Y&R: Old Articles

[kalbir]

 

Haha, Mr. Mom. I haven't thought of that movie for years. I totally remember the Y&R segments from it.

[soapfan770]

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[yrfan1983]

Just watched episode 2 - I love Deborah Adair's Jill, as evidenced by my avatar!

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 I think she ranks as my favorite Jill of all. Agreed with @DRW50 that DA's Jill scenes with Liz didn't quite nail the mother-daughter dynamic. DA's Jill has a more refined, patrician way of speaking, and Liz is less refined... she'll leave the "g" off of words, like "thinkin" instead of "thinking". Jill was raised in the lower middle-class home by Liz, so this disparity doesn't really add up. But regardless, they're both fantastic. Interesting for Liz to note that Jack is older than Jill - not sure if I ever knew that. Or maybe this fact was "forgotten" once BD took back the role.

 

I do believe that Jill is in love with John Abbott.  I also believe she loves his money!   How ironic that Jack is so afraid that Jill will take some control of Jabot.  She eventually does... but only because of the scandal that ensued after he slept with her, lol!

 

I thought the Claire/janitor scene would end with Robert discovering them... not with Claire choking the janitor!! This fits in with the "gothic" tone that sometimes permeated YR from '79-'81.

 

This is the first time I'm seeing the Carolyn character, and she seems like a snoozefest. Kevin also, while cute, is milquetoast.  I think this ep is right when MTS leaves for maternity leave? Maybe this deal she made with God to leave Kevin is why she disappears for a few months.

Edited October 15, 2017 by yrfan1983

[DeeeDee]

Angela was an antagonist for Traci. She was sort of a proto-Lauren.

[SoapDope]

I think it's kind of sad after all those years of the Leslie/Lorie/Lance/Lucas mess, none of them wound up together. Lorie stood Victor up at the altar when she left town to go chase after Lance. We know from her return in 84 and 2002 she never got him back. The writers threw Lorie under the bus when she started whining how she made a mistake and not marrying Victor. 

 

Poor Lucas. Leslie and Lorie did not want him at all. They fought over boring Lance. Even Vanessa his mother shafted Lucas in favor of Lance. 

[yrfan1983]

Casey wanted him! But she finally bailed when he could not separate himself from Leslie

[YRfan23]

Haha I can't believe after all these years of hearing about these scenes I never saw this!

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As fun as it is to see more rare glimpses of Y&R's past, and the humor of Michael Keaton being so addicted, that his kids end up watching the show too......I think it's also sad this represents an era we know longer have, to show how popular soaps were....This scene rang true for so many of us daily viewers...

[NothinButAttitude]

Blazed through the first 3 of the '82 episodes, and I was entertained throughout. Just further highlights why I'd be all for the Brooks/Prentiss/Foster clans to return via Brooks, Chucky, and Jennifer. 

 

I thought the scenes with Brooks, Leslie, and Lance were adorable. Yes, the child actor did carry those scenes, but I didn't find them to be a pain to watch. I was just wondering did Brooks ever learn that Leslie and Lance were his parents before he was ushered off? Also, did he remain with Leslie onwards or did Lorie eventually reclaim him? 

 

The scenes with Nikki and the woman in the hospital were heart wrenching. You have one woman aching to have a child while Nikki is trying to get rid of one. While I can't stand Nikki nowadays, I can see why she became popular with fans early on. It is refreshing to see her in other people's orbits and not just Victor or Jack's. Sad to know that this vibrant, lively Nikki would amount to nothing nowadays. 

 

Ashley/Jack scenes were great to watch too. At least we knew right then and there that Jack's motivation for not wanting Jill in the family was because he feared his potential fortune might be left to Jill. Wasn't he right in a sense? Didn't Jill a few years later (after their affair) gain a portion of Jabot? I've always wondered (as I don't keep up with what proxies and percentage the characters hold) does Jill still hold stake in Jabot now? 

 

Bill Bell was very progressive in his writing for its time. From the janitor trying to fondle the catatonic woman and uttering suggestive lines to Kay telling Nikki it was her body and can have an abortion if she wanted--it does seem risqué for its time. Sadly, soaps have regressed and they are all cheesy and PG nowadays. 

 

I miss meddlesome Mary too. I hate how the character was written off and killed offscreen. I know Carolyn Conwell passed, but I always felt they could've recast Mary with Michael Learned who subbed for Jeanne Cooper that one time. Mary was so needed all these times Paul and his numerous kids came in and out the canvas. I would die to have Mary wag her finger at Paul or Christine one last time, or to have chewed out Nikki around the time she was back with Paul. 

 

Frank Lewis was Amy father, right? Did he stick around for the later half of the 80s or was he written off with no explanation? 

[SoapDope]

 I wish he and Casey had wound up together. Maybe it would have given both characters a happy ending. Casey Reed was forever single ( like Brock). Bill Bell wanted to keep Lucas in that quadrangle. 

[kalbir]

 

Not just the cast purge, but the EP change as well. John Conboy left for Capitol and H. Wesley Kenney took over, having previously worked with Bill Bell at Days.

 

1983 was also a bit of transition, as there were some major cast changes that year too: Andrea Evans replaced Lilibet Stern as Patty, Tracey Bregman arrived as Lauren, Brenda Dickson returned as Jill. I know Deborah Adair joined the cast of Dynasty in 1983, but did she leave Y&R by her own choice or was she terminated in order for Brenda Dickson to return?

 

The 1982-1987 period really set in motion a lot of what is still felt today, mainly the eternal triangle (quadrangle really) and the eternal feud. I don't know if anyone else agrees with me, but I feel that it was H. Wesley Kenney that laid all the groundwork for Y&R's rise to #1 but Ed Scott that ended up getting all the credit. Granted, I didn't see a lot of the 1980s live as my Y&R watching then was limited to school breaks so I'm going by what I remember live, what I saw years later online, and from recap archives/books/soap magazines.

 

 

[YRfan23]

I agree a lot of the groundwork was laid when Kenney took over to what the show became, though by the late 80's I think Bill Bell finally was leading the show on the right course when it became #1 that's at least when I think the transition was most complete by then.

[Paul Raven]

Deborah's contract was up and she got Dynasty, so I think Brenda was approached to return.

[DRW50]

Watched episode #4...

 

Those attempted rape scenes were horrific. Bill Bell really went all out in this type of material. Bits I've seen of later years like Ashley's attempted rape, Cricket's rape etc. were also rough but the lower-budget feel of this era in general (I see they're still using the old Foster house, Chancellor darkly lit set, etc. here, and the wardrobe of the women is also much cheaper) makes it feel like something from the grindhouse formula. 

 

I wonder if they were planning anything with Angela and Andy.

 

Liz Keifer is very green here, so I can see why Bell moved on, although I feel a bit bad for Keifer as I think she said she was very naive and was completely blindsided when she was fired. The scene at the end with Robert and Angela is pretty decent - her melodramatic dialogue at the end actually works. 

 

I feel exhausted with the Kevin/Nikki/Victor saga and that's just in 4 episodes. I can't imagine someone watching it for a whole year. 

 

The scene with Patti and Carl is intense - good stuff. I'm glad to get to see more of the Williams family with their other children as by the time I started watching it was just Mary constantly obsessing over Paul. They were actually a good, solid family. I wonder if Y&R would have done as well as it did in the '80s without them. 

 

I can't thank you both enough for these. I never expected to see any of Y&R from this period. What an experience it was. 

[YRfan23]

That man who almost raped Angela was probably the scariest I've seen....I know this show has done creepy stuff since then, but you said it, the entire atmosphere, made it look like an old 70's/80's horror movie...

Andy and Angela look like they would have been good together, but I guess this is when he started to date Diane right? 

I love seeing more of Victor and Katherine's early relationship in this episode, where it's clear Katherine's meddling annoyed Victor....They made it seem like their relationship in recent years was this warm BFF thing, but as fond as they were of each other, and respected each other, they knew they had to draw the line...I think if it wasn't for Nikki they wouldn't have been as close...
I don't remember them having the chairs behind the couch in the Chancellor living room....it made the set look a lot more gothic.......

I just realized that Nikki was featured in all four of the 82 episodes, so you are right, It's hard to believe the story with her Victor and Kevin took up most of the airtime.....I still wish more was available to get the general idea of the story, and I would have liked to see more of Earl and Allison...

It's kind of sad that the show decided to move away from Patty, and then Carl later on.....It seems like for all the conflict Patty had with Jack, they never gave her proper closure after she shot him.....wasn't she sent to a facility? I'm ignoring the MAB stuff with Patty obviously...

Again this was all @ltm1997! I wish there was more to share, but this will probably be the most we have of this year, until maybe somewhere down the line someone more generous provides more goodies....

 

[yrfan1983]

Patty was still on the show for most of 1984, after she left Jack's orbit. She was brought into the Danny/Traci/Lauren story. Danny gave Patty hope that they could be together, but Danny was in the sham marriage with Traci, because Traci wanted it kept secret that she was pregnant with Professor Tim's baby.

 

I found the SOD recap (dated 12/4/84) covering Patty's departure!  "Patty has come to the realization that there is nothing left for her in GC. Danny and Traci appear to be getting closer to each other with each passing day. Besides, Danny blames Patty for Traci's accident. Arriving at the conclusion that her relationship with Danny is over, Patty tells her brother she's leaving town. Paul attempts to talk her out of the decision, but to no avail. Patty has a very touching farewell with her mother. It comes as a complete shock to Mary that her daughter is leaving, but Patty promises to return as soon as she can straighten out her personal life"