Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

So glad that Cricket aka pizza face was able to offer Traci some words of wisdom that changed her whole outlook on life.

At 48 min in we have a seen of Jill standing on a terrace with the Abbott living room in the background. She then enters from an area next to the fireplace. Once in the living room we see glimpses of a chaise longue next to the fireplace. The editing doesn't make it clear how that all fits.

I don't recall that area ever being shown or used again.

Does anyone else recall seeing it? Why use it that one time?

[will81]

Also it seems Lauralee Bell was on contract in these episodes, which surprises me as she wasn't on contract during her shorter 1986 stint but went on contract around May/Jun 1986. I always assumed she was recurring in 83, 84, 85. 

The chaise lounge was always there. We see it briefly when Jack comes home one night in a 1984 ep and Jill is sitting on it waiting for him. Around the time he was going after Ms Wells. Maybe Sep 84???

I assume the terrace is the fourth wall we have only seen maybe once and you go past the fireplace to the wall which is actually a door/window???? But this has to have been built later than 1983 when we get a good view from the staircase (Patty's view) when Jill and Jack are doing the re-enactment. In that shot it just looks like windows with blinds and very basic. Lol, maybe Jill got some redecorating in after all.

Edited July 8, 2022 by will81

[will81]

Pretty sure this is the only time this side was shown. Maybe to the left of Jill are the doors?

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Jill on the chaise lounge, behind the fireplace. I assume the terrace doors are directly in front of her and there is a nook or something. 

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for posting those pics. I recall those scenes from Patty's pov and thinking that 4th wall looked pretty basic.

Nowadays we don't even get to see the dining room at the Abbotts.

On the subject of extended sets, I recall the Newman Ranch having a dining area that was in front of the sofa and was used at least once for a family dinner. Does anyone else remember that?

[allmc2008]

Regarding the Katherine/Joann story.

Kay Alden told me that she had a friend who worked for the show that functioned as a creative consultant of sorts. They used her to read current publications to keep a 'pulse' on the current times. She read a story in Cosmo regarding lesbianism and that is what led to Kay/Joann.

Alden told me that the studio called them as a specific scene happened. Basically, there was a 'meaningful glance' between the two and one of them touched the other on the shoulder. The studio said that they could see the ratings crash and burn on some device. In fact, they lost a great deal of viewers and they didn't return for several months. But after that call, they had to end it. They both agreed to never try to do that again -- largely due to the the chunks of horrible letters they got from the fans.

[will81]

That's fascinating. I read an interview with Bill Bell which he did prior to the Joann/Kay story. When asked about gay characters he said he wouldn't do a male couple because he didn't think his audience would respond well but he thought the audience would be more accepting of two women. This along with the cosmo story must have given him some confidence and it must have hit hard when the ratings crashed and the unkind fan letters poured in. 

[Broderick]

I believe Daddy gave Lauralee a 3-month contract for the summer of 1985.  

The Kay/Chancellor/Joann Curtis was probably a "rude awakening" for Alden & Bell about their actual demos.  MUCH was written in the mid to late 1970s about Y&R being the most "progressive, innovative" soap on the air, and it supposedly had the youngest demographics in daytime TV.  But if you look at the detailed performance of the show during those peak years, you'll see that Y&R was performing strongest in the South and the Midwest, often losing its time slot in more urban markets such as NYC, Boston and Philadelphia.  The audience maybe wasn't as "progressive" as Bell and Alden had been led to believe.  Yes, everyone was titillated by Snapper taking off his shirt and by Nikki getting gonorrhea and by Kay Chancellor rolling around in the hay with the stable boy -- but let two women look each other in the eyes or touch other's hands tenderly, and that was just too much for the "progressive" audience who actually turned out not to be so "progressive" after all.  I've always felt that's when Bill Bell "retreated" just a bit and began telling more restrained storylines.  For a while it had appeared that Y&R could dictate a whole new set of ground rules for nudity, candid dialogue, and sexual situations on television -- but that illusion kind of crashed back to reality the day Kay touched Joann too earnestly.    

Edited July 8, 2022 by Broderick

[yrfan1983]

Good research, thanks! The July 8 date threw me off, as I thought Terry L left in June.

[Contessa Donatella]

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44 years ago today, July 8, 1978, TV Guide - The Young and the Restless

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Tonksadora
Note: 30¢ for the issue!

[allmc2008]

Kay did tell me that, yes, it was the Midwestern audience that reacted strongly. She gave me a lot of little fun stories about the earlier years that I should share. But, some of it is supposed to be hidden.

 

One thing she did say is that, early on, she was assigned to log fan mail. She confirmed that the people who thought the show was real weren't putting on an act. Something about the writing of the mail pieces showed clear mental illness.

 

She and Bell would, when she first started, spend half an hour or so outlining a script by having a piece of legal pad that was divided in 5 rows and 5 columns. They would fill in a row, after brainstorming for that half hour or so, and then she'd write a few acts and he'd write a few acts.

When Jack Smith came in 1979 they divided it in 3 ways.

When they knew there was going to be multiple episodes in a row that featured a hot climax one of them would dedicate to those scenes for all those episodes all at once as to know loose the flow of suspense/intrigue.

[allmc2008]

I talked to her about this a few nights ago. She said nobody knew if Brock had actually been 'redeemed'. She said it depended on the actor. Had it been someone like Terry Lester, Brock would have been faking his redemption.

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[allmc2008]

This was in an old folder of hers that was dedicated to Brock. This is one of like 30 pages of, what they called, "Brockisms". She and Elizabeth Hollower found and typed them. Sometimes they made them up. Kay's parents, also, sent her a devotional book (also in the file) for this.

She said his purpose became to be the moral compass of the show.

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[Broderick]

That's a great character summary -- very introspective and clever from Bill Bell.  If you remember Brock's first week on the show, that's exactly the angle that was played.  Kay Chancellor didn't believe one word coming out of Brock's mouth.  

The actor sounded VERY convincing, but Kay wasn't convinced at all.  I can't remember the dialogue exactly, but Kay's response to his "evangelization experience" was basically, "Oh dear God, Brock, you always believed the wrong parent died.  You wanted Gary to live, and you wanted me to die.  You made that very clear.  Now you stand here telling me that you've found God.  Very strange bedfellows, you and God.  You and money?  Yes.  You and women?  Yes.  But you and God?  I find that very hard to believe, Brock."  

The sincerity of Beau Kayser convinced ME immediately that he was for real.  Kay Chancellor had her doubts, though.  His was a character like none I'd ever seen before.  

(Thanks for the page of "Brockisms", too.  I recognize the one about, "Let us offer our brother our hand, and accept our brother's hand when in need."  And "for every problem there is a solution, even if it's only learning to live with it."  I'm pretty sure he said both of those on the show.  )   

[BoldRestless]

Love that list of quotes! Wonder if they all made it to the show. Wow that comment about if Terry Lester played Brock... I can picture it, that's fascinating. 

 

@Broderickthis is the scene where Brock returns.

 

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[DramatistDreamer]

Thinking of Y&R’s climb to #1 and the promotion that it took to get the show there, what you said makes so much sense. On such a conservative network, the show that is doing the most risky material was unlikely to get The Tiffany Network’s seal of approval at a time when it was likely necessary if the show wanted to push for the coveted top spot on the network and eventually of all daytime drama. They were going to need the force of the network backing them. Otherwise, I think WJB fit perfectly with what CBS wanted a family man, creator of his own show but the content had an edge of daring but couldn’t be too edgy.