Broderick

Thanks so much!!

Ashland doesn't sound very dead. lol.

I always saw that as a pretty sad waste of K.T. Stevens. Like Miss Barbara Stanwyck, she was never an exceptionally versatile, captivating actress, but she was one of the few "leftover" actresses of Hollywood's "Golden Age" who was still working. It seemed a shame to stick her with such a one-dimensional character, and then have her leap to her death, just to facilitate a terribly DULL trial, that dragged on forever, where we already knew the outcome. ("Lorie goes free!! Saints be praised!! The old crone wasn't able to frame her!!) Vanessa would've been more entertaining if she'd been more than a plot device. (During this same time period, Henry Slesar at "Edge of Night" was having great fun with Kim Hunter -- another leftover from the golden age who was reduced to soap work.) Bell just never seemed to TRY very hard with Vanessa, keeping her strictly a domineering old villain, and then using her death to drag-out a pretty dull story involving a pretty played-out heroine.

I believe Victoria Rowell was perceptive enough to realize a young woman's Dru's age likely wouldn't call an imposing 75 year-old woman by her first name. The others were just barking out the (stupid) dialogue given them by ignorant writers. Tracey Bregman also seemed to tailor hers a little bit, with the occasional "Kay" thrown in, because like Victoria Rowell, she'd been around a while, understood her character extremely well, and probably thought, "If these writers want me to call Mrs. Chancellor by her first name, at least I'll use her *society* name, so I won't sound identical to Kevin Fisher and Amber."

Thanks! I forgot Cricket, Phillip III, and Danny! They all called her "Mrs. Chancellor". Nina Webster added her own unique voice and opted for "Old Lady Chancellor".

I'd say 1980. Seems like it was shortly after Deborah Adair took over for Bond Gideon as Jill (which was in the late summer of 1980). Seems like some of Terry Lester's initial scenes were with Deborah Adair, in which Jill encouraged Jack to be less of a playboy and more of a young executive (which was an assignment John Abbott gave her). Seems like by Christmas of 1980, Jill was sort of attracted to Jack, but didn't want to dismiss her chances of landing John Abbott, who controlled the money.

Yes, and Stuart Brooks -- who was the same age as Kay Thurston -- was always "Mrs. Chancellor", lol.

Oh yeah, for sure. Most of Miss Dickson's references to "Kay" in the late 1970s were when she and Derek and plotting and scheming behind Kay's back. "Derek, we have to find a way to get some of Kay's money for ourselves!"

Back in the day, Genoa City didn't have that small-town vibe where everyone was on a first-name basis with one another. Jeanne Cooper's character was known as "Mrs. Chancellor" to 99% of the cast; only her husband, Phillip was on a first name basis with her, and he called her "Kay". The closing credits also referenced her as "Kay Chancellor". Her son Brock called her "Duchess" or "Mother", but when he spoke of her to another character she was, "my mother Kay Chancellor." I guess the next character to get on a first-name basis with her eventually was Jill Foster, when they became rivals and enemies. Brenda Dickson's Jill also called her "Kay", as that's what Phillip had called her. Kay's second husband Derek usually called her "Kay" and occasionally "Katherine". About 1980, Kay acquired a British suitor named Douglas Austin who tried to be stiffly formal, and he always called her, "my dear Kath'rine." To Victor Newman, she was "Mrs. Thurston" to her face. If he spoke of her behind her back, she was "Kaychancellor", all in one word in one breath. Nikki got on a first-name basis with her in 1981 and called her "Katherine" which was pretty jarring. Not sure if that was Melody Thomas's choice as an actress, or if that's what Bill Bell and Kay Alden wrote for her. In 1982, we acquired Earl and Allison Bancroft, who had known Kay in college. They called her "Kay". The same year, Jerry Douglas, Terry Lester, and Eileen Davidson began interacting with her, and to them she was "Mrs. Chancellor." Behind her back, they referenced her usually as "Kay Chancellor". John Abbott eventually became first-name-basis, and he called her Katherine or Kay interchangeably. Dina Mergeron arrived in about 1983, and she called her "Kay". Brent Davis soon followed, and he called her "Kay". Jess Walton took over the role of Jill in about 1987, and she was 100% "Katherine", while her predecessors Brenda Dickson and Deborah Adair had been all "Kay". (That was another jarring instance.) Kay then became the stepmother of Danny Romalotti and Gina, and they entered the first-name realm, also as "Katherine". From there, it began seeping across the whole cast. Their father, Rex Sterling, alternated between "Katherine" and "Kay". Ashley Bashioum's character (Mackenzie Browning) who met Mrs. Chancellor in 1999 in a homeless shelter called her "Kay" and then "Grandma Kay". Elizabeth Harrower's character in 2003 opted for "Kay", as Elizabeth Harrower had been a writer on the show and knew that she'd always been Kay. Then the new writers came along who didn't much know the show's history, and they had everyone calling her "Katherine". It was sort of absurd that people like Nicholas and Victoria, Kevin Fisher, Neil Winters, Paul Williams and others were suddenly on a first-name basis with her, but that's what happens when you lose your history. Sorry! More than you wanted to know!

Thanks so much, French Fan!

Yes, those: For whom did Kay develop an unnatural attachment? Joann Curtis Who was Earl Bancroft's wife? Allison Who was spiking Kay's medicine with liquor? Jill Why did Bill Foster return to his family? Dying of lung cancer. Who pushed Kay off the wagon in revenge for Phillip's death? Jill What serious health problem did Traci's preoccupation with weight lead to? Bulimia -- I'll also accept heart problems caused by diet pill addiction. lol.

That's a pretty decent interview, except the interviewer is such a bumbling simpleton. John James talks about shooting the Dynasty pilot with George Peppard, and the poor interviewer says, "Wow. I didn't know that." I guess he didn't even bother to read the Wikipedia page on Dynasty prior to the interview.

I don't know where the "retcon" originated that "Kay brought Victor Newman to Genoa City to run Chancellor Industries". In about 1987, Santa Claus left a pack of Y&R Trivia Cards in my stocking. They're not some fan-made product, but rather are official SONY merchandise. One of the cards says, "Who brought Victor Newman to Genoa City?", and when you turn the card over, the answer is, "Kay Chancellor -- to run Chancellor Industries". So the retcon has been around at least since the late 1980s. But obviously that's not what happened on-screen. Just a few years ago, Bond Gideon's husband posted a Summer 1980 episode, in which Kay Chancellor is introducing Derek Thurston to George Packard, and Kay explains to Derek that George Packard has been "running Chancellor Industries since Phillip's death". Victor had been a character on the show for several months by that point, had never met Kay, and Kay herself admitted someone else had been running the company since 1975.

Here's another one that indicates they really just didn't know what they were doing. Nick Benedict has been signed to appear on Y&R in an as-yet-undecided role, although the studio informs us two new core families will be added to the show, one of which will include Nick Benedict. [That obviously didn't happen as the "studio" indicated.] Come February, Meg Bennett will portray a potential romantic interest for Brock Reynolds, when she debuts as "Julie". [lol] Other newcomers to Y&R include Janet Wood as unwed mother "April", David Wynn as "Steve Williams", and Michael Evans as the safecracker "Douglas". Still not cast is a replacement for the exiting Brenda Dickson in the role of Jill Brooks. John McCook will be taking a short leave of absence to film a starring role in a TV miniseries.

Found this, from August 1980: Beau Kayzer is ready to move on. He says he is leaving Restless this week to look for greener acting pastures -- mainly in films. "It ceased to become a challenge here," he said in a telephone interview from his dressing room in CBS's Television City in Hollywood. "There is so little latitude in daytime television." Kayzer says soap operas are a "good training ground" but editing procedures give an actor greater flexibility on film than on tape. He wants to do films on location and has already completed a pilot for NBC in which he plays an undercover detective. [It goes on and talks about the spiritual and celibate nature of his character, his character's drunken mother, and so forth. But it doesn't really answer the question about his contract. I still believe he agreed to stay on -- recurring -- after his contract expired in February 1980, and after six months of it, he'd just had enough.]

No one's ever really answered that question to my satisfaction. I suspect he opted-out in February of 1980, but since he'd worked closely with Brenda Dickson and since he knew she was definitely leaving, he maybe, as a courtesy to Bill Bell and John Conboy, agreed to stay (in a recurring capacity) for an additional six months or so, to keep from "gutting" the entire Jill/Kay/Brock/Derek storyline. Perhaps Bell thought he could be talked into extending his stay even further, but clearly he was ready to go. Even today, it's sometimes difficult to tell who's on contract and who's recurring -- because even though Esther and Michael Baldwin are listed as "contract players", they actually appear to be recurring. Back then -- in 1980 -- it was even harder to tell, because the show didn't start running a full cast list until about 1982. In those days, they were only running the names of actors who'd appeared on that particular episode, and if you were off that day, you got no televised credit, regardless of your contract status.

What I recall about Victor & Lorie in 1980 was there was some uncertainty about Victor's motivations. (Of course, there was uncertainty about everything in 1980, because the show was a complete mess, lol). But seriously, we don't know exactly "who" Victor was at the time. He hadn't yet become the Evil, Macabre Villain who imprisoned Michael Scott in a dungeon, but clearly he wasn't a pussycat, either. He was more of an ENIGMA. He had a certain charm, but he seemed capable of violent outbursts and formidable vendettas. There was a scene in which Brock took Julia Newman out for a drink or for dinner. Julia was babbling about, "I shouldn't be here with you; I'm a married woman. What would my husband say if he knew I was dining with another man, especially a kind, handsome man like you, Brock?" Meanwhile, in a darkened corner of the same restaurant, Victor was treating Lorie Brooks to dinner, speaking softly, giving her deep, meaningful looks, telling her how much he enjoyed the novel "Naked At Dawn" (which she had written), complimenting her on her brains and her beauty. I wasn't sure where Bell was going with that. Was it merely to show that Victor was hypocritical about Julia's "outside friendships", or was Victor really falling in love with Lorie? Probably the latter, but the story was short-circuited with Brock's exit, then the whole Michael Scott mess, then Nikki & Kevin, and when it finally picked up again, with the Prentiss Industries takeover, it seemed Victor had really developed deep feelings for Lorie -- despite their trust issues -- and of course she broke his heart, which was pretty sad. Like I said earlier, I was sick of Lorie at the time, but her engagement to Victor and then abandonment of him opened the door for him to become the more well-rounded antihero Bell wrote so well (and Braeden played so well) for the rest of the 1980s.

I guess it was semi-important to keep Lance alive (even though Dennis Cole was a terrible actor). Bell's "ultimate big climax" to the L-Quadrangle was likely always intended to be the "huge revelation" (to Brooks) that Lance was the boy's biological father, instead of Lucas. For years, Lorie and Leslie had been squabbling and shrieking about the importance of having custody of Brooks, because whoever ultimately had Brooks -- when the Big Reveal came out -- would, of course, end up with Lance (and Become A Real Family In Every Sense Of The Word). But the way the Big Reveal finally happened, with Dennis Cole in the role, was that Brooks basically rolled his eyes and said, "So what? I want Lucas to keep being my daddy. Hit the road, Jack." That fizzle of a climax (although it pleased ME tremendously, lol) probably wasn't Bell's original master plan. Also, having Lance around in 1981 enabled the "Victor Newman takes control of Prentiss Industries" storyline to progress, leading to Lorie giving her proxies to Victor and then having to "trick" them back out of him with the 1982 engagement story. Although I was sick of Lorie by that time, and although most of us have become sick of Victor over the years, that particular storyline really resonated at the time -- defining Victor as a somewhat formidable anti-hero, Nikki as an insecure bimbo, and Lorie as a first-rate schemer whose scheme sort of backfired on her. That was a story I really appreciated while it was airing.

Seems as though John McCook popped back in (briefly) after he filmed the pilot they discussed. But only for a little while. And his return engagement -- like most of the storylines from that year -- didn't make much sense. It was something to do with having a French fiancé named Simone that came out of nowhere, and he squired her around for a few days, and then vanished again. The next time we saw him, he'd transitioned into Dennis Cole. I've not found anything (yet) about Eric Braeden, which makes you wonder if maybe Cindy Fisher's character was truly intended to be the "star" of the Rolls-Royce storyline. We know Eric Braeden was initially signed to a VERY short-term contract. So who knows -- maybe after the dust settled, we were gonna be "treated" to a long-term storyline starring Cindy Fisher. lol. Bill Bell obviously saw from day one that Braeden had something unique (at the time) to offer.

Tune In Tomorrow by Jon-Michael Reed February 17, 1980 Cast changes and additions continue on "The Young and the Restless" as the show settles into its new one-hour broadcast format. JOHN MCCOOK has announced he's leaving his role as Lance Prentiss after four years. John recently signed to guest star on nighttime's "CHiPs", but his most promising "star vehicle" will be the role of a tour director in the Operation Prime Time movie-TV series pilot, "Tourist", which begins filming February 21. John's co-star in "Tourist" will be none other than Laurette Spang, his about-to-be-wife, who costarred on "Battlestar Galactica". The couple will spend their honeymoon in Paris where portions of the movie will be filmed. The unusually-named actress BOND GIDEON has been chosen as Brenda Dickson's replacement in the role of Jill Brooks. And CINDY FISHER, who has appeared on several soaps in short-term roles, has joined Y&R as Cathy Bruder. [Cathy Bruder was the teenage girl who stole a millionaire's Rolls-Royce for a joyride, was arrested, and was assigned Brock Reynolds as her public defender. I foolishly thought the storyline was going to be about Cathy Bruder's trials and tribulations. But then we met the owner of the Rolls-Royce (Victor Newman) and his wife (Julia Newman), and it quickly became evident that THEY were the focus of the storyline, rather than Cathy Bruder, who disappeared entirely after a week or two.] April 1, 1980 "The Young and the Restless" audiences aren't taking kindly to BOND GIDEON as Brenda Dickson's replacement in the pivotal role of Jill Brooks. But fans should be reminded it was Dickson's decision to leave the soap and replacements take time to get accustomed to. Gideon lacks the spark and spunk Dickson brought to the role, but she beats Dickson by a wide, wide margin as far as accomplished acting is concerned. July 31, 1980 There has been another switch on "The Young and the Restless", and DEBORAH ADAIR has stepped in to replace BOND GIDEON in the role of Jill Brooks. HELEN SUNI is the actress who is playing New World leader Sumeko in the show's summer storyline on youth cults.

Allen Fawcett would've likely made a lousy Paul, and of course Paul was the ONLY halfway familiar face in the introduction of the family. My recollection is that Tammy Taylor first appeared in the Williams house the day Mary announced her "change-of-life-pregnancy" (which is what they kept calling it on the show, lol.) Paul and Steve were referring to Tammy Taylor's character as "PIP", which I thought was a bizarre name for a teenage girl. After several references to "Pip", it finally occurred to me they were abbreviating "Pipsqueak" into "Pip" (which made it so stupid a few years ago when Paul arbitrarily started calling her "Patty Cakes". Doug Davidson should've put his foot down and said, "Her name's Pip, dammit!") I'm interested, too.

Tune in Tomorrow by Jon-Michael Reed April 15, 1980 With the expansion of "The Young and the Restless" to an hour format comes a new central family to the action in Genoa City. The Williams clan, supposedly, has been in town since 1973, when the soap debuted. But they weren't needed for story considerations until the daily plots lengthened. The youngest Williams son, Paul, has been seen infrequently for the past year. He didn't have a last name when he was "doing it in the bushes" with nymphomaniac Nikki Reed last spring. When Nikki reformed and married lawyer Greg Foster, Paul faded out of the picture until two months ago when other members of his family slowly began popping up. Now, there's mama and papa, Mary and Carl (she's having a menopausal pregnancy, while he's investigating gold-digger Derek Thurston's fake kidnapping). There's also Paul's older brother, Steve, who's working on Stuart Brooks' newspaper, and younger sister, Patty, who thinks mama ought to have an abortion rather than giving birth at her age. Paul is portrayed by Doug Davidson, who's a karate expert and may "kick up his heels" for future story developments. Carl, Steve, and Patty are played by Brett Hadley, David Winn and Tammy Taylor respectively. [He failed to give us Carolyn Conwell's name, lol. For those who are interested in Y&R's "awkward period", this is EXACTLY how I remember the family's early appearance. Paul began popping up more and more frequently, Steve was introduced at the newspaper, Carl was introduced at the police station during Derek's faux-kidnapping, and I had no idea they were family members. Finally one day, Carl was called home by Mary (whom I'd never seen before) to tell him she was pregnant. Then all the others -- Paul, Steve, and Patty -- drifted in to get the news. I remember thinking, "Are these people all related to one another??]

Thanks so much for posting these!

Yes, she has an incredible vocabulary. But when she starts going fast, she begins forgetting names and dates, and she just barks out things that are completely wrong and says, "Umm, I think that's right, no, maybe it's not. Well, anyway ..." In her interview for the Television Academy, she came up with the wrong date for Y&R's expansion to an hour (1977 instead of 1980), and she couldn't come up with Lorie, Leslie, Chris and Peggy to save her life. But she could remember every detail of her initial meeting with Bill Bell at his apartment on Lakeshore Drive. She's obviously someone whose mind is filled with a tremendous amount of information, and she needs to look things up to get them exactly right. There was once a photograph of her office in the Chicago Tribune. I cut it out and saved it, to remind me I needed to organize my own work space. lol.

Great stuff, and thanks for sharing, allmc2008! I've listened to her long interview with the Academy of TV Sciences, and she's hard to pay attention to sometimes, with all that, "umm, umm, umm, ahh, I believe it was ..." (You know what I mean.) She comes across as fairly flighty and disorganized, but obviously that's not the case, since she was in many ways the "grounded person" on Bell's team, having to edit scripts, check continuity, make sure the actors were being utilized in accordance with their contract guarantees, etc. She sounds like a nice person and a hoot. If she's still living where I think she lives, I hope her road eventually gets paved, lol.