Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

Hello and welcome. Feel free to defend Cranny? Dricket? All opinions welcome here!

[BoldRestless]

That's a very funny anecdote about the heart attack. I'd love to know if Jack kicking Victor's hand was in the script. I bet it was. PB was implying on the 50th Special that he came up with it on his own, but I'm certain it was Bell.

 

The cage storyline still feels so off brand to me.

 

I thought the switch to Nikki made it more interesting. Edward gave off "incel" vibes before that was a thing. The recaps had him going to watch her strip, being revulsed but turned on. At one point I think he enters their house and cuts up Nikki's stripping costumes. In the end, he wanted to make her pure.

 

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I have been enjoying them. The early 1988 clips include the infamous "Cricket selling kisses" scene, haha. Those two always provided light fun to balance out the drama. I was watching the 1988 ones and honestly, I thought LLB's acting was pretty decent during the Jessica scenes.

[lucaslesann23]

Sorry, if this has been asked already but, I've been watching older episodes. When and why exactly did the writers have characters stop referring to Katherine as "Kay"? Even in the credits she was Kay. 

[Khan]

I don't think Lauralee Bell was ever a BAD actor.  She's no Beverlee McKinsey, but she's alright.  It's just that Cricket/Christine was SO pure, with SO many singing her praises, that it seemed like Bill Bell was allowing his feelings toward his daughter to cloud his judgment and story sense.

[YRfan23]

Welcome and thanks for all you have uploaded so far!

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  Fun to see those rare scenes. 

Sadly with my channel being terminated I can't share any January-August 92 Episodes I have directly on here, but they are all saved on the vault thankfully!  

[allmc2008]

Wasn't scripted.

I'm sure  I can say this -- nobody told Bill what he could or couldnt do.

Always intended to be Brad but might have gotten the year wrong. Her oldest was born 1981 and her youngest was born by the time Bill moved to LA. Still, it was years before it actually aired

[YRfan23]

I figured as much!

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 Although Kay said not too long ago on a podcast that Braeden rarely allows Victor to  cave to anyone, which is of course true.

 

Maybe Bill Bell had in mind originally for Eve to imprison Victor in a cage this time?  It would have been kind of poetic justice for the Michael Scott stuff two years earlier. I could see that being the original idea before Bill Bell decided to have Eve try to poison Victor. 

[Broderick]

It happened slowly, over time, mainly after Bill Bell wasn't writing as much of the dialogue himself. 

Recall that Bill Bell's wife was named Mrs. Loreley June Phillip Bell, but everyone simply called her "Lee".  Bill Bell seemed to subscribe to the notion that prominent ladies were given cutesy little nicknames by their peers, and those nicknames were used throughout their lives. (That's been my own experience as well.) 

The character's name was always Mrs. Katherine Shepherd Reynolds Chancellor, but her husband (Phillip) and her peers called her "Kay".   To everyone else, she was "Mrs. Chancellor".   You'll recall that in the early days, the entire Foster family (including Jill & Liz) referred to her as "Mrs. Chancellor".  To Brock, she was "Duchess".  To Phillip, she was "Kay". 

As the years rolled by -- and Phillip was killed -- Jill began (hatefully) calling her "Kay" as well, believing it indicated she was no longer the lady's servant but instead was her "equal".  (Liz Foster, though, was still in Kay's employ and called her "Mrs. Chancellor". )  Even Stuart Brooks referred to her as "Kay Chancellor" or "Mrs. Chancellor".  

Along came Derek Thurston from the hair salon.  He sometimes said "Katherine", and he sometimes said "Kay".  (The Derek character was a hair stylist and obviously hadn't grown up in Kay Chancellor's social circle.  That was likely why Bell had Derek alternate between the two names.) 

Douglas Austin began "courting" Kay in about 1980.  He often said "my dear Katherine", because he thought it sounded fancy & British.  There was a cute scene between Douglas Austin and Victor Newman in 1980 when Douglas admitted that he'd been "calling on" Kay.  Douglas said, "There's a dear lady that has caught my fancy.  The lady is Katherine Thurston.   Do you know her, old boy?"  Victor arched an eyebrow, looked perplexed for a moment, and said, "Ah yes, of course, you're referring to Kay Chancellor."   

Nikki Reed became Kay's friend about 1981.  Melody Thomas Scott always said "Katherine" -- I don't know whether that was in the script, or whether it was simply Melody's preference as an actress.  I expect that Nikki, like Derek Thurston, was a character who was "beneath" Kay's "social set", and that's why Nikki said "Katherine" instead of "Kay". 

The Bancrofts arrived in 1982.  Earl and Allison Bancroft had known Kay at Northwestern University in about 1950.  They called her "Kay", of course.  Their son, Kevin, who was smartly brought up, called her "Mrs. Chancellor". 

The Abbotts began crossing paths with Kay in 1982.  Jerry Douglas, Eileen Davidson, and Terry Lester typically said "Kay".  So did Deborah Adair's Jill. 

Brenda Dickson's Jill rejoined the show in 1983.  She said "Kay", just as she'd always done.  But then Brenda became more "hammy" and "campy" in her performances, and she learned that she could pout her lips, stick out her breasts, swivel her hips, pose theatrically like Alexis Colby on Dynasty, and say "KOTH-RINE" in a sort of comical Joan Collins accent.  She began doing that fairly often.

Marla Adams arrived as Dina Abbott Mergeron, and it was established that she and Kay had been friends since they were young girls.  Dina typically said "Kay".  

Brenda Dickson was abruptly fired.  Jess Walton took her place.  Jess Walton started off saying "Katherine" on Day One, and it sort of stuck throughout her run. 

Rex Sterling married Kay about that time, and he normally said "Kay", but sometimes said "Katherine", just as Derek Thurston had done when he was married to her. 

About that time, Bill Bell was extremely busy with launching "Bold & the Beautiful" and became less hands-on with Y&R, and he likely turned ALL of the dialogue and much of the breakdown writing to Kay Alden.  From then on, EVERYBODY was suddenly saying "Katherine" -- with the exception of Eileen Davidson, Terry Lester, Jerry Douglas and Marla Adams, all of whom knew better.  

Eventually all of those actors were gone, and pretty soon you had people like Amber, Kevin Fisher, Cane Ashby and all of them running around calling the old lady "Katherine" -- which sounded weird as hell, but that's what happened.  Bill Bell would've obviously had those characters refer to Kay as "Mrs. Chancellor".   

Sorry for the long answer.  You asked!  lol. 

[lucaslesann23]

I appreciate the long explanation. Thanks!

[will81]

She was Mrs. Chancellor for the longest time. Even Liz called her Mrs. Chancellor for ages. I don't think Jill ever called her anything but Mrs. Chancellor until she married John in 1982 and felt she was now Kay's social equal. Very few people ever referred to Kay as anything else. Except whomever she was married to at the time. 

In the early to mid 80's Jack didn't really like her, John found her annoying even if he was nice to her and most others feared her or were intimidated by her except Nikki, as Kay was like a second mother to her (except for that period where Melody gave Jeanne the silent treatment)

I think by the late 80's It is obvious Bell and co were elevating Kay in GC society and she was becoming an elder stateswoman of Genoa City and the show. Marrying Rex really softened her, even though she continued to cause trouble for Jill. Taking Phillip and by extension Cricket, under her wing helped to reshape her for the younger generation. 

By 1998 Jill was seen as an outlier in her hatred for Kay and usually in the wrong and a horrible person. Everyone else loved Katherine, respected her and saw her in a virtous light.

Calling her Katherine instead of Kay cemented that respect. Jess did always say Katherine but often with bitterness in her voice or tension. It did work but also added to the formality in a way. 

[SoapDope]

 

[Darn]

Related to the Kay/Katherine discussion, sometime in the mid-2000s the show stopped having characters call her Vicki and exclusively had everyone call her Victoria. The same with Nick versus Nicholas, though I think he's still called Nick sometimes.

[Broderick]

And one day a memo went out in Genoa City stating "From now on, Daddy's little princess shall be known as Christine or Chris.  No more Cricket, please!"  

Nina missed the memo.  

[Darn]

That at least makes sense! Suddenly at the age of 25 everyone in Vicki's life stopped calling her Vicki!

[YRfan23]

If I recall, it was Ryan who started calling her “Vicky” right when they met in 1991. I think upon SORASing Nick either Called her Vicky or “Vic”. Neil called her Vicky or Vic occasionally as well. I think only her parents and female rivals referred to her as Victoria.