Y&R: Old Articles

[DeeeDee]

Not really.

It was a character based story.

[DRW50]

What did you think of Eileen's stories after the abortion/breakdown?

[DeeeDee]

They were fine.

Nothing offensive or patronizing.

That didn't really occur until Brenda.

[DRW50]

October 1976 Daytime TV Stars.

Deborah Channel reviews Y&R.

The Young and the Restless - As Musical Soap Opera!

Some five years ago, if you had told Ms. Average Daytime Viewer that in a few years she would be seeing full-hour serials, and at least one comedy soap (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) which has characters smoking pot and talking about masturbation, and at least one serial that features actors often singing to each other instead of talking, as in old Fred Astaire musicals of the forties and fifties - Mr. (or Mr.!) Average Daytime Viewer would have thought you daft.

Yet all these things have come to pass, and more, much more. Still, one wonders how, on a medium that for years had seemed so static, these imaginative transformations could have taken place. The full answer is too involved to go into here - but a simplistic one would run something like: television soap operas were never as static as they seemed. Five years ago, for example, Bill Hayes was singing as Doug Williams in the club Addie (Patricia Barry) bought him on Days of Our Lives. It was simultaneously daring yet natural for Mrs. Betty Corday to permit her show to have singing, for of course Bill Hayes was a well-known singer from the television of the fifties, and a comic too; Mrs. Corday was in essence answering all those critics who said that soaps like Days had nothing more to offer but tears. The ratings of Days of Our Lives certainly did not drop as a result of the addition of some singing and comedy, and so the spate of imitations on other serials began. Love of Life soon introduced Sally Stark as nightclub singer Kate Swanson. Then we saw Don Stewart (as Michael Bauer) suddenly break into a beautiful tenor/baritone song at Papa Bauer's funeral; and we saw As the World Turns' Kathryn Hays seduce Don Hastings with a marvelous professional rendition of Summertime, accompanied by none other than Bobby Short; then viewers saw Larry Keith re-establish his romantic prowess with Judith Barcroft on All My Children by singing expertly in his own nightclub. And on and on went the daytime Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It was of course sublime fantasy. Ordinary people - especially not lawyers like Michael Bauer - do not suddenly display the musical ability of Broadway singing stars. But who ever said that soaps were not part fantasy in the first place?

The most typical aspect of all this soap musicalization is that the characters, when they sing, usually sing in special situations. Kim (Kathy Hays) was down in a Florida resort hotel when Bob (Don Hastings) suddenly heard her sing during a fooling-around session at the piano with Bobby Short. Bill Hayes and Sally Stark were introduced to the viewers as professional singers from the start. Larry Keith played a dancing teacher and therefore a showman. Don Stewart, one presumed, was inspired to vocal virtuosity by the death of his grandfather and, as his character, could probably not repeat the sudden fantasy-outburst. In all these situations, song was invariably not an intrinsic part of the story line, but meant merely to entertain viewers. There was no implication that the story had, even in parts, turned into a musical of sorts.

The Young & The Restless, when it adopted the musical soap idea that had been in the air for several years, did indeed change all that.

It was Leslie Brooks (Janice Lynde) who, a year after the show premiered, first brought music to the show. The writers used her singing, in her own nightclub, to demonstrate the character's blooming into a beautiful, spontaneous, gifted woman. She sang to Brad Eliot, her husband, their own special song, meant to symbolize her love for him and his influence over her. In Leslie's dreams, she danced with him in a beautiful gown - like Cinderella dancing with her Prince - and sang to him as they waltzed amidst shimmering candelabra. Soon other characters were singing. Brock Reynolds (Beau Kayzer) played his guitar and began instilling religious zeal in the lives of the people around him by singing special inspirational songs to people like his mother, Kaye Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper). Then Lauralee Brooks (Jaime Lyn Bauer) suddenly became vocal and had duets with a handsome, rich jet-setter by the name of Lance Prentiss (John McCook); she sang It's All Right With Me with him when it became clear that they were both in love with other people but were, for a while, settling for each other. She sang a duet with Brock indicating her willingness for sex ("Birds do it...") but his unwillingness to be used as a stud.

What it all amounts to is that Executive Producer John Conboy has gone all the way. He now uses singing, and often dancing, as part of the story. Instead of two people simply talking about their feelings, often as not they will sing about their feelings, as in operetta. That the sight of such beautiful people singing instead of talking does work terribly well says two things. For one, it says that John Conboy is a dynamic leader in daytime television; and for another, it says that the daytime soap opera form is far more versatile than anyone had even imagined a few years ago. It can literally be adapted to any means, any end, whether old-fashioned or modern, and if properly produced and written, can succeed better than nighttime television once-a-week series, which, compared to shows like The Young & The Restless, are beginning to seem dreadfully mechanical and self-limiting.

Actually, The Young & The Restless, in using a very old form - the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical - is potentially old-fashioned itself. But because the material is so well-handled, the old-fashioned quality is not immediately apparent, and it certainly never distracts. In fact, a clever producer could probably put The Shadow or Stella Dallas or even Brenda Starr, Reporter, on the daytime airwaves and have it work. The secret is that the continuing serial format allows writers to explore and diversify their material, whether it be "old-fashioned" or "new-fashioned," in much greater depth. Therefore, a once-a-week Young & The Restless show on nighttime television would surely fail; there wouldn't be time enough to balance the singing with the drama, and to involve viewers with extremely personal story lines before attempting to adapt some of those story lines to music, thereby achieving an effective adventure. It was no accident that once MGM found that Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney worked well in one musical, that they kept repeating the same story, with the same stars, over and over (I'm talking about the Andy Hardy musicals); this, in a sense, was the serialization idea that The Young & The Restless is now using in its own updating of those old musicals. Is it surprising then that, with its greater versatility, the high-rated daytime shows make a great deal more money for networks than the nighttime shows? The latter, with their incredible costs, are almost bankrupting the networks; the former (the serials), are, in essence, paying the bills for the nighttime shows. Of course, it is indecent, almost immoral, for the writers and actors on these financially powerful daytime shows to be treated as badly as they are treated. Television tends to reward creativity in its midsts either with money and power, or with cheap-skate ridicule - which is what soap stars get.

Soap opera versatility now seems endless. With the success of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (whether you love or hate the show) and the success of The Young & The Restless and the new one-hour serials, it seems to me inevitable that the very next step will be a singing and dancing variety show incorporated into an hour dramatic serial with a continuing story line. The fact that celebrities like Dinah Shore are willing to make appearances on Mary Hartman only further backs my prediction. We're going to see some pretty amazing things in the next couple of years on daytime television.

Edited July 14, 2011 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

The singing had a camp factor,nothing more.I recall that JLB wasn't the world's greatest singer.When did they stop doing this?

[Paul Raven]

[DeeeDee]

They didn't.

[DRW50]

Very nice photos. Too bad Chris Holder didn't work out.

I hope they don't get confused and start having Lily sing Julie's songs from Show Boat.

[DeeeDee]

DON'T GIVE MARIA IDEAS CARL!

[Paul Raven]

John and Janice singing and dancing up a storm in the CBS daytime special

[Paul Raven]

Veleka Grey did double duty on Y&R as Dr Sharon Reaves and chatty manicurist Ruby.

[Paul Raven]

The one and only Lorie Brooks

[DRW50]

Lovely stuff.

I never understood why they had Veleka in two roles at once. Putting her in a Lambchop wig??

[EricMontreal22]

I always wondered about the singing on Y&R (and man I wanna see that special). EVERY 70s soap opera book says that Y&R was filled with musical sequences--surely this was phased out (at least done less frequently) by the 80s. I love the optimism of mid to late 70s soap press and books--I know one of the books I has claims that within ten years stars like Barbra Streisand will beg to star in a soap, the future is unlimited, etc.

[DeeeDee]

The musical stuff wasn't stopped. Bill just made it more realistic.