Y&R: Casting Spoiler

[Ann_SS]

Come on, you can't really believe that this is all that William Russ can do. He is good actor better than EB. You need to go find dvds of his episodes on Wiseguy. Ed O'Neill who played Al Bundy for years on Married with Children is also a fine actor.

[Juliajms]

Yes, he is. I was shocked. It saddens me that he wasted all those years on such a crappy show when he has real talent.

[Ann_SS]

So true. MM was mediocre on Veronica Mars, but was supposed to outshine Chris Engen who was the better actor. Russ is a million times a better actor than Braden and most of the actors on Y&R. He is a damn sight to good for the soaps. He must be hard up for work. People were shocked about Franco going to GH. I find Russ joining the cast of Y&R a hell of lot more shocking.

LOL! I can't believe you are a Wiseguy fan. Wow! I loved Wiseguy. The show had some talented villains. The late Ray Sharkey as Sonny. Kevin Spacey as Mel Profitt, "only the toes knows." Ron Silverman as David. Jerry Lewis did his finest work as Eli on that show.

[DeeeDee]

A check is a check.

[Ann_SS]

I didn't even know that William Russ used to be on Another World. Tucker is not Victor, right?

Good actors out of desperation for work sometimes take roles that stereotype them. Ed O'Neill was never able to jump start his movie career again after Married with Children. It is really too bad.

[Jeff]

Does anybody know Ilene Kristen's connection to William Russ - i.e., how did she know he was joining Y&R?

[Ann_SS]

I loved the scenes where Roger was supposed to kill the guy in the elevator and suddenly he looks at him and sees him in his military uniform and can't kill him. Roger remembers what it was like to be in a soldier before becoming a government assassin. Russ never said a word. He emoted the whole shift in his awareness. Only Peter Bergman could do anything like this on Y&R and Russ is better than Bergman.

If memory serves, Roger admitted that he cut out Preet's tongue so he would not have to kill her. It was a great scene. Roger was a navy seal, right? He then ended up in the CIA.

[DRW50]

I loved the first season of that show. It was addictive. The best of late 80s TV, if you ask me. All that style but with a hard edge underneath. The Steelgrave arc was brilliant, showing us the way Vinnie went from having a low opinion of Sonny to being his closest friend, being scarred by Sonny's suicide for a long, long time afterward. Who can forget the "Nights in White Satin" montage where they just stared at each other, waiting for the cops to arrive?

The Profitt arc was good too. Kevin Spacey was brilliant, so was Joan Severance, but Roger was the heart of the story and William Russ played every shade brilliantly.

When I think about Y&R's mistakes with Adam, I think that Roger is a good example of a somewhat dark character who was still sympathetic. Remember when he was gaslighting Susan, so he could get the Profitt fortune, and as he made her go further into madness, he had this tortured look on his face, like he was going to be sick. If you're going to do a gaslight story, that's how you do it.

After the first season it sort of became more OTT and more about guest stars (and I was upset when they killed off Vinnie's brother, played by the great Gerald Anthony), but I still enjoyed the show. The rag trade arc, which as you said was Jerry Lewis at his best. The DC arc was also very good. I even liked Lynchburg, since Roger came back briefly (that was the one with the madam who basically ran the town, I think).

The best thing about that show was you really felt the emotions of the main characters, and you knew they were basically good people, even with their mistakes. I miss that about Y&R.

Anyway, I think William Russ can easily play a dark, complex character, because he already did. It just sucks about the timing, because to many viewers and critics, he will be seen as some Victor replacement, and that means automatic backlash.

[Juliajms]

He was amazing on John From Cincinnati. I know that show was a critical failure, but Ed O'Neill couldn't have impressed me more. It just goes to show that sometimes the person playing the buffoon really is the most talented.

[DRW50]

The monologue about Preet was such a difficult scene but so well acted and written. "Forgive me, Preet," he said over and over. I remember the first time I saw that, I was floored. And you're right, the elevator scene was amazing.

Roger was in Vietnam. He was used by a rogue agent, whom he thought was in the CIA, but really wasn't at that point. He continued working for this guy for years before learning the truth. I remember when he was going to kill the guy, and Vinnie convinced him not to. The entire arc was basically about Vinnie helping Roger become what he'd never been able to be -- a good person. Not a saint by any means, but someone who cared. This was capped off by the climax, when Vinnie testified to Congress that Roger was a good man, a hero.

I loved the last scene where Vinnie, who thought Roger was dead, was walking down the street, downbeat, and then he looked at the adjacent street and suddenly there was Roger, smiling at him, letting Vinnie know he was OK. Vinnie was shocked, but before he could do anything, a truck went by, and then Roger was gone. Vinnie just smiled, and went on his way.

That's one of my favorite TV scenes ever. It said so much with so little.

I really hope that Y&R of today can have even a tenth of some of the power that show had.

He was also very good on Dragnet.

It's hard to be a sitcom actor.

[MarkH]

He had a series (The District?). He was AMAZING in JFC. We rewatch that regularly, just to replay his lines.

And now he's headlining America's #1 new sitcom, Modern Family (which is the best thing since sliced bread).

[Ann_SS]

I always thought that Wiseguy was too hard edge for the average American viewer. It was full of good actors effectively playing unlikable dangerous villains who were merely people making terrible choices.

Roger making Susan crazier were painful to watch. It was hard to see that Roger could still had capable of doing something so horrible.

I also loved the scene where Roger is having nightmares and he tells Vinnie that he had forgotten who he was and dreamed in so many different languages.

I remember smiling when Roger appeared to Vinnie for a couples seconds. Good to know that he was still out there, alive and well.

Y&R is lucky to have William Russ which means they will probably screw it up.

[DRW50]

Yes, they showed people, they usually didn't make them into the psycho of the week. They were human, they seemed real. That made their mistakes even more painful to watch.

I remember the dream.

And I think he killed a guy with those silver balls he would throw against the wall. You never knew what Roger would do.

I just wish he weren't seen as replacing EB, and that the show had better writers and producers. I don't want this to be bad, I really don't. I never thought I'd see William Russ back on soaps, not because I think he's better than soaps, but because he's been in primetime for so long. I really hope they can make this work, if they can, then he will be an asset to the show.

[MoTheGreat]

Maybe he's Ryder father. Who is Kevin uncle. They always trying to expand Kevin importance to Y&R.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Oh yummy. He was in Miami Vice too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QpzNbaszqM