kalbir

Fall 1985 is being uploaded. The feud and quadrangle are entering full strength and everything is going to culminate in the first half of 1986. 1985/1986 Y&R reached #2, it was the peak of the Bill Bell/H. Wesley Kenney years. Side note, I noticed 1985 is when Brenda Dickson started to get OTT in her acting mannerisms. I know they get worse in 1986 and 1987.

1985 uploads so far are so good. The feud and quadrangle are building up. So many stories are going to culminate in the first half of 1986, the peak of the Bill Bell/H. Wesley Kenney era. Not digging the mob princess storyline. Still can't believe Y&R went there with Whiteface Tyrone. There's even another action hero Victor rescue sequence complete with cheesy 1980s music Can't wait to see more of 1985 and hopefully the first half of 1986.

Peter Bergman mentioned in a podcast that Y&R tested six actors for Jack before he was cast. I know two of them were Mark Pinter and Jeff Trachta, and a third may have been Jon Lindstrom. Any ideas of who the other three were?

IIRC, Christine got into the Newman orbit around Summer/Fall 1995 when Nick was accused of shooting Matt Clark. After Nick's trial, I seem to remember Victor hiring Christine for the Newman Enterprises legal department. I still can't believe Bill Bell would allude to a potential Victor/Christine pairing in 1996 🤮

Mid-1990s Nikki was so snooty lady of the manor. I remember the Nikki/Christine confrontation. It was before the shooting. Nikki witnessed Victor comforting Christine over Christine's broken engagement to Paul and then Nikki sauntered over to Legal Aid and put Christine on blast. It looked like Bill Bell was alluding to a potential Victor/Christine pairing before the shooting but thankfully that didn't happen.

@YRfan23 Agree that the mob story is way too General Hospital/Days. If the clips get into 1985, we might see Tyrone in whiteface. That would not happen today. Watched the fall 1984 clips, things are getting good. That meeting of Victor and Jack at Gina's, there were hints of the eternal feud to come. Was that their first meeting? I wonder how long Bill Bell would've kept the feud going had Terry Lester not left.

Kimberly was Bradley's version of Cricket.

The seeds are being planted for the eternal quadrangle and eternal feud. Do we dare hope that we get to see Victor and Jack's first meeting? Marc Mergeron is way too Dynasty. I think he stays on until 1988 or so.

Daytime dramas could get away with alot more stuff in the first half of the 1980s. Then AIDS happened and that changed everything.

Finished the 1983 uploads and watched what was uploaded of 1984 so far. The transition is complete and Y&R is becoming Y&R as we know it today. So from Summer 1983 to Summer 1986, Cricket showed up for summer, Christmas, Spring Break storylines. She wasn't annoying in small doses, but we all know what was to come in the later part of the decade. It was daring of Y&R and really brave of Jeanne Cooper to allow the actual facelift surgery to be shown. Katherine's facelift paved the way for reality shows like Extreme Makeover, The Swan, Dr. 90210. What in General Hospital/Days was that Caribbean remote rescue sequence complete with cheesy 1980s music? Victor started out as Bill Bell's version of J.R. Ewing and 4 years later he's an action hero! Can't believe Y&R went there and had Victor harpooned in the groin 😂 Of course little did Paul know that he would have a similar groin injury 10 years later 😂 One 1980s trend I noticed Y&R didn't jump on the bandwagon of as much was the supercouple craze. Even though Bill Bell may not have intended for it, one could say Victor/Nikki are Y&R's supercouple. Did the soap press give Victor/Nikki much hype from 1981-1984 as they gave Luke/Laura and Bo/Hope during that same time?

We hold Y&R to a higher standard than other daytime dramas, but even Bill Bell was not immune to jumping on the action/adventure bandwagon. I wonder how much of that was Bill Bell's own choice or was it CBS attempting to cash in on General Hospital's popularity. Allison was the poor man's Vanessa. Bill Bell's best Vanessa re-creation was Stephanie.

I've been enjoying 1983 clips more than the return episodes. I think Cricket's first appearance from summer 1983 is in there. It's so odd to see Terry Lester's Jack actually liking Cricket's modelling shoot, knowing what was to happen by the end of the decade. The mob story is way too General Hospital/Days. Jazz is serving up some Mr. T vibes, I wonder if CBS was trying to cash in on Mr. T's popularity. That reminds me of another Bill Bell element, the educated professional with a troublemaking sibling: Casey/Nikki, Tyrone/Jazz, Olivia/Dru, Neil/Malcolm. 1982/1983 Y&R finished 4th, becoming CBS's #1 daytime drama, with the ABC big three finishing in the top 3. 1983/1984 Y&R moved past One Life to Live to finish 3rd. Hopefully we'll get to 1984 as that's when Y&R became Y&R as we know it today.

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.