Y&R: Old Articles

[BoldRestless]

I found some new Y&R uploads... @YRfan23 I believe you have been looking for this episode for a while, when Cole punches Victor!

 

March 7, 1994

 

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May 28, 1999

 

[Soap-princess]

It’s very weird seeing a normal Tricia Dennison on the show. Lol
Ash Bashioum was very powerful her first year on the show.  Wish she got more opportunities like this her last year or so on the show. 

[YRfan23]

Thanks! Those were already posted on the archive site which is where they got them from! Lol

[BoldRestless]

 

Oh, I missed that lol.

[will81]

I think it was a mix. There seems to be cast members who are still friendly or have defended Brenda and others who loathe her. Ed has always seemed a little bit dodgy to me for some reason. If you have encountered Brenda online at all, she can be really nice one minute and then turn on you out of nowhere, not mean, just suddenly unreasonable.

 

My belief is that Brenda has always had emotional issues, but mostly kept them in check. I think Ed Scott probably very gladly and knowingly pushed her over the edge. I do feel Brenda does have mental health issues that no one around has ever taken seriously. A few cast members have been asked about her and simply won't say anything, and I wonder if that's why. As I said there is a kernal of truth to Brenda's stories.

 

Also If you watch Sep 1986 - Jun 1987 it is a mixed bag. Some episodes it is like 1984 Brenda, a little camp but mostly subtle and present, then other episodes she is like a parody of a soap actor, literally she would be right at home in the movie Soapdish. 

[Broderick]

 

Yes, one of the soap mags made a comment circa 1986 that "if you'd like to watch a parody of Brenda Dickson, just tune into Y&R weekdays on CBS to see Brenda Dickson doing a parody of Brenda Dickson!"  lol.   I think there's a lot of truth in that statement.  

 

She definitely appeared to have some (untreated) problems with emotional stability, and I'm sure there were those on the set who exploited that particular vulnerability of hers, for their own benefit.  

 

[OzFrog]

Speaking of parodies of Brenda Dickson, the first time I ever saw any footage of her was when Deven Green (of Mrs Betty Bowers fame) came out with the Welcome To My Home dub-over in the mid-2000s, and I was in awe (not to mention insane laughter) at how utterly bizarre it was. And then when I watched the original Welcome To My Home, I was just as weirded out.

 

Anyhoo, here’s the Deven Green dub-over...

 

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[soapfan770]

Did Cooper ever talk about Dickson? I had wondered what her thoughts were. I’ve never heard Dickson ever mention Cooper either, other than the anecdote about Dickson thinking Cooper had been dead for several years when Cooper did pass away in 2013.

[blueberrywaffle]

Why did Brett Porter play Jack in 1986? How long was it for?

[yrfan1983]

JC had positive things to say in her memoir about working with BD. No trash-talking

[sheilaforever]

He subbed for a week when Terry Lester was sick. Don't think it was an outside project.

[Soaplovers]

I'm wondering if BD made a bad acting choice because pre Jill's divorce settlement...BD played Jill as cold, a little campy, but also with a bit of vulnerability (when she called Phillip at Christmas 1984 and he didn't want to come home..you felt for her).

 

However, once Jill divorced John and was at Jabot, her acting changed.  Wasn't it said that she was getting conflicting notes from Bell and producers on how to play Jill? Bell wanted her to play Jill one way while producers there wanted her to be OTT?  Maybe she was trying to play Jill in a way that would satisfy both sides..and it came off badly? 

 

Also, I'm wondering had BD kept playing Jill...I have a feeling she would have been exactly like Kay...a lonely woman with all the money in the world?  I know that she instantly didn't like Nina because she saw herself in her (i.em buttering her up, ulterior motive,etc).  I truly think the Jill/ Nina story would have been different had she remained...imho

 

 

 

 

 

[soapfan770]

Thanks! As much as I love Jess there’s always something dynamic I love about Brenda. Actually, I love all the actresses who played Jill from what I’ve seen and was glad to finally see Bond Gideon as Jill a couple years back as well I was surprised that Gideon actually didn’t last longer. 

[DaytimeFan]

 

That is what I have always admired about Eileen. She is a very deliberate and focused performer who knows where she's going in every scene she's in.

 

 

That may be so, but ES and MTS were very visibly supportive of Jess Walton, even as she ascended in success as Jill, winning her first Emmy in 1991 (in fact, it looks like the whole show was thrilled for her). The Scotts are seated directly beside Jess and her husband and look thrilled for her. I think ES would know that MTS, with the Nikki and Victor pairing, was secure as the leading lady of Y&R, even if she didn't always have the critical plaudits to prove it. 

 

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Jess's Jill transitioned the character into an empowered woman of the 90s and beyond. I firmly believe that had BD stayed int he role, by the mid 1990s, she'd have been written out. Her acting style and what they were doing with the character was not sustainable. Jess's Jill is far more earthy and real. 

[soapfan770]

 

Nailed it on the both accounts! I’m glad Jess took over when she did as well. That said I always found it fascinating the show allowed Jill’s victory lap at Jabot to happen after the divorce settlement. On any other soap we would have see Jill fail miserably as a comeuppance yet Bell allowed Jill to flourish at Jabot and later Newman as a surprisingly successful businesswoman. Plus rewatching the 1990-1994 Jill/Katherine stuff is so much fun as the two kind of care about each other yet hate each other’s guts at the same time I don’t think BD could have pulled it off as well.

Edited September 7, 2020 by soapfan770