Y&R: Old Articles

[Broderick]

I don't think many of us would look back and say, "Wow!  Those crime syndicate stories were great!!"  lol.  They tended to be pretty ludicrous.  But they did tend to spring organically from the characters; they were never isolated islands of stupidity.  

That first "mafia" storyline circa 1982 was built around the (alleged) "Hot Hips" tape of Nikki (which sprang directly from Nikki's determination to headline at the Bayou), and Paul's infiltration of Pete Walker & Tony DiSalvo's inner circle played on all the fears Mary & Carl had about their son going astray from their Catholic family values (which they were also dealing with, on a less dire level, with Patty's decision to move in with Jack Abbott).  No matter how stupid the story became -- or how convoluted the situation with Cindy Lake and Pam Warren got -- the storyline constantly rippled back to Victor Newman, Kevin Bancroft, and Allison Bancroft, to Mary and Carl, to Andy, to Patty, and to many other characters. 

That storyline also introduced us to Jazz Jackson.  And it was Jazz's involvement with Mr. Anthony that led to "Round 2", where we learned Jazz had been working for Mr. Anthony in order to pay Tyrone's college tuition, and Tyrone was coming to town to work for the prosecutor's office.  All of this led to the romance between Tyrone and Amy, and then to the "Leon Monroe" disguise, Amy's heartbreak over thinking Ty was dead, Tyrone as the Franciscan Friar on Xmas Eve kneeling beside Amy at church, Ty disguising himself as Caucasian so that he could move about Genoa City freely again, and then to Alana Anthony falling in love with Ty. 

Yes, it was all VERY stupid, but in each case, the emotional beats were always played, and when the stories were finally over, you could look back and say, "Well, that wasn't as TERRIBLE as I thought it would be."  lol.       

[kalbir]

That's a testament to Bill Bell's skills as a writer. We hold Bill Bell to a higher standard, but even he wasn't immune to following 1980s trends and having missteps.

[Paul Raven]

Came across a CBS pilot 'King of the Road that aired May 78, about goings on at an Alabama motel.

Playing a waitress was Lee Crawford -Y&R's own Sally McGuire Roulland. Always interesting (at least to me) where those early Y&R players went after leaving the show.

And Brian Kerwin (Greg #2) turned up in 'The Busters' an MTM CBS pilot, also aired May 78, co starring with Bo Hopkins as cowboys on the rodeo circuit.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Paul Raven

[SoapDope]

William Gray Espy & Janice Lynde on Tattletales circa 1975: 

 

[yrfan1983]

Thanks! Fun to see WGE relaxed and enjoying himself. I always wondered if he was similar to his stern cranky character Snapper.

[SoapDope]

I agree. He seems more happy go lucky than I thought he would be.The entire week is uploaded on that youtube channel and he is laughing, joking and cutting up. 

Here is the entire week:

 

[Broderick]

@SoapDope -- Thanks for the Tattletales!!  

Bill Bell said that out at Lake Geneva, there was a snotty kid who was called "Snapper" because he snapped at everyone.  That's where he got the basic idea for Espy's character. 

I always secretly suspected WGE was like that in real life!  Glad to see he's not.    

[soapfave06]

Can anyone send me in a direction for some of Stephanie Williams best work? She just didn’t make an impression on me as Amy, Sheila on OLTL or Simone on GH, but I haven’t seen much. 

I love the topic of the strange Bell stories, I’m not sure if these were weird but definitely out of the norm compared to later years and I would love to see them:

The Cult Story

The Psycho Redux with Edward

Katherine going over the cruise and ending up with Felipe on the island

I think there was also the plot with Chris and Peggy discovering some white slavery ring and being kidnapped? 

Edited May 15, 2023 by soapfave06

[Broderick]

No, I can't "point" you to anything spectacular.  I simply thought she was beautiful, had a very strong screen presence, and had excellent chemistry with everyone she worked with on Y&R -- whether it was her smitten beau (Jazz), her fiancé (Ty), her co-workers (Paul & Andy), her best friend (Traci), her "enemy" (Lauren), or her "betterment project" (Nathan, the guy she taught to read).   She was also good with Brock Peters (who played her daddy).  

[SoapDope]

I remember Bell saying that too in an interview. Espy shocked me at how funny he is. He always seemed so serious in the roles he played. The same for Gary Frank from Family.....he was so serious as Willie Lawrence then he would pop up on The Love Boat, Family Feud, variety shows etc... being totally unlike the character he played. 

[Khan]

IIRC, didn't that story climax during a WGA strike?  I wonder if Bill Bell had intended for that plot to get as weird as it did.

[allmc2008]

Last time Kay and I had lunch I asked her about how it came to be. 

It was conceived circa 1983 and, at they time, Jack and Bill went to her place to write. He told them he wanted to do something very "out of the box". She said often wanted to do some thing wild and a little crazy. The three of them were brainstorming and then he saw her little girl standing next to Kay's newborn in his play pen. Bam! Bill, as often Bill did, stood up and said "I got it" and basically mapped out the story off the cuff right there. Then, as always, they would write the show a week at a time and plant the seeds for the story whenever an opportunity to do so would arise. And once enough seeds are planted, they slowly grew it. Took about 5 years..

Same thing happened that led to Victor's heart attack with Jack in the office. When Bill was informed of the...incident...between the two actors, which he was informed in the middle of a story meeting, he said "Victor has a heart attack and Jack gives him mouth-to-mouth" (which didn't happen, of course).

[Broderick]

Yeah, that was in 1981.  The stalker started off terrorizing Casey, then Roberta Leighton left, and the stalker magically switched his focus to Nikki without missing a beat.   

We were thrown a few inklings the stalker might be Jonas, or it might be Andy Richards, or it might be Jerry Cashman, or it might be Greg Foster who was suffering from migraine headaches that magically vanished the day we found out the stalker was Edward.  

The whole thing seemed very haphazard and ill-planned.  I figured it was due to the WGA strike occurring that summer.  

Reckon the concept of the Brad Carlton character had even been conceived in 1983, or did they intend to put someone else entirely into the cage?  

[YRfan23]

Haha, If that was still scripted, when those scenes were about to be filmed,  I can see both actors immediately throwing a tantrum to have that changed immediately!

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 I bet there's so much dish that can be shared about Jack and Victor scenes from Kay when she and Bill were plotting them. I'd like to know first hand (unless she's never allow to reveal this) If EB usually followed through with all Bill Bell's story ideas for him or if stuff had to be changed, because of...well you know how he can be..LOL

 

[bgrape]

Hello. I’m new to this group. Just wanted to say hi. I’ve watched YR since 1981 (in summers) til the family got a vcr in 1988. Then I dubbed only Danny and Cricket scenes. I’very been uploading what I have to the vault. Looking for beginning of 1992 to around august as my vcr tape of that time  got ate. I know they aren’t everyone’s fave but I like their chemistry. Just wanted to say hi!