YRBB

6 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Well that didn't last long. The only classic episode is the 1993 one. 

Huh?

2 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssss to attic fight!!!

Assuming it doesn't get pre-empted, I am dying to see it on my TV screen again. 

They're showing the attic catfight and Victor's "I will crush you"?! YAAAAAAAAAAS. And of course, his other return from the dead in 1993!

4 minutes ago, BoldRestless said:

What should constitute a season? Does a new season start every anniversary of the premiere or every 250 episodes?

Typically for daytime dramas that broadcast yearlong, the anniversary is the start of a new season, i.e. every year. Number of episodes per year may change based on scheduling/calendar.

13 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Haha yeah Danny was such an 80’s leftover in the ‘90’s, although I appreciate the show did try veracity by saying Danny sung “Rock On” and having Danny go be in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. I don’t know what else would he have done otherwise aside from possibly shack up with Lauren? I’m always surprised he was on the show for so long too.

 

Probably the funniest thing was upon his 2003 return Paul & Lynne had Googled Danny and found out he was considered a washed up has been.  

I find it very hard to imagine Bell would've kept him if he didn't have another character to tie him to. He wasn't that important or special to create new characters and carve out space for. I was gonna say he could be the "Scott" in the Lauren/Sheila feud but I don't think Danny would ever be that oblivious.... lol

2 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

I think so too, although by having Phyllis be the one to say it would certainly undercut the value of it. 

True enough. If the only one hating her is a psycho then that kind of supports her goodness, doesn't it? 

Then again, based on Cricket's characterization, it would've never really given anyone else reason to hate her. Nikki was blissfully bitchy there for a while thanks to the Victor/Christine thing (baaaarf) but that was dropped.

1 minute ago, Soapsuds said:

And he was justified in feeling that way.

100%. It was tragic losing him but I respect him immensely for standing up to what was perhaps the biggest atrocity on Y&R and seeing it for what it is.

(I have to say, though, like it was pointed out earlier: How sad that the biggest issue was Cricket. Compared to today, it seems minuscule).

9 minutes ago, yrfan1983 said:

The tragedy of it all, is that a few months after TL left - Cricket's insta-family was no more: Jessica dead, Jim written off, Scott sequestered off w/Lauren.  And the character of Jack was in a front-burner story with Nikki! Imagine if TL played that story instead of PB

I know. I wonder if that would've happened anyway or if his exit actually shook WJB enough to alter things. Considering Jim was pawing at Nikki, I think Bell genuinely planned to make a thing out of it.

And let's not get started on how radically different things would've been if TL had stuck around. Jack wouldn't have been a lovesick worrywart for one. Sigh.

21 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

I always believed having him write Phyllis calling her “The Bug” was his answer to any fan complaints. 

14 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Wasn't much of an answer though. Maybe a small gesture to placate people who didn't care for her? In any case, having a psycho like Phyllis being the one to deliver the line, gave sort of a back-handed perverse pleasure that was momentary, I guess. 

Funny you should mention that; I always felt the whole Phyllis feud was a way to help tone down the Cricket worship by other characters. Even if it wasn't a lot, it felt so good to have someone hate her! lol

3 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

 

At least for giving him several additional years of story until he was furloughed in 1998. 

Without a doubt he was kept around for almost an extra decade for Cricket's sake and not only that -- he has LLB to thank for the ton of appearances too. You cannot tell me he would've appeared half as much otherwise.

17 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

 

In the late ‘90’s shortly after Seinfeld ended Thudley seriously considered O’Hurley as to finally cast John Forrester and SOD even interviewed O’Hurley. It never materialized though, I guess something happened to change their minds. John Forrester finally appeared in 2014 played by Fred Willard.

I didn't know that. They probably realized he was creepy AF.

16 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

LLB was definitely put through her paces in that rape storyline.  WJB and LLB had to have felt some pressure to prove the worth of Cricket after TL walked.  I mean TL's Jack was so popular that WJB built an entire family around the character (from what I've read).  Deep down, you just know that WJB was like "Oh sh*t!" when TL decided to walk away from the role.

Yes! I just know it shook him to lose TL and made him realize a few things.

If BB hadn't been such a masterful writer, what happened with Cricket would've been enough to sink a show.

4 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Why did TL leave?

He had enough of the INSANE Cricket propping (and it was ridiculous) and walked.

12 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

7 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Theres also those of us who just dont like ED in the role, nothing to do with anyone else lol

I'm only teasing you, I hope you know that! I genuinely understand why one would prefer BE. You not liking ED doesn't surprise me one bit. She was very different. Me, I think it's one of the best soap performances. Playing a reserved character that did not like to show emotion and yet communicating so much emotion and thought was masterful work. I loved the bizareness. It made her unique. But, hey, to each their own!

12 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

LOL whenever I always get a kick out some of the early 90’s episodes where Christine and Danny appear and all they do is gossip over breakfast and/or dinner. 

Oh God. And they did that 4 days out of the week lol Michael Damian has a LOT to thank Lauralee for.

I guess one can think of them as the Greek chorus of Y&R. It almost helps excuse it.

4 minutes ago, OzFrog said:

 

Oh come now, John O’Hurley wasn’t that bad in the role (although I do find it funny that he was supposed to play Scott’s father, and yet was only 2 years older than Peter Barton in real life ).

Depends what you mean by "not bad". Was he a decent actor? Sure. Was he creepy? Oh God YES. And when he started pawing Nikki? Ew.

I had no idea there was only a 2 year difference. He seemed like a cryptkeeper compared to Barton lmao. 

27 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Peter Barton is the blandest bland who ever blanded.

He was so pretty though.

Ultimately, it worked out fine. Lauren and Sheila needed an excuse to feud. He was there for that purpose. Also, "poor" Barton: How can you shine next to Brown and Bergman, especially at the height of their powers? Impossible!

52 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Cricket wasn't eating the show as much by 1990 as she did in the late 1980s.

There was definitely improvement when Bell toned it down a little (a little - I mean, Cricket still appears in an episode to have sex with Danny even when you don't need her lol) and, most importantly, when Lauralee started improving as an actress (thanks to the date rape story). I'll always give her credit for that: Mediocre as she is, she worked on the craft and improved. It also helped that Danny and Cricket were genuinely nice and sweet.

Just now, OzFrog said:

 

You should watch the 1989 playlist I’ve been watching lately. 1989 seemed to be all about Cricket and her new found family (including ex-fiance Scott, as well as her long long father and her previously estranged mother).  

Thank God that long-lost father got lost again. *Shudders*

1 minute ago, Alan said:

 

Shari Shattuck for life!

 

In all seriousness, I think that ED is the definitive Ashley. I think she is the only actress who has been able to fully flesh out Ashley in all her complexity. BE's Ashley was like a different character. She was a sweet heroine, and lacked the edge that ED brings to the role. 

LOL!

Yep. BE might as well have been a different character. Again, it goes back to not liking Ashley and then she becomes a sweet heroine. So it makes sense.

2 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Sorry never could stand Eileen's Ashley and BE's WAS NOT the first Ashley I saw so stop lol

Hmmm, then you fall into the second category as I described! So, you stop! LOL

3 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I loved BE as Ashley too, but Eileen is such an idiosyncratic performer who put her stamp on the role. It’s hard not to see her as definitive.

Exactly. There's only a couple of reasons why one would prefer BE: She was their first Ashley, therefore understandably one becomes attached to her, or they can't resist BE's total sweetness and charisma which was passed on to the character. 

But it's not just about what Davidson brought to the role. Ashley as she should be was very idiosyncratic, stubborn, weird, difficult. Those who didn't appreciate that will certainly fall for the typical sweet heroine that BE was. Sadly, that's not really Ashley. And I say all this even though I LOVE Brenda. Let's prefer who we prefer but put some RESPECK on Davidson's name!

18 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Pffttt I grew up watching the show thanks to my grandma. I am almost as old as the show

LOL I get it. Still...

17 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

 LOL well to me she was my first Ashley can’t change that.

Totally understandable.

Again, most of y'all aren't familiar enough with Eileen Davidson's Ashley to have a favorite Ashley LMAO  But she was beautiful and sweet and a very capable recast.

2 minutes ago, Vee said:

Well, if they don't put up the '81 a link would be appreciated; I'm dying to see it.

Same. Someone must have uploaded it. We've got some Sherlock Holmeses around here, maybe we'll be lucky. 

Nikki's dream is such a wonderful example of the psychological Y&R writing. Her dreaming of Ashley looking barely a step above a prostitute is very telling. So much info given on Nikki and her relationships to Victor/Ashley in a "silly" dream. Sigh.

45 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

What was with Nikki's dream? Did the dream have any connection to past storylines or was she just dreaming that she was laying dead in a coffin... 

As Victor and Nikki's marriage disintegrated, Nikki found out she was dying. Victor was devastated and resolved to be there for Nikki. When Nikki found out it was a mistake or s/ing, she omitted telling him she wasn't dying to keep him around. This seems to be a dream of Nikki's where an adoring Victor grieves her death/shuns a whore-y Ashley and then wants to be with her even after she's alright. (Of course, he didn't).

1 hour ago, All My Shadows said:

Someone asked a few days ago if they were preserving the original music, and they definitely are. Today's episode includes one of the original cues from the very first soundtrack album. Also, they didn't swap out the original arrangement of the opening theme for the 1988 remix like they did for Victor and Nicki's wedding.

They keep choosing these episodes based on a "theme," but then the characters that are supposed to be featured for the "theme" are barely shown lol This is a Victor/Nicki episode, but we've only seen Victor in one scene and no Nicki yet. Not complaining in the least as I'm loving seeing all of these characters and/or performers I've only heard about. First time ever seeing Terry Lester's Jack, and the difference is immediately noticeable.

Yeah, you're never really going to get intense focus on one character on Y&R (unless it's Cricket? lol). Best you can hope for is memorable/seminal moments/scenes in a character's life.

Btw, it's Nikki. lol

1 hour ago, Faulkner said:

Dennis Haysbert looking fine and with that exquisite voice.

That voice, that face, that bod. I certainly had a moment.

16 minutes ago, Vee said:

Right. Am I missing some or will they be putting up yesterday's?

At this point, I think we have to assume they're not planning on putting any of it online.

15 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

I agree. There was too much time between when a story would leave off and then pick back up again. You could tell there was something missing.

Nicki's fantasy was funny. It's crazy to see EB and (especially) MTS both completely involved in their scenes. Time and crappy repetitive writing really do take a toll on actors.

Yes, they're practically butchering these episodes. You simply can't remove whole scenes, move commercial breaks and the opening titles around, and not throw off the whole episode, especially with a writer like Bell who damn well knew how to structure an episode. It would be so much better if they'd trimmed down certain scenes enough to meet time requirements but kept all of them (but that takes much more effort). And if they stopped re-editing!

EB and MTS were phenomenal for whole decades. Once the mid-2000s hit, they slowly checked out (never completely but the difference is obvious). It's why viewers who picked up Y&R in the mid-2000s often claim they're not very capable actors. Sadly,  they have no idea.

7 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Never understood the appeal of Wayne Northrop. How he was ever considered some sort of sex symbol?

He, like Terry Lester, were not necessarily conventionally handsome, but were pure walking, talking sex. Sex appeal radiated from them. I wouldn't go as far as saying they were Ugly Hot, though. lol

Bo kissing Marlena! My eyes!

That wrapping paper sound was murder for my ears lol

And Marlena freaking out about the microwave she always wanted. Wonderful stuff.

2 hours ago, ltm1997 said:

This is true. Maybe if they get good ratings on these classic ones it may push them to do it. 

It would be nice if ratings/interest finally helped them see it'd be a good idea!

2 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Yep, and if they were smart they could have used these episodes as promotional tools to push people to watch the continuation of the stories online. A lot of the complaints I see on the Y&R Facebook page is that people can’t continue to follow the stories they get sucked into during all of these one-off classic episodes. If they had the next episodes up and ready online, they could capture that audience on a new platform. “Want to see what happens next? Watch on CBS All Access...” Or something.

It would absolutely work! Especially Y&R which, for the longest time, was written well enough to suck you in no matter what era you watch. Once more, wasted opportunities.

Granted, they're getting it right with a lot of the selections and showing classic episodes at all. But, come on, put the library to good, actual use! (And, please, stop butchering the episodes!!!)