Y&R: Potpourri Thread 3

[bellcurve]

Fenmores sells Abercrombie and Fitch?!

[MarkH]

Well, I guess you can call it Glow by Jabot. Remember all those half-naked teens by the pool?

[alphanguy74]

Yes, and it would have actually been eye candy had they not waxed David Lago's chest.

[LoyaltoAMC]

Y&R was never particulary my cup of tea, mostly because I enjoyed the humor and the lighter, more contemporary, and uplifting feeling of the Nixon shows. But in hindsight, I've come to appreciate the show a lot. I thought the time that LML was writing with Alden and Smith was pure soap nirvana. I liked some of the LML solo stuff too, as I've admitted in the past. Her solo stories were ok, but there was a sharp focus and energy to the show that's really missing.

Oh yeah, I've always thought B&B was a horrible show. The writing and the acting (with the exception of a few like Flannery) have never measured up to Y&R for the most part. Pretty much every time I try to watch it, I feel like I'm watching a bad Y&R parody, or even worse a Saturday Night Live parody of soaps. The thing is that it used to be a joke in the industry. I remember years ago Marcy Walker had been approached about joining the show either before she went to GL or before she returned to AMC, forgot which one. She made some comment to the press implying that B&B was a subpar show and that she wouldn't be caught dead on it, and that was probably the consensus years ago. I gather it's come into its own in recent years and is now more or less well-regarded, which probably goes to show you how far the other soaps have fallen.

[DeeeDee]

Adam prefers Blindbercrombie.

[alphanguy74]

I'm dragging the casting discussion over here so we don't give Toups a nervous breakdown. I think casting has sucked as of late, but there's been a few winners. Casting is a HARD HARD thing. Bill Bell even screwed that up on many occasions. I could bring up Erica Hope, Bond Gideon, SHARI SHATTUCK, Sarah Aldrich, Cam Gigandet (that might have been Alden). And who WAS it that said they thought Marnie was doing well as DOOL because she didn't cast someone like Frank Mentier? I LOVE him! Of course, I could just be blinded by his beauty. But look what COMPANY he keeps!

[DRW50]

The problem goes beyond casting and into poor writing and direction. The soap press does not stop hyping Billy Miller and Liz Hendrickson, but even they have been dragged down severely by the schizophrenic focus on their characters.

It's a combination of casting awful people who have no business being onscreen, casting green people who are not given the opportunities to get better, and casting decent actors who then fall apart because the show offers nothing to help sustain them.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Cam Gigandet was Marnie...

I don't think Bill was as active in casting as Conboy, Kenney, Ed Scott, and David Shaughnessy were. Especially in the earlier years, when he still lived in Chicago.

[alphanguy74]

Im not sure. When did Bill move to LA? Wasn't it 80/81? I know that all of the original cast of 12 was cast by Bill. Dickson, Cooper, Julianna McCarthy have all said they were cast by the man himself. I know that Heather Tom also said she was cast by Bill as well as Rowell. From what I read in old soap mags, I get the feeling that Bill Bell cast all the contract players in the early days, and the secondary characters were left to Conboy, with Bill's approval. but whoever cast Wing Hauser as Greg Foster should have had their head examined. He's got to have been the ugliest actor on television. I'd almost sooner look at Ernest Borgnine and William Conrad in a love scene!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The Bell's moved to LA in '87 when B&B began...

[DeeeDee]

Cam wasn't bad.

Now Shari THAT was bad.

[soapfan770]

That would be me the character Jed Stark was absolutely horrid and in my opinion was made worse than Mentier's acting or whatever he was trying to do.

Many of the 90s failures like the multiple Sharons and Shari Shattuck could be attributed to Jill W. Newton. Of course another problem is that Y&R will often hire somebody's family member. While the most famous example of this is obviously Lauralee, Camryn Grimes, Laura Bryan Birn, Marrissa Arena, Shattuck, Asia Ray Smith, Linden Ashby and David Tom all were related to someone who worked on a Bell show whether it be spouse, child, sibling etc. Goes to show the problems of nepotism.

[MarkH]

Oh man! Yes, he was -- shall we say -- rough hewn. But he actually worked as the quick-fuse Greg who had to deal with Nikki's shenanigans. She ran in fear of his reactions to her prostitution caper...and it was believable with him in the role.

You all hate on Shattuck, but I actually thought she was a breath of fresh air. Compared to the bland portrayal of Epperson, I liked that her Ashley had some bite again.

[DRW50]

Has Ashley ever had bite as a character? Everything I've ever seen of Davidson has been withdrawn, aside from the occasional snapping at people.

Shattuck was very in your face, and I adjusted to her over time, but she struggled to have chemistry with her love interests, and she seemed very emotionally cut off from most of the people around her. I also remember her being overly invested in Jack's love life, whereas most of the time, Ashley doesn't give a fudge about her relatives.

[Rhiannon]

My Mom and I both disliked Shattuck and my Mom even gave her the name fish lips due to the way she kissed. The only time I ever liked her was the short time that Leigh McCloskey was on the show playing her love interest.