Generations Discussion Thread

[dc11786]

The episode that was just posted was most likely May 8. That was when "Top Gun" aired on NBC in May, 1989. Also, given the "this week" preview, it would have to be a Monday episode and May 8th is a Monday. 

I'm reading the next two chapters of the Bible which are lengthy. They cover J.D./Jessica/Lisa and Trevor/Laura/Greg. As I believe I've said, the format of this bible has character biography and then plot. In the character biography, there are not a whole lot of shocking details from the characters that we see (Laura/Trevor/Jessica/J.D.), but there is an oddly detailed description of how J.D. manages getting drafted into the Vietnam War by faking a manic depressive state with the help of a psychiatrist. The most interesting thing is what isn't said, the father of Jason Craig. Jessica vows to go to her grave before revealing who that is, but I have hopes (minor) that it might be unveiled later in the bible.

Laura and Trevor only have two children in the bible, but an additional son (Dylan) was mentioned in newspaper press releases and Laura once refers to her "sons" before Cory arrives on the scene. Cory's story is revealed in the bible to be pretty C-level; the pursuit of losing his virginity to his girlfriend Melissa and then later Jessica, both unsuccessful. The letter writing campaign for Jessica is also in the document as are references to Bill Bell's alter ego, Ben Berry, the brilliant mind behind "Tomorrow is Another Day." Trevor's mother Frances McCallum has the early stages of Alzheimer's, which will get overlooked because she is such a cold bitch. 

Laura and Trevor's marriage was arranged by Peter, who wanted Laura to marry well and not have to worry. The marriage is described as more functional than loving, which I think what came across onscreen. Trevor seems to be heading towards a mid life crisis affair with Alison Engel, the creative director at the ad agency, as they plot to usurp some of the accolades at the firm from Trevor's much younger rival, Rob Raelko (who I believe eventually morphed into Rob Donnelly). Alison seems to be the predecessor for Amy Yasbeck's character, Carla. The main account they are going after is the nationalization of Marshall's ice cream, which should be a big deal on the canvas. Trevor seems pretty vain and with mentions of high blood pressure and stress I imagine a heart attack. 

Laura ends up having an affair with Greg Sutton, who she went to school with. Greg was working class so he never had a shot with snobby Laura, but Laura did have strong sexual desires for him back in the day that she let stay on the back burner. Instead, Greg received attention from Ruth Marshall, already married with a kid. They bonded over Greg's poetry. Greg returns to work on a facial reconstruction as he is now a plastic surgeon. He stays because he runs into Laura at a benefit and eventually, after an argument between Laura and Ruth, Laura has sex with him. The Ruth/Greg/Laura dynamic is intriguing. It is stated implicitly that Laura was against Ruth/Greg because of the interracial dynamic and that Laura was aghast that Ruth would have such a dalliance in her home. Laura's racism is very present in the descriptions of her feelings about Ruth having loved Greg, even though they had done nothing. Laura is much more fascinating in the bible than anything onscreen. I have a bit more to read, but she probably suffers the most in the revisions from the page to the screen so far. Though, I'll be curious to see how the Adam as a model story was suppose to play out. 

J.D.'s story delved much more into his pursuit of reviving his career and romancing Jessica in order to secure the money to do it himself, which is basically the shell of the story that happened onscreen. The difference is he originally had a second love interest, Lisa Morgan, who is the person that Sussman states the audience would be rooting for. J.D. and Lisa would meet in New York during one of J.D.'s gigs when Lisa would be waiting tables at some club J.D. performed at. Lisa would eventually be fired and take up J.D.'s offer to look him up if she were ever in Chicago. So Lisa decides to move to Chicago (only on soap) and ends up living platonically with J.D. while trying to put off any romantic overtures from J.D. There are lots of references to Lisa's secret, but it all comes out during a teacher conference that Lisa (who has got back into teaching with J.D.'s encouragement) attends where she runs into Patricia Morris. Patricia and Lisa both have a flashback of Patricia hearing her college sweetheart Larry Morgan breaking off their engagement because "I am not the man you think I am." 

J.D.'s pursuit of a new music deal fails miserably when he realizes that Jessica is broke (she has been left nothing in her father's will but her mother's possessions). In his moment of self loathing, he connects with Lisa and he sleeps with her before she has told him about her past though he is aware that there is some reason that has kept her from sleeping with him (he already suggested lesbianism, incest, or other sexual abuse). 

I haven't completed this section (it's nearly 100 pages), but it is a shame because most of it cannot be used. Jessica had multiple marriages, which wasn't the case on the show. Timothy Craig was an entrepeneur in the bible who adopted Jason after he married Jessica. She was briefly married to a young actor who beat her. Then, she was engaged to marry Jim Weaver, a congressman. On-air, Jim and Timothy became the same character though they were briefly mentioned on-air as separate characters. In this version, Jim Weaver had been involved with foreign agents and the accident that killed him and hurt Jason most likely was the result of the international espionage. 

I'll add more when I get through this section

[Sapounopera]

I really cannot see Dorothy Lyman as Rebecca. Such a weird casting choice.

Rebecca should have been the mother of (a younger) Laura, JD, Sam, Monique and Corey. The McCallums made things more complicated for no reason. 

I liked the original Y&R (CBS) style better than the NBC style that followed. However the show needed stronger storylines and scenes from the beginning. A co-headwriter, perhaps someone like Pat Falken-Smith?

A trendier intro might have helped.

Edited April 1 by Sapounopera

[dc11786]

With more time, maybe I would have adjusted to her, but I agree that Dorothy Lyman doesn't work as Rebecca. Her Rebecca has little warmth. I think Pat Crowley managed to provide a level of heart to Rebecca that Lyman wasn't able to in her short run. I do think that Lyman's Rebecca would have been the stronger litigator, but I don't think that is really the direction the show was heading in. 

The McCallums fall apart easily because crucial pieces of their story were eliminated in the development stage. Trevor's mid-life crisis was being driven by a rivalry with a colleague at work, who would be Sam's love interest. Trevor's icy mother, Frances McCallum, was suppose to appear as a recurring character and start slowly showing more and more signs of Alzheimer's disease. Cory was suppose to be develop a one-sided infatuation with Jessica Gardner. Laura was intended to fall into an affair with an old classmate, plastic surgeon Greg Sutton, who Ruth Marshall would have been infatuated with back in the day.  Given the scope of the bible, I suspect Sussman may have initially developed the show as an hour long project. 

Due to the conservative nature of NBC, a lot of the more interesting elements are nixed leaving Sussman to figure out on-air how to restructure the show. As a result, this becomes her modus operandi; finding the show through the course of writing it. I think the general direction the show seemed to be heading in by mid-1989 (an affair between Trevor and Jessica, whether emotional or physical) was a smart way to center the family. I would have kept with the one-sided Cory/Jessica angle only for Cory to be upset about his father's relationship with Jessica from a personal angle. Laura needed more centering though because her character had substantial ties to the canvas. It might have been interesting had a nearly empty nester Laura decided she wanted to pursue a career and found herself developing her own sense of independence through something like real estate. I think the McCallum crew could have worked, but I don't blame the show for basically scrapping them. Monique wasn't strong enough alone to carry that branch of the family. 

I found the tone of the early episodes appealing, but I thought the stronger storytelling and the cast integration once Jorn Winter arrives in September, 1989, was when the show took off. The large cast of supporting characters was neat and very Y&R and I appreciated the depth of the world that was created in the beginning, but it needed to build up to that, especially in the half-hour form. I also think some of the cast isolation, which worked well on Y&R, wasn't effective on "Generations." Characters in the same circles should interact when possible. The nationalization of Marshall's Ice Cream should have been an umbrella that saw most of the cast interacting professionally and personally as a result of the professional connections. I will say strong scenes in that period really stood out though. Especially anything with Ruth Marshall. 

@Sapounopera What did you think of the character voiceovers in the early episodes? I didn't really like that device being used as often as it was.

I thought the opening was reflective of the show's concept of generations, which is also why you needed the McCallum branch. The show had two families that were made up of three generations. 

[Khan]

I can't remember whether we discussed it in this thread or in another - and I apologize, but I'm pressed for time atm, so I can't search for it either - but I think @Errol provided a pretty good breakdown for why, in his opinion, the opening sequence didn't work.

[Sapounopera]

I was shocked with Rebecca's voiceover. I remember thinking, wow, I didn't know soaps could do this, lol. Perhaps one voiceover from the show's most important character, introducing us to the most dramatic story would be enough. 

[Forever8]

Rogershope uploaded two more episodes of Generations. 

 

[yrfan1983]

Thanks! Breaking news (to me at least) that Kristoff St John and Tonya Lee Williams shared a kissing scene on Generations, two years prior to co-starring on YR

[Forever8]

Another episode of Generations had been uploaded on YouTube from May 9, 1989.