SoapDope78

I ran across this recent interview with Tom Hallick (Brad Elliot). He discusses his TV work during the 70's and 80's. He let's his feeling be know about Joan Collins and her treatment f other actors on set of Dynasty. He briefly mention Y&R at the beginning before discussing it in depth starting at the 52:40 mark. He spills some tea and tells about why Janice Lynde was fired.

I hope someday those episodes will surface and get a chance to see them. I wish that when Hasselhoff and Topping left in 1982, Bell had gotten Espy and Stewart to return. The storyline with Sally returning with Chucky would have been perfect for them. Lee Crawford's return was kind of a dud with her playing opposite 2 actors that she had no prior connection to.

Creepy commercial from 1975-76. She looks stoned out of her mind.

Studio Master Copy of the Premiere episode of Family Feud from 1976. Contains original commercials. I recognized Renne Jarrett in the Soft & Dri ad.

I really wish those early episodes would be made available on a streaming service. I remember reading quotes in recent years from Tom Hallick and Janice Lynde saying they wish they had never left Y&R. Hallick said he had been lured by false promises to NBC about projects that never came to be and Lynde said since Y&R was her first TV gig she felt that there were bigger greener pastures to explore, but realized she made a mistake in hindsight. Re: Trish Stewart. Not too long ago I saw her on reruns of Match Game 74. Kay Stevens (the big mouth) was impressed with her. She mentioned that Bill Bell was also writing Days at the time and Bell was was praising Stewart as an actress and her work on Y&R.

She was a lovely woman. It seems the 70's was the only decade she really worked steadily till she popped up on Y&R at Victor & Nikki's wedding in 1984. She then disappeared to never be seen again.

Someone has uploaded 2 partial episodes (Celebs and their children week) of Password from 1974 with original commercials. I spotted David Bailey (AW) in the Alpo ad and Trish Stewart (Y&R) in the Saran ad.

🤣.......Bostwicks Greg would be a loveable buffoon and King's would try to off Nikki for her money. Gary Frank is available. His Greg would loaf around the house all day raiding the fridge and watching TV. They should also bring back Casey Reed. I picture Lindsay Wagner or Cheryl Ladd.

With Gregory Harrison playing Greg Nikki would be like " Victor Who'? I never understood why they never brought on Brooks Prentiss and have him hook up then marry Victoria. Since Lorie was his second mother, she and Nikki would be sort of in-laws and the fur would fly. Leslie would be caught in the middle as peace maker. I would also have Brooks Prentiss renovate and live in the old Brooks home. Chuck Foster and Jennifer Elizabeth Foster should also be brought on canvas. Jennifer could be a bitch on wheels and Chuck would be a womanizer like his father (like the Espy version).

Back in the late 90's James Houghton posted on the old soaps news groups board frequently. He was writing Y&R at the time. He responded to comments and questions usually with a quip. Someone brought up Greg's storyline with Gwen Sherman and he said something like "1970's Icky/Sappy Morality". He was also surprised when it was brought up that the Greg character had married Nikki after he had left the role. I also remember him referring to William Gray Espy as a strange fish. It would be interesting to see Greg pop back into Nikki's life but with Houghton and Hauser both deceased they would have to recast. TPTB in 2026 would probably get someone like Jeffrey Tambor to play him......LOL

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🤣 I would have loved for Pam to have walked in on that.

Executive Predator uh I mean Executive Producer Conboy would have staged scenes of Greg always at the pool or running around in short shorts if he had hired Spitz.....LOL Houghton really was kind of aloof with co-stars. He could also come across as bitchy/sarcastic. They should have written Greg kind of a 70's bad boy like they eventually did with Terry Lester's Jack in the 80's. LOL at Nikki not remembering Greg. Nikki doesn't think it is important to dwell on silly things like old forgotten husbands.

Bell was pretty much over the Foster/Brooks with the recasts and the final nail in the coffin was Jaime Lyn Bauer's exit. I don't think Hasselhoff was all that great as Snapper. By 1980 he was ready to bolt and there were long stretches where he was off the canvas chasing after TV pilots. It would have been interesting see how Houghton's Greg would have paired with MTS Nikki. They would have made an attractive couple onscreen and on magazines. They may have been Y&R version of GH's Laura & Scotty circa 1979. As for recasts, I could see someone like Gregory Harrison in the role if he hadn't gone to primetime. Harrison and Richard Shoberg (AMC) had a similar look. Olympic Swimmer Mark Spitz was trying to become an actor in the 70's, maybe they should have offered him the role of Greg. Even though he had no acting talent, he would have been better than Wings Hauser.......LOL

Anybody would have been better than Wing's Hauser. Any suggestions who would have worked in the role after Houghton's departure that would have made the Greg character stand out ?

Wings Hauser was badly miscast as Greg. He was just sleazy/bizarre and so far from the look of James Houghton. Of course, Brian Kerwin came before Hauser. There were a lot of actors that would have been better as a recast.

I take it Bill Bell tired of the Greg character and let him fade out. He had a habit of dropping storylines.

Thanks for finding that. I thought maybe I was losing it.....LOL

Found it

At one time on youtube there was a 1981 Y&R promo of Nikki visiting Greg in the hospital. Someone posted that he had gotten beaten up at the Bayou. I wish I could track down the synopsis to see what was going on around that time.

Wasn't Nikki still married to Greg when she began stripping at the Bayou? I think he wound up there after his car broke down and saw Nikki onstage. He then tried to cover her up with his coat and rush her out of there, but the customers became irate and beat him up which led to him being hospitalized. Nikki's stripping set off a chain reaction and affected many storylines with Edward the stalker, meeting Victor, getting pregnant with Victoria, meeting Katherine, marrying Kevin, marrying Tony and getting involved with the mob, Cash's death, feuding with Lori, tossed into the Lori/Lance/Leslie/Lucas mix, psycho Eve trying to kill her, Rick Daros etc etc...

I think the entire series is on youtube.

Bob was so good at hosting the show. Too bad he let himself get a huge ego and indulge in bad behavior and backstage drama. Janice Pennington who was on the show 1972 to 2000 still speaks fondly of him and the show even though she was forced out along with Kathleen. Dian and Bob were stupid to engage in that workplace affair. Dian, Janice, and Holly got along great for years before that train wreck. Kathleen said when she joined the show, the rift with Dian and the other models had happened. Dian would be paired with her and Janice and Holly would be paired together. I am curious to hear Anitra Ford's story about her time on the show 1972-1976 and why she left. She once posted on youtube that she had a personal problem and maybe someday she would share. I agree that I would like to see more 1970's episodes surface.

15-minute soaps would be great. They also should be taped live, so the actors don't get lazy and phone it in.

People now days have short attention spans. If there isn't something happening every 5 minutes they zone out and can't be bothered to look up from their phones. That is one of the many reasons soaps are a dying genre. Reality TV helped kill off well written drama.