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@vetsoapfan This is all so amazing. Thank you very much for sharing. Reading the synopsis from Y&R 1974, Chris Brooks had an abortion? I had always been under the impression she had a miscarriage.

Lol, I get the feeling she was more worried about it aging her Yeah Skip is first mentioned in the synopsis for Mar 23 - 27 the week after Capitol went off the air, so I guess he jumped right into Y&R. He hires Nina.

Jill seemed more concerned with having Phillip stay in the court room and hear her testimony so he could finally hate Kay, the smugness was more about that. I do think Jill loved Phillip, but probably didn't want to deal with what he was saying and focused more on her hatred for Katherine. I did notice some reaction to Phillip, but it was overshadowed by her desire for revenge.

@BoldRestless Thanks so much for posting. I have seen scenes of the beginning of Phillip's testimony, I guess either from this episode or the previous day. Also we can now confirm Joe Blair was there until 1987. Skip seemed to have turned up shortly after this though, as there are clips from around March 87 with Jill, Nina and Cricket in the studio with Skip. That hospital orderly has what sounds like a Bostonian accent, I am Australian so don't know US accents that well, but reminds me of some of the barfly's and Cliff on Cheers, haha. Interesting to hear, as it is rare to hear different accents on soaps from extras. Lol, Cricket, I just can't. Pretty cool to hear a Madonna track, she so rarely allowed her music to be played anywhere. Considering she was a WB/Sire artist and this is Columbia/Sony. My dream is to come upon some garage sale with a bunch of Y&R VHS tapes, so far nothing. So this is still a cool find. Thanks again for sharing

It actually does seem that way, both women seemed to forget about him once he rejected Lance. Kinda dark, but I sorta like it. Lol I am also surprised that Lorie almost changed her mind about marrying Victor, I always assumed she had stuck it to him royally, but I just read she left him a heartfelt goodbye letter, saying she loved him and blah blah blah. I thought not Lorie too, haha. I guess nobody's perfect.

Lol, I guess that's why he never returned, there wasn't enough of him left. Either that or when he capsized in the canoe he never came back until a bunch of teens went to Camp Crystal Lake one summer. I guess anything is possible

Well Brooks didn't go with Lorie, seems he just evaporated, haha. This article from Aug 28, 1982 makes mention of him. Also gives a rough idea of when Tom Ligon last aired, either August or possibly early September. Last mention of Lucas I have found was when he said goodbye to Lorie

Haha, that's awesome. I can just imagine Lorie "I guess Brooks will be staying with Leslie" Leslie "I guess Brooks left with Lorie" Brooks "Hello, anyone?" He probably did go with Leslie, though I have seen a scene with Leslie saying goodbye to Stuart and while it doesn't show the whole thing, there is no mention of the boy, just Stuart telling Leslie how proud he is of her and how he will miss her and wants the best for her. She literally says "I hope you can see I'm doing the right thing for me" not me and Brooks, haha.

Lol, I was just reading the synopsis for 1982 and even reading it you can tell Bell was rushing to get rid of them. Dorothy basically says to Wayne "Hey Barbara is April's twin" Wayne is like "How do you know" Dorothy "She told me" Wayne "oh okay" Barbara wants really nothing to do with them, then Wayne is like can I have a loan, she accuses him of just wanting her for her money and tells him she doesn't need parents. Next minute she is buying them expensive clothes and deciding she needs to give them the world because they are her natural parents, lol and then they all head off to NYC. Haha Lol and Chris, so true. John tells her she is in an exclusive and binding contract which she then easily gets out of a couple months later. Then Lance is like "Leslie I love you, let's be a family with Brooks" Brooks "I don't want you to be my father" Lance "Damn, well I guess that's it, bye Leslie, bye Brooks" Haha. Then Brooks just vanishes even though Leslie sticks around for seven more months. So funny that seemingly Lorie and Leslie spent years fighting over Brooks and it seems they both left town without him. Presumably Brooks is still wandering around GC somewhere. @Broderick Do you actually remember Brooks fate? Did he go with Leslie or Lorie or was he just never mentioned again.

Yes I can't wait for La Spectra to arrive. The first mention of her in synopsis is from Jan 16 - 20 (roughly two weeks from where we are). But if you have seen her in episode 450, that mean she is almost here (Just watched ep #445). It will actually start feeling like B&B when she rocks up. Darlene was just so right and added so much to the show. Also this may be an unpopular opinion, but I am really liking Clayton Norcross as Thorne. I am actually not looking forward to Jeff Trachta replacing him. Even as a young boy watching I thought he was such a cheese fest and also too arrogant at times, I actually even prefer Windsor Harmon to Jeff.

Yes, even just reading synopsis from that period, it is so confusing. I have had to re read synopsis from that period so many times just to get a handle on any of it, haha. I think it is partly why I am slightly obssessed with the 80 - 82 period. It is just so difficult to get a handle on. Thanks again for your insights. That period does seem like a jumbled mess and characters are constantly coming and going. I know Nick Benedict was supposed to be this big catch for the show. He was Lorie's editor or something and she had just divorced Lance, but nothing seemed to happen between them, apart from some brief flirtation, and then all of a sudden he is with Julia and then within a year or so he's off the show. I wonder if JLB's pregnancy shifted him away from her. I know Nick had moved from NYC to LA for the role (at least I remember him saying that in an interview) and he seemed to act as if he was going to be a main player and with the show for some time. I assume (but don't know for sure) that Nick fell on the sword to save Eric's Victor. As I speculated before, much easier to redeem a character like Victor if his victims aren't in town anymore. Though @Broderick it also makes sense that he was a J.R Ewing type and could get away with anything. It never occured to me that Victor was being set up that way. Which is why your memories and insights are so good to have.

Fair enough, yeah I have no idea about contracts, but what you say makes sense. Yeah I guess Bell never owned the show outright, so he was still at the mercy of Screen Gems/Sony and of course CBS, but I assume once the show was getting back on top and eventually to #1 Bell was probably left alone. It must have been hard though since he loved Y&R so much. I am still amazed he and the rest involved with the show managed to turn the show around, with all the discussion about 80-81/early 82 it seems the show could have easily never recovered. Judging by the ratings it didn't start pushing its way back into the top 4 until the summer of 1982. That's a long period to be unstable, especially with the way daytime was back then. Actually seeing the ratings for 80 and 81 I am surprised the show was still getting into the top 5 on a regular basis.

Fair enough, though aren't actors under a different union to other actors in the industry even in television and their contracts completely different in structure? I'd be interested to know what the make up of their contracts were, as it seems soap actors have very little security and very little power over things. Which is why Beverlee McKinsey sticking it to JFP all those years ago was such a big deal, as it was rare for any soap actors to have the upper hand. I think also it was Conboy's phrasing, as he made it seem as if he voided their contracts himself, that he was being "the good guy", at least that's the way I remember him talking about it in an interview.

Oh yeah it was definitely not Bell or even Conboy's decision to go to an hour. Bell had delayed the expansion a few times, but it was going to happen regardless. However I can't imagine anyone was okay to just let all those actors go at such a pivotal time. It reeks of Conboy's arrogance, thinking they were all easily replaced. My guess would have been Bell would have preferred if the actors had stuck around for at least one more year to help the transition.

In terms of Brenda, I get the feeling she eventually decided she knew how to play Jill better than Bell knew how to write her. I think the producers probably did get sick of her and maybe did sabotage her to get her off the show, hence her recollections. The only cast member besides Jeanne that I have ever heard talk about Brenda was Beth Maitland, who said Brenda was not a giving scene partner. That she made it difficult for anyone during a scene because she basically gave them nothing to play off. I wonder if Brenda gave nothing to the other actor and then gave it all in her side, but the production team used the bad takes to sabotage her. It would explain why her performances were so inconsistent in the last couple of years. The bad word on Brenda didn't start until 1985, which is also when her performances got worse. But even in 1987 she could still knock a scene out of the park. There is a scene with her and Phillip when he comes over for dinner and it is like having the old Jill back. The soft, calm and polite Jill with the icy veneer. The Jill I loved from 1983 and early 1984. Brenda also states she had health problems and they didn't believe her, I think she did have health issues but that she had cried wolf too many times.

Of the interviews I have read with John Conboy, he acts as if he was the sole reason for Y&R's success. I am sure he did a lot and I get the feeling Bell didn't want to micro manage, but wanted someone he could trust to take care of things so he was free to write, I get the feeling he saw his producer as a partner, not a boss. It seems like Conboy was doing real hands on producing and started getting an ego because of it. And yeah I doubt Bell was doing much in the way of producing in those early days, otherwise he most likely would have moved to LA sooner. The way he did in 1986 to get B&B off the ground. If there was no major issues, he probably just assumed Conboy was doing his job and let him go and maybe Conboy was feeding him a lot of garbage and Bell trusted him enough to believe it There are a few things I believe Bell would have never agreed to and if he did it may have been through Conboy's manipulations. Firstly letting go of Janice Lynde, from what I understand she was pretty pragmatic about staying or going, but at the time it was reported that Conboy was sick of her, he felt she had faked a back injury and called in sick in 1976 as a grandstanding to a new contract negotiation. So he let her go and she happily went. I get the feeling Bell would have worked harder to keep her there. Second letting the actors out of their contracts when the show went to an hour, if Bell did approve of this, it seems odd. He hated the idea of expanding, so to deal with the stress of that on top of losing key actors seems an odd thing to do and I feel this was Conboy again. Either it was just an arogant decision (the actors don't make the show) that didn't take into account Bell's needs or it was sabotage, as the way Bell talks about Conboy makes it sound like he wasn't above that.

Yes I remember loving Grant and Macy together, but they barely had any time together before he died Yes I remember in 1998 once Ridge found out he was Thomas' father and he chose Taylor, I thought, this better be the end of this, I was getting so sick of it by then. I can't say I liked Brooke with Thorne though.

It is these details that I love, thanks for sharing. Yeah maybe Brett was there and Sean was a temp and that's how it played out, I can't find anything that mentions Sean in connection to the show, at all, which makes me feel more and more that he was never intended as a long term John Abbott. Also until July when Jack comes on there is little mention of John and Jill, mostly just John is impressed with Jill's ideas. Jill comes up with a new product. John isn't impressed with Jill's ideas, lol. Maybe they were waiting for Brett to become available again or something. What did you think of Bond Gideon as Jill. The one episode that was posted, I feel she was fine, but maybe Bell had Brenda in his mind too much to accept her, kinda like a rebound relationship, haha. I would love to get a clip of Bond and Jeanne so we have scenes of Jeanne with all the long term Jill's.

Quick question to anyone that can help. I have seen almost full yearly DVD sets of Days from 1984 onwards for sale (though a bit too rich for me at the moment), has anyone ever gotten these or are they online to download for free anywhere? I would love to get 84 - 98 as it is the period I grew up watching. I also contacted someone from another site who said they have links to download of 84 to now, but have never had a response. Anyone had any luck? Sorry I am also asking because if I did go for the DVD's I would like to know if they are a scam or not. I don't want to waste money.

I really liked Grant when he first came on, on top of that KKL and Charles had great chemistry and if the writing had allowed it, the pairing could have worked. He really pushed her out of her comfort zone and away from her obssession with The Forresters. After Brooke's breakdown and when Ridge proposed to Taylor basically out of spite, Brooke should have matured and wised up and realised her love for Ridge was never anything more than a girlish crush. It was this point that Brooke's growth was stunted and she stayed in the same endless cycle, she just eventually transferred this to Thorne and then Deacon. I wish Brooke had become pregnant to Ridge, but decided Grant was the better option, having Ridge with Taylor and Brooke with Grant but also having Brooke with Ridge's baby would have kept conflict, plus Grant was such a foil to Ridge. Keeping Grant as a more loveable rascal instead of the douche they turned him into would have been so entertaining to watch. On top of this, they could have had Stephanie and Brooke's conflict remain mostly about business and pushed Stephanie out of her endless cycle of involvement in Brooke's love life. Maybe have them be more like Jill/Kay in the 90's, sparring partners. Stephanie would have still been wanting to have a connection with Brooke's children and concerned about the business and Grant's influence on both the children and Forrester Creations. I felt 1998 was the end of these characters, it was the point at which Brad Bell needed to grow these characters and move them on, and he didn't.

Alright to confuse matters more, I found an article that speaks of Brett's departure, I couldn't access the full article from March 30, 1981 due to technical reasons but just a small preview which states "There are more cast casualties at 'The Young and the Restless" Michael Evans and Brett Halsey have been sent packing in their roles of Douglas Austin and John Abbott. Evans was beginning to over-act to excess and Halsey was virtually ignored by writers since he joined the show last fall" So now we have Brett possibly joining in either May, July or sometime in the Autumn. Plus was he ignored? Maybe the writer felt so considering Halsey had soap/primetime and film experience and was considered a vet. Lol, poor Michael. I wonder if there was truth to this or if it was just the writers opinion.

Maybe Brett really was on first and Sean was a temp. Maybe Brett started and left pretty soon after for some reason. Might explain why John is MIA for a couple weeks after that June 1980 episode with Sean Garrison that was posted. Though normally Jon-Michael Reed would write about that sort of stuff. He normally loved those tid bits. SOD also doesn't mention Brett as joining the show until their Oct 14, 1980 issue, which is for July synopsis and has the first mention of Jack. I felt pretty confident about Sean but now I am not so sure. A few people have stated pretty strongly that Brett was the first John and Sean was merely a temp. The other thing that I do find odd is normally if Brett was a recast, then it would generally be mentioned, but I can find no mention of Sean Garrison and they never refer to Brett as a recast anywhere

Yeah it is. There seems to be some contention about that. But Brett Halsey isn't mentioned as joining the show until August 1980. John Abbott first appeared in May 1980. While cast change news was sometimes late, it rarely took several months. I also read somewhere (and I have forgotten where) that Sean Garrison was indeed John Abbott #1. @Paul Raven Just found it from Aug 10, 1980

Oh sorry my mistake. Broderick seems to have done a better job than I could of mapping that all out. Only thing I can add. It seems Sean Garrison and Bond Gideon were both replaced before Terry Lester came on the show. Deborah Adair is first mentioned in a July 31, 1980 article, Lester's first air date was Jul 22, 1980. Both John and Jill are MIA from synopsis for a couple weeks prior to Jack's arrival. Not 100% sure but it seems most likely Brett and Deborah were in place along with Terry in July. After John left town around March 1981 and Jill quit Jabot, Jack is barely mentioned. Outisde of the stuff with Peggy, Lester didn't really get much story again until Jill returned to Jabot and Jack and Jill began dating which would lead to his involvement with Patty and the eventual sexual harrassment suit by Jill.

@Paul Raven Just thinking about it some more. In 1987 Jack was involved with Nikki faking her illness and trying to get Megeron Inc and other things out of Victor. Once Nikki was caught out in late 87 up until he hooked up with Leanna around May 88 and started digging around in Brad's past, he might not have been featured too much or he was more a supporting player without his own story. I am trying to think in terms of his last year on the show. He had the Leanna/Ruthless story, then the Jabot take over and played a part in the Brad/Lisa story and he and Lauren were getting friendly and ended up saving Brad in early 89. After that he may not have been featured as much. I do remember Terry chewing gum in a lot of his scenes towards the end. He seemed so bored during the last year he was on.