Transitioning

It's life as usual in Genoa City. But since it's out with the old, and soonto-be in with the new, what you see now may not exactly be what you end up with. It's a game of smoke and mirrors as Y&R transitions under its new creative team. So what does that mean? Find out in this week's -- Abracabra! -- Two Scoops.

Transitioning -- according to my Word Encarta Dictionary -- means "a process or period in which something undergoes a change and passes from one state, stage, form, or activity to another." Well, that seems a perfect way to describe Genoa City things at the moment. And it's anyone's guess as to whether the changes will eventually make our show better....or worse.

I love this show and, over the years, have grown to care about the make-believe inhabitants of this pretend town. Chock full of chills, thrills, life, death, love, hate, intrigue, deception, and everything in between, for the most part, Y&R has provided a lovely, hour-long escape from the ups and downs of my real life. Over the years, I've seen head writers and executive producers come, and I've waved bye-bye as they were sent packing.

Given the new regime soon to make their presence known, it almost seems an exercise in futility to analyze the current happenings, since much of what we're watching and fuming or cheering about today could change drastically or be dumped altogether in about a month or so. But, that's what this column is for, so I guess I'll get started.

As many fans have mentioned recently, the current storylines and characters are all over the place, and fans are not pleased. From one day to the next, little seems to make sense. Children go away burdened down by toy-filled backpacks one month, and return practically old enough to drink the next. Michael remarked to Lauren last week how he couldn't have come through all this without Lauren and Fen. First of all, what has he come through, and what did Fen have to do with any of it? Have we even seen Fen more than once since he's been aged?

The town has been peopled with new residents that no one cares about. Yolanda changed her name to Harmony and bears absolutely no resemblance to who she was previously purported to be. Sarge is another complete stranger who is sometimes awkwardly inserted into a scene that could have easily done without him. Was Sofia's sole purpose just to provide Neil a biological son? Malcolm who? Chelsea comes in a hard-edged con woman in hot pursuit of an Abbott, and in no time flat is the gushing, blushing bride of the black sheep, but immensely wealthy, Newman son.

Once sweet Sharon is now the town pariah, and Phyllis has become the golden girl who can do no wrong, though her heart remains as black and evil as ever. Jack, once the hard-to-get playboy, now falls in love at the flutter of a mascaraed false eyelash, and lately, the romance is over almost as soon as the I dos have been mumbled.

Dead people we never knew from down under places that were never mentioned are magically resurrected. While hometown girl, Ashley, is abruptly kicked off the canvas, her annoying offspring, Abby, is left behind to yip and yap at everyone she dislikes like a cranky Chihuahua. Nikki loves Victor. Then she loves him not. Oops, I guess there's nothing new about that. Apparently having learned well at her mother's knee, Victoria, too, has perfected the art of loving then loathing her father. As for Victor, the patriarch of the most dysfunctional family in daytime fiction knows just what to do to earn his loved one's love and devotion: disappear.

Speaking of Victor, what is his malfunction this time? Like nursery rhyme Jack, did Victor fall down and break something in his crown? Like the part that governs memory? Is Victor's departure from his Genoa City life storyline-dictated or contract-related? And when or if the great one returns, will he be a different man or the same hateful, one-note character he's slowly been turned into?

As usual, whenever Victor's away, the Genoa City mice haul out the hats and balloons and throw a Newman Enterprise takeover party. Over the years, Jack, Brad, Adam, and others have tossed their hat in the ring to try to take home the Newman prize. At the moment, Jack is sitting on the sidelines, one hand occupied with snatching Jabot from his sister, the other fist clutched tightly around Beauty of Nature. Unfortunately, this means he had no hands free to hold onto his new bride who has skipped off to hunt down the real love of her life.

Nikki's not as dumb as she sometimes acts. She learned her lesson about the consequences of sending another woman to do a job she really wanted to do herself. So, despite all her wedding day mumble-jumble about Jack standing for her, which made her love him even more, when it came to a choice, she left poor Jack slumped in his wheelchair while she went chasing after a man she claimed she no longer wanted.

Adam is a happy, married camper these days and has seemingly lost his taste for fighting over his father's things. With an adoring wife who wants nothing more than to buy household baubles and have his baby, a brand new business to put his own stamp on, Adam has mostly become an accepted member of Genoa City society. Yes, Victoria, Nick, and Nikki still look down their privileged noses at him, but who cares about those wishy-washy haters?

Unfortunately, this time, it's Sharon who is the mouse craving the biggest chunk of the Newman cheese. Yes, we all know Tucker is the wind beneath her suddenly emerged wings, but we all also know nothing good is likely to come from this collaboration.

Which brings me to Victoria Newman Abbott. Where was this concern for Newman when she and her siblings -- the same siblings now making all the noise about the good of the company and all the rest of their garbage -- robbed their father and his company of 500 million each? The same Victoria who turned her beloved daddy down flat when he practically begged her to come back to the company.

Victoria has been behaving like a truculent two-year old for who knows how long, wanting nothing much to do with Victor; now suddenly she's all daddy's little girl again, fighting to preserve the company she said she wanted no part of. Now she's ordering her elastic-spined hubby to skewer stepmommy dearest in his Restless rag. I guess public confidence and plunging Newman stock prices aren't so important after all. A united Newman front apparently only includes the Newmans that sprung from Nikki's loins.

Not that Nick is any better. For weeks, he's been too busy trotting, tail all a-wag, acting as Phyllis' clueless lapdog (when Avery wasn't already in the way, fulfilling that role) to be bothered with Newman business. After leaving the running of the new cosmetic company on Sharon's somewhat inexperienced shoulders, he finally decided to show up for a meeting on the one day Sharon was recovering from her wedding day meltdown, his hypocritical mouth filled with accusations.

It's hard to believe that Mr. Moral and Upright was once so incensed and appalled by his father's commercial bribery, he turned the man in to the Feds, willing to see him locked away for years. Yet, now he turns a blind eye to the antics of his murderous bride. Look behind you, Nick, your hypocrisy is showing. Excuse me while I fail to be impressed with either your righteous indignation or your convenient Newman Enterprise caring now.

Now, to Sharon. For more months than I can remember, Sharon has been the whipping girl the entire flawed town has taken multiple swings at. Though her main "crime" seems to be loving inappropriately, she has taken more heat than Phyllis, who tried her best to kill Paul and Christine, despite the spin she's putting on that incident now. Abby, the next most vocal accuser, is an attempted murderer by car herself. Although there were extenuating circumstances, Nikki killed her own father and her now stepson's mother, yet she has the nerve to point a finger at Sharon for her misdeeds.

All that aside, however, in this latest adventure, Sharon is swimming in waters way too deep for her skills. Even though it isn't likely to last, I've enjoyed these few days of someone treating Sharon with kindness, instead of heaping hatred and retribution on her head for her love or infatuation sins. Just as it's not much fun to watch Phyllis use sex, guilt, or tears and begging to always come out on top and get all to willingly do her bidding, it's also no fun to watch one character constantly get bashed by one and all.

Oh, I know, you don't have to say it. Tucker's clearly got his own reasons for being nice to Sharon. He's been trying to sneak in the back door of Newman Enterprises for quite some time. In his quest to get his hands on Beauty of Nature or a bigger slice of the Newman pie, he's so far tried teaming up with Adam, Lauren, Sofia, and Genevieve. Now it's likely Sharon's turn. It's too bad, though, because when he showed up at the ranch just in time to lend a hand to Sharon, I was happy and hopeful that at last she might have finally found a friend, someone to stand in her corner for a change, something even the worst of other Genoa Citians seem to have. But, unfortunately, it's looking like Tucker may just be the next person to use and discard Sharon.

I can't completely blame Tucker, however. Although his whereabouts are currently unknown, Sharon has no reason to believe Victor is dead or gone for good, so she has to realize there will come a time when the wizard will return, and the piper will have to be paid. And woe to the fiddler who played fast and loose with Victor's stuff. If Sharon isn't sure, she should just ask Adam about the wrath of Victor Newman when you've mishandled his business toys, or tried to sideline his precious Nick and Victoria progeny. As far as Victor is concerned, he can meddle with the lives of his children all he wants, but just let an outsider try to do the same, and he will try to see that they pay for all eternity.

Moving on to people who are not Newmans by birth or marriage, I know a lot of fans aren't the least bit interested in anything to do with Cane, Lily, or Genevieve, but I actually find this one watchable. It's nice that Lily has finally moved out of the role of perpetual victim who is the last to know the secret that surrounds her. I don't even try to guess where this one is going because nothing about Cane or his origins has ever made the least bit of sense. I'm half-convinced his storylines have been put together piecemeal by different people who pay no attention to what the scribes before them have already penned. He's been a good guy, then bad, honest, then a liar, dead, then alive. He's been an only child, then a twin, then a ghost. He worked with his dad, then against his dad and with his mom. And now we may be discovering his sister has either been murdered, or not.

When Jill went off to Australia, her return was rumored to be slated for September, and it was believed she might have Colin in tow. Bad boy though he was, I liked Colin and Jill together and hope there is more to come. Now that the wild cards of Jill and Josh have been tossed on the table, I guess we will just have to see if that actually unfolds.

By the way, I laughed out loud when Lily told Cane and Genevieve they had to call the police. What good are the police going to be? They almost always have the wrong man, and they couldn't likely find a clue if it was gift-wrapped and placed prominently in the middle of their office chair. Case in point, like other fans, I find it ridiculous that Ricky's computer has never been mentioned. Instead, unless my memory is faulty, all of his things were send to Heather. Michael, Heather, and Ronan. A trio of incompetents who can't connect the dots because they're too busy being sidetracked by their personal relationship with the criminals. And Ronan is supposed to be FBI. For his poor performance, he needs to go back to his ABC's.

I found myself laughing uncontrollably again when Michael muttered about how he hates going after his friends as the D.A. What the heck did he expect? In this town, the only ones who ever get arrested are the rich and powerful....all of whom are Michael's friends, loved ones, or acquaintances. How could he not have known he'd have a case against one of them when at any given time one or more of them are in jail or in trouble for some crime they usually didn't commit.

The one time someone is actually guilty, Phyllis, he's doing everything he can to make it go away. Michael, as the D.A., is a big joke. Purporting to be obligated to follow the letter of the law . . . unless, of course, the case involves his wife, his best friend, his mother, brother, sister, son, the sons or daughters of his best friend -- virtually, everyone in Genoa City -- except of course, Paul. Hypocrisy, anyone?

I went immediately from laughter to frowns when Phyllis began beating her breast and shrieking at Daniel about Heather. To my ears, though she was ranting about Heather only wanting Daniel to get something on her, all that came through loud and clear was me, me, me, me, me. Enough! Every day I tune in and reassure myself that this Phyllis overload has got to end sometime. It really can't go on forever, can it? Yes, it's been months now, and the days that have been Phyllis-free can probably be counted on a single hand, but we have to reach a resolution soon, don't we?

At this point, I no longer care if she ever pays. I have heard and seen enough of her whispery, faux-seductive delivery. Enough of her arm-flailing and hand-waving and loud talking to drown out every opposing viewpoint. Enough of her lies and manipulation, and way more than enough of one line or word repeated endlessly. And now Tim is dead and she's going to coerce Kevin into being her accomplice. I am just sick of Phyllis. Drop the damn charges. Have a trial, find her innocent, have her wake up and realize it was all a dream and the hit-and-run never happened. Declare her a saint. Give her a pair of wings and a halo. Just please, let it end.

And lastly, Chelsea and Adam. Baby-making by appointment. Could there be any clearer signal that conception is likely to elude these two? But, where will the problem lie? With Chelsea, who has already proven she can be a mother, or with Adam who has yet to show he can be a dad? If Mommy and Daddy can't make a baby add up to a happy family of three, will either be looking with longing at little Johnny?

As always, fans didn't hold back when it came to their opinions about their favorite soap. There are always enough to fill an entire page, but here are just a few examples of what they had to say. We love hearing from you, so keep them coming, fans.

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I've been a fan since 1987. I like the character of Victor Newman. I personally don't like the version of Victor the previous regime has written. I miss the Victor storylines of Y&R's glory days. One storyline in particular, the shooting of Victor by Mari Jo Mason. I also miss the business storylines. I hope that the new regime doesn't backburner the Victor character. -- Joe

Every comment Allison made I have been saying to my husband. Where is the computer, where is the knife, where is our Sharon? I have been hypnotized. You don't have anyone in the room but you and the doctor. -- Grandma

When Melody Thomas Scott was off the show last year, she stated when she came back she was no longer going to be Victor's doormat. Watching her get up and walk out on Jack on their honeymoon to go on some inane search for Victor was just too much. The writers have to know the audience may want Nikki and Victor together, but they have to know they are ruining both characters in the process. I feel like I'm watching the final year of ATWT where the writers seem to be wanting us to hate the characters and the show. Like filling us with nothing but Janet for 2 years. We've had nothing but Phyllis and Victor and they're destroying all of the characters. Phyllis has become so annoying in her ever present and repetitive lines that even her biggest fans are tired of seeing her constantly on the screen. The end of soaps is very near. -- Scott