Unlike the bloodbath over on "Days of Our Lives," "The Young and The Restless" continues to shore up its cast on a seeming daily basis. It was recently announced "Loving" alum Jessica Collins would join the show as a high-powered attorney hired by Victor to keep that box-of-rocks-where-her-brain-should-be Sharon from going down the river for 30 years. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent high-profile hirings of Genie Francis, Tristan Rogers, Maura West and Debbi Morgan. Not to mention the possibility the show could pick up actors from "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" who choose not to migrate online.
The truth is, there's a lot of floundering going on in Genoa City these days as some vets have seemingly gone up to the attic for their skis, while others have been brought in with much hype and no follow through. It just might be time for the show to take a critical look at its cast and figure out a way to bring a bit more balance to the equation.
Multiple Emmy Winner West is the first casualty of the overwhelming influx of new talent to the show - she got the ax as Diane mere months after joining the cast. I had high hopes that bringing in Colin as a love interest for Jill (Jess Walton) would finally give her something to do, but that story has moved at less than a snail's pace. Same goes for Genie Francis. She was brought in with so much hoopla and now it all seems to be much ado about nothing (though I still love her). We haven't seen hide nor hair of Paul (Doug Davidson) since he supposedly went off to look for Tucker's son. Not that he's had much to do since his loony sister, Patty (Stacy Haiduk), took a powder in Mexico.
Other MIA Genoa City citizens include Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), supposedly off in rehab, though her status with "The Young and The Restless" is rather iffy; Lauren (Tracey E. Bregman), Kevin (Greg Rikaart), Gloria (Judith Chapman), Daisy (Yvonne Zima), just to name a few. Since his miraculous return from the dead, we've seen precious little of Cane (Daniel Goddard) and resident scuzzball Deacon (Sean Kanan), who whipped so many in town into a frenzy -- he's been relegated to pouring drinks at Gloworm and eavesdropping. I'm fine with them keeping nuMalcolm (Darius McCrary) under wraps because frankly, I just don't care for him.
While it's great "The Young and The Restless" continues to mine the incredible wealth of acting talent out there, is too much of a good thing not a good thing? Too many threads of story lines have been dropped.
Perhaps the show should put the head shots and casting calls away for a bit and concentrate on making sure it has an intriguing story to tell for cast members new and old alike, and isn't merely stunt casting for the ink.
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