Y&R: Old Articles

[Ann_SS]

soapfan770, I liked reading your take on Y&R. IMO, 2004 was when the show went from stellar to BS. I don't think that it is a coincidence that David Shaughnessy and Trent Jones left then. Smith sowed the seeds of his demise in 2004 and worse yet, he seriously damaged the show. So many things drove me away in 2004, Cameron and Sharon, Brittany's rise to prominence, J.T.'s involvement with her and then Mac, being ticked off that I got sucked in when Colleen only returned for a few episodes, but ultimately the cringeworthy redemption of Kevin was the last straw.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Ann_SS

[DRW50]

February 1987 Digest

[FrenchFan]

Mamie Miller? Wasn't she Mamie Johnson? Or her name was changed when the Barber sisters were introduced?

[Ann_SS]

I was thinking about how horrible Michael's redemption turned out watching Paul bring him food and Christine defend him to Fen yesterday. I was buying into giving Michael a chance and the writers decided that Chris should get romantically involved with him. It is like they have no boundaries or no sense of how far to "not" to push the audience. It is one thing for Paul and Christine to tolerate him, but now he is their bestest friend. Much like how everyone conveniently ignores Kevin's crimes.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Ann_SS

[RestlessDuncan]

Hi everybody! I'm Italian so I apologize if my english is incorrect or If I do grammar/meaning mistakes. I really love Y&R (even if in Italy was axed in 2009 due to budget cuts). I liked Jack Smith as headwriter. His writing was character-driven and the show under him was still classic Y&R. He did very good in 2003 with storylines like Safra VS Tuvia, Nick VS Victor, Bad Kevin, Ashley's meltdown, J.T. as knight in snining armor, Brittany as the young Madonna Ciccone of daytime (a girl who was not afraid of her sexuality and didn't want to be judged, a girl that wanted to be independent from family and from men - that is why he dumped Raul, who was unable to accept and understand her completely). Even the beginning of the Kay-Jill relantioship as mother & daughter was written beautifully: complex with some powerful scenes (dramatic and comic).

I agree with you that in 2004 JS did mistakes. Letting Heather Tom go was a HUGE mistake. He softened too much Victor and Jack, making them without real purpose (they both even left their business affairs for a while). The Cameron Kirsten story was enjoyable, but too lame and lasted too long. Ashley become too obsessed with Victor and destroyed her marriage with Brad without a real reason. The Nikki-Joshua Cassen story had its points, but it seemed too rushed in the end. Kay's ex lover and Jill's presumed real father was a fiasco (I really liked only the intervention episode) . Damon Porter was introduced in 2003 as a warm and zen man and in 2004 with his new storyline (the revelation that he had a young son killed by a bully young man) he suddenly changed personality becoming full of anger and revengeful. Malcolm's return from death : bad writing. I remember stupid lines like: "Oh, I was impressed by Africa because of lions and green pastures). Saint Mac's return proved useless. Her possibly romance with Daniel was stopped before developing. She almost started to stalke J.T. when she understood that he loved Brittany and not her. I liked AB first run as Mac and Billy & Mac as couple. I didn't like her second run (and her new haircut, too). Saint Mac acted so unsincerely sometimes and played really mean. J.T. and Collen's love story was one of the best young romance in daytime history: their break-up was intense and poetic like their entire relantioship (even if J.T. famous pop star from day to night sounded not too much realistic). First love is always special and unforgettable.

After that, I enjoyed J.T. & Britt getting closer. They were best friends, they always had chemistry and cared for each other. Between them there was something more than love and something less than love. That made their relantioship so unique and so real to me. I never saw Brittany & Bobby like a real love story. I didn't care if I they had no chemistry. The real love story was the never expressed feelings between J.T. and Brittany: they never had the chance to tell each other aloud the words 'I love you'. Brittany was a strong character, she was the new Nikki Newman (the stripper storyline) but smartest. She started lo lose appeal in 2005 after wrong storylines (becoming mother and then J.T. fathered the baby). What I liked most about Brittany was her self-worth.

Edited February 28, 2013 by RestlessDuncan

[Ann_SS]

RestlessDuncan, great to hear your thoughts on Y&R. I hope that you post more often. You brought back the horrible memories of the bad writing during Malcolm's short return and Ashley destroying her marriage with Brad over her obsession with Victor. I am never going to agree about Brittany who I think should have remained a supporting character in the younger set and involved with Raul. Her "love story" with Bobby and then, J.T. really turned me off her and I disliked how Smith tried to make her into a young heroine. I did not mind the Mac/Daniel budding romance. I am not sure why they stopped it and sent her after J.T., maybe because Smith was about to write out Brittany and Bobby. I stopped watching Y&R regularly in 2004, the storytelling, characters, and dialogue felt listless and random. I had hoped things would turn around when Colleen returned at Christmas 2004, but she left permanently after a few episodes and I was pretty much done with Y&R then.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Ann_SS

[RestlessDuncan]

I can understand you didn't like Brittany at all:) Even Italian Y&R fans loved or hated her, there was no middle way. I liked that she wasn't a cliche, the rich blond superficial type of girl always seen in movies and tv series. She proved to be more than that. She was smart, I liked her lines and how she was sarcastic with people. She was a character well developed , Brittany's devolopment came full-circle. I never saw her like a 'heroine' , the kind of girl that always follows her heart and needs to feel loved or to have a man in her life to fulfill her needs and desires She belonged to herself and no one else. Billy, Sean, Raul, Bobby were like the bunch of good-looking men around Madonna in her Material Girl video ("Some boys romance, some boys slow dance, that's all right with me, if they can't raise my interest, then I have to let them be. Boys may come and boys may go, experience has made me rich and now they're after me"). The relationship between her and J.T. was different, because they were friends before falling in love, and friendship maybe is the greatest and endless form of love. Brittany didn't try to please people. She was a strong-willed person. She first wanted to be popular, then a famous singer. She didn't hide herself, who she was and wanted to be. And she learned from her mistakes. Her scar on face taught her to see beyond surface, in her personal and artistic life (Danny Romalotti explained to her how a songwriter should show the pain inside using songs).

About Ashley, I like ED and the character but only Bill Bell and Kay Alden were really able to give her good storylines. Other writers unfortunately didn't get her.

[y&r_fan]

Brad Bell did a pretty good job at B&B.

[Ann_SS]

I did like Brittany for the longest while. She was interesting and fun, the female version of J.T. and the anti-Mac. But I did not like that she and Raul broke up over Bobby. I was pretty much done with her when she got that scar which made her sappy and needy. Watching J.T. and everyone rally around her was pathetic. I thought that she was tougher than that. The writers were also clearly using the scar to make her into this young heroine which was unnecessary. When J.T. started to have feelings Brittany, it was over for me. I didn't like J.T. developing romantic feelings for her or Mac. I would have preferred that he had a romance with someone completely new.

[RestlessDuncan]

I absolutely agree with you:) He promptly corrected LML's mistake (I think it was his first move to make clear he didn't like how she was writing Y&R) and revamped Ashley under all aspects. Under LML Ashley had become lifeless with no real interest in business world, in close relationships with family, friends and men (she even shared a kiss with boring William Bardwell... the kiss of death!). She had become too cold and apathetic. At B&B she appeared younger, bolder and hotter without losing class and style. The problem with B&B is that when a new female character stops to sleep with a Forrester guy, Bradley Bell marginalizes her until her exit.

Edited March 2, 2013 by RestlessDuncan

[RestlessDuncan]

I understand your point of view:) I started to consider Brittany too needy in 2005 episodes, when she kept asking for protection. J.T., the Newmans, Kay and Jill became her bodyguards because she was or felt always in danger. But I liked her last episode. Her exit was so Gone with the Wind: she had failed to win J.T. back (like Scarlett with Rhett, even if love wasn't gone between them) but she left GC with the 'Tomorrow is another day' look in her eyes. The scar storyline was good to show her vulnerable side, but she was still a strong character. She refused to give up her dreams. J.T. and Mac were boring as hell. She ruined him as a character.

Edited March 2, 2013 by RestlessDuncan

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT8aHSqR5yk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y_YBOExXt0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=249ftreho_Q

[DRW50]

May 1975 TV Show People

[will81]

Thanks for the article Carl. Conboy was definitely a good fit for Y&R in the early years. He really made an impact on the show. I have only seen the entire first episode, one from 1975 and a few scenes from the same year in broadcast quality and I have to say I disagree that video can look good. While I admit that Conboy did a great job with the lighting and such and it does look amazing for a show shot on tape, I can't say it looks anything as good as it would have on film.

That lighting and those sets on film would have been stunning. Though I have to agree Conboy and co. did a great job with the attention to detail, colours, wardrobe (when they discussed wardrobe I could hear Brenda Dickson saying "They wanted to tape down my bosom").

When they were talking about how great Y&R is at the beginning and how quickly it became liked by audiences, I was reminded of seeing several polls in soap magazines and having Y&R at or near the top with Espy and Stewart hitting high on the polls too, and this was in the first year and a half.

It is interesting to hear his take on the show, how everything comes back to love. The family ties are nowhere near as strong now on the remaining soaps, which is a shame. Though I did find it interesting when I think Trish Stewart or Janice Lynde said in an interview once that they didn't understand why the girls always went to their dad for advice about life and their relationships, something she though most young women would rarely do, instead going to their mother. I know Peggy and Jennifer shared a lot of scenes in the beginning.

Interesting read, love these BTS articles with crew members.

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading. It's always nice to get these that are solely on the producer. I agree it doesn't look quite as good as it should, although from what people have said, this may have improved later in the decade?

I think a lot of the parent/child relationships on the show were probably a fantasy, but the show knew how to sell heart in its first decades, which is what people want to see from soaps.

I'm not sure I'd seen the Brock/Lorie photo before.

It does seem like the show only needed about six months or a year to take off.