Y&R: Old Articles

[Paul Raven]

Victoria Rowell exit interview 2007

ROWELL'S BITTERSWEET GOOD-BYE

Dru's disappearance this week marks the end of Victoria Rowell's latest Y&R stint, which began in 2002 (she was previously on from 1990-1998 and again in 2000). The actress, who asked to be released from her contract, leaves with mixed feelings.

 

"I have not only been in the business of acting, but I've been in the business of lifting the whole show," she says. "That being said, I have a responsibility to my audience, which by the way, is predominately African-American; you can quote me on that. I care about the whole design of the show, I care about the wardrobe, I care about all details. I cared about the paint on the wall of the Winters family home because I felt that we needed more contrast between the color of our skin and the color of the walls. Those are the kinds of things that I would actually want to discuss. That's my responsibility as an actor, a performer and an artist; to care about the whole show. I'm detail-driven and those things are important not only to me, but to the debt of gratitude that I owe to Bill Bell."

 

As for her feelings about HW/EP Lynn Latham, Rowell says, "The word 'unhappy' does not exist in this equation. Lynn is a brilliant writer and she recognizes the importance of sussing out an actor's best strengths. She did the research, which I can't imagine how many hours she put into researching our characters and the history of the show, but she did it. And it shows. She's brilliant."

 

However, if Dru is recast, VR hopes Y&R finds "an actress who continues to march the way I did for African-Americans on covers of daytime magazines. I hope they find an actress who continues to advocate for black hair and makeup artists. I hope they find an actress who continues to march for a black writer or two on the show. I hope they find an actress who continues to demand that an African-American actress will be allowed to go [abroad] to represent Y&R. I hope they find an actress who will continue to carry the baton to care about the minutest of details, who will care about all aspects of the show and want only the best for the show." VR adds, "Sometimes, caring too much just doesn't have an audience."

Edited October 6, 2022 by Paul Raven

[Chris B]

That's a powerful exit interview from Victoria Rowell. It's sad to look at her reasonable requests (which still aren't fully met 15 years later) and to think of how much hate she got for it. I also like her giving props to Lynn Latham. That woman had a lot of issues I won't deny, but one thing I loved about her was her commitment to real diversity which was backed up with screen time. I wish they had kept Kay Alden and Jack Smith around and left them as HW's and NOT EP's. I feel had they done that, the show would've remained good. The biggest mistake Y&R started to make was making the HW's EP which left them without someone to check them for quality.

[Contessa Donatella]

Yeah, SSH's mother is in some ways as famous as her daughter. Here's my question to you guys, is there anything in particular I could look for in the book & type up for y'all? I think what comes up next after I stopped is back at DOOL & is when they wanted to kill Doug Off. I have no idea if the narrative goes backkto the Bell shop or not. It's just been too long since I read it.

[NothinButAttitude]

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[kalbir]

AFAIK The Price is Right during the Bob Barker years had four episodes promoting Y&R: 1982 with Terry Lester and David Hasselhoff which I haven't seen anywhere. 1983 with Michael Damian and Steven Ford which was posted earlier in the thread I think. 1985 as shown above. 1992 with Melody Thomas Scott and Peter Bergman which I haven't seen anywhere.

Edited October 12, 2022 by kalbir

[Forever8]

CBS Daytime promos from 1984 have been recently uploaded. 

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[yrfan1983]

Great clips, thanks! At 1:00, a rare 1984 glimpse of Jess Walton on Capitol

[ltm1997]

Thank you for posting this!!! i’d love to see the full scene between Lauren and Jack at the end of this video. Quite ironic to see Lauren as a blackmailer when not even a decade later, she’d be blackmailed herself by Sheila.

[kalbir]

Was Lauren considered a vixen BITD? I thought she was more of a spoiled brat/Daddy's little princess.

[fivethej]

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[BoldRestless]

Thanks. A rare blonde Leslie!

[ltm1997]

She was when it came to getting what she wanted from a man.

[Paul Raven]

Jonas/Leslie 'Pris'

There would have been a lot of unhappy posters if the internet had been around then.

That story went nowhere. One of Bill's misfires.

Jonas/Leslie 'Pris'

There would have been a lot of unhappy posters if the internet had been around then.

That story went nowhere. One of Bill's misfires.

[will81]

The big reveal of Leslie to Lucas on the plane in Santa Leandro also sounds anti climactic, but even more so Lorie and Leslie. Lucas basically tells Lorie that he found Leslie and Lorie goes to Jonas' bar and Leslie doesn't know who she is. This all happened when John McCook had returned for a brief stint as Lance around May 1980. As far as I can tell there was no suspense. Maybe Lance knows about Leslie, but it must have been so unremarkable that synopsis doesn't even mention it. He comes back, he and Lorie reconnect, he heads back to Paris, Lorie realises Leslie has lost her memory and life goes on. All very underwhelming

Personally I think Lucas shouldn't have seen Leslie until after he was shot, so he would be sure he saw her but everyone would assume he was hullacinating. Build the suspense and have Leslie, Lance and Lorie miss each other a few times before the big reveal. John McCook was back for a couple weeks. That could have been two very explosive weeks, but it all sounds like it fell flat

Edited October 15, 2022 by will81

[Broderick]

There was a TON of suspense in the Leslie/Jonas storyline!

(1)  The Fish in the Newspaper -- Stuart Brooks ran a story in The Chronicle about the missing Leslie, complete with a photograph of Leslie.  A copy of the newspaper arrived at Jonas's club, but Jonas never saw it because his concubine (Gloria?) wrapped-up some fish in the newspaper.  I was dying to know if she planned to freeze the fish or to refrigerate the fish, and whether the fish would be cooked at home or in the club.  Also, I was curious what TYPE of fish she wrapped in the paper.  

(2) The Club Itself -- You'd think Jonas's club was in or near Genoa City, because Leslie managed to arrive there with no purse, no money, and no form of identity.  But no one working there or any of the customers recognized Leslie or appeared to have ever heard of her.  Gradually it became evident the club was somewhere faraway.  But then the newspaper (see above) arrived, indicating Jonas subscribed to the Genoa City Chronicle, so maybe the club was in GC after all.  But then Lucas and Jonas reconnected through Sebastian Crowne, involving a scheme to free refugees on an island in San Leandro (or somewhere), and there was a lot of flying around in the Prentiss jet, with stops to pick up Jonas, which made it seem he was in some distant land.  Then Stuart, Lorie, Lucas, and Lance started popping into the club regularly, as though it was in Genoa City.  But then Jonas moved his business to the Allegro, which didn't make much sense if he already had a club in town.  I never figured out where Jonas and Leslie were supposed to be.  

(3) Chris and Peggy -- Whenever a story involved Lorie or Leslie (Bill Bell favorites), you always wondered if he would permit the Two Lesser Sisters (Chris and Peggy) to stray into the storyline and deliver a few lines of dialogue to the More Important Sisters.  Once again, in this case, they were deprived of the opportunity.