Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for that.

The GCAC was an odd choice of venue. It was more formal than Gina's. It was a hotel and there was gym and a rooftop bar.

So there were customers all dressy while others were in athletic gear.

At some point the display cabinet went from trophies and momentos to the cheap looking  tchotchkes seen in other sets.

It also seemed to shrink at some point.

[will81]

Leslie realistically probably couldn't afford the place, but Bell seemed to fluctuate the Brooks between well-to-do (upper middle class, a term I'm not sure was used in the 70's) and very wealthy. In the first or second episode Stuart makes a point of saying his family isn't rich, just well-to-do. I think this was abandonded at some point or whenever Bell needed them to have a lot of money for story purposes. 

Leslie bought Pierre's after her breakdown and I get the feeling it was a place for her to hide. There was a short story of Maestro basically forcing Les to perform again and Les being resentful of him pressuring her. I think they have a confrontation about it at one point. I think story wise it was her way of having a musical connection without performing on stage as she was too frightened to.

In Dec 74 Greg goes to Leslie and asks her to rehire Gwen at Allegro, so I guess she was hands on when it was needed, but I am pretty sure she really didn't run the place and by 1975 Brock was running it. 

[Broderick]

Right, Leslie owned the Allegro, but I don't recall her ever consistently being a hands-on manager. 

Janice Lynde's Leslie was such an *introverted* person that it wouldn't have made much sense for her to pass out menus, serve drinks, and chit-chat with customers.  But it did make sense for her to sing a Broadway showtune in the Allegro, receive a round of applause, and then duck away behind the potted plants.  

Brock was the type of person who needed to be in the Allegro on a daily basis, and Bill Bell seemed to realize that fairly quickly.  That's really where your 1970s "unity" arose.  Brock could stand at the bar and counsel Chris about the Beckers in the prologue, then give Jack or Joanne Curtis a pep-talk in Act II, and then encourage Kay to forgive Jill for some wrongdoing in Act III -- all in the same set.   The central characters in each separate storyline could stay in their own individual orbits, never crossing paths or even seeing one another, but Brock could speak with any or all of them at the bar or at a table, and it seemed completely natural and organic.

Those interactions didn't happen as often once Jonas was running the place, because Jonas lacked the history with the other characters (and the knowledge of their predicaments) that Brock had possessed, by virtue of Brock being Kay's son, friends with all of the Foster kids, and friends with all of the Brooks girls.    

Edited April 1, 2022 by Broderick

[Broderick]

Will, in the scene you're speaking of, I believe that Stuart Brooks was deliberately downplaying his wealth and social prominence (as was his nature pretty consistently throughout his run from 1973-1983.)  A few pages back, someone posted an outline from late March 1973 that Bill Bell had typed for Kay Lenard (one of his early script writers) to utilize in crafting dialogue.  One of Bell's reminders in the outline to Kay Lenard was, "Forget about the Brooks' money and affluence; they should emerge in this episode as pretty identifiable people."  We see the same thing in an earlier episode written entirely by Bill Bell (I believe it's Episode 2) where Jennifer Brooks, in her pearls, is tearing lettuce for the salad while her roast is in the oven; they all sit down and eat in the kitchen, and the younger two daughters tease each other about dessert.  (Chris is on a diet.)  While they eat, they speak matter-of-factly about Lorie studying in Paris, as though they believe every family in America sends their kids to Europe to college.  (This is juxtaposed with Jill and Snapper in the dowdy Foster living room, where Snapper is sort of lecturing Jill about skipping work with menstrual cramps, because they need the money.)  What Bell seemed to be striving for here with the Brooks is a family that NEVER has to worry about money, never even THINKS about money, but have no social pretensions whatsoever.  And I believe Bell was doing that deliberately to set the stage for Lorie to breeze in a few months later with a snotty, entitled attitude that wasn't present in any of the other girls.  He was also setting-up Jennifer as a somewhat bored, vain housewife who had no qualms about sleeping around.   

[ltm1997]

Oh wow, thank you for mentioning that! I never knew that was how it all played out as far as what aired when. Also, it’s interesting how it was known as a C-level storyline. So for 1979, who would’ve been the A and B-level storylines while this was all going on? I myself have never been interested in the Brooks or Prentiss families during any time they were on the show. They just didn’t have the excitement for me nearly as much as the Foster and Chancellor families. If I think of memorable scenes or storylines, I never think of the Brooks or Prentiss families. Ever. LOL. 

[Broderick]

lol, I guess it's a matter of opinion what's the "A-story", the "B-story", and the "C-story", but in Bill Bell's case, the dialogue and the music cues typically showed you what he felt most invested in.  And he clearly LOVED anything involving Lorie and Lance, which is why I consider that his "A-story".  The "B-stories" at that time were probably the doomed marriage of Jill and Stuart, the gaslighting of Kay Thurston by Suzanne Lynch, and Chris Brooks getting caught up with Sharon & Julie (or whatever their names were) -- that evolved into the "White Slavery" storyline where Brock and Snapper had to save Chris from Rose Deville's backroom at Second Hand Rose's Antiques & Pretty Things.  The whole storyline with Nick and Nikki played-out on random, non-consecutive days almost as an afterthought (which is why I called it a "C-story").  

[Paul Raven]

I wonder at what point Bill decided Nikki had some potential as a longer running character?

Was she at first one of his Summer teens who would highlight a social problem eg STD's and then learn her lesson and disappear?

The difference with Nikki ,unlike Jody before her, was that she was related to another character, so had more presence on the canvas.

Did Bill bring back Greg with the intent of him hooking up with Nikki and thus anchoring her onto the canvas?

[will81]

I'd say in terms of Greg, I doubt it. Wings was on by very late Nov 77 and I don't think Greg and Nikki interacted until early 79. Fairly sure it was after Melody was in the role, around the time Nick Reed showed up. Pretty sure Bill Bell never really thought out such connections a year or more in advance, so I assume he got Nikki and Greg together as it suited the Nick story, of him being jealous of Greg dating his daughter, and maybe MTS and Wings had chemistry that Bill thought was worth exploring. I could be wrong though.

I do get the feeling Nikki was possibly a character that he thought had some potential, but was easy to dismiss if she wasn't working. Of course why go to the trouble of recasting and remaking her if you aren't at least somewhat invested. If I had to guess I would say Bill Bell was more invested in Casey and wanted to expand her sphere by bringing in her sister and father, then it went from there and once MTS was in the role he saw the potential. No doubt by 1981 Bill Bell made Nikki a much larger focus of the show. 

I think it is worth reiterating that Roberta had auditioned as a sub for Jaime Lyn Bauer and wasn't successful but the show told her to hold tight because they had a longer term role for her. So I do feel the idea that Roberta and Casey were seen as important is probably more true. I think MTS probably made Bell take more notice of Nikki.

Edited April 2, 2022 by will81

[Paul Raven]

So what did Greg get to do throughout 78?

Was that the Linda Larkin story?

And thanks for your response(s) .Can always rely on you and Broderick to dig deep about various Y&R eras.

[Khan]

Linda Lavin Larkin on the same show with Lance, Leslie, Lucas and Lorie.  God, so many L's, you'd think Laverne DeFazio was the HW.

[kalbir]

There was a 1978 episode on YT where Casey mentions her kid sister but Nikki wasn't seen in that episode. I think Casey was introduced as the new doctor in town, and troublemaking younger sister Nikki arrived shortly after.

[will81]

I honestly enjoy discussing these type of details.

Linda and Larry Larkin was his first real story, besides minor supporting role stuff. 

After that wrapped up he had little to do until about Apr 79 when Greg and Nikki began dating, which led to the Nick Reed confrontation. 

I do wonder if Bill was a Superman fan or something. Lois Lane, Lana Lang etc...

Casey came in almost as a replacement for Chris when Trish Stewart left in March, I think Casey popped up the following week. Not sure if they always intended to replace Trish or not. Her first story was a sort of romance with Snapper, then Chris returns (now Lynn Topping) and Snapper has to decide.

Nikki came on in May. So it is possible Nikki was always intended to be part of the show or Bell quickly created her once he saw Roberta as Casey. There isn't much of a gap between them

[Broderick]

I think Nikki just slowly evolved into someone worth keeping.  As mentioned earlier, the emphasis (at first) seemed to be on Casey, and Nikki was almost an afterthought -- Patty Minter's lazy sidekick at the Allegro.

Erica Hope played Nikki as trashy and slutty, without much depth (which is the way the part was written).  When it became evident that Erica Hope wasn't working out -- and I was never sure what happened backstage, but I sorta suspected she was coming to the studio unprepared and hungover, lol -- the recast started things moving in a more long-term direction. 

Melody Thomas brought a certain "scatter-brained stupidity" to the character that made her sluttiness FUNNY and sort of ENDEARING, instead of just provocative.  She still wasn't anything to write home about, until she crossed paths with Victor and Kay.  The depth and maturity of Eric Braeden and Jeanne Cooper really HIGHLIGHTED the immaturity, impulsiveness, and air-headed characteristics of Nikki, and that's when I believe she broke-out of the "sidekick" role and truly became an ingenue in her own right.       

[will81]

I am pretty sure, without naming her, Kay Alden mentioned that Erica was too much like her character and often wouldn't even turn up and they had no other choice but to replace her. Probably why they went a slightly different direction with MTS being cast. Once bitten, twice shy and all that

[soapfan770]

Don’t forget that Linda Larkin’s worthless husband was Larry Larkin!

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