Peter Bergman

[JackPeyton]

complete and utter word to all of this.

i watch clips of him from the 90's and earlier this decade and wonder, what happened? He just seems to read the lines now. He doesnt embody jack, He doesnt bring him to live and make him breath. And yes i do blame PB for that not the writing. True there is only so much you can do with crap, but damn you can do something with it.

[quartermainefan]

Not being a watcher of Y&R I always associate him with "Cliff". Nina and Cliff were going full throttle when I started watching soaps and I guess they along with Jenny and Greg were the two big couples on AMC. There was a huge wedding at some estate and Nina was in a big hat. He was always good as Cliff, and the days of Nina, Cliff and Palmer were some of AMC's best and it wouldn't have worked without Cliff.

And yet, his biggest contribution to the culture will probably be the fact that while he wasn't a doctor, he played one on TV.

[Jonathan]

I want Peter Bergman and Taylor Miller to make an appearance in Pine Valley.

[MarkH]

LOL!

I remember that amazing gothic drama. That is when I loved AMC. Myra Murdock always skulking around the corner in dark garb, but we never knew why. Palmer hiding Nina's diabetic retinopathy so she would be dependent, and so that she'd nobly stay away from Cliff (and with Palmer). Palmer pursuing "Monique" with his dobermans. That amazing wedding. Sybil Thorne getting pregnant. The vile Sean Cudahy.

It was in this era, I seem to recall, that at least parts of the Jenny-Greg-Liza stuff was starting (am I right?). And Jesse-Angie not long thereafter. The show was can't miss for me back then.

This was as significant a redirection of AMC (away from Tara-Phil-Chuck and that era) as Bill Bell's near-concurrent shift from the Newmans and Abbotts. And it was TERRIFIC. Alas, as time went on, they dropped the thread. Now, most of the greats from that era don't even have a footprint on the show in the next generation. Opal's still there, and Jesse-Angie are back. And not-Liza, I guess. But none of it feels connected to that glorious past.

Knowing Cliff as that sap, I had an extra-hard time accepting Peter as Jack. But he did win me over eventually. Around the time he pursued Nikki (and Victor chased them down in his jet), I was starting to buy into this version of Jack. I could see why Jack had to become a viable romantic lead to serve as a counter-point to Victor. I realized, when Nikki and Jack were married, that Terry Lester could never have pulled off that arc. Because Jack and Nikki had to have a marriage that was less passionate than Nikki-and-Jack. Melody had to constantly play restrained with Peter. I don't think she was able to play restraint as well with Terry--not from my memory, anyway.

[marceline]

Same here! Cliff and Nina were one of my very first soap couples. Nina, Cliff, Sybil Thorne, Palmer chasing Daisy down with dobermans... *sings* Those were the daaaayyys

And Bless his heart, "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV" is now a permanent part of American culture because of Peter Bergman.

[R Sinclair]

Sounds like Amanda Beall's rearing her ugly head. Everyone was "getting" each other whenever she wrote.

He started on AMC the year I was born, and left the year I became a habitual viewer. I was too young to critique anyone's acting let alone have any recollection of him as Cliff. I was in junior high by the time I realized "Cliff" was on Y&R.

[quartermainefan]

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somewhere around the 3:30 mark is a nice little retrospective.

[y&r_fan]

I think he's the most overrated sap on daytime TV. But I'd still never want him to leave - just like I'd never want Ronn Moss to leave B&B.

[CSF]

Ugh. Yuck. I hope that's not a Peter Bergman and Ronn Moss comparison.

IMO, I don't think Peter Bergman is overrated. Eric Breaden, absolutely. Ronn Moss, I feel like he is always being propped. He's so tragic.

[Paul Raven]

Over the years,Bergman has made Jack his own and delivered some sensational performances,but i think he has gotten a little stale in recent times,despite his best efforts.

A lot has to do with the writing.

The Victor retrospective shown last week of the Victor/Jack feud ,highlighted the repetitive nature of the story.it seemed like the same scene being played over.

It's time to move on or rest it for a while.

Jack should move into a patriachal role in the family.Remember that Jerry Douglas was younger than Bergman when he was introduced.

Jack should be rebuilding Jabot,controlling a wayward Billy,reconnecting with Keemo and Kyle.

No more marriages where Jack ends up looking like a fool.

Maybe a new rival that would see him and Victor have to team up.

[NorrthCafe]

I also think he's overrated. I don't see a huge difference between 'Cliff Warner' and 'Jack Abbott' other than location and time. The storylines are different but everything else is the same. PB is good a what he does, but he's not especially good at transforming himself in the new role. His characters are always 'stiff'.

[MarkH]

Even though I am not his biggest fan, I see a HUGE difference between Cliff and Jack.

Witness the chair-throwing scene that was flashed back last week. Cliff would NEVER have done that. Bergman says he "stole" heavily from James Mitchell and David Canary. I see that. When he has to plumb Jack's darker depths, he goes to that Adam/Palmer place (well!). When he's lushly romantic Jack...that's Cliff Warner. I loved Cliff, but I dislike the "Cliff-side" of him in Jack...it doesn't ring true with Terry Lester's creation of the character. Jack should be a life-long lech who only wants women for one thing. A part of him could crave wanting more...but it's not really in Jack to love a woman selflessly. That's why I hated the Luan story, or how much Jack lost himself in Nikki.

I remember on interview with Terry Lester in which he complained about Bergman being rewarded with an Emmy when he made such very different "choices" with Jack. I wish I could find that interview. It was kind of sour grapes, and kind of incredulous. Subtext: "This dude is NOT playing Jack Abbott".

But I've come to accept Bergman's version...sappy at times, nasty edge at other times.

[CSF]

Oh wow, I would love to see that article.

I like PB as an actor and as Jack. In the clips I've seen of Terry Lester in the role, I really enjoyed him. I definitely can detect the different ways in playing the character. If fate had taken a different toll, I would have loved for Cliff to never have been written out of AMC as I've always loved the Cortlandts and I wish things worked out different for TL and his version of Jack.

And I agree with TL, LLB was sucking up way too much airtime. I never liked her or Christine.