The Bill Bell style

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Bill only co-created AW and wrote it during its first year. Agnes Nixon created Rachel and Ada.

[DaytimeFan]

Another part of the Bell style was that Bill kept his characters around so that viewers could really see a character evolve, change and grow. Viewers got to grow with the characters on Y&R and B&B. Jill, Kay, Nikki, Victor, Paul, Brad, Ashley, Jack etc....these characters are constants. Bill Bell kept them together and kept them evolving. He didn't allow his characters to get stale and he didn't import new ones all the time.

Poor wanting to be Rich. That was a big one. The characters of Jill and Brooke really illustrate this point. For 35 years (21 for Brooke) Jill has done her damnedest to move beyond her poor past and become the woman she most despises: Katherine (Stephanie for Brooke)...that's the thing I LOVE about Bill Bell's writing: there was apparent psychological motivation for each character. There is a level of pathos, his writing style is darker. When I think of Y&R and B&B I don't think of humor or adventure. I think of drama and style.

No gimmicks. No adventure, no spies, no mob, no back from the dead, no bullsh*t. Bill Bell believed in the intelligence of his audience and it showed in his work. He wasn't sloppy. His storylines made sense. They rang true.

Then a few phrases that spell it out for me: High Society, Family, Business, Anger, Lust, Selfishness, Selflessness, Drama!

[EricMontreal22]

Bell helped Irna create AW but was not a HW on it ever--he did assist Irna in the first year.

I dunno I think Bell did have his share of gimmicks, people back from the dead, sometimes with plastic surgery to diguise how they looked. But he did is so freking well that it rarely seemed liek a gimmick--that's the diff. (his first incest story on DAYS and one of his first big stories with Marie and... Mark I think being her brother--she didn't knwo it cuz of his amnesia and cuz of his plastic surgery--if that's not a soap taboo I dunno what is)

it's true what someone else said about Bell recycling stories. So did my beloved Agnes Nixon. I think it's more about HOW they do it--soaps by nature are bound to repeat stories.

I do wonder why the Poor wanting to be Rich or vs rich theme has largely been ignore don his shows though lately Having watched recently a few eps from 1975, I LOVE the quieter smaller feel of the show--brilliant yet intense stuff.

Right--Rachel and Ada were, as Agnes Nixon ahs said, created from her All My Children bible which she had already written by the time she joined AW in '66--they were even poorer versions of Erica and Mona.

[Paul Raven]

On Y&R,Bell often repeated character names despite the fact that it was a newer show and had a relatively small cast turnover,

Some examples

Brad Eliot/Brad Carlton(obviously named for his own son)

Scott Adams/Scott Grainger

Michael Scott/Michael Crawford/Michael Baldwin

Sharon Reaves/Sharon Collins

Chris Brooks/Christine Blair

Jack Curtis/Jack Abbott

Matt Millar/Matt Clark

Amy Lewis/Amy Wilson

Brittany ?(George Rawlins niece)/Brittany Hodges

Neil Fenmore/Neil Winters

Steve Williams/Steven Lassiter

Robert Laurence/Robert Lynch

Bell didn't go in for murder mysteries-a staple of the CBS shows of the 70's and 80's.

Major roles were recast,but when characters returned on Y&R it was always with the original portrayer

eg Casey Reed,Brock Reynolds,Julia Newman,Diane Jenkins,Traci Abbott etc

John Abbott was a rare exception.

Then there were the conversations that could last an entire episode-frustrating at the time-but it kept you watching

eg Jack would come to the lab...

Jack: Ash,we need to talk.

Ashley : I'm in the middle of something right now-can it wait to later?

Jack: No,Ash,it's something we have to discuss immediately.

Ashley: Jack,I can't imagine anything that could be that important that we couldn't talk about at home.

Jack: Well,unless you think the future of this family is unimportant,you'll take the time to hear me out now.

Ashley : The future of the family? Jack,aren't you being a little dramatic?Just what are you referring to?

The camera goes to Jack who stares at Ashley,then back to Ashley,who looks quizzically at Jack,before returning to Jack and fading out.

Finally 4 scenes later,it's established Jack is threatened by Jill marrying their dad and Ashley is not happy about it,but feeling they can't interfere.

Yet the intensity and the sheer soapiness of it all made it work!!