Y&R: Old Articles

[Broderick]

lol ... not sure what happened there!   I know that Mary Grover was a star of some Broadway musicals, but she doesn't quite have the vulnerability we associate with Leslie.  

[YRfan23]

She looks like someone who would have been a better Lorie candidate. 

[lucaslesann23]

Watching 2003 YR, When/why did they stop doing the fades to black at the end? I really like this.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Dylan

[soapfan770]

I wonder if it was because the Hendersons were too redundant once they were introduced? Regina sounded like a cross between Jennifer Brooks and Katherine to some extent while Bruce was immediately redundant once Bill Foster returned. Or Bell last minute decided they weren’t as interesting as the Foster class dynamic he had set up? 

Russell I believed was actually mentioned but as far as I know never appeared yet the name Russell appeared a lot in Bell’s story Bible as a Russell Camden. Apparently Lee Phillip was very close to her brother Russell Phillip so the name was obviously not lost on Bell himself but it never did get used in the end.

Thanks @Broderickfor the information definitely appreciate reading it as always!

Geona City had a population of 250,000 in 1973? Clearly not the small town feel of Oakdale or Springfield but I imagine Bell had something more along the lines of a Midwest city like a Grand Rapids Mi, Madison WI, or something like a Peoria IL in mind? Or maybe Bell could have set  the show in some fictitious Chicago exurb where class, culture and race met on the front lines with Chancellor, Prentiss, Jabot and Newman all being officially headquartered in Chicago. 

I miss those days as well, pretty sure they stopped doing with Bell’s death as usually the show faded on his Senior EP credit along the the EP credit at the end. 
 

Interestingly Jon Conboy was doing the same thing at GL during his disastrous tenure there.

[lucaslesann23]

And how involved was Bell at that point? I know he developed alzheimers but I saw an interview from 98 and he seemed corherent and stuff.

[Joseph]

What Actually Caught My attention was this for a moment I Thought Did They Switch ROLES?????

[Paul Raven]

Who was Russell Camden? Which story bible was this?

Odd that the name Russ/Russell was never used for a character during Bill's tenure considering that he was fond of naming characters for friends and family.

[soapfan770]

If I recall right Russell Camden eventually became Snapper Foster per a story Bible i believe mikeylyons posted a couple years back. 

Bell’s biography made a point that he never used his mother’s name but I did find it interesting that of the three direct generations of WJB’s, none of the had the same middle name, just that all three middle names started with J (Jennings, Joseph, James)

[Broderick]

That's just a typo in the news release.  The cast list that went out a week before the premiere had "Mary Grover as Leslie".  We know the part of Leslie was awarded to Janice Lynde, who appeared in the very first episode.   But it's evident that Mary Grover was signed at some point (earlier) for Leslie.

  

According to the bible scraps that were posted here, the "big storyline projection" for Regina Henderson involved her sleeping with a high school boy and then having a car accident which resulted in the boy's death.   I believe most of Regina's personality traits (and some of her storyline material) were transferred to Kay Chancellor, rendering Regina pretty much obsolete.   

[Broderick]

Yep, I believe in the bible scraps that were posted here, "Russell Camden" was a prototype of the character that ultimately developed into Snapper Foster, and then the Russell name was attached to the younger son of Bruce & Regina Henderson.  

[Paul Raven]

Didn't Janice have to tape scenes that had already been completed with Mary?

Either Mary didn't capture the qualities Bell wanted in Leslie or she couldn't cope with the taping schedule...

I think many a performer has been dropped because they couldn't remember their lines and held up production.

[Broderick]

Janice evidently had to re-tape Mary Grover's scenes.  This press release with "Mary Grover as Leslie" is floating around in the week prior to the show's on-air debut.  I did check fairly thoroughly to see if I could find anything about when Janice Lynde stepped in, but no success there. 

_________________

I found The Innocent Years bible scrap from Bill Bell's script archive (regarding the "Camden brothers") that was posted here on the board back in 2020.

The older brother was actually BROCK CAMDEN (not Russell Camden), age 25, an intern.  He would be "dating ALLISON, but has an eye for JAN".  His younger brother, BRAD CAMDEN, was a 16 year-old student. 

These two boys, Brock & Brad Camden, were later repurposed in the projections into JIM HENDERSON and RUSSELL HENDERSON.  However, Jim Henderson's name was changed to Mark Henderson by the time he hit the airwaves.  Russell Henderson was changed to a non-character, lol. 

From a practical standpoint, it appears that Brock Camden's character evolved into Snapper Foster, and Brad Camden was repurposed into Greg Foster, as neither Snapper nor Greg existed in the initial outline that featured Brock Camden and Brad Camden.   

By the time the show premiered, Snapper Foster was dating Sally McGuire, but had an eye for Chris Brooks.  

The character we came to know as Chris Brooks was described as "Jan -- age 23, more bland, less attractive than [her sister] Liz".  The "Liz" character had been in Europe for two years at school, and had a bunch of issues with her father, who had been dead for two years.  "Liz" seemed to develop into Lauralee Brooks (who'd been in Europe in college for several years and later discovered Stuart Brooks wasn't her biological father, which led to a bunch of daddy issues), and also into Jill Foster (who'd been abandoned by her father Bill Foster).  "Liz" was projected to "drink too much at times, a girl in search of a father image, little relationship between mother and daughter in the past two years, always in search of things out of reach".  "Liz" would become pregnant, but not know who the baby's father was.   Brock Camden would marry her, to give her baby a father.  (This story thread seems to have evolved into Snapper Foster impregnating Sally McGuire with Chuckie, but marrying Jan/Chris Brooks.  Pierre, of course, would marry the pregnant Sally McGuire, giving Snapper's child the name Charles Pierre Roulland.) 

There was to be a couple named "Phillip & Allison".  Allison was 41 and was a mother, and Bill Bell had written some notes about wishing "Bette Davis was available".  Phillip and Allison had been married for ten years, and Bell seemed to write one draft in which Phillip was still alive, and another draft in which Phillip had died and left a trust fund for Allison's daughters.  (The Allison character seemed to have traits that would later manifest in Jennifer Brooks, Regina Henderson, and Kay Chancellor.)  

The guy who posted the bible scraps here had also seen the scripts for the first 8 episodes.  He said the title page on Episodes #1 - #5 identified the show as The Young and Restless Years.  Sally McGuire's line of dialogue in Episode #1 just before the opening credits was typed as "How awful to be stuck in a place like Genoa City during our young and restless years."  Bill Bell had taken a red pen, marked through it, and revised it to "Kind of a drag, isn't it, being stuck in a place like Genoa City.  God, I feel so restless."  

He said Episodes #1 - #5 all occurred on the same day, with Episode #6 starting a new day.  Beginning with Episode #6, the title page was The Young and the Restless.  Jill first appeared in Episode #2 and Greg in Episode #7.  He said the Fosters were mysteriously identified as "the Larsons" in Episode #7.  Chris Brooks referred to Liz Foster as "Mrs. Larson", and the scenes were described as occurring in the "Larson living room".  By Episode #8, the Larsons had consistently become the Fosters.  

Edited July 28, 2022 by Broderick
to add bible scraps

[dc11786]

Weren't the Hendersons created in the vein of the Matthews of "Another World" and the Hughes of "As the World Turns"? The Hendersons were farmers and Bruce had received a significant amount of the Henderson family money in order to go to medical school leaving his sister, Liz, and mother, Ma Henderson, financially strapped?  As a result, there was guilt on Bruce's end because of it. I want to say the farm had to be sold because of it. I imagine that Bell might have decided he worked too much in that arena and decided to deemphasis them to try something different. 

[Paul Raven]

That seems a bit similar to what was happening to the Fosters as the show began. Liz and Jill worked menial jobs to support Snapper and Greg through their studies.

Did Snapper or Greg ever do anything to thank the women for their sacrifices? Like even a new vacuum cleaner for Liz?

Greg especially as he remained single foe several years.

[Joseph]

NOPE, They were 2 ungrateful Asses, Jill and Liz's lives only improved after they married into wealth (Liz with Stuart Brooks and Jill on the THIRD try with John Abbott, i remember watching the episode from when Jill and Kay first met, Greg Jill and Liz were Struggling,Snapper was already rich, Greg didn't help much because of his idealism he wanted to defend the poor, noble, but not very smart, and Jill went to her dreaded Manicurist work again, hoping for some luck on the dimes, and Liz went to her work on the Factory, Kay cancelled her appointment and Jill Called her to ask why, Kay changed her mind, The rest Was History....