Y&R: Old Articles

[yrfan1983]

I can see why Beth Maitland won the '85 Emmy... she killed that scene. Traci was so vulnerable and hesitant, yet you can see why she is so enthralled by Tim.

 

I like scenes with Liz and Brenda Dickson's Jill... the way Jill says "Hi Mom"... it's the only time I still see glimpses of Jill from the 70s.

 

Wish Meg Bennett had stuck around longer... Julia is always a welcome presence.

[soapfan770]

WOW thank you so much for sharing the 1984 episodes!!!!!!! I absolutely loved watching them this morning here. Some fascinating things I noticed: 

 

-I wish both Julia and Liz had actually stuck around for the long term they both would have been viable assets even into the '90s and early '00s. I love that we're still at a point Julia can call out Victor's hypocrisy over his investigation of Jamie's paternity and he immediately backs off and smiles in agreement. In the case of Liz she would have been a good and medium talk to character for Jill, Katherine, etc. Wasn't Liz also acting as Victoria's nanny at the time too? Y&R really should have retained it's original matriarch (What, do you really think anyone would actually listen to or take seriously Mary Williams' advice over a cup of coffee and doughnuts?!!?) 

 

-I love the complexity of Jill's story as well. It's right before she nearly became Alexis 2.0 but I'm left wondering of her exact motives before throwing herself off the ladder. Did she not want the baby at all or was it just to cover-up her affair with Jack? Ironically nine years later Jill was but desperate to have another baby, especially in light of Phillip's death which I sympathized with. However here I can't recall her exact motive. I suppose Bell decided against doing another Mike Horton paternity story for Y&R?

 

-I really like Jazz Jackson now and I really enjoyed seeing a friendship he had with Boobsie(the late Joy Garrett) that I had no idea about. I've always liked the Jackson brothers every time I have seen them, too bad Bell couldn't sustain story for them into the '90s. Obviously in retrospect they're Malcolm and Neil 1.0 but I find them both very likable and saddened their time on Y&R later became on the absurd side before being dropped. 

 

-LOL, loved Gina and Patty throwing shade about Lauren. 

 

   

[yrfan1983]

Hi everyone, I made it back to the Paley Center in NYC and watched a few more vintage YRs.  Since I can’t tape it for you, I’ll do recaps.

 

The first one is titled “Victor and Nikki’s New Year Eve”.  I estimate air date as Thursday 12/31/1981.

 

This was a fascinating episode to watch, as this is still during the long transition period after YR expanded to an hour, and Bill Bell was still tweaking things to make the show great again. I would have to say that while I loved watching this ep… the stories were not very good.

 

Jill is in the midst of her romance with Andy Richards.  All of her strong, vixenish qualities that I saw in an earlier Jabot-focused episode from earlier in 1981 are gone.  She is now a typical fretting lovelorn heroine.  Deborah Adair does fine, but it does not play to DA’s strengths.  I can definitely understand why BB ditched this story a few months later to refocus on Jill scheming to marry John Abbott.

 

Two other characters I saw for the first time were duds: Karen Richards (Andy’s ex-wife) and Barbara, who Paul called Bobbi (April Stevens’ twin). Both actresses did not impress and I can see why they were soon let go.

 

On the plus side – both Victor/Nikki and Jack/Patty had sizzling chemistry – really enjoyed their scenes…. Including the famous scene where Nikki calls Victor a “dirty stinker”

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Here’s the recap!

= = =

Jack and Patty on a plane back from Aspen.  Patty’s upset. She wanted to surprise Jack but she’s sorry she messed up his trip. Jack says he’s not angry at Patty – but he is mad at Paul for being a jerk. Jack and Patty were able to leave Aspen without Paul finding out if Patty was in Aspen.

 

Back in Aspen – Paul is with Bobbi. And is wondering where Patty is, if she’s not in Aspen.  He doesn’t trust Jack.  Bobbi tells him not to worry too much.  Paul wants to return to Genoa City.  Bobbi gets on a pay phone to make a plane reservation. But she lies and pretends that the flight is booked.

 

Nikki and Victor at the ranch. She is wearing a luxurious white fur coat Victor gave her.  She is writing Xmas thank-you cards.  Nikki reveals she is wearing nothing under her fur.

 

Lucas at the Jonas’s Bar – asks Andy Richards the bartender for another beer.  Lucas wishes him a Happy New Year. Andy is depressed that he has no chick on New Year’s Eve.  Lucas says a good-looking guy like Andy ought to find a lady.  Andy says he has his mind on a special lady (Jill) but she’s not available.  Andy’s ex Karen calls to wish a HNY. Andy says he has no plans. Karen asks him for dinner at her place.  Andy doesn’t think it’d be a good idea. Karen wants to be friends and wants to make him dinner.  Andy relents and says yes.  Knock on Karen’s door – it’s her beau Dennis coming to hang out. Karen says “something has come up” and she has to cancel. Dennis thinks there’s a guy in her bed – she says no.  Dennis is mad. She asks Dennis to understand, and tells him goodbye.

 

Liz stops by the Foster house to visit Jill.  Phillip is staying at a friend’s.  Jill is depressed that she’s staying home alone.  Jill says she had plans with Andy but they fell through.  Jill says “please don’t say I told you so”.  Jill can’t get him out of her head.  Andy made her feel like a person, not an object.  Liz says Jill will need to forget about him.  Jill says Andy’s wife Karen warned him how unstable Andy is, how he has tried to commit suicide.  Liz implies that Karen has lied about Andy.  Jill realizes that Liz might be right.

 

Andy arrives at Karen’s and tells her she looks great.

 

Bobbi says she’ll get a hotel room her and Paul.  Paul looked concerned.  Paul calls Mary and Carl.  He tells Mary that he had found Jack but not Patty.  He tells Mary that he can’t get ahold of April, so April doesn’t know that Paul is in Aspen.  Suddenly, Patty walks in – Mary hugs her.  Carl asks for an explanation.  Patty says she just needed to “get away”.  Mary is happy that Patty is safe.  She’s surprised that Patty doesn’t have plans for NYE.  Patty goes upstairs.  Carl tells Mary he thinks Patty was in Aspen.  Mary just thinks that Patty is missing Jack.

 

Liz offers Jill to spend NYE with Stuart and Liz. Jill says don’t worry, I’m going after Andy.

 

Nikki finishes her thank-you cards. She’s not that excited to be with the drunkards at the Colonnade Room but agrees to go with Victor.  Victor calls the Colonnade Room to say they will be late.

 

Andy compliments Karen on her cooking. They both agree that they are feeling lonely. Andy says I’m sorry, but there’s someone special… but it didn’t work and now it’s over. Karen tells him sorry – she wants him to be happy, even if it’s with another lady.  Andy compliments Karen for demonstrating that she cares for him.  They slow-dance.

 

Paul arrives with Bobbi to the hotel room.  Bobbi is chilling champagne and tells Paul they can relax for NYE. Paul thinks Bobbi is spending too much.  Bobbi says don’t worry about it.   Bobbi makes Paul chug the champagne quickly. Bobbi remembers her past NYEs and how miserable they were.  Paul says she’s not alone this NYE – he is her friend. Bobbi kisses him.

 

Carl and Mary toast to HNY.  They’re glad Patty is home.  Jack arrives. He said he came back early from his trip because he missed Patty.  Patty comes down in her robe and is thrilled to see him. Jack invites her out for NYE and she is thrilled.  Carl asks Jack to leave Patty alone.  Mary tries to smooth things over.

 

Jill knocks on Karen’s door. Karen comes out in her negligee. Jill accuses her of lying about Andy. Jill realizes that someone is there.  Andy calls out from offscreen “Karen? Is someone there?”  Jill runs off.

 

Victor and Nikki walk downstairs.  They are dressed to the nines. They are supposed to go dinner at the Colonnade Room.  Nikki wants to stay in  - Victor agrees.  He says that “Charlie the butler” has the night off.  They drink champagne.  Nikki identifies it as “vintage 68”, which shows her lessons are paying off.  They toast to the New Year.  Nikki says the past year has been great since she met Victor (what about getting kidnapped by Edward??)  Nikki is happy Victor gave her a fur coat.  Victor gives her a diamond bracelet and she is thrilled.  Nikki wants one more thing – a kiss. Nikki says she likes the things he gave her, but she wants him to demonstrate his feelings through a kiss.  Nikki kisses him and calls him “you dirty stinker!!”  “you can kiss like that and you’ve been holding out on me!”  They kiss again and the bells tolls Midnight.

[YRfan23]

Thanks for sharing this recap!  it's kind of strange how the show was indeed transitioning yet John Conboy would still be around as the original EP till the following March I think...from the little I've seen the show already seemed way different then the 70's Y&R, though I guess that was mostly because it was now a year past being 1 hr.

It always seems like the show had a tradition of going to Aspen around New Years/the holiday seasons....It's still strange to think of Jack having this much to do or have this much interaction with the Williams, even though I know he was with Patty.I wish scenes of him with Mary and Carl would surface.

I heard about April's twin, it seems like Paul had a lot of bizarre stories for the first 5-6 years of his run, though I guess this was before the transition to more of the leading man.

I had to laugh a little at the part when Liz offered Jill to spend New Year's with her and Stuart....I'd figured Stuart would totally blow that idea down considering what he went through with Jill during their brief marriage but I guess things were patched between them at this point.

Interesting and kind of cool that Lucas interacted with Andy.....him and so many others would be gone by the following year it's interesting to hear about these brief encounters between the "newer" characters and the ones getting phased out.

I'm glad this episode did indeed have the famous "dirty stinker" scene between Nikki and Victor!  




 

[yrfan1983]

I thought the same thing about Stuart and Jill!  Clearly, Liz has long ago forgiven Jill.  Stuart probably just decided to be cordial with Jill to keep his wife Liz happy.

I don't think DA's Jill had too much interaction with Stuart.

[YRfan23]

I don't remember hearing about any significant scenes between Stuart and DA's Jill, so I guess it was all mostly stuff in passing with Liz. Stuart seemed like he didn't have much story of his own, besides being married to Liz, but they both seemed to be around just to support their children at this point.

In a way that's how I feel the show should be now, with the older characters taking more of a back seat to support the younger ones! it just seems like back then they had the perfect balance of Jack,Patty along with Paul, while Mary and Carl were looking out for them, and same with Stuart and Liz with Jill, Snapper, Leslie, Lorie etc....

I'm not saying I want the vets backburned but I'm just making a note that it seemed better back then.

[Paul Raven]

I recall that Deborah Adair played Jill at this point as having been damaged by the disastrous relationships with Stuart,Derek,Jack and John and seeing Andy as steady,responsible man who could give her stability.

Of course when John Abbott returned and showed interest,Andy then seemed a little safe and dull.

 

Did the revamping of the show occur when Wes Kenney arrived? 

 

I wonder what relationship he had with Bill in terms of input on story and character?

 

Bill wrote out April,Barbara and the Stevens as well as Leslie and the Laurences, Jonas,Lucas, Karen etc

 

By 83 the show was really firing again.

[Chris B]

By chance does anyone recall either of the Drucilla fill ins? Dawn McMillan played the role in 1996 and Kent Masters King of Knots Landing and General Hospital fame played her in 2000. I haven't ever come across one of their episodes.

[Soapsuds]

 

 

[Aback]

I don't have KMK's episodes on tape but I do remember her. She had no spark whatsoever as Drucilla...

[yrfan1983]

Hi everyone, here’s another of my Paley recaps.  “Drucilla reveals her illiteracy to Nathan”.  I estimate this airdate as early July 1990.

 

This recap is especially for yrfan23, who wants to know what happened between June and August 1990!

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= = =

 David answers the phone: “Kimble Investments”.  A woman calls… it’s Vivian (we only hear her voice).  Vivian says, “have you told your new wife about Rebecca”?  She hangs up. Knock on the door – it’s John Silva.  John has the will ready for David’s signature. The will leaves all of David’s assets to Nina and Phillip.  David wants to sign asap. 2 witnesses are needed.  David calls Diane Westin (offscreen)"from the printing office on the 2nd floor” and asks for 2 witnesses.  David then secretly pushes a button in the floor which makes the phone ring.  David fakes a phone call (with John listening) to “Fred”, and tells Fred to sell some stocks.  Diane walks in with her coworker Mike to witness the will signing.  Diane compliments David on being so concerned about her wife’s interests.

 

Nina puts a pie on the table, and then opens the door to let Cricket in. She asks Cricket for her opinion on the pie – Nina baked it and is nervous how it tastes.  Nina says marriage gets better every day – she’s so happy.  

 

Dru is in lockup with a bunch of rough ladies.  A cop lets Nathan in. Nathan talks the cop into letting Dru and Nathan talk in an interrogation room.

 

Ashley smells some fragrance samples in her office.  Brad walks in.   He enjoys smelling the samples on Ashley’s wrists. Brad tells Ashley he saw Dru in jail.  He says Dru was mad that Brad didn’t bail her out.

 

Cassandra visits Victor at the office. He says he hasn’t had time to review the materials sent to him about Ray-tech, since he is now chairman of the board of directors of Ray-tech.  She says no worries – she is here to help him relax. She asks him what would his fantasy be – to completely get his mind off work? 

 

David alone in his office – talking out loud about how his will should make Nina feel guilty.  His will is actually worthless since he has no money.  He hopes Nina will feel bad and rip up the pre-nup.

 

Brad recounts to Ashley his meeting with Dru.  Dru was mad that Mamie won’t bail her out, and Brad has to respect Mamie’s wishes, so he can’t bail Dru out either. Ashley says she spoke to Mamie, and there’s no way Mamie will reconsider about the bail. Brad says he wants to appeal to Mamie again.

 

Dru and Nathan in the interrogation room – he tells her he won’t lecture her, and to be quiet and listen.

 

Victor tells Cassandra that one of his happiest nights was in Bora Bora, a long time ago.   There was a woman with him (he doesn’t say who). Cassandra says she has to go and leaves abruptly.  Victor wonders if he said something wrong.

 

Cricket is happy that Nina is happy. (Cricket’s face still looks concerned) Nina is impressed with David’s efforts to start his business.  Cricket is distracted about a call that John Silva received at the office. Phillip starts crying (offscreen) - Nina goes upstairs.  Cricket talks to herself “What are you up to David – why are you making out this will”?  She opens up the door to leave and runs into David.

 

Brad with Mamie in the kitchen. She’s surprised that Brad saw Dru in jail. Brad says he wants to help her.

 

Nathan says if Dru had an ounce of pride, she wouldn’t behave like she does. Dru doesn’t want to hear it.

 

Cricket asks David how business is going?  He says great.  Cricket says she knows it’s difficult starting a new business. David asks her to shut the door on her way out. She leaves, and David fingers the will.

 

Mamie doesn’t want to discuss Dru anymore.  Brad says – if we can just get past that wall, we can help.  Mamie thinks it’s time for Dru to face the music.  Mamie says if Dru is bailed out of jail – Dru will run, and no one will ever see her again. Mamie says this situation is tearing her apart. Brad hugs Mamie.

 

Nina welcomes David home. He thanks her for the pie. 

 

Cricket returns to Danny’s – she tells him about Nina, and her run-in with David.  They make out, and agree that their relationship is going well.   Cricket says she’s not ready to share a bedroom yet… but she does think about possibly marrying Danny. Cricket laments that Nina’s relationship is not healthy like theirs.

 

Nina tells David she’s so proud of him running his business.  He says Nina and Phillip are his priority, and once his business is off and running, he’ll have more time to spend with them.  David shows Nina the will.

 

Victor comes home to his apartment, and finds that it’s been decorated like a tropical paradise. Cassandra walks out in a bathing suit and a lei.  She “leis” him.  She wants him to feel like he is in a fantasy. They kiss and dance. She feeds him tropical fruit. This really turns him on. She reminds him that he used to talk about marrying her.  They kiss and dance more.  He says he doesn’t want to be alone tonight.  He lifts her up and carries her upstairs.

 

Nina doesn’t understand why David did the will.  He says his business is going so great, that he wants to provide for Nina and Phillip, just in case something were to happen to David. Nina is very moved. 

 

Nathan tells Dru she’s not so tough. He names tough role models like MLK Jr, Shirley Chisholm, and Nelson Mandela. He tells Dru to take the opportunities afforded to her. He hands her a magazine and tells her to read an inspiring article from it.  She said she isn’t interested.  They argue back and forth. She finally yells at him that she can’t read. END

[kalbir]

yrfan1983, your recaps are really detailed. Thanks for posting them.

[yrfan1983]

My pleasure!

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One more coming soon, from 1988  

[YRfan23]

Thanks so much again for taking the time to post these! 😁😁 I can help out even more by saying I believed this aired on July 16, 1990!

 

sounds like an overall simple episode but with lots of emotions and build up!

 

its still interesting how much Brad and Ashley were apart of Drus initial intro story at this Point! I like that Brad comforted Mamie.

ive seen a bit of Dru lashing out at Nathan about her illiteracy to Nathan from this episode thanks to the montage of clips of them used for Bill Bells lifetime achievement award at the 1992 emmys! It seemed to be a powerful scene!

 

Danny/Cricket/Nina/David stuff just seems like filler or stuff moving along,

but I didn't known Vivian actually contacted David before she moved across the hall to spy on him and Nina...

 

i actually remember reading about this Victor/Cassandra scene and people were blown away at how romantic and exotic it was! Lucky you got to see it! Haha

 

cant wait for the 1988 one! 😁

[yrfan1983]

Ah, thanks for the airdate!  The confusing thing is... if on July 16, Cricket and Danny are still mistrustful of David... why are they totally trusting of him on August 16 (when David plants the drugs)? David must have pulled some massively successful scam on Cricket and Danny in that one month time period, to pull the wool over their eyes.

 

Yes, Victor/Cassandra was very romantic and exotic!  I could feel Victor's lust burning through the screen!  In fact, I felt that not just Victor was feeling lusty, but Eric Braeden too

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