Y&R: Old Articles

[Broderick]

My feeling is that the purpose of "Ma Henderson" (and her brief appearance) was just to cement that Liz Foster and Bruce Henderson were siblings.   It seemed that Bill Bell put a lot of thought into the Henderson family -- Bruce Henderson, Mrs. Regina Henderson, Mark Henderson and the never materialized but heavily previewed Russell Henderson -- and wanted to be sure we understood they were Liz's relatives, although they existed in a different socio/economic sphere of the show.  

I've always felt that the tanned/blonde/bored Jennifer Brooks and the bored Regina Henderson were merely "prototypes" of a certain character that Bell really WANTED to write, but couldn't locate *exactly* the correct actress or *exactly* the correct characterization he was seeking.  He ultimately found his actress (Jeanne Cooper) and his characterization (drunk, bored, haughty, vain, needy, resourceful, vengeful).  The Kay Chancellor character kinda made both Jennifer and Regina obsolete, and Bell's attitude seemed to be "off with their heads".    

 

[will81]

I assume this is when Ma Henderson and Bruce came to town. Robert Clarke joined Y&R in May 1973 and I would guess their Ma came at the same time. Yeah I think Liz was supposed to be worn out and aged from raising three children and doing manual labour at the factory. Jen was upper middle class, but yes Dorothy seemed a very 70's mod California socialite compared to what I assume many woman in the mid west might have looked like back then

 

[Broderick]

Yeah, I thought Eric Peters (on Days) and Kay Chancellor were both bisexual characters, and that Bill Bell was just "edgy" enough to slide that on through to our screens, without beating us over the head with it.   Of course in the case of Kay Chancellor, there was always the issue of her fundamental, unfulfilled loneliness -- and her desperate need to be loved -- that  made her sexual preferences and motivations a bit murkier. 

Wasn't there also a more flagrant storyline on "Days" during this same time period when Wesley Eure's character flat-out questioned his heterosexuality?  (I didn't watch "Days" as often as I watched Y&R, so perhaps I'm mistaken.)  But I'm pretty sure it was about 1976 or 1977, and Mike Horton had pretty much decided that he was gay.  Linda Patterson "cured" him, and he forged ahead as heterosexual, although the actor was who played Mike was gay and the seeds had been planted in the audience's mind that perhaps the character was bisexual as well.   

[will81]

Yeah that was around 1975??? I think. He couldn't make it with Trish and thought he might be gay, but indeed Linda did "cure" him. 

[beebs]

It went down in August 1976. There were a couple episodes from that month on YouTube awhile ago that featured the scenes where Mike went to Linda's and discussed his inability to 'get it up' for Trish, heavily implying he was gay with that eyeroll-worthy euphemism "less than a man" being bandied about, before Linda took him to bed to prove to him otherwise. He then became like a lost puppy dog, following Linda around for the next 6-8 months, while Linda desperately tried to shake him off. 

Mike was a 'sensitive' type, and deeply harmed by finding out his dad was actually his Uncle Bill, and not Mickey, who raised him. So he took his anger out on his mother Laura, mostly, and I think he was also reticent to sleep with Trish because he was aware of what a slimeball her stepfather was and how he perved on Trish growing up, so he sort of wanted to "protect" her, and the thought of having sex with Trish felt like taking advantage of her, to some degree. At least, that's what I've gleaned from what I've read/seen.

[Broderick]

Thanks, folks!   I was a fan of Wesley Eure (mainly from "Land of the Lost" on Saturday mornings), and was pretty sure I'd witnessed Wesley being "less than a man" on Days of Our Lives during that same time period, until Linda came along and got his all of his man parts operating again, lol.  

[That entire episode seems to be based on the 1953 Broadway play "Tea & Sympathy" where the boy in prep school feels "less than a man" and is tormented by a more aggressive male whose sympathetic and understanding wife eventually pops the sensitive boy's cherry.]   

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Broderick

[will81]

Thanks for the details. So this was a Pat Falken-Smith story. I had seen a clip at some point but it was fuzzy in my memory. 

[soapfan770]

Thanks for sharing this one @Paul Raven ! This line-up actually makes more sense although it does look like CBS was sending off SFT to a death slot as well along with LOL but at least SFT would have bridged a gap.

I always have noticed a lot of CBS stations in the late 70’s actually bumped Y&R to that empty 1PM slot so they could air noon newscasts always wondered how that aided Y&R’s growth at that time even when AMC become #1. 

[will81]

So I figured out why I got confused with Lezlie Dalton being a temp replacement for JLB, turns out she did replace her during the winter of 77. I am just not sure when exactly. Honestly would have been odd if it was during Lance and Lorie's honeymoon. JLB was out sick

[Paul Raven]

Just came across a CBS pilot 'Boston and Kilbride', one of several pilots Tom Selleck was cast in before making it with Magnum.

Included in the cast was Jaime Lyn Bauer (as a pilot!)

So Lorie and Jed were re-united!

The show aired in March 79, so maybe one of the temp replacements was because Jaime needed time off to film the show.

 

[will81]

That's awesome. The three temps for Lorie that I know of were winter 77 (Lezlie Dalton) when JLB was ill, March - Apr 78 (Victoria Thompson) when JLB had her first baby and Jul - Aug 1980 (Wesley Ann Pfenning) when she had her second baby.

Maybe there was a fourth in 1979 when she did the pilot since pilot season was traditionally in January. She may have need a couple days off. 

[Paul Raven]

 Maybe Lorie was just offscreen for a couple of weeks or Jamie pretaped some scenes.

I guess it depends on how heavily she was featured in the pilot.It may have only been a few days and she could fit it around her Y&R taping schedule.

Although it aired in March 79, it may have been a leftover from the previous season. I'll do some checking to see.

EDIT

It was in contention for the 79/80 season.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Paul Raven

[will81]

Oh right. Yeah could have been that too. If it was January, Lorie was pretty busy since this was around the time she found out Leslie was pregnant with Lance's baby. 

It does sound like it was part of the "third season" or basically "spring season" that was becoming more common back then

I wouldn't mind trying to track the episode down. I wonder if it is floating around online

Here it is. This was called The Chinese Typewriter but is Boston & Kilbride and has JLB in it

 

 

[Paul Raven]

Cool find!

Boy that was a slog and I was just skimming.

It must have had a released on the back of Magnum, The pilot was aired 10-11pm Sat night so they obviously added extra footage to pad out the running time.

JLB got to go on location (it was supposed to be Cosat Rica)and had quite a big part.

Funny that she was so magnetic on Y&R but didn't make much of an impression her IMO.

Just proves, like so many other 'soapers' that success in daytime doesn't always translate.

 

[will81]

Lol, yeah I skimmed through too. Was pretty awful. Honestly feels like a patchwork of scenes thrown together. 

It is interesting how natural and at home Selleck seems here, while Jaime-Lyn seems a bit out of her element.