Best and Worst of "The Young and the Restless" in 2010, Part 2

For the most part, it was a good year on "The Young and The Restless," save some bad recasts and one putrid storyline that continues to fester. Here are some of the things "The Young and the Restless" got really wrong in 2010.

Biggest Tool: Nick Newman
See Nick (Joshua Morrow) obsess over ex-wife, Sharon. See Nick tell wife Phyllis she's being paranoid and has nothing to worry about. See Nick continue to fixate on Sharon. See Nick make a baby with Sharon. See Phyllis kick Nick to the curb. See Nick move Sharon into the tack house mere days after Phyllis' departure. See Nick propose to Sharon they start dating before the ink is dry on his divorce papers. See Nick suck face with Cricket (Lauralee Bell). See Nick persuade Sharon to marry him. See Nick bluster and bellow at Billy, Victoria and Phyllis for ruining his children's lives by printing an article about Sharon running off with the abhorrent Adam (Micheal Muhney). See Nick make out with and later bed the shifty Diane (Maura West). Let's hope in 2011, we see Nick 1) use some birth control and 2) stop being the biggest tool Genoa City has ever seen. Who am I kidding - that's probably a negative on both.

Biggest Twit: Sharon Newman
I realize Sharon is a popular heroine, but I personally, I'm not a fan. That perpetually confused look on her face. The failure to make up her mind. The mixed signals. The inability to say what she means and mean what she says. She wants Nick, she gets Nick, she leaves Nick. She doesn't want Adam, she wants Adam, she doesn't want Adam, she wants Adam. She gets her baby back, she abandons her baby in favor of sex with Adam in a seedy motel room. Sharon is hot mess and then some. It's doubtful I'll be rooting for in this or any lifetime.

Worst Recast: Tie: Eden Riegel and Darius McCrary
Oh, where to begin with this one. Let's start with Heather (Eden Riegel). Her predecessor, Vail Bloom, portrayed Heather as a petite, tenacious, workaholic blonde, a pit bull in and out of the courtroom. This new incarnation of Heather became a busty brunette who inexplicably wanted to have one night stands with Billy Abbott and deemed the drippy Chance (John Driscoll) as her great love. Riegel as Heather is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole; we can't picture her as Paul's (Doug Davidson) daughter, and she seems uncomfortable in every scene she's in. She should have been brought in as a new character, one that better capitalized on her proven talents.

Running neck-in-neck for worst recast is Darius McCrary as Malcolm Winters. McCrary had a tougher hill to climb than Reigel, as he was replacing the wildly popular, Shemar Moore, who notched a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for the role in 2000. Moore's Malcolm was sexy, charming and oozed confidence and charisma. McCrary's take on the character is more blowhard than beautiful and a telltale sign of a bad recast when you don't bear a resemblance to your predecessor and viewers can't move past it. A surefire sign of a good recast is when the new actor looks nothing like their predecessor and the fans don't notice (See: Peter Bergman as Jack, Judith Chapman as Gloria, Maura West as Diane, Laura Wright on "General Hospital," Gina Tognoni on "Guiding Light.")

Further, like Reigel, McCrary seems ill at ease in his scenes, possessing none of the quick wit and breeziness of his forerunner. It's not even clear why he's back, since all Malcolm's done is barrel his way into Lily's (Christel Khalil) life, spy for Tucker (Stephen Nichols), introduce a fiancée, Sofia (Julia Pace Mitchell) we're not even sure we like and in general sit around taking up space. Malcolm is a pivotal role and in the hands of the right actor and with a dynamite storyline, the dead-in-the-water Winters clan could be revived. The late Bill Bell, creator of "The Young and the Restless," was a firm believer in replacing an actor if they didn't immediately click in a part. It's time for the powers-that-be to tap into Bell's genius and install a new Malcolm, pronto.

Biggest Waste of Talent: Kristoff St. John
Kristoff St. John has the chops. As Neil Winters, he's won two Daytime Emmys. He's a longtime veteran who came to town 20 years ago with no family and now heads one of Genoa City's core clans. And just what is he up to these days? Wringing his hands over Lily and fighting with Sofia over who makes better gravy. Really? St. John's major storylines over the past few years have been clunkers involving a quickie marriage to Karen (Nia Peeples) a trashy affair with Tyra (the wooden Eva Marcille) and a blink-and-you-miss it romance with Ashley (Eileen Davidson). My fear is that the writers are setting Neil up to be in a triangle with Miscast Malcolm and his fiancée, Sofia. Why not have Neil take a time out from the strum und drang of his life and hit the road in search of himself? Have him get entangled in a fun, lighthearted romance with a totally new character he meets in another town? Either that or lower a crane over that cliff and bring back Dru. Neil needs more to do than babysit Lily's kids and get involved in ridiculous romantic shenanigans and dare I say, boring with one character we don't care about and one who's on the way to being ruined.

Waste of a Character: Tucker McCall
Oh, Tucker. Tucker, Tucker, Tucker. So much potential frittered away in a morass of bad clichés. He's Katherine's (Jeanne Cooper) long-lost son and managed to swindle her out of her company. He calls women "sweetheart" and "darlin'." He woos Ashley in Japan, seduces her, declares his love and devotion, then turns around and sleeps with Diane. He buys horses. He forces Malcolm to spy for him (why???) He plays head games with Jack. And...? This character is just another billionaire in Genoa City in search of a purpose. After an exciting debut, Tucker flamed out early and now we're left with yet another character who does a lot of nothing for no reason.

*Bonus: Worst Groomed: Daniel Romalotti
There was a time when Daniel (Michael Graziadei) was too adorable for words. Spiky blonde hair. Wonderfully golden tan. And boy, did he know how rock a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Somewhere along the way, he morphed into a pale, shaggy dog with long stringy hair that he can't keep out of his eyes. And don't get me started on that 80's reject wardrobe he's sporting these days. Now that he's involved with the sassy and gorgeous Abby (Marcy Rylan), it's time for Daniel to clean up his act and show what we know he's got.

**Double Bonus: Storyline So Bad, It Almost Need Not Be Mentioned: The Double Doppelgangers
Two Lauren's. Two Emily's. Two Children of the Corn. A sudden sister. A loony tunes sister. And no Shelia. Enough said.