We turned the television on at 11 a.m. and there, just like they have been since I was in high school, was one of television’s superstar couples, Nikki and Victor from “The Young and The Restless.”
Victor’s a little grayer, and Nikki looks like she’s had a little touch-up surgery, but there’s no mistaking the popularity of a couple that’s divorced, reconciled, fought and loved each other to the extent these two have over the past 30 years.
“So what’s the problem this week?” I asked my mom who’s an avid Y&R fan.
“We’re not sure who the father is of Nikki’s son,” she replied. Then she gave me the background of all of Nikki’s affairs and the possible blood lines of her children.
“People who post to the message board have all kinds of ideas about what Victor’s up to and what Nikki’s next scheme will be,” my mom added.
My youngest brother was in the room with us, and he tried to hide a smile behind his laptop.
It’s hard for him to understand the trials and tribulations of the people in Genoa City and why their shenanigans have kept viewers captivated for years.
The story of Nikki and Victor includes numerous divorces, amnesia, alcoholism, betrayal and murders. You know, all the run-of-the-mill tribulations every-day people face.
“I’d never get involved in those soaps again,” I told my mother, opening my laptop to check my email. “All those ridiculous storylines that nobody could ever believe.”
The first email was from my son, Stephen. He and I routinely compare notes on HBO’s popular mini-series “Game of Thrones.” I’d sent him an email after the season finale so we could compare our thoughts about what’s going to happen in the next season.
My main question was about who’d be riding the dragons when the series returned.
He replied that the message boards were hot for Bran riding a dragon, but we’re not sure because Bran, who has the gift of second sight, will probably become a seer and bond with the heart tree.
Then there’s the fate of The Imp, who just finished killing his former lover and his father, and the evil Cersei Lannister who had three children fathered by her twin brother, Jamie. Don’t even get me started on the anguish Jon Snow is feeling after watching the love of his life, Ygritte, die right in front of his eyes.
My brother asked what I was doing and I told him I was drafting a message to my son about the “Game of Throne’s” finale. My mom asked what I was talking about and I started filling her in on the show’s back story.
Just about the time I got to the part about Daneryn “Khaleesi” Targaryen being the mother of dragons and hatching them out of the fire, my brother looked at me over the top of his laptop screen.
“So you want to give Mom a hard time about watching a soap opera when you’re discussing the fate of flying dragons?” he said, a smile on his face.
I started to say the show I was watching was much more highbrow than an ordinary soap, but clamped my mouth shut when I realized the big pile of hypocrisy I was stepping into.
I’m just as guilty of being a soap opera addict as my mother, but secretly, I know I’m a cut above. After all, “Game of Thrones” is science fiction and the first word in that description is science and that’s about real stuff.
Now let’s see what the message boards have to say about Jon Snow’s hair…