soapfan770

Just got caught up on all those early 1992 episodes those were really amazing to rewatch after all these years. A lot of quads in Y&R's history end up so muddled but that's not the case with Victor/Nikki/Jack/Ashley which comes off neatly wrapped and quite compelling. I hate, hated to see Victor and Ashley's marriage unravel as I remember the days when I preferred Ashley over Nikki. Heh, once again I was somewhat surprised by a NASTY Traci in her argument with Ashley. I suppose by this point Bell was trying to have Traci rise above her usual fruitless, forlorn self but this was probably about it for Maitland. It should be a crime that Tonya Lee Williams is not on today's Y&R.

It's interesting that Bell was quick to recast Ashley twice and keep on writing stories(even if they became clunkers) for Ashley but didn't do the same with Traci. Then again by Maitland's '92 exit I think the role of the unassured, ordinary heroine was fulfilled by Nina. Perhaps Bell had no more room for Traci aside from when he really needed her. Regarding Traci's return in 2001 that's how the teenage Colleen was introduced when Forsenca started the role. Traci and Colleen came back to get out of NYC for awhile and it was revealed the real reason Traci came back was because Steve had an affair. Steve came back to Genoa City himself and reconciled with Traci, but Colleen found the whole thing repulsive and elected to stay in Genoa City with John and Brad. Poor Colleen. Although Sursok has proven to be a capable actress in primetime she was miscast for the role and really it just need a simple recast(or better writing, maybe Sursok would have succeeded). Killing her off because of an unpopular actress in horrific fashion was definitely a disaster.

Thanksgiving 1994 is up, its pretty much the last hurrah for the Marland era Snyders and we have Janice:

Heh, I spent the first day of my four day weekend looking up and watching classic ATWT when I came across it. I just found it fascinating because it's definitely not the hapless saccharine Traci we know; instead she's just cruel here when confronting Lauren. In hindsight her words would come back to haunt her though between Lauren beating her up a year later and then later in 2001 when Steve cheated on her. Maitland looks fabulous here but Traci was on the way out by this point.

The date is 1993 but I'm not sure when this was but Traci gets really deep and NASTY with Lauren here, a buildup to their catfight the following year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbYef3KOLGc

So I was wondering what would everyone here define Y&R's golden age? Just curious as I've seen it broken so many different ways but I'd personally say both 1974-1979 and circa 1986-1994 are both worthy of the title.

Trying to catch up but thanks for sharing! It's so fascinating to see Clint's return in 1991 it seems forgotten about and long glossed over. It also had to be the last story Gina got until at least 2003 between the restaurant fire and her relationship with John. I felt so bad for Cassandra especially with her demise around the corner. It's not like Traci and Brad worked out anyways.

On any other show Danny and Christine's story would have been a forgettable C-plot caper yet thanks to all the airtime the tale became permanently ingrained into Y&R mythos. Devon Piece as Dianne Westin, another forgotten yet interesting character as David's ultimately reluctant and sympathetic henchwoman. Fantastic to see some more of early Olivia and Dru. Olivia and Dru struck more of a personal soft spot for me it reminded me of the relationship between my own mom(Olivia) and my aunt (Dru). Ashley and Traci were good but it didn't come as close.

Thanks for sharing!! The "horror" music that was used for Derek's fall, was this time it was ever used? It's the earliest I've heard it so far and it would later accompany so many memorable scenes throughout the 90s I was just curious. Interestingly Derek is nowhere as creepy as Michael or Rick Bladeson would later be yet received the most dramatic exit of them all.

For some reason I really recall Annie getting involved with Tom Wiggin's character and him helping her escape after her kidnapping of Lizzie went up in smoke but by that point Annie's story was a D-plot compared to San Cristobel and the Santoses junk at the time. Even my beloved Jesse&Drew adopt Max story got more airtime than Signy Coleman's Annie's final days. Buzz/Holly/Billy was funny but pushed aside. Ross and Tory started out good but fell apart with that ridiculous Romeo guy and cliched writing. Taggert wrote up a nice build-up for Ed and Holly allowing them to get back together but Weston and Conboy quashed that by putting Garrett on recurring and once they drove Simon off, all bets were off. I don't think Holly had any appearances between Ross' funeral in March 2006 until August 2009 they pretty stopped writing for that angle of the canvas. Remember when Blake was in a coma for an eternity?

Thanks for sharing!! This is an era of the show we haven't really discussed too much yet Y&R was still hitting 6's in the ratings while the rest of soapdom sunk into the 2's and 3's. It's interesting to see those early build-up days of Billy and Mac juxtaposed with the 90's leftovers ie Ryan running to see to Nina if she could help Tricia following her miscarriage as well as the last days of Tony and Megan. Ramona and Tomas are lost somewhere in-between.

I remember there being a very strange but oddly likable plot with Holly and Signy Coleman's Annie being roommates in a facility but it went nowhere as did Fletcher's return. The Nursey Rhyme Stalker caper was genuinely creepy and the reveal of a vindictive Holly being the stalker was gripping but yeah the aftermath was terrible. At least it did made sense to B&E's credit. Moniz's final year as the villainous Dinah is when Moniz finally came into her own and was enough for people to talk about the Cassie/Hart/Dinah triagnle for years afterward as well as the excitement of Dinah's 2004 return although I really did hate losing Hart, especially since his eventual dying was such a nonsensical tale(the angel nurse). I don't think I would classify the story as a failure, just a good one with some obvious faults. Despite B&E taking GL way out there with Reilly-esque storytelling at least 1998 never lost its entertainment value and still very watchable and the performances pretty much sold each storyline(see Joie Lenz as teen clone Reva as an example). Not to mention we had Lizzie the child murderess, Ross shooting Blake, and Vanessa in heaven as add-ons to the clone and Nursey Rhyme Stalker. It was indeed by the time the show went into full Santos/San Cristobel mode by the summer of 1999 that the show wasn't even entertaining anymore.

Reva's revenge against Annie, and the aftermath of Abby's assault: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvNQv6ET_0

Yeah I remember Brian getting jailed for punching out the photographer as shown lol. This promo aired during GL's awkward Bert Bauer memorial. Tragically, Hendrickson was actually off the show at the point he won his Emmy during Randolph Mantooth's first go around as Hal due to the death of his mother who was living with him when she passed.

Poor Shannon. Love Lucinda's celebratory toast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_njIb7at3p0

Lauren had reconciled with Scott and remarried him for Scotty's sake, even though she really belonged with Paul or Brad. Danny and Lauren always seem to be so long ago and long forgotten. It took ten years before Victor and Nikki finally worked there way back together between the '88 divorce and '98 deathbead wedding. Every time they had come close something happened or something came between them. Yet it was always a complicated mess because they always had to intersect and often intervened in each other's affairs. Victor and Ashley's divorce was pretty amicable for the most part however I did always like Ashley better with Victor than Nikki.

Thanks for sharing! The Scott and Lauren remarriage turned out to be pretty loveless you can't tell Lauren isn't really feeling it. Those Victor and Nikki scenes are pretty intense, if I recall right Victor was in the process of leaving Ashley and Nikki was going to leave Jack until she learned of the pregnancy.

Heh, how old was Jamie to the fact he had to be institutionalized anyways? Inherited insanity early from his mother?

Going back to that 1977 article, did Derek and Suzanne's son ever actually appear on-screen? God in the above June 1990 episode Nina Arvesen's Cassandra remains as gorgeous and alluring as ever; those scenes with Victor just make me wonder what might have been if she had become a show fixture.

It's pretty strange and something I didn't remember at all. In the following episode Amanda and Paulina get get a strange, vague letter from Evan saying he's off to New York because it would be too dangerous to stay with her family. Amanda wonders if Rachel had anything to do with it and later visits Evan's trashed apartment looking liked someone had packed in a hurry. I also forget how bad Wyndham's British accent was...it certainly did a number on her over accent in the last few years on AW.

These are my recaps for the May 30th and May 31st 1994 shows. The first one features the climax of the Pauly Hardman story along with Sprinfield's Memorial Day activities including a trifle between Eleni and Jenna and too much Tangie Hill. The second one revolves around the Peter custody battle in court:

Here's a recap I've written up for the May 4th, 1995 episode of AW which I believe was the dastardly Evan Frame's exit day:

You're welcome! I definitely miss this site! The interesting twist about those two ads is just over a year later it would be Alan-Michael and Blake getting married instead.

Heh, after watching the John is alive clip I decided to dig up this article I recall reading about it. The nasty prosecutor I believe was Brian McColl #2 played by Frank Telfar. From Soap News:

A coupe of 1989 ads I don't think have been shared yet: