yrfan1983

2 hours ago, ltm1997 said:

Is it just me, or are 1977-1983 the best years of Y&R? As for the most action/drama packed, I'd have to say 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1983 are the top 5 (in no specific order) for the show's entire run. Personally, my two favorite years are 1979 and 1983; '79 being because of the Kay/Derek/Suzanne/Jill storyline in its peak with all that transpired during that year, as well as Nikki and her shenanigans, '83 being because it's Lauren's first year, the whole Victor/Nikki/Kevin/Allison/Rick/Julia/Eve saga, and some memorable scenes between Kay and Jill (such as the one where Jill faints while fighting with Kay about her pregnancy) and the Traci/Diet pills saga where she has the car accident. I personally have never seen full episodes of 1978-81 and have only seen edits from 1983. What do you all think?

I'm not as familiar with '78-79, but my impression is that 1980 and 1981 were years of mixed quality  I read William Bell's autobio and he said he did not want to expand the show from 30min to 1hour at the beginning of 1980. CBS execs forced his hand. He said that he knew he would have to "recreate" the show as a 1-hour, and that it would take 3 years to get it back to the quality that he demanded of himself.

Reading through the synopses from '80 and '81, it reads like a mix of great stories and lukewarm experimentation. Lots of characters/stories that don't really click. 

I've seen 2 episodes from 1981 at the Paley Center.  First was the finale of Crazy Edward kidnaps Nikki, which also features Jack/Patty/Jill, and was amazing. Second was the New Year's Eve ep, which was not very good: Andy's ex-wife Karen and April's sister Barbara were featured and would soon disappear.

I think 1983 is the year when everything comes together, with all the highlights you noted in your post.

So excited for the upcoming 1980 episodes! Thanks again.

On 2/7/2018 at 5:21 AM, ltm1997 said:

I have some great news that I will soon be buying 3 episodes of Y&R from 1980!!!! The dates are April 14th, April 16th, and June 16th, and they surround the storyline of Nikki being in the cult. Bond Gideon, who I never personally saw play Jill Foster, played her from February-July of 1980. So there may even be a chance we get to see her as Jill; we also might get to see Derek Thurston, who I also have never personally seen act as Derek, not one single scene. So stay tuned!

@ltm1997here's a little glimpse of Derek - he came back for Victor and Nikki's wedding. At 10:35 and 25:25  

 

1 hour ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

Many years ago, I used to trade rare videos with other collectors, but finally stopped when I got sick and tired of getting ripped off.

 

I understand that sometimes you need to keep ultra-rare material to yourself in hopes of using it to barter with someone else who also has ultra-rare material in his collection. And I can even understand charging someone for the costs of blank DVDs and shipping if he wants you to ship him discs through the mail.  You don't want to LOSE money from your own pocket in order to gift total strangers with soap opera episodes from days gone by. But $1000.00 seems way too high a price to ask for 20 episodes.

 

I'm curious to know what folks think they would comfortably pay for the soap episodes they want to acquire.

$10/per ep seems reasonable 

1 hour ago, YRfan23 said:

Someone who works at the studio??

Inquiring minds want to know!! 😃

^ Best news I’ve had all year - can’t wait! Thank you for all your efforts @ltm1997

5 hours ago, OzFrog said:

Thanks to pannoni4 for his awesome G+ collection of old Y&R episodes. A few observations and questions I had from watching all of this:

 

* Intrigued to see that at the end of 1984, Lauren and Paul were already together and yet she was still trying to cause trouble for Traci. Also surprised to see the Shawn storyline kicking off already (I know the Lauren buried alive stuff was a big one for 1985).

 

* Seeing as we were so close to 1985 by this point, were we still far off from Brad appearing on the scene? And did Traci move seamlessly from Danny to Brad?

 

* How did the storyline with Tyrone/Amy/Jazz eventually wrap up?

 

* As has been observed by other posters here, I also couldn’t help but notice all the foreshadowing that was going on with Victor/Nikki/Ashley/Jack in the 26 December episode. When did it really start to heat up between these four?

 

* And also all the Brent Davis stuff!! Particularly when Jack told Ashley what he was told by Marc Mergeron about Dina’s affair with Brent. I couldn’t help but think as Ashley reacted to that “oh boy, wait until you find out what REALLY happened”. Speaking of which, when and how did Ashley actually find out that Brent was her real father?

I recently read all the SOD synopses from this time period, so can answer some of these…

 

Brad doesn’t appear until summer ’85. The first half of ’85 is a long painful process of Traci accepting that Danny doesn’t love her and finally divorcing him.

 

Tyrone created a new persona of a white man (!) who worked for the mob boss Mr. Anthony (who we saw in one of the Dec ’84 eps). By summer ’85, Mr. Anthony was dead and the story was mainly over. In early ’86, Tyrone left for a job in Hawaii. Amy considered leaving with him but stayed to explore a relationship with Nathan. I think Jazz just faded off with no goodbye.

 

Things heat up in the quadrangle in spring ’85 when Victor has to rescue Ashley after she loses her memory (due to the Brent Davis revelation), and they fall in love. Nikki feels neglected and is drawn to Jack.

Trying to remember – I think Brent Davis himself told Ashley he was her father, and then Dina confirmed it.

8 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

Victor should have fallen in love with Cassandra and married her, leading to years of volatility for the Newman Family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor and Cassandra would have made an amazing power couple. Shame that Nina Arvesen chose to leave in ‘91

1 hour ago, YRfan23 said:

so was the flashback of Victor pulling Cassandra out of the way, something that happen the previous episode or did they just show that so people would know how Cassandra escaped?

I think the viewers are seeing it for the first time. I think at the beginning, the viewer is supposed to think she’s dead like Adrian does.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks. One of my first Y&R memories is Cassandra and the hot ice gun so I appreciate more fleshing out. 

 

I wonder if Bell didn't see a man being drugged as being the same as a woman. Many don't...

I think you’re right...this was the same year that Sheila drugged Scott

Hi, I made it back to Paley and watched one more ep. I wasn’t going to watch it because it’s titled “Victor rescues Cassie” and I assumed Cassie was Sharon’s daughter and the ep was from the 2000s, which I don’t care to see… but @YRfan23 pointed out to me that “Cassie” is actually Cassandra Hall and the ep is from April 1990, which I definitely want to see!

 

All of the Cassandra scenes were incredible! So disturbing to see her lying there like a corpse, eyes open… and then she twitches and rises like the undead. It was gothic in that early ‘80s YR style… Vanessa’s suicide, Crazy Edward…

 

Something bothers me, though…a big part of Cassandra’s trauma is that she was drugged so as to be paralyzed with the gun aimed at her. So why then, by year’s end, is she so willing to drug Brad in her Las Vegas wedding scheme?

Also, where is Brittany…?? Cassandra is left all alone in her house at the end. That seems cruel, Brittany should have been with her.

 

The rest of the ep… meh. Not a Leanna fan and not a Peter Bergman fan…. so compared to the Cassandra scenes, I thought the rest paled in comparison. Nice to see Ashley Nicole Milan… prob one of her last appearances.

 

Here’s the recap:

 

Leanna and Jack in her room – Leanna excited about the debut of her show. Jack concerned about the Nikki situation. He says until he and Nikki share a bed, they’re not “really married”. Jack is sleeping in the guest room but Victor is under the belief that Jack and Nikki are already sharing a bed. Leanna jokes that Jack, Victor and Nikki should all be guests on her upcoming debut show and cracks herself up.

 

Ashley brings in the sales figures for Brad to review. Ashley is mad about the debut of Leanna’s show. Ashley can’t believe how Leanna has Brad and John wrapped around her fingers. Ashley calls Leanna a flake and not a good representative for Jabot.

 

Adrian enters Cassandra’s house. He calls out to her, asking if she’s home… and smirks.

 

THEME

 

Jack complains if Victor would butt out, then Jack and Nikki would have a clear path to romance. Leanna clarifies that little Victoria also needs to accept Jack. Leanna reminds Jack how persuasive Jack has been so far in getting Nikki to fall in loe and marry him, so it should be no trouble for him to get into Nikki’s bed.

 

Ashley compliments Brad on his business instincts, and therefore can’t understand how he is so blind re: the Leanna show. John enters.

 

Adrian enters the living room and sees Cassandra “dead”, sprawled on the ground with a bloody head, eyes open. Adrian talks to himself, “I’ve committed the perfect crime twice, first George, now Cassandra”. Adrian called the police, sounding distraught, saying she committed suicide. Cop says they’ll send a car.  Adrian hangs up and laughs.

 

John notes the mood in the room is tense. Ashley says she’s not opposed to the idea of the show but opposed to Leanna as the host.

 

Adrian talking to himself “I did it, I pulled it off – it’s all mine. Two for the price of one.” He notes that George hired him to kill George, but George probably didn’t imagine that Adrian would kill Cassandra as well. Adrian puts drops in his eyes to look like he’s been crying. He rehearses what he will say when the cops come. Cassandra’s head stirs. Adrian can’t believe what he saw. Cassandra starts moaning and then moving. Adrian freaks out. Cassandra starts to rise. Adrian grabs the gun on the ground (holding it with a napkin to avoid fingerprints) and shoots her multiple times.

 

Jack enters the ranch. He asks Miguel if Miguel can be flexible in welcoming Jack to the household. Jack notes that his style is quite different from Victor’s – Jack is less tense, more friendly.

 

John notes that he was disappointed in Leanna when he first met her – she didn’t seem like someone who could think on her feet. But that Leanna had changed John’s mind by jumping up and singing a song. Ashley is dumbfounded.

 

Victor enters. Adrian puts on an act about Cassandra shooting herself. Salena and Nathan enter. Adrian says I fired both of you, what are you doing here? Carl enters, and then Paul. Adrian continues his act while everyone silently stares at him.

 

Ashley can’t understand how Leanna changed John’s mind by singing a song. John says Leanna showed charisma and presence. John notes doing Leanna’s show is only a commitment to a pilot, and not a full series. Ashley remains skeptical.

 

Little Victoria says hi to her “uncle Jack”. Jack attempts bonding with her over her homework.  Nikki enters.

 

Adrian continues ranting. Cassandra rises from behind him and lunges toward him like a zombie. Adrian freaks. Carl and Salena pull out their badges. Nathan pulls out the tape recorder, which has all of Adrian’s rantings. Paul starts punching Adrian, until Victor pulls him away. Salena reads Adrian his rights. Carl explained the gun was loaded with blanks. Everyone exits but Paul. Cassandra is traumatized.

 

Nikki asks Victoria to finish her homework upstairs. Nikki tells Jack he is obvious in his attempts to make inroads with the family.

 

Cassandra is dazed… surprised that Paul didn’t leave. She says she is numb – she can’t believe it’s finally over.

 

Jack tries to convince Nikki to make their marriage a real marriage. Nikki wonders why Jack asks her to marry her. Jack says it wasn’t Victor – he does really love her. He says just because Victor came over recently to try to stake his claim shouldn’t stop them from progressing with their marriage. Nikki looks torn.

 

Paul cleans the fake blood off Cassandra’s head. She flashes back to when she was sitting paralyzed as the dry ice melted and the gun was about to go off… and Victor rushing in and pulling her free seconds before the gun went off. Back in the present, Cassandra cries in Paul’s arms.

 

Nikki tells Jack she has to consider Victoria’s happiness. Victoria prays each night that Victor will come home so they can be a family again. Jack understands – he doesn’t want to be Victoria’s father – he’s fine being her friend or “Uncle Jack”. Nikki is touched. She finally agrees that they can consummate their marriage tonight and start kissing.

 

Cassandra can’t believe that if Victor came one second later, it would have been too late. She tells Paul he can’t imagine what she was going through waiting for the gun to go off. Cassandra says she doesn’t know what life holds for her, but that she owes her life to Paul. But that the relationship they once had is gone- too much pain and awful memories. She will always cherish the good times they shared. Paul kisses her and tells her “goodbye my beautiful Cassandra”. Paul leaves – Cassandra says to herself “goodbye my love” as Nadia’s theme plays.

 

END

23 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

So did he marry her and then when he came back in 1988 they were split?

 

And the guy who plays Jazz is good, and is so different from most black men on soaps. It's too bad he didn't stay around. Did they fire the actor or did he want to leave? 

I'm pretty sure they didn't get married... per the SOD synopses, he actually came back briefly in 1985 to cause a little drama when Brad was courting Traci.

 

The best I can tell with Jon St. Elwood (Jazz), I think his contract expired and Jazz just faded away w/o a proper goodbye. That happened a lot on YR. I think Bill Bell liked to keep open the option of having people around on a recurring basis, which is nice for the actors, but then that robs the viewers of a farewell. You think, "whatever happened to...?" Examples I can think of besides Jazz: Dina (her initial stint), Eric Garrison, Casey, Chase, Joanna, Brittany Rawlins...

Watched the 12/26/84 ep – it was interesting/sad to see Victor and Nikki in bed together. It seems like they had such a short happy marriage before things fell apart. They joked around about Nikki “taking care” of Jack and Victor “taking care” of Ashley, but that is indeed what happened and what split them apart. 

 

Also sad thinking about Traci/Beth Maitland… at this point BM had been expertly handling front-burner stories and would win an Emmy (YR’s first acting emmy) the following year. But for whatever reason, TPTB decided in ’85 to shift Traci into a supporting role, and she was never really given the front-burner spotlight again.

 

Loved Jill’s fantasy of driving Katherine off the cliff! And love seeing BD before she went full-on camp. If only she could have stayed in this more subtle and relatable style…

^ yep, Tyrone was undercover as "Leon". In the 12/6 and 7 eps, you see that Tyrone/Leon's death was faked, and in 1985, Tyrone goes undercover again, dressed as a white man! I've never seen that story but it doesn't sound good.

 

Lauren was a bitch to Andrea, in hopes that Tim would reunite with Traci, pulling Traci out of Danny's orbit...and freeing up Danny's time to perform with Lauren.

Watched 12/6 and 12/7/84 - they take place on the same day in Genoa City.

 

Traci’s bedroom scenes were so bittersweet. She is fragile, hopeful and optimistic but her dreams are just a fantasy. I think Jack and Ashley know this but don’t want to dash her hopes – Danny too.

 

Danny and Lauren’s singing was not music to my ears. Their voices do not blend into harmony. I don’t think TEB was a singer by trade – wonder if the show wrote her as a singer and she just had to play along.

 

Lauren’s nastiness to Traci always takes me off guard. It’s so stinging. It’s comforting to know that BM and TEB have always been close friends.

 

Nice to see SSH as Joanna. She looks much more glamorous than in her ’84 Days appearances. Was surprised to hear Neil mention that Joanna had another daughter who died…?

 

Very cool to see the beginnings of the Ashley paternity story, which is still fueling story 33 years later.

And interesting to see early Victor/Ashley. Don’t see the romantic chemistry yet – the scenes were more adversarial.

Strange to think that Marc will be gone by month’s end, when he is so involved in this plot.

 

DD was literally yelling during the detective agency scenes. Steven Ford’s ears must have been ringing.

 

The scene in Amy’s bedroom was off – one second she was telling her dad not to touch him and to give her space – the next second, she says she needs to be with him.

 

Interesting how Miguel had a heavy accent and called Ashley "seniorita" - guess that faded over time.

15 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Really enjoy your recaps. I hope you do one for each episode. What were the differences in the summary and the episode?

The summary is for the wrong day.. it's probably for a couple episodes before 11/2. It says that Danny confronts Patty, but in the posted ep, she has already left town.

Thank you so much @DRW50!

 

Just watched 11/2/84. The summary on the page doesn't match up with the actual episode posted.

 

The ep has a grim, grey, hopeless feel to it, especially all the Traci related scenes. Paul's confrontation with Danny and Traci was painful, as these are people who should really be getting along.

I felt particularly bad for Tim's fiance Andrea, who for a moment I thought was the same actress who played Brad's crazy ex, Lisa. It's not her, but looks like a mix of Lisa and the soap actress Jessica Tuck.

 

TEB looks gorgeous, with her wild mane of hair. I didn't recognize ED at first with her brown hair pinned up and her glasses. BD looked simple and glamorous with her hair back in a braid and her "stealth mode" leather jacket. She was mostly silent in her scenes and didn't have a chance to get campy

 

All the mob scenes were painful. Phil Morris is a talented actor but he can't spin s**t into gold. Grabbing the guy and calling him "turkey" - so cliche.

 

Poor Stephanie Williams - I think she's very charismatic and enjoyable to watch, but the show never found her a suitable romantic match.

I can't believe DR was on the show for less than 2 years. His character influenced plot for the next 40 years!

2 hours ago, YRfan23 said:

What?? How did I not see this 😁😁 must watch later!!! I actually did skim to some of the Leanna/Victor scenes, and even though it was just fantasies, It’s fun to see that Leanna was the one person who made Victor squirm...(besides Eve Howard)

LOL...you'll love all of it...it's like a late-80s Greatest Hits CD!

^ I was riveted by the story, thanks to the excellent acting and tight plotting. Sad when it ended

On 10/8/2017 at 1:20 PM, ltm1997 said:

Found these rare vids on Youtube. If only we could find the scenes/episodes in English!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzmqX9luysc

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ3RwoPmL64

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNv08A0wN1M&t=867s

Thank you @ltm1997! I finally had a chance to watch these.  The 3rd one is really great. It’s a bummer it’s in Italian, but it still has many key scenes from ’86 to ’89, including:

 

Jill’s press conference where she almost spills the beans about sleeping with Jack, and John stops her; Nikki’s fake illness; Ashley telling Victor in the rain that she had the abortion; Ashley in the sanitarium with Steven and then getting married; weird fantasies of Leanna dropping spiders on Victor and then strangling him; Brad and Traci’s wedding; Brad in a cage with Lisa; Lauren and Jack rescuing Brad; Brad collapsing in the courthouse at Traci’s divorce; Steven shot and Ashley in mourning;  Nina sleeps with drunk Phillip  (he’s basically unconscious and it looks disturbing); Nina and Phillip’s wedding; Phillip’s drunk car crash and everyone watching him die in the hospital (baby Phillip is crying and it’s so sad!); Jessica’s story (we see her taking a big handfull of pills – is that how she dies?); Jill and David grooming the bum Rex; Rex and Katherine’s marriage; Clint, Robert and Shirley meet Marge; Marge dressing for the 1st time as Katherine; Paul and Cassandra’s courtship and the George Rawlins saga.

Just read this interesting Terry Lester interview from SOD dated 12/1/87. I always had the impression that he did not get disenchanted with YR until around '88, when the storyline focus went too heavily towards Cricket. But according to this, he was already conflicted about staying, going way back to '85. 

 

Does anyone know what he is referring to when he says the show trashed his character in mid-'85? This is around the time of the Jack/Nikki/Victor/Ashley quadrangle. I can think of one really lousy thing Jack did around this time... blackmail Ashley by threatening to tell John he wasn't Ashley's bio-dad.

 

Here's the story:

YR star Terry Lester once quit his Jack Abbott role for a smorgasbord of reasons.

"I was convinced that if you are going to be in daytime, that's all you can do. That's what I was told." The mega-popular he-man also cites exhaustion, boredom, and disgust with his role as explanations  for his brief 1985 departure. "They had trashed the character", Lester maintains, "and I was not willing to continue under the same circumstances". The execs decided to call his bluff. "I was told, 'Well then, too bad.' So I said, 'I'm sorry to hear that. Goodbye.' They really didn't believe I was leaving so they didn't do anything about it. When I said goodbye, it was certainly goodbye".

Two months later, he was back at work with a salary hike, a refocused character, and plenty of "outs" - an industry term for the ability to leave one's soap on virtually a moment's notice to accept a short-term job in TV or flicks. "I was more surprised by my return than anybody, I think", Terry notes, acknowledging that other stars in a similar position haven't met with such a happy ending.

But is he content now? "When my contract came up a few months ago, I again seriously thought about leaving." It's not actual disgruntlement, he says, but rather more of a general actor's neurosis. Even though he agreed to sign on for another round, "Pretty much daily, I ask myself, 'what the hell have I done?' It's just a habit I have of questioning everything - and it's not because I'm unhappy. Although sometimes I think I've just totally screwed myself up." Without doubt, YR's prominence in the ratings remains an enticement. Reveals Lester, "I would not be interested in being in a low-rated daytime show. Like everybody else, I'm here to make the most of my career - and where you do that is on the number-one show"

4 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

At least Nikki was consistent with being a bored housewife....she was bored when married to Greg Foster...and how she would con Los foster into doing her housework for her...and Chris Brooks trying to explain to Nikki how she could be a good wife lol

Those scenes sound amazing and hilarious.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

So, it was Andrea Evans' Patty who shot Jack?  I always thought it was Lilibet Stern's.

Yea, in the vid posted here yesterday, AE is the one who shot Jack. Maybe LS also filmed a version of it before leaving?

9 hours ago, YRfan23 said:

It's weird how they had them go in separate ways for a little bit....I also read that Victor worked at a diner at one point during that year....

 

I read some of the '83 synopses last night... what happened was Nikki is working hard at being a devoted wife to Kevin, but she is kinda bored... and her old friend from the Bayou Leroy talks her into coming back and doing a few strip performances, because the Bayou is not doing well financially. She agrees (because she's Nikki and she's bored, lol). The mobster Pete Walker (the evil guy in your vid from yesterday wearing the glasses) is secretly at the Bayou and films her, and then blackmails her with the tape. So that's how she gets pulled into the mob story... haven't come across any mention of Victor working in a diner yet...

1 hour ago, YRfan23 said:

I still don't quite get how Nikki was shoehorned into the Tony stuff, as it seems like they didn't even really use her  prior connections to Paul for that....and it also seemed like Victor wasn't aware of this either?.....did they have a period where they didn't interact this much before they got back together? or before the Rick Darros stuff?

seeing the 1983 credits was cool!  it's basically the format they use now (the cast in alphabetical order) but it looks much cooler seeing the characters drawings off to the side......it's also kind of weird seeing Robert Colbert's/Stuart's name still being listed....I wonder how often he even appeared until he left town as well...
 

Yea, I think they were in different orbits for a while there that year... Victor was more with Julia and Eve, Nikki with Kevin and Rick. Victor definitely had no interaction with Tony DiSalvo, lol

 

From the recaps, Stuart only had a few appearances in 1983, mostly in the newspaper office setting, before disappearing...

I previously considered 1983 to be YR's finest year. It does seem to be the year that all of BB's efforts to revamp the show came together. Highlights include the Abbotts and Victor/Nikki, etc. But as evidenced in the above vid, much of the year's plot, I think January through September, was focused on this mob story... which, IMO, is not YR's forte.

 

Now, I would consider either 1986 or 1991 to be YR's best year. Hard to choose between them.