Does Genie Francis Think She’s on Cartoon Network or The Young and the Restless?
Okay, I am really, really trying to be kinder to my soaps, with so many in such precarious states right now, but I have to call it like I see it. Genie Francis is embarrassingly-bad as kooky Genevieve Atkinson on The Young and the Restless.
I’m sure I will catch hell for going here about a daytime treasure, but Francis’ portrayal of Cane and Caleb’s (Daniel Goddard) unhinged mother has been cartoonish and abysmal from her first air show. I don’t know if Francis is painfully attempting to channel the late Elizabeth Taylor’s fun, campy turn as Luke and Laura’s arch nemesis Helena Cassadine on General Hospital 30 years ago, or going for Evil-Lyn from the old He-Man and The Masters of The Universe cartoon, but she’s missing the mark either way.
As much as I would love to solely blame this performance on the writing—because let’s face it, the story is dreadful—Francis is the one making the choices to jerk, gasp and wince as Genevieve registers each and every emotion or painful memory. This is not the Genie Francis we know and love.
Let's go back to the storyline for a second. So Cane, didn’t die, his never-before-mentioned twin brother, whom their father Colin (Tristan Rogers) brought to town to take Cane’s place, is the one who bit it on the steps? Now, at their odd, Oedipal mother’s behest, Cane is pretending to be Caleb, who is, at Colin’s behest, trying to drive Lily (Christel Khalil)—the love of Cane’s life—insane? The only one insane is whoever thought this would translate to anything resembling good television. Kudos to Goddard, Rogers and especially Khalil for doing their Herculean best to sell this drivel. It looks like we have three new nominees for the Kim Zimmer Award For Turning Shit to Sugar.
What is it about the writing team of Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer and Scott Hamner that they simply cannot help themselves when it comes to embarking on ridiculous, contrived front burner storylines? This regime does well when they mine the soap’s rich history and complicated relationships to give us character driven story, so why won't they do more of that? I am loving the Battle for Baby Lucy, Ashley vs. Kay and many other tales on the show, but the big story, the one getting all the press, being pimped in all the glossy magazines, is once again horrendous.
Genevieve: The Pervy-Odd Mob Mama is now part of a long line of really stupid front burner tales from MAB and Co. From turning Daytime Emmy winner Greg Rikkart (Kevin) into the missing member of Alvin and The Chipmunks, to “So Long, Sister Killer” to Sean Young’s ghastly guest stint, we continue to see evidence that MAB and her team are more interested in coming up with the next EW.com headline-grabbing stunt, complete with a big name guest star, than writing an actual soap opera for the fans who have kept Y&R at the top of the Nielsens for over 20 years.
TV industry pundits loves to cite more women 18-49 working outside the home whenever viewer erosion for soaps is discussed, and while we get that is a major factor, women started heading out into the workplace in droves during the late 70's. We fans, journos and bloggers in the trenches with this genre—who actually pay attention more than just when a soap is cancelled—realize terrible, dated, clichéd storytelling, which insults the remaining audience’s collective intelligence, is likely causing as many eyeballs to turn away from soaps as the shattering of the Glass Ceiling, if not more.
Daytime soaps are under seige. Y&R may be “Number 1”, but really, what will the station of being atop four soaps matter come January? All the “client soaps” are in danger of their current contracts being their lasts, so why won’t MAB and Co. go ahead and start listening to the fans now, before they find themselves on the chopping block, as opposed to desperately attempting to curry our favor when the show is given notice (Cough: Guiding Light)?
I am not saying soap writers should spend all their time on Daytime Confidential, Soap Opera Network or Daytime Royalty taking notes, but when a soap continues to piss fans off by telling wonky tales—that also cause the ratings to tank (So Long, Sister Killer indeed)—perhaps it’s at least worth noting that your very own, free online focus groups warned you a story sucked donkey nads all along?
Sidebar: At the risk of repeating myself, it makes absolutely no sense for Y&R to write out the soap’s biggest female star ever, Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), claiming budget woes, while bringing on Genie Francis, who no doubt costs a pretty penny herself, only to have Francis wreck her daytime legacy with this laughable, over-the-top story.
This flawed move is especially glaring since Thomas Scott just turned in another Daytime Emmy worthy performance as Nikki fell off the wagon and ripped into her AA support group, before Victor (Eric Braeden) found her broken and emotionally bruised on a park bench. Give me a story like that over 10,000 doppelganger tales any day of the week.
I really want to stop ragging on Y&R, but first they have to stop making it so easy, and meet fans halfway. Genie, darling, there’s a new writer at GH, whom everyone says loves to write for women. Go home and give him a try. Maria/Sony/CBS bring Nikki Newman back like yesterday and we’ll try to forget this Genevieve madness ever happened.
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Comments
17 March 2009
1 year 27 weeks
Stuart Damon tweeted "sometimes they come back"
so I'm hopeful that Garin will change it all and bring back our favs again.
if he can lure the great Genie back to GH, I would be forever greatful. Lulu needs her mama. and Genie needs to act opposite of JMB. This time, make it last.
5 July 2008
9 hours 22 min
Yeah this role even though long-term looks short-term to me. Genie looks like she's having fun but cut out the tics. Maybe GH will see this and want her back.
11 April 2009
16 hours 57 min
Nope! Disagree! I'm enjoying Genie Francis' turn at Y&R. She's doing a good job.
As for MTS, why conflate the two? Didn't Maura West exit? How do we know that West's salary isn't being used to pay Francis?
I'm happy to enjoy the ride. This story has allowed Christel Khalil to deliver great work.
8 September 2009
1 hour 6 min
Lol! No you didn't invoke Evil-Lyn!
But I think that the character is supposed to be over the top. Genie is probably being directed. It's jarring to see her as anything else but Laura. Even on All My Children, she played Ceara like Laura.
7 June 2011
1 year 6 weeks
The storyline is very strange and all over the place, but I am really enjoying it. I'm not a Lily fan at all, but I will agree that Christel Khalil has been delivering the performance of a lifetime. Maybe your expectations for a legend such as Genie Francis are a little out there. I think she has been doing fine. She's not blowing me away, but she's just getting started. I hardly even like Cane, but this family is very interesting to me. Btw, promo of the decade hyping this upcoming storyline.
Why not write something about how Tristan Rogers has completely reinvented himself and been off the charts good as Colin?
4 May 2009
1 hour 56 min
I like Genie in this role.
I saw Genie as Ceara on AMC. She can play a bitch.
30 March 2009
4 days 18 hours
AMEN JAMEY!!!! AMEN!!!
BRAVO!!!
Christel Khalil is doing the acting of her career going "crazy"...but the rest of it I'm over! I just don't care about Colin/Caleb killing Samantha. These are all characters who we don't know. This all happened off screen so why should we care about avenging Samantha's death? The flashbacks were HORRENDOUS...Now let's hope Sony and CBS correct this error soon!
30 March 2009
4 days 18 hours
Oh give me a break Josstheguy! I tell you no matter what you will find a way to play devil's advocate. The point is Y&R is citing budget issues on why they can't play MTS. Maura West is STILL taping at Y&R so she isn't gone quite yet. Instead of playing devil's advocate think about everything. MTS isn't getting paid because they don't have the "money", but you bring on Tristan Rogers and Genie Francis and now we want to play them heavily. It makes no sense. The story is a joke and Y&R fans don't want to see it.
30 March 2009
1 hour 9 min
I wish that you would have mentioned Jess Walton as one of the *saving grace* actors in this plot. How can you applaud the DREADFUL Crystal Khalil ("especially Khalil"--SERIOUSLY??) but fail to mention Jess Walton?
Thumbs down.
7 May 2010
1 hour 28 min
I have to disagree with Jamey's write up as well. I think its too harsh. There is no need to pit Genie against Melody as its unnecessary. I think Genie is being unfairly targeted about the issue. I understand having fave actresses but I don't think Genie should be blamed for Melody Thomas Scott's departure from the canvas. It's not Genie's fault that the producers and writers have never valued Melody's big contributions to Y&R. Melody getting the shaft can only be blamed on the producers and writers.
All Genie did was accept a paying acting gig that she had an interest in. I'm glad Genie Francis is on the Y&R. I think Genie is doing a great job thus far. Tristan Rogers and Christel Khalil are also doing good work. These 3 actors are making Y&R enjoyable these days(the rest of the show is so dull). The only weak link in this story is Daniel Goddard per usual. Daniel is just a boring actor with no screen presence or charm. But I'm enjoying Genie and will give her a chance. I want to see how this story ends up. Its the one story that has some momentum with the rest of the canvas's stories stuck in reverse. There is enough room for Genie and Melody on the Y&R canvas. Hopefully the producers and writers will realise this fact.
9 June 2011
1 year 49 weeks
I personally don't understand the pull towards MTS....she is the most useless character on the damn show and she mumbles as bad as Victor does. I am glad shes leaving shes just plain annoying!!!!
As for the whole Australian storyline I could care less. I just want Lily and Cane back together and happy for more than 2 minutes. Get rid of the rest of them.
22 January 2008
20 min 54 sec
I'm not blaming Genie for Melody being gone. I am blaming The Powers That Be for making the foolhardy decision to stop paying their show's leading lady, while bringing on and pimping a leading lady from someone else's show. Bill Cosby never would have fired Phylicia Rashad, saying she was too expensive, only to hire Roseanne.
18 August 2008
1 day 10 hours
First, I agree that Ms. Francis's performance is campy and silly. However, if we look back at her early work on GH, she was never great at being anything other than an ingenue. Even when she returned to GH as an earthmother in flowing dresses there was not a lot of gravitas to her performance.
On the other hand, I appreciate camp on the soaps. I got hooked on Y&R during the Vanessa Prentiss, mother-in-law with a fake veil period. Vanessa had a different veil covering her mouth everyday, and it matched her outfit. Y&R has a history of balancing weird stories (sheila, shawn burying lauren, the guy with killer written on his forehead) with more intricate family drama.
Lastly, I find it amusing that Jamey is critical of the camp of Y&R but loves the campy acting on VH1's Single Ladies. Perhaps its the music or the time of day, but Genie is not more of a cartoon villain than LisaRaye.
30 March 2009
4 days 18 hours
If you all read the article Jamey doesn't blame Genie Francis. He blames the people in charge. All he is criticizing GF on is her HORRENDOUS acting. Never once in the article did he say it was GF's fault that MTS has been sidelined/backburned. Reading is fundamental people!. No blame is being placed on GF it's just being noted that the people in charge make no sense when they say it's budget concerns for backburnering MTS when they hired GF which didn't come at a cheap price.
7 June 2011
1 year 6 weeks
MTS is a great actress as well. I would never knock her acting, but she doesn't help her own cause with her non-stop public complaints. Y&R has always treated her the same. She is their biggest female star, in the eyes of most fans, but not in the eyes of the team over there. Never was. There is always someone that they value more. Genie Francis has nothing to do with MTS.
Her contract was up and they are playing hardball. She will be back in two or three months when her demands come down. That isn't inside information, obviously, because I have none, but I think its fairly obvious. Maybe she should take a hint from Genie and stop whining and waiting around and get another job. I'm sure any soap would love to have her for a realistic price.
18 August 2008
1 day 10 hours
I forgot one thing....
I still don't get why Cain - who was found by "pretend-dead" Philip Chancellor in his outback gay bar in Australia - came to Genoa City in the first place if his family was so wealthy and he was so close to his Mom.
Didn't Cain refer to Philip as his uncle because they were so close and Cain had no family?
Are we just supposed to forget the past 5 years of story?
4 May 2009
12 hours 28 min
Genie was vocal about not wanting to play the victim anymore, but this is proving maybe that's all she can play.
22 January 2008
20 min 54 sec
Lastly, I find it amusing that Jamey is critical of the camp of Y&R but loves the campy acting on VH1's Single Ladies. Perhaps its the music or the time of day, but Genie is not more of a cartoon villain than LisaRaye.
***
So Apples to Oranges. I compare Single Ladies to 90's over-the-top Aaron Spelling dramas. It's cheesy as hell, but cheesy fun, ala Melrose Place or 90210. Y&R isn't known for "I'll Get You My Pretty" performances, well it was back when Brenda Dickson was on, but that was 30 years ago. The veteran actors on Y&R are very real in their portraits, toned down, gritty, raw. Sure, there are a few hams on the cast, but Genie, IMO, sticks out like a sore thumb. Also, Single Ladies is campy, but plausible. Three women in Atlanta in the fashion and hip hop world being over the top is pretty on point. A mother, stroking her son's face, after her other son dies replacing him,all so they can pay back her ex, whom she winces and gasps at everytime she thinks about him is not only implausible,it's embarassing.
12 February 2010
10 hours 52 min
Genie Francis, in my opinion, is doing a good job with this hideously contrived GARBAGE of a storyline. I do feel that sometimes she's trying TOO hard to channel that "bad girl persona," which obviously doesn't come naturally to her, but I think she's doing an admirable job.
However, the fact remains that Genie doesn't belong on Y&R. (Neither does Cane/Caleb/Daniel Goddard for that matter, but that's another subject for another thread!) She belongs on GH, tending to her wayward kids and kicking Luke in the balls for siring an illegitimate son while they were supposedly happily married.
Legendary actress, wrong show, wrong fit........
That simple.
12 February 2010
10 hours 52 min
And Christel Khalil did a GREAT job in the scenes when she confronted Caleb/Cane/whoever the hell he is, but aside from that, she's done little else than play the "put-upon" victim, which seems to be the ONLY character Maria Bell will allow her to play. You ALL know that I have never been a huge fan of Christel, and I still ain't, but I think Christel/Lily could be a helluva lot more interesting if given something different to play. They seem to be trying to turn her into the Marlena Evans of Y&R, in terms of being a "tortured heroine," but Christel ain't no Deidre Hall.
Get rid of Daniel Goddard (he ain't worth the extra trouble!), send Laura Spencer back to Port Charles, put Lily in an INTERESTING triangle with Daniel (and perhaps Abby or Chloe?) and keep it moving. This story is already a MESS. Stick a fork in it, it's done!!!!
18 April 2011
10 weeks 4 days
LOVE GENIE BUT NOT HER BEST ROLE ARTICLE EXCELLENT.DAY TIME SCRIPTE VIEWERS PLEASE STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR ALL SOAPS!!!http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Fight-4-Our-Abc-Soaps-Movement/555-555547976
5 April 2011
3 weeks 3 days
I disagree and don't understand your scathing remarks on Genie Francis. I'm enjoying her craziness. Do you have a set format for portraying "unbalanced"? Should she be more like unhinged "Marty" of OLTL? Or Lisa on GH? Or Annie on AMC? One woman's craziness is another woman's daytime Emmy! I leave it to the actress and the director--and I say, they are right on target!! I enjoy watching Genie!! Camp it up, I say! I love you, Genie. Hate the naysayers!
6 July 2010
10 hours 50 min
Colin has been terrific since day one, and his chemistry with Jill is magical yet natural. And how is that rewarded? By ignoring it to go crazy with the storyline and adding another unneeded actor to it.
I agree TR/Colin should have been the featured story but MAB or Sony/CBS(?) don't seem to recognize when they have it right. They hit a jackpot, ignored it, and looked for something bigger instead of capitalizing on their win. They should have had Jill incorporate Colin into the fabric of Genoa City. Then the story of Canes re-appearance would have left him with an excellent Dad for Cane, an excellent husband for Jill, an excellent housemate for Kay etc.......
I really loved GF on GH, but for this story I would have been thrilled if Blake came back. The 3 hawt Aussie men was a winner story too, until they killed Cane.
Is there any soap available to take the Y&R royalty veterans and write for them?
Why is the grass always greener on any soap that isn't Y&R for MAB/Sony. Don't they realize viewers that have followed Y&R watch mostly for the Y&R cast? Yes we need newcomers but we have way too many. Let's get rid of the unneeded/not working out newer ones like Malcolm, Jeffery, Tucker and Heather.
15 October 2008
3 weeks 5 days
What y'all are not loving the moo cow lady boss?
I joke of course, but seriously Y&R. I am guilty of not caring for the mob on GH, but at least it's more in the realm of reality than Y&R. The fuck is a cattle mafia?
Anyways teah this is not good. Cartoon is on the money. It's like watching two different shows. Since MAB loves the cinema, thought she would go for a "Animal Kingdom" vibe. I wasn't expecting a Jacki Weaver performance, but I wasn't expecting this either considering the hyping they did. I hope for her sakes and the story Genie gets it together.
The only positive I give this is that she and Daniel have hot innapropriate chemistry.
5 April 2011
3 weeks 3 days
Wonderful observations. I concur!
22 January 2008
20 min 54 sec
The fuck is a cattle mafia?
***
THIS!
3 June 2010
8 hours 11 min
I hate to say it....as a major Genie fan...but I agree with Jamey. I started to watch the Y&R just because she was joining the show....and I have been disappointed. I can only blame so much on the horrible writing for this story arc...I haven't cared for her interpretation of this new character.
12 February 2008
8 hours 43 min
I love Genie, but this whole storyline is a mess. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the Lane breakup once the shit hits the fan. I am tired of soaps disrespecting their own vets just to cater to the vets of another show. Most Genoa City fans don't give 2 flying fucks about Genie or Laura Spencer, so to practically dump MTS for her is insane!
It's time that Maria dumps Hoagn & Scott. She needs to either write the show on her own, or find a capable HW. There's too many cooks in the kitchen, and it shows. It's gotten to the point where you can pretty much tell which stories Hogan & Scott are writing individually. These zany capers need to stop ASAP!
28 October 2008
8 hours 40 min
Genie can do no wrong. If it weren't Francis and Geary (and Monty) soaps would have never been given any respect. Francis is an ICON and Jamey who is often right needs to bite his tongue on this one.
12 February 2008
8 hours 43 min
Isn't it funny how shitty actresses are never interesting until they go crazy (Brianna Brown, Melissa Claire Egan, Cristel Khalil)? That's like the best thing you can do for a bland character/actress. Send 'em to Crazytown!!!