Y&R: Old Articles

[SoapDope]

I hope some more 70's episodes show up. I would love to see Leslie's mental breakdown episodes and Nikki & Greg Fosters 1979 complete wedding in the Brooks house even though I never cared for Wings Hauser. I wonder if Nikki & Greg may have lasted longer if James Houghton had stayed in the role.

[alphanguy74]

Well, soapdope, your wish has come true! This episode is amazing. Taped January 21, 1974, this is the very first time Jill sets foot in the Chancellor mansion. And we have John considine as Phillip!! This eppy should make for some good discussion.

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[YRfan23]

What on earth is going on?!?!.......I never would have dreamt so many 70's episodes would be surfacing this fast! particularly any from the show's 2nd year. ...You truly are an angel Alphaguy!

SO many things to discuss......I love seeing the Fosters all sitting together talking about Liz getting layed off at the Factory. I love how everyone looks so natural and Brenda looks beautiful in those "ordinary" clothes from Kmart that she use to complain about......

Katherine looks so gorgeous and wow John Considine as Phillip, is it just me or does he look a HELL of a lot like Thom Bierdz? He looks a lot younger then Donnelly Rhodes......

I love how innocent Jill is but you can see some of the determination she has that would totally drive her later.....I loved that Brenda flubbed her lines and said "Mrs. Foster, then recovered and said Mrs.Chancellor, I guess with live taping there was no time to fix mistakes....... I love seeing her actually work in the Salon...... Who played that Hazel woman? how long was she on the show?.......Of course it's a gem to see Jill actually do Katherine's hair at the salon. I love how Katherine isn't exactly warm at Jill but Jill is fascinated she doesn't seem to mind. It's interesting to see Jeanne actually smoke too.....I loved the ending with Jill deciding whether it's a good idea to stay or not, I was almost in tears seeing the original Chancellor set.....it must have been only a month old at this point....

Interesting that Kay's original maid was named Theresa yet she doesn't look hispanic, how long did she last.

Was this Chuckie that Sally was carrying?

I can't go on enough about how truly amazing you are again!

Edited November 30, 2013 by YRfan23

[YRBB]

Episode 205? The show hadn't even had a full year's worth of episodes yet. So amazing! #Dead

[DRW50]

YRfan already said most of it, but I have to add my own thank you.

It's sad to think an episode from nearly forty years ago is more relevant to today's world than anything on Y&R now.

I'm just fascinated by Jill here. She's young and innocent, as we see with her fumbling attempts to get Katherine to keep her mother employed at the factory, but she's also got a spine of steel, as she refuses to stay at the hair salon and schemes to get out of there.

And Katherine...fluttering, broken, tragic, beautiful. With that hair she reminds me of a fembot at this time. Or of Linda Evans. I can't get past that huge wall of hair.

You can see why viewers were transfixed with her. She's just this dissipating, dazzling entity.

Julianna McCarthy has so much heart. One of the most relateable matriarchs ever.

Who was the guy at the end of the title sequence? Was that supposed to be James Houghton?

The Fosters really do click as a family.

And look, it's when Katherine didn't even bother to give a [!@#$%^&*] about business.

Thanks so much for this. I never thought I'd get to see this. It is such a building block to what was to come - you can see history unfolding.

[alphanguy74]

This is just such a good episode, I don't know where to start. First, this proves that soap does NOT have to be pure escapism to be riveting. A family like the Fosters you'd never see on soaps today, BUT people would identify and root for them, I think a family such as that would prove very popular. All the acting is great, one thing that's glaring, is that at 5' 11" and then with heels on on top of that, Lee Crawford just TOWERS over everyone. Especially her scenes with Robert Clary, she makes him look like a munchkin, an odd looking couple, to be sure. Jeanne looked amazing, and I LOVE her fur coat! This was when a rich woman wore a REAL fur, and looked damn good doing it. John Considine is interesting as Phillip, I remember the day Donnely Rhodes took over, and I thought he didn't look quite as aristocratic as Considine. Another thing I noticed, is that John Conboy really liked having the actors eat oranges in scenes, they did this quite a bit, I guess cause it's easy to deal with, and the peeling of the orange gives the actors something to do with their hands, makes the scene look a bit more interesting that just someone stirring a cup of coffee. Oh, BTW... when Jeanne is walking through the living room, there is 30 seconds of silence, because of a copyright flag on the background music that was playing during it. There was no dialogue, however.

Edited December 1, 2013 by alphanguy74

[DRW50]

What was the music?

Today the Fosters would be panned as "boring," by the sneering types online and at DC and so on, but they'd probably connect with the audience.

I hadn't noticed about Lee Crawford, but you're right. I wonder if that's one of the reasons the story with Pierre didn't last longer.

Considine does look more of the manor. The little I've seen of Rhodes, he seems a little weak and whiny.

[alphanguy74]

Oh, it was a track off of one of the Mystic moods albums, not one of the better ones. The Chancellor mansion was definitely a new set, it appears the floor is just plain gray concrete.... something they rectified later.

[YRfan23]

What I also love is that it seems like particularly the scenes with Jill and Kay sort of set in motion for other soaps to later copy and create their own versions of the Kay and Jill rivalry. I feel like other soaps down the road would later interpret some of Kay and Jill into people like Kate and Ivy and Sami and Theresa from DOOL and Passions......This kind of goes back to Jim Reily liking the "rich bitch vs poor girl" plot. Of course later there was also B&B with Brooke and Stephanie.

I'm not saying that Kay vs Jill isn't one of a kind because it will always be the best soap rivalry ever but I do think some soaps always tried to recreate that magic in some way.

Edited December 1, 2013 by YRfan23

[alphanguy74]

The thing that strikes me is that with Jill and Kay, each one was jealous of what the other had, Jill wanted Kay's position and money, while Kay was insanely jealous of Jill being young and beautiful, with her whole life ahead of her. Seeing how fidgety and anxious Kay was, it's obvious the woman very badly needed a psychiatrist. So your husband worked alot and neglected you. BOO FRICKIN HOO. She apparently is falling apart because she is bored. Doesn't she have any personal interests? Hobbies? She has enough money to indulge any interest she may have. If nothing else, she could do volunteer work for charities or political causes, she just comes off as gluttonous and self absorbed, falling apart unless the universe revolves around her. I've known a few people like that in my time, and they come in ALL income levels. When Brenda flubs her line, I think she recovers nicely, and I wouldn't have re-shot that, either. Considering it was live to tape, they didnt stop tape unless a wall fell down. And the character was nervous, so mis-speaking is a natural human trait, especially when one is nervous.. so for me, it fits in ok and I totally have no problem with it. Things like that give a show a more human touch. I like a professionally performance, but it doesn't have to be totally perfect. Theresa was VERY dutiful, wasn't she? I would hate to have a job like that. that phone would ring, I'd answer it, and I'd say "Kay, it's for you!" And she'd fire me for insubordination. I'm just not a formal person, and I don't call people Mr. or Mrs. whatever.

Edited December 1, 2013 by alphanguy74

[Paul Raven]

Fantastic to see that very first time Jill entered the mansion.

Interesting that Katherine was referred to as Kaye by Phillip and even when talking to herself.I remember Jill later calling her Kaye, but that was dropped over the years. I think Derek also called her Kaye.

I expected to see John Considine with a moustache a la Reginald Love and his replacement. Hard to judge his Phillip in such a short scene. I wonder why he was dropped?

The Chancellor house was probably the first major new set since the show debuted.The camera really pulled back to show it off.

Was it Pat Carroll playing Jill's co-worker?

Pierre, Greg and Phillip had it easy that day with only a few lines each.

I think the show took off because Bill Bell knew how to package a tightly focussed 30 min soap.By the time the 80's rolled around the 1 hr shows involved so many unrelated characters and storylines that that intense feeling was lost even with Y&R.I guess Bell felt it too and introduced the Abbotts to contrast the Williams and get back to families.

[alphanguy74]

And that's exaclty why he refused to go to 60 mintues, and CBS basically forced him into it. He had this show honed to a knife edge, and perfectly paced. And when it went to an hour, it struggled for 3 years to regain it's footing. Jeanne also was VERY critical of the show going to an hour, she even said it's one of the biggest reasons daytime is dying. And no, it's not Pat Carroll playing Hazel, but she is damn near Pat's twin, isn't she? I can't seem to find the name of the actress who plays Hazel. I'm dying to know exactly who she is.

[will81]

What an amazing episode. Seeing Jill's determination and knowing how on point Bell kept her character for his 25 year tenure. One of his best creations in my mind. Loved her flub, Brenda recovered so well it does seem as if it was scripted and Jill's nerves got the better of her. Though after that I kept waiting for Theresa to do the same thing.

I always thought Kay was called Mrs. Chancellor until the mid 80's by everyone except of course her husbands/boyfriends.

I am assuming this aired very late Jan or very early Feb, was wondering how long John Considine was on for. I think Donnelly must have taken over soon after this though.

I too think the Foster family would do well today, if balanced out with a rich family. There are a lot of people struggling today, so it would be relevant, but we also seem to be in a society that loves watching rich people do sweet F*&^ all, all day long.

I do notice Bell's stories back then developed very slowly, but each episode I have seen from the 70's is rich with character development.

[sheilaforever]

Add me to the choir: this is unbelievably awesome. never in a million years did I expect this to see...

Usually I dont care much for 70s Y&R as the characters I know and care for did not start until 1980... but this is so different: innocent JILL FOSTER and a boozed up KAY CHANCELLOR. Perfect!

And Jeanne Cooper was VERY good as the lifeless, desperate, stuck- up alcoholic b*tch. The scenes were pretty long, yet there was A LOT of movement and many characters. This is just great storytelling; if done with an effort I truly think it COULD work today. The realism (actual real life incorporated in the stories!? - OMG!!!) seems to be totally gone from TV, daytime and primetime. No one wants to see this anymore, it seems. Even all those genre shows with their dark tones (e.g,. Breaking Bad) all seem unattached from the present, IMO. The last show which felt like it was truly connected to real life was WEST WING. But I digress and back onto this gem of Y&R. The sets were TINY. But you cann tell the approach: they all look like theatre sets and taht's also were stuff like the peeling of oranges derives from. Plus the lighting is very stage-like. I must say it felt terribly overlit and the camera work has improved a lot in later years but it holds up very well over all. Oh; Julianna McCarthy is VERY old-school theatre as well. So very real. That Greg Foster though (whats his name?) screamed romance novel cover with that drwamy look and that hairdo and I can only dread the thought of the other younger actors at that time in action. I didn't like that Phillip Chancellor II BTW. I only know Donnelly Rhodes from the flashbacks they always show and he always looked much more debonair and patriarchic fitting for the part whereas this Phillip looked like a mexican gigolo of Kays...

Back to the writing: I wasn't sold on the "talking thoughts" of nearly every single character in this episode but then I wondered if the self-monologues which were very common in the 80s and 90s were much better. The intent is clearly to present us the characters thoughts. I'd say it worked best and most organic with the minor character as Esther, Miguel and Marissa et al. as more or less stiff sounding boards for certain characters but this could be personal taste.

EDIT: considering ths is #205 and life-on-tape I think it either aired just one day later or so; but definitely by the last week of January 1974...

Finally: THANKS FOR SHARING this and BLESSINGS TO THE UPLOADER! I can no longer comment on YouTube as I don't want a google+ account but this is greatly appreciated.

Edited December 1, 2013 by sheilaforever

[DRW50]

That was Pat Carroll wasn't it? I'd wondered why she seemed familiar.

As for realism, I think soaps used to be able to capture that in a way nothing else could. In today's TV world, I think Walking Dead captures it, in terms of a day-to-day grind, a slow path to nowhere. That's what soaps once managed to tell. You never believe you're just seeing pretty people playing out fake problems, even though Brenda, James, and Julianna were all attractive.

It would also be very easy to look at Katherine and think she's a stuck up, silly, out of touch rich bitch, but Jeanne puts so much heartbreak into her, you can't bring yourself to do that.

Edited December 1, 2013 by DRW50