mikelyons

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

 

Very interesting thank for you sharing that info, it’s sometimes hard to piece just what goes onscreen and off screen on Y&R during it’s early years. 
 

Given Bell himself was burned out from Days too makes sense his dialogue writers were as well. The intern writer I joked about was Mark Waxman although when he wrote scripts for Y&R in the 70’s wasn’t actually clear from an old list of Y&R facts compiled back in the ‘90’s I have unless IMDB’s dates of 1973-1981 is to be believed to be accurate. Who knows. 

Should we start a Y&R writer's thread?  

1 hour ago, soapfan770 said:

 

 I wonder “who” he was talking about given I think Bell wrote most the first year himself, unless he’s talking about that intern writer who went on life to create Beakman’s World LOL. 

Kay Lenard was one of the first script writers on Y&R. In fact, Bill used a lot of a his DAYS script writers on Y&R scripts in 1973-75, but they were getting burned out, so he turned elsewhere. 

Kay Alden is the friend John F. Smith mentions who was working on her soap opera thesis and wound up interviewing Bell. Kay started at the tale end of 1973-early 1974 and was instrumental in shaping & forming Katherine under Bill's guidance. 

I have some old notes, etc. on this...I'll have to find them.

Someone asked how old Bill Bell, Jr. was...I can't recall if it was on this thread or another. Bill Bell, Jr. was born in 1963, Brad in 1965, and Lauralee in 1968.

3 hours ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Thanks for sharing!

I listened to the whole wretched hour. Wow. The host spent ALL of her time boot licking, praising, and bowing to JFP. I've never been so incensed while listening to a freaking podcast. If you're too lazy or incompetent to ask your subject real, substantive questions, get drunk on your podcast with your friends.

JFP did give some insight into her career, but, man, NOTHING is her fault. NOTHING. This is an EP with no taste or writing talent, yet insists on interfering with writing and forcing her "taste" on every show she's on. How many heroines has she had raped? How many vets has she fired? How many stunts has she done? How much history has she pissed on and flushed down the toilet? How many children of legacy character/families has she murdered? How many leading men has she elevated and feted while denigrating their female counterparts? Yeah, she may be able to manage a budget, but her contempt for daytime has shone through her entire career. She would have been better suited on a few seasons of a primetime show before going on to the next. She's the Ryan Murphy of daytime and (from me) that is NOT a compliment. 

4 hours ago, Aback said:

This Italian FB page has posted plenty of Loving scenes on their wall. Obviously they're dubbed   But if you're curious, search for "Quando si Ama"

 

https://www.facebook.com/Il-Club-delle-Soap-e-delle-Telenovelas-860647507401645

 

I remember the show was huge in Italy. My Uncle, who's an accountant, would literally take a break from meetings to watch it. 

Yep! Loving and Capitol were huge in Italy (probably bigger than B&B). My Italian ex was in love with Myrna on Capitol. I showed him a few Italian episodes of both shows and he was giddy!

3 hours ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Send me a PM--I have to find and upload it but of course I will as soon as I eventually can

Yeah--if I recall correctly they only allowed so much scanning per visit (and some things couldn't be scanned at all, albeit not much that interested me) though I also snuck a few phone pics...  I wonder why they changed the policy?  I did mention that it was for research purposed (which was true, more or less )

At any rate, it goes up to the 1984 Olympics and obviously was written before Marland came on--and, from all I can tell, is largely what the first year ended up being, so I think Agnes Nixon's involvement was much closer than some seem to think.

Brilliant! I'd love to see what Agnes' original intention was the for the show. Once Marland left LOVING, they removed his name as co-creator of the series. It's amazing the WGA (and Marland's agent) would allow Dramatic Creations to strip him of a co-creator credit. There's still so much that's never be told about LOVING!

2 hours ago, EricMontreal22 said:

I have a 100 page "Love" bible copyrighted to Agnes Nixon in 1982 scanned from her Northwestern archives if that counts (The town has a different name, the characters don't...)

If you wouldn't mind sharing it, I know I'd be grateful! When I went to the archive back in 2015, they weren't allowing scans or photos. Thank goodness they've changed their policies!

45 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

 

Thanks for the ratings. It's interesting to get another perspective of the numbers for soaps. Also, not surprising that game shows don't see major jumps from non-live viewing.

 

When Nielsen calculates the Live +7 ratings, those numbers only include the live ratings and any viewing of the episode on DVR within 7 days. It doesn't include any viewing that occurs online, on demand thru cable services or on streaming platforms. Is that correct? 

I do know that YouTube TV and Hulu provide their viewing figures to Nielsen, so - hopefully - they're in the +7 ratings, too.

Can we cancel THE TALK already? Their ratings are nothing but trash around the board.

29 minutes ago, trainman said:

I wonder how much of Y&R from the '70s was actually saved by CBS?  All of it?  Some of it?  I've never heard one way or the other, but have heard that certain other soaps, especially from the early days, have been lost forever.

The entire runs of Y&R, DAYS, GH, and B&B are were/are saved & archived by their production companies. CBS would've wiped the early years of Y&R forty years ago if they could've saved fifty cents. Just ask ABC.

What are the five things you'd change tomorrow if you ran a soap opera? Go!

1. Turn down the lights.

2. Hire competent dialogue writers who can move a story along.

3. Fire half the cast.

4. Make the head writer edit every script to ensure consistency in story and character motivation/intent, etc. If Irna and Bill can do it, so can you, Ron! 

5. Bring back rehearsals and stop rushing to block tape 900 episodes in one week.

13 minutes ago, Broderick said:

 

When Kay learned that Lorie Brooks was in the picture, she darted her eyes from side to side, waved her jeweled talons in the air and said, "Dear God in Heaven, Nikki, I'm afraid you've met your match with Lorie Brooks!"     

Dear God in heaven, I need to see that scene!

25 minutes ago, Vee said:

Yeah, it's backwards. By '85 or '86 I guess the Forbeses had all been supplanted by Gwyneth, Trisha, etc.? I wonder whose brainchild bringing them in was.

Agreed. Outside of the original pilot and two clip scenes on YouTube, I can't find a single episode of LOVING from 1983! There only seem to be a handful from 1984. I think seeing those episodes might help fill-in the blanks.

34 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

 Oh no! Really? Not Mrs. Susan Flannery...I've been watching old seasons of Dallas and she was in several episodes of season 4 (I believe it's 4  anyway). Unfortunate, you didn't have a good experience and I hope it was a bad day and not her actual demeanor at all times.

I'm not one to spill tea, but I interacted with her for a long time. I've never seen an actor override a director, physically move an actor, and say, "No! Stand here!" 

She directed an episode of THE FOSTERS a while ago and I caught myself rolling my eyes when I saw her name.

1 minute ago, Aback said:

 

We want more deets! 

 

Plus, what about Brad Bell...? 

 

Brad is a very nice guy. He'll make time to chat with everybody, despite how busy he is with his job (insert your snarky writing jokes here). No ego. The same for his brother, sister, and late-mother. Such nice people who seemed to know the only reason they were there was because of the folks on the stages, in the offices, and at home. 

I've met & interacted with a ton of Y&R and B&B actors, writers, and producers from the 2003-2005 period. 

Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott, Katherine Kelly Lang, Victoria Rowell, Michelle Stafford, Christian Le Blanc, Lauralee Bell, Doug Davidson, Jess Walton, Antonio Sabato, Jr. (swoon!... Well, back in 2005...), Bryton, Don Diamont, Ronn Moss, Ashley Jones, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Jeanne Cooper... Joshua Morrow was a real hunk in person back then. Nice ass, too. Although, we were in the rest room at the same time once and he didn't wash his hands...  

They are all nice, professional people. I missed meeting Shemar Moore by ONE DAY, someone on this site met him.  

I'd love to meet Susan Lucci, Kelly Ripa, and basically anyone on AMC from 1990-1995. I saw Kate Collins at the opening of a play her husband directed and stared at her with soap fan shock as I told my then-boyfriend, "That's Kate Collins!!! She played Natalie AND Janet!!!"

The only person I've met and interacted with who I didn't like is Susan Flannery. No thanks.

32 minutes ago, Elsa said:

 

 

The original Alden/Forbes family structure always seemed weird to me. 

You can  say that again. Curtis, Clay, Cabot, fake-Clay, Alex...the Forbes'?? Yeah... To this day, it makes my head hurt. Someone needs to write a history of LOVING as a Kindle Single.  

23 minutes ago, YRBB said:

 

There is no such thing as lighting design on soaps anymore (except maaaaayyyyyybe B&B). They just turn 'em on bright and let's go!

LOL!!! That actually made me laugh out loud and cry a little. It's so true!!!

2012 Y&R? Nope. I'll pass. Why is everything so over-lit in this episode? Garish!

On 5/2/2020 at 10:10 AM, jam6242 said:

From April 1951.  The storyline sounds very similar to the one Bill Bell wrote for Susan Martin on Days of Our Lives (absent the fans being the jury).  Did he ever write for the radio version of GL?

 

 

No, Bill Bell never wrote for the radio iteration of THE GUIDING LIGHT. By the time he started in soaps, he wrote solely for television.

The bad: Killing off the children of core families/legacy characters for a cheap ratings spike. Yes, I'm looking at you,  Y&R. Phillip Chancellor, III. Colleen Carlton. Cassie Newman. Delia Abbott. 

3 hours ago, Khan said:

What made TPTB think Heather Tom wouldn't leave?  I'm sure she loved working at Y&R.  However, she was (and is) a very skilled actress who could have been an asset for ANY series, daytime OR primetime.  Ergo, not doing everything in their power to hold onto her was just the height of hubris and stupidity.

Hubris, indeed. 

1 hour ago, Gray Bunny said:

 

 

 

 

To add to "The Bad": I was going to either revive an old thread or start a new one... but some things nitpicky that make a big difference is the lack of detail or effort to the every day simple stuff. It's so annoying when someone at Crimson Lights or Brady Pub orders a coffee and then proceeds to hold onto an EMPTY cup! We can see an inch down into the cup and there's nothing in there. They set it down on a table and we hear the hollow sound when it's set on the table. 

 

It's just as realistic as a women waking up in full makeup and perfectly coiffed hair. 

Ugh. It's very annoying to watch. How hard is it to pour cold coffee into the cup? Come on, Props!

11 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Y&R made its fair share of terribly stupid decisions over the decades. Letting talented people walk has to be at the top of that list.

Say it again!

They let Ashley Bashioum (sp?) go as the original Mac over contract negotiations. No other actress was able to capture to nuance or fire of Mac as Ashley. 

Y&R lost David Tom and Heather Tom in the same period. Heather Tom left because they thought they could low ball her and she'd never walk...until she did. Christian Le Blanc's contract was up after Heather's, so they gave him everything he wanted and now we're stuck with Michael!

All My Children's theme always centered on the family photo album for its entire history. They dropped the original Charles Paul theme in 1990 in favor of the jazz theme which was retained until cancelation. AMC was about family, the community...the Brotherhood of Man...and by retaining that vis-a-vis the photo album for over 40 years helped everyone know what the show was about.

The Young and the Restless has retained "Nadia's Theme" (back when it was "Cotton's Dream"!) since Day One. They've always retained the moodiness and character dependent themes which people have always loved. I will say that when Jill Farren Phelps re-did the opening with those meaningless character shots (diamonds/champagne falling for the women, nothing for the men), was just bad.

As the World Turns always relied on the globe to illustrate "our world" for over half a century!

Emmerdale has always shown the Yorkshire countryside... EastEnders, the East End of London... Coronation Street, a street in Manchester... These shows have retained their identity through their theme songs as have Neighbors and Home and Away (both of which I ate lunch to while residing in London)...

The Good: The bitch goddess (Lisa, Rachel, Erica, Jill, Brooke); Social climbing; Character development; Engaging opening title sequences

The Bad: All of the black people/minorities are related; Super-couples; Endless stunts; Repetitive dialogue 

The Ugly: Raping the heroine; Rehabilitating the rapist; The illiterate person of color learns to read and improves his/her life (huge sigh); A woman on cough medicine/slightly out of it mistakenly sleeps with her husband's brother and bears his (the brother's) child; Forcing a newcomer down the audience's throat; The only people of color are cops, thugs, gangsters, accountants, or under-fives...

Today's episode (well, what I saw of it) was great. I loved when Mamie learned from John and Ashley that Dru had been arrested. I bet Mamie's internal dialogue was, "Oh Lord, this girl's embarrassed me in front of these white people!"