kalbir

Thanks @FrenchFan for the 1976 summaries. We're getting close to the arrival of Vanessa Prentiss. I can't wait to read more about her.

Madame Dina Mergeron's grand entrance was so Alexis Carrington Colby, right down to the black suit and matching hat with a veil.

The classics come to an end. I would be fine with classics until Labor Day. Hopefully Monday's return episode is decent.

@yrfan1983 I can't think of any summer social issue stories from the tail end of Bill Bell's run (1995-1998). Notice how almost all the summer social issue storylines from 1986-1994 involve Cricket in some way.

Between the classics, the uploads, and discussions here, we can pinpoint elements Bill Bell liked to use on his shows. Established upper class families: Brooks, Abbott, Forrester Working class families: Foster, Williams, Logan Working class single mother with a scheming social climbing daughter: Liz/Jill, Beth/Brooke, Doris/Sharon Brothers fighting over a girl: Snapper/Greg, Lance/Lucas, Jazz/Tyrone, Victor/Matt, Ridge/Thorne, Neil/Malcolm Sisters fighting over a guy: Leslie/Lorie, Donna/Katie, Ashley/Traci, Olivia/Dru Virgin heroines that are rape victims: Chris, Peggy, Caroline, Cricket Working class young woman in conflict with older wealthy woman: Jill/Katherine, Nikki/Allison, Brooke/Stephanie, Nina/Jill, Sharon/Nikki Mothers that attempt to control their son's love lives: Vanessa, Allison, Mary, Stephanie, Nikki, Jill Messy wealthy matriarchs: Jennifer, Katherine, Vanessa, Allison, Dina, JoAnna, Stephanie I think that covers most of them.

My favorites from the 1980s in date order were Nikki's first visit to the Newman Ranch, Katherine's facelift, and Beth Maitland's Emmy winning episode. I would have included Victor and Nikki's 1984 wedding if that hadn't already been broadcast in 2016. My favorites from the 1990s in date order were Neil and Dru's first meeting, Victor reveals he's alive to Jack, Shemar's first episode, Victor gives Nick a boxing lesson, Victor puts Nikki's makeup on while she's in the hospital, and I WILL CRUSH YOU! I didn't really have any favorites from 2000-2005 and 2006-onward I skipped. I think Victor and Nikki's 2002 wedding was also a second time broadcast.

Today is the last classic w/ Shemar. I wasn't digging his new look when he returned. He came back for less than a year before departing for Criminal Minds.

Did anyone like the police corruption/mob storyline from 1982/1983? I get that action/adventure was a big thing on daytime in the 1980s but I find that this type of story doesn't really suit Y&R, it's more of a General Hospital or Days type of story. The 1980s trend Y&R did right was the Dallas/Dynasty influence with Victor, Jabot, and the Abbotts, as that set in motion Y&R as we know it today.

Only two more classics left

Dynasty, Capitol, Santa Barbara tried to pass white actors with dark hair and tans as Middle Eastern. That would not work today.

One would think Victor would know of Jack's playboy reputation but for whatever reason it wasn't mentioned. 1980-1983 Victor knew of Jabot and the Abbotts but he wasn't placed in their orbit until 1984 and the rest is history.

Jill and Katherine were also out of each other's orbit for a while too, I think from BD's first departure until DA's Jill married John.

From what I've seen of the weekly ratings from the end of the 1988 writer's strike to the start of OJ, Y&R dominated all daytime dramas. Y&R saw it's dominance threatened in 1994-1997 with the aftermath of OJ and the huge rise of Reilly's Days. Oddly enough, Reilly's Days featured a good number of 1980s Y&R actors in major storylines: Deborah Adair, Eileen Davidson, Nick Benedict, Jaime Lyn Bauer, Lauren Koslow are the main ones that come to mind. Perhaps payback for Y&R bringing over 1970s Days actors in the first half of the 1980s.

In the 1982 episodes Charles was in boarding school. Was Charles on screen in 1980? I wonder why Bill Bell changed the name from Charles to Cole in 1993? Maybe he felt Charles was not a 1990s soap opera name

What a way to end the 1990s classics. I think this was one of the episodes that got Y&R the 1993 Best Drama Series Daytime Emmy.

Is it me or does The Bayou look more like a honky tonk dive bar than a strip club? I guess I have this image of strip clubs through a 2020 lens, you know, the pole, dollar bills on the stage, VIP section with bottle service Come to think of it, Bill Bell writing Victor and Nikki's story starting at a strip club may be responsible for an entire generation of hip hop artists and NBA players that love strip clubs 🤣

Taylor Swift is the 10th female solo artist to reach 6 #1s on the Billboard Hot 100. The top 10 female solo artists in terms of #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).

I don't think anything further happened with Kevin and Ashley other than those scenes at the Newman Towers construction site and the Jabot lab. Not long after Ashley was paired with that chemist Brian but was another pairing that didn't last. There was also a scene with Jack bringing flowers to Julia but I don't think anything came of that either. I wonder if Jack knew during Julia's Jabot modelling days that Julia was married to Victor. There was a scene where Victor mentioned Jabot and John Abbott so Victor knew of the Abbotts but Victor wasn't placed in the Abbotts orbit until 1984.

I got through all the 1982 clips/episodes and now 1983 clips are up. That year had some big cast changes too: Andrea Evans as recast Patty, Tracey Bregman arrives as Lauren, Marla Adams arrives as Dina, Brenda Dickson returns as Jill. Hopefully there will be more of 1983 showing up.

The first half of 1986 was the peak of the Bill Bell/H. Wesley Kenney years. The second half of 1986 saw Cricket become a full time cast member and Ed Scott take over as EP. 1985/1986 Y&R moved past All My Children to become #2 and it would remain at #2 for 1986/1987.

@RavenWhitney December 5, 1986

It wasn't long after this episode that Doug Davidson appeared in the miniseries I'll Take Manhattan where he played a model. Perhaps the centerfold storyline was practice for that role.

There were also more action/adventure elements added, starting with the police corruption/mob storyline. That was the General Hospital influence, as they started the whole action/adventure/supercouple craze in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Even Y&R was not immune to 1980s trends but at least they didn't go ham with the whole action/adventure/supercouple craze like Days did from 1983-1990. Agree. H. Wesley Kenney's era laid the groundwork for Y&R as we know it today.

Oh well, the classics were fun while they lasted. The 1980s and 1990s episodes were the best.

Do you think Andrea Evans was cast as Patty due to her being a big ABC name at the time? In the first half of the 1980s, Y&R cast alot of former Days actors: Margaret Mason, Peter Brown, Suzanne Zenor, Mark Tapscott, Patty Weaver, Tracey Bregman, Susan Seaforth Hayes. I'm sure there were more but those are the main ones that come to mind as most of them worked with either Bill Bell or H. Wesley Kenney on Days.