Y&R: Old Articles

[soapfan770]

 

 

When I first read that Jill was engaged to Andy in 1981 that just didn’t sound right at all. Still doesn’t to this day! Adair definitely held her ground in the role of Jill though for sure. 

So happy this has been rediscovered!!!!

[DRW50]

 

It never made much sense to me either. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the material worked in those episodes various kind people here gave us last year - mostly thanks to the connection between Adair and Julianna McCarthy and how they managed to tap into Jill's enduring battle to get what she saw as hers even if it cost her love and happiness. The whole thing felt like a needed reset of the character after she spun wildly out of control in the late '70s (I do wonder how that material played onscreen...especially the tasteless sounding triangle with her mother and Stuart).

[sheilaforever]

I think they did not intend to fire Dickson and therefore hired Walton as a temp. But Dickson was missing out on so many scheduled shows in 1986 and 1987 that they finally had enough.

 

Brenda claimed in one of her blog posts years ago that she was suffering from severe PHYSICAL pains back then and felt extremely under the weather for motnhs and that Y&R producers didn't care and forced long work days on her. Judging by the fact that she got no following gigs, I assume that either addiction or her persona (psycholgial health) were the real factors for the dismissal. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by sheilaforever

[BoldRestless]

 

Jess really connects to the role very well and has an air of confidence that is unusual for a temp. That's why I thought maybe she knew. Or maybe she's just that good of an actress. IMO the vast majority of temps phone it in. I think Jess Walton is the best recast of an iconic soap character ever, so it just seems like too much of a coincidence to think she was only hired as a temp and stayed. The casting director must have had longer term thinking in mind given Brenda's issues.

[Legacy]

If you go on youtube and type in Bob tv i was going through the classic soap shows and some y&r episodes were on there, i think i watched the episode before the victor and nikki wedding and it was soo nice seeing how all the old characters came back for the wedding. It was nice seeing the brooks girls gather at Julia's and seeing brock and jill reunite also Derek and Kay 

[soapfan770]

Didn’t Jill fake getting pregnant with Stuart? That definitely did go too far in 1979. Imagine Ada and Rachel fighting over the same man LOL. Liz should have been a permanent fixture on the show throughout the 80s and 90’s as Jill needed that. Not sure if the clips are still up but I also loved the rapport of Adair & Cooper too, especially Adair‘a Jill being terrified.

[Khan]

 

I believe so?  But, I could be wrong.

 

To this day, I crack up over how, on one of her songs, Millie Jackson describes Jill putting on her negligee and driving all the way through GC -- "through the ghetto, past all dem horny niggas!" -- to seduce Stuart.

 

(NSF...well, for anyone, lol.)

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

It just seems nonsensical to me. It's a miracle Jill survived that period at all. I agree Liz should have stayed. I wish Bell had tried. Julianna fit in so easily each time she returned.

 

 

I have to hear that sometime. Few soaps manage to appeal to so many elements of pop culture the way Y&R did in its peak years.

[soapfan770]

Bell always came up with redemption/back don to earth  stories for Jill...after Phillip died he wrote her pairing with the blind guy David, I suppose it’s what the pairings with Steve Williams(oh god, can you imagine Jill vs Mary) and Andy were all about.I think Bell loved writing for Jill just as he did for Lorie and later on Ashley as one of Y&R’s leading ladies.

[will81]

The big issue with having Liz around between 1986 - 1989 is Phillip. That whole storyline couldn't happen, because Phillip would have simply lived with his Grandmother, rendering Kay obsolete in the story. Not bringing her back in 1989 when Phillip died was wrong. Liz could have returned on a recurring basis at that point.

 

I also thought it odd that Liz had to leave town, even though her daughter had almost been murdered. But again the fight for Phillip story was getting started.

 

Also I think Bell wanted to isolate Jill during her divorce, Michael was her only ally, and I think that was on purpose. That's why Liz took off just before John found out about the affair.

[Aback]

I have to wonder though - why did they pick Jess Walton over Deborah Adair to permanently replace BD? Maybe Adair was only willing to play the role short term?

[DaytimeFan]

 

I suspect it was a few factors:

 

1. Adair was booking primetime roles in the 1980s and probably didn't want to be tied down;

 

2. Adair married Chip Hayes and may have wanted to start a family (when she and Hayes eventually adopted their children in 1995, she retired from the business entirely);

 

3. Walton was clearly happily committed to daytime and her transition from Capitol to Y&R required no accommodation.

[Aback]

 

Thanks! She does come across as the most ego-less actress out there (and I mean it in the best possible way) - to fill in for BD so many times even after being dumped for BD herself.

 

Watching these old Jill clips, I can't help but think that Bill Bell was inspired by BD as some sort of muse. I had some experience as a writer (albeit short and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, of course) and I know there is a reason if your material rings so true and is so successful.

[soapfan770]

 
The weird thing is Liz was the one who convinced Phillip to come home after Jill had been shot. I guess they could have had Liz move in with Jill for that story wonder if that would have workable for that story. 
 

By 1991 though we weirdly had Jill and Katherine using each other as sounding boards in their arguments though.

 

[kalbir]

I think that was because of the MTS/JC beef at the time. Notice how Nikki and Katherine were totally absent from each other's lives in the early 1990s when they both went through some heavy stuff (Nikki losing two children and her substance abuse, Katherine's cancer scare).