Y&R: Old Articles

[Contessa Donatella]

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 The blackout in Springfield continues.

Maureen Bauer died in a car crash Jan. 11, 1993.

I like to say that 'Mo was a Reardon by birth, a Bauer by marriage, Michele's mother by circumstance, seen by many fans as the inheritor of Bert's matriarchy, a tentpole legacy character and Roger's only real friend, … she was lost to the ages. - Donna L. Bridges about JFP killing Ellen Parker's character, Maureen, on GL

 

[slick jones]

Y&R Donna the discussion is Y&R. Stop quoting yourself .   

[Contessa Donatella]

Sure, sorry, James Reilly came up & I ran with it. I will cease.

[Paul Raven]

I think it was a couple of weeks in May.

From a May synopsis

Lance decided to return to Paris after a whirlwind renewed courtship of Lorie, whom he feels needs her freedom.

It really didn't make much sense but Bill had lost hold of the story by that point with the introduction of Jonas, Leslie's amnesia,Lucas romancing Casey and Lorie getting involved with Micheal.

I would have not bothered with Jonas/Pris as there was enough happening in GC without that tangent.

With John McCook leaving, maybe they should have killed off Lance. That would have caused much angst.

Lorie could lean on Lucas. Les could fight for him as she mourns for her true love and feel that Lorie is just using Lucas a substitute for Lance.Vanessa would be devastated etc

Then maybe in that 2 week return, it is revealed Lance is alive and for some soapy reason wasn't on that plane or survived etc.

That well used plot was  much fresher back then,

And then a recast Lance returns? or not?

[kalbir]

John McCook leaving really derailed the Four Ls quad. Dennis Cole was not a very good actor and I could not take his Lance seriously as a rival for Victor.

Would JM's Lance have been viable as a rival for Victor? No scenes have surfaced of JM as Lance opposite EB.

[slick jones]

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  I think I was the only one that liked McCook's vehicle, Codename Foxfire. Mostly because I liked Joanna Cassidy for some reason at the time. 

[Paul Raven]

 

That's because Lance and Victor never interacted.

[kalbir]

 

Victor interacted with Dennis Cole's Lance during the Prentiss Industries takeover though.

[Broderick]

I guess it was semi-important to keep Lance alive (even though Dennis Cole was a terrible actor).  Bell's "ultimate big climax" to the L-Quadrangle was likely always intended to be the "huge revelation" (to Brooks) that Lance was the boy's biological father, instead of Lucas.   For years, Lorie and Leslie had been squabbling and shrieking about the importance of having custody of Brooks, because whoever ultimately had Brooks -- when the Big Reveal came out -- would, of course, end up with Lance (and Become A Real Family In Every Sense Of The Word).  But the way the Big Reveal finally happened, with Dennis Cole in the role, was that Brooks basically rolled his eyes and said, "So what?  I want Lucas to keep being my daddy.  Hit the road, Jack."  That fizzle of a climax (although it pleased ME tremendously, lol) probably wasn't Bell's original master plan. 

Also, having Lance around in 1981 enabled the "Victor Newman takes control of Prentiss Industries" storyline to progress, leading to Lorie giving her proxies to Victor and then having to "trick" them back out of him with the 1982 engagement story.    Although I was sick of Lorie by that time, and although most of us have become sick of Victor over the years, that particular storyline really resonated at the time -- defining Victor as a somewhat formidable anti-hero, Nikki as an insecure bimbo, and Lorie as a first-rate schemer whose scheme sort of backfired on her.  That was a story I really appreciated while it was airing.  

Edited July 18, 2022 by Broderick

[kalbir]

When wealthy businessman Victor was introduced as the new villain, he was initially drawn to Lorie, the vixen daughter of the main upper class family. Did you sense there was actual love between Victor and Lorie, or were they more of a set up for a 1980s high society power couple? Among Victor's 1980s love interests as written by Bill Bell, I put Lorie in the "got away" category. I think Victor had some degree of affection for Lorie, but I don't think he had genuine love for her in the way he had love for Nikki and Ashley in that decade.

Also Bill Bell writing Victor's 1980s character arc from villain to anti-hero/romantic leading man with the backstory of his painful childhood may have had an element from literature: Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights, the brooding anti-hero abandoned as a child. We've discussed before Bill Bell using elements from literature (Le Morte d'Arthur) and film (My Fair Lady), and biblical allusions in past characters/storylines, so this might be another one to add to the list.

Edited July 18, 2022 by kalbir

[Broderick]

What I recall about Victor & Lorie in 1980 was there was some uncertainty about Victor's motivations.  (Of course, there was uncertainty about everything in 1980, because the show was a complete mess, lol).   But seriously, we don't know exactly "who" Victor was at the time.  He hadn't yet become the Evil, Macabre Villain who imprisoned Michael Scott in a dungeon, but clearly he wasn't a pussycat, either.  He was more of an ENIGMA.  He had a certain charm, but he seemed capable of violent outbursts and formidable vendettas.  There was a scene in which Brock took Julia Newman out for a drink or for dinner.  Julia was babbling about, "I shouldn't be here with you; I'm a married woman.  What would my husband say if he knew I was dining with another man, especially a kind, handsome man like you, Brock?"  Meanwhile, in a darkened corner of the same restaurant, Victor was treating Lorie Brooks to dinner, speaking softly, giving her deep, meaningful looks, telling her how much he enjoyed the novel "Naked At Dawn" (which she had written), complimenting her on her brains and her beauty.  I wasn't sure where Bell was going with that.  Was it merely to show that Victor was hypocritical about Julia's "outside friendships", or was Victor really falling in love with Lorie?  Probably the latter, but the story was short-circuited with Brock's exit, then the whole Michael Scott mess, then Nikki & Kevin, and when it finally picked up again, with the Prentiss Industries takeover, it seemed Victor had really developed deep feelings for Lorie -- despite their trust issues -- and of course she broke his heart, which was pretty sad.  Like I said earlier, I was sick of Lorie at the time, but her engagement to Victor and then abandonment of him opened the door for him to become the more well-rounded antihero Bell wrote so well (and Braeden played so well) for the rest of the 1980s.      

[Paul Raven]

This always puzzled me as all the actors contracts had to be renegotiated when the show went to an hour (thus allowing Brenda and John to exit) So Beau presumably signed a new contract. But he was gone by mid year.

If he only agreed to sign for 6 months then why would Bill Bell give him his first real frontburner romance with Julia, knowing it would have to be cut short?

If he signed a standard 3 yr deal, why did Bill choose to dump Brock at the end of a cycle?

We know that originally Victor was going to die (I'm sure they were planning a Paul/Cassandra/George type story) so obviously story plans changed, but why did Brock lose out?

[Broderick]

No one's ever really answered that question to my satisfaction.  I suspect  he opted-out in February of 1980, but since he'd worked closely with Brenda Dickson and since he knew she was definitely leaving, he maybe, as a courtesy to Bill Bell and John Conboy, agreed to stay (in a recurring capacity) for an additional six months or so, to keep from "gutting" the entire Jill/Kay/Brock/Derek storyline.  Perhaps Bell thought he could be talked into extending his stay even further, but clearly he was ready to go. 

Even today, it's sometimes difficult to tell who's on contract and who's recurring -- because even though Esther and Michael Baldwin are listed as "contract players", they actually appear to be recurring.   Back then -- in 1980 -- it was even harder to tell, because the show didn't start running a full cast list until about 1982.  In those days, they were only running the names of actors who'd appeared on that particular episode, and if you were off that day, you got no televised credit, regardless of your contract status.   

[will81]

It makes sense for 1980 where it seems everyone was throwing things at the wall to see what would stick.

My assumption is Beau wanted to leave and Bell needed an anchor for the Newman's, thus he asked Beau to stay and help launch that couple and hoped that would work and he could put them into a new storyline by the time Beau left. It sort of worked, just some of it fell flat

[Paul Raven]

But it has been repeatedly stated that Eric/Victor was going to be killed off so with Beau leaving also that would have left Julia as a newly widowed isolated character.

Just another puzzle from that time...