Y&R: Old Articles

[Planet Soap]

CBS Sunday Morning. Hopefully this wasnt posted already. Lol the report days they never tweaked the theme which they did from 99-03...but in all fairness it had elements of the OG.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by ironlion

[Joseph]

Yes Stolen Locket is the Film Noir One!

[Paul Raven]

Did Traci ever finish her book about Dina's days in Paris?

[vetsoapfan]

I adored the storyline Janice Lynde and Tom Hallick played out during Y&R's early years; it is tied for first place as my all-time favorite Genoa City story. That being said, it's completely erroneous to assert, "We were the first super-couple of daytime...." Brad and Leslie were certainly NOT the first super couple of soaps. In fact, they weren't even the first superr couple of Y&R. Chris Brooks and Snapper Foster were already tangled in a blossoming star-crossed relationship in the very first episiode, before Leslie even meet Brad.

[Darn]

I don't know whether to respect Bell for writing sexual assault storylines for Christine, the idea that he was able to separate the character from his real life daughter is respectable, or find it fricking weird.

I wonder if LLB has ever considered taking off some aspect of the show's production. Her reverence for her father and the show feels a lot more genuine than her brother's (but who knows how she would be with more control?). I doubt she'd want to or that it's even an option since Sony owns it. Just a thought.

[kalbir]

What are your thoughts on these storylines from the early years:

Snapper/Chris relationship with the surrounding storylines of Stuart exposing Snapper's cheating to Chris, Chris's rape, Greg falling for Chris, Stuart disapproving of Snapper and preferring Greg.

Brad falling for Leslie but being pursued by Lorie and the surrounding storyline of Leslie's emotional breakdown.

Leslie/Lorie/Lance/Lucas quadrangle with Vanessa in the background.

I picked these three because they showed Bill Bell elements that we would see in later Y&R storylines and in the early years of B&B.

[BoldRestless]

I do find it funny that she's in all these interviews for the 50th talking about it calling it "our show" and I'm like, you're hardly even on! She certainly couldn't do worse. At least she respects the show.

I don't find it weird since Bell usually treated rape differently than other shows. It was generally not done within the framework of a "seduction" or "the bad girl gets punished with rape." It was more of a social issue storyline with Chris, Peggy, and B&B's Caroline complete with social workers and a focus on the legal system letting down victims, so more of a natural fit for the type of stories Cricket got. I suppose they could have Nina or someone else be raped and have Cricket be the support but they wanted her to show her acting chops (ahem).

Putting her with Michael and then having Paul rape her was gross but that wasn't Bell. 

[kalbir]

Cricket's date rape was a Bill Bell summer social issue storyline complete with PSA dialog. I will give LLB credit for improving as an actress during that storyline. There was one part of that storyline that stood out to me. During the medical exam, Cricket was given emergency medication. I think Bill Bell included that in response to the flack he got for Ashley having an emotional breakdown in the aftermath of ending her pregnancy.

[vetsoapfan]

The Chris/Snapper and Leslie/Brad sagas were brilliant: beautifully conceived, written and acted. The original actors had star appeal and charisma to burn; a certain "je ne sais quoi" and chemistry that can't be forced or manufactured. I was instantly mesmerized. I consider the debut year of Y&R to be the best opening of any soap I have seen in all the decades of my watching daytime TV.

Personally, I felt the Lorie/Lance/Leslie/Lucas business was a step down in effectiveness (not a huge plunge, but just not as riveting). Victoria Mallory was an exquisitively attractive woman, who played the piano beautifully and sang like an angel. She also (to me) came across as poised as self-contained, lacking the depths of insecurity and emotional pain that Leslie had always exibited under Janice Lynde. There did not seem to be the "still waters run deep" quality to Leslie now, so integral elements of the character disappeared. Leslie felt like a different character who did not incite as much protectiveness and sympathy anymore. (Rona Barrett's Daytimers magazine referred to Mallory's take on the character as "colorless," which transferred  the rooting value to Jaime Lyn Bauer's tempermental, complicated and emotional Lorie.)

I believe Mallory would have worked out in a different, newly-created role, but she wasn't right for Leslie. (Think Linda Borgensen in comparion to Jacqueline Courtney on Another World or Marj Dusay in comparion to Beverlee McKinsey on The Guiding Light.) The romantic uncertainties of the four Ls were lopsided because the rooting value (again, to  me) remained hugely in Lorie's favor.

I know there are fans who enjoy campy villainesses like Vivian Alamain and Susan Banks on DAYS, Susan Piper on TGL, Justine on Another World, etc., but I never have. The rest of the characters on Y&R were nuanced and relatable, and portrayed by actors who brought subtle layers to their roles. Vanessa Prentiss was an over-the-top loon played by an actress who took a highly affected, theatrical, "hammy" approach to the role. She did not mesh with the other actor's naturalistic and believable style. Mainly, I found Vanessa to be unrealistic and absurd. I couldn't settle into and believe in any story she was part of.

So with two performers I felt were miscast, the four L/Vanessa stuff never captivated me as much as the earlier Chris/Snapper, Brad/Leslie, and even the intitial Lorie/Lance stories did.

That being said, the four L/Vanessa storylines were MASTERIECES compared to anything we've seen on daytime TV in decades!

 

 

[Paul Raven]

I've mentioned before that perhaps it would have been better to write Leslie and Brad off (Tom Hallick was going to leave anyway)when Janice departed and allow some breathing time before a recast.

Lorie had her plate full with Vanessa, Lance and later Lucas. Leslie could then return (widowed or divorced) and be an added factor in Prentiss saga. That longer break might have worked in favor of a Leslie recast.

Your take on Vanessa is interesting and I admit at times I just wished everyone would just tell her they'd had enough and stop her in her tracks. I agree she somewhat lacked that nuance in her portrayal that we could feel for her situation a la Kay.

I feel the same way about Phyllis with Michelle Stafford-I've never felt any sympathy or 'love to hate'for that character. 

[kalbir]

@vetsoapfan Thank you for answering. It's too bad so little of the early years of Y&R is out there.

[Broderick]

Vanessa was more of a plot point than a character.  Bell wanted to "redeem" Lorie to a certain extent -- she'd been pretty awful in her earlier years -- and the best thing he could come up with was a Wicked Mother-in-Law who would manipulate Lorie, making Lorie come across a Hapless Victim for a change.  

I always thought the Vanessa Prentiss role was an utter waste of KT Stevens.  

[kalbir]

@Broderick So Bill Bell was trying to evolve Lorie from vixen daughter of the main upper class family to anti-heroine?

[vetsoapfan]

I agree it would have been a wiser (and more emotionally-satisfying) choice for Brad and Leslie to ride into the sunset togther when the show did not renew Lynde's contract. Fans cry foul when their favorite, beloved couples leave town, but better them depart together and have a happy ending, than the couple breaking up and making the audience endure a recast. When Another World fired George Reinholt in 1975, I would have preferred to see Steve and Alice move to Australia together, than see Steve die and an unfortunate replacement in the role of Alice.

But Y&R was highly invested in the character of Leslie, and AW was so centered on Alice (even with Rachel waiting in the wings to overtake the show) at the time, I'm not surprised that TPTB made the choices they did. I just don't feel those choices were successfil in hindsight.

[vetsoapfan]

Yep. I'd watch 1973-82 again for sure, even the "less effective" material with Vanessa Prentiss.

Suzanne Lynch was another hard-to-take-seriously plot point character. I've always thought she was used to garner sympathy for Katherine, after all Mrs. C's egregious, earlier behavior. 

Even at her worst, Lorie always had traces of humanity and guilt about her crimes.

I think William J. Bell tried to redeem her the most, and evolve her away from being primarily a bitch, when Lorie fell in love with Mark Henderson. He made her happy for the first time in her life, it seemed, and then Lorie discoved that he was in reality her half-brother (they shared a biological father). Lorie's anguish was gut-wrencing to witness, and I think Bell really turned the tide of sympathy towards her at that point.

Edited March 28, 2023 by vetsoapfan