Shari Shattuck was raked over the coals by viewers during her run.

We do not speak of Shari Shattuck.

I wonder how much input Kay got when the show was half an hour. Wasn't it pretty much them two? I also wonder how the show changed once she did join.

Even through the 80s, there were only Bell, Alden, Smith and the scriptwriter. They kept the team small and tight.

Epperson's Ashley would've never been in the sperm story because her lack of chemistry with Victor/EB wouldn't have justified it.

It worked with Eileen because Eileen's a stronger actress & because the history her Ashley's had with Victor supported her actions.

They probably would have done the sperm story with Brad instead if Epperson was still playing Ashley.....Only it would have been her, Traci, and possibly Lauren fighting over his sperm.....

Just kidding btw.......

If it had happened on PASSIONS, all the men's sperm would have been swapped, resulting in every woman in the cast being impregnated -- but none by the guy they had intended. And NBC would have launched a massive ad campaign for it (the "Summer of Sperm") and everything.

Meg Bennett ( ex Julia Newman) also wrote for Y&R in the 80's with Bell, Alden, and Smith. I think Jim Houghton's (ex Greg Y&R ex Kenny Knots) sister Mona Houghton was a writer for Y&R for a while. I saw an old script with her name on it one time for sale on ebay.

Didn't Susan Seaforth Hayes mother also write for Y&R at one point ?

If it had happened on PASSIONS, all the men's sperm would have been swapped, resulting in every woman in the cast being impregnated -- but none by the guy they had intended. And NBC would have launched a massive ad campaign for it (the "Summer of Sperm") and everything.

Oh I can't even at the thought of Gwen attacking Theresa to the ground over dumb ass Ethan's sperm....

This is a bit off topic but how many pages was an half hour Y&R script??

James Reilly spent some time there in the 1980's too. A couple of years according to imdb.

Shari Shattuck was raked over the coals by viewers during her run. They tried pairing her with several men, but nothing clicked. They even brought Grant Cramer (ex-Shawn Garrison) back to put her with and he only made like 4 appearances before he disappeared never to be seen again. They also tried her with Cole Howard and Kurt Costner.

Heh, the interesting thing was her firing was turned into a "controversial" spectacle. Shattuck went to the soap press with "woe as me, I've been replaced in favor of a casting stunt!" with Davidson coming fresh off her first run as Kristen on Days. The tactic gained a lot of sympathy, especially from Epperson fans(someone in SOD wrote Davidson's rehiring was an unnecessary gimmick!). Once Davidson appeared on screen it the controversy died instantly.

Edited March 13, 201510 yr by soapfan770

Ashley had changed a fair amount in Eileen's time away, and some key ingredients were never the same, especially her relationship with Jack (I was startled at the time by how little connection she had with Peter Bergman, although he's had so little chemistry with anyone in recent years that now it's difficult to care).

I've never felt like Eileen has had a good story since her return to the role. I doubt she ever will.

Ashley had changed a fair amount in Eileen's time away, and some key ingredients were never the same, especially her relationship with Jack (I was startled at the time by how little connection she had with Peter Bergman, although he's had so little chemistry with anyone in recent years that now it's difficult to care).

I've never felt like Eileen has had a good story since her return to the role. I doubt she ever will.

I think the last I remember was her mental breakdown after losing her baby. I loved that story…after that I can't really recall any good one she had.

I was surprised how long Shattuck lasted in the role. I remember the posters at Media Domain referred to her as " Shari Shattup" and commented she looked like a crossed eyed cat.

Another weird casting choice that made viewers balk around that time was Sarah Aldrich as Victoria Newman . That lasted about 5 minutes before Heather Tom returned.

she looked like a crossed eyed cat.

Staring all day at Ronn Moss's scarves will do that to anyone.

Was it Alden or Jack Smith or both who made Kay and Jill mother and daughter? That dumb contrivance really ruined the integrity of their complex relationship. I remember cringing when Jill would refer to Kay as "mother" and the whole ladies who lunch thing when they had no storyline at all. It was just a stupid move. However, I do kind of understand, from a creative standpoint, why they did it. Their storyline together was growing stale, so writers wanted to add a fresh dynamic to it. If I were writing, however, I would've just taken Jill and Kay out of each other's orbit for a while, given the whole relationship a rest, and sent them in different story directions. But I think by that point, TPTB had trouble seeing them as anything other than one two-headed character incapable of carrying story, or even being in scenes, away from the other. I suspect it was Smith's idea, but not sure. Whoever the idea came from, wrong move!

I actually remember being in college when Eileen returned as Ashley.. my mom was over the moon cause Eileen was who she saw as Ashley.. and I remember thinking what the heck Kristen Dimera was doing in Genoa City..and actually thought of her as faux Ashley since I remembered Brenda E as Ashley (and she played her for 7 years or so).

It took Eileen a good several months to ease back into the character.. but the show gave her time. That's what angered me about when David Tom had come back and was raked over the coals then let go just as fans were getting used to him. I remember even telling some of these people about how it take Eileen awhile to get back into playing Ashley.. and some actually backed off.

I've never felt like Eileen has had a good story since her return to the role. I doubt she ever will.

The cancer storyline (2002) was well written, and well played by Eileen and Don Diamont. Kay Alden wrote other good medical stories in those years: Raul's diabetes, Olivia's illness, Neil's alcoholism, Tricia's mental issues.