Let's Talk Production Values

[JamesF]

The kitchen was still in use back in the days when Rick was married to Amber. It's definitely a good set but I guess if they have to sacrifice then it's not really a necessity for the "super rich" Forresters to be shown fixing meals.

I know the 'dining room' was still being used when Betty White was on the show the first time because Stephanie smashed a glass at the breakfast table. While the set in itself was ok (particularly in the 90s when they made an effort to dress it properly...and the characters for that matter) but I don't understand why it has to be situated off the foyer. It's obviously not a permanent fixture to the set so why not have a standalone version with an entrance at the end instead of pretending the Forresters eat their meals next to the front door? Ridiculous.

I've always had an issue with the many mansions' living rooms being turned into studio apartments. Not to mention how everyone's bedroom is identical save for Eric/Stephanie's but I don't know how often that gets shown these days.

[bandbfan]

Is Bridget living in the beach house? That set shows up from time to time, usually some outcast family member lives there. (Stephanie over the past year or so, and Bridget on and off)

Wow, that was only, what, 2 years ago and I still don't remember it for some reason.

The bedrooms are all pretty similar. I think one unique one was when Taylor's kids were younger, I think there was a bedroom for either the twins or Thomas.

[boldfan01]

Yes, that was where Brooke first met Stephanie, when Brooke was helping her mom out catering a party at the Forrester mansion. Stephanie came to check in with Beth since the guests were due to arrive, not knowing that her caterer was the love Eric left behind when he proposed to Stephanie. Beth introduced her daughter to La Forrester, and look where we are almost 22 years later. That was also the episode where Brooke met Eric, and more importantly, Ridge for the first time. I bet Stephanie wishes she picked another caterer now. :-) The kitchen came and went over the years as needed.

Amber and Rick were living in the guest house at that point, so I guess having the kitchen around made sense at that time in case Rick or Amber wanted to raid the fridge. But that was 9 years ago, and I think the kitchen has seldom shown up since. It's probably not one of the more permanent sets (like the Forrester mansion), so these days it would probably only get brought out of mothballs if the story warranted the cost of putting it up.

Only the set designers know for sure, but the Forrester mansion was based on the home of Bill and Lee Bell, and I thought I remember an interview with the designer where he said he had to go to the Bell home early on to uset as a model for the Forrester home. It may have been something that at the beginning, was easy to situate, but as time (and possibly soundstage space) changed, they had to rearrange where they could no longer have space between the door and the dining area.

The bedroom got shown in the events leading up to Eric's heart attack/coma and following that, although it hasn't been seen much since Eric got released from the hospital.

[boldfan01]

Stephanie was living there until she started staying at the mansion to help Eric after his recovery from the coma. Bridget had moved in with Nick when Stephanie moved into the beach house, but then she moved out when marriage #2 fell apart and they never said where Bridget moved to after that. and yes, that house has gone through multiple residents including Taylor (alone and then with Ridge until they moved into the Bel Air Mansion in '99), Bridget and Deacon, Eric and Jackie, Amber, Bridget again (including during her first marriage to Nick) and then Stephanie.

The twins had a bedroom set around the time Taylor came "back from the dead". Thomas had one - it might have been the same set redressed - when he and Gabriela were married, and Hector later lived in that room when Taylor took him in after he was blinded.

[bandbfan]

I think I'm thinking of Thomas's room before Drew-TB took over, he was played by that little guy with the part-down-the-middle haircut.

I was thinking about how many sets they have that get hardly any use at all before not being needed. Like "Owen's office," I wonder if they'll ever use that again now that the hidden camera thing is out. And then Beth's Paris home. And Ann/Pam's Chicago home. These things only get used for a week or so and then are never needed again.

[Soapsuds]

I thought today's show was a rip-off of the Dallas series finale. All Paul had to do was say he was the devil.

[Drew]

So with Sharon giving back the house to Jack, I wonder if we'll still be stuck with her redesign.

[MichaelGL]

Has there's always been a fireplace in the Chancellor living room?

I was watching classic episodes of GH on Soap Net, and I notice that in alot of ways GH's sets were similar to Y&R's because almost every set on GH used wood paneling.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yes, watching the old GH episodes from the Wendy Riche era and seeing last Friday's GH episode with the Robin flashbacks to the Riche era, made me realize how GH's look was much more warm and welcoming in the 90's. It wasn't glamorious production values, as I've said before, but the show had a certain home-like look to it that made it feel welcoming. The lighting wasn't too dark or bright, and everyone's home looked fitting for their particular character.

[UKBoi]

I got the same impression from watching old YouTube clips of Guiding Light pre Rauch...the show had that warm, welcoming look that really echoed the feeling of community and family and made it really enjoyable to watch. Of course, it helped that back then the writing was good and they actually had a budget...

What I dont get is why ABC has all their soaps so brightly lit, why (in particular GH and to an extent AMC) there is such a love for sets in shades of brown, beige and terracota that seem to blend into one, and why everything looks so generic and sterile...barely any of the sets on GH look like they could be real, lived in homes, while AMC is so cheap looking...only OLTL has sets that look fitting for each character's home.