Y&R: Old Articles

[soapfan770]

Thank you for sharing this as well! I enjoyed the Rawlins dinner follow-up and all the juicy awkwardness associated it with it.

The rest of the episode was overall a lot quieter than the previous one. Our Dynasty reject Marc strikes again with Lauren chasing after him before his date with Joanna? Eh No.

I like Skip & Carol but thought the story about Skip’s dead wife was a bit too much despite the nice warmth and chemistry the pair had.  What is overkill is the extremely saccharine scenes between John, Jessica, Christine and Danny. OMG. Absent any of the high stakes drama of the previous episode and just dreadful to watch. 
 

That would have been interesting. In the aftermath of Jill’s shooting it was fascinating to see both Carl and Paul had a clear disdain for Jack with Jack complaining about his ex in-laws, which was a nice touch for history as 1986 Y&R already was feeling a million years away from 1980-83 Y&R .

[YRfan23]

Here's 7/14/88 for YT

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[Broderick]

I think the main reason Marc Mergeron worked in his first run (and seemed so out-of-place in his second run) is that he had a purpose the first time around.  Through him, we found out all about Dina's post-Abbott life in France with Marcel Mergeron, Marcel's will, whether or not John and Dina's divorce was valid, the Brent Davis scandal, and so many other things that made Marc a crucial part of the show.  The second time around, he was just a random playboy, not really even connected with the Abbotts, and he really did just seem like a Dynasty reject.  

[yrfan1983]

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This is one of my all-time fave clips that have been anonymously posted in the Vault over the past couple years (now someone else has posted it to YT)

The scene just swells with emotion, knowing it was probably Robert Colbert's last ep.

Liz's dialogue hints to me some deep-seated insecurity, begging to be explored in future story, which it never was... does she truly think herself inferior to Stuart and not worthy of his love? I know past stories hinted at that. Is Liz's self-worth that low?

Or could it be the opposite? Could it be that Liz just knows herself well enough to know that she is happier being alone, and doesn't want to hurt Stuart's feelings?

[Broderick]

I feel like we long-term viewers got really cheated with no resolution to the Stuart/Liz Brooks storyline.  

[kalbir]

I posted this promo in the 1980s Ratings thread. I spotted Doug Davidson (1:17), Jeanne Cooper (1:19), Nina Arvesen (1:20). Y&R was #1 in daytime but CBS was 3rd in primetime. Maybe CBS was hoping to get the Y&R fans to their primetime lineup.

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[soapfan770]

Brenda’s first day back is on YT again after so many years. I can’t imagine Adair playing these scenes with such fire and intensity.

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[YRfan23]

I wonder the real reason Bill Bell gave such a lazy end to that pairing? Most of Stuart’s daughters had send offs that sort of made sense, so couldn’t it have been too much to just have Stuart say he’s leaving GC to go live with Leslie or Lorie (and hopefully Brooks) and maybe grant Liz a quickie divorce? 

[DRW50]

I love how bizarrely feverish the normally staid recast announcement is here...talk about a harbinger for the next four years.

This whole sequence is peak Bill Bell Y&R. The opaque camera angles creating such an oppressive atmosphere and making the Abbott  home feel as much like a prison as a refuge. How deep in character and drive and yet how off Jill, Dina and Mamie all are in their own ways, which makes the scene feel increasingly delirious as we go from Dina spying on Jill to facing off with Mamie to facing off with Jill. As Camille Paglia once said about  Nikki, the scenes represent the essence of femininity and womanhood,  but in this case, in nightmarish ways. Everyone is trapped in their own hell and either trying to get out, or just don't know how.

I  didn't realize Bell just ended up re-using the hiding  letter idea with Dina, John, and that Constance Towers character 13 years later. Now I have even more disdain for that plot.

Edited April 29, 2022 by DRW50

[Vee]

Well, you guys are certainly upselling this. I'll have to watch!

[soapfan770]

It’s such a strange ending. Most sources said that Stuart died but was never addressed on screen. It probably should have been. Like Jill being the sole Foster family left I do wish Bell had at least let one Brooks family member remember remain. I had read that could have been Leslie but the Laurence family story was weird as hell and flopped so that ended any notion. That said Liz should have never left IMO at all. I feel maybe Liz was Bell’s answer to Nixon’s Ada on AW and as was probably the only non-messy matriarch Bell wrote (as Jennifer, Katherine, Regina, Vanessa, Dina, Mary, Alison, Joanna, and Lilibelle were all very messy lol

@kalbirDidn’t Y&R get better ratings that some of CBS primetime shows in the 90’s? It’s always sad to me that everyone goes back to 1981 GH saying how soaps where big yet Y&R overall from 1990-1994 was such an unmatched juggernaut in ratings and really made Y&R characters household names.

LOL @DRW50 about the Audrey North story that went south. I am glad MR’s Mamie got some good airtime here and it’s first hinted that Mamie was in love with John herself while being the mother to the Abbott kids they never had yet still doing her old fashioned duties as “the maid/help” whole “staying in her place.” Bell was never progressive enough to do any racial storylines but he definitely nailed Victorian classicism to a tee when it came to these stories.

Edited April 29, 2022 by soapfan770

[DRW50]

Yes, this was the most I've seen of Marguerite's Mamie actually  doing anything, and I  immediately got that vibe as well. I can actually believe it a bit more with her than with VRF, who was much warmer than the often very cold Abbott dynamics.  

The Mamie/John idea was extremely daring, but something that Y&R was likely too conservative in viewership to ever pull off. I think if Bell had  been  more on all cylinders the idea would never have gone through. 

[soapfan770]

It was good enough for a Golden Girls episode in 1989 but a long term storyline on Y&R? Yeah unfortunately absolutely not. By the time we saw John & Mamie together in 1995 it was already twilight time for Y&R’s older cast members. 
 

MR did some excellent work again towards the end of her run in late 89/early 90 with John’s heart attack. A while back I know we discussed it’s interesting that Bell made Olivia and Dru her nieces instead of her daughters, probably Bell’s easier way around some pretty awkward situations. I mean if Olivia & Dru had been Mamie’s daughters of course Olivia would be best friends Ashley and act like sisters but with Dru, ho boy that would have been one hell of very volatile relationship with Dru resentful of Mamie’s alleged preference for the WASPy Abbott kids for starters. 

[Titus Andronicus]

Occasionally, the music/lyrics from this promo would stick in my head and I've been off and on trying to find it for a few years. Thank you for posting this for that reason alone.

[kalbir]

I wouldn't be surprised if it did. As we've discussed in other threads, CBS primetime was a mess back then.

 

You're welcome.