The Abbott family arrived on The Young and the Restless fully formed. (It was because so many members of the original Brooks and Foster families had left and been recast that creator Bill Bell gave up and created a whole new clan.)
First, there was Jack (then-Terry Lester), then his dad, John, followed by sisters Ashley (Eileen Davidson) and Traci (Beth Maitland). Eventually, Dina (Marla Adams), the wife and mother who’d abandoned them years earlier showed up. Then left town again. Then came back. She did that several times.
John died, and now Dina is living with Alzheimer’s. Fans never saw this couple together in their prime, outside of the recreated flashbacks we’ve been seeing lately. Should YR showcase more of them? How almost 2000 fans would feel about it:
The Past Is In the Past
For 57% of you, John and Dina are stealing air-time from your current faves. It’s not like their story is going to evolve and change. They married, they had kids, the fought, Dina left. John remarried, Dina remarried. John and Dina considered reuniting. They didn’t. John is dead. We know all this. Why watch it play out with a pair of different actors?
Sure, the flashbacks keep trying to justify Dina’s actions by showing us how bored she was with John. But the woman moved to Europe and abandoned her children for years. No flashback is going to excuse that.
Out Of the Past
A smaller, 43% of the audience is curious, however. Maybe we haven’t heard the whole story. Maybe there’s a detail that changes everything. Maybe John didn’t tell his children what really happened, and maybe Dina is protecting him.
Fans are always telling soaps to use more of their history. This is the perfect opportunity. And maybe it will even help Jack’s (now Peter Bergman) ennui. The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes.
Video Credit: The Young and the Restless
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