Y&R: Old Articles

[Broderick]

Gosh, I'd completely forgotten Tim Sullivan had MARRIED Andrea Wiley.  I was thinking she was just his girlfriend.  

CRICKET:  "Traci, it's not a new life that you need, but a whole new attitude toward the one that you have.  When you feel differently about yourself, it changes you.  And it changes the way other people look at you."  

TRACI:  "But Cricket, you're so thin and so pretty!"  

(I about vomited during that exchange.  Such pearls of wisdom from a 15-year-old!  And she's repaid with a deluge of compliments for her own beauty, of course.)  

[yrfan1983]

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 by Aug ‘88, Traci’s attitude towards Cricket has decidedly soured… even though Cricket is “joining the family” through Jessica’s marriage to John, Traci basically treats her as a stranger.

[blueberrywaffle]

thank you very much . 

do you have any more episodes from 1988 ?

[yrfan1983]

Great find as always @YRfan23, thanks!! Kind of a wheel-spinning ep but mostly enjoyable.

So weird to hear Jill call Ashley "Ash", like there was a time when they sort-of got along ok.

Amy and Tyrone have no chemistry and leave me feeling cold. She has better chemistry with Nathan but the show never properly invested in them.

Bizarre to realize Terry Lester is a couple eps away from leaving the show! Imagine an alternative universe where he never returned to the show to play out the storyline... 

Does anyone know - was it Nikki who cheated first with Jack, or Victor who cheated first with Ashley? By "cheated",  I mean sex  It's so hard to tell from reading the synopses... I think it might have been Nikki, who mistakenly thought Victor and Ashley had consummated... but I'm not sure

[Broderick]

My recollection is what you just said --- that Nikki was under the impression Victor had cheated with Ashley (while he really hadn't), so she hopped in bed with Jack.  It's hard to remember because it became so convoluted with Ashley's abortion, Nikki's "impending death", Nikki taking the apartment where she and Jack were meeting, Ashley and Victor's "cabin in the woods".  But yeah, I think Nikki/Jack were the first to cheat.  

[Broderick]

"Odd Relationship Highlights Soap"

Jon-Michael Reed

Memphis Commercial Appeal -- April 20, 1977

A day without a smidgen of sexual strife and sin in the soap world is like a day without sunshine. 

But Anita Bryant, who's waging a war against homosexuals in Florida, would choke on her orange rinds if she knew what was going on in Genoa City on "The Young and the Restless".  

There's this alcoholic rich widow, Kay Chancellor, who hired chubby waitress Joann Curtzynski to be her live-in companion.  Joann was going through a lot of grief after being dumped and divorced by her husband Jack, who married a slimmer young lady.  The two lonely ladies overcame their sorrows together.  Joann helped Kay lay off the booze.  Kay encouraged Joann to lay off the calories.  She also financed a beautifying program for the former fatty. 

During this process of living and sharing together, Kay developed what they used to call an "unhealthy" interest in her live-in companion.  Kay's eagle-eyed son Brock was the first to become aware and wary of the relationship.  He warned Joann about becoming too dependent on Kay. 

"I'd never take advantage of your mother or her wealth," said Joann, who missed the point.  "We have something together that money can't buy.  She's given me love and companionship."  

Kay was not as oblivious as Joann when Brock accused her of "trying to be Jack's replacement for Joann."  

"She cares for me in a way that she could never care for that man," answered Kay.  

"That man?  Or any man?" retorted Brock.  "Hasn't it gone beyond friendship?"

It certainly had, with references to sharing sleeping quarters for loneliness' sake, comforting embraces, longingly wistful stares, and restrained holding-back-of-hands-upon-hair.   

Should Y&R audiences be prepared for explicit scenes that would make maidens blush? After all, this type of story has been done in graphic detail on "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman."  But it's not the stuff that daytime soap operas are made of.  Although it's implicit what's going on in Kay Chancellor's mansion, the Y&R folks insist they're not telling "that" kind of story. 

Jeanne Cooper, who plays Kay, explains, "It's a story of two people who are very lonely.  They just happen to be women sharing the experience of healing their hurts.  When people have been hurt, they tend to look for anything to fill the void.  These are two vulnerable women who have a psychological attraction and dependency on each other.  Kay is desperate to hold onto Joann as the only friend she's ever had.  And Jack is a threat to the end of that relationship."  

"Everyone connected with the show has worked their fannies off not to hit the audience with a heavy trip by implying sexual motives for the woman's actions.  We're telling a tale of two people who need each other psychologically, not physically.  Both of them would jump at a chance with a man, because they are not lesbians.  The response from the audience has been encouraging.  I receive letters from ministers and women who say it's an inspirational story.  They understand the situation, the needs, and the loneliness.  Any other suggestive implications are strictly in the eye of the beholder," Jeanne Cooper concludes.  

Y&R is indeed unraveling an unprecedented-for-daytime situation with tender, cautious care.  It's so poignantly told and subtle that Anita Bryant would undoubtedly approve.  

Still, as Brock asked Kay, "Do you realize where this relationship could lead?"

Tune in tomorrow to see if it leads to the bedroom.  

 

[Paul Raven]

Graet find about a fascinating storyline.

Loved Jeanne's 'lay a heavy trip' comment - sure she picked that line up from a script-sounds very Brock.

The rationale for the story makes perfect sense and Bill Bell was ahead of his time in exploring it.

Interesting that nowadays the women would probably end up in a sexual relationship. I've seen a number of TV shows/movies where straight women fall into bed with each other under and its deemed a natural outcome in the circumstances..

I just this weekend watched the movie Parallel Mothers where, out of the blue, twowomen began a sexual relationship just because of emotional closeness,.

Funny but you never see two guys do the same thing.

I think Bill would never have taken it that far, firstly because of the times, but also he was writing a more nuanced story.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Paul Raven

[Broderick]

I really believe William Bell, back in the 1970s, had a genuine interest in telling a story about "fluid sexuality", but wanted to be thoughtful with it.   (Surely, Lee Phillip had run across something similar on her talk show and shared it with him.) 

Wesley Eure's character on "Days of Our Lives" questioned his sexuality at one point.   And someone on this board has mentioned that one of the Peters brothers on "Days" suddenly acquired a male roommate who appeared to be sharing his bed, which raised an eyebrow (or two), although the situation wasn't delved into on the show. 

I've always thought the Kay Chancellor/Joann Curtis story was fully character-based for both women, and as Jeanne Cooper noted here, the implications were more or less "in the eye of the beholder".   Kay Chancellor could certainly be controlling and possessive -- we'd already seen that trait fully manifested in her -- and she'd been hurt terribly by Phillip and Jill's betrayal.  Joann was reinventing her body (and her entire life) after a terrible hurt.  It made perfect sense for them to seek solace in each other. 

If Bell had decided to take it a step farther, it would've made sense.  If he'd decided to bail-out, he'd created plenty of "escape hatches" -- Derek Thurston's availability, Brock's caution, Peggy's rape, Jack Curtis's indecision. 

For Bell, everything was there; all he had to do was choose his course.  I believe the loss of a ratings point made the decision for William Bell.  But if the ratings hadn't dropped, I would've been interested to see where he intended to go.  Nevertheless, it was a thoughtful and provocative story.  

[BoldRestless]

Another episode from Paul Ditty! July 8, 1985

 

[YRfan23]

We are getting so spoiled!!

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[will81]

I am loving all these 80's eps. Thanks everyone for posting. I do think the June 21 ep is Jul 2 and the Jul 8 ep is Jul 1. Kay told Jill she showed John the photos in the Jun 27 ep and these seem to be from the following week.

[YRfan23]

I haven’t watched yet but I’ll have to keep my eyes open for any confirmation! Maybe the commercials on that episode will help better then the 6/21 or 7/2 episode did.

[will81]

We also have the partial July 04 ep. Synopsis suggests these eps were from Jul 1 - 5 so my guess would be Jul 01 and 02. The ep listed as Jul 08 preceeds the Jun 21 ep as at the end of the Jul 08 ep Ashley gives Jill the good news about John and the Jun 21 ep picks up right from the same spot. Jack also finds out from Dina that his face is no longer in the pictures in the Jul 08 ep which he tells Jill in the "June 21" episode

[YRfan23]

That settles that then!

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[Bundy1965]

The commercial say Tuesday "An Invasion of Privacy" which aired July 2 according to TV Tango

http://www.tvtango.com/listings?filters[date][month]=7&filters[date][day]=2&filters[date][year]=1985&commit.x=18&commit.y=13