Y&R: Potpourri Thread 2

[JimTolkien]

I think Nick battling Adam is a part of the smokescreen..don't think we have seen enough of anything yet to determine if Nick will be his only one - I highly doubt he will be. Characters like Sharon are MacGuffins to me..Adam, the jury is still out.

[dm.]

I hope Adam gets tied up somewhere and we have Ashley, Sharon, Estella, Rafe, Heather, Victor, Nick and Victoria (who were most affected by Adam) and Jack, Nikki, Paul and Phyllis (also a little bit involved) all throwing something at him before he's carted off to jail or hell.

[DRW50]

I remember some of you talked about a 1975 episode that was online somewhere. I can't remember the name of the site. I've been there once but can't remember it now. Was it Chicago something?

[DeeeDee]

Don't forget Noah & Abby.

[alphanguy74]

It's here, Carl... you have to register for a free account to view video. If you have any trouble, let me know, I'll walk you through it.

http://www.museum.tv/

[DRW50]

Thanks. That was the one.

Does that work for you in Firefox? It only works for me in Explorer.

Never mind, it works for me in Firefox now.

Thanks again!

[alphanguy74]

Carl, were you able to see it? It's a great episode... Jeanne Cooper on her knees reciting the 23rd psalm is just so brilliantly over the top. And aren't Espy and Houghton gorgeous? I was stunned when Bill Bell recasted Greg with Wings Hauser... a man so ugly he had to sneak up on a glass of water. Conboy certainly was one to use a BRIGHT key light, wasn't he? the background was incredibly dark, yet Dickson's hair as like a torch at times in this eppy. The beginning of act two I LOVED the music, and the closeup of the stained glass window, then the camera pulls back. I just adore the camera work. But the Brooks house is BUTT UGLY. I always felt the decor of the Brooks house was terrible in every way. And we can see that CBS used the leftover flame stitch wallpaper from Y&R on the set of The Jeffersons.

[y&r_fan]

I wish people would stop acting like TPTB have been killing characters left, right and center. Most contract characters who have left under the current regime (Karen, Adrian, Tyra, River) have left town. There have only been two major deaths since the current writers have been in power (I don't count David, Sabrina, Marge, Clint or Zapato as 'major' - although I do hate that they killed Zapato). Only one of the two major deaths was a legacy character. I don't expect them to kill off any more legacy characters - at least not in the next decade or so.

If Schmidt is leaving (and I hope he isn't), there is no doubt in my mind that they will recast. But I wish they would sign him to a contract. Same with Vanessa Marano.

[DRW50]

Sabrina's death was billed as major. The woman was used as a plot point for almost a year after she died.

Almost the entire show revolves around death, darkness, and fear of death. Naturally we will worry, especially since the lazy writers may believe that this will just further make us love the Shick miracle child. We will hear all about how Noah and Cassie are in Heaven, looking down on baby Shick.

[MarkH]

So, that sure looks vintage. It was a lot of steps to get there, but I'm glad I persisted.

The decor (which I remember well) now seems like All In the Family to me! I never got Espy's appeal...but Houghton sure was pretty, eh? And that is the Dickson version of Jill I new and loved. I sure miss Liz Foster. Chance and Phillip are 'her' family too...she should be back in town for all this drama.

I love that they left the commercials in! Arrid Extra Dry! Roll on!

And Carter's Little Liver Pills!!!!!!

I totally forgot the stained glass window and color of the Brooks House. I remember it all as darker.

The old hospital shots seem positively quaint, and I loved how the nurse (in her cap) walked around with an upside down syringe of blood. No tube, no nothing.

Fidgety Kay in her flowing white outfit brings back memories. Basically, the confident and secure Kay of today is a whole different character.

Take the Nestea plunge! Heinz 57--"the thicker the better". A Spam commercial! The Alexander Graham Bell CareFree Gum commercial. You don't see too many gum ads these days. The commercial breaks seem limited to 60 or 120 seconds...much less than today. I didn't remember them being that brief.

Did you also see the 1986 episode? Cricket's teenage runaway? That was a big summer story that culminated in the Danny Romalotti summer concert (that I think we're seeing in this ep). It's nice to see that the teen acting was no better then than now. Lots of moody stares, and clear stylistic conventions. For example, as the camera panned in for an extreme closeup, we knew that a flashback was coming. You've really got to see that clip for a full on 80s concert by Danny! Lauren and Traci had amazing poodle hair.

OMG!! I see Amy Lewis singing and dancing. Amy!!

The credits on this episode too. Not only were they "special" (not red on white, but yellow against a concern silhouette), but:

Produced by:

Ed Scott

and

Tom Langan

Written by:

William J. Bell

Kay Alden

John F. Smith

Sally Sussman

Story Consultant:

Sally Sussman

"Assistant to the Creators" was William Asher. I wonder if this is any connection to the ex-husband of Elizabeth Montgomery/EP for Bewitched?

[MarkH]

I moved this to Potpourri, 'cause I didn't want trouble for non-episode talk.

We have been discussing whether Peter Bergman gave an anti-Braeden quote/interview to a French Magazine. Soapydoc pointed us to an issue to Telestar, which was released 19. October in France.

Okay, I found the promo blurb, but not the article (so far). Maybe FrenchFan....?

Anyway, the URL for the promo is:

http://blog.telestar.fr/2009/10/les_feux_de_lamour_peter_bergm.php

Dated 17. October, it says:

My very rusty translation skills say this roughly means:

If anyone can find the fuller article...I'd be interested to know if it does muck-raking .

[alphanguy74]

That's because it was. If you watch episode 1, you see that the Brooks house did not have the flame stitch wallpaper, they added it sometime in 1974, and it did brighten things up, but not in a good way. The original color on the wall was this dirty shade of taupe. I think my problem is that they were using modern 70's furnishings in an old house that they didn't fit into. It should have been decorated like the Abbott house.... and that modern art painting in the living room! You know, as a child, I thought it was a painting of a T-bone steak!!! The 1986 episode was QUITE hokey in retrospect, but anytime Maitland is singing it makes all shortcomings dissolve immediately. Damian's singing was such a JOKE.. but he sure had a killer ass! I'm still dying to know why he played Danny so FEM... Damian is butcher in person, and Danny always seemed to be this guy you'd expect to be on the down low.

[DRW50]

The Brooks house does look awful. It looks almost as cheap as the Foster house, and weren't the Fosters supposed to be have nots to the haves of the Brooks?

I loved this episode. Jeanne Cooper just blew me away. I have always respected that Jeanne plays the fragile, broken Katherine, even when the writing makes her into Saint Katherine. She is just a mess here. You want to look away, but you can't, because Jeanne is THAT good. This also makes me think of Phillip as a loser, even though he was probably a saint to put up with her as long as he did. Was he with Jill by this time?

Did you notice the anti-smoking propaganda throughout the episode?

Katherine: I don't smoke anymore. I haven't in months. Remember you used to tell me about my breath?

-

Snapper: Remember, I warned Dad to stop smoking, I warned him what it would do to him?

I guess Y&R was not popular with Phillip Morris.

I've never seen the Janice Lynde Leslie before. She seems a bit rough around the edges compared to the more ethereal Victoria Mallory, doesn't she? Which did you guys here prefer?

What did you think of Brad? I'm blinded by the Bob Hartley jacket.

I loved Julianna McCarthy's quiet devastation throughout this episode, especially the end, when she realized what was happening to her husband. The worst part is when she allows herself to hope, briefly, when she says she will call the man she loves, and then they find her husband passed out on the front step. That hurts.

Brenda Dickson is good too. She mixes a more vulnerable Jill with hints of the tougher Jill of her return. William Gray Espy has the quiet intensity I loved as Mitch Blake. Houghton is a bit off at first but is very good when he apologizes to his father. And yes, he was beautiful. He was even more beautiful on Knots Landing with the shorter hair. I almost wondered if being that beautiful was inhibiting, because he got stuck with the callow cheater stories, while the more haggard men dominated the rest.

I know what you mean about Wings Hauser. Still, he managed a long career. I remember him as the father of KC's daughter on China Beach.

I wish the Fosters were still around. Jill has such a long, anguished history on this show. She can be so much more than what she currently is.

[alphanguy74]

Well, let's keep in mind, the Brooks family was "well off" but not rich like the Abbotts or anything, they were upper middle class. But the decorating was just ugly as hell. I wonder if Conboy designed that set? The Brooks home is supposed to be a historical home, we never saw the outside, but we get the impression it was a turn of the century monstrosity. Now, I LOVED Janice Lynde. She played the part like this EXTREMELY sensitive, fragile little bird. Mark loves Mallory, but I didn't like her. Physically, she looked fine.... but she was too "prissy" for my taste, Lynde was much more natural, Mallory always looks as if she was about to give a tea party in white gloves, with cucumber sandwiches. The Fosters were dirt poor, so their house was supposed to look bad like that. I think Conboy blew most of his design budget on the chancellor mansion. But It was a good investment, even the wingback chairs are still there 37 years later! Jim Houghton was a vision to behold. There's an episode of Knots Landing from season one where he wears these TIGHT jeans at the end, and he looks like he's smuggling a squirrel in his pants! (Episode 10, "Small Surprises") I agree what you say about Julianna and Bill Espy... my mother is alot like Liz Foster, so her character is "comfort food" for me. And of course, this Dickson is the Dickson I LOVE. She's emotionally AVAILABLE to the viewer, and even when she gets mad or tough in the 70's (There are a couple other scenes on youtube that show this) she's theatrical, yet grounded at the same time. She reminds me alot of Faye Dunaway. But then in 1985, she morphed into Joan Collins.

[Juliajms]

I'm with you there. If it ever happened I would want it to be a short yet intense fling that ratchets up the feud somehow. Passion that turns to War of the Roses type hate (the movie not the real war) without the humor. It's been along time since a soap has done that kind of story. I always think messy fictional divorces are fun, but soaps so rarely go there. Not that I want Billy nad Vikki married, god forbid. I'm just saying I enjoy messy, anger filled breakups. It should be Ashley/Victor, but I just know the show is going to flake on that. Ashley has loved Victor so much over the years, she really should be out for his blood now.

It's really too bad they killed CC because it's about time for JT to move on from Vikki. Maybe another round with Mac. I'd like to see him rescue her from Billy and then Mac can be a little bit lighter.