kalbir

@Soaplovers Yeah come to think of it, 1980s Jill was Bill Bell's version of Abby Cunningham. I've read comparisons of 1980s Jill to Alexis mainly due to Brenda Dickson's acting style but you're on point in that 1980s Jill was written more like Abby.

So who would be Bill Bell's version of Angela Channing? I guess the closest would be Stephanie, but I always thought Bill Bell wrote her as a Jennifer/Katherine/Vanessa hybrid. Also primetime soaps weren't that big a deal by 1987 compared to 1980-1983, so there was no need for CBS to cash in on primetime soaps at that point.

@Legacy So little of Vanessa's storyline is online, that's why it was such a treat to see her in the 1981 classic episode. Vanessa stole the show from Victor, and that is no small feat. I'm also hoping any Vanessa/Katherine scenes and Vanessa/Victor scenes surface. One has to wonder though, if Bill Bell kept Vanessa and evolved her during the 1980s, would he have reused elements of Vanessa for Stephanie?

Of the big four primetime soap antagonists, Bill Bell had his versions of JR Ewing (Victor) and Alexis Carrington Colby (Dina), but as far as I could tell he didn't have his own versions of Angela Channing or Abby Cunningham.

@Legacy I'm trying to imagine what storylines Bill Bell would've written for Vanessa past her original run. Could you see Vanessa becoming more involved with Prentiss Industries and Bill Bell turning her into his version of Angela Channing?

@BoldRestless Thank you so much 

@FrenchFan Thank you for posting the June 1976 summaries. Can't wait to read more about Vanessa Prentiss. She was on almost 5 1/2 years (June 1976 to November 1981), that's a good arc for a villainess.

1 minute ago, Soapsuds said:

I was referring to @BetterForgotten comment about him acting straight in soaps not his looks.

I misunderstood. You don't find CLB convincing as a romantic leading man?

11 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

In years? When has he? I've never seen it.

CLB hadn't grown into his looks during his 1991-1993 run. His peak looks wise I think was 1997-2004. Around 2005, 2006 he started looking like he lost alot of weight really quickly. As for the gray hair, I think looks fine.

This clip never gets old. I would've given the same answer as Ken Jennings too.

Today's passing of Alex Trebek has me thinking of other game show hosts from the peak years of game shows. Since the CBS Daytime game show block was my introduction to game shows, I listed hosts from game shows that premiered on CBS Daytime from 1972-now.

Hosts still with us: Bob Barker (The Price is Right), Wink Martindale (Gambit, Tic-Tac-Dough), Adam Wade (Musical Chairs), Bob Eubanks (Card Sharks), Bob Goen (Blackout, Wheel of Fortune), Chuck Henry (Now You See It), Drew Carey (The Price is Right), Wayne Brady (Let's Make a Deal).

Hosts no longer with us: Jack Barry (The Joker's Wild), Dick Clark ($10,000 Pyramid; $25,000 Pyramid), Geoff Edwards (Hollywood's Talking), Gene Rayburn (Match Game), Bert Convy (Tattletales), Jack Narz (Now You See It), Jim Lange (Spin-Off, Give-n-Take), Alex Trebek (Double Dare), Bill Cullen (Pass the Buck, Child's Play), Tom Kennedy (Whew!, Body Language), Monty Hall (Beat the Clock), Peter Tomarken (Press Your Luck), Ray Combs (Family Feud). 

It's sad to think this, but I feel the next big game show death is going to be Bob Barker.

January 20, 2021 cannot come soon enough 

@Faulkner I don't consider Danny and Cricket a supercouple. Remember Cricket's first pairing was with Phillip, not to mention Phillip, Danny, Chase, Scott all pursued her in the late 1980s. 

@ironlion I would say Victor and Nikki are Y&R's supercouple, even though I think Bill Bell did not intend for them to be one. Of the big 1980s trends, Y&R didn't really jump on the supercouple bandwagon as they did for Dallas/Dynasty influence (which Y&R got right as it set in motion Y&R as we know it today) and action/adventure (which doesn't really suit Y&R) . General Hospital started the whole action/adventure/supercouple craze in the early 1980s and Days took those elements to a whole other level from 1983-1990. 

I break down Y&R eras as follows.

Surviving Years 1973-1982: Cast changes, 1 hour expansion, early 1980s ratings drop in the face of increased competition from the huge rise of ABC.

Thriving Years 1983-1998: Thriving for the most part, save for Cricket eating the show (Summer 1986-end of 1989), Nick and Sharon eating the show (Fall 1994-Spring 1996), the lull (Fall 1996-Summer 1997). Rise to #1 by toppling the ABC big three one-by-one and holding it's own against time slot competitor supercouple-era Days. Ratings dominance from the end of the 1988 writer's strike to the start of OJ, but the dominance would be threatened in the aftermath of OJ by the huge rise of time slot competitor Reilly's sci-fi Days.

Tanking Years 1999-2005: Writer changes from Kay Alden to Jack Smith. Storylines that caused long term damage, ie. Jill's parentage, Cassie's death.

Not Classic Years 2006-: LML, MAB, JFP, Mal Young, etc. John Abbott's death marked the end of an era.

Ariana Grande is the 16th female solo artist to reach 5 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100. The female solo artists with 5 or more #1s on the Billboard Hot 100 are Mariah Carey (19), Rihanna (14), Madonna (12), Whitney Houston (11), Janet Jackson (10), Katy Perry (9), Beyoncé (7), Diana Ross (6), Paula Abdul (6), Taylor Swift (6), Barbara Streisand (5), Olivia Newton-John (5), Britney Spears (5), Christina Aguilera (5), Lady Gaga (5), Ariana Grande (5). 

When all artists are counted (male solo, female solo, duo/group), Ariana Grande is the 43rd artist to reach 5 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Vietnam story also went against established history. Was Jack's age was mentioned when the character was introduced in the summer of 1980? The late Terry Lester was 30 when he started on Y&R so Jack being about 25-27 in 1980 is possible. When Dina was introduced in 1983, it was established she had abandoned the family 12 years earlier, so if Jack was 25-27 in 1980 that would've made Jack about 16-18 in 1971. The Vietnam story had Jack mentioning he left Vietnam in 1972 when he was 20 years old so that would mean Jack was an adult serving in Vietnam when Dina abandoned the family, which the original Dina story made no reference to.

I read somewhere that PB's beef with the Vietnam story was that it aged his character. So big deal, it made Jack's birth year one year before yours. Also, PB and Philip Moon are only 8 years apart in age, there have been parent/child age gaps that are much smaller than that. 

1 hour ago, soapfave06 said:

Weren't Colleen and Scotty close in age too? 

Both were born on screen, Scotty in March 1991 and Colleen in February 1992. 

Y&R did not do a good job in building the next generation. I think inconsistent SORASing played a big part in that. 

Would B&B's Stephanie fall in this category? Bill Bell wrote her as a Jennifer/Katherine/Vanessa hybrid and Bradley Bell wrote her as a female Victor.

October has been another month of mostly garbage time. It feels like the writers are just throwing random crap at the wall and taking whatever sticks.

15 minutes ago, applcin said:

Sometimes the relatives stick around longer than the original

Y&R's Reed sisters. Casey was the new doctor in town and her troublemaking younger sister Nikki was introduced shortly after. Casey left and Nikki remains to this day.

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

Paul Williams and Jack Abbott allowed Bill Bell to recreate the entire show!  

Also on Y&R, Mamie. The Barber sisters are her nieces. Then the Winters brothers were brought on.

2 hours ago, ironlion said:

Someone mentioned Rick Hearst. I liked his version of Y&R's Carter/Matt over Russel Lawrence. No doubt though Eddie Cibrian owned the role.

That was me. Rick Hearst was about 10 years too old to be Matt Clark. I thought he would be better suited as a new executive at Jabot or Newman.

18 hours ago, ironlion said:

I feel like had Dina not been given alzheimers, she could have filled Kay Chancellor's void in some way.

Dina going from Bill Bell's version of Alexis Carrington Colby to Genoa City's Grande Dame would've been an amazing evolution for the character but sadly it wasn't meant to be.

Marla Adams was so fierce in her first run, and she was 44, almost 45 when she started on Y&R and 47, almost 48 at the end of her first run. The female in the current cast in that age range wishes they were that fierce 

2 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

All famous actors & actresses cast on Y&R during the MAB era lol. 

Hahaha yes, MAB and her love of ABC leftovers. Even before MAB, some ABC leftovers that tanked on Y&R were Vincent Irizarry and Keith Hamilton Cobb.

More to add:

Terry Lester (RIP) - Iconic on Y&R as the original and best Jack Abbott and was a revelation as Royce Keller on As the World Turns but I don't think he was well received on Santa Barbara as recast Mason Capwell.

Barbara Crampton - Y&R's Leanna Love is her signature role. She wasn't well-suited for Guiding Light's Mindy Lewis and B&B's Maggie Forrester was a dull character.

Rick Hearst - Despite being a recast, he made Guiding Light's Alan Michael Spaulding his own, but was all wrong for Y&R's Matt Clark.

23 minutes ago, Legacy said:

Victor must have came across Vanessa in those times, i wonder if Vanessa gave off any bad energy to him in those scenes, i could picture vanessa, lance,Lucas all plotting to get rid of Victor Newman if they had the chance!!

Well Lance and Prentiss Industries were precursors to Victor and Newman Enterprises. One has to wonder though, if there wasn't the Lance recast, we might not have gotten Victor. Then again, Victor circa 1980 was Bill Bell's version of JR Ewing and CBS Daytime was totally trying to cash in on Dallas mania.

2 minutes ago, ironlion said:

Did Lauren & Alex's Diane Jenkins ever interact? That would be two dynamic attitudes interacting.

In the 1980s they did, when Lauren was married to Paul and Diane was married to Andy.