will81

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

Here is another one. I could not find anything about Heidi Marks other than this, but Monica Potter was on from around the week of June 27, 1994 and Sharon Case from probably early Aug, it would seem neither Potter or Marks were on for very long. I will check my 1994 SOD issues and see if they had anything in more detail. This article is from Aug 26, 1994

Have seen this a few times and had no idea Stephanie was in this, just amazing, there is also footage from the Today show from 1980 as well. Thanks for sharing I thought Monica was there very briefly, like a few weeks or less, they apparently wanted her back but there was some sort of miscommunication that occured. Here is the first mention I could find of her from July 10, 1994

True. I think Y&R cast so well for the longest time. Even if Conboy was focused on beautiful people, he still managed to find some great actors and ones that fit the roles well. This seemed to be the case through the Bell years and even through Alden's initial solo run. When the writing was weak you still had dynamic actors who knew their characters so well, you could follow them through anything. As much as I dislike late 94 to late 97 I can still watch those episodes because of the actors.

Traci left town around May/Jun 87 for about six months. The character went to Stamford. Jack went to visit her around thanksgiving to pursuade her to return for Christmas. Traci left again with Tim Sullivan in Dec 89 and returned solo in Sep 90, just as Ashley was about say yes or no to Brad's proposal Traci left with Colleen in Aug 92 for NYC, but I think she was on recurring or still on contract and appeared sporadically before returning in Jan 1993. I can't remember when she left, but she was there in early 1994 for the whole Brad's heart attack story and left shortly after that around summer 94 (I think June 94 but not sure). She returned around Feb/Mar 1995 when John had his heart attack but left within a month or so and returned again in Spring 96 when Dina returned, but again it was a short return.

They were on and off dating between 90 - 93 until they re-married. They just sort of reconnected. John felt Jill had changed and Jill was doing everything in her power to show she had changed. There really wasn't any other explanation. Jack was opposed to the union, but felt okay about it as John had originally decided on having a pre-nuptial agreement, but when Jack gave Jill a hard time about the pre-nup, John impulsively married Jill without one in Jan 93. They had problems all along. Jill wanted to have a baby, John didn't. Jill got pregnant anyway, John told her to get an abortion. She pretended to, but didn't. John was livid, but once Billy was born in July 1993, John accepted him and everything was fine until John became impotent. Instead of working through it, he pushed Jill away. Jill eventually had a pretty hot affair with Jed Sanders and intended to divorce John in 1994. She wanted custody, so did he. So they went to court, Jill got temporary custody, but John demanded both Jill and Billy stay in the Abbott home, Jill agreed for Billy. The court case continued and Jill was losing, then John out of nowhere decided he was in love with Maimie, kissed her and they made secret plans to go away together, but John had a heart attack and forgot everything. Mamie told everyone, but only Dru and Olivia believed her. Jill used the opportunity to tell John they were having issues but were trying to work through them. They halted the divorce. Eventually Jill paid off Maime, who left town. John regained his memory and the divorce was back on. Maime returned to town but gave up on John (can't really remember the full details) and left town again. Jill and John's divorce continued, Dina returned, Jill saw her as a threat and ran her out of town. John and Jill were at each others throats. Victor stepped in and Jill threatened him. Victor was shot and Jill was the main suspect, but as we all know it was Mari Jo. At some point they decided it was best for Billy if Jill stayed living at the Abbott's for Billy's sake, but John demanded neither of them were to date other people. Pretty sure the divorce was finally wrapped up in 1996 I am pretty sure John got custody of Billy and left town for NYC at some point somewhere between 96 - 97 or so. Jill moved on with Keith Dennison until Kay messed that up and Jill ended up living with Kay and the whole Chancellor estate story took off. I may have left some stuff out, but that was mostly it. I really didn't like the story, especially how they threw Maime away like nothing. It was rather humiliating and out of nowhere. Jill was also being written badly through this time as well. John was particularly vindictive, so was Maime. The whole things was a mess, but I hated all the stories given to the Abbotts back then. Jack's being a Vietnam vet, Ashley and the evil twin story. Late 1994 to Late 1997 was not a great period for the show.

Thanks for sharing anyway. I like to see episodes regardless of quality, so I am glad you decided to share. Gives a good idea of who appeared and what the story focus was, even if we can't hear them. But then I watch the German episodes and can't speak German, so I guess I really love Y&R, haha

All good everyone. Happy to share @FrenchFan Yes I think we are both determined to track them down, so hopefully soon we will have them all. Bryna's recap of Y&R seems to confirm Bruce and Jen were together in the summer of 73 and that Gwen and Jill had a storyline previously as well. From what I read Gwen came into the salon all fabulous and beautiful, Jill was in awe. Gwen told Jill she had a great job as an escort. Jill mistakes this as simply a woman who escorts men around town as their dates and makes plans to sign on, until she visits Gwen's workplace and realises it is a brothel. Not sure if those details are 100% correct, so if anyone knows more, would be good to find out. This happened again (sort of) in 1976. Jill takes a job at a hotel as a manicurist and is offered the chance to prostitute herself for the male clients at the hotel, but Snapper realises what Jill has gotten herself into and goes to stop her. Jill is almost ready to go through with it but Snapper gets through to her. She then took a job at the Golden Comb with Derek Thurston in the aborted Shampoo-esque story that got dumped and pushed back to 1977 when they finally cast Joe LaDue

No worries, happy to share. Glad people are enjoying these. I am trying to track down more, but they aren't easy to get a hold of.

The other thing I read from 1977 was that Lynde had a car accident around 1976 and due to a back issue was off the show briefly. Conboy was apparently convinced Janice was grandstanding as her contract was up. When she was out sick again, he basically pink slipped her and she was more than happy to go. I remember reading one interview where she said in the early days the schedule was such that she could be let out to do other things, but by 1976 she was working non stop and hated it.

Here is November 1973 December 1973 Here are two pages from Jan 1974. The first time Y&R appears. Sorry I don't have more The last page I have is from Feb 74. Again Y&R and a bit of other shows.

Hey sorry everyone. I had some technical issues, here is Oct 1973 Sorry @FrenchFan If I am messing up your thread. For those following the 1991 SOD thread, I will be getting more up this week. Apologies again for the delay. Nov and Dec 1973 are coming in a few seconds