'The Young and the Restless' recasts... How have they truly worked out?

It's been about a year since Michael Muhney was infamously fired from the set of The Young and the Restless as Adam Newman amid horribly ugly harrasment rumors. It's been well over a year since Michelle Stafford ended her 16-year long portrayal of Phyllis Summers, and Billy Miller's departure as Billy Abbott is just about reaching its one-year mark. The top CBS soap announced their plans to immediately re-introduce David Tom as Billy, wait "3 to 6 months" to recast Adam, and no plans were initially announced for Phyllis. Since then, Tom was fired and replaced with Burgess Jenkins, Gina Tognoni (ex-Kelly Cramer, One Life to Life; ex-Dinah Marler, Guiding Light) took over the role of Phyllis this past August, and Justin Hartley recently stepped into the role of Adam Newman... with a brand new face. Literally.

So how have these recasts worked out, a year after three fan favorites all vacated their roles? Well, David Tom was a flop. None of us were instantly taken aback by his skills as an adult actor, and evidently it wasn't what the powers-that-be were looking for the long run. Burgess Jenkins is...fine. I was really pleased with him within his first weeks in the role because it truly was a step up from Tom. But now it's six months later, and what can I say? Jenkins does bring something interesting to the table. I get serious John Abbott, Sr. (Jerry Douglas) vibes from him some days, and other days I realize there is no comparison to Billy Miller. It's not like David Tom was much to compare to, but still. Jenkins is fine. But given the noticeable effort the directors put into other roles like Phyllis and Adam, it makes one wonder why that amount of effort wasn't put into Billy Abbott.

Speaking of Phyllis... Gina Tognoni? Best recast in years. Years. All anyone spoke about when Tognoni's casting was announced was "She's waaay too young for Phyllis" and "This will be Maura West as Diane Jenkins all over again". But Tognoni as Phyllis has gotten me like Michelle Stafford WHO?! Tognoni brings something to the table that Stafford never in 16 years ever did. I always considered what Stafford created as Phyllis was irreplaceable. Her cartoonish villainess style made me love to hate Phyllis. But within two months (it's really only been since October. Tognoni did debut in August, but she wasn't exactly speaking yet) Tognoni has captured every element of Phyllis' character plus adding her own twist to it. It's pure soap opera magic. I'm so looking forward to what's ahead for Phyllis in 2015...

Speaking of looking forward to things... Justin Hartley as Adam is another thing to look forward to next year. In November, we found out that the sociopathic Adam Newman had reconstructive surgery to look like a man named Gabriel Bingham, who supposedly died years before. His partner in crime? Sage (Kelly Sullivan), whose relation to Gabriel is still a bit fuzzy, who has now followed him back to Genoa City. The catch? Nobody knows it's Adam. It's quite the breath of fresh air, considering several other recasts have been the new person walking in and an announcer saying "the role of so-and-so is now being played by so-and-so". I'm quite intrigued by what's in store for Justin Hartley as Adam Newman-masked-as-someone-else in 2015.

Watch The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS.