Y&R: Jaime Lyn Bauer interview on exit

[DeeeDee]

The thing about Bill is that for all his faults he strove for integrity.

He ran a tight ship but was able to be flexible if something worked.

Actors had their issues with him but if he were alive today things wouldn't be half as bad as they are now.

Even Braeden had a lot of respect for Bill which pretty much says it all.

Lorie could have stayed (but only a couple more years) cause JLB was getting very second run Brenda toward the end.

By the time she left she was all hair tosses & flamingo arms

[DeeeDee]

Who never gets enough respect.

[DRW50]

It's such an awful choice with Nikki, either she would have been banished or she stays and is degraded. No actor should have to make that choice, not to mention soap fans.

Thanks for answering my question. I've never really seen any of the early 80s Y&R, the earliest I've seen of the 80s was when the Brooks sisters came back for Victor and Nikki getting married. I thought JLB was pretty good and fairly restrained there but that's probably because she'd been away for a few years.

It sounds like the only actors who started in the half hour format and stayed around were Jeanne Cooper, Julianna McCarthy (for a few years anyway), and Beau Kayzer (for a year or two). I wonder if they were just able to deal with a more rigorous format or if others would have been willing to stay but Y&R felt they were out of steam.

[DeeeDee]

Exactly.

Y&R's vets carried the show (especially through LML's reign of terror) & are now treated with such disrespect is criminal.

JLB had her moments (though she got VERY OTT around the end of the L Quad).

She had a lot of chemistry with John McCook but was more fun with Tom Ligon (they had matching dry senses of humor).

Jeanne was always a fan favorite & almost always frontburner.

Julianna & Beau eventually were recurring (and were used fairly well).

[DRW50]

I still remember how MTS had me riveted to the screen during Victoria's coma. I never really imagined what was to come. Stupid me.

I kind of wish they'd have tried putting JLB and McCook back together on B&B (I know supposedly she was offered the role of Stephanie, but I mean after that) but then that would ruin Eric's image as dirty old man.

I really loved Tom Ligon on Oz. I know he was on ATWT too but I mostly remember him from Oz (my favorite part was when he pushed a guard down the stairs and then just deadpanned "Oops," or something like that). I was surprised when I learned he was on Y&R. I wish I could see some of that it sounds good. He sounds like what Tucker probably should have been.

[DeeeDee]

If it wasn't for her (and Thad) that entire arc would've been meaningless.

It speaks to Y&R's misogyny that she, Beth (who was the only one who gave Colleen's death meaning) & Tonya are used as props while lesser talents are constantly frontburner.

There's always Margo (if LK wants to stay with Days) but B&B's already got a lot of older actresses (Steph, Jackie, Pam, Brooke, Taylor, Donna) to make room for another.

Ligon was handsome (still is) with a very dry sense of humor & was a lot of fun compared to dimple chinned McCook.

[DRW50]

It's interesting because Y&R often seemed to be noticed or criticized for "young, beautiful" people, but they also cast some men who weren't the typical leading man (Ligon, Braeden).

I agree B&B is overrun with women in a certain age group at the moment. I don't think Gareis or Lesley Ann Down would be a big loss, and Flannery will likely leave eventually. Seeing Bauer or Lauren Koslow again would be good, I think they both had that great Bell style of acting which keeps you watching. Goodness knows Koslow is the only reason Kate is still around...

[DeeeDee]

Ligon was handsome but not movie handsome like Hallick & McCook but very good looking but you're right in that Braeden was atypical leading man (in terms of looks). He was Y&R's Barnabas Collins.

I wouldn't mind them on B&B either but they would be used 6 months & tossed aside like anybody who isn't Brooke/Ridge/Taylor (Hearst & Brown should be gone soon).

[soapfan770]

Well I've thought of something and I guess this would be the place to ask, but how was Meg Bennett and her character Julia Newman received? I know that Bennett's has since made a career with soap writing and Julia made a couple returns most recently in 2002 but Julia intrigued me when watching some 1984 episodes of Y&R...her friendships with Victor and Nikki, independent etc. I wonder how much longer Julia would last had Bennett kept acting, if she'd end up as Victor's soulmate and doormat eventually eventually.

I also wonder when Braden started getting the gigantic ego. To watch 1980s Victor is a world apart even from 1990s Victor.

[DRW50]

I wonder about that too. I liked what I saw of Julia in some of those clips where she was pregnant and trying to keep this a secret. It's a shame they brought her back just to claim she was still in love with Victor or whatever.

[OldSchoolSoapFan]

Hallick and McCook....mmmm yeah!!!

[OldSchoolSoapFan]

And Ligon was handsome in his own right!!

[DRW50]

Jaime looks a bit different there than later in her run -- healthier. Perhaps all the overwork made her too thin.

[Khan]

Now, this - this - is Y&R. No crazy dopplegangers (sp?), attempting to take over people's lives. No sociopaths allowed to run roughshod over the authorities w/ little-or-no retribution or comeuppance for their crimes. No ridiculous, far-fetched stories about long-lost daddies, dirty cops (who are also long-lost sons/brothers), Australian cattle rustlers, or scions from wealthy families who faked their deaths b/c they knew Mummy Jill and Mrs. Chancellor wouldn't accept them being queer. Just good, old-fashioned, sexually tinged psychodrama. I weep for the Y&R of old.

[alphanguy74]

Well, there was the amnesia thing... which was such a soap cliche by then... I HATED that. Actually, the endless quad of Lorie/Lance/Leslie/Lucas was pretty boring to me most of the time, only when you had confrontation with Vanessa did that whole SL gain my full attention.