Only in our town

What is it with these Genoa City companies and their job share CEO positions?

Validating Victor's claim that his ex-wife may be just a wee bit under qualified to lead Jabot further into the black, Nikki's first order of business was to hire her supplicating sidekick as her Co-CEO. What is it, by the way, with these Genoa City companies and their job share CEO positions? In my Midwest town, I know a few companies who offer job share. Two people have been known to share a receptionist desk, a secretarial station, perhaps even a legal assistant's chair. But four hands wielding the rubber stamp or red veto pen at the CEO level? Not even! Of course, after what I've seen of Nikki's leadership abilities; I have no business rearing back in astonishment at her latest decision. Because though her shrill and oft repeated shouts of foul were frequently heard resounding through the halls, in reality, it was Phyllis and Jack who were the real brains and brawn of NVP. But on the other hand, if it's accurate that the true test of brilliant leadership is surrounding oneself with qualified underlings to delegate to, then Nikki is well on her way to being a fine captain of the Jabot barge.

But Nikki's current lover, lap puppy Chow, isn't the only mutt likely to have a bowl with his name on it on the boardroom floor. Ex-lover Brad is also being given the chance to add his yelp to the raucous chorus as they gather around the conference room table. But while Brad hasn't officially accepted her offer, I doubt any fan believes he won't be yipping a Yes in the very near future. Because Victor has certainly made it clear as freshly Windexed glass, that most of the bulbs are burnt out in any future billboards advertising Brad at Newman.

And Brad wasn't the only current or former Newman employee Nikki hoped to add to the ranks of Jabot's executive staff. She also sought the services of her baby boy. And why not? Daddy had already dumped him for disloyalty. You know what they say: One man's trash is another woman's treasure. Okay, so I tinkered with that one a bit, but you catch my drift. Unfortunately, she was a day late and a dollar short (yes, I'm full of them today), because Nick had already begun heating his jeweled blade of betrayal in Jack's fire.

One thing about all this corporate switcher-rooing, Neil is finally going to get that which he has desired for most of his workaholic life. To be solely in charge. At least until Victoria descends from that cotton candy Cloud 9 she's currently floating on and returns to the ordinary world the rest of Genoa Citians inhabit.

Ahh, there should be very interesting days indeed ahead in the cutthroat corporate world of Genoa City. First we have the fledging foursome getting their online/print mag off the ground. Along with that queer quadrant, Amber's allegedly edgy designs could make them the fearless five. And Daniel could make them a successful six. Victor has already demonstrated his disdain for their project, predicting its demise down the swirling drain of defeat. And, knowing Victor, if there's anything he can do to hasten its unfortunate end, I'm sure he will be all over it. I, however, think Victor might be a bit premature in his predictions. In these new and ever-expanding days of internet wheeling and dealing, Online has already made many a millionaire. And say what you will about Jack and his entrepreneurial expertise (or lack thereof), Clear Springs was well on its way to becoming a soaring success until Newman and its assorted incompetents took it away from him, and ran with it - straight into a wall of shoddily constructed concrete, unfortunately. Second, we already know Phyllis is supposedly the best there is at the internet stuff she does, so much so in fact, that it was grounds for an early release from Camp Confinement. Add Nick dripping his creative juices all over the business plan and Sharon, well, doing whatever it is that she is best at, it certainly sounds like their budding venture has a better than average chance of flowering into a successful something.

Over at Newman, there is even more that might wind up being afoot. With Brad out of the way, and no danger the newest Mr. Newman's head of security position could encroach on his executive turf, Neil might think there is no cause for any alarm that his current co-reigning duties could be curtailed. BUT, because you know there is always a big one of those, that was before we knew about the other Newman child. Though in the olden days, she used to be more her father's daughter, pretty good at slashing at others with her own, smaller ruthless blade, this new Victoria is softer and much more pudding-like. As for her sibling, well, we all know Nick can't fully be trusted; if he's the one that's supposed to have your back, well, you just better have an extra pair of eyes in the back of your skull, the better to see his betrayal coming. On a side note, I found myself chuckling helplessly at some of the words recently exiting Nick's mouth. Like him stating it was time he got out from under his father's shadow. While still living literally in the shadow of his father's house on his father's land. You want to cast your own shadow, M'boy? Move yourself, Mommy and baby makes three into a house you have to pay for. Sharon no longer lives on the property, so that excuse of being near your boy, Noah, doesn't hold a bit of water. Second, I found it interesting that he so quickly jumped to Jack's defense, certain he couldn't possibly be a murderer, yet the man who gave him life received no such consideration.

But, I have digressed, as I usually do, so let me get back to Victor Jr. While I don't relish seeing a less developed version of a sometimes hateful, always egotistical, and exceptionally exasperating Victor, I do hope Jr. is closer to being a chip off the old block than Nick or Victoria. After all, Victor won't be around forever; someone has to be a similar successor to his throne. Anyway, I expect Jr. will have a few anger issues against Victor for refusing to go against Hope's wishes and inform him of his true parentage. But I hope that will be a microscopic portion of the storyline plot. If we have to see something like that, we can just keep watching Heather and Paul. Instead, I'd much rather learn how this Newman son has made himself a success in the business world without the benefiting grease in the corporate works of the Newman name. A son who grew up without that golden spoon of entitlement protruding from his pouting mouth, but still wound up strong, trustworthy and with a mix of Victor's ruthlesslessness and Hope's ethics. Nick claims to have no need of Daddy's approval, or love, for that matter, but will sibling rivalry rear its unattractive head and cause him to start singing a different kind of tune if a bond begins forming between Daddy and number two son? We know he has it in him, because in the past, we saw how forcefully he shoved his sister aside when he wanted the Newman crown for himself. Nick against Victor's namesake. Oh the possibilities have me practically panting with anticipatory pleasure.

On an entirely different note, it was the wedding to die for, was it not? True, only a scant handful of attendees were present to ooh and aah at the fourth, though undoubtedly not the final wedding for Ms. Victoria Newman, McNeal, Howard, Carlton, Hellstrom. And yes, the bride wore blinding white, just like her Mommy at her whatever number it was wedding when she wore the same gown. Almost from the beginning these two have gazed at each other with adoring eyes. Hardly a harsh word has ever been directed at one from the other. They hug, they kiss, they say all the appropriately loving words. Oh how very happy they are, they have vowed to cherish each other until the very end of time. J.T. has been nothing but devoted to his love. And she to him. I should love these two. And I don't dislike them. They've actually grown on me. But still, I find it hard to feel a thing. And I can't even tell you exactly why. The closest I can come to deciphering the way I feel is that they leave me utterly lukewarm. Like J.T., whose character seems to have no soaring highs or bottom scraping lows, he is always in the middle, lukewarm. And Victoria is beautiful, with her tears and her gratitude at finally having the husband and child she's craved since she lost Eve. But, still, she leaves me lukewarm too. These two are perfect. And bland. Oh well, that's just me. I know every fan doesn't feel the same.

At the extreme opposite end of the spectrum, love her or hate her (and I do, with wild-eyed passion), bland would never be a term used to describe Gloria. The channeled Bette Davis has put her many plots into action, crowding the somewhat stuffy Abbott rooms with tacky trinkets and a bulbous-eyed portrait, piping in excruciatingly bad opera music (no offense intended to Korean opera), which sounded worse than Colleen at the Karaoke mike, and other assorted offenses, including, but presumably not to be limited to, hurling her poisoned darts into the tender flesh of young Noah. Remember what ever happened to Baby Jane? For those who do not, suffice it to say that all the Abbotts might want to take care when about to descend the Abbott stairs. I know some fans feel Gloria is completely justified in whatever she does, because of her alleged all-encompassing love for John and his desire to bequeath half of what he owned to her undeserving derriere. But I guess I look at it in my own warped way. Yes, the money was John's to do with as he wished. But, it wasn't as if John earned all that money himself. For years, he played little more than an advisory part in the running of Jabot. Hence, the money that was made and trickled into his coffers was due in large part to the labors of the very children Gloria went to such great pains to disgrace, and now wants out of the house that is more theirs than hers. And I still say, likely for the millionth time, Gloria might think that the more she claims John loved her for who she was the truer it will become. But I don't buy that stinky sack of smelly stuff. If John had truly known the extent of the decay and deceit in her decrepit old soul, he would be joining with Jack and haunting this harridan right out of his house.

Let the poisoning begin. Easily spotting Kevin's electronic eavesdropping, so far Jeffrey has managed to keep one step ahead of Gloria. If his luck holds, and my wish is granted, he will remain ahead during this poison plot as well. It's not as if it would be hard to figure out. After all, Kevin and Gloria discuss their plan at decibels much above a whisper while Jeff is merely a room away. And since Jeff has every reason to be quite the suspicious soul, maybe he has an item or two bugged, especially since he and Gloria inhabit separate bedrooms. I just hope this too doesn't somehow get laid at Jack's door. The red herring clues on the path thus far are certainly making that a possibility. If something happens to Gloria, Paul, among many others, can certainly point an accusatory finger at Jack as a person who hated Gloria and wanted her out of his life in the worst way. Especially if he returns to the house and has access to Gloria's food and drink. On the other hand, if Jeffrey doesn't tumble to the poisoning plot, Jack could find himself an unwilling witness testifying to Jeffrey's rage against Gloria. Oh, there's so many ways this one can go, but I won't be happy unless it ends with Gloria being ignominiously booted from the premises on her greedy rear.

Obviously, Heather hasn't learned a thing from her boot from the JiMin case. Still smarting from being smacked hard on the wrist for pursuing one wrongfully accused perpetrator, she barely pauses for breath before dashing off thoughtlessly after the next. I don't know when they hold their general election in Genoa City, but when voters get to that question about whether or not to keep the current Judges in their positions, every voter should color in the circle marked No! What kind of a judge would issue a search warrant on the paper thin evidence Heather had? So Jack visited Ji Min on that crucial day? It's not believable Jack would kill JiMin to keep him quiet, only to go public later with the very information himself. Sure, he was somewhat forced to come clean, but it wasn't like JiMin's confession would positively cause him a world of hardship. Embarrassment? Yes? A definite sentence of incarceration? Not likely. So, he had no more motive for killing the man than Victor did. As for PI Paul, I know I wasn't the only one who thought he looked quite ridiculous hiding behind his upheld newspaper, eavesdropping on the Abbott's conversation. So what, Jack seems stressed. If you had a viper like Gloria constantly spitting poison at you, wouldn't you be wary and try to cover up any open wounds lest you become infected and die? Thank goodness for straight thinking minds like Maggie's. Of the three, she seems the only one with more than a drop of birdbrains contained in her cranium. While Paul and Heather's tunnel vision is focused on making a second blind rush to judgment, this time straight for Jack, Maggie has voiced her doubts that Jack is actually the man to keep watch on.

Oh, by the way, I couldn't help but notice Dennis the DA wasted no time puckering his lips to ... umm kiss up to Victor. Were my ears deceiving me or was he not practically salivating when he demanded Heather get Victor Newman and get him good? Now, he's behaving as if it's all Heather's fault her barely held together case collapsed like a rickety castle of playing cards.

All that Assistant DA work has obviously made Miss Heather a flying flop at having fun. Talk about a wet blanket! Heather brought so much dampness to a gathering supposedly in her honor; we should have been sweating from the humidity right through our TV screens. She arrives dressed more like she's going to dinner at a nice restaurant than lounging around on cheap apartment furniture. Armed with a probably name brand red wine and a very standoffish attitude, she and Adrian were like two sore red thumbs sticking out on either end from ten otherwise healthy fingers. I guess that's what happens when adults are determined to have relationships with children. Okay, to be fair, Daniel and Colleen are probably the only ones not old enough to drink (at least I don't recall their 21st birthday celebrations). Heather is over 25 because I remember her telling Paul she'd been waiting that long for her missing father to find her. Amber, Adrian and Jana have to be so close to 30 they can smell it, if they didn't smell it a year or two ago. And Kevin was near 30 when he was an unrepentant internet pedophile and even in soap time that was eons ago. All in all, it was a pretty sad party, with its overabundance of booze and underabundance of any food to dilute it. But it killed several birds with the same small stone. Amber got to showcase her fashion frock and her song. Colleen got a glimpse of just how much of a mismatch she is with Adrian and finally, Daniel and Amber got an opportunity to get drunk enough to do the one thing Daniel has wanted to do since the moment Amber minced into Crimson Lights so long ago and he proclaimed her hot, despite the presence of his apparently not equally hot wife at a nearby table. Now Daniel knows what kept Cane smiling before the truth about Amber came out.

Well, that's about it for this fan. With so much going on, I expect my enjoyment of this new and improved Y&R to continue. Rumor has it the writer's strike is nearly at an end. I just hope more fingers adding stuff to the pot don't make the GC stew unpalatable once again. You're up, fans. By the way, I wish I could include every single word you all have to say, but in order for every fan who writes to have at least a little say, I do have to do some editing. I trust you'll understand. See ya in seven days.

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TASHA - I am so repulsed by gold-digging chameleon Glo. I'd much prefer Jack let her have the house so when Jeff secretly doubles the portion Kevin is encouraging her to take, and she falls into a deep sleep he will not be made the scapegoat.

LONDA - Did that nitwit Amber actually blame Lily for all her dumb decisions!? Amber is the whole reason Lily and Daniel went kaput and she has the nerve to hate on Lily. Please! I can't stand this whole Gloria gets the mansion debacle. But I do love Jeffrey. I hope he stays two steps ahead of Frick & Frack and serves them up some much need comeuppance. Unfortunately, seems like Gloria will get her way again, Amber will rise to the top and we will all continue to be tortured by these over-the-hill Girls-Gone-Wild as they wreak havoc on GC.

BOBBI - Am I the only one who remembers this plot? It wasn't that long ago that the courts decided that Jill owned half of the Chancellor estate and Jill moved in against Katherine's wishes.

JENNIE - I feel Neil's over-protectiveness regarding Lily dating Cane is the right thing to do. The mature thing for Lily to do is to not get serious with a guy now and do some introspection to gain some self-awareness to develop some maturity.

BABY BOOMER - Just as I got hooked back into watching Y&R instead of reading about it, here come the latest rumors. While I have no problem w/Jeanne Cooper's possible decision to retire at 80 (and think that 1 of the 2 remaining original characters should get a proper send-off via her memoirs) the deal breaker for me will be pinning JiMin's murder on Jack just to give the Baldwin-Fisher-Abbot-Bardwell-Bardwell family a home of their own and erasing the Abbott family forever from the landscape of Y&R.

KEVIN - What a difference getting rid of rotten writers makes. In the course of the last month, Y&R has totally turned itself around. I now enjoy watching it. All of a sudden, there is character interaction, smart writing and new storylines. I love the Abbott mansion story. I cannot stop laughing. Y&R is definitely going in the right direction.

POPPYCOCK - I see the resident Cruella has firmly staked her leopard-printed claim to the Abbott mansion! It's going to be an interesting, frustrating and comical bit worth tuning into. Especially if spoilers are correct and Noah gives Glo-bag a run for her dead-hubby's money! I am so loving Jeffrey. My only hope is that her red painted talons gets caught soon in that face cream jar and that she earns herself a visit from the John ghost of Christmases past who finally sees her for what she really is! Wouldn't that be a hoot to see those bug-eyes bulge at the sight of John sitting in her leather barcalounger scolding her for her misdeeds! [...] I am actually looking forward, for the first time in about two years, to the next few weeks!

JANICE - First, please kill off Jerry Douglas. Why is the ghost of John Abbott being portrayed as a bigger fool than the man John Abbott? Gloria moving into the Abbott Mansion is such an offensive re-gifting of this similar storyline once used for Kay and Jill. Gloria's character has moved beyond nonsensical. It is not complex, just tawdry, unrefined, devious and hypocritical and yet she is able to manipulate nearly everyone in her universe. The investigation in JiMin's death is predicated on rumors and vendettas by the lead suspects. Why hasn't Paul stepped in to help his daughter and girlfriend develop a bona fide lead instead of playing into Jack and Victor's mutual disdain for each other? At this point, Victor and Jack being dumped on has become the story's core. I hope Victor Jr., will enter as a trusted ally for his father as well as depict his father's strength, wisdom and character; something Nick failed in doing.

LINDA K - Last week Y&R was so good I couldn't wait to come home and watch it. Gloria is something else. She is so good I just love to hate her! I haven't enjoyed the Y&R this much in a long time.

MARY B - I'm sure I'm not the only one who assumes there is a connection between Jeffrey's frequent calls to Korea and JiMin's death. Gloria will probably be the victor once again, unless we get lucky and she accidentally poisons herself. I like the idea of Nikki running Jabot. It would be especially nice if we saw her as an independent businesswoman instead of someone who will undoubtedly need Victor to come to her aid when David starts stealing all of her money. I still want to see Nick and Sharon back together and hope that the new business will allow that to happen. I just wonder what Phyllis is going to do to cause Nick to stray.

SUE - I am really sick of the Gloria thing. I wish Jeffrey would just turn her in and get her off the show. I am getting more and more disappointed in the show. I have watched since its inception, but it is just getting too stupid with all the Gloria and Kevin stuff. Please wake up and get back to stories that make sense.

JAN V - Would it be too much to hope that the police search of the Jabot mansion turned up Jeffrey's stash of that tainted cream? That maybe, just maybe, the world's worst police department (oh wait, that distinction is actually held by Oakdale PD) will solve the crime of the tainted cream and expose the Bardwell brother as an extortionist? On another note, I enjoyed the complete and total dismissal of Gloria's application for the top job at Jabot. A small crumb from the table of delight!

ELLEN - Boy, Nick really is a momma's boy isn't he? Nikki tossed his wife out of NVP, coerced Brad into ratting Phyllis out to the authorities and testified against her in Court, turned her nose up at her at their wedding, humiliated his sister during her election campaign and Victor is the bad guy? Vicky is really the one who takes after Victor and I hope she continues to support him. Nick, on the other hand, may be singing a different tune when Vic Jr. comes to town and takes his place as number one son.

TRISH - I agree that Gloria emulates the stars of a long time ago - Joan Crawford or Bette Davis - right over the top. Once in awhile, I even catch a glimpse of Dame Edna in her mouth movements.

BARBARA - I have never despised a character more than Gloria; she ought to choke on her saliva when she dares to utter that Jack needs to pay for what he's done when she caused the death of a person and has yet to pay.

WANDA - Nikki needs to stop flaunting Chow Hound in Victor's face. J.T. is sweet but some of the stuff he's doing now really seems mushy and forced. Since the writer's strike appears to be over, does that mean we'll have to endure the same old, same old again?