Y&R: Old Articles

[soapfan770]

@DramatistDreamer @BetterForgotten @kalbir  @Paul Raven @Chris B @YRfan23

 I think the most unusual yet most blatant examples will always be the strange castings of Keesha Monroe.

It seems for all intent and purposes that Keesha was an AA character or at least was assumed to be one. Yet we first got Wanda Acuna, a fair skinned Puerto Rican who also played a mix of both Hispanic and well White non-Hispanic roles in other shows followed by olive skinned Italian Jennifer Gatti, who of course was the original Dinah Marler on GL a decade earlier. 

Very, very jarring; I believe the performances of the cast and superb writing for the story allowed Y&R to get away with it, but still questionable and a bit unsettling to say the least.

Maybe the show should’ve clarified Kesha’s heritage better; I know Waiting to Exhale was popular at the time but Y&R wasn’t definitely ready to have Nathan cheat on Olivia with a white woman either. It be a decade before Carmen came to town as well. 

[kalbir]

@soapfan770 AFAIK Keesha race was never stated but I'm pretty sure it was implied that she was African-American. I don't know how in the mid-1990s Y&R got away with casting actresses of Puerto Rican and Italian heritage as an African-American character.

Edited October 22, 2024 by kalbir

[DramatistDreamer]

Ugh, I forgot about that one with Kesha! I must’ve erased it from my memory, so egregious as that example is. G

[Liberty City]

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no reason for sharing. none at all.

[Broderick]

Stephanie E Williams & the Amy character were highlights of Y&R in the 1980s for me.  She was so pretty, had such a dazzling smile, and she had great chemistry with all the characters in her orbit (Jazz, Tyrone, Paul, Andy, Lauren, Traci, and Nathan).  When she left in 1988, I felt like Bill Bell had made a fairly serious mistake letting her get away. 

It annoys me that they're randomly bringing her character back with a recast.  As far as I know, Stephanie Williams is still involved with the arts in St. Louis and is still suitably pretty.  If they'd asked her, I bet she would've returned.    

[Joseph]

You mean this exit?

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I think it was ways worse that she came back in 1990 and they let her go a second time, She was A Treasure, but hey I think her absence was part of way Olivia was created and I loved Liv!

[BoldRestless]

Amy was likable but a goody two shoes... Olivia was more layered and the relationship between her and Drucilla ultimately gave us the amazing Lillie Bell confrontation.

[SoapDope]

The way they are replacing Williams and recasting Amy with another actress is the same thing DAYS did with the Valerie character and not asking back original actress Tina Andrews. 

[kalbir]

Jazz, Tyrone, Andy, Amy departures overlap w/ the EP change from H. Wesley Kenney to Ed Scott. Jazz and Tyrone were gone in 1986, Andy was gone in 1987, Amy was gone in 1988. Nathan pretty much replaced Andy and Lynne pretty much replaced Amy.

[Paul Raven]

Perhaps Stephanie was approached and refused, similar to Tonya. Maybe she didn't want to leave St Louis for a few day work in LA?

[Chris B]

That is possible, but my biggest issue isn't the recast, but who they recast Amy with. It's a total disregard to who Amy was. 

[asafi]

"And honestly, Amy is one of the last characters we expected to ever see again, ever since she left town to take care of her father back in 1988!

Back in the day, she worked as Paul and Andy’s secretary at their private investigator agency, and her exit is what prompted Paul to hire Lynne in her stead. She was far more, though, than just an occasional coworker as she was friends with much of the younger crowd back in the day, including Danny, Lauren and Traci. In fact, they all used to join Danny up on stage when he toured!

On top of that, she dated Nate’s father, Nathan, and, when she discovered he was illiterate, took it upon herself to teach him to read and write. Seeing as how she knew Nate’s dad in the day, we’re guessing the reason she’s reaching out has something to do with the elder Hastings. Heck, maybe he’s alive after all, and just faked his death to get out of the whole kidnapping Nate thing! And Amy could be the only one who knows it".

[Broderick]

I sure hope they asked Stephanie Williams before defaulting to another actress.  

 

I don't think the show had ANY control over the second time she left.  If I'm remembering right, she returned without a contract, making her a free agent to come and go as she pleased.  After she taped a few episodes, General Hospital offered her a control role, and she took it.  

I'm guessing Amy will reveal she was pregnant when she left town, and Lil Nate has a half-brother who's now got a chip on his shoulder and will find his way to Genoa City to make life miserable for Nate (briefly) in some ill-conceived storyline, will bang Audra Charles once or twice, and after his storyline fizzles in six months, he'll be thrown in the dustbin with Keemo's daughter and Noah.  

[asafi]

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[asafi]

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