Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

i was actually referring to 1980 when Jack first came on to the time he got involved with Patty.

There was a time when Jill was between recasts and John #1 was dropped,Peggy was in the cult story. I think Jack was barely on at times.

Following the changes in 1980 it was like a revamp of a revamp.

Peggy, Steve, Derek &Co ,Julia, John , Brock, Jonas, Michael and Eve were dropped.Jill and Patty were recast

[Broderick]

 

As always, I'll defer to anyone else who's got a better memory, or who's read the recaps, but here are MY dim recollections.

 

Yes, I believe Terry Lester was hit-and-miss for a while during his first two years.  I'm not sure if it was because of Bell's uncertainty about Jack's storyline, or if it was because of the Patty Williams recast (Tammy Taylor to Lilibet Stern), or if it was because of the sudden departure of Brett Halsey as John Abbott.   When the Jabot storyline began, it played pretty heavily with Jack and John as the dysfunctional father/son, and Jill Foster as the mediator who tried to make Jack mature and grow up.   There were a lot of scenes with Jill confiding in her roommate (Eve Howard) that "I'm finding myself attracted to them both ---  father AND son," or something to that effect.   The backstory was also being carefully laid-out (the mother who'd abandoned the family several years earlier, the two daughters who were away at school, the younger daughter Traci being in an out-of-town boarding school, and the older daughter -- referred to as "Tiffany" at the time -- being away at college.  I got the impression that we were on the verge of meeting both of the daughters at any minute, although it was actually almost two years later before they were finally cast.   Suddenly, inexplicably, Brett Halsey was GONE.  I don't know if he was fired, or if he just decided to leave.   This put a quick kabosh on the Jack/Jill/John triangle, with the explanation being that John Abbott saw Jill and Jack in bed together and suddenly decided to relocate to Jabot's (never-before-heard-of) "New York office".  None of this seemed planned.  It just seemed to be a sudden, abrupt necessity because of Halsey's unexpected departure.  This kind of left Terry Lester "stranded", with no real conflict in his relationship with Deborah Adair's Jill, and Brett Halsey gone entirely from the picture -- nothing at all to work with, basically.  Then suddenly Lilibet Stern was playing Patty Williams, and she was sitting around in an "Urban Cowboy"-type bar telling her friend Gretchen that she'd "feel more like a total woman" if she could "give herself fully" to a man like Jack Abbott.  Obviously this wasn't the original intention for the Patty Williams character when Tammy Taylor was cast, lol.   It seemed to be a REVISION in the original storyline, compensating for the abrupt end of the Jack/John/Jill triangle.   We also saw Peggy Brooks and Jack Abbott suddenly and unexpectedly be revealed as former classmates and old friends; THIS made sense but didn't seem planned in advance, either.   This aspect of Jack's character allowed him to stray into Peggy's storyline with Steve Williams, enabling Jack to bang her a few times, playfully telling her that since the virginal Steve wasn't willing to fornicate, Jack would be more-than-happy to satisfy her urges.   Patty was probably SUPPOSED to be with Danny Romalotti, but with Lilibet Stern, she played better with Terry Lester's Jack, and of course Pam Peters had good chemistry with Terry Lester, as well.  But it ALL seemed ill-planned and sporadic.   Deborah Adair's Jill continued working at Jabot, but then Jack fired her, and she initiated a sexual harrassment suit, and that didn't play long either.  Basically, then entire storyboard seemed to get derailed when Brett Halsey left, and didn't get back on track until the spring of 1982 when Jerry Douglas, Eileen Davidson, Beth Maitland and Marguerite Ray were all in place in their signature roles.   And of course Deborah Adair's Jill was sidelined for much of that time in a storyline with Andy Richards (Steven Ford), who was originally one of Nikki's boyfriends, but who defaulted over to Jill until a new John Abbott could be hired.   I've always been curious what was REALLY happening behind the scenes with the John Abbott character during this timeframe, and how it affected the planned storyline for Jill, Jack, and John.   And of course several years later, in the mid-1980s, Terry Lester became a fairly hot commodity, and had several nighttime pilots in the works, several small movie roles, and there was always a great danger that he would permanently leave the show.   His character had some "outs" in the mid-1980s as a result of that, but not as glaring as his early years where the storyline seemed to start/stop/get reworked so often. 

 

Brenda Dickson definitely opted out IMMEDIATELY when the show expanded to an hour.  Matter of fact, her final script, from about 1/31/80 recently appeared on the boards here.   It had a pretty little typewritten coda at the end of the script from Bell or Alden that said something to the effect of, "Remember, today is Brenda's final day of taping.  Let's be sure we close the episode with a close-up of her.  We will show LIZ in the background climbing the stairs, but the camera will stay on JILL in honor of Brenda's final episode."   (That's not word-for-word, but it's close.)   

 

John McCook also opted out, but for storyline purposes (or out of respect for Bell and Conboy), he stayed for a few weeks.  He definitely appeared in the hour show, but not for very long.   The storyline at the time was that Vanessa Prentiss had threatened to oust Lance from the CEO position at Prentiss UNLESS Lorie would agree to divorce Lance.  "The choice is yours, Lauralee," the old crone would hiss.  "Lance can have YOU as his wife, or he can have his position at Prentiss.  But he won't have BOTH!  I will see to that, my dear!"   Lorie made the (painful) decision to divorce Lance, but wouldn't tell him exactly why she was filing for divorce.   She shoulda said, "It's because of your god-awful old mama," but of course she didn't.  Instead, Lorie just flew to the Domican Republic and divorced Lance.  There was a TRADEMARK Bill Bell scene when Lorie got on the plane to get the divorce.   Lance was shown in the penthouse playing the piano and singing the first verse of "The Way We Were" .... "Memories light the corners of my mind; misty water-color memories of the way we were."     Then the camera panned to Jaime Lyn Bauer on the plane, and Lorie sang, "Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind, smiles we gave to one another, of the way we were."  They did the whole song as a duet, with Lance in the penthouse on the piano and Lorie on the plane.   When the song ended, John McCook did a little flourish on the keyboard, and then started playing "Nadia's Theme", and the episode faded to black with Nadia's Theme tinkling on the piano.   That was pretty much THE END of John McCook as Lance.  (We used to laugh about this at my house, because I broke up with my little girlfriend about the same time, and my sister said, "Are you sure it's over??", and I said, "Hell, yeah, we sang THE WAY WE WERE, and the whole shooting match!"  lol.   McCook DID pop-up a few months later, just for a week or two, with a new fiancee named Simone.   This was to give complete closure to the Lorie/Lance relationship.   About a year later, Bill Bell decided he needed the Lance character back on the show, and I'm sure he reached out to John McCook, but got a no thanks.  So he cast that bland, dull Dennis Cole in the role, and that was truly the kiss of death for Lance.

 

Beau Kayzer also seemed to opt-out, but he stayed even longer than John McCook.   (I think Beau was a team player.)   Brock set-up his little law practice with Greg Foster, became involved in the defense of Cathy Bruder (who'd stolen Victor and Julia Newman's Rolls Royce and taken a joyride), became friendly with Julia, watched in horror as Victor became friendly with Lorie Prentiss, and then Beau exited not too much longer afterwards.  I think Beau probably just said, "Mr. Bell, I'll stay another 9 months", or whatever.  His entire storyline after the hour-format went into effect never seemed permanent, and Julia Newman was soon working at Jabot and paired with Michael Scott.

 

I expect Eric Braeden's character was being constructed ENTIRELY as the "German JR Ewing".  DALLAS was extremely popular in 1980, and JR Ewing was an awful character that the audience enjoyed tremendously.   Bill Bell gave Victor Newman a ranch, a trophy wife, a grouchy disposition, and a zillion dollars.   And Victor wore "Texas bow-ties".   He was clearly supposed to be daytime's JR Ewing.   Everything that JR Ewing did was later deemed forgivable, so I expect Bell knew we'd get over the dungeon and forgive Victor, just like we forgave JR.  lol.                      

[will81]

Oh sorry my mistake. Broderick seems to have done a better job than I could of mapping that all out.

 

Only thing I can add. It seems Sean Garrison and Bond Gideon were both replaced before Terry Lester came on the show. Deborah Adair is first mentioned in a July 31, 1980 article, Lester's first air date was Jul 22, 1980. Both John and Jill are MIA from synopsis for a couple weeks prior to Jack's arrival. Not 100% sure but it seems most likely Brett and Deborah were in place along with Terry in July.

 

After John left town around March 1981 and Jill quit Jabot, Jack is barely mentioned. Outisde of the stuff with Peggy, Lester didn't really get much story again until Jill returned to Jabot and Jack and Jill began dating which would lead to his involvement with Patty and the eventual sexual harrassment suit by Jill. 

 

[Paul Raven]

Sean Garrison? Is that the John Abbott seen in the Bond Gideon clip posted online?

I assumed he was atemp and that Brett Halsey was the original John. He was the actor mentioned when John was first announced.

[will81]

Yeah it is. There seems to be some contention about that. But Brett Halsey isn't mentioned as joining the show until August 1980. John Abbott first appeared in May 1980. While cast change news was sometimes late, it rarely took several months. I also read somewhere (and I have forgotten where) that Sean Garrison was indeed John Abbott #1. 

 

@Paul Raven Just found it from Aug 10, 1980

 

 

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Edited September 21, 2019 by will81

[Broderick]

 

I'll be damn.  I remember John Abbott's first scene pretty vividly, and I could've sworn the character was played by Brett Halsey from day one.   Bond Gideon's husband has posted that episode on-line where Sean Garrison is playing John.  I don't remember ever laying eyes on that dude until I saw Bond's clip, though.

 

On the show, Bond Gideon's Jill was working at this place called "Bob's Beauty Barn", or something like that; she *hated* it there.   Steve Williams gave her a little pep talk:  "You're pretty, you're smart, you know how to present yourself effectively, you don't have to work in a place that you hate."  Next thing we knew, Bond was prancing into the office of John Abbott --- evidently Jabot was so small that John Abbott personally did all the hiring? --- and she was impressing him enough so that he offered her a job.   I could've sworn that it was Brett Halsey who hired her.  But maybe not.  Maybe it was that Sean Garrison.  Pretty sure it was Brett Halsey though.

 

I'd really like to know what the deal was with Brett Halsey.  I've never heard anyone speculate why he was suddenly OUT as John Abbott, but his exit seemed to basically stunt the entire progression of the Abbott storyline for a solid year or more.  Which in hindsight was probably a blessing.  If the two daughters had been cast in 1981 instead of 1982, they'd have probably lasted six months instead of 38 years.   Nothing in 1981 seemed to stick.  Not the characters, not the actors, not the sets, nothing.  1981 was just a complete mess.  lol. 

[will81]

Maybe Brett really was on first and Sean was a temp. Maybe Brett started and left pretty soon after for some reason. Might explain why John is MIA for a couple weeks after that June 1980 episode with Sean Garrison that was posted. Though normally Jon-Michael Reed would write about that sort of stuff. He normally loved those tid bits. SOD also doesn't mention Brett as joining the show until their Oct 14, 1980 issue, which is for July synopsis and has the first mention of Jack. 

 

I felt pretty confident about Sean but now I am not so sure. A few people have stated pretty strongly that Brett was the first John and Sean was merely a temp. The other thing that I do find odd is normally if Brett was a recast, then it would generally be mentioned, but I can find no mention of Sean Garrison and they never refer to Brett as a recast anywhere

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by will81

[will81]

Alright to confuse matters more, I found an article that speaks of Brett's departure, I couldn't access the full article from March 30, 1981 due to technical reasons but just a small preview which states

 

"There are more cast casualties at 'The Young and the Restless" Michael Evans and Brett Halsey have been sent packing in their roles of Douglas Austin and John Abbott. Evans was beginning to over-act to excess and Halsey was virtually ignored by writers since he joined the show last fall"

 

So now we have Brett possibly joining in either May, July or sometime in the Autumn. Plus was he ignored? Maybe the writer felt so considering Halsey had soap/primetime and film experience and was considered a vet.

 

Lol, poor Michael. I wonder if there was truth to this or if it was just the writers opinion.

[Paul Raven]

I was never sure if Bond's Jill interacted with Kay but a March synopsis confirms they did. From what I've seen of Bond, she seemed quite suitable as Jill. No reason was given for her replacement. I wonder if sometimes actors are replaced because they simply can't meet the demands of the soap schedule...

 

Did Katherine attend Liz and Stu's wedding? I don't think so and wonder if it was addressed on screen? eg

My dear Elizabeth, I am so happy that you have found the happiness you so richly deserve- happiness that has eluded me...Thank you for thinking of me on this very special time in your life .But you must know this. If your daughter is in attendance then I cannot, in all conscience, be a part of this wedding. To be in the same room as Jill, the woman who has been responsible for so much of my heartache, would be untenable for me.  Let  my wedding gift to you and Stuart  be  a day free from turmoil...

 

re Sean Garrison - he seemed very different in type from Halsey/Douglas. Not the attractive, still virile older man that Jill would be attracted to.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Paul Raven

[SoapDope]

I always assumed Halsey was the first John too, but saw the episode with Sean Garrison in the role. Garrison's credits stopped after 1981. I think I remember something about him going into the computer business (which in the 1980's was booming). Garrison looked like he could be the father of Lester, even though Garrison was only 13 years older in real life. Garrison and Lester never shared screen time to my knowledge.

 

 

[Broderick]

Main thing I remember about Jill's initial interview with John Abbott was how strangely the scene was edited.  First, there was a scene with Jill weeping and wailing about how badly she hated "Bob's Beauty Barn" (or whatever the place was called), and then the scene segued directly into her interview at Jabot.   No commercial in-between.  No scene in-between involving other characters.   (That was always kind of a "soap opera no-no" to have a character appear in one scene, and then fade into a scene of that same character in an entirely different location.)  My siblings and I made the comment, "How'd she get to the cosmetics place so FAST?!" lol.  You just didn't see that type of editing very often. 

 

I expect what happened is that Brett Halsey probably played John Abbott (as a recurring cast member) during the initial job interview.  Then Mr. Abbott left town on a business trip for a few weeks, and when he returned, he was signed to a contract.   That would explain the lag from May to Autumn in Halsey's contract status.  Sean Garrison probably played the role a time or two while Brett Halsey was unavailable due to another commitment.  (The story didn't just launch into full-throttle immediately after Jill's interview.)  Seems that there were even a few weeks where Bond Gideon walked around announcing that, "I'll be starting my job as soon as Mr. Abbott is back from his trip.    

[will81]

It is these details that I love, thanks for sharing. Yeah maybe Brett was there and Sean was a temp and that's how it played out, I can't find anything that mentions Sean in connection to the show, at all, which makes me feel more and more that he was never intended as a long term John Abbott. 

 

Also until July when Jack comes on there is little mention of John and Jill, mostly just John is impressed with Jill's ideas. Jill comes up with a new product. John isn't impressed with Jill's ideas, lol. Maybe they were waiting for Brett to become available again or something. 

 

What did you think of Bond Gideon as Jill. The one episode that was posted, I feel she was fine, but maybe Bell had Brenda in his mind too much to accept her, kinda like a rebound relationship, haha. I would love to get a clip of Bond and Jeanne so we have scenes of Jeanne with all the long term Jill's.

[Franko]

Rewinding back to a few days ago, I'm still cracking up at the sudden introduction of the Williams family. You might as well have had a scene where they're pulling into Genoa City with the U-Haul.

[Broderick]

 

In 1980, I really didn't have any kind of opinion about Bond Gideon at all.   She was just yet another stranger in a vast sea of unfamiliar faces.  lol.

 

If you were watching then, it was kinda exciting to see the changes, but it was also sorta overwhelming.  Remember, that cult storyline was starting, and there was a whole gaggle of complete strangers running around --- Matthew, Rebecca, Sumeiko, and several others.   Paul had a whole family of strangers fretting and worrying about him (Carl, Mary, Steve, and Patty).  April Stevens (a stranger) was over there in an apartment next to Snapper and Chris weeping about Heather, and then some more strangers appeared out of nowhere to harrass her (Wayne, Dorothy, Barbara).    Lance popped-up engaged to a stranger (Simone).   Derek Thurston was working at Chancellor Industries with three strangers (George, Bob, and Judy).  Lucas Prentiss was running around with a stranger (Sebastian) trying to get another stranger (Jonas) to help them free some other strangers in a fictional country.  Every time Kay Chancellor opened her front door, a stranger (Douglas) came running in.  Lorie Brooks would go plop down in the Allegro, and a mumbling stranger (Victor) would sit down with her and discuss another stranger (Julia).  Bond Gideon was just another stranger. 

 

But I did watch the clip that Bond Gideon's husband posted, and I'll just say that in hindsight, I'm very impressed with her.  She's pretty, she's capable, and she had an interesting and sort of "unique" look about her.   If she'd been introduced at any other time other than 1980, I expect she would've lasted longer. 

 

The main scene that I remember with Bond Gideon in 1980 was that Derek Thurston stopped by the dimly-lit Foster house to have a few words with Jill.  I believe he was telling her that they shouldn't see each other, because he was starting his new job at Chancellor, and he didn't want Kay to be suspicious of his relationship with Jill.  He gave Jill a good-bye kiss in the very dimly lit set.   The kiss was a pretty WET one, because Joe LaDue tended to open his mouth pretty wide, and so did Bond Gideon.  When they broke apart, there was a long strand of saliva connecting Derek's lips to Jill's.   They had a few more lines of dialogue.  Their faces were lit, but the set was dim.  As a result, that long string of saliva was directly in the light, bouncing and jiggling between his lips and hers like a tightrope.   My little brother said, "Look at that spit!"  I said, "I bet it'll break in a minute.  It's gonna be hanging off their chins!"  But it didn't ever break; it just kept bouncing between them until the scene dimmed out.      

[Paul Raven]

That seemed to be Bill Bell's strategy for the expansion...take characters who had been in tight knit stories and use them to anchor a bunch of newbies.

 

Reading through synopses I am surprised how long some characters hung around wothout much story - Jonas,Steve, Peggym Eve, etc

 

Some other tidbits

Eve admitted to sleeping with Derek in the past (possibility that Charles was his child?)

Peggy arrested after leaving Jack's apartment naked under a fur coat! (wonder what set was used as Jack's apt?)

Eve befriending Peggy.

Victor flirting with Peggy.

Greg dating Peggy.