Y&R: Old Articles

[DeeeDee]

I'm watching Ashley's accident right now. It still holds up.

[EllenP]

Loved Nelson as Phyllis, but she always read a few years older than Stafford to me. Her SL in 1998 with Danny and Cricket was one of my faves, but idk if she would have worked in later versions of the character

[durk]

And if ANYONE has that epic Ashly and Jill scene when she finds out about blade and rick 

[YRFan2007]

Do u still have that episode

[Chris B]

I've just reached Peter Bergman's entrance and it's so interesting seeing him do his best Terry Lester impersonation. This is a completely different Jack. Very masculine and to the point. Nothing like he grew to play him. Also interesting as I enter December is how often they rotate the main story to allow others (like the Rawlins murder mystery) to simmer while others take center stage. I've seen Nina/Phillip as the A story, the Rawlins mystery, Cricket's rape and now Marge/Kay's switch. Even characters without a star turn get meaningful scenes that keep them involved in the action for when their time comes. There's a true rotation and everybody seems to matter. The use of relationships and supporting characters keep the scenes from becoming boring or repetitive. Characters like Douglas, Esther, Lynne, David, Miguel and Farren add a lot. 

 

Also interesting considering what she's become is how vital Traci is to the Abbott family. For this year she is easily the Abbott getting the bulk of the story. Yes John has Jessica and then the Jabot takeover, but as Traci is romanced by two men you have Jack, Ashley, Mamie and John bending over backwards to not only make sure she's okay but plotting go ensure that. She's such a vital and central character that it makes me sad she became just a talk to. Beth Maitland is a great leading lady and has a lot of range. 

[will81]

Speaking of the Rawlins murder, I was reading some soap press, apparently the Rawlins Murder Mystery was suppposed to wrap after 6 months, but the audience reaction was so strong they kept it going. That would explain the ups and downs in that storyline.

Yeah, around the time they made Kay and Jill mother and daughter was around the time the show fell apart. I didn't mind 2003-2005 and didn't even mind the Phick story, but it wasn't the same Y&R at that point. I would say 2002 was the end and 2005 was really the point where I stopped watching.

[DeeeDee]

Y&R's last classic year was 2003.

 

Y&R had an INCREDIBLE run from 98 to the summer of 03 but the autumn & winter of that year is when the trouble really began.

 

And it's been downhill ever since.

[YRFan2007]

Agreed

[kalbir]

 

Some of PB's first week were posted online a couple years ago and yes, he was trying so hard to emulate the late great Terry Lester (RIP). Unfortunately the poster didn't have the first scene of PB's Jack and Victor. If you come across it, let us know what it was like. My 1980s Y&R watching was irregular as it was limited to school breaks so any episode from 1980 to 1990 that is posted is a treat for me.

[Planet Soap]

 

Agreed. The show was at least good until 05, somewhat decent up to 06/07ish, and bareley watchable up to 2012. Anything after Jill Pharen Phelps took over has been unwatchable.

 

I loved 89-93 for the great storlines and 95 to about 01 especially  for the aestetics. The show had their lighting, directing and background music formula down pat! 

 

The early 2000s in general seems to be the cut off point for quality where soaps are concerned. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by ironlion

[DRW50]

 

I'd lost interest in Y&R long before, but for me anything from the time that Maria "honoring history" Arena Bell and the vile Sheffer took over is the dead zone.

[kalbir]

Would you say you began losing interest around the mid 1990s? I remember summer 1994 to about spring 1996 was too much focus on Nick and Sharon, then there was that rough patch from fall 1996 through the first half of 1997. Things rebounded in the second half of 1997 to lead up to an excellent 25th anniversary year in 1998. 

[DRW50]

 

I don't have the same Y&R experience as many as I never had the strong personal attachment many did, but I did enjoy the show overall in the first half of the '90s. After flagging in the mid-90s I thought that 1998 was a great return to form. Then I started to lose interest again around 2000 or so, mainly thanks to things like Billy and Mackenzie and the sperm theft story. 

[Faulkner]

For me, the MAB era was an absolute stake to the heart of Y&R., possibly because of the fact that she believed she was honoring history yet warped it beyond belief. I think there was this idea that Y&R needed stronger villains in the Gothic tradition of Bill Bell, but the show during her era got so hideous and amoral that I found it unwatchable. (I’m assuming a lot of it was also Sheffer’s influence, as he did a lot of the same “honoring history” by desecrating it on ATWT.)  I hated LML, but hers was another show entirely. MAB was just a deeply distorted and not very well-written or well-produced interpretation of Y&R.

[BetterForgotten]

To put it into perspective, we only had about a year of the solo Latham run, we had YEARS of MAB and her cronies writing some of the most offensive trash, and the horrible PR and interviews they gave defending it. Not to mention, Tom Casiello on his Twitter being one of their mouthpieces. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by BetterForgotten