will81

Pamela quit the show and they were going to recast, but decided against it, not sure why, maybe Bill Bell was tired of the constant recasts. But yeah Peggy could have been a good side character through the 80's with Paul. She seemed to love investigative journalism would have meshed well with Paul's business. I think if Janice Lynde was still in the role, we would have seen Leslie come into her own more and be a slightly different woman with more of a backbone and edge. You can sort of see this in the few eps we have with Janice, I think that version of Leslie would have worked post 82. However Leslie seemed almost to regress with the recast in 77, hence the second stab at a pymalion story when she had amnesia and met Jonas, playing out the 73-74 pygmalion story with Leslie and Brad. This was Victoria and Leslie's chance to take up where Janice's Leslie had left off, but it seems Bell never quite pushed her there and maybe Victoria was better at playing the put upon heroine. I think Bell tried to keep Leslie, but she just didn't fit at that point. Chris and Snapper were almost done when Sally left town in late 74. They had no real story again until the Becker's turned up in mid-76 and even then that was really Chris' story. When Trish left in 78, Chris and Snapper again barely had anything to do but play supporting or star in small side stories that would wrap up quickly. They were mostly absent in 1980 and returned full time in 1981, but didn't have any real story again until Sally Maguire returned in Sep 81. That story took us through to Snapper's exit. Not sure why Bell kept Chris, made no sense she would be okay with letting her daughter move to another country without her. I guess that was corrected pretty quickly though. I mean when they returned in 81 Bell repeated (sort of) a story from 1974. In 74, Chris bought things for the house with money from Stuart, Snapper is upset and in 81 Chris refurnishes the house with money from Stuart and Snapper is upset. The fact he would bring the pair back with a repeated and rather dull story says a lot. It made more sense in their first year of marriage and built context. Don't think it had the same impact the second time around.

I am actually leaning towards Jill giving birth on New Years Eve, not Christmas Day. Looking at SOD synopsis, they also have Jill going into labour after Christmas Day. Since Dec 26, 1975 was pre-empted. It means Jill gave birth the week of Dec 29 - Jan 2. Makes more sense as to why Bryna Laub had that plot point at the start of the Jan synopsis.

Oh right, I knew that and totally flubbed, haha Yeah I meant more NBC wasn't willing to or was holding out on streaming the show. I thought that was what Corday meant when he said NBC was not coming to the table. Not that they had any right to distribute, more they had the platform for it, and I was wondering if Corday through Sony has the right to shop a deal around or not. Thanks for clearing that up though

I think Corday is actually desperate to do that from what I have heard from him. It seems it is NBC that isn't, and I am not sure if Corday has the option to shop the back catalogue around, but honestly if any shows back catalogue is going up, it will most likely be Days. Once Corday finds a way to do it. If Sony has digitized Y&R and B&B then they need to work with Corday and put all three shows up. I do think there is enough interest for a pay streaming service to offset costs, and even if they have to scrub some music, I will accept that to a certain point. As you mentioned The Doctors has done extremely well. Sometimes I feel like we are on the verge of getting more, just not sure when. The CBS reruns have done well enough to show enough people are interested.

Agreed. If Sony, P&G, ABC and the other companies that own these soaps got together and put their back catalogues and the current new shows on a Soap Opera Streaming Platform it would work, they might even be able to bring back AMC or OLTL again. It would also allow Days and other soaps that are skating on thin ice on broadcast TV the opportunity to slowly move to an online streaming platform and allow these shows a stronger future.

There was this whole story about some dictator in Santa Leandro. At this point Leslie was Priscilla and living in another town with Jonas. A man named Sebastian came to ask Lucas and Jonas to help him. The trio (with Leslie stashed away) headed to Santa Leandro. Lucas sees Leslie but realises she has no idea who he is or who she is. He gets shot and goes to hospital. Lance is called and heads back to GC to see his brother. He reunites with Lorie and they have a brief reconcilliation before Lance realises Lorie no longer needs him in her life and he leaves again. There is no mention at all of Lance and Leslie seeing each other. Honestly the whole story and Lance's brief return seemed like a dud. One of the many stories that fell flat in 1980. Pretty sure John McCook left the show early to make a movie in Paris. He may have agreed to return to wrap things up, since Lance just left abruptly. The whole Lorie divorcing Lance story just zoomed by, like the show wasn't ready for John to leave so suddenly. Yeah around Sep 80 it was announced Tom Ligon was off the show. The last mention of him was when he was saying goodbye to Lorie in early Aug. If he appeared again it must have been brief. Not sure he got a goodbye episode. Karen (Andy's ex-wife) also seemed to just vanish as well. Same with Brooks, which we discussed previously in the thread. There is no mention of either Lorie or Leslie taking Brooks. Once Lance (then Dennis Cole) left, Leslie and Lorie seemed to have forgotten Brooks ever existed.

Yeah he left in Feb 80 just after they went to an hour and returned for two weeks in May

These are the ones I know of Liz had uterine cancer (may have been another form of cancer) and had a hysterectomy (possibly) Bruce and possibly Ma Henderson came to town around that time. Seems to have been May/Jun 73. My guess is Jill and Greg were supporting during this time. I'd guess Jill probably on aired twice a week and maybe sometimes three times depending. Probably a lot of supporting other stories or talking about other stories or wishing she was rich and beautiful. Apparently she and Greg would have arguements around social issues. Greg was supporting to Chris, Snapper and Sally, Brad was also a supporting player in that story too as a confident to Sally as he ended up living above Pierre's across from Sally. The Bruce Henderson / Jennifer Brooks affair story started around summer and is referenced in Bryna Laub's early 1974 synopsis Sally had her summer story which consisted of her ex Frank Martin coming to town to find the daughter they gave up I am guessing Brad and Leslie were slow to move. Probably a lot of spending time together with Leslie slowly coming out of her shell. It was apparently a pygmalion story. I know Leslie went on her first concert tour in fall 73 and Jennifer accompanied her, and spent more time with Bruce The main focus seemed to have been on Chris and Snapper. Below is Chris and Snapper's story from Daily TV Serials as well Jill and Chris both went for a modelling job but left when they heard it was topless, Jill went back and almost took the job. This was before Chris' rape and Gwen Sherman. The photographer was apparently Chris Robinson

Are you from NZ. Is that Bic Runga in the commercial at the beginning? ETA: Oh it was cut, nevermind. I saw this on the FB page earlier Thanks for this, had seen this but couldn't download it, so I appreciate you grabbing this

@FrenchFan Thank you for looking into Let's Gossip and finding out more. I am just going to keep looking around for it and hopefully something will pop up. Also Soap Bubble Magazine (which is also hard to find) was another mag that had synopsis and Lynda Hirsch was a contributer (or maybe editor??) Until we get episodes trying to track these synopsis down is our best bet. Also thanks for DSN Q&A. I knew Gwen and Jill had a story in 1973, just didn't know the exact details. Glad to have the details more confirmed. All of this is great stuff to have and really appreciate your effort with all this.

I found it but am having trouble posting it. I was half right, he asked Bud Grant to take the show off the air, but only because the ratings were so poor. I mixed that up with another interview where he hated the writing during the writers strike and was not happy with the show during those months, and by writing I mean the daily scripts handled by the non-union writers Here is the part of the interview where he talks about ratings and wanting to cancel the show.

Bill Bell himself said in an interview he wanted the show cancelled during the first year. I think this was before Chris' rape story had happened. I believe it was from a 1976 interview. I will try to find it

I really wish they would do the whole first week, well really, like all of us, I wish they would do every episode, lol. Sony/CBS might not care, but with the care that these episodes were edited, it feels like someone there does. ETA: @YRfan23 I know CBS has all access, but here in Australia some of the networks have other digital broadcast channels like Network 7 has 7mate 7Two and so on and use it for reruns and some original programming. Does CBS have other digital channels they could rerun Y&R on? Or is All Access the only other platform?

Here are the changes in the pilot I noticed - The opening cue is re-created by my ears, sounds similar but slightly different - Time compression??? Maybe some scenes are sped up slightly or the whole show is - The scene with Sally and Snapper is trimmed slightly as the Y&R theme cue in this scene is shortened - We cut from Sally and Snapper right to Pierre's, Pierre's song is cut and we now just see Snapper already there, Brad arriving and Stuart with a different music cue, we briefly see Pierre behind Sally as she looks at Snapper, but if you didn't know any better you would have no idea he was performing. Then we go to Chris and Leslie - The scene of Chris at the front of the Brooks home is cut and we go right to Chris entering and Leslie's playing is shortened and the commercial break is removed - Leslie playing 'The Look of Love' is gone and the scene is slightly re-arranged and possibly trimmed - An 80's cue is used in this scene where there was no music in the original - The final scene in Pierre's is re-arranged, works though Any others? Honestly in the second ep, both the opening and closing credits are gone, which is around 1m30sec and only about 4min total were removed from the ep. My guess we only lost a possible phone call between Chris and Snapper with maybe Jill listening in.

Yeah I noticed that. Looking at later episodes it seemed to be mostly close ups Also do you think it is possible CBS sped the episode up very slightly to shorten it so as not to edit it too much. I tried comparing and it seems like they did, the intro is shorter and everyones voice sounds slightly higher pitched. Better way to cut down the time I guess.

I had my doubts about 1973 by all accounts Bell hated it, the show was said to move at a galacial pace and with the writers strike and Watergate pre-emptions I mostly wrote it off. But seeing episode 2 I am hungry for more. - How the hell does Brenda saunter into a room wearing a frumpy housecoat and still act sexy, haha - The Brooks dinner, humour and reality. Chris and Peggy's little tiff is so like real life siblings and the chemistry and the way they all bounce off each other is fantastic - Solid casting, everyone fits the roles so well. Conboy/Bell did an amazing job - Editing was good. Didn't feel I missed anything important. Seems they are doing well to trim scenes, instead of removing big chunks. The episodes also flow well as a 1 hour show. Seems they just trimmed the fat, which I am fine with - It was always said the show was darkly lit, but I had read a couple of soap articles from back in the day that said when Y&R debuted it was more brightly lit, this confirms it. The sets looks great, and love this lighting, not super bright like sitcoms of the 70's, it has some nice tone to it. I wonder when Conboy darkened the show more and how that would look like upscaled

So understandably they cut Leslie singing "The Look of Love" even though it was incredibly short

Sounds like the re-created it, as the tone sounds lower like a pitch different or something. Just slightly off the original key

@FrenchFan Also I found this. Seems Bryna Laub was not the only one doing soap synopsis. Let's Gossip was another one and started synopsis from 1973 and was weekly!!!! intially but moved to monthly at some point. Have not found one single thing about it, other than this article.

Wait so Jill had her baby in 1976? I thought Phillip was born either Christmas day or the day after in 1975. Maybe he was born New Years Day???? In terms of Y&R 1975 - The Jill/Phillip story goes along at a normal pace, then seems to just zoom by. I was surprised how much that story was taking up time on the show, as I always assumed it was more story 2 to one of the Brooks family dramas that would be centre stage. Biggest surprise was how much Lorie was involved with Phillip and yet how she and Kay seemingly never shared any scenes. Bell really liked his incest stories. Jennifer's mastectomy was really lauded and many soap mags made it their top story (both editor and fan voted) Dorothy Green was solid as was everyone Say goodbye to William Espy and hello to David Hasselhoff. Bill was very popular so I do wonder how people felt. From the little I have seen, the moodier Snapper was made to be a little brighter. Espy's Snapper always seemed like he was about to leave town and head to an Ashram (which I think Bill literally did in real life) David seems like he would say things like "hey everyone cheer up, the sun is shining" Something else solved. Always wondered how much Diedre Hall and Tom Selleck appeared. Jed's main story seems to have been late 74 with his wife Betty and Lorie and then mostly just recurring. Diedre pops up when needed, yet both are shown in publicity like they were full members of the cast Feels like Bell didn't know what to do with Chris and Snapper once the pair were married. A whole lot of nothing going on for those two, besides being supporting players to other stories. I guess Chris has a pretty intense story coming up though, Trish Stewart's last big one on the show which would play out over almost two years Another mysery solved Regina Henderson. I am almost sure many sources list her as Mark's sister and that she was on more. Regina seems to have appeared very briefly to push the affair story along and then seemingly vanishes. Still not entirely sure she was Mark's bio mum or not. In the one picture of her she seems youngish.

Barbara was very underrated and I'm sorry Bell didn't know what to do with her in the last couple years she was on. The energy she brought was so enjoyable. I still rememeber her first scenes with Eileen and how professional and calm and adoring she was, but how much she hated Ashley and literally wanted her dead and plotted to make it happen. Barbara really brought it, back when Leanna was a more complex character. Yeah the BDSM scenes are so odd and yet amazing. They went to a lot of effort for some brief sequences. Leanna has more intense ones after Victor asks her to marry him or maybe just after they are married. I often wonder when Eileen gave her notice to the show. She stated she gave them a looooong notice period. So I wonder if they already knew when they married Steven and Ashley and that's why neither had much story in 1988. Leanna seemed to get over Ashley and Steven after she returned from Hawaii after her appendicitis. Bell moved her on to Victor more at that point. Also Ashley and Victor were very much done and it seems Bell didn't want to make any big moves when he knew Eileen would be gone soon. I think the writing was on the wall for Rod Arrants long before it happened. I think Bell kept Ashley in limbo until he got Brenda, he then wiped the slate clean, he put her on the backburner for about six months then threw her in with Brad and Traci. Every time I see Phillip it reminds me of what a big mistake it was getting rid of him. He really should have fallen back into drinking, divorced Nina and been a complete mess while she was going through her stuff with David, then with Cricket and Danny's help gotten sober fought Nina for custody while she was on trial, but ultimately changed his mind and the pair should have been on the road to reconiliation until Phillip meets Victoria. He really should have taken Ryan's place in that whole story. They were about the same age and with Phillip's past drinking problems Victor and Nikki would have been dead set against it. Pitting Kay against Victor and Nikki and putting Jill in the middle of her boss and son, not to mention having Jack and Jill side with one another. This also would have made Nikki's drinking story a way for Phillip and Nikki to bond, thus giving Nikki more reason to support the marriage. Just the richness of history at play and the dynamics would have been amazing. Gotta say sometimes I miss certain elements Brenda brought to Jill that Jess didn't. But watching episodes like this, I know Brenda was capable of delivering, but she wasn't doing justice to that part of Jill by 1987, she lost any subtlety. Jess was brilliant and brought so much depth back to Jill. Yeah Tricia and Jeanne, what a combo. That scene was solid and really it is those types of scenes and acting on the show that I love so much about Y&R.

Oh wow, well maybe they aired them mostly in full. I look forward to seeing them both

I think Jack saved Victoria in 1990 when Ashley Milan was still playing the role. This is partly why Nikki forgave him for trying to use her as leverage against Victor to get Jabot back, which was Jack's initial plan. Nikki got pregnant just as she and Victor were working there way back to each other. She reconciled with Jack, but my memory is hazy about exactly what happened. I do remember an episode before Nikki told Victor she was pregnant, but after she told him she was returning to Jack. He was angry at her and told her she was looking fat lately. MTS had this look on her face that was priceless and even I was like "Oh damn Victor" Thanks for sharing. I don't have them so appreciate it So Skip had a temp replacement, never knew. His replacement seems a bit awkward, like they just grabbed a free crew member on the day and pushed him on set.

Thanks so much. So Greg is the only main original character not to appear in the first two episodes. Do you happen to know how long the episode went for? I am assuming 18min total, and about 4 min were probably cut. ETA: Also do you know what was cut from the first episode.

@FrenchFan Thanks for all the synopsis. It is really awesome to see months also covered by Soap Digest and see the differences. SOD seemed to try to synopsise like a novel and Bryna is more recounting episode details, like a fan would. Both give details the other doesn't, so it is great to read. I have been busy trying to scan the magazines and things I have so sorry I have not been more active. But since Melbourne is on a further lockdown I will have time to get more done. I will try to get the 1976 Daily TV serials magazines up to coincide as best I can with your sharing synopsis. In terms of Y&R, I am thinking Bill Espy's last episodes may be the scenes with Snapper at the hospital during Jennifer's mastectomy that have been posted or maybe just as she is leaving the hospital. He is not mentioned at all in October Synopsis, and there was a soap magazine article I saw somewhere that mentions he was on his way out around Sep 75. So it seems his last airdates may have been around last week of Sep or first week of October with DH taking over Dec 8 I am also wondering if Bill Bell had mother issues. With the exception of Liz, most, or all of his mother characters are pretty lousy at being mothers. Maybe he just thought it would be boring, not sure