  They could actually make a decent team…Adam the cerebral one, Nick the emotional one.  I would love to see the Newman brothers unite against some common enemy, maybe if they’d actually make Tucker McCall a dynamic character and an actual threat, maybe they could have the Newmans unite to save the company. 

As Barry Speck said in Dinner for Schmucks “You may think that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not…”  Not that I watch that kind of thing….

 

Where’s Dr. Emily Peterson when you need her?

There’s something else you don’t know about me, Joe Rogan.  (c)Tyrone Biggums

My dream was to be a Psychologist.  Better yet, my dream was to have a private practice and provide therapeutic services to adolescents.  Because I had great GRE scores coming out of Hampton University, I was kind of steered towards Ph.D. programs and Psy.D. programs.  I went to work on a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology for 3 years and had a great GPA, but in an ironic twist, I had the worst case of writers’ block in history and ran out of funding before finishing.  I intended to go back, but started making full time money, and now a wife and two sons later, it’s probably not in the cards.

I say all this to say that I know a little something about mental health treatment.  With that background, how in the bluest of hells would a trained mental health professional think it’s a good idea to completely disrupt the life of an ex-husband to help his scheming “amnesiac” ex-wife?  It’s all kinds of unethical and just plain wrong.  The Young and The Restless handles many issues with kid gloves, but they’re so ham-handed with the portrayal of both mental health professionals and the mentally ill.  From Emily Peterson marrying her bat-shit crazy client’s obsession to this Kevin and Jana debacle to Sharon’s private room to Ashley’s voluntary commitment to Adam’s manipulation and the depiction of the patients as 1 dimensional loony birds, the portrayal leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least.  Again, it’s a great dramatic opportunity for Y & R that they won’t take in order to take shortcuts.  How interesting would it be for Sharon, for instance, to realize she was Bipolar?  It could create some Emmy-worthy scenes and could explain a lot of her past behaviors.  If you doubt the dramatic potential of such a development, I dare you to check out “An Unquiet Mind” by Kay Redfield Jamison.

Anyway, I really hope this storyline ends quickly…it just makes me uncomfortable…not that I watch that kind of thing

 

Worst.Death.EVER! and if I had to go to jail….

Hey y’all…Happy New Year!

I had a bit of a hiatus as I was off from work and home with my sons for the past few weeks…I’m just getting back to a sense of “normalcy.”  Funny enough, during my time at home with the boys, I really didn’t have time to watch Y &R and blog about it.  The situation just kind of shows the absurdity of housewives being the ones who watch soaps.  It seems fate is not without sense of irony (c) Morpheus from The Matrix.

At any rate, I could not come back and not write about the death of Skye.  It’s the worst fictional death since Samuel L. Jackson got ate by a mickey fickey shark in Deep Blue Sea. It’s bad on two levels….

1. There’s lots of ways to die…impaling, electrical shock, gunshot, hanging, even disembowling a la William Wallace.  One of the worst had to be my beautiful Skye falling into an active volcano.  Here’s what lava can do…it can turn from this into this.  It’s a horrible way to go (*Anakin only survived because he had The Force to sustain him).
2. From a storyline standpoint, it’s the worst death ever because the Skye character had so much potential and was intriguing.  Soaps have done more absurd stuff before, but it’s pretty hard to argue that Skye somehow survived the lava pit.  Maybe they’ll pull a Bardwell and bring Laura Stone back as Skye’s long lost twin Ground or Rain or something like that.

In other random thoughts:

• I fear jail.  I will never break the law because I’m far too pretty to go to jail…I like taking a shower in private.  I’m a picky eater.  I HATE being told what to do.  Plus I’m claustrophobic.  That said, if I had to do jail, I need the Adam Newman treatment.  This bama is apparently the only inmate, has unlimited visiting hours, unsupervised visits from his hot (though clearly psychotic) girlfriend to the point where he was kissing her between the bars (I can’t make this stuff up) and lots of privacy.
• I’ve often praised Daniel’s common sense.  However, he could have easily avoided his hospitalization and Daisy’s escape by simply lying.  Pretend you’re trying to get some of that Sociopathic booty….when she says we can still run away together, just say yeah…and drive her ass to the nearest hospital.  There, problem solved.
• The new DA Spencer Walsh….I’m cracking up at his inability to completely hide his Jamaican accent.  Maybe I’m just more sensitive to it because my wife is Jamaican, but it’s unmistakable.
• Shout out to Kevin and Chloe finally getting together.  I marked out for when they finally kissed.
• Buckdown to Jana.  C’mon, son…But then again, she has to believe that Kevin will come back.   After all, after she tried to murder Kevin and Colleen, Kevin not only took her back but got a surgery done for her.  Still, I’m annoyed by her.
• Is it me or is Nina getting kind of hot?
• Just this once, can Jack finally beat Victor (but without lasting damage to Victor)?
• I’m a sucker for harmony, so I love to see Jill and Lauren as well as Victoria and Abby getting along.  Speaking of which, I’ll be back tomorrow with a storyline idea that would involve two enemies getting together.

Not that I watch that kind of thing, but that’s it for now.

The next episode of NTIWTKOT Radio is Sunday January 30, 2011 at 6:30 pm.  Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot/2011/01/30/skye-versus-the-volcano-guess-who-won to check us out.  To hear our last episode on demand, go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot!

 

The 5 hottest women on Y & R Right Now (12/21/2010)

For some reason, BY FAR, my most viewed and popular post is the original 5 hottest women on Y & R right now, with a strong Eden Riegel fanbase fueling it.  So, in the interests of promotion, let’s do it again!  I have a change or two, plus the add of some honorable mentions.  In no particular order once again…

Laura Stone as Skye Lockhart

I did a separate ode to the lovely Ms. Stone, as she was a glaring omission from the first list.  I hope they keep her around, as she would make for amazing storylines.

Eden Riegel as Heather Stevens

The now-pregnant Ms. Riegel is a must on the list, as she keeps bringing the hits in.  She’s a beautiful girl, but she just hasn’t clicked in this role.

Elizabeth Hendrickson as Chloe Mitchell

I’m keeping my Chloe on here!  I need for them to get a good storyline for her, but I’m still loving her

Angell Conwell as Attorney Leslie Michaelson

A newcomer to Y & R, the lovely Ms. Conwell is making the most of limited screentime.  I hope they find a way to keep her on the show after the Adam mess is resolved.  I’m not feeling what they’re doing to her hair (pause), but she’s a beautiful woman.

Julia Pace Mitchell as Sofia Dupre

They’ve really dropped the ball on the Sofia Dupre character, going the predictable “chemistry between her and Neil” route (yeah, we saw this love triangle with Neil and Malcolm, both with Dru and with Alex Perez).  And why in God’s name they’re using her in gravy competitions is beyond me, but I still have love for the character, and the actress portraying her is extremely kind, accessible, and generous…she makes you root for her!

Honorable Mentions:

Tatiana Ali at Roxanne with no last name-I had a hard time taking her out of the top 5, but I don’t think she’s appeared since August.  Maybe she’s on a fishing trip or at a lodge meeting with Murphy.

Tracey Bregman  as Lauren Fenmore Baldwin-Didn’t want to give the impression that I had anything but love for the cougars and Tracey Bregman is a gorgeous woman!

Sharon Case as Sharon Collins Newman Abbott Newman-There’s a tendency to overlook Sharon because she’s been there so long and her character can be maddening, but when you just look at her, you think “Man, that’s an attractive woman”

Marcy Rylan as Abby Newman-She just got edged out of the top 5 for not standing by her rape victim boyfriend, but I still like Marcy Rylan a lot.

 

Nasty Nick goes into his ex-step-mother’s Naughty Jungle of Love (12/17/2010)

Somehow, we didn’t get to touch on it on the radio show, but one of the more, uh, interesting developments on Y & R last week was Nick boning his former mother in law, now played by Maura West.  Maura West reminds me of Rihanna physically, but if you know me, you know I’m not a big fan of Rihanna, not just because she’s cricket-faced, but she’s said some extremely dumb stuff in the wake of the Chris Brown assault.  But I digress.

So henceforth, Nicholas Newman shall be known as Nasty Nick, a homage to the character Nasty Nate from Half Baked.  To make it even nastier, it looks like they’re going to go with a father-son love triangle with Diane.  This just sounds like a set up for a bad porn.  Not that Y & R hasn’t treaded this path before with the Newmans (i.e. Victor kissing Sharon, Nikki and Victoria both going after Cole).

In other news from Friday, I got to see Skye’s legs!  We all know Adam’s going to get off, but we need to have some adversity for him to get through before he and Sharon can ride off into their dysfunctional sunset.  All I’m asking for is for the writers to just include one flashback scene that shows what happened to Richard Hightower, or I cannot buy into Adam’s redemption.

Not that I watch that kind of thing….

 

First episode of NTIWTKOT Radio is available for listening and download

The first episode of Not That I Watch That Kind of Thing radio is available for you to check out now.  Please let us know what you think.  It should be available as a podcast in the coming days.  Thanks for reading/listening.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot/2010/12/19/not-that-i-watch-that-kind-of-thing

 

Y & R Presents: Smackdown! (12/10/10-12/11/10)

There’s something you don’t know about me, Joe Rogan. (c) Tyrone Biggums

I watch wrestling.  Not like I did in the 90s, mind you.  Back then, I couldn’t miss a show.  Now, if it’s on, I’ll watch it, but more than anything, it all just feels kind of been there, done that.  I mention this all because wrestling is often called soap operas for men.  (sidebar:  I think I’m going to have to do a post on wrestling and soaps similarities at some point)

I bring all this up because, funny enough, wrestling and The Young and The Restless coincided on Friday’s episode!  We had not one, not two, but three fights!  It was an entertaining episode that felt like a bit of a payoff on a show that has seemed to underwhelm on payoffs as of late.   Before I go into my thoughts on the fights, I must address two things: 

• Jana…you’re an attractive girl, with a sexy British accent.  Move on….you’re stalkerish now and you’re making a deal with the psycho rapist who imprisoned you and actually caused you to lose Kevin in the first place by denying you medical attention for your anyuerism.  Just stop.
• Mrs. Chancellor asking Sharon if she was stupid was MONEY! 

Now, onto the Royal Rumble:

1. Daniel vs. Kevin in a First Blood Match: Former best friends collide as “Crazy” Kevin Fisher squares off with “The Italian Stallion” Daniel Romalotti. Daniel, already in an emotionally damaged place after the rejection by Abby, goes to GloWorm and gets into it with Kevin over his plan to adopt the product of Daniel’s rape by Daisy.  Heated words are exchanged, Kevin calls Daniel a dead-beat, and Daniel bloodies his nose with the one-hitter quitter for the win. Jeffrey’s reaction is priceless.
2. “Smiling” Jack Abbott vs. Adam “The Weasel” Newman: In a classic case of two tweeners going at it, you really don’t know who to root for.  Jack’s playing the good guy, but in reality, he conspired with Adam on the diary and then sold him out.  That, my friends, is the true definition of snitching: entering into a criminal operation with someone, but then turning on them.  And Adam’s crimes have been well documented,  but since we know he didn’t actually kill Skye, he’s somewhat of a babyface as well.  Jabot wins it with a punch, which Adam took like a G. 
3. And now for the main event….“Stupid” Sharon Collins Newman Abbott Newman vs. Phyllis “Big Red She-Devil” Summers Romalotti Abbott Newman in a chocolate cat fight: We’ve been waiting for this one for years, as Phyllis and Sharon never really had a definitive conflict in spite of all the heat between them.  The dialogue leading up to it and the actual fight will go down as an iconic scene in Y & R history because of the long build to this.  Compare it to the cake fight at Billy and Chloe’s wedding, which was the final installment (for now) of the Kay and Jill feud.  At one point, I was hoping that they would take a risk and have Phyllis and Sharon have an affair as they seemed to get closer when they were working together to exonerate Nick,and I think they really could still do that with Phyllis working with Adam and Sharon.  Regardless, I loved the fight and hope they do something with it.  At this point, Joey Styles (RIP the real ECW) would have been screaming “CAT FIGHT!”

5 more days until Not that I Watch That Kind of Thing Radio…

 

Big News!

To my dozens and dozens of readers…(who am I kidding…even that’s an exagerration)

This blog has been fun to do, in spite of sometimes feeling like I’m talking to myself only.  Well, I’m about to take talking to myself to a new level!

1. The blog has a new dedicated e-mail address ntiwtkot@gmail.com
2. We’ve had the Facebook page for a while, but in order to get a snazzy short address, I need 25 people to “like” the page…ask a friend, please!  Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-that-I-watch-that-kind-of-thing/126482750702982
3. I’ve started a twitter page, though I admit, I hate twitter.  Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/ntiwtkot
4. And for the biggest news of all….

Now I’ll be able to literally talk to myself.  I’ve started a new blog talkradio show.  For half an hour on Sunday evenings, you can listen to me blather about Y & R, music, etc.  You’ll be able to call in as well.   For more info on the radio show, go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ntiwtkot/.  The first episode will be Sunday, December 19 from 3:30-4:00pm. 

Please tell a friend!

 

Intriguing loose ends…

I saw on Restless Style Fan Edition on Facebook (good group…check it out!) that it was suggested that maybe Phyllis is really Sheila from the plastic surgery incident in 2007 and that’s why she wants Daisy to move in with her.  That would be mindblowing, and not entirely out of the realm of possibility.  Some other loose ends on Y & R, and how they could be used…

• The “Death” of Dru: Obviously, they never found Dru’s body so they could have the possibility of bringing her back.  Given Victoria Rowell’s very visible crusade for equality on Y & R, I don’t see them bringing her back…and if they recast her, that could be a disaster
• Phyllis running down Paul and murdering two other witnesses to her switching the paternity tests for Daniel: Every time I think that there’s no way to redeem Adam, I think about how Phyllis at one point tried to kill Paul and rendered his Mr. Happy impotent and how she murdered a doctor and a lab tech who could have given away Phyllis’ secrets regarding Daniel’s paternity away.  It’s rarely mentioned, and though she’s interacted with Paul numerous times, it’s never come out that it was her that did it.
• Adam’s (“Vic” at the time) sojourn in Sri Lanka:  Granted, there’s not much they could do with this one, but few remember that about a year or less before Adam came back to Genoa City as the character we know, Victor went to Sri Lanka to try to find him.  The picture of someone hiking in Sri Lanka doesn’t really jive with the Adam character at all.
• Adam’s blindness:  Just explain that his sight miraculously returned, but pretending that Adam is semi-blind, but can somehow go to unfamiliar places alone without nary a bump into a wall without an explanation is maddening.
• Richard Hightower’s murder:  Going with the scenario from the lead paragraph, what if “Phyllis” was the one who killed Richard Hightower?  Or Daisy?  It seems that they’ve completely dropped that, but they need to have closure on the incident if they intend on keeping Adam on the show.
• Summer’s Paternity:  They can always bring this back up way later, but Nick was the only one who saw Summer’s paternity test results…then he caught amnesia.  It’s completely possible that Summer is Jack’s daughter and Nick said it was his to stay with Phyllis, maybe intending to tell Jack later.  Once he had the plane crash and lost his memory of the preceding two years, he never regained his memories as much as he accepted his current reality as told to him.
• Little Nate: If Y & R ever wanted to devote resources to developing it’s black characters, Nate could be a good place to start.  The only character in history to ever age naturally, Little Nate should be in his early 20s legitimately now and he’s in medical school.  Bring him back and make him a centerpiece of a new, stronger Winters clan. 
• Brittany and her child: Brittany hasn’t been seen since Bobby Marsino died, but she could add an intriguing element to the Billy/Victoria romance

I know I couldn’t have named them all…what loose ends would you like to see Y & R bring back?  Not that I watch that kind of thing….