Y&R: Old Articles

[SoapDope]

I saw an interview with Bill Bell a long time ago where he said he wrote Kay Chancellor months in advance and knew she would debut in November and Laurie Brooks in December 1973.

Since soaps tape in advance, maybe Jeanne taped her first scenes in October.

The Daytime TV mags use to be published every few months, so I assume Jeanne was written about in late 1973 (probably December) and the magazine was published and hit stores in Jan 1974.

One thing I noticed in the Bill Bell interview for the Academy, he was asked the question about pulling the show off the air after a few months because he didn't get the instant ratings. They told him Jeanne Cooper said that and he said no offense to Jeanne that was bull and he never intended that and knew the show would be a hit by the following year. Then I read an old 1976 article later where he said he DID intend to pull the show at first......I say Bill either forgot, didn't want to remember he said that, or didn't remember due to his alzheimers. In the interview he looked uncomfortable and was having trouble in certain spots remembering some things.

[yr9190]

You know as much as I admire Bill Bell, I think it was obvious that by the time he had that interview he was already sort of "losing it"

I mean I Just think Agnes Nixon just did so much better than Bill during her Emmy legends interview. I know people hated the interviewer for not asking more "intelligent" questions but I just love how Agnes shows her passion and enthusiasm while giving her interview and she really gave the viewers in in depth analysis of soap operas and why they are (or were) so important and even educational.

I always wished Bill would have delve more info on the history of Y&R besides talking about the first few years with the Brooks and Fosters etc... I would have loved to listened to him talk about introducing the Abbotts and Victor/Nikki etc....

Also I liked how at the end of Agnes's interview where they ask her to give her opinions on different writers and actors she has worked with, they asked her to talk about almost every key important actor on AMC/OLTL (Susan Lucci, Ruth Warrick, Mary Fickett, Erika Slezak, Robin Strasser) but when they asked Bill to make comments on his co-workers/actors they mainly just asked him about actors on Days like Doug Williams and Deidre Hall. He should have asked him about the actors on Y&R/B&B I would have loved to have heard Bill talk about Jeanne, Jess Walton, Braeden, MTS, Jerry Douglas, Peter Bergman,Susan Flannery, Darlene Conley, John McCook etc...

[will81]

Thanks Soapdope for that info, clears it up. Yeah I read the same article where he stated he wanted the show pulled, also saw the interview he did and yeah I am not surprised he retired that year (believe it was done in 1998) it is sad because if he hadn't been sick he could have written the show for a few more years and delayed the destruction of it.

I thought Bell's interviewer was not that great, which is too bad as I really thought they only skimmed the surface. Too bad it was done when Bell was not in as great shape.

[SoapDope]

I agree. I noticed even as early as 1994 Bill was starting to have problems. In the 50 Years Of Soaps celebration there was a short interview talking about the Jennifer Brooks mastectomy story from 1975 and Bill was kind of stammering when discussing it.

[SoapDope]

I agree that the interview was not that great. He was having a lot of problems by that point. I wish he hadn't gotten sick and was still here writing the show. He's probably turning in his grave at what they have done to Y&R and it's history.

The Kay Alden interview was better in giving a little more detail about history, characters, actors etc.....One thing I seem to remember though was she said Melody Thomas Scott joined the show around 1976, but she didn't come on till February 1979.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrvGt-I0CnQ

[will81]

Thanks for posting Carl, Love Leanna vs. Jill. Sorry there wasn't more of it.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWPj3VzXLI

[DRW50]

February 9, 1988 Digest

May 16, 1989 Digest

August 18, 1992 Digest

[soapfave06]

Thanks for sharing those. I really wish they would release some of the classic episodes. The 70s-early 80s and the 90s intrigue me most on this show. Its nice reading about Jill's being insecure about Drucilla and trying to get her fired and demanding to know Nina's intentions with Ryan for Phillip's sake. For some reason, I kind of thought they backed off on Nina's relationship with Jill a while after Phillip's death. Did that continue through the years before Nina left town?

[Ann_SS]

Wow, those episode summaries bring back a lot of memories. It is amazing how many stories and relationships that I have forgotten about. I didn't think Y&R was that great for most of these years anyway. Only a few stories stand out in my memory.

Thanks for posting these, Carl.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Ann_SS

[DRW50]

A fair amount of 91-92 is available on Youtube.

Jill kept in Nina's life for a number of years. I think it tapered off over time, but up to about 1995 she was still involved (she had the hots for Ryan, who was working for her; she also told Nina to lose weight if she wanted to keep Ryan).

Thanks for reading. If you are interested, I have a number of others from 88-92 that I posted in this thread, just search 1988, 1989, 1992, etc.

[Ann_SS]

I haven't gone through this thread carefully so I will check them out.

[DRW50]

Great. If there are any other years or stories you want more on let me know and I or others may have the recaps.

[yr9190]

Thanks again for these great recaps Carl!

It's still so weird how crazy Leanna was early on in her run and how she was able to become such a fun character in just a few short years.

I think the episode is still online where Amy goes around town asking the men about Nina.

It's so funny how Ashley and Traci teamed up to plot against Leanna, and Victor was much more tolerable back then, also funny hearing how Scott and Lauren helped Traci with Brad. I think this was the last year Brad was more of a romantic hero, then he just became a self centered gigolo.

Hey Carl, do you have any SOD's from 1990? I would love to see some of those recaps if possible?

I posted a few episodes from July 1992 that have those scenes with Jill and Nina. You should check them out!