Y&R: Old Articles

[SoapDope]

During that lame anniversary Leslie/Lorie return when they were honoring Stuart, they talked about him in a past tense....like he had died. I guess we never will know the truth. I wonder what they would of had him doing at the 1984 Victor/Nikki wedding ? Giving the bride away ?

 

Bell seems to have given Robert Colbert (Stu) the shaft the way he done Dorothy Green (Jennifer) years prior when no longer had any use for the character he played. Green complained to the press about it and how her character Jennifer and all the older women on the show like Katherine/Vanessa/Liz/ were written as downtrodden mothers. 

 

I remember as a child when all the Foster/Brooks/Prentiss started to disappear and it was a bit confusing the way it happened so quick without explanation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Broderick]

 

Liz was definitely "downtrodden", but the other three women over 40 --- Kay Chancellor, Vanessa Prentiss, and Jennifer Brooks --- the main thread linking them was that Bill Bell tended to write those three as very vain, selfish, weak-willed women, who always put their own needs above everyone else.  It was strange to have three self-absorbed "matriarchs" on the same half-hour show. 

 

During the Brooks/Foster purge of 1982/1983, I didn't feel too badly for most of the actors who got the boot.   They were mainly bland recasts (Leslie, Chris, Greg, Lance) who hadn't been around very long, or later-developed characters (Lucas), or actors who'd already left at least once in the past (Peggy).   But I really did feel badly for Stuart and Liz, who'd been there from day one and could've served as a link between the "old show" and the "new show". 

 

It was definitely a confusing period for those of us who watched daily.  Granted, Bill Bell used the Chris character wisely (having her work at Jabot and "validate" the Abbotts to the audience), and he also got some benefit out of Leslie (having her be the defacto step-mother to Angela Laurence, who was always interacting with Traci Abbott, Paul and Andy).  So Chris and Leslie, during their final months, helped pave the way for the younger characters that we'd get to know in the coming years.   It's just a shame that Liz and Stuart couldn't have been utilized in a similar manner.          

[will81]

Liz was definitely still around until at least Jan 1985, maybe a bit after. When Kay held her dinner for John and Jill and planned to show her 'Winter Cabin Memories' slides, Liz served dinner. Jill had pawned all her jewels to try to get the money to pay off Esther for the negatives and Liz was around for that story. She was definitely gone by the time John found out about the affair though in the summer of 85.

[Paul Raven]

Puzzled as to why Liz didn't stay around beyond this as Julianna seemed happy enough with recurring and her relationship with Jill and Kay gave her plenty of oppotunity to be involved.She met Traci at Jill's wedding and that relationship could have been developed also.

 

I agree about the Stuart/Gina involvement. I don't recall anything between them. Maybe there is confusion with later when I believe John and Gina were hinted as a possible couple,

[Broderick]

 

That sounds right.   I remember that Liz was still around for Kay's facelift in 1984, still around for Nikki's wedding, and yeah, right on up through the beginning of the Kay's Photography Exhibit, lol.     Liz was dropped from contract status to recurring status a few months after Stuart was (I think he was bumped to recurring in 1983, and for Liz maybe it was 1984.)   Stuart basically said, "To hell with y'all" (evidently) and ended his availability for taping soon after the change in his contract status.  Liz, though, soldiered on for a year or so on recurring status.    And then it seems like she just disappeared without a trace, and I was wondering whether she'd reconciled with Stuart, or whether she was still in the (unseen) Foster house, or where she might be.   I remember when Sven popped a cap in Jill in 1986, I was curious if anyone would bother telling Liz that her daughter had been shot in the shower.  All of a sudden John Abbott told Mamie or Ashley or someone, "Oh, dear, I need to call Jill's mother and let her know what happened.   She's in London with Snapper and Chris, you know."   And I was like, "Really?  When the hell did she go there?!"  lol.  Next thing you knew, John Abbott was making a phone call, and there was old Liz, answering the phone in Snapper's London kitchen and gasping, "Poor Jill!"          

[FrenchFan]

From the credits we saw online, Julianna McCarthy was still a member of the contract cast in May 1984. She was no longer part of the contract cast in June 1985. So I wonder if she was demoted to recurring status or was a member of the contract cast until she left in early 1985.

Unfortunately, an episode with credits from March 1985 was online but stopped after "Lauren Koslow".

Edited March 31, 2019 by FrenchFan

[will81]

I have a feeling Bell had already decided to go through the divorce and Jill being shot stories. I know he said he rarely planned ahead, but that seems like it was planned ahead. 

He seemed to be setting Jill up to be as nasty as possible through the divorce to make the idea of Jack or John or Kay being the one to shoot her more believable, she was more ruthless during the divorce story than any other time before. I think Liz being around would have diffused things too much. But that is just a guess. 

[Legacy]

Yea I have Soo much things to say about there last year appearance, I'm happy long time fans got a chance to see these 2 who started it all but they had them come back just to argue with Jill was Soo pointless they could have have that but also some other scenes because Jill isn't the only character they know on the show that was still around

 

They could have had Lorie visit Victor in the hospital which would have made a great scene and for Nikki and others to interact with or they could have either had them interact with Jack or Ashley or even Dina since they always hinted that there parents were such good friends back then lol idk what do you guys think

[Soaplovers]

Lorie had a lot of characters she interacted with still on the canvas.... Victor, Nikki, Ashley, Jill.... so I think she could have had a frosty interaction with Nikki.. and an in character interaction with Victor (that 2002 story was so out of character for Lorie..imho).

 

Leslie taught Nikki/Jill piano.. and I could have seen her being the mediator between Lorie and either Jill/Nikki.... while having a warmer interaction with the Abbots (since she had dated an old family friend Robert Laurence and interacted in their circles for the last months of her stint).

 

And we could have had an update on Chris/Peggy... and also if Lorie/Leslie were still close or just together cause of sisterly obligation.

[Legacy]

Exactly what you just wrote they could have done Soo much with that quick history coming back tto town but as usual they waste the interactions on [!@#$%^&*] nobody cared about, I mean don't get me wrong what they argued about is a old storylines from the late 70's but they could have touched base on Soo much other storylines from the past and bring sort of update

 

I have no clue when they will ever decide to bring the brooks girls back but I still think there is Soo much story with them and complex stuff that the show shoved away

[vetsoapfan]

 

The internet is awash with blatant misinformation, unfortunately. I am convinced that many contributors to soap sites just make sh*t up, to fill in the blanks about history when they do not know the actual facts. People accept the misinformation as gospel, in lieu of having credible and accurate sources from which they can learn about soaps' true history. 

[SoapDope]

 

Brooks Prentiss is a character that should be brought back to the canvas. His mother Leslie and Aunt Lorie could make appearances. Snapper and Chris's daughter Jennifer Elizabeth and Snapper's son Chuckie with Sally could also be brought back. 

[yrfan1983]

 

Per available synopses, Stuart's last appearance was sometime in winter or spring of '83. His last appearances seemed focused on his newspaper running a mob expose.

This was just posted at https://vintage70ssoaprecaps.tumblr.com/ : Week of February 14 - February 18, 1983 - Stu’s newspaper expose put pressure on Alex to arrest Paul.

 

In this '83 compilation vid (https://youtu.be/86u8zMKhWhc ), full cast credits are listed at 52:55, and Stuart is still listed under contract. From the cast listed, I am guessing these credits are from spring '83.

 

For Julianna, per the SOD synopses, Liz last made a "regular" appearance (before disappearing) in winter of 1985, when Jill was being blackmailed, and she roped Liz into scrounging up money, I think by pawning jewelry IIRC.  Carl Williams did a police investigation of the "missing jewelry", and Liz was in the hotseat, but somehow it got resolved. Don't know if she was contract at that point or already recurring. Liz was not mentioned again in the synopses.

[vetsoapfan]

 

The original cast of Y&R was very well chosen. Some of the actors were somewhat green at the beginning, but they all had a certain spark, a certain charisma, and grew quite well into their roles. Others, like Janice Lynde and Trish Stewart, were excellent from the start.

 

The replacements paled in comparison. Janice Lynde played Leslie like a wounded fawn, fragile on the outside but seething with emotions just beneath the surface. Victoria Mallory was gorgeous, but lacked the depth and vulnerability which had endeared Leslie to the audience. Trish Stewart was warm, vibrant and charismatic. Lynne Topping was perfectly adequate in the role, but her Chris lacked spark, and came across as humorless. The Gregs who followed James Houghton were all bland (like Brian Kerwin) or downright repugnant (like Wings Hauser). David Hasselhoff was adequate, but lacked William Gray Espy's smoldering sex appeal. Apparently without even trying much, Espy was able to project the qualities of vulnerable strength. Hasselhoff was a California beach bum with a stethoscope. Dennis Cole played Lance as though his head was filled with Cheese Doodles. While I did have vested interest in the original characters, when the replacement actors left the show, it was almost a relief. I was not comfortable with the "fake" Leslie, "fake" Chris, "fake" Snapper, etc. I wanted the original, exceptional cast back and I knew that was not going to happen. I was very disappointed when Jaime Lyn Bauer departed, however, and very annoyed that TPTB dumped Robert Colbert and then had Julianna McCartney appear only sporadically (later dumping her too). Those actors deserved a place on the show, and could have been woven into other stories with other characters.

[Legacy]

OMG i honestly forgot about the kids they had, there you go that's just as good because they are legacy characters but nobody has thought about them in decades

 

Hey just to randomly throw this out I know u guys remember the Brad Eliot character I wonder if he stayed on longer in the 80's I wonder which women they would have shifted his way? Maybe lauren,nikki,ashley