Y&R: Old Articles

[will81]

I was always under the impression Bell brought her on to just give her something to do and her hope was always to return to Days. So he didn't make her too important on Y&R in case she got the call back. She was basically there from the time she left Days until she returned. It seemed more like a favour than anything else.

Has SSH ever really talked about her time at Y&R? 

Honestly the more I see of Jill/John from 1984, the more I understand why so many viewers wanted Jill to take John to the cleaners in 1985/86. He neglected her and basically spent more time tending to Dina (who was still waivering between John and Eric) and Lindsay.

Even Ashley told John he was ignoring his wife and needed to make a decision about his marriage. I wish Bell had Jill throw this stuff in John's face more when they were getting divorced. 

[will81]

post duplicated

Edited October 4, 2022 by will81

[Paul Raven]

Only along the lines that she had a different attitude to when she was on Days.

At Y&R she decided to be 100% positive about her character, story, appearances, co-stars etc.

I guess going from front burner at Days to being marginalized was a humbling lesson for her.

[will81]

Lol, I just went back to the July 03 1984 ep and she is wearing something similar or possibly the same dress again. I feel like wardrobe were rationing outfits and told Beth here is your summer dress. 

Yeah I get the feeling it was Y&R or unemployment at that point. 

[Sapounopera]

Didn't Bill Bell offer her the part of Stephanie Forrester on B&B? Or was it Jamie Lyn Bauer?

Marla Adams, what a stunning woman.

Brenda Dickson IS Jill. It is fascinating to compare these scenes to the ones from 1974 in the hair salon on the C mansion for the first time.

I think that in the long run it was a mistake to focus so much on the Newman family. Especially after Heather Tom was gone. 

Edited October 4, 2022 by SAPOUNOPERA

[sheilaforever]

SSH was in the running for Stephanie Forrester, but Susan Flannery was the first choice.

 

I agree with your comment about Brenda Dickson. She was great in this episode. Unfortunately within the following 2 years she went for full camp mode and highly inconsistent. Therefore Jess Walton was the ultimate jackpot because she quickly stepped into these shows and graced us with her amazing acting chops. It's still criminal that the show minimized her 2006 onwards.

[will81]

I had always heard SSH didn't want the part, but was the first choice. Susan Flannery didn't want to do it either but eventually accepted. 

Yeah I agree. Everything she does feels right as Jill. She had the best and the correct interpretation of the character, even if Jess or Deb were better actors. When Brenda brought her A game, there was no one who could touch her in the part. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I know that one thing for Flannery was that she did not want to work on an hour show & DOOL was going to an hour. B&B was not going to expand. If I have my dates right, she even worked a bit at an hour long DOOL but she was wanting to leave that whole time.

Here is the Flannery quote that pertains.

In November 2009, Emmy winner Susan Flannery (Stephanie, B&B) shared in an exclusive interview with We Love Soaps what her thoughts were on the change to the hour format on DAYS OF OUR LIVES: "I said to them, 'I’m glad I’m leaving. It’s so rushed that you’re no longer in control of your performance. And that doesn’t make me happy.' So I did the first six weeks when the show launched for an hour. That’s the reason I agreed to do BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL [a half-hour show]. I like that form. That was Bill's favorite form too. He hated the hour. He thought they had to pad too much story."- We Love Soaps Net

Now I have NO idea why they are talking about the network expansion to an hour in Nov. 2009, but it is that period in the 70s that they are talking about. And, for the record Bill Bell Sr. was forced by CBS to go to an hour with Y&R.  AW went first willingly, then DOOL, also willing, then they made a deal with Agnes  (the carrot of studio space) and an ultimatum for Bell (the stick).

Edited October 4, 2022 by Tonksadora
quote

[Broderick]

I believe Miss Dickson's problem was that she began "living her role" in the outside world, which made her more of a headache than she was worth.  (I flipped through a Soap Opera Digest in the 1984-era, where they mentioned she had recently purchased a new Mercedes with "Jill" as her personalized license plate.  That probably says a lot about where her mind was.)  Even when her performances were at their strangest and most bizarre, she was -- something to behold.   

[AMCOLTLLover]

I see that would explain that SSH would not interact much with her daughter Lauren in 86 from January until July besides the time Lauren was kidnapped by Shawn. Her only acting partner is Jerry Douglas/John Abbott. The last episode I saw of 86 had her in it and she tried to convince John to get some plastic surgery to look a bit more younger. That cringed me out a bit. 
 

Shame that Casey Reed was such a backround character as Nikki’s sister. She just appeared in like 23 episodes between January until July. She should’ve never been downgraded especially with Nikki frontburner all the time!

I love BRENDA as Jill and she is My JILL! I love Walton as Jill but Brenda had something to her. I mean she wasn’t innocent but everyone did something wrong that lead to the divorce but everyone gave Jill such tough love. I loved that she won the divorce and for her job at Jabot! 
Her performance in court  when Jack was nearly sent down for shooting her (even though it wasn’t him. I still don’t know who it was and can’t wait to see who it actually was.) was phenomenal! 

Edited October 4, 2022 by AMCOLTLLover

[Contessa Donatella]

I believe that SSH talks about this stuff in the autobiography that she & Bill wrote. I'll get the book out & see about typing some up.

[Contessa Donatella]

A Story of Love by Bill Hayes & Susan Seaforth Hayes Stars of Days of Our Lives Like Sands Through the Hourglass P. 206 Garden Varieties Q. Unexpectedly Bill Bell put me on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, playing a powerful fashion maven in sharp shoulder pads. Joanna was mother to adorable Tracey Bregman, an actress who began in soaps on DAYS when I was younger and more charming. My mother was writing on Y&R. then and scripted many of our contentious mother-daughter scenes. It all sounded like echoes of 1353, but this time we were getting paid for the backchat. I loved Bell for giving me a contact on his stellar show. Ed Scott, the producer, was great, the part was fun and glamourous, and I could even steal moments to shop for big crystal earrings at the Beverly Center after work. R. Two years later Bell needed to end the character. I begged him for a little longer run and we cut the appearance guarantee. Still the ax fell one day, and a farewell cake was ordered with my name on it. This parting was not so catastrophic as my DAYS good-bye but I could not face that cake. Ed Scott understood & slipped me a Tiffany pillbox with a Y&R logo. I'm told Bill Bell came for the cake-cutting and said many nice things about me. Okay, let me stop here & ask, "Is this anything that informs what you're talking about?

[BoldRestless]

 

Thanks for typing that up! Had no idea her mother wrote for the show!

[Broderick]

Her mother, Elizabeth Harrower, not only wrote for the show, but played the old lady (Charlotte Ramsey) who pretended to be Jill's mother.  

[AMCOLTLLover]

Thank u so much for this.. means a lot.

Now I get it. It’s a shame coz they could’ve done so much with the Joana character