DeeeDee

Not really. The cast size wasn't an issue.

Plus by the time the new Leads became full Leads most of the old Leads were gone.

Do you know if the clip is still around?

It should be.

Also, I've always wondered (and I think you'd be able to give a great answer to this)do you think Y&R would have still been successful if Bell didn't write out Leslie, Lorie, Chris, Snapper, Greg, Lucas and Lance?

Y&R still would've been successful (Bill was just THAT good a writer) but the change definitely helped.

It made him push himself instead of resting on his laurels & a lot of the new hires (Stern, Douglas, Ford, Bregman, Maitland, Hadley, Lester, Braeden, MTS, Donnelly, both Davidsons) were BANK from Day 1.

That was early 89.

What did you think of the story where Nikki began faking her terminal illness?

Some of MTS best work & she really should've won an Emmy for it.

Especially since she got to do everything lying (to Victor), scheming (with Jack & Casey), buying her own casket, facing her own mortality. It was a lot of fun.

Do you think that it hurt the Traci character when Beth left for a year or two around this time (87) or did she need the break?

It was fine. Bill loved Beth personally but he struggled with Traci after she & Brad were married.

He really liked the character but he was very hesitant to compromise her integrity.

Plus Bill was lucky in that Don had chemistry with EVERYONE especially his other leading ladies (Eileen, Tracey, Nina, Brenda) as much as he did with Beth which actually worked for both characters.

Nikki spent most of her time being a mother (in between flirting with Jack & fighting with Victor).

It was perfunctory at best.

A few days & boring.

Andrea is brilliant. I love her super natural line readings too. You have to watch her to understand. She really took over the top dialogue and made it sound so perfect. I believe that Andrea WILL be back for the end.

Indeed.

That's why I can't get into who should play her and who would be so wonderful and so on. No one will. They could cast Marsha Warfield as Victoria and you'd still have the same crap.

Indeed!

Carrie Genzel As Vicky YR: Why Didnt This Happen?

Cause Y&R HATES a strong Victoria.

How were they?

They were sexy (especially with Ligon's dry humor).

She bounced between he & Brock while he he did the same between she & Leslie.

She ended things when he couldn't committ though.

I know this sounds awful but Hauser looks like Mask.

Hauser an awesome character actor but cool & ambitious Greg became a snarling douchebag overnight.

It was ridiculous.

Who is the woman with Derek?

Judy.

She & Derek were Gloria & Jeff with less bug eyes.

Y&R could've easily asked Lynne back for the wedding (especially since she had only left a couple of years prior) but they asked Trish.

John never hurt for work before or after Y&R.

The same thing that happened to Leslie (post Janice) was the same thing that happened to Chris (only more drastic) once Trish left.

Chris was Y&R's original Mary Sue however once Trish left Y&R relegated Chris to T & A (via Lynne) until Trish returned years later.

Jamie & John weren't happy about it nor was Brenda.

Janice (like a lot of her co stars) was ready to go.

The sad thing is that even though JLB eventually became more popular Bill still loved writing for both characters.

Mallory (though a solid actress) was never a Lead.

She couldn't recreate the magic nor the synergy Bill had with Janice (nor did Brenda & Jeanne's growing popularity help) & thus was relegated further to secondary stories.

Which in essence wasn't really a bad thing since she & Leslie still had fairly healthy airtime.

It was very slow.

Originally she was the co lead (with Trish Stewart) but by the time she & Jamie Bauer's rivalry became popular they (along with Brenda) were Y&R's de facto female stars.

Bill loved both characters but once McCook/Bauer were paired & subsquently became extremely popular Janice's Leslie went from competition for Lead Heroine to permanent secondary Heroine until she left.

It's nice to hear about how helpful Julianna McCarthy was.

Everyone loves Julianna. Everyone.

What was the last day?

Mid Summer of 87.

Was she like this all the time at the end or was this just a bad take?

She was like that all the time by that point (the Gloria Swanson of Daytime tv).

She would sweep into scenes (often with different hair color from one scene to the next), spit out her lines (while avoiding eye contact with her co stars) then thrust her boobs at the camera.

I wonder if the story would have made more sense with Lorie.

No.

It was a secondary story (the kind usually given to B level heroines) & Lorie was basically the de facto Lead.

Cole/Victoria had plenty to do before & after Nina/Ryan.

wasn't this not long after she'd had a miscarriage? They should have saved some of this for a longer space of time.

Mary was always written (even then) as "long suffering".

Her issues provided Doug with some of his (at least until then) best work.

Weird to see when Gina was conniving.

Danny didn't trust her for a long time & they both felt the same way about Rex.

Was that the way it was supposed to be?

Leslie was supposed to be the lead but Bill dumped her & neither pairing had chemistry.

Was it any better onscreen?

No.

Bill's heart wasn't into it & the show had moved on.

It was classic soap.

HT & JEP were (and still are) LOVE.

Jim was boring.

Jessica was a Mary Sue.

The end.

Aretha wanted a "glamorous" cameo (she LOVES Braeden).

Y&R stupidly didn't allow it.